Backdraft's continued stories

Cybertron : The Darksky

    The Darksky shifted out of hyperspace.  Around it, space suddenly became filled with smaller ships that darted to and from various satellites that orbited the planet in the distance.
Immediately, the communications array is activated.
     "Receiving hail from Cybertron, Backdraft."  Retrohopper reports.
     "Put em through."
     "This is Cyberport central," came a computer modulated male voice, "Your ship is not registered with our record banks.  Please send identification and registry numbers."
     "Ok, send it, Retro."
     "I can’t."
     "What?"
     "The computer’s data banks are empty, wiped!"
     "What?"
     "It looks like some kind of virus, it’s dumped the memory banks, looks like it was a slow virus, something that wouldn’t attract attention until it was done.  Starcharts, registries,
combat data, everything is wiped!"
     "Slag.  Open a channel."
     "Opening."
     "This is Backdraft, I am a member of the security forces of Charr.  We are returning to Cybertron onboard a vessel impounded from a unit of Decepticons."
     "Whoa." A new voice replaced the computers, "What are you talkin’ about son?"
     "We need to get to the Cybertronian Council to report.  The ship’s databanks look like they’re wiped, so we’ve got no registry."
     "You in command of that vessel?"
     "Yes."
     "You want us to allow a battleship to land next to the Heart of Cybertron’s ruling councils?"
     "Uhm… well, if you put it that way."
     "Put your gears on hold, set the ship on powerdown.  We’ll send a boarding inspection group.  I’ll send word to the Council’s and let them know what’s going on."
     "Thanks."
     The communication channel shut off.
     "You heard the man.  Down all systems.  Get Rascal on…"
     The doors to the main bridge open and Rascal stomps in and plops down unhappily at the nav console, "Systems shutdown in progress.  I think someone may want to go do a
checkup of the trap systems the Con’ had in place."
     "Battlestripe, go below and make sure the way is clear for the inspection team.  The rest of you come with me to greet the party. Stripes, meet us in the hangar when your finished."

Cybertron orbit: The Darksky

     You, Retrohopper, and Rascal stand in the loading dock for the Darksky.  It wasn’t built for cargo, and for now, a small airlock was the easiest thing for the boarding party to
access.  Retro had unlocked the controls with… some luck, and now the two of you waited, listening to the hissing and clicking noises that rang through the hull as the small boarding craft
locked itself onto your ship.
     The airlock lights blinked green and you stepped back as the doors opened.
     Cautiously, three armed Cybertronians, Beast warriors, stepped through the doorway, a fourth, a Cyberton, followed them.
     The blue and orange Cybertron stepped up to you, "You’re the captain of this ship?"
     "Yes, my name is Backdraft, and this is Retrophopper and Rascal.  We have one other crew member, but he is below checking on some leftover dangers from the previous owners of
the ship."
     "Yeah, my name is Thunderfist.  We’re gonna run a security scan across your ship, see what we come up with."
     "Well, careful down below, there may still be some traps left that we haven’t found that’s why Battlestripe is down there."
     "Yeah, Buzzsaw here is going to do a scan check on your data records, if one of your people would assist him."  He signifies a yellow and green striped insectoid Predacon that was
with the Beast warriors.
     "K-9 and Wolfang will be taking a look at you’re ship in whole and running the scans on it."  The other two, brown dog-like Maximal, and a similar, shaggy, gray Maximal, stepped
forward at this.
     "Yeah, let me just check in with Battlestripe." You activate your comm link, "Battlestripe, report."
     Nothing.
     "Battlestripe!"
     Still nothing…


Cybertronian airspace: The Darksky

     "SLAG!!  Retrohopper, can you shut down the power to the lower level systems?"
     Retrohopper spins to a wall console near the airlock, "No good, the systems are on a separate system.  We’d have to find the generators and shut them off manually!"
     "Rascal, get a scan of the decks below, is there any sign of his spark?"
     "No good.  There’s some kind of jamming down there, these systems aren’t set to break through it, it’s almost like they were made NOT to clear the static!"
     You turn back to the boarding party, "I have a friend down below. He is a tough piece of Cybertronian tech, so if he's off line we might want to procede with caution."
     Another small airlock on the opposite side of the bay lets off a short warning signal.  You turn to face it as the door begins to spin and unbolt.  The hiss of air leaks out and a small
gush of steam rolls across the floor.
     A thin Cybertronian, blue-gray and green camoflauged with arched back legs, and a sharp looking rifle, steps out, and right behind him comes a bot you recognize.
     --Roadbuster!--
     "Can we lend a hand Backdraft?"
     Your mind spins with questions, but the urgency of the situation forces them into the background, "Good to see you Commander.  We’ve got a bot lost down below.  The place is
riddled with traps, and scanners can’t penetrate to it!"
     The other robot with Roadbuster gives a derisive snort, "Your scanners can’t cut through it.  Mine can cut through it without any problem!"
     "Who are you?"
     "Name’s Skyjammer.  Hear you’re on a Con hunt.  Thought I’d see if you found any."
     "Later, right now the Maximal below…"
     "He’s alive," Roadbuster interrupts, "But he is in a trap, and he is injured.   The hull has a low level jammer field, but Skyjammer’s got a couple tricks in his ship that helped us to cut
through it.  We know exactly where to get to him."
     "Ok, Thunderfist, can you help us?"
     "Yeah, take K-9 and Wolfang with you.  I’ll go with Buzzsaw and your two crew members to the bridge and see if we can find out where the power generator for the lower decks
are."
     "Right, let’s move bot’s!" you order.

     Within a few minutes you found yourself, Roadbuster, Skyjammer, K-9, and Wolfang down below.
     "This is it." Announces Skyjammer. "But we’ll have to be careful, the trap is still active."
     "What is it?" you ask as you move to inspect the door.
     "The room is filled with high tensile razor cord.  It’s designed to curve in the direction of whatever force causes it to snap.  It’s nasty stuff, and will cut through your arm like butter."
     Roadbuster rumbles, "If your friends smart, he’ll stay immobile."
     "Great, he’s screwed."  You grab the door and pry it open.
     Inside, a webbing of wires crisscrossed the room there was a small swath where many had been snapped.  Battledstripe stood there, covered in blood, oil and smoking.  He had two
sharp looking blades pulled and was poised to bring them down in a sweep…
     "NO!!"
     Too late.  The long knives swiped and snapped through a clutch full of the wires.   Immediately they arched in and ripped at the Maximal.  Sparks flew as he dropped down to the
ground.
     "Great," commented Skyjammer, "He’s in stasis.  Now we can cut him out of it."
     "Tough bot." Added Roadbuster as he pulled a knife and began to examine the cord closely.
     "Wait, I can weaken the wires." You cock your flame launcher, setting it on a low heat spread."
     The two Maximals behind you had been sitting patiently,  The German Shepherd scratched behind his ear and spoke, "You weaken it, we’ll get him out."
     "Right."  Your flames spread across the ceiling, causing the wires to glow softly as the metal heated and turn soft.
     "K-9, MAXIMIZE!"
     "Wolfang…. maximize."
     The two transformed into similar robot forms again, each pulling large bady shields from behind.  The also pull cannons, and fit them with wide arched v-shaped missiles.
     K-9 looks at Wolfang, "Ready?"
     They both fire the projectiles into the webbing.  Halfway across the room, the missiles are stopped as they are caught up in a not of half melted metal mesh.  The two Maximals leap
into the room, under the cover of their shields.
     They grab Battlestripe and pull him out safely.
     Roadbuster leans over him, "He’s alive.  Just in stasis.  Let’s get him to a CR."
     Suddenly everything goes black.
     "Backdraft, this is Thunderfist.  We’ve found the circuit to the power supply on the lower levels…"

Cybertron: The Darksky

    "Great, your timing is impecable." You mutter.
    "Roadbuster, you all right?"  Skyjammer asks as he pulls out his blaster and turns on the light on the bottom.
     "No, I stubbed my toe." Answers Roadbuster sarcastically.
    "K-9 let me see that scanner.  If I can adjust it right I can get a readout of the stucture of the ship and I might be able to find any traps."
    You preempt him, "The traps were all run on the local circuit.  If they cut the power down here, then we’re safe from that.  It’s just damnably inconvenient."
    SkyJammer mulls over this, "Roadbuster, these Cybertronian ships usually have some kind of generator down here.  Take my light and see if you can find it."
    "No." interrupts the shaggy gray Maximal, Wolfang, "The darkness is my ally.  I will search for the generator.  Radio when you have reached the lift and I will turn it on."
    "Plus kid," adds in Roadbuster, "You should watch going around and giving orders.  From where I’m standing, it looks like we’re on Backdraft’s ship.  He’s in command here."
    "Thanks Roadbuster.  Let’s get this Maximal to a CR chamber up above."

    Shortly, you stand on the bridge with the others.
    Buzzsaw looks up from the panel that he and Rascal had dismantled, "Itzzzz no uzzzz.   Everything’zzz wiped."
    Rascal sits back dropping the panel to the floor with a solid clunk, "It’s like this ship was clean from the factory!  There’s not even a serial number on the seat cushions to give us any
proof!"
    Skyjammer sits up from where he had been playing with the ships log, "There’s nothing to signify the Decepticon’s ever had this ship.  It’s a moderate technology, fairly capable
warship.  It’s been modified with traps in the lower hull.  There’s not even a record of where this thing entered it’s last hyperjump!"
    "Great.  Thunderfist, can we get a secure port to land in?"
    "Sure, in fact it’d be recommended until you can get the proper papers to be running around in a warship."
    "Right, what about word from the Cybertronian Councils?"
    "Seems like they are actually willing to listen to your group… But they want all of you to report."
    "Well," SkyJammer starts, "Me and Roady can take a look down below and see if we can scrounge up any leads while…"
    "I said, ALL of you." Restates Thunderfist.
    "Great, then let’s land this bird and get over there asap."


Cybertron: orbit

    "Okay Backdraft, "Skyjammer pulls you aside, "do you think me and Roadbuster should sit in the cockpit?  All those Cybertronian ships outside didn't look too friendly.  They might
take you as a Con."
    "No, Skyjammer.  We’re in our homespace now.  I’ll not provoke anyone with suspicious activity.  They know we’re coming down, and they know we’re on stand down.  They see
you guys with you hands on the weapon’s consoles, they might not be so nice to us."
    The camoflauged mercenary nodds, "Since this is your ship I'll let you make the calls but I still think it would be best."
     "Noted.  Take us down, Rascal."

     Soon, the group of you, stand outside the massive bulk of the Darksky, and once again on your ancient home ‘soil’.
     "Cybertron."  You scan the skies with pleasure, "It’s been years since I’ve been home."
     Rascal plods past you in beast mode, the Velociraptor’s head swinging unsteadily too and fro, "You’re home, I’ve never even been here!"
     A voice from inside the landing stuts to the Darksky calls out, "Don’t worry, Rascal.  I’ve never been here either!"
     You turn and see Battlestripe and the two Maximal dogs exiting the ship.
     "It’s good to see your up and running again, Battlestripe."
     "And just in time to see this new world!"
     "It is out homeland and what we protect." K-9 spoke as he seemed to lap in the starry sky of the Cybertronian city.
     "Gentlemen," Thunderfist steps in front of the group, "It is time for us to meet the Council."

     Meeting the council, you find means meeting them seperately.  Apparently, they wanted to see how well your stories matched up.
     You were first.
     You stood in the center of a recessed chamber, the council arranged around a circular table that stood slightly above you.  There were several members of the Convoy Council, there
were two representatives of the Predacon council, three members of the Maximal Elders, and the enigmatic diamond that stood in for the Destron councils.
     One of the members for the Convoy Council seemed to lead the questioning for you.
     "Backdraft, you were listed AWOL several weeks ago from your post on Charr with the Cybertronian  police forces.
     Tell us what has happed to lead you to abandoning your post there."
     You begin your story, starting with the meeting of Decepticons in the basement of the building… and leaving out the parts with napalm.  You continue to speak of your stowaway on
the Darksky’s shuttle, and it’s joining up with the darksky itself.
     You then speak of dropping to the planet to the Predacon outpost and of the events of the attack on it, and how you ended up in Command of the Darksky.
     Then you spoke of Fearswoop and Packrat’s sacrifice to save you all.
     Finally, you started in on the outpost on IA-12.
     "Outpost?"  The council members seemed confused.  They turned to one of the Predacon delegates, a green reptilian fuzor with a large, clawed arm.
     The Convoy Councilman spoke, "Skyshadow, there are no records of an outpost or lab on IA-12.  The planet is off limits."
     "Sirs, I assure you we do not know of what he speak of.  There is no record of any outpost on that planet."
     "What!?  I was there!  We crashed the Darksky into it’s shields.  They were doing some kind of experiment on Transmetal technology.  That’s where we got Battlestripe.  Rascal
freed him with the Predacon’s by using Packrat’s old Freewill chip!"
     "Once again, there is no outpost that is sanctioned by our forces there on that planet.  If you give the council’s the coordinates, we could send a ship there to investigate?"
     The other delegater, a cross between a fish and a bug from the looks, leaned over and spoke up, "I believe there is a Maximal exploration ship close to the planet?  It could reach it in
a matter of hours if you send word now."
     The Convoy councilmember looked over to the Maximals, "Cerebus?"
     "I will have them reroute their trip immediately."
     "Very well, continue your story, Backdraft."
     You finish out with the escape from the planet, the council members listening carefully and silently as you finish.
     "Thank you Backdraft, your report is on record.  Our decision as to your status will be give after we have heard the others stories."
     With that you are dismissed and taken to a chamber to wait.

     Soon, the entire group is brought back together and put in front of the Cybertronian Councils.
     "Backdraft, the stories presented by these Cybertronians has painted a story, although it has some inconsistancies, of what has happened since you went AWOL.  The information is
intriguing and pressing, but we are still afraid that without any solid proof…"
     "SOLID PROOF!!! What do you want?!?"
     "WIThout any solid proof, we can NOT justify a full scale deployment and witch hunt for a phantom group that a eclectic gathering of renegade robots states is out there."
     "What!?!  This is ridiculous!"
     "BUT, we have decided that you be allowed to keep command and ownership of the ship Darksky, which is being re-outfitted and repaired even as we speak.  You’re charge now is
to find proof, discretely, of the threat that is now wreaking havoc on our outposts and resources.
     You will not be given permission to press a crew into service, and it is up to you to find bots to man your ship.  Essentially, you will be operating alone.  We can not tie the council’s to
this mission, or else we risk wide scale panic, and uprising of rebel groups toting faux Decepticon banners."
     And so their judgement was passed.
     Outside, you look around the group, "This may be the last time that we are together."  Retrohopper starts to speak, but you hold your hands up, "Listen to me.  My path will lead me
to the stars, and to a war that I fear has already ignited.  There is no guarantee that I will be able to find anything, but then again, I may find more than any of us can handle.  They tell me
the ship will be ready in one solar cycle.  Anyone who wants to join me, show up at the docking bay tomorrow morning.  I want us all to separate paths now and consider what it is I’m
asking of you.  I go to hunt the Decepticon Empire, one of the oldest and most dangerous of all Cybertronian groups.  I don’t expect to be able to return to this home soil ever again.
I’ve seen what war does, and I know it’s results all to well.  Some of you are too young to know that, others, they know it all too well.  I say farewell now, and know that I will always
consider all of you brave and fierce, but your paths must be your own.  Now, goodbye Transformers."
     With that you turn and leave, transforming and flying deep into the starry night sky.

Cybertron: Iacon

    You fly through the dark and starry skies of your home planet, basking in the beautiful lights that glitter from above and below.
     You start the night off having a sparkling drink at an old bar that you used to hand out at, and then you go talk to the techs that were working on your ship.
     You find that they were busy attaching Skyjammer’s ship to the fittings for a shuttle on the upper part of the ship.  The techs tell you it was under Skyjammer’s orders, and show you
some of the increases in the Darksky’s stats with the new linkups.
     After some discussion, you decide to rename and recolor the dark black ship.
     You choose a classic color scheme to underline the hopes for your struggle.  They paint it red, for the valor and memory of the ancient Autobots, blue for the honor that it carries with
it, and silver for the purity of the Cybertron that you go to protect.
     You fill out the paperwork to register the newly painted warship, and sign it’s new designation.  Then, you sit atop one of the tallest building you can find, and stare out into the busy
skies of Cybertron.

    The next morning you walk into the hangar. Your footsteps echoing in the hangar.  No one was there.
    You were surprised, and a bit disappointed.
    --Well, at least I know Skyjammer is going.—
    Speaking of which you see the camoflauged robot stick his head up out of a mass of struts and wirings between the two ships, "So, you’re a little late!"
    "Late?"
    "Yeah, the ships set and prepped, we’re ready to hit it!" the bot ducks back into his ship as it lowers and seals smoothly against the hull of the ship.  It’s black colors seem to give and
interesting contrast to the bright hull of the battleship.  But one that seemed… appropriate.
    You tromp up into the ship and up to the bridge, there was a riot of activity on the large bridge as you walked in and stared.  No one seemed to take any notice of you as you stood
gape mouthed at the scene.
    Roadbuster walks past with some large cylinder on his shoulder, "Hmph, captain on the bridge."
    A few people look for a second before going back to work.
    Roadbuster, Skyjammer, Retrohopper, Rascal, Battlestripe, K-9, Wolfang, Thunderfist, and another robot you didn’t even recognize were all working steadily on the ship.
    You regather you wits, "Status."
    Rascal sat up in her chair and closed a panel on a tangle of wires, "We’re ready and set for take off, Captain."
    The other robot walked up, "Greetings, names Tanglefire.  I met up with Roadbuster last night!"
    Roadbuster leans over, "Yeah, he helped with one of the final fights against the con’s back in the Great War.  Good guy, bad shot."
    "Hey!  I can hit a energon goody from a mile away."
    "Hmph, and take out the building behind it." Roadbuster chided.
    You hold your hands up, "Welcome aboard then, Tanglefire."  You clear your throat, "Welcome aboard to all of you.  I’m glad that you’ve made this decision, and with you I think we
may even stand a chance of finding our prey.  Though, I must admit, I’m a little surprised that so many of you are here."
    Roadbuster starts, "Well, I figured you needed someone to cover your back, considering how often you step in the slag pool."
    Retro continued, "You knew I wasn’t going to jump outta this party yet!"
    Rascal, "Well, it’s not like I had anywhere ELSE to go.  The Tripredicus council isn’t real happy with me right now."
    Battlestripe, "You seem to attact a lot of fights.  Cybertron was a little… quiet for my tastes."
    K-9, "Me and Wolfy here believe your story, and think that we are both called to help in your fight."
    Thunderfist, "The council’s wanted someone to go along who knew something about encryption.  So, I kinda volunteered.  Still not sure why."
     You smile, "Well, I’m glad to have all of you.  Rascal, send the codes for takeoff."
     "This is Darksky…"
     "No," you interrupt her, "This ship shall now be called, The Soulfire."
     The others nodded in approval.
     "This is… The Soulfire, ready for takeoff clea…"
     All the screens went black.
       "Cybertron.  We are the Decepticon Empire.  You are now under our control."
     They all clicked off again.
     "Slag."

     Communications lines were dead, and as the confusion seemed to mount, you rode over the yelling, "Rascal, Retrohopper, engines on-line, we’re taking off."
     "We haven’t gotten clearance!"  yells Rascal.
     "We aren’t getting clearance!"
     "Wait!" yells Thunderfist, "There’s someone down there."
     "Who is it?"
     "One of the Maximal Elders, I think!"
     --What!?—
     "Let him in. And get those engines up."
     A panting Maximal made his was onto the bridge, it WAS one of the Elders.  A shaggy Maximal called Cerebus, "Backdraft, The Councils are splitting up, the bombardment on the
chambers has already begun."
     "And so you’re hear?"
     "I’m hear with orders.  We are to take off, and leave Cybertron."
     "What!?!"
     "Commander, this is your ship, and I do not wish to take that from you, but conditions have changed.  There is an armada in the airspace of Cybertron.  Only about five ships of any
worth are even present to defend Cybertron.  Communications are dead, and they are beginning to build a web to keep anything out, and to keep everything in!"
     "Then we just run?!"
     "Captain.  These are your new orders.  We are to abandon Cybertron, get to a safe distance and warn the other ships.  All Cybertronian vessels are to gather at these coordinates."
He holds up a disk, "At these coordinates we will find one that will lead us back to Cybertron as a joint armada to take back control of the planet."
     "A leader?  Who?"
     "Don’t worry about that, let’s just get off the ground and out of here."
     You shake your head, "You heard the bot, engines on-line, grapples free."
     Skyjammer looks back from his console, "Backdraft, my ship’s scanners are punching a hole through the static up there.  Seems like most of the armada is straight above, though they
are beginning to spread out to cover more sky."
     Cerebrus growls, "We must get around them."
     Roadbuster plops down at a control, "Under atmosphere engines we won’t be able to beat them out as they’re spreading around the planet."
     You grimace, "Then we fight."
     "No good," adds Cerebrus, "We need to get free.  The survival of this ship is of utmost importance at the moment."
     "Them what do you suggest?"
     "I’ve got something." Thunderfist speaks up, "We can beat them out if we use the main engines."
     Retrohopper looks up, "That’ll slag half the city around here!"
     Thunderfist frowns back, "You don’t think the Decepticon’s will do that already?"
     "We don’t have to help them do it!"
     "No," Cerebrus adds, "He’s right.  This area is fairly empty of civilian buildings, and the defensive shields on the others should protect them from the engine wash.  We have to get
clear!"
     "Then let’s do it.  Main engines on line, Retro, steer us a course of minimum civilian occupation."
     "On it."
     The roar of the engines reverberates through the hull of the Soulfire. Landscape begines to streak by as the mighty warship slices through the atmosphere of Cybertron.
     "Begin a lifting course, prepare to break free of the atmosphere."
     Something by Skyjammer begins to beep, "They see us, and they’re coming after us.  We’ve got two warships seperating and plotting intercept."
     "Will we clear them?"
     "It’ll be close."
     "Battlestripe, warm up the weapons."
     "Already did."
     Seconds creep by as the engines shake and push the ship free of the atmosphere.   Then the cities below you move away, and the skies become filled with explosions and fire as you
enter the shipping lanes.  A panel of the screen blink and zooms in on two warships that were making their way toward you, apparently shooting at anything along the way.
     Suddenly, everything seemed to streak into silver lines of light.
     "We’re free."  Cerebrus sighs.
     "Then let’s start sending warnings.  Cerebrus, work with Thunderfist and Skyjammer.  Retrohopper, plot a course for those coordinates on that disk.  Good job, crew."
     With that you sit down on the large command chair for the first time.
    So, the Con’s want your homeplanet.
    --Not without a fight.--
    You vow to return and rid them of this Universe once and for all. 


Soulfire: Hyperspace

    Skyjammer moves to another seat on the large bridge, "I'll start the sattelite up-link system. You two start loading that data into the up-link computer.  We gotta get that data sent
ASAP"
    You turn your thoughts inward.   If the Con’s followed you into hyperspace, they may follow you right to your destination.  Speed was the best element to use now, "Retrohopper,
what kind of engines do we have on this thing?"
    "Standard model Hyperdrives, not bad, descent speed, and moderate maneuverability.  Not one of those nifty Transwarpers, but not too bad, regardless."
    "Think we’ll beat out any pursuers?"
    "I think they can’t pass us… They don’t know where we’re going.  It’s having backup once we get there that worries me."
    You look out at the black and white smear on the viewscreen, "Can we drop a decoy out of hyper?"
    "I don’t know that we have one.  Battlestripe’s got the console with the defense systems on it."
    You walk over to where Battlestripe was monitoring the outer hull, "What about it, Battlestripe?  Does this ship have any kind of jammers?"
    He taps in a few commands into the keypads on his computer, bringing up a schematic of the Darksky.  He reaches up to tap on the monitor, opening up a cross section of the
weapons bays.  An inventory listing begins to scroll rapidly down the screen.
    "We have low level icm jammers, but nothing that could be taken for a whole ship leaving hyperspace."
    You look up over to where Skyjammer sat, "Skyjammer, does your ship have anything that might look like a ship dropping out of hyperspace?"
    Skyjammer looks over and snorts, "You don’t ask much do you?  The largest beacon I have couldn’t fool the Con’s into thinking a ship left a hyper jump.  It would have to be sizeable
and noisy enough to get them to leave before looking to see that someone was still in the jump tunnels."
    "A leap before you look problem, eh?"
     "Yeah, even a nano second would be enough to see that this crate was still in the jump."
     You walk back to your chair and plop down in it heavily, "There’s got to be a way…"


Hyperspace: The Soulfire

    Skyjammer spins around, "I have an idea.  Back in the 20th century the humans used cruise missiles that might sound like a ship slamming out of hyperspace.
    "I need to look at all of the audio files that are available and see if any of the history files have a sound bite of a missile, but I think I could build a white noise generator and amplify the
sound. If I spool the recording, so that it slowly decreases in volume, it might sound like a ship slowing out of hyperspace.
    "Give me thirty cycles and it should be complete."
    Thunderfist interjects, "But we don’t have a speaker system loud enough to cover the signature of the Soulfire’s continuance in space!"
    Battlestripe speaks up, "We have one source, the static amplifiers on Skyjammer’s ship.  They’re used to shed a jamming field around it."
    "Yeah," Skyjammer cautions, "but we’re not stripping out my ship while in hyperspace! There’s no way to get to it!"
    "Well, then there’s one choice." Roadbuster speaks up, "A few of us go with Skyjammer and drop his ship out of hypserspace, while the Soulfire continues on toward the rendezvous."

    You think for a second, "Skyjammer, do you think your ship can catch back up?"
    "In a heartbeat."
    "Yeah," mutters Rascal, "assuming that whatever follows us doesn’t try to rip you from tail to nose."
    "It’s a risk, but it’s worth it," you decide, "Skyjammer, take Roadbuster and…"
    Battlestripe interrupts, "I would like to go with them."
    "Very well, take Roadbuster and Battlestripe.  Drop out of hyperspace with your whitenoise generator on full blast.  Hopefully that will drag anyone out of the loop that’s tailing us.
Loose them, and jump back into hyperjump.  Get to the rendezvous asap."

     Soon you sat onboard the bridge of the Soulfire, waiting for Skyjammer’s signals.
     Thunderfist reports, "Skyjammer is ready, Captain.  I’m going below to make sure the clamps release properly."
     "Ok, K-9, take his station and let’s return the signal."
     Cerebrus nodds, "He’ll need some help below, I’ll go and give him a hand."
     "They are warming up the engines." Retro warns.
     The process of detaching two ships in hyperspace was dangerous.  Skyjammer assured you he could do it, but you still had your doubts.  You crossed you digits and hoped for the
best.
     "Outer hull view, vid map us out in space."
     The screen flickers out, and you see the Soulfire as it streaked through the brilliant tunnel.
     The black ship seemed to strain at its moorings as its engins glowed fiercely.  Then there was a loud snapping ring.  You jump as the smaller ship disappeared for a micron.  Then, it
reappeared shortly behind the Soulfire, pushing its way forward in the hypertunnel.
     "It was close," reports Retrohopper, "If their shields weren’t up, they’d have ripped themselves in two."
     --Oh, yeah, no problem…--
     Suddenly a static noise seemed to fill the bridge, then the smaller ship disappeared with a blink.
     "They’ve gone." Rascal states in the sudden silence, "Successful exit from the hyper tunnel… I think."
     Which only meant that there was no wreckage floating in hyperspace.
     "Good luck, Skyjammer."  You mutter under your breath.


Hyperspace: The Soulfire

     After that, things quieted down.  The bridge could pretty much run itself while on hyperdrive, and according to Retrohopper, there were a few standard solar-cycles until you reached
your destination.
     So, with nothing else to do, you began to wander your ship.  Taking in the sights and sounds of the refurbished vessel.  You followed an internal schematic that the team had put
together as you made your way through the ship.  You had to admit they did an impressive job.  The areas that had contained traps had been hulled and filled with either extra armor and
safety measures, or had been used as extensions for the crew quarters.
     The med bay now had five CR chambers, and there was even a lounge with a robo-waiter that had been added.
     They had styled the ship after the longer distance exploration vessels, internally.  Apparently the engineers figured that if you had to go fight a war, then you might as well do it
comfortably.
     Some of the others had already settled down for a rest cycle.  It seemed that most of you had made the most of your last night on Cybertron.  Between energon spikes and the stress
of the Decepticon siege, most of the crew seemed severely drained.
     You walked on and eventually found yourself back in the lounge.  The engines thrumemd softly underneath the ship, and you stood and watched the pearlescent swirls outside of the
viewports that were set into the rear wall of the lounge.
     A slightly dropped (maybe a meter) walkway between the main lounge and the window gave the impression from a table that the windows stretched away past the floor.  It really was
quite nice.
     "Uhm, sir." Came an odd lilting voice behind you.
     You turned to see the robo-waiter floating behind you.  He was mad of a ‘head’ and a ‘body’  globes of sorts, both connected with a smooth wire mesh that sparked  with colors that
were a little to appealing to just be functionary.  Two long arms ending in multi-faceted graspers trailed off the upper, ‘head’ globe.  The lower seemed to have some kind of processing
apparatus in it.
     "Sir, I don’t mean to bother you, but as you were the first to make your way in here, I felt I should mention it."
     "Mention what?"
     "This sir." The double sphericle, floating droid pulls out a small, rather rusty looking canister that was covered with… dried blood?
     "What’s that?"
     "I found it in the container units behind the bar.  The inventory marks it as personal belongings that were found on the ship.  I have been unable to open it to investigate its true
contents."
     "Personal belongings?"
     "Yes, it is marked with a Maximal sigil, and the name… Packrat?"
     --Packrat?!?—
     You take the canister, a bleeping noise and a small voice pattern sound, "Backdraft recognized.  Canister B-2A unlocking."
     With a hiss, the top of the container slid off, with a small bit of smoke escaping.
     You turn the can upside down in our hand, and two items fell out.
     The first was a data disk, the other a small container.
     "Uhm…?"
     "Samuel, sir."
     "Samuel?"
     "Yes sir."
     "Yeah, well, do you have an system for reading and displaying this?"
     "We have fully function three-dimensional holo-proj capability installed standard with this series of lounges."
     "Good, play this."  A small slot on the robo-waiter, Samuel, appears.  You insert the disk, and the room seems to flicker for a second.
     Packrat appears in the center of the room, clean, whole and untouched.
     "Yeah, heya rustbucket.  Guess if you found this you actually survived.  I hope the kid and Rascal did too.
    "Tell Rascal… tell her I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around, and that I hope she never forgets who she is.
     "You’re probably wondering where this came from, I found the canister and jacked in while I was piloting the ship.  It’s amazing how well one looks when digitally reproduced, ain’t
it?
     "My real body looks like charbecue, and has about five segments left to live.  But I had to make sure that you got this.  See, when me and Fractyl went down to close up that tunnel,
we had to use something to shield us against the energon radiation down there.
     "The Pred’s been working on a prototype shielding unit in the labs, that was the real purpose of their work there.  It wasn’t anything military-secret, but something interesting all the
same.  That’s why I was there to spy.
     "At any rate, Fractyl activated one of the units on both me and him.  It apparently creates a nanite covering that absorbs energy and converts it to a useable source.  It isn’t perfect,
and the nanites get used up after a while, but still, if the Con’s are the ones behind all these attacks, I figured it’d be best to get this back to the Council.  Maybe they can figure a way to
use against those bastards.
     "Fractyl only used it and put it back with the other one.  Heh, I stole it after he turned his back, but I didn’t manage to grab the other one.  It got left behind, but hopefully our sealing
the tunnel will keep the Con’s from ever finding it…
     "That’s another thing.  I don’t think they could know about it, but what if the Con’s were after this?  Just a thought…  Well, gotta go.  Good luck, and keep an eye out for Rascal.
She’s kinda hot-headed sometimes."


Hyperspace: The Soulfire

    The transmission ended.
     You turn and look at Samuel with an odd expression.
     "Sir?"
     "Hate to do this… really." You grab the droid and turn him around, hitting the deactivation switch.  His lights die down.  You open a small holding panel on his lower half and remove
a canister of liquid glass.  You place the nannite capsule inside of the empty space and shut the door.  You then walk into the back of the lounge, finding the storage area.  It was too
small for you to fit in, but you were able to thrust the droid into the darkness and over to the side where he’d be nice and safe.
     You sit down and think about the transmission.
    --A Predacon’ experiment, eh…?--
    Time passes as you watch the stars.


Hyperspace: The Soulfire

     After a while, guilt begins to pester you.  Maybe shutting the droid off and shoving him in the closet wasn’t the best choice.  Plus, just hiding the shielding unit
might not be the best thing.
     Afterall, Packrat said maybe you could use it.
     You get up and rummage through the storage space again, pulling out the droid.  You activate him.
    "Samuel at your service sir, would you care for a cold beverage?"
    "Not right now, just listen.  You’re liquid glass device is no longer installed.  From here out, you will have to use the solid glasses in storage to serve drinks."
    "but sir, my processors just read a jam…"
    "You don’t understand, I’m ordering you not to use your processors, if anyone asks, you just do not have them installed.  Got it?"
    "Yes Captain."
    "Give me the data tape."
    The disk ejects from the slot.  This would probably be safest with you.  Besides, you think that it might be wise to let someone else know about Packrat’s
message.
    "Thanks, sorry… for the inconvenience."
    "Think nothing of it.  I am here to serve."
    "Riiiight."  You turn and leave the room.

    "Computer," you start as you walk down the hallways of the Soulfire, "locate Cerebrus."
    "Unit Cerebrus is on the bridge."
    "Cerebrus."  You hit your com.
    "Yes, Backdraft?"
    "Can you meet me in the briefing room?"
    "Yes, I’ll be there shortly."
    "Thanks."

    The briefing room was cramped and consisted of four rows of narrow, tall desktops for those being briefed to stand behind and access personal data screens.  It
could hold about twenty-five average Cybertronians at any time.  A large screen dominated the wall in the front of the room.
    Cerebrus entered a few minutes after you, "Yes, Backdraft.  What is it you wanted to talk to me about."
    "I found something I think you should look at."
    Without further ado, you played the disk on the main viewscreen.  Cerebrus watched it patiently, then stood thinking for several seconds after it finished.
    "Is the unit safe?"
    "Yes. It was with the recording."
    "Good." He gives a heavy sigh, "If we had anything akin to a scientist aboard, I’d have them look at it immediately.  As it stands, the closest thing you’ve got is
Thunderfist, and while he’s a good grease monkey, this would be far out of his league in the scientific area.  I’m afraid that there’s little we can do with it for now.
Maybe once we achieve our destination, some of the other ships will join us.  The exploration vessels always had at least one dedicated scientist onboard permanent
staff."
    "Where IS our destination?"  You ask.
    Cerebrus taps in something into the control panel, a three-dimensional display appears in the center of the front of the room.  It shows a blue-green planet that
rotated on a tilted axis.
    "The planet’s name is archived as Earth."
    "Earth?  It sounds vaguely familiar, but…"
    "We have not had any form of contact with the planet for over three centuries.  Since the last Great War."
    "Why not?  What happened?"
    "The planet was a focal point of the battle between the elite forces of the Autobots and the Decepticons.  It is a world that is rich with energy, and was lusted after
by the Decepticons of that time."
    "I’ve probably been there then."
    "More than likely.  The form you use is that of an old Earth based plane."
    "Then the planet has life?"
    "Yes, an indigenous species that our records call humans."
    The visual shifted to represent a flesh-based organism that was bipedal.  Stats on size and structure flashed as it spun around.
    "Not very large."
    "No, but they became entangled in the Great War and were crucial to it’s final outcome.  After the Pax Cybertronia was signed, a group of Cybertronians
returned to Earth."
    "Returned?  Why?"
    "They felt they owed the people of that planet a debt.  Plus, they refused to give up the banner that they had held for so many millennia."
    "Banner?"
    "They were the Autobots."
    Shock gripped your circuits as the name left Cerebrus’ vocals. The Autobots.

    --As the brawny robot knocked you out of the way, and pushed past your damaged body, you hear him growl, "Outta the way, Autobot!"
    You turn back and see the bomb in the room beyond…--

    You realize that once, you too had been one of the Autobots.
    "And the leader that is waiting?"
    "Optimus Prime.  Assuming he’s still active.  And there’s more."
    "More!?!?"
    "Yes, more.  If Prime is still alive, and active as the rumors hold, then he also carried the Matrix of Leadership and Creation with him."
    This was too much, you stagger back and support yourself with one of the desktops.
    "The Matrix?!?!! That’s just a legend.  All sparks were created in the Vat!!"
    "Yes, they were.  But the Vat itself was created by Optimus Prime with the Matrix in the hopes that it would breed a new set of warriors to carry on his fight
against the Decepticons."
    "A new breed… The Maximals?"
    "Yes, the Maximals, and the Predacons.  Originally the Vat created a bot, and it was left to struggle on it’s own to the surface.  The process hardened us and
forced us to choose our paths in life, and in allegiance.  It is said that Prime was told to build it this way by the Matrix itself."
    "Well… wow… So we go to find an ancient leader that may or may not be alive.  On a forgotten planet of fleshies that helped to win the Great War, and maybe
we’ll pick up a mythical artifact on the way."
    "That’s about it."
    "And… what if the Autobot’s don’t want to help the planet that told them to give up their allegiance?"
    Cerebrus sighs, "Then we gather the fleet and return.  And hope that we can defeat the Decepticon Armada."
    "Greaaat…"
  


Hyperspace: The Soulfire

      You head back to your quarters.   Questions crowd into your processors.  The Autobots, Cybertron, the Decepticons…
     You plop down on a large lounging couch in the big room of your quarters.  Again, the Council’s techs seemed to believe that plush was the way to go.
     "Computer, bring up all data on Autobots and Earth."
     A holo-proj rises up from the floorboards and begins to hum.  Images displayed as the computer spoke.
     --The Autobots were a elitist group of warriors originating from the Cybertron forces during the Great Wars.  They were also one of the two primary
forces during the last Great War.   Until the creation of the Maximal and Predacon alliances, the Autobots warred against the Decepticon forces.
     The last leader of the Autobot forces was Optimus Prime, bearer of the Matrix of Creation and Leadership.  Optimus Prime is presumed no longer
active.
     Earth…………………………………………………………………………………….
     No listing available for Earth.—
     "No listing?  What about humans?"
     --Human, homo-saphien.  Carbon based life forms standing bipedal, approximately one point five meters tall.  Iron based blood system.  Known to be
intelligent, inventive, and at times, dangerous.—
     "Where are the humans from?"
     --No data on selected question.—
     "Weird…  Where was Optimus Prime’s last known location?"
     --No data on selected question.—
    "How the slag did Cerebrus pull up the info then?!?"
    --No data…--
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, shuttup…"
    You sit back and think of what you do know.
    Optimus Prime apparently was on Earth, which was where humans were from, and the Great Wars were fought there as well as Cybertron several centuries ago.
    You wonder why contact was cut so violently from the planet, and how did Cerebrus pull the data up from a computer that seemed to have no knowledge of
these facts.
    Of couse, he WAS one of the Cybertronian council, and they WERE the ones to rebuild the Darksky into the Soulfire.
    You relax and turn off your optics, letting yourself drift in a near shutdown state.

    --Again the visage of the Warworld with the dark artifact horn attached floated in your head.
    Like a dark moon it floated outside of Cybertron, and from somewhere you could hear a deep, terrible laughter.
    A hole opened in the sky, and a shimmering spark flew out, crashing into the planet below.  Fire spread out in great tendrils and the laughter grew
louder, the fire continued to spread as you dropped far away from the planet, spreading from planet to planet, system to system, firming a great, fiery
Decepticon sigil.  The flames burned brightly and deeply, and then seemed to collapse for a moment, reforming themselves.
    The flames turned into a skull and then everything went dark.—
 
  

Hyperspace: The Soulfire

    You ponder the dream a little more in your room, then head out to find Cerebrus.  He was in the lounge, sipping on some mulled energon.
    "Cerebrus, why can't I access any of the detail about Earth on the computer banks?"
    The old Transformer sighs, "Well, it was restricted after the Pax Cybertronia was signed, in an effort to let the planet erase itself from our databanks.  There are only a few who truly remember it anymore."
    "Why keep it a secret now?"
    "Habit, and I still don't fully know all the members of your crew. We must b careful, after all, we are now in a time of war."
    You sit down and order a drink from the robo-waiter...

Hyperspace: The Soulfire

    A solar cycle later, you receive a visitor at your quarters.
     "Sorry," Rascal starts, "You’re not busy are you?"
     "No, uhm, come in."
     "I needed to talk to you…"
     "About what?"
     "Cerebrus.  There’s something odd about him… I just don’t trust him."
     You smirk, "Well, let’s see…  you’re a Predacon, he’s one of the highest ranked of the Maximals who are your polar opposites!  Whodathunk you’d not trust
HIM!"
     She grimaces at you, "No.  It’s not that.  In fact, all my life, the only people I’ve ever trusted were Maximals.  I’m a Predacon, yes, and the Predacon way is to
watch out for yourself, at the sacrifice of all else. I KNOW not to trust ANYONE.  It’s been drilled into my CPU since conception!"
     You shrug, "So you just proved my case.  It’s not in your nature to trust!"
     She gives you a withering glare, the first time you had seen a spark in her eyes since the Predacon outpost.
     "Look, bolts for brains!  What I’m saying is that I TRUSTED Packrat, I TRUSTED Battlestripe, I even trust those two mangy hounds down below!!!  I even
trust you and Retrohopper!!  But I know when I’m being lied to. And Cerebrus is lying!"
     You sigh, "Well, maybe you just sense that he knows where we’re heading."
     "What, Earth?"
     You jolt, "How’d you…"
     "Please, I’m a PREDACON.  It’s not THAT easy to keep a secret from me!"
     You plop down on a chair, still a little stunned.
     She walks over and points a finger at your chest, "That dog is holding something back from you, from me, from all of us!"
     "I don’t know…"
     She falls back a little, "Look, we all have our secrets to keep…  There’s something I want to tell you."
     "What?"
     "Back on Cybertron, when they asked me about the Predacon outpost… I lied.  I told them that you had taken damage and were delirious, that all of you were
faulty."
     "But…"
     "But nothing.  I’m the reason we’re here.  If I had admitted the truth, they woulda booted the Predacon council and investigated immediately, maybe even
mobilized some ships."
     "I didn’t really expect you to sell out you allegiance."
     "You still don’t understand!   If I had done something…" She sighs and plops down on the couch, "If I had done something maybe Cybertron wouldn’t have been
taken.  Maybe the Council would have been ready."
     You stand up and put your huge hand on her shoulder, "Rascal, even if you had told the truth, they couldn’t have know the Decepticons would have attacked so
soon.  Nothing they could have done would even have helped.  Pit!  If you had, they might not have bothered outfitting the Soulfire so quickly…"
     Her head snapped up, "That’s another thing.  Why WAS this ship outfitted so quickly?"
     "What do you mean?"
     "If they weren’t worried about an attack, why rush the job on the ship?"
     "Well… well, I don’t know…"
     "Exactly!"  Rascal stands up and head for the door, "Look, I just wanted to warn you to watch your six.  Something is going on here still." She opens the door
and looks back, silhouetted in the light of the hallway, "I know when I’m being sent to the slaughter.  I just wanted to make sure you knew too."
  


Hyperspace: The Soulfire

     As the door shuts you sit and stare out of the large windows at the starry emptiness of space.  What she said made sense.  It was awfully fortuitous that Cerebrus
showed up at the door just in the nick of time to make a break for it.  And there just HAPPENED to be a newly outfitted ship there waiting for him.
     You stand up and plug yourself into a power feed, charging your batteries as quickly as possible.  It looked like you would have to pull an all nighter…
     You activate your com-link while charging, "Retrohopper."
     "Yeah, cap.  What’s up?"
     "Can you meet me at my quarters.  I have something I think we need to take a look at."
     "Sure, I’m on my way."

     Quickly, you explain the situation to Retrohopper.
     He looks dubious as he listens, "I don’t know.  That lizard’s got a few bugs if you ask me.  He’s a member of the Council of Elders!   What possible reason
could he have for betraying his position!"
     "Maybe, but I think we’re better safe than sorry.  I want to make sure that there aren’t any traps that we’re going to be part of."
     "Ok, then what’s the plan."
     "We search the ship, false walls, oversized hulls, the works.  I want to know if there is any dead space on this crate and why it’s there."
     "If there is a traitor on board, won’t that seem kind of suspicious."
     "Not really, It’s just an inspection, after all, we’re going into battle, I want to know what this ship is capable of.  Also, I killed any connections to the outside
network and deadened the air in this room.  It’s safe to talk here, no one can hear us, but don’t go around talking about what we’re doing outside."
     "Got it."

     With that the search began.  It takes several mega cycles, but nothing unusual turns up.  At the end of it, you relocate the nanonite cylinder to a new area, a safer
area, and make sure that only you and Retrohopper know where it is.
     Another day goes by uneventfully, and the time of arrival nears.

     "Ready to drop from Hyperspace."  Reports Retrohopper.
     You hit a comm on the chair, "Thunderfist?"
     "The engines are primed for normal travel, we can drop at any second."
     "Wolfang, bring the weapon systems online, K-9, prepare to raise shields.  Bring us out of hyperspace Retro."
     The image on the screen blurs slightly as the stars settle into a natural pattern.
     A second passes as a planet floats by on the screen, the farthest planet out on this solar system.
     "Open a channel."
     K-9 hits a button and nods.
     "This is Backdraft, Captain of the Cybertron ship Soulfire.  We are in a state of emergency and war.  If there are any Cybertronians on Earth, please reply." 

            (Apologies, it appears that a few lines were lost, Backdraft learns that Megatron and Optimus Prime are together, working together on Earth.)

 

            “Look.” You start off again after you force yourself into composure, “Optimus Prime is the most trusted of all leaders…”

                “In the myths.” interjects Reascal.

                “of all leaders,” you continue with a glare, “On Cybertron.  If he trusts this Megatron then we will have to do so as well.  Program in a landing course to the coordinates supplied.”

                You turn from the base and stride off, once in the hallway you find yourself almost on the verge of shaking.  A mix of anger, fear, and awe was swelling up inside of you like a tidal wave.

                You move to your room, and there, deactivate your weapon systems, as a precautionary.

                Composing yourself again you move back out and head again to the bridge.

                On the viewscreen, a brilliant white light glared through as the ship neared the ocean surface below.

                Retrohopper looked back, “I hope you didn’t hurt anything.”

                “Stow that, status.”

                Rascal answered, “We’re here, but where are they?”

                The ship lowers it’s nose a bit so the vast, smooth expanse of the Atlantic Ocean sparked in the forward viewscreens.

                “There!” K-9 pointed up at the screen from his console.

                Indeed, a dark shadow was spreading across the surface of the water.

                Then, like a massive leviathan, rising from the depths, towers jutted through the surface.  They rose and more of the city became visible, a massive glittering conglomeration of buildings and weapons, bristling with shiny transmetal armoring, and topped with a glittering, purple, Decepticon symbol.

                “Bring the ship along side and settle it on the water.” You command.  The ship should easily stay afloat.  It was made for such landings in emergency, and it was airtight, after all.

                You look around, “Ok, we’ve got to go out and make an appearance.  No one goes anywhere alone.  Retrohopper and Rascal, I want you two to stay together.  Thunderfist, K-9, and Wolfang, you’re together.  Cerebrus, you’re with me.”

                With that you make ready to disembark.

 

                The sun glittered down, shining blazingly off of the shiny metal towers.   You and the others stepped off of the hoverpad that had transported you the short distance to a flat landing deck on the Decepticon city.

                A huge green and gray camouflaged robot moved out to greet you.  You recognized him as he got nearer.

                --Megatron!—

                And he was huge!!  Behind him trailed a smaller robot in the same set of colors.

                “Greetings, Captain.”  The large Decepticon called out.

                He extended a hand, which you took haltingly.  His hand seemed to dwarf even yours!!

                “Greetings Megatron.”  You stammered.

                He motioned toward the door, “What exactly is this war that you spoke of, who dares to attack our homeworld?”

                “I… I would prefer to wait until Optimus was here.”  You see standing near the door, a smaller, blue robot.

                Relief floods you when you see that he bore an ancient Autobot symbol.

                “Yes, I quite understand.  But I do assure you and your crew that I will not try to shoot you.”

                You nearly trip over your own feet, “Wha… I…  I mean.”

                Megatron turns back, “Cybertron, we are quite at peace here, and did not wish the intrusion of the Tripredicus Council.  But if someone has attacked our homeworld, then the Decepticons will rise to crush them.”

                You stare, agape, if your mouth was visible.

                “We may have had our differences with the Autobots in the past, but I assure you, all different allegiances are working together here to rebuild the damage caused by the Tripredicus council, and by a mad Predacon before that. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to attend to.  Flood here will escort you around until the others arrive.”

                With that, he transformed, joining with the other robot into a heavy ATF bomber that roared into the sky.

                The Autobot moves forward, “Name’s Flood.  I found Megatron and resurrected him about a month ago.”

                Rascal’s voice comes from behind you, “Ressurected him!?!?”

                You look back with a withering glare.

                “Yeah, didn’t know he was who he was at the time.”

                “So he is…”

                “Yep, but so far he’s only been a victim of the wars that others force on him.  He was even responsible for the defeat of Terrosaur.”

                “Terrorsaur?”

                “Yeah, a mad Pred we had some problems with, nearly tore a hole in the planet.”

                “Seems you’ve been busy.”

                “Yeah, well three hundred years of peace and learning can’t always last, can they.” Grimaces Flood.

                “Apparently not.”

Earth: Tr            ypticon

            The next few hours pass uneventfully, if a bit anxiously.  You wait in a small lounge with the others and Flood, learning about the events that had transpired here on Earth. 

                Apparently, the problems started when Flood found Megatron’s battle cruiser sunken on the bottom of a deep trench. He found the skeletal remnants of a Cybertronian, but had no idea who it was.  What he did know is that the spark was somehow still active and pulsing within the robot.

                He brought the spark back to the Seabase and rebuilt a body for it with the help of a CR chamber.  What walked out was a newly rebuilt Megatron.  No one knew for several days, though, and in the meantime, the Predacon Council showed up to try to arrest the leader.

                How did they know?  Apparently they used a Transwarp drive to jump back in space.  A Destron named Bladewing snuck a ride with the ship… which was later destroyed in the first major clash between the factions.

                Megatron found the remnants of the Decepticon city Trypticon and resurrected it with a new, Transmetal body.  Meanwhile, a renegade Predacon that had gone mad was causing a rampage of terror and fire throughout the human cities.

                He was stopped through the efforts of a Maximal named Torca and a strange alien Maximal named Airrazor. 

                The Predacon’s attacked Trypticon though, but they lost their ship in the battle.  They regrouped, and with the help of the renagade Decepticon, Starscream, attacked again.  This attack was doomed to fail, and ended up with Megatron and Starscream somehow becoming fuzed into a form of combiner. 

                In the final battle the Tripredicus council was taken off-line and the Autobots and Decepticons had offered the Predicons a temporary amnisty until they could be taken off this planet.  However, the Council still remained ‘on ice’ as Flood put it.

                It was enough to make your CPU spin.

                You also were introduced to the human President.  He sat and talked a while, speaking of the past three centuries of peace, learning, and prosperity that the humans and the Autobot’s had shared. 

                When questions arose about the war, you evaded them, saying that you would rather discuss it with Prime when he showed up.

 

                Then, the time came, you were all summoned out and taken to another area.  A huge central area inside of Trypticon.  Around were gather ALL of the Transformers here on Earth.  There were also more representatives of Earth’s Defense Forces.

                You look around in shock, ideas of a private meeting banished in the sudden realization that you would have to tell of Cybertrons conquest in the midst of all the Transformer’s on Earth.  Granted, the total of Cybertronians and humans numbered well less than seventy-five, but still…

                You and your crew were brought into the center of the room.  A long table ran along the walls and sat all the others assembled here.  At the forefront was Optimus Prime.  His face easily recognizable, but he had a new body, rather than the one that was on the statue outside of the Council’s main chambers.  This one was smaller, more compact, and with two door-wings splayed behind his shoulder.  On his gray chest was an Autobot symbol flanked with fiery bird wings.

                Megatron sat beside him and the President beside him.

                Optimus spoke, “Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, Predacon, Cybertron, Destron, and Human.  For the first time in perhaps all of our history do we all stand side by side, joined in peace and united through a common danger.  For those of you who do not yet know why we are here, Cybertron has again fallen under attack.  Our homeworld has become the target of conquest from an outside force, and now calls to us to stand against it’s would be enslavers.  Captain Backdraft is the first ship to reach us, to ask for our assistance in this new fight.  He will now, hopefully, shed some light on what has happened on our homeworld.”

                Silence reigns in the room.  With a heavy sigh, you square your shoulders and begin…

GENERAL STATEMENT, New Wars New Gods, Statement #2

 Earth :             Metroplex

             

            After the meeting, you leave the rest of your crew for a time and request a ‘private’ audience with Prime.  You meet with him in a meeting room off of Metroplex’ main command center.

                “Well, Backdraft, it looks like you’ll have your help to take back to Cybertron.”

                “Yeah, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

                “And that is?”

                “Well, when I made that speech in there, I may have stretched the truth a bit.  Mostly about living in harmony with each other…”

                “What do you mean?”

                “Well, the first complete memory I have is of waking up on a repair bed and being built a new body.  I was found near the epicenter of a bomb that the Decepticon’s had used to destroy most of my friends, obligations, and even my memory.  Ever since then I have worked to be a vanguard of those who are in need.  Ever since then I have kept the char that they had burned into me present on my armoring.  Ever since then I have hated the Decepticons for what they took from me.

                “This journey has forced me to realize that just because someone is different, that doesn’t mean that they are your enemy.  Destron, Predacon… these I’ve come to accept, and even to trust.  I’ve learned that valor can come in all configurations.  But I do not know if I can yet force myself to trust the Decepticons.”

                Prime turned and looked out the window.  The sun was just rising, sending a scintillating array of colors pouring across the sparkling expanse of the waters outside.

                “Backdraft, we are a race as old as the stars themselves.  Our memories span centuries, and our prejudice millennia.  If this is to work...if we are to regain Cybertron, you must learn to change.  You must learn to accept the universe as it is, cycle to cycle, not as it was when those burn marks were etched into your soul.

                I know what it is to loose faith.  I have revisited the precipice time and again, and seen more friends fall than I can count.  Sometimes the deaths were worthy and left meaning for those who stayed behind, but often they were senseless.  And almost always they were because of commands I had given.

                The hardest thing I have ever done was to come face to face with the commander that had slaughtered so many under my command… and to forgive him.

                I do not know what this war may bring, nor do I know how long Megatron will stand with us.  But I do know for now he is our ally.  For now we stand together, and we must trust each other, or else there is no reason to reclaim our world.

                You have to learn this… if you are to command an armada.”

                “Comma… You’re not serious!  I’m just a police officer!”

                “No, you’re a Captain.  You have stayed at the head of danger and come through great odds to do what must be done.  You’ve gathered together a group of individuals and honed them into a crew, despite their differences.  It won’t always be easy, but like it or not, you are now a leader.”

                “But… but… I just came here to get you!  You’re supposed to lead!!”

                “And I will, on Cybertron, if it is necessary.  I above all understand what it means to be an icon, a rallying point.  A single spark may swing the tide of battle if that spark is believed in by all.  But over the millennia, I have learned that you must leave those in position that are better suited for the job than you are.  After all, I think crashing the Ark into Earth probably proved that I am best a ground commander…”

                You blink for a second, unsure of what to do, but a snicker breaks out of you and rolls into a wave of laughter that is more from relief of the mounted tension than from any true humor.

                As you subside, Prime turns back to you, “Backdraft, remember to allow those around you to fulfill their own destinies.  Not always is it wise to try to be the shining light in every scenario.  Even the smallest bot must have his moment to shine, and that moment will come.”

                You nod, “Thanks Prime.  I’ll try to do the best that I can.”

               

                The next few days you spend surveying the forces on Earth, as well as the outfitting of the Soulfire to link into the two cities.

                After the third day, the first of the ships appear…

 

                “This is the Destron Defender Minotaur. My name is Captain Flashfire.  What is the status in this sector?”

                You stand next to Optimus, on the control deck of Metroplex.  The Minotaur was one of six Destron Warships that had been retooled into a ship class called ‘Defender’. 

                You look down at Optimus when no answer is forthcoming.

                His blue eyes glint in amusement, “It’s your play, I’m just the backup.”

                You realize that he meant for you to answer.  Startled, you look up and step forward, “Open a channel to that ship.”

                Bumblebee, a golden Autobot, moved to do so and gave you a nod.

                “This is Backdraft, Captain of the Cybertronian ship Soulfire.  Welcome to Earth.  We are gathering the ships at the encoded coordinates.  There is a station and a moonbase that we are using to facilitate.”

                “Greetings, Backdraft.  What is the situation?”

                “You’re the second ship to show.  We’ve just gotten here ourselves.  Make yourselves comfortable and I’ll fill you in by coference phone with the other leaders here.”

                “Affirmative.  See you shortly.”

                The transmission cut off and there was a second of silence, then a cheer and laughter rose up from around the room.

                “Good job, Backdraft.  Before long, maybe diplomacy will become old hat to you.”  Prime slaps you on the shoulder and moves off to where Bumblebee finished up coordinates.

                The two turn and look up, “There’s another ship!”  Bumblebee calls out.

                “What?”

                “It just dropped in, didn’t see it behind that big Defender.”

                Retrohopper was at another console, he tapped up the image on the screen.  A sleek, black fighter ship could be seen, it was outlined and named as a communication began to come through, “It’s Skyjammer!!”

                Bumblebee gasped, “And look at what he’s brought with him!”

                The screen shifted and an ancient looking cylindrical rocket appeared.  The rocket was ten times the size of Skyjammer’s little ship.

                “What is that!?” you ask.

                Retrohopper tapped a control and a spec screen showed up, “It’s a Guardian!  A Guardian robot!!”

                Guardian robot… you thought they were all dead.  If Skyjammer had found one though…  That was a nice bolstering to your forces…

 Earth: Metroplex

You turn and give Optimus a nod, smirking behind your faceplate, "Hail shuttle. This is Captain Backdraft, welcome to the Sol system, over."

“Backdraft?” snaps Skyjammer’s voice over the comm, “It’s good to hear from you guys again.  You won’t believe what we’ve been through!”

"Am I to understand you have brought aide with you as well?" You try all the while to hide a slight chuckle of giddiness at the entire situation.

“Yeah, well it seems that we may have found something that might be useful.  After nearly having our tails blasted by the fifty or so ships that were chasing YOU we ended up in this little nebulae that was infected with a time warp.  Found this guardian robot name of Omega Supreme there.  Say hi to the kids, Omega.”

“Greetings Captain.” A low and heavy rolling voice rumbles through the speaker system.

You answer back, "Welcome to Earth, and the Cybertronian armada, Omega Supreme."

Optimus Prime leans forward, “Omega Supreme!   It’s been a long time old friend.”

“Greetings Prime.  It is good to return to this place, but I am afraid that it seems that once again war follows on our tails and the chase for freedom must begin anew.”

You send the landing coordinates and tell the grouping that it is good to have them along.

After the communication is over, you turn to Prime, “So, what is a guardian robot?  And why does he have a BIG Autobot symbol on his side?”

“Omega Supreme is a Cybertronian, like you or I.  Or perhaps more like Metroplex.  The guardians were made to protect the cities during the Golden Age of Cybertron.  Their firepower was immense, but most of them were killed off over the years.  Omega Supreme is the last of his kind.  He helped here on Earth many centuries ago during the last Great War.”

You shake your head, “Well, that’s one more Ace in our manifolds.”

Over the next few days, more ships begin to arrive, the Gamaron, Solarfin, Cavalier, Excalibur, Wraith, and Solarfin.

You take the time to implement the design of defensive satellites for the Soulfire.  Several of the incoming ships have similar instruments, so the duplication does not impose a problem. 

You also take the time to do some exploring on Earth.  Since it is the place where your form came from, you figure that it might be interesting to find out what you can about the place.

The flights take you to the shores of the Atlantic, both to a Continent called America as well as the islands of Great Britain and the European Continental area.

The vistas are alien, but not unpleasing.  The people of Earth were friendly and open, and their world was filled with vibrant life in a strange, bio-organic form.  It was unique after your years on Cybertron and then on the backwater slag-hole of Charr.

About a week later, you were present when another large Destron Defender, the Draco, was coming into the system.  You had already sent greetings when another shuttle was spotted.

This one was new, and it was armed fairly well for a small ship.  All in all nothing to draw attention, but the initial conversation was enough…

               

“This is Backdraft, Captain of the Maximal Ship Soulfire.  Welcome to Earth… Deathmonger?”

                “Greetings Earth.  What is the situation here?” The robot speaking had a silver facemask, with gleaming red eyes.  You could make out an amalgamation of black chrome and dark fur. 

                You switch on your own video feed, “Situation is we’re amassing a return force to take back our homeplanet.   All the allegiances are representated here, Maximal, Predacon, Destron, Cybertron, even Autobot’s and Decepticons.”

                “Decepticons?!?” another voice yells from offscreen and a robot with a skull-like face pushes the first out of the way, “Are ye DAFT charbaby!?!?”

While surprising, the outburst is far from unexpected.  You had been dealing with this problem all week, “This is a different grouping than that on Cybertron.  This group is lead by Megatron, and had been trying to live on this planet in peace.  They have agreed to return and help us to stop the other Decepticons.”

                He shakes his head, “Great, they are daft!”

The first robot shoves you out of the way again, “Sorry, we understand.  We have something that may interest you at the same time.  We’ve… collected a Decepticon Scientist that was working on some new armoring for the Decepticon’s on Cybertron.  He and my friend here are both modeled with the same armoring.   It more advanced than even the Transmetal II technology that was used on me.  Also, I think the Decepticons may have taken an artifact from a Maximal School on Karil.  The artifact was a piece of Unicron.  I don’t know if they are truly mad enough to use it…”

                --The horn!!!--

You interrupt suddenly, “Interesting.  Tell you what.  Bring your ship down to the cities and land on Earth.  Most of the fleet we’re having stays out at the satellite stations, but I think we’ll make an exception in your case.   I’ll transmit the coordinates.  Backdraft out.”

Earth: Metroplex

Outside, the sun shone down warm and comforting in the breezy ocean air.  There was a great deal of hussel on deck as te Deathmonger’s engines were being cooled off and a few engineer bots, as well as some worker drones that had been brought on the various ships, worked to make sure that the shuttle was safe and sound.

As you crossed the deck to the squat block-like shuttle, your foot hits something that rolls away from it with a clanking noise.  You look down to see what looked like a metallic hubcap on the ground.

Immediately a robot ran over and picked it up, he had a load of other parts in a hover wagon behind him, “Sorry Captain Backdraft.  But he’s a mess to pick up!”

--He’s?—

“Uhm…” 

You’re interrupted as you see a group move out of the Deathmonger. The first is a thick bodied, dull black robot.  He wears a thick leather trenchcoat that swishes at his feet at he walks.  Behind him was a small, shiny red robot… transmetal.  His design was easily Cybertron in nature.  A small car or other kind of rolling vehicle probably.

The next two were the ones you spoke to on the comm.  First there was the smaller of the two.  Chrome black metal broken up by shaggy patches of dark black fur.  His faceplate was silver, and drawn up and down in sharp points, looking something like a robotic version of a skull. The other robot was slightly larger, and had a blood red finish, almost an ash red color, on his frame.  His chest bore a large engine whose chrome reflect sharply in the light, the edges going from silver to reds and purples as he moved.  Flames spanned long wing-doors behind his shoulders, and his face also looked skull like, but more like a true skull, with long horns that went out and up from his head. 

You move toward them, “Lightslayer!”

They turn and wait for you.

“Lightslayer, greetings.”

The smaller one looks up at you, he was only maybe half of your size, “Greetings Captain.  I believe you’ve met Zabgoth?” he points at the other one from the comm, “And these two are known as Flatline,” the first one, with the trenchcoat, “and Hubcap,” the small Cybertron vehicle.

“Welcome to Earth. I’ve asked that some rooms be set aside for you here, and feel free to explore as you wish while here.  We would ask that you help with the preparations to return to Cybertron, but you can take a day or so to settle yourselves.”

“Bwah, how generous.” Zabgoth guffaws.

Lightslayer jumps in, “Thank you, Captain, but you’ll have to excuse us.  We truly know little about why we are here, and what is truly going on.”

You sigh, “Well, the short and simple is that a group of Decepticons has banded together and managed to construct a monster war station.  They’ve taken control of Cybertron with the station and a small fleet of other warships, using bluff and bluster as their primary weapons.  We have our reasons to believe, however, that they don’t have the sheer numbers to withstand a solid counterattack.”

Zabgoth snorted, “Yeah, well, they may have BEEN shorthanded, but I think you may have a few surprises to deal with when you get back home.”

Lightslayer shakes his head n resignation, “Perhaps we should sit down somewhere and speak in more detail.”

You catch yourself, remember that you WERE their host, “Of course, of course.  Take a while to settle down and meet me in the forward observation deck a-3 in building four.  Ask Metroplex for directions if you need them.  Oh, and what about your prisoner?”

The group looks at Zabgoth, who seems to be surpressing a giggle?

“Uhm… He’s over there.  Seems he got out a minute early.”  Snickers the robot.

You look at where he was pointing… to the robot with the hover wagon.  You see the robot bend over and pick up a silvery claw arm off the ground.

You jerk your head back to Zabgoth, “What in the…???”

“Ah, he’ll be fine.  Just be sure you don’t activate his weapon systems when you toss that refuse into a CR. Now, about those rooms…”

Earth: Metroplex

Sometime later, you and the others sat around a large table. Optimus Prime had elected to join you, and the two of you had decided what you were going to tell, and try to learn from, the Deathmonger’s crew.

                You start in, “Lightslayer, Zabgoth, Flatline, Hubcap, I’d like you to meet Optimus Prime.”

                With Zabgoth let out a whoop that shakes the table, “Now I KNOW you’ve lost your minds!  Optimus Prime died centuries ago, if he ever even truly lived!!”

                Optimus shakes his head, “I’m afraid it’s true, I am Optimus Prime.  I did not die after the wars. Rather, with the signing of the Pax Cybertronia, myself and several others who did not want to abandon the sigil of the Autobot’s came here to Earth, to stay and live in peace.  The Council’s decided to allow us this freedom for ‘services rendered.’  However, the Earth Defense Force would only allow it on the addition that all contact to Cybertron was restricted or lost.  The location and significance of the planet was deleted from the core computer on Cybertron, and after two or three centuries, only remains a vague memory to most of those who did not live here.”

                Lightslayer shakes his head, “Then how, or why was Earth chosen as the rendezvous point?”

                You answer, “My ship, the Soulfire started the signal after a Council member sought refuge onboard our ship before we left Cybertron.  He had the coordinates, and knew that here we would find Optimus Prime, who still held the Matrix of Leadership.”
                “Hah!” you cry, “More Autobot mythology!  What good is a Matrix going to do us?!  Even if it does exist, it has to be on Cybertron, robots have been created over and over again in the past three centuries!  If the myth was true, then the Matrix was the only thing that could build a new bot!”

                “You’re right,” Prime answered, “The Matrix was the only thing that could create new life, but I used the Matrix to create a place to hold sparks and create new bodies to house them.  The chamber used the Matrix power outlays and copied them, in effect, it was a downloaded copy on a much larger scale.  It took some doing, but eventually, the Vat was created.”

                “Oh great!” Zabgoth exclaims, “More fairy tales! No one has ever seen the Vat!”

                “Not likely.  The vat was created near the end of the Great Wars.  It was made to process a new race of warriors, and then it would test out those warriors.”

                “Test out?” Lightslayer questions.

                “In fire…  The new warriors would have to fight their way to reach the surface of Cybertron.  Many did not make it, but those that did became most of what we now know as the Maximals and the Predicons.   After a while, the Wars ended, and before we left, we used the chamber for one final use.  We mass created sparks, enough to last for millennia.  These were removed and taken to the Council’s new chambers where they were, and still are, used for the protoforms on Exploration and Defense crews.”

                Zabgoth sits back again, “Ok, nice history lesson, but what does it have to do with us now?”

                “Perhaps everything.  If the Decepticon’s have taken over the Council chambers, then they may have the means to access those new sparks.  If that is the case, then they may have the means to create a new army from scrap metal!”

                “Oh, that’s bad.”

                “That brings all of you here up to speed on why our situation is so critical.  We have to know everything we can about the Decepticon’s and be able to use it to our best advantage!”

                Lightslayer sits back, “Ok where do we start?”

 

                Where they started was at Lightslayer’s beginning.  His creation from a spark found at a ruined outpost early on in the seemingly random Decepticon attacks.  A wave of energy hit the station where his new body was being made, and from that wave, the odd mutation of Transmetal and organic had been created from some unknown format. 

                From there, he was sent to Karil, where his spark had been found, in the hopes that he might uncover memories of who had attacked the school there. 

                That was where Zabgoth came in.  He told you that he had been sent by the Destrons to make sure that there wasn’t any funny business involved in Lightslayers’ memories, and how the attacking assassin squad had made him decide to join up with the cat and his cohorts. 

                Then Lightslayer told about the museum, and the missing horn, then of the Decepticons who showed up to try to pound you into the ground.

                Zabgoth mentioned Lightslayer’s split second timing and his strategies, as well as his incredible skill with the blades.  Lightslayer looked surprised, but pushed on with the story.

                The secret workstation came up and Zabgoth spoke on how he had found the document files linking Scavenger to the Decepticons, as well as the plans for a master control unit that could possible control hundreds of heavily armed and armored drones, perhaps even thousands!

                After that was over, You told of how you had come to be here.  About Charr and the Decepticon meeting, about the shuttle you and Retrohopper had stolen aboard on, and about the Predacon base. 

                You even spoke of  taking the Darksky to the Predacon labs and of Battlestripe’s creation. Then you talked about Cybertron, and the rebuild and subsequent escape of the Soulfire, about Skyjammer and his help, and about Cerebrus and the message that was sent out.

                You also spoke of the growing Armada here on Earth, and the decision that you would act as Admiral to the forces for the return trip.

 

                Zabgoth shakes himself, “Bwah… that’s a lotta stuff.  But one thing still is unanswered.”

                “What’s that?”

                Lightslayer finishes off the question for Zabgoth, “Megatron.  Megatron and his Decepticons here on Earth.”

                Optimus sighs, “Three hundred years ago, Megatron went down with his warship here on Earth.  He sank into the ocean, and was thought lost.  However, a few months ago, an Autobot named Flood found that ship and the carcass of a robot at the command.  He did not know who or what he had found, but he did know that somehow, after hundreds of years, there was still an active spark inside the skeleton that lay there.  He removed it and brought it to SeaBase.  There he placed it in a CR chamber that rebuilt the spark a new body.  The robot called himself Megaplex and was critical in the fight against a mad Predacon that was here on Earth. 

                “To help cut down the story, let’s jump ahead and say that he found Trypticon, and was joined by the Combaticons as well as a few other Decepticon’s that came her with Starscream.  The Tripredicus Council somehow knew he was here, and decided that he had to be taken back to Cybertron, in chains.  They came and tried to take him by force, and the short war that followed led to their failure and Megatron’s even newer body, that is linked to Starscream now.”

                “He has decided to assist us in the re-conquering of Cybertron.”

                “And we trust that?”  Zabgoth arches an eyeridge.

                “We trust that.” you state, simply and plainly.  “We’re all separated by political differences, but now, we have to put those behind us.  We can not allow the Decepticons to overtake our homeworld and control it through a vice like grip of drones!”

                “Pretty speech, but I wonder how practical it truly is?” Zabgoth regards you and Optimus with an amused look.

                “Regardless, we will work with the Decepticons here on Earth.  Zabgoth, if you wouldn’t mind, we’d like to run some tests on your armor. “

                He shrugs, “As long as there are lots of needles and drills!”

                “Right… the rest of you take some time to relax.  We have a long road ahead of us…”

 

                After the meeting you sit with Prime for a few minutes, talking to him about the new Vehicon armor, as well as finally confiding in him about the nano-technology that you had kept hidden since your arrival.

                The two of you decide that it would be best to gather together the top scientists available to discuss the implications of both the armor and the energon shielding nanites. 

               

                Later, you go to Metroplex’ forward lounge for a drink.  Hubcap was there and you sit with him for a while, talking about the days of being Autobots.

                Night had fallen outside, and from the table that you sat at, you were given a beautiful view of the city lights glittering off the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean below.

                “Hoorah boys, how goes it!” Zabgoth plops himself down, making himself at home.

                “Hey Zab.” Greets Hubcap with a little wave, “We were just talking about the old days of the Wars.”

                You nod, “I don’t have many memories of the Wars.  I was in a Decepticon raid.  Lost most of my memories and this charred exterior.”

                Zabgoth smirks, “You know, a good scrub with lacquer thinner might help that.”

                “Nope, I’ve tried, even painted over it a few times.  The char marks always reappear.  It’s a reminder of what war can do…”

                Hubcap grins, “ Yeah, but there was nothin’ like blastin a few of you Decepticreeps, Zabgoth.”

                He returns the grin with a leer, “If you kiddy bots hadn’t been such easy targets in those days… Say Backdraft, you were a victim of Decepticon raids, what station were you at?”

                “Zeta 12-11.  Why?”

                “Just wonderin’…”

Earth : Metroplex

                Sometime early the next morning, you sat in a conference room with Optimus Prime, Megatron and the human President.  At the head of the table stood a small Predacon by the name of Hornet.  He had been in charge of the interrogation of the Decepticon prisoner, Scavenger.

                “… and due to the volatile repair nature of his new technology, we were unable to shut down his autorepair systems while we worked.  Unfortunately this lead to his attack in the middle of the session, and mine and Zabgoth’s response to take him back offline.”

                “So, you couldn’t just leave him offline and access his data tracks?”  you ask.

                The insect-bot’s translucent blue wings flickered in what could have been annoyance, “No.  There has to be energy in the memory modules to actually access the data that is contained within.”

                Prime leaned forward, “I’m sure you did what was best given the situation, Hornet.  Now, what data did you pull from him before his assault?”

                “I first accessed his databanks on the new armoring system that both he and the Destron, Zabgoth posses.  Those tracks are still in analysis, but I can tell you that above all, the armor is just plain tough.  It surpasses our regular technology, and even transcends the Transmetal technology that I boast.  I have not weighed it against the offshoot of the Transmetal tech exhibited by Lightslayer and Battlestripe, however.  On the whole, the armor is light, strong, and can be mass produced.”

                “Mass produced?”  You interrupt.

                “Yes, that brings us to our second point.  After I downloaded the armor, I took a scan into the other project that the team from the Deathmonger made reference to.  That is, I looked at his plans for the drones.  It appears that he had been working on designs of transformable drones that could not only be armed, but could hold this new armor as well.”

                Optimus’ optics flared, “Drones?  That look and transform like regular Cybertronians?”

                “Look, transform, and FIGHT, like SUPERIOR Cybertronians.”

                Megatron snorts, “No drone will ever match the cognitive or fighting capabilities of a free minded Transformer.”

                “Perhaps not,” you counter, “but a thousand of them makes for a large problem.  Add to that the fact that they are completely expendable and completely loyal…”

                “And we may have a big problem…” Finishes Prime.

                “What about the nannites?”

                “The scientists just got a hold of the technology this morning.  It will take quite some time to investigate their usefulness in this situation.”

                “And while they’re investigating, and while we’re waiting… The Decepticons may already be mass producing these things back home!”

                “True, but there’s not much we can do about it.”

                You turn back to Hornet, “Was there any indication how long this would take, or how far along they were.”

                “Indication?  You’re dealing with a theory, I don’t even know for absolute sure that they had these plans for the tech.  All I got was the specs for these things, as least for three kinds of them, and what they MIGHT be capable of.  I don’t know if the Decepticons were going to do this, or if this was just something brewing in Scavenger’s head!”

                Megatron sat back, “It is.  It fits perfectly into everything we’ve learned so far.  The sudden shock attack on Cybertron, the drone ships that chased the Soulfire… They didn’t have any real forces.  I’d stake my spark that they were pulling a massive bluff in order to buy time for themselves.”

                You stare at the camouflaged robot, “A bluff?!?”

                “It’s perfect, attain the one item that the entire system is scared to death of, mount it on something that vaguely bears the resemblance of it’s former owner, and show up with a fleet of ships.  Did anyone even bother to try to fight?”

                “Well… no, we were given orders…”

                “Exactly, orders that were given by a panicked Council that thought they were about to be scrapped.  If those ships were fully manned, then they would have chased you down and destroyed your precious Soulfire, Captain.”

                You sit back, the enormity of what he said ringing true in your processors, “Then… let’s look at it a different way.  I’m a cop that’s playing Captain, Optimus, you’re a warrior, leader and a defender, but Megatron… you spent centuries attempting the conquest…”

                “Achieving the conquest.” He interrupted.

                “Ok, achieving the conquest of Cybertron.  What would YOU do in the Decepticon’s situation.”

                The larger robot didn’t even hesitate, “Trench myself in and start mass producing as many units as possible.  The ships could bring in the resources, and I’d be willing to bet that if you check the stations that were attacked over the past few months, you’d find a list of ingredients for brewing up a new army.”

                “But how long, and where?”

                “How long?  That depends on his force size, the amount of ingredients and where he chose to set up shop.  Where?  He’d need a lot of room… perhaps the warehouse district.  Yes, the warehouse district would have the room, and it would no doubt have extra supplies to help transform them into a large scale manufacturing area.”

                “Then they could already be manufacturing.”

                “They could already be well into manufacturing, but… this is all just supposition.”

                --But too dangerous of one to be ignored…--

 

                The meeting adjourned to give you and the others time to consider the possibilities.  You went out to one of the lower struts of Metroplex to think.  Finding a stable platform, you dangle your massive legs over the side, into the deep, dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  It’s coolness lapped around your feet in swirls as the tide swept around the massive city fortress. 

                You here a clatter behind you and look back to see both Zabgoth and Lightslayer clambering down the side after you.

                “Metroplex told us you’d be down here.”  Explains Lightslayer with an apologetic shrug.

                “What’s up?”

                “Well, we were talking…”

                Zabgoth interrupts with a snort, “The cat wants to return to Cybertron to kill himself.”

                “Not to kill myself!  But from what Zabgoth told me, I think I see what the Decepticons have in plan.  If they make a drone army with that new armor… Well, we can’t just wait until all of Cybertron can gather here.  I think I can lead a small advance group that can harry the Decepticons, maybe even take out their leader.  Anything that will slow them down.”

                “So you want to split the armada?”

                “No, but we’re low on choices.  If we don’t hurry up and do something to slow them down… And maybe I can find some more forces to rally on Cybertron itself.  After all, if they really have made a new force, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

                You think about it, staring down into the water around your feet.  The kid was right, and so was his friend.  A return trip to Cybertron might be no more than a suicide trip, but at the same time… if they could slow down whatever was going on there…

                The Deathmonger wouldn’t make it though… It’d get ripped to shreds, no doubt.  It was just a shuttle with guns, they’d need something fast, sleek and well armed… 

                Both robots were capable, and both had proven themselves.  But could you sentence them to a mission that would possibly lead to their destruction…?

Earth : Metroplex

--I can, and I will…--

“I want no more talk of this without secure conditions, understood?” Both of the bots nodded.

“I’ll arrange a meeting this evening, outside even of Metroplex, where we can finish planning.”

Zabgoth opens his mouth to say something, but you forestall him, “Ah, no more.  Consider your proposal accepted, but I want to make sure it is absolutely secret.  Now, I have some things to see to…”

 

You head to Metroplex’ main control bridge with the thoughts rolling through your head.  Rapido was working on some order specs, and looked back at you as you walked through the entryway, “Hey Backdraft!  There’s a recorded message from Megatron for you.”

“Thanks,” you say absentmindedly, plopping down at a workstation on the side.

You activate the message.

“Backdraft.  It seems that one of your ‘guests’ has decided that my attention is best spent in defending my actions from his beliefs.  Believe it or not, this is not from a battle hardened or bitter Cybertron, and Autobot, or even one of those hot-headed Maximals.  No, rather it is a mercenary and an ex Decepticon named Skyjammer.  I suggest that you keep him busy so his insecurities don’t fester and cause any greater problems than mere annoyment. Megatron out.”

That solves the thought of who you’ll send on the mission.

“Backdraft to Skyjammer.”

“Skyjammer here.”

“I have a favor to ask…”

“If it’s about Megatron…”

“No, but it will definitely keep you out of his hair.  Come meet me and we’ll talk about it.”

“What is it?”

“Rather not say on open frequency, just meet me at these coordinates.”

“Ok, be there in half a megacycle. Skyjammer out.”

You transform and burn toward the rendezvous.

 

It was a cliff on the Atlantic shoreline, somewhere near a place they called Maine.  The air was cold, and below, the ocean roared as it smashed across the base of the cliffs, churning around on rocky outcroppings below.

You sat waiting for him, staring out at the Ocean.  He came along after a few cycles and transformed, skidding along the ground behind you.  The wind here was strong, and combined with the ocean below, you had to yell to be heard.

He walked over and sat down on the cliff edge beside you,  “So, what is it you want me to do?!”

                You turn and raise your voice, though not as much as he had, “We’ve uncovered some facts that lead us to believe that waiting so long for the fleet to assemble may be a fatal mistake!”

“And?!”

“Two bots have hatched a plan that may help us slow down whatever the Decepticons may be up to, but they’ll need a ride and a few extra guns!”

“What do you mean?!”

“I mean I want you to take them, and maybe one or two others, back to Cybertron as a covert team with the intent to stop whatever it is that the Con’s are up to!”

“In command?”

“While in space, yes.  But once it turns to sheer footwork, it’ll be the Maximal who’s in command!”

“Maximal?”

“Yeah, one of the two who came up with the plan.  His name is Lightslayer, and his friend is a Destron named Zabgoth!”

“And who else!”

“I’m not sure yet, but it’ll be someone in espionage, and maybe someone with some demolition experience!”

“I’ve got some knowledge in both!”

                “Yeah, but for this mission I want some experts along!  Listen, I want you to think about it carefully.  The mission may be a suicide run, and you’ve already risked your neck once for me!  You’re shuttle, however, has the best chance of surviving a return trip on it’s own, or at least of not being caught in the process!”

                “What about the Soulfire and it’s links for my ship?!”

                “Well, most of the linkage system is now plugged into Trypticon and Metroplex.  You’re shuttle wouldn’t be any help for it anymore!”

                With that you stand up.

                “Keep the mission top secret, and give me an answer by this evening!”  You transform and head back toward Metroplex.

 Earth: Metroplex

 

            Before you even get a chance to get back to the city, a call comes in, “Backdraft, this is Rapido.”

            “Yeah, what’s up?”

            “We had an accident on board Metroplex.  Someone was using  the training rooms and got a little overzealous in their attacks.  Accidentally drove a sword blade past the shield buffers and into the control unit. “

            “Any injuries?”

            “Not really.  He’ll be a little sore, and is spending a few minutes in CR, but other than that no one was invovlved.  However, he did manage to short out a whole slaggin’ deck in building 5A.”

            “A whole deck?!?”

            “Yeah, we’ve got techs working on it now, and I’ve gotten Trypticon’s permission to reschedule training to his holo rooms until we get it fixed.”

            “Ok, good job.  What about the bot who caused it?”

            “Like I said, in CR.  He said he’d come talk to you as soon as he can.”

            “Ok, thanks.  I’m on my way in.”

 

You spend some time on the Soulfire, running some checks on the internals and how the upgrades were going.  You ask for more demands on the shielding system, and study some on the interlinks between your ship and the two cities.  Anything to pass time.  You didn’t feel like talking to Megatron about Skyjammer’s actions, and really were running from it.

Then a short transmission burst shot through to you, “I accept.  Meet me at the ocean with details tomorrow.  SkyJammer Out."

            It was on a secured line, and encrypted for your adios only.

            --Well, that’s one less worry…--

 

            The apologies to Megatron were hard.  You had to swallow your rage the entire time you spoke to him.  To make it worse, you elected for a face-to-face apology.  At least you could be sincere in promising that it would not happen again.

            As you left, Megatron added something to the conversation, “Backdraft, you may wish to watch yourself.  This was a minor incident, but in no means will it be the last.  You are sitting on a hotbed of strung out Transformers that are cut from their homes.”

            “I know.”

            “I realize that.  But I also realize that you hold more anger within you than you realize.  I know the story of why your exterior is charred, and I know the pain that you must still harbor.”

            “And?”

            “The seeds of the future lie buried in the soil that we have tilled.  The mistakes of the past will never leave us.  Not unless we let them.”

            With that, he turns back to his work, and you leave Trypticon.

 

            As you stand on deck outside the purple city, the sounds of klaxons shatters the afternoon silence.

            “Backdraft to Megatron, what’s going on?!?”

            “Trypticon has sent an alarm out.  Apparently there is a malfunction in his sim chambers as well.  It’s a security glitch of somekind.  There are four entities sparring there, and all the system safeties are off.  I’m on my way down now.”

            “I’ll meet you there.”

 

            Megatron, You and Spacecase stand outside the door while Blastoff works on jimmying the control panel.

            “It seems” The newly rebuilt Transmetal Combaticon explained,  “that when the sim rooms are activated by a non-Decepticon party, the security system registers it and locks them in with a program designed to eventually make them fight against each other.  It’s really rather sophisticated.  Musta been some bored Decepticons who bothered with this one.”

            “Can you shut it off?”

            “It’ll take time.”

            “Trypticon warned me when he received a distress signal about five cycles ago.”  Megatron muttered as he stared thoughtfully at the door, “Apparently there is also a buffer field to keep them from calling for help.”

            “They may be killing each other in there!  Let’s blast the door it!”

            “No good.” Comments Blastoff from where he is working, “The shielding that protects the room itself is pretty strong.  If you don’t blast through it with one punch then your likely to fall victim to a backlash of energy.  Plus, you may end up sending a wave inward, even if you do punch through.”

            “Great.” You mutter.

            Blastoff returns to his work…

Earth: Metroplex

 

            Time seemed to crawl by… and in fact it was several cycles before Blastoff looked up from his work, “There!”

            The door slid open, revealing a lush jungle seen, instananeously, Megatron lurched into the room and spun.  The massive shoulder cannon on his shoulder spun, and several fireballs slammed into the wall.  There was a heavy explosion and the room glitched and went dark.

As you ran into the room, the emergency lights kicked on, turning the room into a smokey morass of red shadows.

“STOP!!”

“What the slag?!?” Zabgoth shook his head in disbelief as he struggled up to his feet.

White lights flickered on, revealing the four combatants, Zabgoth, the Earth mech, Battlestripe, and Zabgoth, all in very damaged form, and alone in an otherwise bare walled, empty room.

It appears that Lightslayer, who had lost an arm, was ready to fire on Zabgoth, who was sitting prone on the ground about ten meters away.    Battlestripe was in mid crush of an EDF mech, whose arm he held to the side from where he had ripped it free.

You  rush over to help extract Battlestripe’s claws carefully from the Earth mech, “There was a hidden security protocol in Trypticon’s circuits.   It was activated when a non-Decepticon tried to use the chamber.”

“Security protocol?!?” Zabgoth asked

“Yes.” Megatron turned toward the group, “Apparently it locks down the room and overlays holograms until it managed to confuse its prisoners into destroying themselves.

Lightslayer grasped at the charred remnants of his arm, “Works pretty well.”

Zabgoth smacks his forehead as he looks at the Maximal cat, “Shoulda guessed… no Mech fights like that!”

Lightslayer shakes his head in annoyance, “I should have known also.  I was wondering why a mech was throwing a mace and then the whole charged weapon thing…”

You reach down and pry open the command module of the EDF mech.  A human bearing the markings of an EDF Lieutenant staggers out, a little bruised and beat up, but relatively undamaged. “You mean we almost got scrapped because HIS people didn’t find a SECURITY BREACH!?!?” 

Megatron glared over at him, “Be glad we got here before you were terminated.”

“Be GLAD?!?! I’ve got over a billion in damages to this mech!”

You quickly step in, “We’ll take care of the damages.  It was an accident, you can’t expect us to be sure…”

“I don’t expect YOU to be sure of anything on this scrap, I expect HIM to be sure.  It is HIS city.  Why should…”

Megatron seems bored with the conversation, “Take his mech and repair it.”  He motions to Blastoff and then trudges out of the room.

“I’m supposed to repair THAT piece of insignificant technology?”  The Transmetal Combaticon complains.

You shake your head, “Just do it.  I’ll have someone from Metroplex help you in the labs.  Maybe you could even work on a few upgrades just for kicks.”

“Yee… haw…” droles the insolent Decepticon, “Spacecase, give me a hand with this thing.”

“I believe I will help oversee the repairs?”  The Lieutenant asks.

“You know anything about tech?”  Blast-Off looks down at the human.

“I am fully versed in the standard technology of your race, as well as in heavy armaments and explosives.”

--Explosives?--

He turns back, “I quite enjoyed our match, Zabgoth.  Perhaps sometime we can do it again?”

 

After you help the group to the CR chambers on Trypticon, you head back towards Metroplex, “Rapido?”

“Yes?”

“Get one of our technicians to head over and help Blastoff with the repairs on the Earth mech.”

“Earth mech?”

“Yeah, I’ll explain later.  Backdraft out.

 

On board Metro, you bring up the Earth Forces profiles.  The Lieutenant had some rather impressive credentials.  Several technical disciplines, and even an advanced knowledge of Cyber technology. 

As you were scanning his file, there was a beep at your door.

“Come in?”

In walks a Decepticon.  He was lanky and black, and had tall silver wing blades stretching over his shoulders.  A single red optic flashed around the room as he stepped in.

“Can I help you?”

“My name is Bladewing.”

“Oh, yes, the one who damaged the… sim chambers.”

“I damaged it?   It seems to me that it was YOUR faulty equipment that nearly got me scrapped while I was simply sparring for some exercise!”

“Faulty equipment!?!?”

“Perhaps you should look into a serious upgrade for your shoddy Autobot technology.”

“Upgrade!?!?  Why you… I’ll tell you what.  Next time, just use your own chambers.  Perhaps the incident over in Trypticons’ sim rooms is more to your liking!”

“Hmph, from what I hear, that was simply programming error.”

“Yeah, amazing isn’t it… how much more advanced the Decepticon tech was.  After all, we only slightly injured you.  Four beings almost bought the scrapyard over there!!!!!”

He steps up, holding his hands in front of him, “Look, if it makes you feel any better… I’ll go down and see if they need assistance with the repairs… Of course, I’m no technician, my specialty is espionage… but I know something about…”

“Did you say espionage?”

“Uh…. Yeah.”

“You’re that one that was messing with the Tripredicus council.”

“Hmph, yeah.  I’m the one that stopped the Tripredicus council repeatedly!”

“Espionage…  Ok, you’ll be reassigned later this evening.”

“Rea… what?!?”

“RE-assigned.  You will be informed tonight of what your new duties will be.”

“But… wh… I…”

“It wasn’t a question or a request.  You may leave now.”

The robot turned, still dazed by being reassigned out of the blue.

            -- We’ll see how good you are at espionage…  and we’ll get you out of my slaggin’ exhaust in the same fell swoop. –

 

 

Later that evening, you, Skyjammer, Zabgoth and Lightslayer meet on the same far away cliff.  The ocean below roars with the incoming tide.

“Lightslayer, Zabgoth, I’d like you to meet the captain of the ship that will be taking you to Cybertron, Skyjammer.”

“Hoohaw, a man without a sigil.” Zabgoth grins apparently noticing the lack of insignia on Skyjammer

“Greetings, Skyjammer.” Lightslayer nods.

Skyjammer nods at the two of them in turn.

“Ok,” you start in, “We’ve got the three of you.  I also want to send two more.  One will be an espionage agent and the other I was thinking of an expert in demolitions.”

“Any ideals?”  Skyjammer asks.

“Yes, I think I’m going to send one of the Decepticons with you.  His name is Bladewing and he was responsible for wrecking the Tripredicus’ plans in the earlier battles here last month. As for the demolitions, I did some checking after the problems on Trypticon earlier.  That human that you were sparring with, Zabgoth, he’s certified in a rather impressive amount of demolitions expertise as well as four or five technical fields of study.  He better matches the bill than any Cybertronian that is currently on Earth.”

Zabgoth shrugs, “Well, with that mech of his, he can take care of himself, that’s for sure.”

“Then it’s decided.  You have twenty four hours until you leave.   Your mission, return to Cybertron and slow down any production of drones, and any activity of the Decepticons possible until the fleet returns to reclaim Cybertron.”

Earth: Metroplex

 

You take a swing by Trypticon’s labs to see how repairs are being done on the suit.  The Lieutenant was practically crawling through every component checking it the whole time, much to Blast-off’s disapproval.  Everything seemed fairly thorough though, and the repairs were almost complete.  You handed a small datachip to the lietenant as you walked out, telling him to meet you tonight, down below the struts of Metroplex.  He looked at you oddly but shook his head in agreement.

Then you go and send a messenger droid to Bladewing and tell him to be out on deck morning after this at 0400 hours for departure. 

After that, you spend the night researching the defense net on Cybertron.  You find several codes inside of Trypticon’s databanks that were old relics from when the Decepticons were in control of Cybertron.  You don’t know if it will help, but you set it to download into Skyjammer’s ship.

You also send as detailed of blueprints as you can muster from the Soulfire’s databanks. 

After a short stint in the engergizing chambers, you contact Retrohopper and ask if he wanted to go for a spin out on the ocean.

As you sped away from the ship, the waters got rough, forcing Retrohopper to take to a higher altitude.

“This planet is wild!”  he yells across the spray of a churning wave.  “You sure you don’t want to head for sunnier weather?”

You had jetted deep into the ocean’s waters, using your speeds to distance yourself away from the bases by hundreds of miles.

“No, I wanted to get a chance to talk to you in private.  The storm only adds to the safety in this case!”

“What’s up?!”

You side move across a gust of air that Retro merely slices through in his slim hover mode, “I’m sending a group back to Cybertron!”

“What?!  A group?!  What for?!”

“There gonna try to slow down the Decepticons…”

You tell him about what you and the other leaders think is going on, and how you hoped that the group could at least hinder their progress.

A small island could be seen below, little more than an outcropping of volcanic rocks in the middle of what had become a viscous storm.  Retro transformed and landed, you followed suit. 

“You know, you’re sending them to die.”

“Maybe.  But what choice is there?”

“None.  Your commander of the forces here… They call you Admiral Backdraft, most of these bots have been in war, and they know the costs.  It may have been centuries, but that’s not a memory that’s easily erased.  If the group can slow the Warworld down, so be it.  If we tried to rush and return to Cybertron we may end up getting ripped to shreds cuz of lack of numbers.  That’s not a risk we can afford.  This war isn’t about energon or supremacy, it’s about our home… and having a home to return to.”

“You’re right…”

“I’m always right!  You should know that by now… oh, and as luck would have it, I happen to have some of the deeper code encryptions for the Cyber-net.  It could help them get to planetfall and maybe improve their chances tenfold!”

A peel of thunder rolled across the sky.

“How the slag do you have that?!?”

“Like I said, luck!  I just happened to have borrowed a few things from Roadbuster to input into Metro’s databanks and just happened to tap the wrong set of keys.  I think I can repeat it and get the info back out and ready for download to Skyjammer’s ship!”

You chuckle, “I hope your luck holds out Retro.  We’re gonna need all we can get…”

 

You watched from your room the next morning as the svelte black ship lifted itself off into the pre-dawn darkness…

 Earth: Metroplex

 

            You look out through the mists beyond the window, reflecting on the ship and it’s occupants.  Bravely they faced the unknown, in the vague hope that they can delay the oncoming tidal wave that threatens to consume your world. 

‘You know, you’re sending them to die.’

Retrohopper’s words echo through your cpu as you turn and head to the command bridge of Metroplex.

‘You’re Commander of the forces here…’

            How did a cop from a backwoods planet get to be Commander of the Cybertronian Armada?

            The bridge was quiet.  Only Retrohopper was present.  You had made sure that he would be on duty when they left…

            The main viewing windows cleared, giving you a powerful view of the skies as the sun began to crawl over the horizon.

            You watch as the fiery orb lights the clouds in an array of colors, turning the waters into a golden pathway leading off into eternity.

            Bird fly across the scene… seagulls.  They had taken to staying around the massive platform, coming in from the land ships that visit the joint cities.

            Some of the bots fed them, much to Metroplex’ discomfort…

            The outside speakers picked up on the roar of the ocean, and the cawing cry of the birds as the sun continued on its path upward, igniting the sky into brilliant daylight.

            “How many sunrises have I seen from how many planets…” you mutter to yourself.

            You rub a hand over your eyes, clearing the static around them, “We live for so many years, and in that life span we seem to forget the quiet moments such as this…”

                You walk over to the bridge control center and tap up some readouts on the bots you had with you on your journey to make it here.

                Retrohopper had been assigned to Metroplex’ bridge duty in the interim.  Rascal had taken up residence on Trypticons, and was working as a courier for Megatron.  Battlestripe was apparently a medical specimen, having his Transmetal II technology examines by a group of Earth Scientists.  Thundercloud was working with the scientists on the Soulfire’s connections.  Cerebrus wasn’t doing much of anything, apparently using his role as Maximal Elder to sit back and relax.

You make sure that they are assigned for duty on the Soulfire for the return trip.

You then browse the data on what was pulled from Scavenger’s data processors.  It was still vague, since it had only been a few days, but there were a few advancements being tested already.

The next few days you spend keeping an eye on those advancements, and greeting new ships as they come in.  You make it a point to meet with each Captain in at least two days from their arrival in Earth space. 

Transfer shuttles begin to run between the Transformer cities and the Moonbase.  At first just one a day, then two, and soon there were morning and evening shifts transferring people and Transformers to and fro between the two areas.

You handle shifting of duties and personnel, and oversee assigning ships to docking ports.

The next day, a ship, The Medusae, decided to go rogue.  It left it’s moorings a few mega cycles after it arrived and proceeded at top speeds out of the system.  A patrol ship tried to stop it, but was shot at.  No one was hurt, luckily, but two of the crewmembers were found later in the Moon base’s lounge, dead.  It was a Destron ship, and Megatron found it’s previous Captain.  Her name was Spectre, and apparently she approached Megatron to join the Decepticons.  Megatron questioned her, and they pieced together a rather sordid tale. 

Apparently, The Medusae, under Captain Spectre’s orders, investigated a distress signal, and picked up three Destron’s from Karil… the same planet where Lightslayer and Zabgoth had been.  They picked up the Destron’s and the three Decepticons that Lightslayer had taken out while they were there.  The Destron’s took command of the ship, and Spectre learned that they were high level assassins.  She also learned that they were after Lightslayer and Zabgoth for some reason.

Currently, Megatron has Spectre looking for the assassin that killed her two crew members.  He believed that whoever it was is still here on Earth.

You asked to be kept updated on the search.

Also, another Decepticon was reported AWOL.  No one could find a trace of the Decepticon Deathspire.  He seemed to have disappeared off of the whole face of the Earth!

The day after that, another ship, the Windrunner came in with, apparently, an old Decepticon prisoner.  On questioning the Captain, a Maximal by the name of Grizzly-1, you found that she had been in stasis for several millennia.  You decide to turn the matter over to Megatron… After all, it was probably one of his soldiers!  It was just lucky for the bot that they didn’t find her a few months ago. Then, it would probably have meant immediate deactivation.

Instead, Megatron simply accepted her into the ranks of the Decepticons on Earth.  You hate to think about the adjustment that bot’s gotta go through.

            By now, the forces on Earth had grown to include three Maximal Explorers, two Predacon Defenders and a Predacon Hunter, four Cybertron Defenders four Destron Defenders, the Soulfire, and the moderately armed shuttle called the Deathmonger.  Three Maximal ships were still unaccounted for, three Predacon ships, three Cybertron ships and three Destron ships.

For every ship that comes in, there is an average crew of five active robots, and then an average of  ten stasis pods available per ship.

Some of the stasis pods were already active, and by now, there was perhaps a hundred additional  Cybertronians walking the cities and the Moonbase above mixing in with the forty or fifty that were originally on Earth when you got here!

All in all it kept you very busy.  As time passes you keep an eye on the progression of the Vehicon technology, watching as the data processed begins to build a cohesive picture of the advancements in armor made by Decepticon technology…   

 Earth: Metroplex

 

            You decide to take a short trip up to inspect the ships that are housed above in the Moonbases.  Rapido insists that you take a private shuttle, and that you take at least one person with you.  So, you and Retrohopper boarded the plush shuttle early in the morning.

                As you settled back in your seat you close your eyes for a moment as you hear the engines begin to heat up outside. 

                You feel the shuttle begin to leave the deck and rise through the atmosphere.

                You open your eyes to take a look out the window…

                The bitter sting of smoke strikes your optics along with the familiar crackle and heat.  You look around to find yourself amid a chaotic scene of fire and destruction.

                Slabs of metallic walls lye on the ground, burnt and crumbling.   You can see parts of bodies scattered around… hands here and there reaching up in death through the shattered rubble.

A dark form walks over you, you try to fend it off with your arm, but you find only a stub
of melted alloys and wires smoldering from missing connections.

You can hear a booming laughter as he walks over you. The flames' macabre dance of light brightens the Transformer's features somewhat.

You catch the rounded and charred edges of two huge vulcan cannons.  You glance down at your midsection and find that it is riddled with holes.

His leg rises over you and you see the faces of your fellow Autobot’s smashed into the armor plates.

You scream in defiance, trying to deny what you see before you.

The faces on his leg change, they are suddenly very familiar. You see Zabgoth, Lightslayer, Skyjammer, and Bladewing attached to the armor plating. The head of the massive bot leans over and you see Retrohopper staring at you, his shiny finish glaring at me, burning a hole through my spark, "You know you're sending them to die."

You yell back in defiance, "I had to! It will save many more lives! It may be our only chance!"

The face becomes to glaringly brilliant, it changes again but you cannot make out how, only that behind the glare two massive wings stretched out behind the form, “And the wars you begin I will end.”  The glint of an upraised sword rose up high and swept down.

You jerked up, gasping to find yourself in the shuttle.  Retrohopper turns to look, as does the pilot from the cockpit section, ”You ok, Admiral?”

You gather yourself, “Yeah, just a little out of it. That’s all.”

You glance down at his sigil as the dark purple glint catches your eye.  He notices you glaring and smirks, “Yeah, war does make for strange bedfellows, no?”

 

Once you arrived at the moonbase you spoke briefly with the commander and asked him to avoid making a big deal about you being here.  You wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible.

You and Retrohopper walked around the outer ring, looking at the collection of ships that were moored out there, and throughout the day, you met a few Captains and were afforded short tours of their ships, learning the strengths and weaknesses of each. 

You then decided to spend some time walking around the Moonbase itself.  A huge hangar, serving as a docking port for shuttles and loading skiffs took up its primary area.

There was also construction and repair being done here in attempts to make the fleet as complete as possible for the return.

As you and Retrohopper walked, you came across two brightly colored bots, twins.  They were working on the side of a large shuttle that had some obvious char marks across its bow.  They turned in unison and both smiled widely at you.

“Hiya rusty!  I’m Action!” the left one blurts out suddenly and energetically, you could barely suppress a snort of laughter.

“And I’m Reaction, this numbskull’s twin!” they both proffered their hands with a sudden motion, you jump and grab one, and Retrohopper shakes the other.  Their energy seemed somewhat… invigorating.

You answer, not wanting to be rude, “Hi, I’m Ad… Backdraft…  just visiting from Earth.”

They look at the old Cybertron sigil on your chest and both their eyes go wide.  They turn to each other making an odd collection of clicks and whirs, like some kind of weird conversation.

In unison they turn back and say, “So, you’re our commander!”  They both salute exaggeratedly, but wholeheartedly.

                --You know you’re sending them to die…--

                You give a curt nod to them and return the salute, “It’s nice to meet you both…”

                You see the recently replaced Autobot sigil on their arms and wince as you remember the friends that you’ve lost over the centuries.  You excuse yourself and leave, heading out the observation deck.

You look out of the plate glass windows at the Earth, Retrohopper standing silently beside you.

--And the wars you begin, I will finish…--

A cold shudder passes through you as you stare out at the Earth far below you.  Something about that voice… It’s odd resonance stirred something in you.

Not fear, nor horror…

Rather, exultation.

Earth : Metroplex

 

    The next few days were one again uneventful.  More ships came, and general reports floated across your desk, from maintenance logs to rumors.  Lots of rumors seemed to get reported.  Few were substantial enough for investigation though.

    The links between the cities via the Soulfire were now completed and operational.  Most of the fleet ships that were present were re-outfitted for war, the safeties on weaponry systems were removed on Megatron's suggestion, and many ships had time to work on boosting output levels and shield efficiency.

    You spent some time looking in the computer logs of Ancient Cybertron, in the Archives, to see if the odd creature in your dream matches any myths.  However, most Cybertronian myths centered around Unicron and Primus.  There were a few offshoots, The Last Autobot, The Swarm, The Matrix, The Quintesson overlords.  Most were scattered and some were even made up at dates way to late to hold anything other than fictual fantasizing from bored robots.

    You take daily trips to the stormy cliffs, where the atmosphere seemed to echo your own turmoil and the doubts you had, but something about the stark scenery gave you strength, and there you could find the confidence and strength that was needed to go on.

 

    Then, one morning the completed report on the Vehicon armoring crossed your desk.  The techniques that were used had been fully isolated, and the scientist thought it possible for a robot to be outfitted with the new armor.

    They just needed permission to draft a guinea pig.

    Immediately, you assigned the paperwork for the next day to Rapido.  he could handle most of the work, and the greeting of any new ships. 

    You were going for an outfitting.

 

    "You're sure about this?" the Maximal engineer finished removing several of your charred plates for easier reconfiguration.

    "If your willing to test this on anybody, it might as well be me.  Think of it as creation of a new symbol for the Cybertronian Armada."

    A Predacon scientist, "He just thinks me incompetent, " he snatches a gathering of leads from the Maximal and starts plugging them in himself, "There is nothing to worry about.  The operation will take about fifteen megacycle for the completion, and then another megacycle for solidation and synchronization of the circuitry."

    "That long?"

    "You wanted a complete rebuild... you get a complete rebuild."

    You sigh and lay back into the chamber as the doors begin to close, "No wishes of good luck?"

    "We make our own luck, now sit still."

    --Systems offline.--

 

    Sparks flew as the chamber opened, and for an instant, you thought there was some problem.  You shifted out, putting a hefty leg on the ground. 

    A completely unfamiliar leg.

    You fell.

    "I told you that it would take at least another megacycle to recalibrate!"  The voice belonged to the Maximal engineer.

    A set of hands gripped you under your arms and hoisted you around to sit down on... something.

    Your optics only registered an odd swimming effect in the room...

    "Optics?"   

    "Yup, looks like we traded in your visor for two separate optics boss bot.  Is, uh, everything cerebrally intact?"

    The voice of the Predacon impatiently rushed over the other, "What is your name?"

    "Uhm... Backdraft."

    You felt a ratcheting near your optics.

    "Rank?"

    "Cap... Admiral of the Cybertronian Armada."

    The room began to swim into view as the Maximal spoke again, "Whose your daddy!"

    You were staring at a reflection of the new body.  Transmetallicized reddish orange plates glittered sharply in the lights of the laboratory.  Wings stretched away from your head in windswept angles, and on your arms, where thick hefty armatures replaced your old basic arms.  Sharp tri-clawed hands replaced your old palms, and two guns sat to either side of your head.  Sharp, line green etching angled around the nosecone of the new jet form on your chest.

    "Whoa."

    "Not bad, eh? Of course, there's no way we can spend the time or resources to rebuild the troops, but whenever someone comes seriously damaged... well, might as well replace everything with the best!"

    "Good work..." you stand, but immediately drop back down to the chair in a swirl of dizziness.

    "Remember..."

    "Yeah, yeah..." you raise a hand... claw... whatever, "one megacycle for synchronization."

Earth: Metroplex

 

    As you wait, you run sets of self diagnostics, waiting in anticipation of the chance to truly test the new body. 

    The tests were amazing.  Granted, your old body wasn't the most up to date, but you hadn't balked on upgrades either.  This Vehicon/Transmetal combination was stunning! 

    As the megacycle passed, you prepared yourself to report, and, calling Optimus Prime and Megatron to a meeting room.

 

    The two leaders looked over your new body.  Optimus was the first to speak, "Fascinating.  And there are no glitches within your systems?"

    "Not that my scans have detected insofar.  I'll be able to tell you more once I go and give it a true dry run."

    "Good, then I would suggest doing so as quickly as possible.  You may be right, this new form of yours is powerful and stunning looking.  It may be just the thing to send a new spark of loyalty through the troops."

    You look at Megatron, "And what do you think?"

    "The body is impressive, there is no doubt.   But you say a mass upgrade is not possible?"

    "Not at this moment.  I was assured that any severely damaged units may be rebuilt as such though... but only in the case where a complete bodily rebuild is necessary."

    "Very well.  Then we had best be about our business.  File your full reports with the database pool shared by both cities when you have fully tested the armor.  Also, if you wish, I could supply a number of Decepticons ready to... put you through your paces."

    You nod, "Thanks, I'd best make sure I don't crash into the ocean before I test the tac computers in a real battle."

    Both the leaders stand, and Optimus turns to you, "Best hurry though, might as well have some peaceful combat simulation now rather than wait until the real battles ahead."

 

    The tannish Velociraptor was apparently sunning herself on a high platform amidst the jumble of buildings on Trypticon.  She had been working hard, burying memories of friends she had already lost in this war, wishing that the time for payback would hurry up.

    A dark cloud covered the warm sunlight, she lazily opened an optic, to take a look.

    The dark form resolved, no into a cloud, but into the floating form of a large Cybertronian...

    "HEY!" Rascal jumps up and transforms, nearly loosing her footing on the platform.

    "Whoa!  Take it easy Rascal!  It's me!" you hold up your hands... er, claws to the Predacon in a gesture of peace.

    "Backdraft?!? "  She put up the blaster she had drawn in anger, "What the Pitt happened to you?!"

    "It's a new look!"

    You float over the platform... you found that you had a sub-mode of your robot form, one that clamped both your legs together and used thrusters to keep you airborne.  It was extremely maneuverable, much more so than your clunky robotic form.

    "No rust spots?"

    "No rust spots, just shiny Transmetal armor and Vehicon technology!"

    She smiles, and you think that it was the first time in a while since she had done so, "So does that mean you've put your past behind you?"

    You shrug, "Sometimes, you have to decide where you want to live, the past or the present...  Only one of them leaves room for the future."

    "Oh cripes, You're even starting to SOUND like a Prime!"

    "It's true!  We've got a long road ahead of us.  And we've all got to keep a clear head..."

    "Yeah, easy for you to say."

    "Hey, look, I know that you miss Packrat, but I don't think he'd want you to die with him."

    The small Predacon slumped, "Maybe..."

    Her head popped back up, "Hey, you remember what I said about Cerebrus?"

    "Yeah, but he's proved..."

    "He's proved that he's a nosey bastard.  You know that he's been accessing all the vehicon data, and the listings of the ships around hear.  He flashes his 'Maximal Elder' presence constantly to get what he wants."

    "He IS a Maximal Elder..."

    "Yeah, but he's done nothing but snoop.  I think he's routing out something for the enemy."

    "You are unbelievable, can't you trust anyone."

    She shruggs, "I trust you... and I still don't want to see you get hurt.  I don't have many friends, but you, Battlestripe, and Retrohopper I know I can count on."

    "Well..."

    "Look, you need someone to watch your plates.  Like it or not, your the commander of a large armada, and people will want to undermine your position.  Who better to look for hunters and predators than a Predacon?!"

    "Ok...  If it will keep you happy, then I'd be proud to have your protection."

    She smiles a brilliant smile.

    "BUT, don't go throwing blame without any proof."

    "It's a deal.  You gonna keep flying like that all the time?"

    "I dunno... it's kinda neat..."

 

    In turn, you showed off to Retrohopper and Battlestripe as well, each was amazed at the difference the Vehicon technology made.

    You knew you needed a flyer though, someone who was fast.  On the deck of Metroplex, you found just such a candidate... or such a candidate just found you.

    "Greetings Backdraft." came a high, grainy voice.

    You turn to see the camouflaged form of Starscream standing near you.

    "Greetings Air Commander," you nod your head at him, "What brings you out on Metroplex' decks.

    "Word of your new armor.  I hear tell that your systems are highly tweaked and I wished to take a look myself.   Tell me, have you had a chance to test out the capabilities of your new form."

    "Interesting you should ask.  I was just about to search around for a flyer to help me do just that.  Care for a race Starscream?"

    The Decepticons eyes glinted with merriment, "You think your new metal is a match for an Air Commander?"

    "Match or not, the test would not be valid unless there were some chance of failure."

    He transforms into the sleek jet craft, "The Admiral Backdraft, may the best bot win!" 

 

Earth: Metroplex

 

    You suppress a snicker at the fortuitous arrival of this trustworthy competitor.  You walk up to him, "Well, let me thank you for giving me this opportunity."

    While your audio components vibrate, your radio equipment was sending quite a different message, you quickly encrypted some code to Retrohopper, using the Char Security force's cods.  You give him the course coordinates as you set it up, and ask him to keep an eye on you.

    Starscream sneers, "Don't be too quick to thank me, Admiral.  After all, you haven't actually won the race yet."

    You transform into the sleek new fighter design, "The course is this; we begin here on the aft landing pad of Metroplex and pull around Mt. Cadillac on the far shoreline.  We pull around and head back out for the fore landing pad #G37 on Metroplex' south side."

    "A simple foot race?"

    "What do you mean?!"

    "Well, with straight engine burn, there's not much... challenge to the course you set."

    "But it's the course I set."

    "Ok.  Agreed.  But here's the bet.  We do this course, and then we try things my way."

    "And that is...?"

    "Let's see your flat out speed first. Starscream, jet mode!"

    He flattens out into a smooth, black fighter, his blood red cockpit glittering evilly in the sunlight.

    "Perhaps you can radio your friend to set up a starting flare?"

    "Yeah..."  you stop shock registering what he said, "... I..."

    "Just have him shoot one of the city guns and get it over with!"

    "Right." you set your jaw, realizing that perhaps the stories of Starscreams deviousness were more than exaggerated legends.

    Your engines flared into life, heating up the metallic deck, brakes still locked you both in place, but not for long.

    You crook your 'gooseneck' at him, "As you say... may the best bot win."

    A gun swiveled far above as you send the signal and the cannon shot forth a practice flare.

    The brakes released and you both burned off into the skies.

    In nanosegments you had both broken the sound barrier several times over!  You had never been able to travel anywhere near this fast before, but Starscream was keeping pace well.

    But neither was he passing you.

    The miles melted away by the hundreds as the two of you streaked out over the blue ocean floor.  In segments, you were both within sight of land.  It wasn't long before the mountain was in view. The both of you arced around it, Starscream cut in a lot closer than you, sheering off precious inches, but you determined not to give him that advantage.  As you rounded the corner and straightened out you kicked on your afterburners, giving yourself a refreshed burst of energy as you headed dead toward the ocean and Metroplex.

    The speed pushed you past Starscream, but his engines whined to keep up.  However, while he could nearly match it, he fell behind centimeter by mere centimeter as you raced across the blue expanse. 

    Metroplex glimmered in the distance, and you were both on it in a flash.  Transforming at the same moment, you came to rest peacefully, using the repulsor lifts of your hover mode.  Starscream screeched across the deck, sending shower of sparks and coming to a stop right beside you.

    "Guess I won."  you couldn't help the pride in your voice.

    "Not bad... but we still have my course to fly."

    "Homecourt advantage for you?"

    "No... I'll keep it fair, we're gonna try a little game."

    "A game?"

    "Yes, perhaps you've heard of it...  Follow the leader?" With that the Decepticon transformed and shot straight up into the air.  You scrambled to follow, finding his engines in full burn, heading off into the upper atmosphere!

    --This wasn't part of the plan!!--

    But still, your pride was determined to show the Decepticon that you could handle anything he could met out.

    The slick jet roared ever upward, smashing out of Earth's atmosphere.  You were surprised that your new engines had suborbital capability... much less when he pulled you up and out of the main pull of Earth's gravity.

    --Zero G?!  I'm not trained for this!!--

    Still, Starscream pushed on, arcing out and around the globe, until over the horizon, a pale white-gray planetoid rose up.

    The Moon.

    Starscream burned straight for it.

    "If I don't know where we're going, how the pitt am I supposed to beat you!"

    "You don't play this game often, do you.  You follow me, if you can match me and keep up, then you can take the lead... then its your game to invent."

    Suppressing a snarl you push your engines to their limits, streaking behind in the odd, weightlessness.

    Down toward the surface Starscream flew, and you followed, right on his tail, and slowly catching up.

    Suddenly, his plan became clear.  The black jet dipped down near the surface, and into a huge crevasse on the surface of the moon.  Starting in a massive crater, the crack had to have been three times the depth of the Grand Canyon!  But as compared to the canyon, this crack had odd protrusions, veritable columns and bridges stretching across it at angles dictated by the low gravity on the planet.  Your sensors were scrambling to match the massive changes in stability you had gone through, but you were confident that the new tech would make up for where you lacked experience.

    The dark confining walls streaked by, and Starscream's pattern became erratic.  At first you went straight and safe, but a few well placed taunts from the Decepticon brought you to match his moves vector by vector.

    Then, there was a sharp dip, you spun into it, just like he did, but you didn't cut his engines... like he did.

    Spinning out of control, you smashed hard into the wall.  The soft ash collapsed around you, burying you in a cloud of gray dust.

    In segments, tons of ash had collapsed around you, burying you deep in the moons cold surface.

    For a segment you sat there.  Uninjured, but embarrassed.

    Then with a heavy heave, you pushed yourself toward the surface.  There stood Starscream, holding out a hand to help you hoist yourself clear.

    "Not bad."  he muttered.

    "Yeah... not bad for a wrecking ball..." you look around at the massive dust slide that you had caused.

    He chuckled, and you were surprised that there was no mocking tones in his voice when he continued, "Not bad for someone who has never flown in zero G environment.  I brought you here for a reason."

    Your eyes narrowed, tales of Starscreams 'reasons' were fairly common, "And that is?"

    "To keep you alive."

    "What?"

    "We're going into a war, and when I saw you prance around in that new armor, I recognized the downfall of many of my former compatriots."

    "I'm... not following you."

    "It's simple.  You, an old bot, that hasn't had a new body change for a few centuries, suddenly get handed a crankshaft of new circuits and armor, and suddenly, you think you're Primus' avatar!"

    You started to give a sharp retort, but stopped when you realized that he was all too close to the truth.

    "So, you head into battle, guns blazing, and a total loss of respect for the damaging potential of even the oldest weapons.  Then you die."

    You stared at him, dumfounded.

    "Don't look so shocked to learn a trick or two from the Universes greatest underhanded survivor.  We are heading into an unknown battlefield, and the instant you fall, the instant we are all lost.  Like it or not, I have to admit that you and your fancy new circuitry represent the very hope which may lead these forces to victory.  I had to make sure you were grounded before someone grounded you all too quickly in battle."

    You shrugged, "Thanks..." struggling you kept going, "You're... you're right.  I needed to learn I was fallible."

    His eyes sparkled above the faceplate, "If it's any consolation to finding your still mortal... For a few cycles, I wasn't sure I could prove it to you.  Most bots would have gotten into space and never made the first pull up when trying to enter an atmosphere even as light as this planetoids!"

    You returned the smiling glimmer, "A few battles, and I'll be ready to try this again."

    "I'll welcome the challenge..." he transforms, "But I'll still win."  his engines blasted into the surface, raising a cloud half a kilometer high.  Coughing, you transform and follow suite.

    It was time to go home and prepare for the return...

 

    The next two days was piled with meetings with Optimus, Megatron, and Starscream.  Battle plans were laid out, ship's strengths and weaknesses were arrayed.  Often, you found yourself relying on the experience of the others as to what ships would fall where.

    A small ship that had impressively advanced it's weaponry was chosen by Megatron to be the forerunner...  You grimaced as Starscream referred to it as the arrow catcher.  It's name was the Windrunner, a refitted Maximal ship, that apparently had a Decepticon for a weapons officer.  Apparently, this Decepticon had been in stasis for some time, and still had fresh battle programs in her matrix.

    The battle plan began to fall into place from there.  All of the large ships would jump in synchronization.  Arriving horribly close to Cybertron, they would no doubt have to open fire immediately, perhaps to crack past Cybertron's defenses.  

    You still held Retrohopper on the main ship, the conglomeration of two cities and the Soulfire, where he could use the advanced and powerful communication's devices of the cities to hopefully crack the automatic command satellites, and shut down the defense grid.

    All it would take is a little luck...

 Earth : Metroplex

   

    The first rays of fiery sunlight ignite the landscape in the foggy, chill morning air. 

    The fog seems to lightly and fluidly swirl in the quiet breeze. 

    All at once, the morning is broken by the ignition of sub-orbital engines warming up, the steady fog churning away from the heat in a mad rush to avoid burning off.  A few small ships rise into the light blue sky quickly, easily beating the gravity of Earth, while the larger ships rise slowly.  Their engines whining loudly as they are called upon to give the huge bulks lift.

    You stare out the window of the bridge of your ship, the Soulfire, which was now attached to the massive bulks of two cities.

    The light gently pours into the bridge, caressing it in a gentle warmth. 

    You thoughtfully sigh as you walk to the front of the bridge and look to your crew.

    Retrohopper manned the navigation center, with Rascal as main pilot.  Several others worked with her, and in conjunction with groups onboard the cities, to control the massive ship.  Battlestripe was here, ready and waiting at the gun controls.  Roadbuster sat at the tactical station. 

    You walk with a steady stride to the command chair and turn to the comm, nodding for them to open a channel.   

    "This is Admiral Backdraft, aboard the Cybertronian battleship Soulfire.  We are ready for departure.  And now, we, the Cybertronian/Earth United Fleet, begin our Exodus from Earth.  We leave the orbit of this star, and go to fight for our homeworld in the coldness of space.  This is a fight unlike any we have taken part in before.  It is a fight where the Cybertrons, Destrons, Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals, and Predacons fight alongside each other to give rest to an insurrection.  We not only fight for our homeworld, but the homeworld of those to come.  Let us give rise to the next wonderful age of peace!"

    You nod again, this time to Retrohopper.  He signals the confirmation of the navigation  coordinates for the jump point.  Outside, the blue skies had already faded into the twinkling darkness of space.  Many ships floated around you, all turning their paths toward the rendezvous.

    "Retrohopper, you have the bridge.  I'll be back in time for the jump."

    He nods and signals another bot to take his position.

 

    You head to your quarters.  There, you open a large chest and stare down at it's contents.

    Reaching in, you remove the old, rusted and charred head of your former body.

    "And now, this is where I say goodbye to all those memories and haunting visions I've held ever since that horrid day.  I regret one thing most of all.  I couldn't let the souls of those fallen rest.  Now, with this new beginning they will.  This fight isn't for you anymore my friends.  This one is for the lives of those around me now.  Goodbye, all of you."

    You replace the head and close the chest, locking it.

    It was time to return to the bridge and prepare for a fight.

Hyperspace: The Cybertronian Armada

 

    "Rascal, give me a readout of the current formation of the fleet."

    "Coming up."  A light blue framed three-dimensional readout pops up on the main viewscreen.  It rotates slowly, allowing optical processors to take the whole scene in and then pulls back to reveal the formation.  They were still together, and seemed to be slowing at a uniform pace.  That much was good.

    "Orders Admiral?" Thunderfist asks in the hush.

    You signal him to open a comm channel to all ships, "Cybertronian Fleet, this is Admiral Backdraft speaking.  As many of you are aware, we are being pulled out of subspace.  There is no cause for alarm, however, let us not become lax from our size and power.  Be prepared.  Something or someone is pulling us from our course, for on reason or another, and we will give them the fright of their lives.  All ships, prepare for an attack.  Even if this is friendly or insignificant, we can not be too cautious in time of war."

    You close the signal and look to Battlestripe, "All hands to battlestations, prepare for a possible raid."

    "Hey," Rascal interrupts, "what if it's nothing?  What if it's insignificant..." you look to see her with a mischievous look on her face.

    "Well, then we'll just log this as a stations drill."  You give all efforts toward a half-smile, trying to give a bit of levity to the current situation.

    A megacycle and a half passes, while you wait patiently to be plucked from hyperspace.  You continued to view the progress, making sure that nothing untoward happens.

    "Admiral, " Thunderfist interrupts, "We're getting a signal from the head ship.  The Windrunner."

    You look over, "What do they say?"

    "They are scanning something strange on their engine units."

    "Something... strange?"

    "Mold."

    "And this is important because...."

    "They want you to look at it."  With that Thuderfist clicks a button, causing a picture to materialize on the viewscreen.  It was the aft of a Maximal Explorer ship, presumably the Windrunner.  It clicked forward, zooming in on the engines itself.  Past the soft white glow of the thrusters, you could see the metal sidewalls of the units themselves.   They were shimmering with a swirling pattern of energy, one that twitched and shifted as if it was alive...

    "What the pitt is that?"

    "They don't know.   But they say that..."

    "Just put me through to them."  you cut him off.

    "Ok, you're talking to their weapons officer.  A Decepticon named Starshooter."

    The screen shifts and you see a black and red female Decepticon appear, "Admiral."

    "Starshooter, what have you found?"

    "I'm not sure.  It appears that there is some type of growth that is feeding on energy being emitted from our Transwarp engines..."

   

The Soulfire: Hyperspace

 

    "Let's get a reading of a sample of this 'growth'." you say, running over in your mind, the space-born growths that may affect Cybertronians or other machine-like forms.  You know that there are many virus', too many for your databanks to hold, but perhaps Metroplex or Trypticon would hold a more complete database.

    The black and red Decepticon grimaces on the monitor, "And how do you suppose we do that Admiral?  It is on the outside of the ship?"

    You stare at her coldly, "Get ready for some zero G work, and grab some protective gear from the ship.  We need this examined ASAP.  We don't know what it could mean for our impending battle."

    "Go out there?!" she exclaims with a shock, "I'm no worker drone!"

    "Yes, go out there.  A worker drone wouldn't know how to deal with conditions if they altered rapidly, nor would it be able to make observations the way a real bot could.  Besides, if you were quick enough to catch the growth in the first place, maybe you might notice something that a drone would completely miss.  Take a cutting laser with you, and a laser trap.  I don't want anyone touching it directly."

    She stares at you in disbelief and anger, as if you had reprimanded a youth bot to take out the salvage, "Then I might suggest we at least drop out of hyperspace?"

    "Of course, it's too dangerous to try it otherwise. I will be sending out the shutdown signal in five cycles."

    She stared back at you for a few segments, cold anger smoldering in her eyes, "Acknowledged Admiral.  Windrunner out."  The screen shuts off angrily.

    You look up to see Rascal turned at you with a quirked eye, "You know that was a very selfish thing to do.  For all you know, that stuff could kill her."

    You sigh, ready to respond when Retrohopper interrupts, " No, not selfish.  If we ignore whatever it is and keep going, then we'll pull into Cybertron's airspace as if we were last centuries repo models.  We might as well paste red targets on our chassis. Not to mention the simple matter of bio-contagion.   We don't want to drop something dangerous off on Cybertron.  We don't know what the effect could be!"

    You nod, "At least this way, if something happens onboard the Windrunner, then hopefully we can quarantine it..."

    As you feel the weight of the order, Retrohopper looks out the viewscreen at the far distant point of light that was the Windrunner, trailing far ahead of the main fleet, "Good luck to you Starshooter." he mutters under his breath.

    Thunderfist clears his throat, breaking the moment, "And... what if all the ships have this growth?"

    The thought was elementary and obvious.

    And you could kick yourself for not thinking it.  You wince, but try to keep it hidden, "Well then, Primus help us all."

    "I'll run a scan, just to make sure."

   

    Within a cycle the report was back, the massive engines on board the ship-conglomerate were indeed infected.  Each of the massive engines was reading an infection far thicker than that on the Windrunner. 

    You sent out the order to drop from hyperspace.

    The stars around the fleet lost their smear as you slowed in unison to a practical crawl through normal space.

    Blackness swims around you, as you had dropped fairly far from any system.  

    Within segments Thuderfist reported, "Admiral, we... are reporting a slight increase in growth on parts of the engines."

The Soulfire: Space somewhere

 

    "Ok, let's lock down all power sources, let's not feed it anymore than we have to.  Retrohopper I want the safetys off on the engines."

    "What?"  the golden bot turned to look at you.

    "The safteys, shut them off.  I'm gonna try something.  If the sudden drop in temerature cause increased growth, then maybe it's a result of the cooling of the engines.  Let's see what happens if we superheat the engines."

    "Gotcha. You want Metroplex and Trypticon to do the same?"

    "No, let's use them to keep us from flying forward as we heat the engines.  If it works with us, we'll start the other engines in their turns..."

    "Right.  We're ready."

    "On my mark?"

    Retrohopper hunches over the controls, and everyone stares with anticipation at the viewscreens, where a picture of the rear engines and their odd growth was displayed.

    "Mark!"

    The engines alight with a blue glow, rapidly shifting them into a white glow as the metal surrounding it superheats.

    On the monitors, the plant growths wilt for a moment...

    Then spring into thick, heavy vines!

    The ship lurches, pulling both Metroplex and Trypticon around with it as the vines dig into the hull!  Alarm klaxons blair.

    "Shut them down!!"

    Retrophopper was already pounding on the controls, "I CAN'T!"

    you stagger forward in the lurching ship, "Why not!?"

    "Something's locked the controls!"

    You hear the computers... "Hull breach on rear engineering sections."

    "Pitt!!  Try emergency overrides!"

    Suddenly, everything went black.

    Pitch black.

    The ship was dead in space.

    "Slag,"  Retrohopper muttered.

    "We could use some of that luck of yours."

    There was a twisting noise, a crunching sound from the hull, when suddenly the control panels began to rattle.

    A hum reverbrated throughout the ship and the lights sprang back to life, and with them all the monitors.

    Code began to scroll across them all, as if the ship itself just reset itself.

    Rascal hissed, "I don't like this."

    Suddenly all the screesns blanked at once, and returned to normal operation.

    "Retro... tell me something good."

    The chromed robot was intently studying displays that were flashing across his screen, "Thunderfist is below, he says that the vines dug in and wrapped around the core of the ship... then sank into it!"

    "What's our status now?"

    "Everything is operating... wow..."

    "Wow?"

    "Wow... it's operating at two hundred percent!"

Space: The Soulfire

   

    "Two hundred percent?!  How can that be?!"  you ask in amazement.

    The comm fizzles with the astounded voice of Thunderfist, "Admiral, I honestly do not know what these vines are.  I must admit that I've never seen anything like them.  They seem to have a molecular structure that absorbs the energy and converts it into a reaction."

    "Please elaborate."  you lean nearer to Retrohopper's console.

    "Well it acts in every way like a terran plant, which takes in energy... in most cases sunlight... and converts it to a useable form.  But in this cae, it can alter what that form is on a subatomic level."

    Rascal interrupts, "Sir, there are delegates from every ship outside the hull, asking for permission to enter."

    "Permission to enter?"

    "Yes sir, it seems in the blackout, the other ships immediately sent out one crewmember to assist the main ship in whatever way possible."

    "Grant them permission, but have them stay in the docking bay, I'll come to address them in five cycles."

    Turning back to the monitor, "Continue Thunderfist."

    "Well, these plants feed into the wiring systems and begin to enhance energon flow, they allow for a greater flow capacity, as they have a higher energy threshold than our other wires can handle.  They also have a better conductivity allowing for a quicker flow!  I don't know that removing the growth is a good idea.  From the results, I think it might give us an edge in the upcoming battle."

    You glare at the console, "But... bonded?  We haven't bonded ourselves with anything since the exodus of the Nebulons...  and at least they were intelligent lifeforms!"

    You turn to look at the shiny gold Retrohopper, "Hopper... let's hope this luck of yours is good."

    "Radio the Windrunner, have they gotten their sample?"

    "Yeah, it looks like they even have had a few minutes to get some preliminary reports..."

    "Do they have a representative here?"

    "Yes, she should be able to give the general report."

   " Radio the Windrunner and the other ships...  tell them to prepare to get underway."

    Rascal turns, "Underway?  With a grove of trees on our hull?"

    "Yeah, supercharged trees."

    Retro chuckled, "Well, our alliance with the Nebulons was historically supposed to be a good one... let's hope the plants are the same."

 

    Thunderfist meets you in the halls, as you make your way to the lower docking bay, "I heard the command to be ready to move.  Is that wise?"

    "I thought you said the trees were a good thing?"

    "Yes, but at the same time, we're the only ship that is back at full power, the plants are still at the underdeveloped stage on every other ship."

    You grimace, "Good point... but what are you suggesting... plant food and water?"

    "No... we can exponentialize the growth on  each ship... perhaps finding a way to keep it under our control."

    The door slides open, and a good fifty or so bots turned and looked up at the entry platform, "We'll talk about it in a second..."

    You turn to the other bots, transforming your legs into the hover formation, and lowering yourself gracefully in front of them, "Cybertronians, the problem seems to be under control, and in fact may prove to be beneficial."

    Various mutterings and disturbed glances are passed about, "Helpful?"  a bot in the crowd asks, "How is being overrun with plants helpful?"

    "Thunderfist, our engineer will fill you in on our findings.  I then want you to await further instructions before returning to your own ships to implement the appropriate plans.  Meanwhile, I would like to talk to the representative from the crew of the Windrunner."

    You immediately spot a sour faced Decepticon female.  The one you remembered from the video monitor, "Starshooter, right?"

    She sulkily parts from the crowd and follows you out into the hallway.

    "What does the Windrunner have to report?"  you ask, turning toward a nearby ready room.

    "Personally, I think the plants are a plague, and we should be rid of them immediately." she snaps.

    "And what about the sample?"  The two of you entered the room, with it's large ready table.  There was already information on the plants being displayed from a holo-proj in the center of the table.

    "The plant appears to have morphic capabilities, and the ability to assimilate and convert energy as well as technological material.  It... enhances their capabilities on the prelim reports,"  she grumbles.

    "That's in sync with our own reports.   Why do you think it should be destroyed."

    "It's not... natural."

    "... it is natural."

    "Not for us, not for Cybertron."

    "Hrm... is there anything else in your ships findings?"

    "It took over the nanites that were probing it, shut them down momentarily, and then rebooted them at increased power levels and transmittal capabilities.   Sonar... our ship engineer,  thinks that he may be able to modify them on a DNA level... control them to be used possibly as a weapon of sorts."

    "What kind of weapon?"

    "He thinks he can amplify their ability to shut down machinery, extending the period and allowing us to give the Warworld a few good hits before it can recover. "

    "So on one side we have the ability to use it to enhance ourselves, on the other the ability to enhance our weapons...  It seems like a win-win situation to me..."  you grimace, still feeling very uneasy about it...

Space: The Soulfire

 

    Starshooter takes a deep breath, "Yes, I have realized the power we might gain... but there is something that seems morally... wrong about this!"

    You look down at her in surprise, "A Decepticon, bothered by morals?  That's might be something new in the universe..." you say, intending it as a joke.

    "We do have them, " she replies coldly, "We are not 'monsters' as the ancient propeganda must have had you believe." 

    You sighs, you hadn't meant it as an affront, rather just something to break the tension of the moment, "I'm sorry... you are right, I shouldn't judge you by the past."  You take in a deep breath, "Well, your concern is noted, but if these plants will mean victory, we have no choice but to use them.  I hope you can understand that.  Thank you for the information.  Carry this message back to your science officer,  Sonar you said?  Tell him  to commence with the aplications he has in mind. I'll be damned if I'm also not completely unsure of our newfound 'weapons.'  But we sometimes have to go with what works best, no matter how alien."

    There is a pause as she stares at you, as if she was considering the answer,   " Aye sir."  she responds, and turn to leave the room.

    As the door shuts behind her you sit down heavily in a chair.  Remembering something moments later, you activate your commlink, "Starshooter. It's Backdraft again, ask Sonar to relay the information to the science officers on all the ships. Backdraft out."

    Silently aware that you did not refer to yourself as Admiral, you realize how hard it is to make the right choice, the choice that will save or damn you all.

 

    The arangements took the better part of a solar cycle.  During the time, you also ordered every ship to send out a heat burst, fusing the plants with their infrastructures.  Also, you took the time for some much needed down cycles.

 

    --The light and heat surrounds you as a warm blanket of pain.  From it's depth arise the multitudes of praise that beckoned your hand to serve.  Raising your weapon, you give off another blast of heat, washing them clean of the strife they have caused.

    As you exhult in their praises, you look up into the eyes of the bright angle that stood above you, his sword raised to the stars.  Silver wings reflected light that left all in sihlohette.  The heat from the fires you have ignited leap into his wings, giving them the shimmering light that burned your optics.

    "I am that which you have wroght.  The universe will again be clensed from the pain and torment of suffering that my destiny brings."--

 

    You bolt upright in the chamber.  You were shaking, still feeling the courseing chill of power running through your circuits.  The rush of circuits compensating and fooding your CPU with enhanced clarity and battle readyness.  You take hold of yourself, swiveling your feet out onto the floor.

    "Computer... time to departure."

    "Departure in twenty cycles."

    You stand up stretching.  It was time to get this battle fleet moving.

 

    Again, space warped around the fleet.  This time, the jump would happen in mere cycles.  You scanned over the new ship stats, "Impressive."

    Rascal turned, "There's at least one warhead per ship armed with the DNA altered vines.  The missiles should strike, sparking instant growth and also instant power drain. Then they'll die within five Cycles."

    "Good.  Send out the order that they are to fire them on my order."

    Rascal nodds, turning back to her console.

    Cycles seem to stretch into hours, yet at the same time pass in segments.

    Space blurs around you, and you feel anticipation, loathing, hatred, and fear mixed in a morass of emotion as you see realspace appear before you.

    Cybertron glittered brightly below you, a huge globe on the monitor, silver against a velveteen backdrop of darkness.

    It was good to see it, even if it may be your last time.

    You shake off the thought focusing instead on what else hung in the monitors.

    The Warworld sat, bulbulous and bloated above Cybertron's surface, small graphs that were appearing on the viewscreens showed that it was still in syncronous orbit with the planet.

    With it were a collection of Decepticon Warships.

    The time for war was upon you.

End of NWNG: General Statement