Prologue
Cybertron. Home of the transformers. Under its distant sun it glistens with its metal surface. Yes, a whole planet made of metal. Seemingly having no life, but with so much motion. Airships passed this way and that. Cargo ships carrying goods from other planets, passenger ships carrying young and old Cybertronians, exploration ships ready to go into the distance, and authority ships checking ship contents and keeping the peace in air traffic. An airship flew by, with no specific markings, but the authorities let it by. It flew down to the surface heading to a remote abandoned airfield. Meanwhile, at the said airfield, three young bots played. They were playing lob, a Wrecker game where they chucked the ball at each other. The person who is able to catch the ball and get the others to drop or miss it would win. But as these three played, one hung back in the shadows of the rusty clerk desk. He wasn't at all good with lob, and the others weren't going to invite him over. This lonely bot was a transfer, a bot who wasn't from their group, wasn't born with them, and was older than them. While the others would play around and roughhouse with each other, he would study Cybertron's history. The largest of the group, Skyquake, missed the ball and dropped it. It bounced across the surface, making a clanking noise at every bounce, and then rolled toward Orion. Orion looked back at the others as the ball bumped into him.
"Hey Orion, pass the ball over now! We know that you are all for knowing history and treating it like it matters, but we have more important things to worry about to be studying and staring at our starry counterparts. Like, for example, play lob to pass our fitness initiation test! Unlike you did." The others chuckled at his taunt, knowing Orion probably wouldn't do anything about it, and that if they didn't laugh, they might be the next victim. Orion glared at Skyquake, and grabbed the ball as he got up. He tossed the ball up, testing its weight. He threw his arm back and chucked the ball at Skyquake. It flew across the landing pad and lodged itself into Skyquake's face. He fell backwards, energon dripping from the wound. Orion and the other two bots ran over to him. Skyquake's face was dented, with a scratch running down it. Fixable, but painful at least.
"Skyquake, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. Are you okay?" Orion stammered, afraid of what Skyquake's condition was, and more importantly, what he would do to him. Skyquake mumbled something, and the others leaned in to hear him.
"I'm...going...to...kill you!" Skyquake said. Orion started to back up, ready to run. But the roar of an engine stopped him. They recognized the engine roar and quickly scrambled into place. Orion maneuvered himself to the end of the line, farthest away from Skyquake. The ship landed, making the ground shake beneath them. The ship was a charter ship, solely meant for transporting younglings and their designated directors. Designated directors were teachers, in a sense, but the younglings would stay with this teacher from the start of being a youngling to adulthood, or until they passed their initiation test. This particular director was quite spiteful, and never failed to complain when given the chance. He had very spindly arms and legs with a hunched back. His voice was raspy, when he talked, and he always scowled. The ship opened to reveal the director, along with another, younger bot about the same age as them. The younger bot was thick, with strong arms and legs, and a proud chest. But his face gave an almost sinister feel, even though he was looking so depressed. Orion felt his curiosity rise, but he kept quiet. He knew he would eventually know who he was. The director stalked down the ramp, looking at the younglings with a keen distaste. He focused on Skyquake, and frowned even deeper.
"What on Cybertron happened to you? I leave you for a couple cycles, and I come back to find at least one of you hurt. Come on, give me a break for once," the director said, not amused at the damage done to Skyquake.
"Orion threw the ball at me!" Skyquake said, pointing at Orion.
"Nice job Orion. Maybe next time you can send him to the medics." All the younglings smirked at this, since they all knew Skyquake was a bully and a jerk, "But please, be a little more controlling of yourself next time. You are older than them, and should have more of a sense. I expected better than this from you. Skyquake, stop being a pesky brat and grow up for once. I have enough to deal with without you messing around," The director scolded. Skyquake just glared at him. Then the other bot the director brought along cleared his vocals. The director looked back at him.
"Yes, yes, I was getting to you! Be patient youngling. It is a good virtue to have, one I have none of. Younglings," the director began, "This is Megatronus. Named after the prime, with just as enough gumption, he will be transferring here. Yes, another transfer," the director added as the other younglings groaned, "Seems like we are getting all the leftovers. Megatronus here was in a medic center when an accident occurred, killing his whole group. So at least his transfer is an honorable one, if sad. I don't know why we are getting all the transfers, but we'll just have to deal with it." Orion looked at the ground when the director said those words. At least his transfer was an honorable one. He didn't want to be here, or be scorned just because he wasn't able to pass the fitness initiation test. He was just unlucky, in his own eyes.
"Megatronus will be doing the same routines as you, but once he passes the initiation test he will move elsewhere. Now, group J5, I have some education scheduling to do, so play nice! Or at least try..." the director sighed, and stalked back into his ship. The younglings watched as the ship took off, leaving a small cloud of cloud and smog. Orion looked at Skyquake who, he found, was staring at him, an evil thought brewing in his mind. Orion looked behind him, looking for a place to run to. He saw the airfield center door was ajar, and made a plan to go there. He looked back as the other bots began to move apart to watch the imminent confrontation.
"Hey look Skyquake, I didn't mean to hit you. Can't you just forget it ever happened? I'll never touch the ball again, how about that?" Skyquake shook his head.
"Too late for that, Orion. Now, you pay." Skyquake began to sprint toward him. Orion ran off, trying to reach the center, where he would have an advantage. Megatronus, shocked by the sudden takeoff, ran after them to see what was going on, and the two others followed.
"You can't hide in there Orion! There is nowhere you can run to!" Skyquake called after him, laughing. Orion ran faster, fear of Skyquake running through him. He entered the center, and quickly looked around. He chose right, and headed toward what he hoped was an archive. As he ran he hoped he would escape Skyquake's wrath, since he knew what he would most likely do to him. He shivered at the memory of when he saw Skyquake severely hurt a youngling by crushing his arm, just for taking his ball. That won't happen to me; Orion thought to himself, I'll be fine. He rounded a corner to find a dead end. He looked around in terror, looking desperately for a way out. He heard a clack of metal against metal as Skyquake blocked the entrance.
"Now, you'll get what you need. A lesson of pain. One of the most effective, I'll say." Skyquake snarled, and began to approach toward him. Orion felt his whole body shake. He looked at the other bots that were behind Skyquake. Two were grinning, ready for blood and safety from Skyquake's wrath, but Megatronus wasn't. He looked thoughtfully at Orion, and gave him a look of doubt, as well as pity. Orion begged him to help with his eyes, pleading for someone to help him.
"Is hurting him necessary? You taught him his lesson just by terrifying him, by the looks of it. There is no need to hurt him. I should know, since I'm training to be a gladiator," Megatronus said, making Orion relax, if only a little. Skyquake spun around, and narrowed his eyes. He pounced on Megatronus and pinned him against the wall.
"Listen transfer! I'm the one in charge here, and as long as you do as I say, you'll be just fine he..." Skyquake was stopped mid word as Megatronus grabbed his left arm and jerked it in a circle, dislocating it. Megatronus punched him in the jaw, knocking him into a heap. He leapt on top of him, punching and punching Skyquake until energon was spurting everywhere. The others watched in horror as they saw their group brother be beaten up. No one had ever done this much damage to him before.
"Megatronus stop!" Orion yelled out finally, "You'll kill him!" Megatronus paused, and looked down at his handiwork. Skyquake's optics were leaking, the pain causing a system overload. He would definitely need a medic now. He got up and walked toward Orion. The others backed away as he glared at them. He stopped in front of Orion, and cocked his head, ever so slightly.
"Why shouldn't I kill him? He might have done the same to you, by the looks on your face." Orion didn't know how to answer, shocked at the question. Megatronus held out his hand.
"I'm Megatronus. What's your name?" He asked.
"Orion Pax." Orion answered. Megatronus nodded, and motioned for him to follow him outside. The two bots watched them walk out, too scared to do or say anything. Orion just followed Megatronus, too shocked and numb from the residual fear to do anything else. They walked out to the center to the airfield, and Megatronus picked up the ball.
"Catch!" He called, and threw the ball. It arched over the platform, and Orion tried to catch it. It slipped his grasp, and rolled behind him. He ran to pick it up, and threw it back.
"Why did you help me?" Orion asked as they continued to throw the ball back and forth. Megatronus caught the ball, and stopped. His grip tightened on the ball, as if dealing with some inner struggle.
"Because when I needed help dealing with my group's death, no one gave it to me. They all told me to be strong. When I got no help, I resolved to be better than that. I would help others when they needed it. That is why I helped you. Because you needed it." Orion felt moved by his words, and walked up to him. He put his hand on his shoulder, and gave him a smile. Megatronus looked at him, and ever so slightly smiled to.
"By the way the others were treating you, I would presume that you are a transfer too?" Megatronus asked.
"Yes. I couldn't take the test, so I automatically failed it." Orion answered, becoming gloomy again from the memory.
"Well then, we can be transfers together, group brother." Megatronus said, and gestured to the ball. As Orion backed up to begin playing again, he felt like the start of something good was just beginning. Why wouldn't it? This was the first friend he ever had since his transfer. But when he would look back, so many millennia later, he would be so wrong.