Arc 2: 14 Darkness Falls

by Macx

Cybertron's darkest hour dawns when the Tji go for a frontal attack. The last battle for survival has begun and the prize of losing is complete obliteration.

Darkness Falls
by Birgit Staebler
I. Shadows of Future Past
"Decisions"

Time passed faster than it seemed possible. Two months to be correct. Those two months had been spent building, rebuilding, repairing, exploring ..... getting ready.
Two months since Spike's mind had been transferred from his contaminated body into a Protogen form.
Two months since the Tji had suffered heavy losses in a confrontation with the Cybertronian forces and had not shown their tentacles anywhere at all.
Two months.
So little time for so much to happen.
The military power of Cybertron was slowly but steadily going up, the shields got heavier, the fighters stronger and faster. The MoonBase was outfitted with defense weapons and was now a small fortress, run by a skeleton crew of both Autobots and Decepticons. Civilian life passed almost normally. Few of the civilian employees were close enough to military data to know what was going on, but they didn't really have to know. It was obvious. They could hear and read it all in the news.
Currently, such a news channel was switched on in the human quarters of the North wing of South Port, a place where all Interfaces had their quarters and where the Witwickys had also found a new home.
"I don't believe this crap!" Jeff Winters exclaimed and shook his head, his eyes displaying nothing but disgust.
"Well, you might not, but a lot of people on Earth do," Jill sighed and played with an half empty mug, stirring the cold liquid a bit.
"I know, I know," the former Colonel muttered. "Propaganda!"
It was true. It was nothing but propaganda, but people believed what they saw on TV and they believed what they read in renowned papers. Currently, Cybertron and its inhabitants were the main topic everywhere. Special reports ran on the big channels, relaying the history of the planet, the Cybertronians, dealing with the war and the alliance, as well as the situation now. Reporters painted gruesomely detailed pictures of what had happened on Nebulos, blaming it on the non-intervention of the Cybertronian forces, adding to that the declining population on the stricken planet, the genetic virus. It all seemed neutral enough, but you only had to read between the lines. They were spreading fear among humans everywhere. They showed Adam Witwicky's life as an example, his infection, his battle to survive. What they didn't know was that he had been transferred into a Protogen form, but that was top secret anyway. Then came small features about the Evans Mining Co. team, which had infiltrated Nebulan air space, had landed on the quarantined world 'to help', as the reporters put it, and 'had not been warned about the danger'. How they had fallen victim to the 'plague', as it was referred to, and how the Cybertronians didn't let them leave to die among their families.
All this created an uproar of protest. Optimus Prime was dealing with angry humans asking for justification. He had even agreed for a tele-interview, but this had gone disastrously wrong. The interviewer had asked down-right personal things, had accused and poked and finally passed judgment. Optimus had sat through it stoically, but Jeff knew that there had been no stoicism behind that facade. He had been fuming with anger.
Still, there were supporters. Pro-Cybertronians, as they called themselves, trying to present the truth and not some twisted version of it. They were few compared to the Anti-Cybertronians and it was getting increasingly difficult to deal with Earth. Maybe it had all started when Metroplex had been removed, but maybe even sooner. Jeff didn't know. He was human and he had been born on Earth, had grown up there, had served in the military, but right now he felt disgusted at being what he was. He couldn't understand his own kind anymore.
Calm down>> Wild Card whispered in his mind.
I don't want to! This is madness and it leads to nothing but animosities and maybe a forced separation!>>
I know>> the Sentinel returned. But you can't do anything about it and neither can I. This is politics, Jeff>>
Jeff looked darkly at the TV screen, which now only showed the local weather forecast, something you didn't have to bother with here on Cybertron.
Earth had already started to separate from Cybertron. Trades had gone down, ships didn't come in anymore and Cybertronian presence on Earth had declined to almost non-existent. Neither of the two factions, Autobot or Decepticon, risked exposure anymore. Those who went to Earth did it for short stays, maybe only a few hours, then removed their presence. Optimus had been to Earth to meet with the Pro-Cybertronian leaders, discussing methods to help deal with the arising problems, but he had not extended his stay. It was too dangerous. Some had been attacked viciously or accused of crimes they had not committed and risks were no longer taken.
Jeff had been to Earth only once more since the last time, which had been years ago. He loved his home, liked to watch the white and blue planet from space, but he was in danger there because he was a 'collaborator'. Whoever worked for the Cybertronians had been threatened and quite a few had resigned. It had hurt Jeff to see them go, but he understood. The threats had not been made against their lives, but their careers. Whoever had worked for the Cybertronians and was now looking for a job was suddenly handled like a Plague victim. They found it hard to work even in the easiest job or hold their old ones. The same went for companies who had been cooperating with Cybertron for ages. It was like a curse. Jeff had felt it at the most unlikely place: a cemetery. He had decided to give his deceased wife a last good-bye and Wild Card had agreed to get him to Earth. It had been a gauntlet run and he had nearly lost his temper twice. He was glad to be back home.
Home.
A metal planet. He had come to think of this as a place where he was safe and at home, where his friends were. He wondered how all the other humans dealt with it. Maybe better than him --maybe worse.
The broadcast ended and a soap opera was on. Grimacing, Jeff rose and walked out of the room, nodding at Jill and the others present. He needed to talk to someone who had also just recently Interfaced; recently as in 'in the last decades'. Someone who had been born and raised on Earth and was now forced to leave his planet for good.
Nicholas Cavanaugh.

* * *

For Raven, more time had passed. A lot of time, at least since she had had any chance to talk to Cyclonus for more than a moment or in official places. Sometimes she had the distinct impression that he avoided her on purpose. She had helped train him for Counterstrike and because of his new 'job' he was barely around anymore. Counterstrike was quite busy.
Raven sighed. He had changed when she had left him to follow her ancient instinct to go to Cybertron such a long time ago. She had found out who she really was; not a useless piece of metal, but a Key, someone of importance, someone who was needed. Cyclonus had accepted the decision, had understood her, but it had hurt him and she knew it. They had grown close, he had actually started to trust her and she had learned to value her abilities for what they were. Both had met on a desolate world, Cyclonus in a bad shape and need of help, she a medic and a victim of her own kind. She had, after some hard decisions, followed him to Charr and joined the Decepticons.
Cyclonus was much more than what he implied when you met him first and he had stood by her side, defended her against his fellow Decepticons, and he had opened a part of him to her that no one knew of. When they had met again he had walled that part of him off and she had had a difficult time to break through the first shields and get him to accept her once more. Raven was drawn to him and she knew he was drawn to her, but he was no longer willing to trust her that easily again, to open up completely once more and let her in. He was afraid that she might have to go again. He was still second-in-command and Megatron valued his expertise, but he was no longer the Cyclonus she had met at first. She had to find this other Cyclonus once more, though the main problem still was that he avoided her. That had left her with only one option: break into his quarters to confront him. This needed to get out in the open -- now! They had beaten around the bush and evaded each other for too long.
"Hello," she said as she transformed and stepped into the room.
Cyclonus stared at her, gun pointing at her stomach area. Raven approached him and noticed to her dismay that he didn't send the weapon back into subspace.
"What do you want?" he asked with his usual, rather emotionless voice.
Okay, now or never. Out in the open with it. "Cyc, what is wrong with you? Why do you push me away?"
His face turned icy cold. "Nothing is wrong."
She cocked her head. "Oh, yes? Since we met again you've been treating me like I'm a burden, something you despise, something you'd rather not see! I know I was down in the chamber a lot because this is my destiny, my job! I know you have your job as well. And I know I hurt you when I left...."
This hit home. He looked away.
"I am sorry, very sorry," she continued. "I know it destroyed what we had, but I had to go. I thought you understood it at the time."
"I did."
"No, you didn't!" she shot back and scored another hit. "You said you did, but you felt betrayed by me, right? Why don't you finally say it out loud?"
He looked at her. "No," he finally said. "I did not feel betrayed. Only..... alone." It had taken him a great effort to say this out loud.
"Then why avoid me?"
"Because you had to follow your own path," he told her calmly.
"Yes, I had to, but it didn't mean I had to walk this path alone!"
"Yes, you had."
Raven felt slight anger rise inside her.
"We are not the same. I barely understand half of what you are and ...." Cyclonus hesitated.
"It scares you now," she finished. His optics told her she was correct. "I am different," she continued, "but not from the Raven you came to know on Charr....."
"I realized that ...."
"How about starting this fresh again then?" she wanted to know, almost literally holding her breath.
Cyclonus met her optics and nodded slowly. "I'd appreciate it."
Raven only smiled. She knew it would take time, longer than the first time, but she was hoping it worked out again.

* * *

Chaos looked out over the devastated landscape, a landscape that would need centuries to come back to what it had been before. Nothing bloomed here anymore; nothing grew; nothing lived. She had seen this world fall apart, had seen it start to die, and she had fought hard against this ultimate fate. But she had failed continuously. All the cures, all the theories, had not worked. The population was declining rapidly. Children were no longer born and the older generations died because of the virus. Some had developed a resistance against it, but her hopes of finding the answer in their genes had been destroyed. It wasn't resistance, it was only a prolonged life until even those who had survived died.
Nebulos as such was dying as well. The rain was acid, the ground was infertile, the water polluted. Evacuation had been discussed, but the evacuees would not survive anywhere else any better. They were doomed and they knew it. Cybertron was doing what it could, but it could only bring relief, not cure.
"Chaos?"
She didn't turn. She didn't have to. She knew who it was and she knew there was nothing new coming from anywhere.
"Are you okay?" Nosecone asked.
The Technobots were a vital part of the hospital center and the general research. They went out into the devastation to help, to research, to confirm, and they were the only ones who truly understood what was going through her.
"No," she whispered.
Nosecone joined her, looking over the grayish plains which had once housed so many life forms. Now there was nothing. As a life form used to a world of metal, he didn't have any relation to plant or animal life, but he had been to Earth and other green planets, planets with life in abundance. Cybertron had life. Seeing this ... it was depressing, especially if you had known the world before the Tji had struck.
"She was a friend to all of us," he now said quietly. "We all feel the loss, but I think no one can truly feel it like you."
Chaos smiled dimly at his words. Dozens died every day, some under the capable hands of the few trained medics they had. Medical training was vital here and many Nebulans came forward, some with rudimentary skills or students who had at least an idea what to do, and they were trained by those who were doctors or nurses. Everyone died here, even the volunteers, and the knowledge had to be passed on. This morning, Trciza had passed away. She had been one of those more resistant to the virus, but in the end she had had to surrender as well. She had worked as Chaos' assistant, had done as much as she could, had been in surgery as long as her hands were steady, but when the symptoms had been too bad, she had stood back and let others take over. She had turned to treating the less injured, the ones coming down with colds or a fever, had taught in her spare time, had handed over her own medical knowledge. Chaos had always thought of the small, slender Nebulan woman as her friend, and now she was gone.
Another victim.
Another number.
Chaos clenched her hands into fists and fought down the urge to cry out her pain. It would be of no use.
"Let's go back," she only said and turned, walking toward the container city.
Nosecone watched her, sadness in his optics, then followed.

*

Not many miles away someone else was watching the landscape. His optics were glowing with a feverish light, but the light was slowly dimming, as if he was calming down. Death was all around him. Death greeted him wherever he looked. Death was also inside him. Hardhead didn't even feel pain about this any more. His mind, a turmoil of mixed emotions, of crazed thoughts, of madness and rage, disorientation and actual moments of total clarity, was building walls. Leaks were everywhere, but at least those were walls and no longer open plains to attack by even the smallest image. The madness was still present, but to the outside world he was his old self again. Maybe a bit too calm, maybe a bit too controlled with the occasional crazed flash of light in his optics, but he was no longer a raving madman.
And Duros was dead.
He had accepted the fact and channeled every negative emotion he held into those protective walls. He would have his revenge. He would not give in to the temptation to sit back and die as well.
Hardhead's lips drew into a slow, cold smile. The others wouldn't understand, would they? If he returned, they'd try to 'help' him. He didn't need help the way they thought he did. He was handling things his own way.
Bubbles of madness surfaced and burst in his mind.
Duros had been dead for months now.
Hardhead's former friends had searched for him, tried to get him back to the hospital, but if he went back there, they'd remove the dead body inside him. He didn't want that. The body would be a reminder. It was frozen in death, preserved..... Others would call it disgusting, but for him it was a last connection to what his former life had been; what he had had; his happiness, despite his grouchy behavior most of the time. Hardhead couldn't think of Chromedome, Highbrow and Brainstorm as his friends any more. Especially Brainstorm. Somehow, whenever he thought of the only surviving real Headmaster, he thought of a traitor. Everyone of them had suffered, every single one, but not Brainstorm! Arcana was still alive. Why him and not Duros?
Sometimes Hardhead thought he could still feel and hear his friend and partner. They had been one for decades and now .... now he was alone again, but this time he was pretty much aware of it. There was emptiness everywhere, nothing brought joy anymore. All he could think of were the last years, not the millennia he had been alive before ever coming to Nebulos.
Gone.
Lost because of the Tji.
And he would pay them back. For all the pain, the loss, the fear.... Dearly.
But to do that he had to get off the planet. Hardhead knew he would never get aboard any vessel, either the Cybertronian or the EDC aid ships like this. They knew him. So he had to change.
The former Headmaster had driven to the burned capital city, right under the noses of those looking for him, and found the remains of the main lab. The Nebulans had erected it to treat and repair Cybertronians on the planet and it had been mainly used as a storage facility after all Cybertronians had been expelled from Nebulos. But it still had everything he needed, though it was in a state of disgrace. Hardhead walked over to the work bench and checked everything. After an hour he sat back with another cold grin. It would work. He would alter his form, give himself a new paint job and then leave.
Forever.

* * *

Nicholas Cavanaugh stood in his quarters, hands in his pockets, chewing on a problem. It was no mechanical problem, no technical question or anything at all related to his job as chief engineer. It was a more personal one; something associated with emotions and moods. Something concerning his partnership with Tornado. Through his work load concerning West Central he and the Seeker leader hadn't seen a lot of each other lately, but Nicholas had been aware of some strange things coming through the link. It was no pain or strong negative emotions of another kind. It was simply ...weird. Like a day dream. Not a nightmare, though. Nicholas was sleeping well, had his usual dreams and was rather relaxed despite his work load. He loved his work and his mind was always challenged by new things.
And now the day dreams. They had started some time ago. The dreams didn't interfere with his life, simply hovered at the back of his mind like a memory suddenly recalled, as if he had eaten something and was reminded of a similar dish; or seen a picture and now recalled seeing it somewhere else before, maybe in a book. But it wasn't his recollection.
There were thoughts of prisoners.
Examinations.
Distress.
Experiments.
Death.
A big dragon.
Nicholas frowned a bit. He was mostly puzzled about the dragon. He had no idea what it meant and whether this was a real memory or just imagination. And what was it about these experiments? They involved humans and humanoids....
The only explanation he had for these strange daydreams or memories was the Interface link. It was the only outside source of memories and this meant they belonged to Tornado. The dreams gave hints as well, mainly because his point of view was higher than a humans and he looked down upon humanoids. But why would Tornado think of dragons?

He was carrying a cylinder into a large room. He knew the room, had been there before.
Mernan....
Strange.....
His vision was all wrong again; a tall person's vision; a robot's.
He set down the cylinder and opened it. Out fell a humanoid, a female. Somehow he was not alone, he guessed, but he couldn't turn his head to look around. There was another, strong presence. He feared it. The woman was barely conscious and wore civil clothes, but nothing that told him where she might come from. She wasn't from Earth, so much was immediately clear, because she had slate grey colored hair that had nothing to do with age, and her skin was patterned.

Nicholas blinked. Not again! What was happening here? He had to talk to Tornado, if his partner wanted to or not. He had evaded him lately and he had not given him a satisfactory answer concerning whether he had any troubles or not. Something was happening here and it concerned them both to a degree. Though, maybe he had the chance to find out a few things on his own..... The library for instance. There was some stuff about the Seekers and Sentinels there, transferred from the library on Alean. The dark-haired engineer called in and gave the Autobot in charge of engineering at West Central a short note that he would be at South Port; personal business. Then he left.

* * *

Former ambassador Spike Witwicky jogged past the space port and aimed for the warehouse district where longer stretches of uninterrupted space were available. His body was wired, sensors hidden under his sweat suit and he knew every movement was transmitted to the labs at South Port and recorded.
He had adjusted to his new body much quicker than he had thought it might be possible. His mind was having less difficulties adjusting to this metal body, mainly because it wasn't really a robot body, he thought. It was made of metal, supra-light metal, but it didn't feel like a robot body, not like the one had had to wear for some time when he had been badly injured as a teen. This was light, this was agile, this was his size. He knew it had a lot of potential, but right now it had been downsized in programs to help him adjust.
Spike jogged past the new warehouses, nodded at some workers and then turned back toward South Port. Amazingly, it even felt like a human body. Disaster had programmed it so it responded according to human physiology. He felt tired, he felt muscles aching, he felt the air in his artificial lungs. Protogen was very different from a Cybertronian body, as Disaster had explained to him, and he was living it live. The artificial skin didn't really sweat, but it had millions of tiny sensors, the ants which also formed the skin, and he had the same sensory range as in a human form.
As he returned Spike went straight to the lab where he was already expected by the medical staff. They removed the sensory equipment and he was quickly examined, then discharged.
"Thanks for the test run, ambassador," Jill said with a smile. "Disaster has something new to work on now and let us run around like mad chickens."
He chuckled. Protogen had turned into a kind of pet project for the Decepticon scientist and he was already thinking about creating another Protoform, one with transformation abilities. Spike would just sit back and wait and see. He was pleased with his body so far.
"If you need me, Carly and I are over at Raoul's for a movie."
Jill nodded. "No problem. Have fun."
Spike left again, closing his jacket over his shirt. Raoul had invited them for a quiet afternoon and Carly had agreed. She felt she needed a sense of normality and Spike as well. Raoul was an old friend of the family and doing advisory work concerning engineering problems after Nicholas had taken over the position of chief engineer due to Raoul's age. He still had a brilliant mind, but his body showed his age now and he couldn't do all the heavy work any more, as well as climb all over the place. Raoul had proposed this change himself and was feeling more content with his desk job and occasional visit to a construction site.
As he entered the human quarters, he nearly bumped into Dana, his grandchild, and a whirlwind on two legs. She was running all over the place and generally playing with some of her Cybertronian friends whenever she and her parents visited. Daniel continued to stay on Earth, as did Arcee, trying to work out the differences, but lately it had gotten pretty bad. Spike knew his son was contemplating to move to Cybertron, but not just yet. They wanted to wait for Dana to grow and have a bit more contact to humans before they made that step. Dana had few children of the same age to play with on the former factory planet, but her mother, no one to really worry about Cybertronians interacting with her daughter, had soon searched and found a baby-sitter for her child: Jazz. Spike had been doubtful at first if it had been the right choice, but he had soon learned that Jazz was very careful with the girl. It reminded him of Hot Rod and how careful the young hot shot had been with Daniel. And Jazz was a close friend of Kimber's. They had been friends for years now and the Autobot specialist liked to hang around with the young woman sometimes. Now he had Dana to watch over when she was here and he took his duties seriously.
"Where are you going, young lady?" Spike laughed.
"Jazz promised to take me on a tour!" the child announced.
"Oh. And Mommy knows about it?"
"Of course, grand-dad!" Dana said reproachfully. "She told me I could go!"
Spike grinned and watch her bounce off. Then he continued to his own quarters, which were like an apartment with all the necessary installations. He had to change and pick up Carly at the mall, then drive over to Raoul's place, which was a bit outside South Port. He still had more than an hour. Plenty of time.

* * *

Shanygn rubbed her tired eyes. She felt beaten and ready to keel over into the next available bed. She had been up since last night, first working her way through as lot of junk mail on her account and answering some mails addressed to her. She had then proceeded to Spike's quarters for another training session and some talks, which had -- as always -- been longer than she had planned, mainly because of Carly's invitation for coffee and pie. After that Shanygn had quickly called Nicholas to cancel their dinner appointment because of her work load. Nicholas had understood and confessed he'd have called her soon anyway because there were some things that needed his attention. Now she was in med lab four with Perceptor and First Aid. Perceptor was mostly ignoring them, working on one of his doohickeys, and First Aid had gone over the schematics for her new exo-suit with her. Shanygn had specifically requested an update concerning armor and weaponry and the Protectobot was trying to do his best. But right now her body was demanding some rest, though she doubted her mind would be able to rest at all. So many things needed to be done and she hadn't seen Rodimus in over a week, only communicating by mind link and she knew it was getting to him. They were Interface partners, which was much more than a link by mind and the occasional hello. He needed a break as much as she did and Shanygn had vowed to get them one in the near future.
And there was still this matter with something that had been bugging her slightly in the back of her mind. Rodimus was busy with something she had no clue about and he was not letting anything slip. Maybe it was politics, but somehow gut-feeling told her it wasn't. Lately the bugging feeling had disappeared, but she still wanted to know what was going on. It had time, though.
"We are making the modifications right away. The tests show that the armor will be ready to take a direct blast, absorb it and not even burn a circuit," First Aid explained to her right now, pride showing in his voice.
Shanygn nodded, suppressing a yawn. "Sounds good."
First Aid looked at her. "And you should get some sleep," he said sternly.
Shanygn sighed. "There are a lot of things I should get," she muttered, but slid down from her chair when the medic shot her a pointed look. "See you later."
She walked out of the lab and steered automatically toward her quarters. Her bed was calling and she had no intention to ignore the call any longer.

* * *

Midnight was in the training chamber, running a battle program, knocking down all targets before they even had time to appear completely. Some stray shots bounced off the holographic world around him, but Midnight didn't care. His focus was on something else: Veneran, Tji'neran ...... the whole cursed race! How could they have dared to treat his people like that? How could they have experimented on them and treated them like .... things!? Another volley destroyed the control unit of his enemies and the program shifted to another level. Midnight didn't even see it. All he saw were more targets, some of them looking strangely like Venerakkin or Tji in body shells.
Steve had said 'no' to this training session and had gone off somewhere. Midnight didn't mind. It gave him a chance to train his abilities when he was without his partner and had to handle everything alone. It was a rare occasion in battle, but it could happen. Right now all he needed was to even out his temper a bit. He rarely lost control over himself in public and it was just as well that the training complex was set up for these combat situations, among other things. Midnight knew he'd feel more relaxed afterwards and he could catch up on some exercise. With this war going on, they needed all the training they could get.
Three levels later he was slowing down, feeling rather pleased with himself. The anger was not gone and would always remain there, he knew, on a sub-level. He had found out the truth about his race, his own, personal origin and the true purpose he had held all in one and it had been just too much. He had blown, but now he had his temper under tight control again and would be less likely to introduce a Veneran to his rage. He switched off the program and stared at the empty room, which showed not only a few marks of where he had blasted more than just the illusions.
"Already giving up?"
Midnight whirled around and discovered one of the Venerakkin, Tarakk, standing not very far away from him and now coming closer.
"What are you doing here?" he asked angrily. "This is a private session!" So much for a tightly controlled temper, he thought darkly and reigned in his emotions.
"Which is obviously over and so it's no longer private," Tarakk answered and smiled.
Midnight felt his temper rise a few degrees. He and Tarakk had been closing in on a special friendship before he had found out the truth about the Veneran and Tji, about their roles .... and he had drifted away from her, finding it easier to hate than reason. He couldn't deny a certain attraction, but he had never pursued this. One reason was his difference from every other robot. He wasn't your normal model. He was not standard issue. He was special, he was weird and he was eerie, he knew. Someone who had never met him was easily shocked and those who had met him before still reacted with fear. Only few treated him normally and those were very close friends -- and of course his partner.
Tarakk.... well, she had never treated him any other way than those he knew, as far as he could remember. She had been wary, she had been cautious, then interested. They had approached each other slowly and he had been more careful than normally, but Tarakk had proven to be nice company. He had been surprised to find her at his bed side when he had woken after Firefall had nearly killed him -- and Midnight Firefall in return -- and at the time he had nurtured small hopes for a closer relationship. This hope had faded soon, mainly because of the actions, or lack thereof, the Venerakkin had taken in the battle for Nebulos. With their help, the Cybertronian battle fleet might have turned the tide and pushed the Tji away without the small planet suffering any losses. As it was, they hadn't lifted a finger and because of it, relationships had suffered heavily. Firefall, Tarakk's mother if you looked at it closely, had refused her help and that of those under her command once too often, had hidden facts and blurred the truth, and Optimus had drawn the consequences. The Venerakkin were still allies, Firefall was still a member of the Council, but the trust was gone.
And Midnight's trust as well. He held contempt for Firefall and distrusted every Veneran and his or her bearer.
"What do you want?" he hissed now, his weapon disappearing into subspace.
"Nothing special," she answered and accompanied him back to the door. "Listen, we didn't have time to talk a lot lately...."
Midnight stopped before exiting and stared at her with undisguised disgust. "And I'm busy now!"
Tarakk frowned. "Midnight, what is going on?"
"You know!" Midnight snorted and turned again. Tarakk grabbed his arm and held him back. Midnight moved fast and dislodged her hold, then sent her tumbling to the ground.
"Okay, if you wanna play, so be it!" Tarakk growled and jumped up again.
He dodged her first blow and also her second, moving back all the time. Tarakk smiled humorlessly. Midnight was tired from the battle program, which had been quite a brutal one and he might not be able to hold his own against her for long unless he reverted to fighting with all his powers...... and he wouldn't, he thought fervently. Never. He had killed with his aura once before. It had been a devastating feeling.

In another room, several levels down and two sections away, Steven Parker, Midnight's long time Interface partner, felt something pass through him. First it was only a feeling of faint anger, something he had felt throughout the training session. He was used to that because Midnight had been constantly projecting anger and rage until a few weeks ago when he had finally opened up, talked to Steve and they had cleared things between them. Midnight had felt much better after it, finally getting rid of his guilt, a guilt only he had felt and which Steve had not even thought would exist, and he had been his old self again.
Steve sighed. He understood his partner's anger only too well. He was angry himself, but it hadn't resulted in the same emotional outbreak Midnight had had. It was a memory of the past now, though a Venerakkin could always trigger anger on a low level. Midnight would not lose control like he had again, but the anger would not go away as simple as that.
Shanygn, who had been sitting with her legs curled under her and reading what Spike called a 'classic' novel, looked up as Steve rose from his chair. The dark-haired human walked over to the coffee vending machine.
"You okay?"
Steve sighed. "Midnight," he only said.
"Projecting?"
"Not really. He is simply doing his training programs, but I know he is thinking about It again."
'It' was the archive of files they had retrieved from the now destroyed Tji lab. Midnight didn't like to talk about the contents and he had not discussed it with the other Sentinels or Seekers, only with the Council and they kept it a secret.
Shanygn sighed. "It will pass. He is angry and he is trying to feed this anger as long as he has fuel. In time, well, he won't stop being angry, but he will calm down."
Steve came back with a soda. "Yes, I know. He has dealt with all problems like this in the past. He will either bottle it all up and blow later or blow right away and then try to cool down." He smiled humorlessly. "A bit hard on the link, but I'm used to it."
Shanygn nodded. There were few situations where an Interface was troubled with emotional backwash from his or her partner. Shanygn had her own share of experiences with Rodimus, who was prone to projecting, but her shields went up automatically whenever something deeply emotional happened. Older Interface partnerships had stronger shields and the partners were used to each other. Midnight and Steve were both young, but they had exceptional link and their bond was exceptionally strong. The bond was no guarantee for a smooth partnership and they had had their ups and downs, but they had come out of this every time, mostly stronger, sometimes only a bit wiser.
Shanygn watched her friend sit back, absent-mindedly holding his soda can. She recognized the first signs of a mind link as only another Interfaced could. Steve was trying to talk to Midnight and maybe calm him down. She smiled and went back to her book.

Tarakk had not expected Midnight to react this way. She knew their friendship, their relationship, had grown colder lately. He had drawn back, had evaded her and the few meetings they had had -- well, they had been cold as well. So she had decided to seek him out and talk. She wanted to know what was going on. As it seemed, his emotions, ignited through whatever action, ran deep and he was ready to fight her off. She didn't want to hurt him but if he wanted to play it this way, so be it.
Tarakk had learned a lot about Midnight in the time she had spent among the Autobots. She had been fascinated by him right from the start. He was so very different and even though he should be an enemy she hated fiercely .... he wasn't. She had seen him act, heard him talk, watched him move and fight. Secretly of course. Compared to her he was very young, but age didn't matter for her kind. And his whole demeanor wasn't that of a teen; he was mature and he had great responsibilities which he shouldered and carried stoically. Tarakk had come to like him, even though Firefall hated Sentinels with everything she had. She seemed to tolerate Midnight, though, maybe even accept him. But not the other Sentinels. This again irked Midnight to no end, so their friendship was very strained and it affected the relationship she was trying to build with him because she wanted to get to know him more, to get closer.
Midnight dodged another blow, then attacked her. This was exactly what she had hoped for. In a flurry of movement she grabbed him and kicked his legs out from under him. Midnight crashed to the floor, gasping in surprise. Tarakk followed. The Sentinel rolled around and got to his feet, treating Tarakk to a blow against the head. She stumbled back, surprised again. He was fast! Midnight's aura flared a bit.
"You don't scare me with that!" she mocked and evaded another attack.
The next moment Midnight held a gun in his hands. "What do you want?" he hissed angrily.
"Well, I just wanted to talk. You were the one to turn this into a power struggle," she pointed out, forcing herself not to let her instincts take over and react to a gun pointed at her. "What is wrong?" she asked.
He still glared, but the aura was under tight control and the glare was of a harsh icy cold quality. "You need to ask? You should know!"
"Know what?" Tarakk was getting angry now.
"Ask your Veneran friend!" Midnight growled and brushed past her.
Tarakk tried to hold him again, then thought better of it. Not another fight. This was an already tense situation and there seemed to be no end to Midnight's animosity toward her -- and her kind, she added softly.
"Tyrathia?" she asked.
As always, and as not otherwise expected, there was only silence. Her Veneran partner rarely choose to talk. Well, it left her with the usual course of proceeding: find out on her own.

Midnight stopped outside the room and sent his weapon back into subspace, then inhaled deeply. He was feeling tense and somehow only slightly enraged. Steve was in the back of his mind, not saying anything, just present.
I could have dealt better with that>> he sighed.
You could have>> Steve agreed. You didn't, though>>
I can't help reacting this way>>
Oh, I think you were under control>> his partner told him. with a fine smile.
Midnight chuckled as he walked down the corridor, feeling a lot better than he had initially thought possible. Somehow his mind was readjusting and his mood ways swinging back. He couldn't care less about the Venerakkin and he had no intention to bang heads with them in any way again. He had gone up against Firefall for her actions and now he had fought Tarakk. The first time he had come away from the encounter barely alive, this time he had left without harming the Venerakkin and without getting whacked in return. He was getting better, he thought humorlessly. In a few weeks time he might be able to ignore them completely.

* * *

Nicholas sat in the library, totally absorbed in his reading. He had accessed about a dozen files with barely any information at all concerning the past of the Seekers. He had found out all the stuff he already knew, but nothing about what he wanted to know. He had to dig deeper, maybe into the sub-archives. He knew the whole history was in here somewhere, he just had to find it. After another twenty minutes he came to a file that was solely about the former Seeker leader called Braintrust and when he opened it, looked at he picture, he knew where the dragon image had come from.
Braintrust!
He read on and came up to the section about the forced Interfacing and the experiments on humans and humanoids. Nicholas felt slightly sick as he saw the estimated number of victims.
"God!" he breathed.
So many. Of all kinds. And the numbers were only estimates! There were only incomplete records.
Then he went on with his research, feeling rather disturbed. He had known some things about Seekers, that they had always searched for Interfaces but had had no luck. He had not known about the forced Interfaces and the experiments!
And then he hit gold.
Nicholas inhaled deeply as he read the file, aware that his hands were clenching around the keyboard, that he was probably pale as a sheet and that he felt cold. All Seekers had been involved in kidnapping the humanoids and bringing them to their leader, but Tornado had been the one to conduct experiments as well. He had prepared the victims, he had done his share of torture and he had watched silently as they died horrible deaths at the hands of his leader. Nicholas felt sick. Very sick. Now he understood the images in his mind.
"Oh, no...." he moaned.
That's what Tornado had hidden from him.
All the sickness.
All the gruesome details.
All the pain.
All his past.
Nicholas inhaled deeply and shut down the file. He closed his eyes and walled off his thoughts. He knew they would have to get this out in the open, but ... how? How could he approach his partner, who was apparently intent on hiding this particular past, ashamed of it?
Yes, it was shame. Nicholas understood it now. It wasn't malicious obscuring of facts. Tornado just didn't know how to deal with it himself, especially since he had learned to be more. He had come past his original programming through the Interface and he had discovered he could feel for flesh creatures. Nicholas chewed on his lower lip. How could he approach this delicate subject?
The solution to this problem came easier than he had thought -- and also much messier...... and almost right on top of his musing about how to talk to his partner.
"What are you doing?!"
Nicholas flinched, totally surprised by the voice and turned. Tornado was towering over him. His silver optics glowed with anger and betrayal, and he stared down at his partner.
"I was looking something up," Nicholas answered calmly.
Tornado clenched his hands into fists. "Oh, yes? And what exactly was it?!"
The dark-haired human met his optics levely. Nicholas knew that Tornado was suspecting something, that he might have 'heard' an echo in his mind. "Seekers," he answered truthfully.
"You were spying!" Tornado accused him hotly.
"I was trying to sort out what the hell was going on in my mind!" Nicholas shot back.
The Seeker leader flinched a bit.
"I was remembering things!" Nicholas went on. "But they had nothing to do with what I ever experienced, which left only one other option: you! And since you kept walling yourself off from me, I had to take another route." He gestured at the library terminal. "This one!"
"It's my private life!"
"Which was suddenly in my mind! I don't care what you want to hide as long as you keep it to yourself! It was leaking!" Nicholas nearly yelled. "I was getting sick and tired of seeing things I couldn't explain!"
Tornado's optics were a bright silver now. "You had no right...."
"I had every right!" his partner interrupted. "We are partners! We share a mind link and through it share each other's life! I know you hate to think of it this way, but it's the truth! And why hide it? You know all about me, about me life, my dreams, but you keep hiding! Because of the experiments? Because of the many senseless deaths?"
Tornado flinched back.
"Why never talk about it? Why bottle it up? Where you afraid I might hate you for what you did to organic life?"
Tornado stumbled back. "Stop!" he whispered.
"You killed my kind and you killed other humanoids, Tornado! It's your past! You have to accept it and I have to accept it. You are no longer that person, you are no longer employed by Braintrust!"
"Stop!" Tornado yelled desperately and retreated further.
"Tornado, please .... I don't hate you... You didn't do it on purpose. You were forced!"
The Seeker stumbled even further back. "Leave me alone!" he whispered and fled.
Nicholas shook his head and sighed deeply. Well, that went disastrously!
At least he now knew where this was all coming from. Now he only had to find out how to battle his partner's stubborn refusal to accept.....
And it will be hell, Nicholas thought darkly.

* * *

The corridor was empty.
Tarakk checked one more time, then approached the target: a door. It looked like any other door, nothing remarkable and except for a small number-and-letter combination glued to the wall beside it there was nothing exceptional about it. The lock was a bit harder to pick than expected, but it gave way and she grinned, tugging away her lock-picking gear. Tarakk walked silently into the room and the door closed after her. For a minute she simply stood there and looked around. The room was clearly an office. A desk, a computer terminal on it, a chair, a file cabinet, shelves, chairs for visitors -- nothing out of the ordinary. She walked around the desk and carefully looked through the assorted papers and disks on it. Everything concerned official business. She sat down on the chair and swiveled it around, looking over the room again. There was nothing personal in here.
Maybe in his quarters!
Tarakk smiled slyly and rose from the chair, walking over to the only other door. Like many offices of commanders, this one had the personal quarters attached to it. As she stepped into the quarters she saw that this was more or less true here as well, except that these quarters didn't really look very private. Yes, there was a recharge bed in here and another terminal, but no personal items! Tarakk was stunned. She didn't have many personal belongings either, but at least her shared quarters with Rikkochet looked a bit more like a room and not like a clean-swept lab!
Shaking her head she walked silently over to the computer and activated it. Scanning all the personal logs and files and archives she searched for something that might give her a clue as to what in Cybertron's name was going on with Midnight. She didn't know how long she had been here, always listening for anyone entering, always ready to flee, but this was getting frustrating. Some files were incredibly well encoded and others had no codes at all. Still, she had not found anything out of the ordinary, though some nice information she might be able to use another time.
Suddenly she was aware of a presence. Whirling around she scanned the room, then darted over to the closed door and opened it slowly, scanning the office as well. Nothing. No one here. Shaking her head and calling it nerves she turned and walked back to the desk. She sat down and was just about to try and crack the most resistant code she had ever encountered when she had this feeling again. This time of being watched.
"Good evening," a soft voice said.
Tarakk jumped up, body in a battle stance, ready to call upon her weapons from subspace -- and looked into two emerald cat eyes, glowing in amusement.
"Sparks!" she hissed, trying to relax again.
"The one and only."
"What are you doing here?!" she demanded, wondering how the cat could have snuck in without her detecting a sound. Tarakk was a trained assassin, among other things, and she was the best. Nothing had ever escaped her notice!
"I could ask you the same," Sparks replied with a fine smile. She jumped onto the computer monitor and looked down, reading what was printed on it upside down. "Oh, code breaking, eh?"
Tarakk snorted. "Not much of a breaking here. It's pretty well protected."
Sparks chuckled. "Not if you know how to approach it."
"Oh? And you know all about code-breaking, right?" Tarakk mocked.
The cat raised a furry eyebrow and said nothing. Tarakk reminded herself that this was the Autobot who regularly broke into Megatron's quarters, which were heavier locked than any other office and managed to break out of every room. Sparks was renowned for her abilities to pop up wherever you didn't expect her, track Megatron to any place and that you couldn't trap her for long.
"What are you looking for?" she now wanted to know.
"Something," Tarakk muttered and started her attempts of code-breaking again.
"Something as in 'something to tell me why Midnight hates me'? That something?"
The Venerakkin stopped again and fixed the cat with a cold stare. "What do you know about it?"
Sparks sat down and her tail moved slowly from left to right. "I know that it has to do with the Veneran and that it would be better if you let the matter rest."
"What are you talking about?" Tarakk demanded. "What about our partners?"
Sparks didn't replay. Tarakk growled and attacked the file again. No success. She gave up and hissed in frustration. The black cat regarded her solemnly. Tarakk stared at her for a long time, then muttered something under her breath.
"I could show you the file," Sparks finally said softly.
"What?!"
"But it wouldn't really help -- only hurt."
Tarakk leaned forward. "I don't care," she hissed. "I want to know what in Primus' name is going on with Midnight and I want to know it now!"
Sparks sighed deeply. "Swear that you won't tell anyone."
"You can't...." Tarakk started.
Sparks' optics were dead serious now, all amusement gone. "Swear it. I want your oath as a warrior, Tarakk."
"What if the information is important for my friends as well?"
Those optics bore down on her and Tarakk found herself mesmerized for a second. She blinked. This small robot had an incredible personality!
"Swear. It," Sparks repeated.
She surrendered. "I swear by my warrior's honor that whatever is revealed to me now will stay with me and no one, either of my own kind, the Veneran race or anyone else, will ever hear about it, or get access to it through my links," Tarakk then said slowly and seriously.
Sparks nodded, obviously satisfied and reached down with one paw, pushing two keys. The picture on the screen changed and then displayed 'Accepted' in blinking letters. Tarakk stared.
"That's all?!" she finally exclaimed.
Sparks smiled brilliantly and in that moment Tarakk could have killed her! She busied herself with opening the files hidden behind the code and after a while she forgot all about Sparks and what an annoyance she could be sometimes. Her mouth was agape and she couldn't do anything but continue reading in silence, shaky fingers opening and closing files. Now she understood why Sparks had asked for her oath. And she knew she had to keep it and not tell anyone, hard as it would be.
Suddenly there was a faint noise from outside in the office. Tarakk quickly closed the files and switched off the terminal. She checked her scrambler which made her invisible to all eyes, at least all eyes mechanical, then moved back against the wall.
Wait a minute! She had had her scrambler on for the whole time! How could Sparks have seen her then? She was a robot as well, but she had seen her! Tarakk was shocked by this and nearly didn't notice that the subject of her puzzlement was no longer in the room.
She should have been named Ghost, not Sparks! the Venerakkin assassin thought darkly. She moves like one!
The door opened.
Tarakk bit her lip as she discovered who it was. She knew he had been the only possible visitor here, but still....
Midnight walked over to the recharge bed, looking a bit tired and worn. He switched on the controls and then went back to the office. Tarakk followed silently, invisibly, still watching as he got his day's mail, stashed some disks on the already dangerously big pile and then went back into his quarters. Tarakk hesitated one more second, then slid invisibly out of the office.
She had a lot to think about.
She had a lot of questions to ask. And she knew who to ask and who would most definitely answer her -- sooner or later! Tyrathia. This time she wouldn't be satisfied with the silence or a vague answer. She had to know, she needed to know, the truth. All of it.

* * *

It had been so easy. Remodeled and with a completely new paint job, Hardhead had slipped aboard one of the aid ships from Cybertron. His ID had been accepted, faked as it was, simply because no one expected a Cybertronian to sneak off the planet. Everyone was looking for refugees who wanted to stow away, but Hardhead had been quite inconspicuous. He knew enough about Nebulans to fake some conversations as he waited with the ship's captain for the vessel to be loaded, then he took his place in the cargo room, which was fitted to carry up to three additional passengers outside the normal crew.
"We are done," the captain, an Autobot called Psyche, told him.
Hardhead nodded. He boarded the ship and half an hour later they were off the ground and slowly, almost laboriously climbing through the atmosphere. Hardhead sat back and watched the planet shrink away through the tiny window. Something inside him whimpered but was quickly swamped by bubbles of madness surfacing again. His visor flashed once, then he had himself under control again. The freighter with its mostly empty cargo hold changed course and headed for the warp gate. He saw the Monolith hovering far away and knew they'd pass her in a few hours, then there would be nothing else endangering his flight.
"Here we go," he whispered.
Hardhead left Nebulos --
and Illusion began his journey.

* * *

Nicholas had his hands stuffed in his pockets again and was walking aimlessly around South Port. Everything he had found out was making sense now. He had a pretty good idea what Tornado had been while Braintrust had been alive and he had a more than pretty good idea what he had done. Nicholas mind was torn between two extremes. One was understanding his partner, accepting what he had done because there was no way he could change it anyway. Tornado had been a different person then, following his programming, nothing else, not thinking about what he did to those kidnapped and abducted. He had acted, not thought much. Maybe he had once pondered whether these small flesh creature suffered or not, but he had continued anyway. And Nicholas truly understood!
But then there was the other part inside him. This part told him he was connected to a killer. He was frightened, scared to death, horrified..... The voice insisted that Tornado could revert to a cold-blooded, emotionless killer any time, that he could simply squish him ..... remove him. Nicholas was nothing but another humanoid.
"Damn," he whispered, battling those two extremes.
Tornado had shut him out completely and he was probably halfway to Mernan right now. He had blown it with his actions and he could have banged his head into a wall if it wouldn't have affected his partner as well. He was so lost in his own miserable thoughts that he nearly bumped into a robot leg. He looked up and to his increased misery discovered Phoenix, Tornado's second-in-command.
"Hello, Nico," she said, smiling.
He sighed. He had told her a thousand times his name wasn't Nico, it was Nicholas, but she kept on calling him Nico whenever they met.
"Hello," he muttered.
"I ....kind of heard what happened," she told him, not beating around the bush.
Nicholas shook his head. "I made a mistake."
"You did the right thing," she corrected him. "He was bottling it up, hiding it and he was not doing anyone a favor." Her optics glowed gently. "Tornado can be very pig-headed and he tries to do everything alone. You know how hard it was to get him to confess to his Interface partnership with you. Now you are facing an equal challenge."
Nicholas chewed his lower lip, remembering how hard these months had been. Yes, Tornado had been pig-headed, but so had he. He had tried to make it easy for the Seeker leader, but he had only helped to aggravate things. And what had he done now?
"I still made a mistake by not asking him first, Phoenix," he told her.
"He would not have told you anything," she said gently. "He rarely talks about it anyway. Neither of us knows anything specific about those experiments. We were never included. We only brought in the ......" She hesitated.
"Victims," Nicholas said softly.
She sighed. "Yes. We never knew what exactly happened to them. We knew they died, but never under which circumstances. Tornado was in on all the sessions because he was the chief scientist. He was also responsible for the development of many of the machines Braintrust later on used to force Interfacing."
The dark-haired human nodded. "I know. I read about it. The Sentinels kept files on you all."
Phoenix smiled humorlessly. "Yes, they did. Midnight knew all about us by the time he met with Thon Roque. They kept tracking us and also had quite good records. They also did their share to thwart some of Braintrust's plans."
"Now that I know it ...... I kinda understand it all as well."
"But you are also afraid." It was a solemn statement of a fact.
"In a way. But I know he won't hurt me, Phoenix. I'm drawn between being too afraid to even open my mind and wanting to go after him to talk." Nicholas shrugged helplessly.
Phoenix went down on one knee, giving him one of her very intense looks. "Go and follow him, Nico. He is afraid of your hatred of him, though he knows you understand, but still.... He can't accept what he did now that he is Interfaced. He killed your kind, forcing them into something he has now. In the past he didn't understand what Interfacing meant -- really meant. None of us does because you have to experience it. Now he is Interfaced and he knows what he did."
Nicholas looked into those intense optics and then closed his eyes. "You have an idea where he is?"
She smiled. "Still here."
Nicholas shot her an incredulous look. "He is?"
"Yes. I think he knows he can't really run from it...."
"Well, he tried." Even shutting me out from the link, he added sourly.
Phoenix' smile widened a bit. "Yes, physically, but not mentally. You are linked and he flooded you. I think he feels bad about it."
"Sheesh!" Nicholas exclaimed. "Well, if I can find a good opening line and not get kicked out right away, I'll seek him out and give him a piece of my mind -- literally."
Phoenix nodded. "He will listen."
"I hope," the human muttered.

* * *

Spike walked into the day room, as it was called, in the human quarters' public area. It was close to noon and after coming back from another examination he felt he needed some coffee. Lunch would be over at the mall with Mel who had arrived back on Cybertron two days ago. As he went over to the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee he discovered Jill McKennan sitting on the couch, leafing through what looked like a photo album. The former ambassador frowned, poured himself the coffee, taking a second one along for Jill. Normally Jill wasn't the one to sit around and look at pictures all alone. Mostly she was together with Jeff Winters, hanging out with some other Interfaces or the human population here. Jill was a people person and very easy to be with once you got past staring at her because she was an alien. Spike had met dozens of different races in his time as an ambassador and he didn't really take note of how someone looked. He was more interested in character. Jill, like Shanygn and Kyle, had been a tremendous help in the early stages of his Protogen existence and they all still were. And then there was the fact that he also hadn't seen the album before either. From where he stood he saw it was very old. Jill had talked to him about her life before Interfacing and after the event quite openly, but she had never taken out an album.
"Hi, Jill," he greeted the woman jovially, placing the cup on the table in front of her.
Jill looked up with a faint smile. "Hi, Spike. Thanks." She took the cup and sipped at the dark liquid.
Spike sat down beside her, glancing at the photos. "Family?" he asked neutrally, keeping his cheery side up.
Jill's face went through a change Spike couldn't quite categorize. It became slightly darker, though he saw traces of fond memories rise inside his friend.
"Yes." She turned a page. "And also no."
Spike looked at the photos more closely. They showed different people, all of Jill's race, some cheerful, some grinning outrageously, some serious, others taken by surprise. One face was familiar, though younger.
"That's you, right?" Spike asked softly, pointing at the young woman with the white hair, standing beside a young man with grayish-blue hair. Both were smiling and the woman held a baby in her arms.
Jill nodded, face dark. "Yes." She turned another page. Again a picture of the man and the child, though both were older.
"Who are they?" Spike asked, though he thought he knew.
"Family," she whispered.
"Your husband and child."
The pain in her eyes became deeper. "Yes."
Spike felt something inside sting. "Why are you looking at those pictures now?" he wanted to know as Jill kept on turning the pages.
The woman shrugged. "I don't know." Then she sighed. "It's been over 800 standard years now since I left, you know."
Silence.
"So many years." Jill shook her head.
Spike placed a hand on her arm. "Are you okay?" It wasn't like her to suddenly dwell on dark memories. Maybe she did it sometimes, but he had never seen Jill like this.
"Sometimes memories surface, Spike. Memories you think you would never be able to recall." Jill closed the album. "I had a happy life back then and I had to give it up. I never regretted Interfacing except that one day when Marr died."
"Your husband," he said softly, understanding more now than he would have if this had happened two or three years ago. Now he was in a similar position.
She nodded. "I grieved for a long time. My race lives longer than yours, but life ends one day, one way or the other. Marr grew very old and he saw his grand-grand-children, but he never saw more generations to come. I did. I saw them all." Her hands clenched around her album. "And more. I turned into a legend among them when my children passed away. That was when I knew I had to go back to Alean. For good. I had always come back and the Interface link was never strained, but all had been just a short, happy episode." She smiled humorlessly. "I'm sorry to bother you with this."
Spike shook his head. "No," he said softly. "That's what friends are for and you know you have a friend in me. And maybe .... maybe it helps me understand my future as well now."
Jill's larger-than-human eyes widened slightly as she understood him, but she didn't say anything.
"If you want to talk some other time," Spike said into the silence, "you know where to find me."
She smiled. "Yes. Thanks."
Spike mirrored the smile and got up, placing the cup into the dishwasher as he walked out. Jill had been through what he would most likely go through in his future. Through Protogen he was now as immortal and timeless as a Cybertronian while still being himself. He would see Carly die, he knew, because his wife had said no to a transfer into a Protogen body. He would see his children die, as he would his grand-children and generations likely to come. It was a depressing future but he knew he would go through with it all, would not fall, because he had friends. Jill had not fallen, though she had stumbled, and there had always been support.
He had this support as well.
He would make it.

* * *

Nicholas found Tornado outside West Central where he had thought he would be. The Seeker wouldn't stay at South Port because Nicholas lived there, but West Central was an as dumb choice anyway. Cavanaugh worked at the new base as chief engineer and they would have met sooner or later. Maybe Tornado hadn't planned to stay long, but still..... Then again, maybe he had wanted to be found.
Right now he was standing in one of the public day rooms, which was thankfully empty of all possible occupants, mainly because it was late at night anyway -- Cybertron time -- and people were either working or asleep. Break time was still about two hours off. Nicholas walked into the room and looked at the broad back of his dark blue friend. Their link was still shut down from Tornado's side, but small things leaked through.
"I didn't think I'd still find you anywhere on this planet," Nicholas said softly.
Tornado turned abruptly and looked down on him, optics flashing with anguish. "What are you doing here?"
Nicholas met the silver gaze calmly. "Trying to figure you out. I thought I knew enough of you so I wouldn't be surprised by whatever you threw at me, but this ..... why did you run away?"
Tornado shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh, so you keep sending me images, right?"
He flinched.
"You know it's leaking. It had to leak. Strong emotions always do sooner or later. Tornado, we are partners and I accept you as what you are -- and as what you have been!"
"I'm a murderer, a killer, Nicholas. You can't accept that! If we had met before Braintrust's death, I would have done the same to you!" Tornado whispered desperately.
"No, because we would have started to bond."
"I'm not talking about Interfacing!" the Seeker leader snapped. "If you had not shown any signs to Interface with me, you'd have been killed in the experiments Braintrust ran! Experiments I ran with him as well as alone! Even if there had been signs of an Interface developing, I'd not have acknowledged it ever because ..... because ...."
"It was against what you were told and believed," Nicholas finished softly.
Tornado shrugged helplessly.
"You were different then and you are different now. You have grown, my friend, and you have gone past your initial programming. You showed you can be more than a machine and that's why we are where we are today." Nicholas approached him carefully. "You have to accept it and you have to stop living in the past."
"I can't. It's a part of me." Tornado shook his head.
"And it is part of me. We've been Interfaced for such a long time now, and though it was a trial in the beginning, I think we have balanced it quite well. Why do you suddenly think you might turn back to your old self again?" Nicholas asked, feeling his own nightmarish visions come back.
"Because ..... this is just too good," his robot partner whispered. "It's too good to be true and I expect my luck to run out any minute." He stared darkly at the floor between them.
"You know that no robot partner can hurt his Interface."
"Yes, but what if I'm the exception?! I killed your kind, Nicholas! I abducted and killed!" Tornado sounded desperate now. "I have it in me! It's hidden, but it's there!"
"Tornado, no! That was a long time ago."
"It could happen again!"
They were moving in circles, Nicholas realized. Tornado was not about to give up on this wild idea that he might one day kill Nicholas on purpose. But somehow that wasn't the deeper problem, was it?
"Do you think I hate you for what you were?" Nicholas asked quietly.
Tornado flinched back, optics wide and flaring. He had hit the nail right on the head. That was what was bothering the Seeker.
"I don't," Nicholas continued just as quietly.
"You can't say that!" Tornado moaned. "I was..."
"You were!" Nicholas now shouted. "Don't you see the difference in tense? It is the past! Wild Card was a Seeker as well, he abducted just like you, and he and Jeff are Interfaced deeply!"
"It's not the same...."
"He was Braintrust's second-in-command, for crying out loud!"
Tornado trembled. "But he never did what I did."
Nicholas's eyes were blazing with anger now. "I don't care what you did!"
"But you are afraid it might happen as well," his partner hissed. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it as well. What if I change and kill you? What if I simply grow tired and shoot you?"
"Yes, I thought about it!" Nicholas snapped, "because you sent those images to me! I trust you with my life! You know what happens if one of us gets killed and you'd commit suicide by removing me!"
He had just had about enough. Tornado could be so pig-headed.
"Nick, please......"
Nicholas could be pig-headed as well and right now he simply did what he thought he had to. He opened his link full force and sent a spear-headed flash to his partner. Tornado rocked back, looking in surprise at the smaller human. Nicholas bore down on the walls surrounding his partner's mind, confronting him with what Tornado had sent him unwillingly, and felt him weaken. A moan escaped the blue robot's lips and he went down on his knees as his past flashed by so quickly and violently that he briefly lost track of reality. Nicholas finally linked up and opened his mind to him, asking him to do the same.
You can't harm me, Tornado>> Nicholas insisted, now confronted with the raw images, the real past, and the real guilt.
Tornado trembled.
I accept you. I don't see you as what you were, only as what you are>> Nicholas went on. You accepted me, a flesh creature, as your partner, though it went against all you ever believed....>>
Not the same....>> the Seeker moaned.
It is! Stop building walls of guilt! We have to go on!>>
Tornado shivered and looked at his partner. The fear will remain>>
It won't. In time, it will go away. Steve was afraid of Midnight, but they went past this and look at them now. Time heals>>
The Seeker nodded slowly, kneeling on the floor, optics too bright, emotions heaving. Nicholas only closed his eyes and strengthened the link. Their Interface was strong, though not one hundred percent, and he knew there was nothing to fear. He reassured Tornado of the same. After a while he felt him respond and he smiled slightly. Yes, time would heal. It would take some time, but not forever.
Never forever.

* * *

Turning off the TV, Spike Witwicky walked over to the window and stared into the Cybertron night. Outside a cars rolled down the street and vanished. Street lamps lit up the darkness, but they couldn't light up the inside of the man standing at the window. The cold and black loneliness inside of him made Spike shiver. He had been unable to sleep and had decided to try and watch some boring movie to help him fall do so, but it hadn't worked out. Talking to Jill had seemed so easy, but now ..... now the memories and thoughts he had had before on his own, alone and by himself, came back full force.
Heaving a sigh he leaned his head against the cold glass of the window and closed his eyes.
"Adam?"
The quiet voice made him jump and he looked up. Carly was standing behind him, clad in her night shirt. Oh, no! What had he done? Set off some kind of silent alarm? Yeah, he probably had.
"What are you doing up at this hour of the morning?" his wife asked, though from the look in her eyes she probably knew. She had always known. Spike had never been able to fool her.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Adam, please," she said softly. By using his given name she showed him how serious she was. She rarely called him Adam, but when she did, it was no light matter.
"Couldn't sleep," he said after a longer time of silence and turned back to the window.
"The old problem?"
He nodded slowly.
Carly joined him and snaked an arm around his waist, leaning against him. He laid an arm around her shoulders and they held on to each other.
"What triggered it?" she asked quietly.
And he told her.
Carly was silent for some time, watching the night traffic. "I won't say it will be easy, but you can do it, Adam. You are strong."
"I don't want to lose you!" he told her, eyes bright with unshed tears.
"One day it would have happened and we knew that the moment we took our vows."
"But not like this! I feel like this guy from the old TV show ..... Macleod! I feel like this Immortal and technically I am one!"
Carly hugged him more tightly. "You won't lose me," she then told him. "I will always be with you .... here." She put her hand over his heart .... his Protogen heart. She felt it beat like a normal heart, still knowing it was no longer organic.
"I know. My mind knows. It still hurts."
She kissed him gently and he returned the kiss. He would truly miss her. They had shared their life for such a long time and he knew Carly would live to grow very old, but one day.... One day, yes......
"Just promise me," she whispered when they parted, "that you won't give up. Never. You have a life and you will live it."
"Carly...."
"I want your promise, Adam."
He finally nodded, his stomach twisting slightly. "I promise."
Carly smiled.

II: Intersections
"Preperations"

Five months later:

It was a few days before Christmas and New York City's streets were bustling with shoppers who still needed last minute presents or had had no time to shop before or those people who really enjoyed getting pushed through crowds, nearly suffocating. Carly Witwicky moved through the crowds, wondering if she would survive this shopping trip. Melissa, her daughter, was at her side, shaking her head now and then. She had volunteered to come along, but she had probably not expected this crowd. Mel was used to giant robots, but not bustling people so thick in certain places that a sardine would have had claustrophobic attacks.
Carly made her way through the crowds into one of the many side streets and stopped, inhaling deeply.
"I think I'm getting too old for this kind of stress!" she sighed.
Mel grinned. "Both of us. How about a cup of coffee?"
Carly nodded. That sounded just great. They walked down the mercifully uncrowded street, which had a few small and interesting shops. Looking around Carly discovered a coffee shop. The coffee shop, called 'Ed's Cup'o'Coffee' was small and homely, had only three tables with four chairs each, and chairs lined up against the counter. It was mostly kept in light wood, the tables covered by red-checkered cloths, and a bunch of potted flowers at the two large windows. Christmas music was softly playing in the background, just loud enough to notice but not too obnoxious. Carly set the two heavy bags down on one chair and then took off her coat and shawl. Mel did the same.
"Hello," a female voice said as they sat down. "Welcome at Ed's."
Carly smiled at the blonde waitress. "Hi," she greeted her. "Two cups of coffee and each a piece of apple pie."
The waitress nodded, looking at Mel only slightly longer than at any other customer. Mel was already used to those looks because of the Net implant in her face. She mostly ignored it. Right now she looked out of the window, sighing softly. A sad feeling coursed through her.
"I will miss it as well," Carly said.
Her daughter smiled a bit. "Yes. I know we could come back, but somehow I think it would be wrong. Every time I hear those propaganda slogans against Cybertronians I could jump up and smash a TV or strangle the guy yelling those slogans." She shook her head. "I wish I knew what brought this about, Mom. It happened to quickly, so suddenly......"
Carly nodded. She had been with the Autobots almost from the beginning and her husband actually had. He had been one of the first humans to come in contact with them and their relationship with the Witwickys was a close one. The human race had welcomed the technology the Cybertronians had brought with them and now ... now they kicked them off instead of standing up behind their allies.
"I know, Mel. I know. I wish I had an idea when it really started, but I don't." Carly nodded at the waitress as she brought them their order, then gazed thoughtfully into the cup. "Leaving was a decision your father and I had to make and we never regretted it. Optimus offered his help when we needed it while Earth only went on about the Nebulos incident."
"Danny is thinking about moving to Cybertron as well...." Mel said softly.
Carly nodded. "He called me and we talked. His situation is not getting any better."
Mel knew. She had spent over a year with her brother and her sister-in-law and their child, Dana. Daniel had offered her to stay with them because she had had to heal. The accident had not only hurt her eyes, but also herself. Mel had needed time away from it all, but she had soon found her old strength again, something she had not thought she had lost. Nightmare had come on her request and he had helped her train her new abilities with the Net implant. Nightmare had been her first and best friend among the Cybertronians and even though he had been the Decepticon Assassin leader, she had never felt any fear. Mel had grown up among robots and she had a special friend. Cybertron wasn't her planet of birth, but it would be her home from now on.
And maybe it had always been.
Smiling at her mother she finished her pie. The two women left soon afterwards, finishing their shopping, then went to the space port. An unmarked shuttle waited for them. It was Labyrinth, who had registered as a private shuttle.

* * *

It was a beautiful day, better than expected, and Rodimus was really enjoying himself. He and Shanygn hadn't had any time to go anywhere together lately and when Silhouette had proposed visiting a small and unpopulated planet she had discovered on a map, he had dragged her along. Or had it been the other way around? More likely. Shan had insisted he take a few days off and relax. Now he was sitting at the beach, watching the sea, enjoying the calm and quiet. Cybertron had turned into a whirlpool, just like Earth, and sometimes he thought no one but him could answer questions or help with a problem. Since the Tji threat had receded, though he didn't dare to believe that they were truly giving up, the exploration of the former factory planet had started again full force. Teams had been sent out to start cartographing where they had left off because of the fighting and more and more was discovered -- mostly deadly traps. Rodimus smiled humorlessly. The base Springer had discovered the virus in and with which he had been infected all those years ago had been a first taste. Megatron had been able to supply a lot of knowledge concerning hidden devices and many Decepticon commanders helped devising a way to disarm a system. Most systems were so old that the original plans had been lost centuries ago and since no one had taken care to map out the places, all they could do was guess.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Rodimus looked down at his partner. Shanygn was clad in her new exo-suit, something so very different from her old look that he still had to get used to. She and First Aid had labored for months to give her old suit another look and to improve the shielding and weaponry. Her new look was slimmer and of a darker gray with dark blue parts. The tail which had stabilized her flight before was now thinner and looked like a whip. She was able to use it as a such, as well as grasp things. The feet were no longer toe-like constructions, but normal boots with a slightly higher heel. The wings were gone, but she had been given a subspace pocket which she could access to materialize them. All in all the whole construction looked a lot more feminine and though it was slender in built, it was much stronger in shields and weapons than before.
"A lot," he said with a smile.
Silhouette was somewhere in the forest starting just a few feet off the sandy beach, exploring and having fun with Bat, who had come along. Rodimus didn't mind. The little guy was no bother and tremendous fun sometimes. The beach with the white sand was undisturbed except for their own footsteps, which the wind and water would soon erase, stretching for miles and miles. The beach sloped slightly upwards toward a jungle-like forest, which was a stark contrast to the white beach and the dark blue waters. Not far away from him he could make out two dark shapes on the otherwise perfect white of the sand. Nicholas and Kayla, he identified the two shapes. Kayla had asked if she could come along because this planet was immensely interesting concerning fauna and Rodimus had seen no reason why not.
"Shanygn," he started, looking uneasily over the waters toward the faraway horizon.
"Yes?"
"Have you ever thought... I mean, have you ever considered.... going back to your home planet?"
There was silence from his partner and Rodimus knew he should have kept his mouth shut. But he needed to know.
"No," she finally answered.
"Why?"
Her blue eyes stared at him and there was disgust in them. Not of him, of the very idea to go back to where she had been born.
"I no longer have a home planet," she then said coolly. "You might call Alean or Cybertron my home, but there is no other."
"I see."
He had to ask her because he had had to know. In the last year Rodimus had secretly worked on a personal project: finding out more about Shan's planet of origin, starting with its name and position. He had never told her and had hidden his thoughts perfectly because he knew she wouldn't approve of his efforts to learn. Well, approve might be a mild word for the explosion that would most likely follow if she ever found out he had been spying like this. She hated her world, her people, her origin and if she never saw her planet again it would be too soon. But Rodimus wanted to know and to see. He simply had this need to know more about her people, about their motives to do all this to handicapped people. He simply couldn't understand it!
Shanygn looked at him. "Why do you ask?" Her voice was controlled, but he knew it had upset her to a degree.
"Curiosity," he sighed. "I mean, it's been an awfully long time since you left and joined the Sentinels and more time has passed since we Interfaced. Maybe things changed. It is you origin.... " He shrugged helplessly. "I was glad to return to Cybertron one day, even though it was a dead world, scarred by war, but it was my home."
"The planet I come from is no longer any home for me," she said calmly. "It stopped being a home the moment I was born. I was never at home there, there were never any family or friends.... only the institution."
Her voice was more controlled than it would have been years ago, mainly because he now shared the knowledge and knew what she was talking about. It had helped her and Rodimus was glad she could relate her thoughts without a major emotional upheaval.
"What if things have changed?" he insisted.
"Rodimus, as long as I can look back into the history of my world there has never been any change in the mentality of the people. And there never will be. If I return there I'd find it unchanged."
He sighed.
"Why do you suddenly think about it?" Shanygn asked.
"I thought maybe ..... well, you wanted to visit .... see your world again ...." He hesitantly looked into her expressionless face. "Maybe there is something you are missing...."
She smiled slightly. "No, there is nothing I miss. I'm no longer of this planet; I'm homeless and I prefer it to be this way. I will never return."
Rodimus nodded, still set on finding out about this planet. He had found scraps, tiny scraps, but not enough yet. It was Shanygn's planet of birth. He wanted to know.

*

"What are you up to, Rodimus Prime?"
Rodimus turned and looked into the blue, quizzical optics of Silhouette.
"What?" he asked.
"You heard me. What are you doing?"
Rodimus shrugged. "I have no clue what you are talking about."
Silhouette sat down beside him in the white sand of the beach. It was late in the evening and the sun was setting. The humans were preparing their dinner and Kayla was doing some research, taking notes as she categorized collected plant life. Bat had gone to sleep already, curled up on a tree above the camp.
"I know you've been snooping around in the archives in the last months and it has something to do with Shanygn."
Rodimus wondered whether she had gone psychic or if she just knew him too well. Probably the last. Why was he made of glass to so many people?
"Yeah, well...."
"I hope whatever it is, you know what you are getting yourself into." Silhouette gave him a serious look.
Rodimus gazed thoughtfully at the horizon where the sun was slowly setting. It cast a beautiful red and orange light, the sky aflame with colors.
"I'm not sure. It's just .... I want to know."
"Know what?" she asked.
He hesitated. Shanygn was close by and he didn't want her to hear. She might one day pick up on this through the Interface link, but he didn't want this out in the open now.
"Let's walk," he said and rose from the sandy ground. Silhouette followed and they walked together in silence for some time.
"Has it something to do with her past?" Sil finally asked when they had put several miles between them and the camp.
Rodimus sighed deeply. "Yes."
"You are suicidal," she immediately told him.
He grimaced. "Sil, I know more about her than I did years ago and I know what shaped her into the being she is today...."
"But....?"
"She's been away from her home for so long, I thought .... maybe ... things have changed, she might want to return....." He hesitated.
Silhouette understood and she touched his arm, stopping him. "She would tell you if she wants to. You know her past, more than any other, and if I can judge this correctly, it was painful and she wouldn't want to be reminded of it."
"Yes, but it is her home!"
"If she wants to go home, she'd say it. Rodimus, she has never beaten around the bush in the past. Don't do anything you might regret, and you will regret it if you force her." The female Dinobot smiled gently. "I know you care about her and want her to be happy, but this is not making her happy. It would drive you apart."
They stood together in silence and the sun set. Rodimus was still curious about Shanygn's world, but he also knew he'd make a terrible mistake going there. Maybe when this whole war was over .... maybe he could talk to her, ask her, though he knew Shanygn was not inclined to really face her past this way again. She had done it before, when he had been in her mind, but this was different. Actually going back...
"How much do you know about her planet?" Sil now asked.
"As much as anyone, I believe. Anyone who looks into the archives, that is." He shrugged. "It's a small planet with one dominant, sentient life form. Their technology is similar to Earth's but they have no interest in space travel or interplanetary relations, or even colonizing their system's other planets. They do trade but there is no space station in orbit and they discourage instead of encourage business links. Nothing special." He shrugged again.
Silhouette listened and then nodded. "I see."
"We know next to nothing about the race as such. Except of course what I know from Shan...." He left the sentence unfinished, unable to continue. He didn't want to tell Silhouette what his partner had 'confessed' to him through the mindlink.
Sil nodded again. "I believe you should leave this knowledge as hazy as it is, even though you are curious. It will harm both of you more than what it is worth."
Rodimus knew it, but he just wanted to help. Sil's hand tightened around his arm as if she was reading his mind again.
"Give it time. Don't pressure, don't force and don't do it alone," she continued. "You are partners and you will continue to be partners for a long, long time. Shanygn will come to you one day and that is the day you can act. Not sooner. Please promise you won't force the issue in any way."
He inhaled deeply. "All right," he finally said.
Sil smiled, partly relieved.
They walked back to the small camp where Shanygn and Nicholas were preparing for the night. Shanygn shot Rodimus a strange look, but there was nothing special coming through the link. He simply smiled at her and went into rest mode while Sil decided to go and explore the forest now that it was night. She transformed and walked off into the darkness. Kayla decided to tag along. She had night vision, her eyes those of a night animal, and she wanted to study some of those plants only blooming at night.
Just before Rodimus felt Shanygn's mind go to sleep as well he thought he heard a thought from her.
[Thank you]
Then she was asleep.

* * *

Years passed without any major events. Some people started to feel like they had won, like the Tji had been beaten, and they started to relax. Kimber Moya-Witwicky knew there was no such thing as an easy victory and judging from Earth's still-changing position towards Cybertron, neither did the politicians. Now she walked into the bedroom of their small house in Wind's Fall and looked around. All the furniture was already outside in the trucks and on the way to the shuttle port. She had packed for days and organized their moving. Now she finally had the time to see the empty house and she felt sad -- incredibly sad.
"Time to go," she said softly to the lonely figure in the so-empty room.
Daniel Witwicky nodded slowly. He was giving it all up, his life, his home, his job, his planet..... He had tried to fight the change, he had battled with words and paper, with politicians and business people, all without any remarkable success. Cybertron and Earth had drifted apart because of fear and paranoia and no amount of good arguments and sound facts could change this. And then the threats against his person and his family had grown worse. No more shouting names or writing sharp letters. No, now it was worse. Kimber had had nightmarish shopping trips and wherever they went, they were called Autobot sympathetics and blamed for all the evil in the world. Their daughter had to be taken out of day-care school because of harassment from the parents of other kids as well, though the daycare employees had begged her to reconsider and leave Dana there. Kimber had not. There was a bottom line to everything and this was hers. She had drawn it. Arcee, who was their bodyguard and also liaison to Cybertron, had finally lost it one day and two days later they had been presented with charges of harassment, endangering lives and destroying property. It had been the last nail.... Daniel had had it now. He had announced his resignation, had taken his files and left. Everything about their moving had been organized very quickly and efficiently and now, a week later, it was their last day on Earth -- quite literally. Kimber had called Rodimus to inform him that they would move to Cybertron if they were allowed to. Rodimus had told her they were more than welcome to move whenever they wanted.
Daniel had no idea whether they would ever return. He, for his part, had closed this chapter. Earth had had its chance and blown it. His family would now have a new home and his children and generations to come would grow up with Cybertronians, but he didn't mind.
"Let's go," he said softly.
Kim took his hand and they left the empty house. Daniel locked it and then threw the key into the post box. He didn't look back and neither did his wife. Neighbors stood in their gardens or on the front porch, Mrs. Whitmer, the elderly woman from across the street, nodding the small family good-bye. She had taken care of Dana after the daycare disaster. Kim felt her heart grow heavy. She liked the people of Wind's Fall, a small town without prejudice, somewhere she had felt safe enough. Arcee opened the doors and they got in. They drove wordlessly down the street to the port in the next larger city to meet their shuttle.
"Bye," she whispered almost inaudibly and felt Daniel squeeze her hand.

Five hours later they were on their way to Cybertron.

* * *

Illusion had taken months to find this place and as he touched down, he wondered if he had really been given the right information. The planet's name was Irelia, a small world which had flourished many millennia ago but war and corruption had beaten it down in a mere two thousand years and today .... nothing much was left of it. The Irelians had either fled or died or still dwelled in the abandoned cities, but they were nothing but primitives now.
The lonely, ruined building in the outskirts of the city of Muse was his target. Muse had been a thriving city, it had survived the war, it had tried to rebuild the Irelian world as it had been, but a change of politics had made way for corruption and corruption had turned the city over to raiders and pirates. Several decades ago the last had left, the city now open to anyone who needed shelter and was not afraid to face what lived here. Illusion scanned the building for any signs of life, but found none. He slowly approached the large double doors that hung precariously in their hinges. He pushed open the doors and stepped into the twilight of the room behind them.
"I know you are here so you might as well come out," Illusion called.
A tall, silver and blue robot stepped out of the shadows. His gun was trained on Illusion. "Who are you?" he asked coldly.
"My name is Illusion. I know who you are, Starscream, and I have come to offer my services."
Starscream's red optics narrowed dangerously. "I don't know you and I don't need your services."
"How can you decide if you haven't even heard me out?" Illusion asked.
"I don't have to," Starscream answered. "Leave, whoever you are, Illusion -- before I think about it and shoot you for trespassing."
Illusion smiled coldly. "If that is your decision ... your loss." He turned and walked slowly out of the ruined building, then transformed and shot off into the sky.
Inside, Duros whispered softly, though he couldn't understand the words. He got a good idea what it meant, though. Yes, he could do it on his own as well. He had killed a few Tji already, but he had hoped to find a partner in Starscream. Well, so be it.
He could do it alone!

*

Starscream watched the stranger leave. He had heard about Illusion through various channels. He knew that this robot was a saboteur just like him, but he was no one the former Decepticon would consider as a partner for his own operations. Starscream preferred to work alone.
"You think it was wise?"
The question was asked by a lanky appearing, slightly pale colored robot who gave him a quizzical look.
"We don't need help," Starscream answered icily.
"But we might need a new base. Letting him come here was dangerous," Byte told him, shrugging. "We could have guided him somewhere else. We knew he was looking for you." He shrugged again.
Starscream snarled, then turned and walked back into the heart of the ruin, a large room full of technical equipment. Dozens of monitors displayed data from all over the galaxy and there was a constant background hum. This was Byte's domain, who was the uncrowned genius computer hacker among the sentient races. Now the Decepticon sauntered over to his chair and flung himself in. He always managed to look like he couldn't coordinate all joints when moving, but somehow he did.
"By the way," he now said, twisting a pen between his fingers, "want to know who this guy is?"
Starscream, who had been studying read-outs, choosing where to hit next, gave him a narrow-eyed look. That he had formed a team with Byte had been purely out of necessity. Byte was an employee, not a partner, but he was quite useful and came up with information no one else could get. He was also paid quite well.
"Most likely a renegade," the Gatekeeper now growled.
"Nope!" Byte triumphed. "He's not! He's an Autobot!"
Starscream's head whipped around. "Autobot?"
"Yep." The hacker grinned annoyingly. "Got his energy signature. Quite hard to detect from so far but I...." He noticed Starscream's frown and let the explanation about his genius invention drop. "Anyway, he is an Autobot and from the data I have he should go by the name of Hardhead."
"A Headmaster," Starscream muttered.
"Right on, my friend. But his construction and paint job have changed. And I also didn't detect any organic life in him ....." Byte grinned again, "though there is a certain dead organic mass."
Something dawned inside the Gatekeeper. "The Nebulan died..... and he left Nebulos. Intriguing."
"He could be a worthy partner, driven by anger and revenge and all."
"I don't need a partner!" Starscream growled.
"Sure you don't. Right. Okay. Never crossed my mind." Byte swiveled the chair back to watch his monitors.
"But keep me informed about his actions," he added.
The hacker shrugged one shoulder. "Don't I always?"
But Starscream was already out of the room. Byte sighed and started to search for a new hide-out. He hated it when people knew about where he could be found. True, Starscream had found him years ago and he hadn't moved, but he had been the only one and now he was his employer.
Byte shook his head, keeping one optics on where Starscream was going next and the other where he might find a better headquarters.

* * *

Riverdance's face was a faint smile as she watched Rodimus walk into the room and the young commander looked a bit doubtful whether or not this had been a good idea to start with. Then again, he knew you could never know enough about fighting techniques. And Rodimus had come to her, not the other way around. He had asked her if she would be willing to train him in close and unarmed combat, as well as show him a trick or two. She had been surprised by his inquiry, but she agreed to train him. The Council was always in danger concerning assassination attacks, as the strike toward Optimus had shown. Optimus would be training with her as well, Rodimus had told her, but not just now.
Shanygn wasn't present. Riverdance had asked him not to phase while he was training because it would falsify the whole thing. Through a phasing he was superior in skills, but if Shan was not around when he was attacked he'd be at a disadvantage.
"You still have time to say no," the former Decepticon commander said, her voice neutral.
Rodimus knew she wouldn't see it as a dishonoring move if he bailed out now, but he had said yes and he would go through with it.
"No way. "
Riverdance shrugged. "Okay."
And she struck out.
Rodimus had seen the move coming with half an optic and he jumped back. Riverdance smiled at his move and nodded.
"Good."
Then the training started for real. It wasn't a fight, it was more of a dance. Rodimus learned to avoid blows, to fend them off, to use an enemy's momentum to his advantage without spending too much energon. And he knew he would continue this training and get Optimus to make room for it in his schedule as well. As much as both of them were experienced in battle, their knowledge about hand-to-hand combat was limited. Rodimus knew how to shoot something down or beat it up, but not how to defeat an enemy with a minimum effort and using only what he had as a possible weapon. Riverdance taught him about how to be a weapon and how to find weapons, even if they didn't come across as such at first. He knew he would never master all of this to the degree Riverdance had -- to be silently, deadly, graceful --, but he would do his best.
Well, right now, in this very first lesson, he learned how to fall without breaking anything or getting dents all over his body, as well as how to lose with a straight face.

A smile passed over Shanygn's lips and she wiped it away immediately, though it hadn't been fast enough to be missed by Nicholas who was working on some files. The dark-haired man shot her a questioning look and she simply shrugged, mischief dancing in her eyes.
"Roddy's training," she told him.
"And getting his butt kicked?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Kinda."
He chuckled.
Shanygn smiled as well, aware of a tickling feeling as Nicholas looked at her. Both of them had been together for a long time now -- without the relationship getting physical for several reasons. He wasn't of her kind but Shanygn didn't even mind. She no longer thought of herself as a member of her race and family after they had abandoned her, declared her as an inferior because of her handicap. And both their races were not so different, if you looked past her light blue skin color and dark blue hair. Nicholas had supported her throughout the last years, slowly letting her feel that there was nothing evil about a man's love, touch and presence. She always felt he would grow tired of her reluctance, her fear, her recoiling from him now and then, but he didn't. He stayed with her, gently trying to help her with her own past. It was hard work for him and Shanygn was thankful that he was here. Sometimes she had been able to stand his touch, sometimes she had drawn away from him immediately, dark memories rising, her mind repulsed by his presence. All of this had faded gradually over the years and except for a few flashed, she had never had any problems again.
She didn't draw away when he kissed her gently.
Maybe tonight was time to forever leave this part of her past behind her.

* * *

Illusion moved through the streets of the silent city. No one saw him, no one would see him if he didn't want them to, and there were few people out here anyway. Maybe that was the reason why they were here. Hiding among the population of Seta. A building loomed up in front of him and Illusion merged with the shadows of the skyscraper. A feeling told him that his target was here. No, it was knowledge. And this time she wouldn't escape. Not once again. No more tricks, no more defeats.
Illusion had hunted Tji for years now, singling them out wherever they appeared and eradicating them from the plane of this existence. He never took on too many and he hunted them with precision and patience. He had all the time in the world. They would pay for what they had done to him and Duros. And this time he even had a high ranking officer nearly in his hands. If he killed her, he'd score a strike against his enemies.
The former Headmaster pushed open the door to the building. The room was in a semi-darkness, with only a few light bulbs spreading a week light, but the darkness was no obstacle for him. His optics saw through the layers of grey and black -- and he discovered his target. He materialized his guns and took aim.
A bright white light exploded right into his eyes. Something lashed out for him and the weapons clattered to the floor. Illusion dove aside, taken completely by surprise. His scanners hadn't shown anyone else in the building! He shook his head to clear his mind. The explosion of white light behind his optics had left him blinded for a second. His optics rose to meet those of his enemy. The Tji looked at him and smiled coldly.
"Why don't you make it easy on you and surrender right away?" she asked. "It will spare you a lot of pain -- now."
Illusion gritted his teeth. "You won't get me, Tji. I'll take you with me!"
The Tji continued to smile coldly. "So be it."
Illusion accessed his subspace pocket and drew a knife. He managed to throw it and with a satisfied smile he saw it lodge itself deeply into the Tji's chest. He knew he couldn't kill her, but he could at least slow her down. Rolling away from his position he turned to confront the other Tji in the room, but he never had a chance.
There were more than one.
A whole squad of them.
Illusion felt a sharp pain in his chest, then there was nothing any more.
No more bubbles of madness.
No more whispers from Duros.
Just nothing.

Katalumera looked at the dead and smoking body of the Autobot and shook her head. She would have taken him alive if he hadn't been so much trouble and also if he hadn't been immune. Granted, the humanoid inside of him had died, but he had bonded and he was immune even after the humanoid had died. This single robot had been one of their greatest pains in the last years, constantly spoiling their operations and missions, killing warriors and workers alike. Ath'antheia had not been pleased. Now he would be.
"Leave him here," she told her warriors. "Any word from the others?"
"None. The Decepticon is eluding us still," one told her.
Katalumera sighed. A second maverick fighter was making life hard and he was an even greater annoyance because he was much better evading their attempts to trap him. She knew he was a Gatekeeper and would also be of no use as a body shell, but Ath'antheia wanted this one alive. He was one of Ralyk's children and through it quite valuable.
The Tji left the building as discretely as they had entered and soon there was no trace of their presence in the city anymore.
Except for one dead Autobot.

III. Ground Zero
"Striking Distance"

They had waited for a long time.
For the right time.
For the time to act.
For a time to strike.
For the time to erase a mistake....
And now was that time. Ath'antheia, Supreme Commander of the Tji forces, leader of his kind, stood on the battle bridge of his fortress, surveying the assembled fleet. It was an impressive sight. It had better be anyway. The Tji had slaved over the assembly for years in standard time. They had cut back on their raids on Cybertronian colonies, research facilities and small settlements. They had left space stations alone as far as possible and they had struck only randomly, only when they needed supplies or body shells, or when a target was too good to be left alone. Of course they had suffered losses in those raids, mainly because of the cursed Counterstrike Force of Cybertron. Counterstrike was a worthy foe, though not strong enough to be a real threat. Ath'antheia had made sure of that.
"All commanders have sent their signal," one of his lieutenants now announced. "We are ready."
Ath'antheia nodded. "Move out. Seek and destroy," he said coldly. "No prisoners, no second thoughts.... erase the Cybertronians from history!"
"Yes, Sir!"
The leading battle fortress gained speed and was followed by the whole armada. This was the final battle, the all-deciding one. All the others had been petty, never the real thing. This was it.
Ath'antheia smiled icily at the map showing Cybertron in all its splendor. By the end of this week, it would be a dead husk....a grave yard.
And the mistake would be erased -- forever.

* * *

The space station was small, but rather effective and outfitted with the latest technology. It was manned by a team of Decepticons whose order and only mission it was to keep an eye open for any suspicious movements coming from the direction the Tji had disappeared in years ago. Darksaber took his job seriously, though it wasn't very exciting. He didn't need excitement, only precise orders and the necessary manpower and equipment to do his job. He had what he had asked for and was quite content. Darksaber was one of the oldest Decepticons alive today and he had stayed alive not because of extremely well-honed warrior skills but because of his calmness, his swiftness concerning decisions and an uncanny sense of danger.
"Sir, the spy has picked up a contact at two-two-one!" one of his monitors now called.
"On screen!" Darksaber ordered.
A space chart appeared on the screen and the Decepticon commander discovered a faint blip. It was several sectors away, but the incredibly fine-tuned instruments had picked it up nevertheless.
"Identification?"
"Unable to identify it yet. Unknown classification."
He frowned, his familiar sense of danger ringing softly in the back of is mind. "Keep an eye on it. If it keeps on moving closer, inform me. Otherwise I want to know where it has gone."
"Yes, sir!"
Darksaber returned to studying a few more files about contacts they had picked up lately and which could be everything, starting from a stray pleasure cruiser to a pirate, a drug runner or a Tji spy. He couldn't put a finger on his sense of alarm yet and he had never decided rashly. He needed a few more data, then he'd see what he was facing. His orders were only to record movements, not to send out manned fighters or to engage the contact in any way. And he followed his orders.

Five hours later an identification was possible.
Five hours and one minute later, Darksaber tried to contact Cybertron but found his equipment jammed. No amount of work could get them a clear channel.
Five hours and twenty-one minutes later the fighters sent out to at least slow the approaching battle fleet down were destroyed.
The station followed three minutes later, evaporating under heavy fire.

* * *

Ultra Magnus had been silent and mostly monosyllabic since he had received the order. He hadn't liked it and he had absolutely hated to relay it to Chaos and her team. Strangely enough, she had been more calm about it than he had initially expected. The order had come in from Optimus Prime in person. They were to leave Nebulos. All of them. Magnus knew there was a reason and he had found out later which reason that was when he had received another transmission from his superior officer. Optimus had talked with the last representatives of Nebulos, which had fallen into a gathering of many 'tribes' or 'units' now that the planet was dying more and more, going back to a primitive state, and they had come to a decision.
There was no way anyone would be able to help them anymore. The planet was dying and no one had found a way to stop the genetic virus. Chaos had done her best for years and she had not discovered a single way to either counteract or stop the contamination disease.
The hospital units would remain and so would the quarantine buoys, which were now universally respected and no one had tried to trespass since the incident with the Earth company trying to sneak in and losing their men. The medical crew would be reduced because Chaos and her team would leave. Automated transports would still come in, but there would be no more Cybertronian presence in form of helpers. The EDC had removed their presence years ago, much to the protest of Cybertron, but Earth had decided it was a waste of personnel and resources for a dying world.
"ETA two hours, forty-five minutes," someone said, interrupting his train of thought.
Ultra Magnus nodded. "Continue," was all he said.
In two hours they'd jump and would soon be back on Cybertron.

* * *

It was the middle of the night, at least Cybertron time, and Optimus Prime enjoyed the peace and quiet that always settled over the place. He had managed to catch up on some work he had post-poned for too long and he was actually seeing a light at the end of the bureaucracy tunnel. The Monolith was expected to be back tomorrow and the Apocalypse was in dry dock. Suddenly there was a light blinking, asking for his attention.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Optimus, this is Blaster, you better come here right away!"
"What is it, Blaster?"
The communications specialist hesitated for a second, then he said, "We are picking up some signals..... known signals. And the quantity they come in indicates the Worst Case Scenario."
"I'll be right there."
He shut down the link and was out of the door before the 'ready' sign had its chance to blink more than twice.

* * *

The air in the Council was thick enough to cut it with a knife. Midnight sat on his chair and expressionlessly studied the read-outs from their spies -- most of which had been destroyed shortly after transmitting data -- not saying a word. Megatron wore a expression of contained anger and Optimus and Rodimus, as well as Tornado, were more or less neutral. Optimus had called in the meeting right after getting the news. The small station Darksaber had run was destroyed, as were several more observation units. The Tji fleet was coming closer, not making a secret out of their intent. It was hard to do so with such massive fortresses and the countless drones around them.
"We knew it would come down to this," Rodimus now said calmly. "And we know what to do, but we also know the possible results. There are only two: victory or death. The Tji don't take prisoners."
Megatron's fiery red optics met his. "We will give them a fight for their trouble," he growled.
Optimus nodded. "All strategies and tactics have been discussed before. Apocalypse and Monolith are standing by."
"Our teams are already boarding," Midnight said, talking about Seekers and Sentinels.
"Evacuation procedures have been initiated as well," Optimus continued. "From now on we are on red alert, stage three. All humans have been shuttled off or are in the process of leaving, though some have asked to remain. We have their names here and they are under special protection. We can't force them to leave. Soundwave and Blaster are monitoring the enemy. We estimate another seven hours until they engage us."
And another seven hours until the final part of this war began.
Seven hours until the Cybertronian race might fight their last fight ever.

* * *

Their relationship had started out totally wrong and grown worse. Somehow they had begun to come around nevertheless and though it would have appeared to be impossible from the outside, Sphere and Megatron had started a relationship. It was a curious one, neither a true friendship, nor a real relationship. Megatron had found a person in the strange female who understood a lot about things he had never confessed to anyone, mainly about his time as Galvatron, and he had discovered totally new sides to her. Sphere had been humanoid once, a female called Alyssa Dycran. She had told him about her job as a Host, about how she had met Starscream, how he had asked her to get him to Cybertron and then how she had died. Her death and resurrection had intrigued and frightened him because it was partially so much like his own fate, but he admired her strength. She had gone through a lot in her quite short existence and she had only grown stronger. Sphere might look like a fragile person, but she was incredibly strong-willed.
Right now she was sitting in his office, deep green optics looking over the read-outs Soundwave had sent him. Megatron watched her, as always fascinated by her so alien appearance. She was a robot, but she had long, white hair, more human features, smoother skin which was as armored as his and her character was also more human. He had been shocked at first when this had been revealed to him, the humanoid origin of the female he had shown interest in, but now he found it fascinating.
"This will be bad," she said.
Megatron nodded. "Any word from Ralyk?"
Sphere was the only one who could actually contact the entity directly through her Host space. They were all linked to the thing inside Vector Sigma, but no one had the access she had.
"No." Sphere put down the report and rose, walking over to the window. She looked up into the star-speckled sky. "It has gone totally quiet."
Megatron joined her. They might not survive this and he knew that even if the race of Cybertronians as such continued, he might not see the end of this war. He was a realist. The Civil War had been small and petty compared to this, though it had lasted a life time. He might not have another chance at this and though he usually never hesitated to take what he wanted, he had to reconsider his actions where Sphere was concerned. Sphere was a gentle, calm personality and Megatron was a volatile, short-tempered individual, the complete opposite. He had no idea what had really attracted him to her; he only knew that there was no more denying it.
The Decepticon leader snaked an arm around her slender waist and held her close, knowing that in a few hours this might be nothing but a faint memory in a dying mind. Sphere turned her head to look at him and smiled slightly.
"It's about time," she said softly.
He mirrored the smile. Yes, it was.

Sparks had to hold on to herself not to bounce down the corridor. It wouldn't be right to show such open enthusiasm in the face of imminent destruction. Everyone was busy preparing for the battle fleet coming their way. Sparks had no intention to broadcast the small amount of happiness she felt in this dark atmosphere. She wasn't cruel. Still, she felt good.
Finally!
After decades it had happened.
Well, even a wossname like Megatron could learn, especially emotions.

* * *

So this was it.
Optimus Prime looked at the large monitor screen, optics emotionless, hands clasped behind his back. Nothing showed his anxiety, his fear, his doubts, his hopes. He was the Autobot leader. He was expected not to break down, not to be afraid, not to show any emotions at all. He hated those expectations. Sometimes he wished he could simply let his temper flare and do what he want, but he couldn't. Well, he did from time to time, but only in the privacy of his quarters and only Rodimus knew about it. He trusted his second-in-command who was more of an equal partner anyway. Right now, Rodimus was at his side, wearing an identical expression of neutrality as he studied the screen. He was more likely to erupt in temper flares and he was always a mirror of how Optimus felt but which he couldn't express. Rodimus was not the living martyr, the symbol Optimus was and the Autobots knew him as Hot Rod. Sometimes Optimus wished they could trade places -- then again, they always did, all the time, every day.
The screen showed them both where the Tji were and how long they had until they would engage the Cybertronian battle fleet. Ultra Magnus and Shockwave had positioned the ships in a kind of pincer, hoping that the invisibility factor might give them an advantage. The Apocalypse couldn't be seen by Tji radar and the Monolith was in plain sight.
"Base, do you read me?" Ultra Magnus voice boomed through the com link.
"Roger, Monolith, loud and clear. Stand by," Eject replied. The edge in the commander's voice told him that something was not going according to plan. He glanced at Optimus, who nodded that he would take over.
"Monolith, this is Base. What is your status?"
"Base, our primary target has shifted course and is heading away from us. We are watching radar for further development."
Rodimus frowned, knowing that this was not good. Not at all! "I think they found us out," he said calmly.
Optimus nodded. "Which way is it headed?" he then asked, looking at the read-outs on his own map, which only showed a faint shift in positions.
"Zero-five-five. MoonBase One."
Rodimus' optics flashed briefly. The primary target had been Scorponok, the secondary one the copy of it the Tji had built. Now....
"Monolith, this is base. Keep monitoring. Watch for more course shifts, but don't, I repeat, don't move away from your current position. Apocalypse, do you copy this as well?"
"I copy," Shockwave's crisp reply could be heard.
Optimus cut the line and shot his second-in-command a look. Rodimus shrugged ever so slightly. He had no clue why the Tji would go for MoonBase One, which should be no threat to them -- except that it was and could blast a whole battalion out of orbit, but they couldn't know that .... could they?

* * *

Ath'antheia regarded the small planet of metal, feeling his victory coming.
Not much longer.
The defenses would be no obstacle. Cybertron would fall today and the Tji would finally erase a mistake the Veneran had made.

* * *

"Monolith, this is Base, you are clear to engage the enemy," Eject told the huge flag-ship.
"With pleasure," was the rumbled return.
Out in space, the Monolith's hangar doors split open and spewed dozens of tiny fighters, tiny compared to her huge bulk. The Monolith's gunports opened as well and aimed for any enemy target.
The Apocalypse hung back, watching, waiting for their prey to come closer. Shockwave knew he had to wait to reveal themselves, wait till the primary target moved past them. He had maneuvered his ship slowly and carefully, without using the regular engines, into a position where he could keep an eye on the target.

*

The small squadron of Sentinel and Seeker fighters shot out of the Monolith and struck toward their target, the copy of Scorponok. Their mission was to get through and plant as many hits as possible while the others took care of the smaller enemy units. They were to confuse the fortress, weaken it, give the Monolith a chance to hit quickly and ruthlessly. Tornado was in the lead, Nicholas strapped in and wearing his battle armor. He was flanked by Phantom and Twister. All the others were spread out behind them, each already selecting a site where to hit.
"Keep in formation," Tornado said. "Break up on my command!"
A second squadron was closing in from the right, lead by Midnight. Tornado sent a short call to the Sentinel leader and got a positive in return.
The first wave of enemy ships approached and laser blasts streaked past the Sentinels and Seekers, right into the approaching fighters, tearing them up. Monolith had excellent aim.
"Now!" he called.
The two squadrons broke formation and struck down on the battle fortress like a swarm of bees -- a deadly swarm.
Tornado accelerated, feeling Nicholas go into Interface coma, as it was called. He surrendered weapons control to his partner and concentrated on flying them safely through the hail of lasers now greeting them.
Nicholas opened the bay doors at the bottom of the jet, allowing the first of the ten missiles stored there to get into launch position. He selected a target, then triggered the launch. The laser-guided missile shot away. A quarter mile away from the surface of the fortress, the missile exploded.
"Shields!" F/X yelled nearly simultaneously.
"Break them!" Midnight ordered coldly and Tornado saw his friend go in for another run. This time, when a missile hit, he saw a faint sparkle -- the shields.
"Hit them with everything you have!" the Seeker leader called.
The world around the battle fortress exploded into fireworks of a deadly range.

* * *

Ralyk watched the battle, wincing every time a Cybertronian was hit by enemy fire. It knew the time for action was close.
Very close.
Was now......

*

Starscream had been on one of his sabotage missions against a Tji installation again, noting the curious absence of guards or security. He remembered Byte's remarks that the Tji were up to something, that they had been too quiet lately, that they had been removing their presence, had stopped abducting and kidnapping.
And a cold feeling spread inside him.
Already?
Before he could ponder the possibilities even more, he felt something grab him, displace him, send him hurtling along a track of energy to another place. It felt like a doorway transfer and he gave a yell of outrage.
When he could see again he was in known space.
Cybertron!

* * *

Blaster couldn't believe the readouts. This just couldn't be! There had to be a mistake!
"SNA breaking down," Soundwave suddenly said beside him, confirming a nightmarish development.
"Impossible," he whispered nevertheless.
The expressionless visor of the Decepticon communications specialist met his incredulous optics. "SNA breakdown has been confirmed. Bubble shields losing power. HV-LAN tearing up. Temporal distortion fields already down."
Blaster hit several keys and gasped. "NoMs, SN and SPOCs, the whole parade! We are losing power rapidly! Look at the host systems! That's impossible!"
Half a minute later Optimus Prime stood in the communications center, his optics fixed on the error and emergency messages now scrolling over the screen.
"When did it start?" he asked tonelessly.
"About two minutes ago. Oh, no! The DPUs are down as well!" Blaster looked horrified.
"Ralyk," the Autobot leader whispered.
"But... but it gave us those protections!" Blaster protested. "Why take them away?"
Optimus had no idea. The Tji battle fleet was almost at Cybertron, blasting at everything in their way and the Cybertronian ships were about to engage them. And now Ralyk was lowering the shields. Only one way to find out.
"Try to get the shields back up," he ordered calmly. "I'll have a word with Ralyk."
With that he left.
Blaster watched him go, optics still wide. "Get the shields back up?" he echoed. "But we have no control....."
Soundwave's hands rested over the keys. It was true. The computer controls were useless. Everything had been cut and severed. There was no way they could get in contact with the main control unit, except.....
"We could," he said monotonously.
Blaster blinked. "We do?"
"Cyberspace."
"That's madness! You have never maneuvered in that particular area!"
Soundwave met his optics unflinchingly. "True. It is the only option we have, though. There is only one chance to stop this."
Blaster didn't like this at all. He and Soundwave had never been on friendly terms, their working relationship nothing but pure business. He had never tried to get to know his former enemy and counterpart better, and he had also never seen a reason why he should have. Still, he didn't like the idea one bit.
Soundwave opened the panels hiding the controls and studied them. There were open ports for him to connect to on a physical level. He turned and looked at Blaster.
"It can be done."
"What about safety nets?"
"None. They hinder me. Movement is restricted." He looked at the docking ports again. "Monitor me." With that he transformed. A slender cable sneaked out of his side and connected to the port closest to him.
Blaster shook his head and went back to his station. He keyed himself into the non-functional control unit and kept and optic on the screen for changes. He didn't expect them to happen right away, but he knew that the read-outs would soon show what Soundwave was doing.
"Good luck," he whispered.

* * *

"It's still shielded!" Steve couldn't believe it.
Midnight didn't say anything, simply made a barrel roll to get out of the way of incoming attackers, then accelerated again for a new run. Yes, the shields of the fortress were still holding and he had to grudgingly congratulate the Tji. They had learned from previous encounters. Midnight saw out of the corner of his optics how F/X broke into a steep dive, pushing his engines into high thrust to escape the guns of Scorponok. Wild Card was closing in on some Tji fighters and obliterated them quickly.
His squad leveled off and flew along the bottom of the fortress while the others lead by Tornado did their amount of blasting on the top. Monolith was busy getting a few shots placed as well, but there was no change in the shields strength. Space was crowded by enemy and friend in front of him and Midnight wove in and out of the heavy traffic, placing a few shots here or there. The Tji outnumbered them badly. The one reason for that was that the Tji used fighter drones and there seemed to be no end to them. For every drone they blew up, two more appeared. It was a tiring fight and many had already been injured -- or worse.
It didn't look good. Not at all.......

Voodoo was hard pressed to get his tail out of the line of direct fire from a gun port and only narrowly missed getting a wing cut off by four Tji which were suddenly upon him. Kyle was working feverishly to get his strained systems balanced and also supply power for the weapons. Voodoo had taken some bad hits already. Three of his four attackers stayed with him as he dove out of the immediate battle field. Kyle cursed under his breath.
"Can't shake them!" Voodoo groaned.
"Stabilizers down. You are losing thrust as well." The Interface partner cursed again.
And then a cloud of fire erupted behind them as two drones went up in flames. Labyrinth shot through the cloud.
"Get back to Monolith!" the Sentinel yelled.
"But...." Voodoo didn't have time to object as Kyle took over manually and guided him back. "Kyle!"
"You are damaged," the human said coolly. "And don't argue!"
Labyrinth engaged the last Tji and when the drone had been blasted to bits, joined the injured Sentinel, shielding his retreat.
None of them saw one of the guns swivel and aim.
Voodoo only felt the shockwave and was then hurled to the left, tumbling almost out of control away from the battle field, as a blast went between them. His armor was singed and he smoked heavily.
"Labyrinth!?" he called, trying to stabilize himself, which was no small feat. "No!"
The dead husk of his friend drifted by several space miles away, torn apart, burned, shredded.
"NOOO!"
Kyle only gave a soundless gasp, then averted his eyes.

Midnight felt numb inside as he saw the massive blast go into Labyrinth like a hot knife through butter. He couldn't scream, he couldn't feel pain ... there was no emotion at all. He continued to fight, blasting what came into sight and belonged to the side of the enemy, wondering when the desperation and pain would set in.
Around him, explosions blossomed, destruction reigned and death was everywhere.

* * *

The world he was in was known to him in detail. He knew every fold, every corner, every branch it could take. Soundwave had a second home in Cyberspace, spending days in it and no one even noticed. Soundwave had the ability to enter this strange world while still appearing responsive and present to the outside. But not this time. This task required his full concentration and he had to trust Blaster not to interfere and also to keep him safe. It was a mile to go where trust was concerned, but Soundwave had had no other choice.
He moved deeper into the folds, scanning for the link to the shield controls and finally found it. Opening the link he stretched a tentative feeler to get an idea what was waiting for him, but he drew a blank. There was nothing behind this 'door'. Puzzled, Soundwave moved deeper and tried to find a trace of the controls. Ralyk had transferred part of the controls for the shields to the South Port central computer, though they couldn't actually influence any of the shields. Control was a loose-fitting word here. They could monitor and watch and sometimes do a bit about the power drain those shields had on the back-ups, but nothing else. Soundwave had only come to Cyberspace to find a reason as to why all shields were suddenly dropping and why they were not allowed to put them back up.
The Decepticon communications specialist drifted further along the link and finally arrived in the fold of Cyberspace reserved for the bubble shield controls.
And they were gone.
Soundwave stared at the empty spot, a blank grey and green fluctuation of color, unable to do anything more for over a micro-second. How could the controls be gone? From Cyberspace, nonetheless! This was impossible! Even if controls burned out...... even if a terminal was wrecked, it lingered on in Cyberspace for some time! But this....
Someone.... something ..... had not only cut all links on the physical level, but also erased them from Cyberspace. Why? And how?
He drifted even closer and examined the blank spot. It looked like any other old and unused fold, one that would sooner or later be filled. There were no traces of any use lately, not even a micro-particle.
Completely impossible. Nothing could do this!
He stopped.
Then again......
Ralyk!>>
The call went out through Cyberspace and homed in on the ancient entity. Soundwave felt it close by, but he didn't get an answer. Still, it was answer enough. This was Ralyk's doing, all of it. Not only had it disconnected the shields from the physical controls, it had also taken everything concerning Cyberspace controls with it as well. But why? Why do this? The shields had been erected to keep the Tji out and now.....
Cold realization hit him.
Soundwave hurried back along the link, out of the fold and finally found his way to the port canal. If his suspicions came true .... they had the enemy right in their midst!

* * *

"They are breaking through! I repeat, they are breaking...." The rest of the message was lost in the void of a cut link.
Rodimus flinched imperceptibly and briefly dimmed his optics. He knew why the communication had been cut.
"Get South Port up to red alert, stage one," he then told Eject firmly. "Immediate evacuation!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Alarm klaxons sounded. They began to retreat.

* * *

Ath'antheia smiled cruelly as he saw the flag ship engage his armada. Petty, he thought. Really petty. They would beat them in no time. The real nut to crack would be Cybertron's shields because they had been erected by Ralyk.
And then he experienced a surprise.
The shields dropped.
All of them.
"Attack," he said quietly, grasping a chance when he saw one. He didn't ponder what had brought this about. It was luck. Luck shouldn't be questioned, it should be used.

* * *

Midnight was a black streak in black space, dodging enemy fire as he raced back to Cybertron the moment he had realized too many Tji were getting through for the planetary defenses to handle. He felt some lasers burn his armor, but he ignored it all. His help might not be much, but he could still take a few out!
Garbled messages came through about South Port's evacuation, about attacks in different sectors, about the bubble shields still down. Midnight didn't get it. Why had the shields dropped? He had tried to contact Ralyk through the link it upheld with the Council members, but he didn't get an answer.
Midnight couldn't understand it. He was deeply confused about Ralyk's actions, about its motives, but he didn't have time for that. The Tji were coming through, pounding the planet with everything they had. Both battle fortresses were now close to the planet's only satellite, the MoonBase. MoonBase was blasting back, but not getting much damage done. Every fighter, every gun, every warrior was firing at the enemy. And Midnight knew nothing was of use. The Tji had come prepared. They had armored the fortresses.... they were ready to deliver the killing blow.

* * *

Rodimus stared at Soundwave as if the Decepticon had suddenly grown a mouth and was grinning happily at him. Right now he wished it was that way.
"Ralyk dropped the shields?" he whispered, unable to understand.
"It erased all data. There is no reconstructing them."
The younger commander frowned. Why? Why had it done that?
"The Cyberspace traces were removed on purpose," Soundwave added. "There is no mistaking it."
"Thank you, Soundwave," Rodimus replied absently.
Ralyk had done it on purpose! It was letting the enemy in! And Optimus was on the way to the chamber to talk to it.
"Great Cybertron!" he whispered. He had to warn him! If Soundwave's suspicions were correct -- they had their enemy right in their midst. "Eject, get me in contact with Prime!"
The small cassette nodded, but suddenly he frowned. "The link is non-existent .... it's ... errrr .... cut!"
"What?!"
Rodimus couldn't believe it. He was torn between storming out of the base to find Optimus and staying. He knew he couldn't leave, though. He met the expressionless optics of Soundwave who didn't say a thing.
And then the decision was taken out of his hands.
"Tji drones have broken through!" Rewind called.

Rodimus smiled grimly as he got the news. The Tji were landing and they were spreading havoc, shooting everything that moved. Megatron had left South Port's dubious safety to join the defenders of the base outside. No one could have stopped him. Rodimus had seen Sparks follow him, her eyes expressionless, but gleaming strangely.
A stray thought crossed his mind, something someone had once told him.
No expectations. Enjoy your moments in the sun.
Yes, maybe she had been right. Maybe this was how you had to live your life, and how you had to die as well.
Shanygn met his grim thoughts with some of her own and the two partners knew that this was most likely it.
No expectations......

* * *

The evacuation was conducted in a rather controlled fashion. Everyone had known that something like this had to happen sooner or later. Everyone had preferred it to be later. Suddenly a Tji destroyer appeared, fighters fanning out from it, descending on the helpless evacuees. Explosions tore the ground apart, collapsed buildings and ended lives.

Carly never saw it coming. One moment she was moving toward the tunnels, the next everything seemed to twist around her. There was a loud noise, like and explosion, then there was nothing anymore. She thought she felt pain, but it might also have been nothing but her imagination.

Daniel and his family were already in the safety bunkers when the first explosions tore South Port apart, but he knew a lot of people were still outside, most of them Cybertronians. Among his parents and Raoul, only a few humans had been allowed to stay on Cybertron by the Council and he knew why. They were a bit bruised, but nothing serious.
He wondered how his parents were doing.....

*

Ralyk knew it had no other choice. Now was the time. The decision had been made a long time ago; preparations had been concluded. Everything was ready. Still, it felt apprehensive, even afraid. It knew there was nothing to be afraid of, that death was but a state that could change one day. Nevertheless, living among creatures who were influenced by death in a totally different way than it usually was, it was frightened by the possibility that all preparations had been for nothing. It knew it would succeed in a way, that it would insure the survival of Cybertronian kind, but what about itself?
Ralyk shoved those thoughts aside. It had done everything possible and it had an obligation. Whether the obligation was born out of guilt or rational, logical thinking it didn't know.
Alpha Trion had retreated to the farthest corner of Vector Sigma, panic spreading inside him. He knew what was about to happen and he was scared to death. He knew what it meant and that ignited panic of a kind he had never known before.
-- Protect them -- Ralyk whispered.
-- It's your obligation --
Alpha Trion nodded, feeling more panic rise. "There has to be another choice!" he called, voice breaking up.
-- There isn't --
-- I wish there was --
With that Ralyk began to slowly remove itself from all corners of the super computer. It seemed to shrink, its vastness flowing together in one tight mass of energy. Alpha Trion couldn't help but think of an energy bomb. It only needed a trigger.
-- I wish you all the best -- Ralyk said, its voice echoing in the sudden emptiness.
-- You are now responsible for yourselves --
-- No more central control --
Alpha Trion had never though of Vector Sigma as empty, but now he had a comparison; now he knew how alone he was and what Ralyk had been.
-- Good-bye, Alpha Trion --
And with that Ralyk exploded into action, tearing out of Vector Sigma. Alpha Trion was caught by an incredible storm and he flattened himself protectively against the only, really important part of Vector Sigma: the storage facilities of the yet to be born personalities.
The world as he knew it ceased to exist.

*

Spook's head reared up even before Vector Sigma's shell broke. He had felt the build-up of energy and he knew what was about to happen. He wrapped his mind into a steel ball to protect his fine senses from the energy wave, but it washed over him with such a ferocity that it stung him nevertheless.
The roar could be heard for miles.

*

An outside watcher would have described it as the most brilliant and beautiful fireworks display ever witnessed by any one.
The space around Cybertron was filled with laser fire, debris and the exhaust trails of fighters. The planet as such was partly on fire, most of the enemy blasts centering around South Port. And then the surface seemed to ripple.
Not, it did ripple!
The metal bent and flowed, twisting, as if Cybertron was a massive life form. Cracks appeared and out of the cracks, light streamed. It was brilliant, it was blinding and it was deadly to whatever it encountered and classified as an enemy. Lances of light shot out into the night of space, cutting through enemy ships, homing in on the two battle fortresses. The first fortress shuddered under the impacts and then started to break apart. Lightning bolts of white, blue and green color danced over the stricken metal, bending it further, twisting it out of proportion.
Screams echoed in the silence of the destruction; screams of the dying Tji. And more light poured out of the cracks, widening them, washing over Cybertron, cleansing it of Tji. But not only the enemy suffered. The planet was unable to take the pounding, trembling under the immense pressure trying to get out into the open. Then the whole of the South continent burst outward, like magma out of a volcano, ripping a deep wound into the old planet.
Ralyk broke free.
For the first time in millennia the ancient entity could be seen in person.
It looked very much like a Tji, but somehow more beautiful, more serene, but still deadly. Its luminous body rose from Cybertron and aimed directly at the attack fleet. Tji battle ships turned and fled, but they had no chance. Tentacles shot out, touching them, barely even coming in contact, but they exploded nevertheless, destroying the body shell and the Tji inside -- utterly.
On the two flag ships, Ultra Magnus and Shockwave stared. They couldn't do anything else. None had ever seen anything like it; or dared to imagine. Shock reigned, rendering them immobile. Around them, the Tji died in masses.
Ralyk moved forward to the battle fortresses.

Inside the surviving fortress Ath'antheia stared at the wide screen displaying the destruction in all its magnificence. He couldn't do anything else.
He had expected resistance.
He had expected battle ships.
He had expected squadrons, maybe even kamikaze flights.
But he had not expected this..... not Ralyk.
"Retreat!" he shrieked as the cloud suddenly moved away from what had once been Katalumera's fortress and base of a dozen or more fighter squadrons of his own.
The fortress powered up, shaking under the powerful thrusters which were working over the safety limit, but it was still too slow.
-- Ath'antheia --
The voice was soft as always, but it held such a menace anyway that Ath'antheia stumbled back against the console, panic threatening to overtake him.
"No!" he cried. "You can't do this!"
-- Why? --
-- Give me a reason --
"It would be murder!" he shrieked. "You have never murdered before!"
-- But I have --
-- Following your orders --
-- Running the experiments, killing innocents --
"That was different!"
-- They were sentient --
-- I killed them --
-- It is the same --
Around him, stations went up in explosions of sparks and fire as Ralyk's tentacles bore into the metal. The fortress shuddered and creaked loudly.
"You can't kill the ones who raised you!!" Ath'antheia cried in fear.
-- But you dare to kill your children? -- Ralyk thundered.
-- You dare to judge what is a failure and what is not? --
-- You dare to play judge, jury and executioner? --
The anger was like a living being, swamping over him, suffocating him. The Tji leader struggled against the oppressive feeling, all the while aware that his body shell was slowly squeezed into a mass of scrap metal. He detached himself out of his armor with a scream and hovered in front of a small part of Ralyk which had manifested on the bridge. His staff had already fled, making a desperate run for the life pods, but none of them would survive. He knew this with such a deadly certainty that it didn't even frighten him anymore.
"It's different!" he whispered hoarsely.
-- No, it isn't! --
Ralyk flowed around him.
-- It never was and it never will be! --
"What you do is wrong!" Ath'antheia whimpered. "It's murder! Maybe even genocide!"
-- Why should you deserve a better fate than the one you had intended for your children? --
"You are interfering!" Ath'antheia protested. "You are not allowed..."
-- Now I am! -- Ralyk interrupted him.
-- Things have changed --
"Enough to commit suicide and upset the balance? Enough to kill yourself without a heir?" the Tji sneered, playing the only card he had still left; his only hope of maybe surviving this after all.
Ralyk chuckled. It was the sound of canned thunder.
-- You are wrong --
-- My future is secure --
-- The balance will remain --
And the fortress started to break apart. Large chunks broke off and were thrown into space.
"No!" Ath'antheia cried at the top of his lungs.

From the outside, it was a spectacle. Ralyk's body swallowed the battle fortress that had once been known as Scorponok, enveloping it, squeezing it together. An explosion tore through the bright cloud, shredding it, and a second one followed as the fortress went up.
Space was lit by a light brighter than a sun, then blackness fell again.
Ultra Magnus gaped as he saw the cloud break apart. The Tji, thinking it was their chance, attacked, though it was an almost childish act of retaliation.
And then Ralyk died in an explosion of a magnitude never witnessed before. The Monolith and Apocalypse rocked badly and the metal creaked and groaned under the strain. Ultra Magnus was flung to one side, barely able to keep himself upright. As he looked outside, space was empty except for the allied forces. The Tji were gone, only debris reminding them of what had happened here.

*

Ralyk's 'flight' from Vector Sigma had devastating effects not only on the super computer, but also on the planet and several individuals. Vector Sigma broke apart like an egg shell. Parts of it simply evaporated in the energy set free, others clattered to the floor. For a second a ball of energy hung in the room, about the size of Vector Sigma, then it flowed apart, seeping through every crack and seam. Alpha Trion screamed but not in fear, just total panic. He held on to the personality components, trying to keep them safe as Vector Sigma started to vanish. The super computer that had run Cybertron for so long, had given birth to new life, died. Its death was quicker and much more painless than Alpha Trion would have expected, but still, it was slow and agonizing in many ways. He gathered the vital components together and wrapped his ectoplasmic body around them. He needed to keep them alive until new body shells could be constructed! Concentrating only on this task, he lost awareness of everything else.
He went into a kind of stasis.

South Port trembled and shook, the walls cracking. Alarm klaxons went of and security doors closed. There weren't many people left in the upper levels of South Port and most of the personnel had already fled through the tunnels to West Central or the bunkers. But some were still here, 'running the show', as Blaster had put it before leaving as well.
Among them were Megatron and Sparks. As Ralyk burst through, the lower levels were ripped apart as well. Shockwaves struck and turned everything into a disaster area. Sparks wanted to object, but never had the chance. The stricken floor decided it was too weak to sustain two robots and gave way completely. Sparks yelled in surprise as she fell into the hole and thought she heard another scream. Then everything went black.

Rodimus had left South Port to organize the planetary defense since Tji had already broken through and he was quite busy fending off the enemy. Shanygn was at his side, in full battle armor. She was blasting every Tji that came into her range and she took them out with deadly precision. She was armed to pulverize a robot body shell and she made full use of this. Riverdance had joined them in defending the retreating civic population of this sector and Rodimus had to confess he was amazed by her display of skills. Riverdance didn't need a weapon, really, she was a weapon herself.
And she was good; no, she was incredibly good! For a robot her size she moved with fluidity, without hesitation, and completely aware of her body. Her equilibrium was better than anyone's Rodimus had ever met here on Cybertron. Robots were able to keep their balance in many situations, but they were still heavy machines and some moved like it. Riverdance had grace. Looking at her you saw why she had risen to the position of commander and had managed to stay alive. She moved like a dancer, feinting attacks, never giving her opponent an opening. Riverdance had trained herself, using skills she had been born with, skills she had taught others and had been taught in return, and she had become what she was today: a living weapon.
"Fall back!" he now called, noting that the ones they had protected were safely underway to the shelters.
Riverdance nodded and they moved back.
That was when it happened.
First the ground shook, then Rodimus felt a curious sensation inside his chest, emitting from the space where the Matrix had once been located. He 'heard' Shanygn's surprise through their mind link as she also became aware of the energies.
"Great Cybertron!" Riverdance breathed.
He whirled around and gaped.
A luminous cloud broke free on the horizon -- where South Port had once been. It rolled over the surface, washing around them..... The surviving Tji confronting them gave a cry of pain and crumbled down. Their body shells looked molten and charred.
"Get out of here!" Rodimus ordered and Riverdance didn't need a second order. She transformed into bat mode and took off, never questioning his orders. She never had.
Rodimus was about to retreat as well when the first shockwave hit. It was a physical and mental shockwave, though neither was really painful. He was bathed in Matrix energy, paralyzed on the spot by it, his mouth agape, his optics wide open. He was still aware of everything, especially of Shanygn, then something seemed to pass through him.
And several things happened all at once.
The link to Ralyk was painlessly terminated.
Something new was activated.
And the building closest to him collapsed like a house of cards.
The last thing Rodimus consciously saw was a wall coming his way. Then everything went black.

Halfway between South Port and West Central, miles away from Rodimus Prime and Shanygn, another robot was about to become a victim, though in a totally different sense of the word. Midnight had entered Cybertron's atmosphere and begun bombing Tji from above, hitting them with everything he had and giving the fugitives a chance.
Suddenly the surface rumbled as if an earthquake was hitting. Steve gave an exclamation of surprise as he noticed the levels of Matrix energy rising. Midnight felt shock settle in as his mind made immense leaps.
And then Ralyk broke free, filling the horizon with a beautiful and deadly light.
"No!" he breathed.
"Get out of here!" Steve yelled, preparing for the worst.
Midnight made a tight turn, engaging his thrusters full force, radioing his other Sentinels to do the same. He was the most recipient to Matrix energy, but it would hurt the others close to the planet as well.
And then the surface exploded into bright light. The first shockwave hit the black jet as it was gaining height, flying directly into the battle field in space. Midnight didn't care what he was flying into -- Matrix energy was deadly for him and would kill him. He had a better chance out there! The shockwave brought millions of needles of pain, searing through him, disturbing his systems. Steve was compensating for it with professional moves, knowing they had only this one chance. They both had learned since the last time Midnight had nearly been killed by Matrix energy and he was ready to compensate for a lot more.
But not for this amount.
A new wave hit and this time it was too much. The fire burned Midnight's soul, cut his body apart, destroyed him. He cried out in utter agony as the Matrix energy attacked him, losing height, tumbling helplessly to the ground. Steve, somehow still conscious, tried to do his best, leaping for the manual controls,
trying to pull Midnight up. The black Sentinel transformed, trying to at least slow his descent, but he couldn't. He crashed heavily into a building, bounced off and was flung into the steaming ruins. He lost consciousness immediately, all systems shutting down with the shock, going into fuel-pump arrest. Steve, barely conscious himself, focused on reanimating his partner, feeling the threatening blackness coming ever closer. The last thing he was aware of was the slow return of a pump beat, then he was gone as well.

Optimus had been on his way to the chamber of Vector Sigma when he felt the tremors. The Matrix in his chest reacted to a sudden rise in the background levels of Matrix energy and then light flooded the corridor.
"What the....?" he started.
And his body was bathed in the energy. The closed doors to his left and right, those containing back-up chambers for energy storage, opened abruptly. Optimus stared into the room next to him and his optics widened. It was a storage chamber, he discovered, and the storage tanks were overloading. Energy crackled everywhere and lanced through the new opening, hitting the wall next to him. Optimus staggered away, then started to run.
Something sounding like rolling thunder could be heard behind him and he dared to glance back over his shoulder. What he saw let the energon freeze in his tubes. A massive wave of energy and fire rushed down the tunnel! He doubled his effort to get away, but he knew there was no chance in hell he would survive this.
And then a presence touched him. It caressed his body, enveloped him .... displaced him.
Something was severed -- the link to Ralyk.
Something new was established -- he had no idea what it was.
And then he was dropped, quite unceremoniously.

The Tji's name was Ranora. She was a pure-bread warrior and she had fought against the Cybertronians since the war had begun. She had collected body shells and watched the life inside die as they had been invaded. And in time she had grown sick and tired. This was no fight, no battle, no war. This had grown into a personal vendetta for Ath'antheia and she had yet to understand the reasons behind the killings. She just followed orders. Then she had met Jaimaa, the Tji scientist who had defected and later apparently perished. Ranora had listened and she had grown more sick as she had found out the reason behind this war. And she questioned the reasons.
Ranora had landed on the planet, her body shell only slightly damaged. She didn't want to fight the Cybertronians anymore. She refused to think of this as an act of defection, but it all came down to just that.
But before she could go out and search for someone to surrender to, her world exploded.

Sphere had known about what was to come since she had accepted Ralyk's gift, the tiny mass of energy; Ralyk's heritage. She had been entrusted with this to keep it safe and she had. And now was the time.
-- I am sorry, child -- Ralyk's voice echoed through her.
Sphere smiled softly. She felt the energy mass stir inside her, for the first time making itself felt actively.
"Good bye, my friend. And thank you for everything," she whispered.
Ralyk's gentle touch ignited incredible sadness inside her. As much as the entity had manipulated and lied to them, as much as it had kept them in the dark for too long, it had cared for them and kept them safe. And now it was about to give the ultimate sacrifice for those it thought of as its children. Sphere owed her life to Ralyk; as did Starscream. And maybe others as well.
She felt a slight warmth inside her, which grew steadily. Ralyk exploded out of Cybertron's core, ripping South Continent almost apart, flattening South Port, leveling every building in the vicinity. Sphere was enveloped by light that touch her gently, lovingly, giving her a sense of what it was. But she knew what Ralyk was and seeing this beautiful being destroy itself voluntarily now cut into her as well.
-- It has to be --
-- It was always destined to happen this way --
And then Ralyk launched itself into battle.
She felt its triumph.
She felt its pain.
And then its death.
Sphere cried soundlessly as the link to her creator was destroyed, though there was no pain. She only felt emotional agony over the events and gave a choked sob.
Her insides twisted and churned.
The warmth turned into a burning feeling.
She grabbed her mid-section and grimaced in pain, then gasped loudly. Something took control of her, straightened her body, flung out her arms wide. Her chest cavity was filled with sizzling energy and then, like Vector Sigma, something exploded out of it. Her body was like on fire and she felt her skin melt.
Sphere couldn't cry.
Her world turned inside out and she raced into her own core, but not to run away from the pain but because she was requested to come. The pain ebbed away and she was faced with what had been inside her.
Something touched her.
She smiled.
-- and lost consciousness.

Sphere's body crumbled in the middle of the battle field, her outer structure badly mutilated, but her core alive. The body could be repaired as long as the mind was in a good condition.
A small cloud of energy hovered above her, tiny tentacles stretching out and caressing her. It whispered softly in a tongue unknown to anyone.

Starscream, his energon pump beating wildly with the heat of the battle, his circuits twitching with the thrill of the fight, turned and looked around, searching for a new target. His latest one was nothing but a bunch of scrap metal parts now.
It happened from one moment to the next. Starscream was completely disoriented, tumbling through space, which had nothing to do with the fact that he was suddenly confronted with what Ralyk was. He was awed by this creature, stunned even. When Ralyk attacked and finally committed something he would call suicide, his insides seemed to go upside down, twisting in impossible ways. He had no idea whether he was flying straight or upside, whether he was coming or going. He was only aware of infinity.....
He couldn't feel Ralyk's death! His mind screamed that this was totally impossible! He had cut all ties and never felt anything again, not even from.....
He gasped.
"Sphere!"
With a suddenness that was almost as disorienting reality came back and he discovered he was still in space, still in his old position, but everything else had changed. The Tji were gone, as was Ralyk, and Cybertron .... Cybertron was a mess! Fear coursed through the former Decepticon and he powered up his engines. He made a run toward the stricken planet at high speed. His insides churned with fear. Sphere had been the one linked closest to Ralyk and if the entity had gone without cutting all links ... if he had felt disoriented though he hadn't been linked anymore ..... what had his sister gone through?
And then he saw it.
"Sis!" he breathed, all his battle-happiness forgotten.
Coming in low over the devastated surface of the South Continent Starscream discovered a small, light blue cloud, streaked with white, hovering over what he identified instinctively as his sister's inanimate form. Rage surfaced, rage born out of suffering and pain, of pent-up anger and emotional agony. Starscream opened fire at the cloud, saw his laser blasts touch it, but it wasn't affected.
He transformed and continued blasting at the hated creature. "Get away from her!" he shrieked.
The cloud seemed to regard him with invisible eyes, then moved back, not the least bit impressed by his gun fire. Starscream was shaking with rage as he stopped beside his sister and the rage doubled as he saw her condition. Her skin had been badly burned over the chest area and was flaking, partly even molten.
"You killed her!" he cried.
His gun aimed at the cloud again.
"No!" a weak voice whispered.
Starscream's head whipped around. "Sphere?!" he exclaimed, relief sweeping through him.
His sister smiled weakly, but she was definitely alive. She was in a better condition than at the time he had rescued her from the Tji interrogation chamber, but she was still injured. Sphere was struggling to keep her balance, nearly falling. Starscream rushed over to her and helped her. She looked at him and smiled.
"Welcome back" she said softly.
"Couldn't leave my little sister all alone, now could I," he replied with a wry grin.
"I'll show you little!" she muttered in low tones, her eyes gleaming.
He smiled. Then the smile faded as reality hit in again. He looked at the energy cloud, optics narrowing dangerously.
"It's not its fault," Sphere said calmly, nodding at the small cloud that was still hovering there.
"It attacked you!" he ground out.
Sphere shook her head. "No. It .... was inside me and had to get out."
"What?!"
"It is a part of Ralyk, a part it gave to me."
He continued to stare at her, unable to believe what she had just said. "You ...gave birth to ...that?"
Sphere smiled gently. "No. It's not a product of me and Ralyk. It is a part of Ralyk and it is its heritage. It gave it to me when I was wishing for nothing but death and through it gave me a reason to live."
Starscream winced. He had thought Sphere dead at the time, bodily present but her mind destroyed. He had abandoned her to pursue his revenge. He had left the only person he had ever felt anything more than low-level tolerance for. Sphere had survived -- but no thanks to him.
Sphere touched his arm gently. "It is the past." She looked at the small energy creature, Ralyk's 'child'. "This is the future."
The cloud drifted closer, whispering again, then it seemed to dissipate. Starscream looked around wildly.
"Where did it go?" he demanded.
"Somewhere..... I don't know. It is young. It will need time to develop."
"And you need medical help," Starscream decided, trying not to think of this new Ralyk too much.
Sphere shook her head. "I'm fine. No internals damaged. My skin is a bit scorched or molten, but that is superficial." She brushed over her chest and flakes drifted down to the ground.
Starscream winced again. Sphere was scorched and her normally silvery white and light blue skin was gray now, a far cry from her normally so beautiful exterior.
"You were unconscious!" he told her.
"Because of overload. I'm really fine. Others need more help." She looked seriously at him.
Starscream didn't want to stay. His instincts told him to go away again, but then there was his sister.
"Let the dead rest," she said softly, holding on to him. "The living need our help .... your help. The Tji are dead but Cybertron has to live!"
Starscream stared into her serious blue optics. "Okay," he then said slowly.
Sphere smiled. "Thank you."
He turned and looked around over the battle field. Everywhere ruins rose into the sky and smoke curled lazily among them. There were survivors out there; they only had to find them.

* * *

Rodimus was surrounded by suffocating blackness. There wasn't a single point of light and he wasn't so sure if he was coming or going. He thought he was walking somewhere, but he could also be standing rooted to the spot. His sense of direction was gone, his optics, though wide open, were of no use, and his feet were definitely not on solid ground. He gasped for air that wasn't there, feeling the blackness close around him, bringing an inhuman coldness. He had the sudden feeling of falling down and screamed in surprise. His hands flailed out for something solid to hold on, all the time thinking he was rushing down to his certain death on very solid ground.
Then light washed over him, blinding him and he averted his optics with a groan. When he looked up again to try and make out his surroundings a wave of dizziness washed over him and the world tilted sideways. Instinctively, Rodimus stretched out his hand, searching for support and coming down hard against a solid, metal surface. His knees were like jelly and his head was spinning. When the feeling of dizziness finally diminished to a bearable level he blinked and tried a second time to get his bearings.
Something rumbled close by, then exploded, shaking the ground.
Rodimus turned his head to see what had gone up now. It was a bad idea, because now nausea hit him and he slid to the ground with a moan, supporting his back against a wall. He wasn't used to this feeling; it was human, not Cybertronian. Suddenly his damage control kicked in and he was presented with his condition. Now he knew why he felt the way he did..... He was in a catastrophic condition! He was suffering from massive energon loss, torn transformation circuits, muscle cables and wires, as well as multiple abrasions, deep cuts and lacerations, and blistered skin. His paint job was close to non-existent, the rich red and yellow colors burned and blackened.
Rodimus tried to get back to his feet, finding it hard to do so. Another wave of dizziness washed over him and he stumbled, his hands flailing out to catch some support. Black and red spots danced in front of his optics. He was in a pretty bad shape and any other robot would have already shut down, but not him. He was still running ... because ... because...
Memories came back to him.
He had been buried under a collapsing building!
But .... but .....
Rodimus looked around. He was no longer where he had been when the building had fallen down on him. He was actually about a mile away, though still able to see where it had happened. What the....? How had he gotten out from under there without remembering it? And why had he come around while standing on his own two feet? And why was he feeling like he had just woken under a pile of rubble?
"Shanygn!" he breathed as the answer hit him right between the eyes.
A presence washed through him, calming, everywhere, telling him everything was fine.
[Shanygn!]
She was inside, phased completely, running most of his systems and keeping him functional. She had operated his body while his mind was shut down from overload and stress, getting him out of his predicament and maneuvering him away. Interfaces could do that, though Rodimus and Shanygn had never tried it before. And he had only once witnessed it when Voodoo had been out cold and Kyle Scott had 'walked' him out.
[Don't worry] she told him. [I'm fine. We have to find the others!]
He blinked. The others. Yes.....
Optimus....
Rodimus knew his friend was alive; he felt it. But now he had to find him.....

iV. Endgame
"Zero Hour"

Spike unscrewed the grill in front of the air conditioning duct with a screwdriver, placing the screws in a pocket and then unhinging the grill. He placed it against the wall.
"Be careful," Mel said as he prepared to leave.
Spike smiled at his daughter. "Sure will. You just hold on."
She returned the smile, though he saw how strained it was. She was probably under a lot of empathic pressure from the wounded all around here and Nightmare's own injuries were nothing to be taken lightly, though he would survive. Spike checked his equipment again, then hoisted himself up into the dark tunnel. Dressed in black, wearing gloves, he merged with the darkness. He slipped along the air duct and followed a memorized plan Jonathan Darren had magicked out of the badly damaged South Port security system control. It was a miracle the terminal had worked at all and an even bigger miracle that South Port's computer core was still functional.
Spike was still baffled at how easily the man had accessed the data files, hacking into the mainframe as if it was the public Internet. The technical operations expert had walked through the tightly secured files with such an ease! Well, anyway, it was better easy than impossible because now Spike had a clue where to go to get out of the room and search for help.

As her father disappeared, Mel walked back to where Jonathan was treating Nightmare. The Gatekeeper was in his equine mode, his legs folded under him, watching how Darren worked on his hind legs. His skin had been clearly ripped off, revealing delicate circuitry up to his stomach area, and he couldn't transform without inflicting more damage to himself. As she entered, Nightmare looked at her and his red optics held a question.
"Dad is on his way," she said.
Jonathan looked up, a pen-like instrument between his teeth while he had his hands full with more tools.
"He will make it," Nightmare said with conviction.
She smiled valiantly. "I know he will." But will we?
They were trapped and the oxygen supply would eventually run out. Mel was in her exo-suit, which would give her a few more hours, but Jonathan would suffocate. And then there was the other matter of food and water. They had a few emergency supplies, but still..... She sighed.
Emotions swamped over from Nightmare, most of them suppressed pain. He was hurt in many places, none of them life-threatening, but painful. Jonathan needed his pain-sensors active so he could check on his reaction. Mel walked over to her friend since child-hood days and gently touched his neck. Lying down, head held high, Nightmare's head was still about her shoulder-level. Standing up, his shoulder level was above her head. Now he snorted softly as she brushed her hands through his artificial mane of hair, trying to calm him as Jonathan worked, trying to calm herself as well.
She knew her father would make it. He was far beyond human abilities in his Protogen body, but how long would it take? And where was her mother? Her brother and sister-in-law? Her niece? And how was everyone else up there? What had happened?
So many questions and no answers.
She hated waiting.

* * *

Megatron woke to the sensation of someone close by. His blurry mind registered a touch which seemed to search for something. When one hand of the stranger worked along his side upwards, his optics lit abruptly, one hand flailing in the direction he guessed the stranger was. He was rewarded with a startled, pain filled 'ouff' and something fell down with a muffled thump. Blinking into the dim light around him Megatron tried to sit up — only to sink back with a moan as a sharp twinge in thorax and a hot pain in his leg shot through him. His optics flickered badly.
"Megatron?"
A female voice drifted through his muzzy mind and he concentrated on it, knowing it was familiar.
"Megatron? Are you on-line?" the voice continued, pulling his attention to it.
A face swam into focus. A pair of green eyes looked worriedly at him.
"Sparks?" Aghast he noticed how weak his voice sounded.
Sparks nodded. In confusion he noticed that it wasn't a cat face he was seeing; it was the one of a female humanoid robot.
"Yes, it's me. Do you have access to your damage control system?"
Megatron had no idea why she would ask this question, but he tried nevertheless -- and was greeted with failure.
"No," he rasped.
"Don't move too much," the small robot advised as she sat back.
"What happened?"
"I'm not really sure....."
As his vision cleared more and more he got a real good look at his surroundings. He was lying flat on his back and there were tons of debris to his left and farther down. To his right side a kind of tunnel stretched away into blackness that was only lit by a weak light. Above him was a hole in the ceiling. They had taken quite a fall, he noticed. The hole was blocked by more debris, sealing them in.
"And you are .... " He frowned, suddenly remembering that she was a Transformer like himself, though seeing her in her alternate robot mode was such a rare occasion that he seldom thought about her as anything more than a cat. She had transformed in his presence only once and that had been to save his life as she had jumped into the line of fire of a sniper. After that .... no..... And Megatron had simply forgotten that she was also humanoid in her alternate mode.
She shrugged. "I couldn't get your wounds closed with paws." A small smile crossed her lips.
Megatron had to get used to this face. Usually he looked into a furry cat face with always amused, emerald optics. Now he saw worry and this worried him as well.
"Where are we?"
"My best guess is somewhere beneath South Port...." Sparks shook her head. "I think we crashed down several levels and everything above us came down as well. There is a solid mass of metal above us."
He studied the ceiling, then looked around again. "Where does this tunnel lead?" he asked as he tried to carefully lever himself into a sitting position. It actually worked and he looked at the alien object in his chest. It was like a lance, going straight through his thorax and out the other side. It hadn't pinned him down, but it had done its share of damage, though someone had cut off half of it. His left leg was cut open from the knee to the hip.
"Out," the cat now said. When he glared at her she added, "Into a corridor."
Megatron grabbed the nearest pile of junk for support and painstakingly got himself into an upright position. Sparks shot him a look that said more than a dozen reproaches, but she didn't say anything aloud.
"Then let's see where it leads," he growled. "If there is a way out, I want to know where it is!"
Sparks sighed and followed him, still in humanoid form, watching the badly limping and swaying form of the Decepticon leader make his way out of the chamber. She knew he wouldn't last long. The puddle of energon on the floor was evidence enough. He was losing his 'blood' and his body was badly injured..... but still, he was fighting. She sighed again. That was just him. And it was her job to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Well, more stupid than getting up in his condition and insisting to take a walk.
Sometimes she wished the machine had never programmed her with his patterns.....

* * *

Ranora came around to a world upside down and filled with confusion and pain. She tried to get her bearings, tried to remember what had happened, but it was all fragments and strange images. She recalled coming down to the surface with others of a strike team and how she had managed to lose her comrades and get close to the Cybertronians' command center without getting detected or worse, killed. Then the ground had shaken, something had washed over her, the surface had broken and she had fallen. Her body shell was in a state of disgrace, all molten and charred, parts torn off..... She was glad she was still in any shape to think, to be alive.
The Tji detached fully from the useless armor and looked around. She was clearly underground. Deep underground, she judged after some further study. It looked like whatever had happened, it had brought her down here and she was stuck.
Not good.
Really not good.
She was in no condition to encounter a Cybertronian down here. She had no means of defense and she doubted the robots would be kind-hearted enough to listen to her before shooting. She was the enemy.
Ranora sighed. She had a problem.
A big one.

* * *

Dagger staggered through the ruins, too confused to register much around him. He had been rather far away from the epi-center of the bombing, but he had still been shaken badly. It had taken him over an hour to free himself from the debris and now he was looking for survivors. He stumbled upon one soon and it was someone he knew.
"Midnight!" he whispered, stopping dead in his tracks.
Midnight, his leader and someone he had never really shown anything but annoyed tolerance for, lay in the middle of the field of debris, not moving. Dagger stared, a deeper shock settling in as he noticed the black Sentinel's condition. One wing was completely torn off, the other badly bent and partly destroyed. His skin was soft -- why he had no idea of because Mid's skin hardened when he went into defense -- and his veins were torn, spilling yellow blood all over the place. He lay in a pool of the nurturing fluids, which was still growing. One hand was cut up, the skin blistered, the other looked badly chafed. One knee was destroyed, apparently busted as he had crashed.
Dagger stumbled over to his leader and sank down on his knees. "Midnight?" he asked, stretching out one hand, hesitating to touch the young Sentinel.
"Get away from him!" a voice suddenly called.
He looked up and discovered Steven Parker, Midnight's Interface partner. He was wearing his black battle armor and was pointing a gun at him. Any other humanoid with a gun would have made Dagger grin in mild amusement, but the weapons of the Interfaces were designed to take out a robot and one shot would damage him badly. Steve looked pretty badly banged up and the way he swayed he was also hurt. Still, he was protecting his partner.
Dagger had never understood what Interfacing was about until he had very nearly Interfaced himself. But then his partner had been killed before he had been able to complete the bond, which had driven him nearly mad. He had gotten over this shock, but it had translated into an infinite hatred of Seekers. Midnight had been a Seeker before he had met Thon Roque, before he had joined them ..... and he had become their leader. Dagger had never shown anything but hatred, annoyance and disgust for him, but over the millennia he had come to respect the younger robot, though he'd never confess it openly. He understood the protective mood of Parker and he understood he was also doing it in a fever-enhanced state.
"Steve," he started, but the human shook his head.
"Go away!" he hissed. "No one hurts him anymore."
"I'm here to help!"
Steve staggered again. "No...."
Dagger knew he had to act. He couldn't waste time talking while Midnight was most likely bleeding to death. Without hesitation he whipped out his own gun from subspace and shot the extremely confused human. Steve crumbled down and Dagger let his gun disappear again. He had hated to do this, but it had been necessary. Steve was only heavily stunned, not hurt, but it was distressing nevertheless. As much as he hated to show it, Dagger held a deep compassion for the humanoid Interfaces. Now he turned his attention back to Midnight. He touched him carefully and turned him on his back. Dagger groaned as he saw the damage. This was extensive!
Midnight's visor flickered a bit, then lit up. He moaned softly.
"Midnight?" Dagger asked.
"Dag....ger?" his leader rasped. Then he inhaled sharply, his hands clenching into fists as a wave of pain swamped over him.
"Stay calm," Dagger said softly, his own pain audible in his voice. He hated to see Midnight like this. Mid had once almost died before and at the time it had been his fault, his alone. "You are badly hurt."
Midnight looked around. "Where is Steve?" he gasped, trying to get up.
Dagger pushed the weak Sentinel down. "He is all right." His hands were already covered by the slick, yellow fluid from the veins.
Midnight's visor flickered again. Dagger knew he had to find help for him soon or he'd die. And he had to stop the bleeding without hurting him more..... but how?
"Midnight, I'll freeze your skin so you stop bleeding," he told him firmly. "It will hurt ...."
"Do...it," Midnight rasped. Another wave of pain hit and he bit back a scream, though it came out as a groan.
"Maybe I could deactivate your pain sensors...."
His leader shook his head. "If you do.... it'll translate into Steve.... swamping...." He broke off with a whimper.
Dagger felt like stabbed through the chest himself. He remembered what Tarakk had told him when Midnight had had to spend days in med bay because of Dagger's own foolishness. He cared about Midnight, though he never showed it. He liked the kid, but he'd never confess it. And he would give his life to save his, though..... no, there was nothing. He would sacrifice his life.
"All right..... listen....I ...."
"Do it." Midnight's visor locked onto his optics.
Dagger activated the hidden guns in his forearm, spraying Midnight with a cryogenic substance. Midnight tensed, then screamed out his pain as everything froze onto his skin, stabbing him with tiny needles. Finally he collapsed. Dagger bit his lower lip.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered, then rose, looking around. He needed to find help.
Quickly!

* * *

Optimus blinked. He remembered the sudden rise of energy. He remembered how something inside of him had been cut and something else had been established. And then.... then something else had grabbed him and yanked him away from the destructive power coming his way. Now he was here, in some kind of tunnel, and it looked like it was one of the sub-levels of South Port. This meant he was actually a few levels above his previous position.
Weird.
And then there was a noise. Optimus materialized his gun and tensed. It sounded like footsteps and they were coming closer. Actually, it sounded like dragging footsteps, accompanied by a second pair. He aimed.
"Optimus Prime!" a voice exclaimed.
Prime hesitated and then lowered his gun as he discovered who he was facing. "Sparks? Megatron!"
Megatron was leaning heavily against the wall, clutching his torn left side, which was bleeding energon in small trickles, staining his silver skin. His left leg was a mess and he looked short of passing out. His gun was missing.
"Prime," he rasped.
Sparks was at his side, apparently trying to keep him upright without making it too obvious, but since she was so much smaller than him it was a difficult task.
"How .... how did you get down here?" Optimus asked, totally confused, still trying to process what had really happened. He knew that something must have initiated a strong release of Matrix energy out of Vector Sigma....
"The hard way," Sparks sighed.
"We crashed through the floor and ended up here when Ralyk broke through," Megatron growled.
"What?!" That was news to Optimus and not the most pleasant ones.
The fire ball..... Had that been the eruption of Ralyk?
"Later," Sparks decided, glancing at Megatron, who was swaying slightly.
"Is there a way out of here?" Prime asked, knowing that further information had to wait.
"Not that I know of.... We were looking for one," Sparks told him.
Optimus nodded and looked around again. Suddenly Megatron gave a soft hiss, bending over as if he was wracked by cramps. Sparks' optics flashed in anguish. Megatron groaned, stumbling. Something seemed to twist his body from the inside out and white-hot pain exploded through him. Optimus was just fast enough to break the Decepticon leader's fall as he crashed unceremoniously to the floor, already unconscious.

*

He had woken again about an hour ago, greeted by pain and unbearable pulses of agony emitting from his left side. Megatron had dimmed his optics, trying not to feel the pain that raced through his body. It was hard to even move a single finger, the beam still stuck inside his body, and his leg was constantly on fire. He wondered if he should have accepted Prime's offer to cut off his pain receptors, but the pain was the only thing that kept him conscious, told him he was still alive. If he numbed his body, his mind would soon follow
Prime had left the room he had carried the unconscious Megatron into and had started to explore the tunnel, looking for a way out, a way to get medical help here. Megatron knew he needed help fast or he'd die, but strangely enough, he was not panicking.
His only company was Sparks right now, who sat at his side, looking at the entrance to the room, her ears turned forward, her tail twitching now and then. She seemed to listen or scan for something. She was a friend and he trusted her, something he'd also never confess to anyone. And right now, she was the only company he had.
He looked at her.
Sparks looked back with her usual, slightly amused expression.
Megatron glared at her, just like usual, and just like usual she was not impressed. He sighed silently. Whatever had he done to deserve this nuisance?

* * *

Riverdance was flying over the carnage and destruction, searching. She had followed Rodimus Prime's orders when she had fled, but she had not liked to do it. Nevertheless she had obeyed. As much as Riverdance was part of the alliance, there always seemed to be an invisible barrier that started with her Decepticon heritage and her claim to no longer belong to them. She was bearing the symbol of the Decepticons, but she would not return to their ranks -- for personal reasons. She was not under anyone's direct command, though she'd never disregard a sensible order.
Suddenly she discovered a group of robots, three Decepticons and one Autobot, all in a more or less functioning condition. She transformed and touched down. As much as she had the urge to find out how Rodimus Prime had fared she knew she had to help anyone who needed it now.
* * *

Dagger was getting desperate. Wherever he went, he was greeted by devastation and destruction, by people in need, by death and injury. The whole sector had been leveled and those who had survived needed help or were helping. There were few medically trained Cybertronians around and Dagger didn't want any rookie treating his leader. Midnight was a special case and because of his construction he needed a knowledgeable medic. He found one a few minutes later -- in form of a Venerakkin.
The gray Sentinel hissed darkly. His hatred for the 'kkin went deep and he knew that there might never be a day when he didn't despise them, but right now personal feelings had to stand back. He owed that much to Midnight.
"You!" he called.
The Venerakkin stopped. He had no idea who it was. He didn't hang around them and he had never bothered to learn their names. He knew more than enough, in his opinion, and any more would serve no purpose. Right now the Venerakkin was alone and he had just finished closing a nasty cut on a Decepticon's leg. The Con had his optics dimmed and Dagger suspected he had more injuries than this cut, but it had been the worst.
"Yes?" the Venerakkin asked carefully and straightened from his work.
"You a medic?"
"Yes...."
"Come with me then. You have a patient to treat!"
The Venerakkin frowned. "Listen, I have several more calls. There are injured all over the sector....." He stopped as he suddenly faced a gun.
"Now!" Dagger hissed.
"You are making a mistake."
Dagger smiled darkly. "No, I'm righting a mistake I made a long time ago. Now move it and don't try any tricks!"
The Venerakkin shot him a look, then moved slowly toward where Dagger was waving the gun.

* * *

Ranora had been drifting aimlessly around in the confines of the room she had found herself in, thinking, trying to come up with a way out of her predicament. There was none.
And then she felt it.
It flashed up only for a very short time, but there was no mistaking it.
Matrix!
Ranora felt drawn to it like a thirsty animal to the water hole. She got a grip on herself and stopped, shaking with need. A matrix... She knew all about what it meant and what it was. The Venerakkin had a matrix inside themselves, housing their Veneran partner. It enabled them to join with the energy life forms, the kin of the Tji, those of the same race but no longer of the same tribe. Ranora had always yearned for a robotic body shell, one with a sentient life form inside, one she could call her partner. She had hoped so much from the experiments, and then all had apparently been discarded. And later it had gone sour, or so Ath'antheia had made her believe.
Now she heard the call of a matrix, though it felt strange and not at all like she had thought it would be. Drifting closer to the origin of the pulse again she listened hard.
No.....
Shocked, she stopped and her mind worked on overtime. It wasn't a matrix .... it was the Matrix! The Autobot Matrix! The smaller copy of Vector Sigma made by the Quintessons! Ranora hesitated. It was a dangerous device, able to kill or help her, whatever its bearer choose to do. It protected the owner and those it had touched against a Tji takeover, but it could house her for a time, give her time to heal..... It was a risk, but she was willing to take it. If the Matrix was down here it meant that the Autobot leader was as well. She might be able to reason with him!
Ranora drifted slowly toward the source of the Matrix pulse.

* * *

The Venerakkin's name was Magikk. He was a warrior, as well as a field medic, and he had seen his share of injuries, but never one like this. Magikk knew about Midnight and he knew that he was their leader, but he had never really met him. Midnight was a Sentinel and he was, in fact, the enemy, though Firefall accepted him as the only one of the whole group. Now this accepted enemy lay before him, a thin sheet of ice covering his skin, a pool of blood around him. Magikk could only describe his condition as disastrous. Something had hit him, had cut him apart and then he had crashed. A humanoid form lay close by, clad in battle armor, and Magikk suspected it had to be the Sentinel's Interface partner.
The gray Sentinel who had forced him here at gun point looked anguished by the sight of his gravely injured leader and Magikk no longer thought about how to overpower him. He understood now why Dagger had been so intent getting him here. This robot needed medical help -- now!
The Venerakkin walked over to the injured Sentinel and knelt down, starting to scan immediately. He came up with multiple injuries, some very deep inside, some just superficial, but all adding up to a really serious condition.
"What did this?" he asked as he ran his scanners over the prone form.
"Most likely Matrix energy," was the level answer.
Magikk nodded slowly. He knew that Sentinels and Seekers were vulnerable to this kind of energy, but why had Midnight flown right into it? Or hadn't he?
"Okay ..... Listen, I've to go inside and close off the blood flow to the skin. I've no idea about most of his workings, but I know it can be done. Did you ice him down?"
Dagger nodded.
"All right. He'll start bleeding like hell again....."
Magikk hesitated, but he had to do it. He started to carefully remove the ice and was greeted by blood spilling forth. Unlike a human body, Midnight's had no way to slow down the blood by coagulating. He cursed lowly and tried to find a way to shut off the torn veins. His hands were covered in the yellow fluid in seconds.
"It won't stop," he whispered. "Damnit!"
"Too many torn places," a dark, deep voice suddenly said and Magikk's head whipped up. He looked into a pair of golden optics hovering high about him. "He has to harden his skin."
Dagger stared the large half-serpent and then shook his head. "He can't. He has no control. And Steve ...."
"He's living out Midnight's pain," Spook finished the sentence.
Magikk sighed deeply. "He'll bleed to death before I even get to the core of his problem. I could try burning all wounds, but it would mean destroying his skin....."
Spook shook his head immediately. "No. Don't do it. There is ..... another way."
The Venerakkin stared at him. "There is?"
The ancient robot looked down at the dying Sentinel. "Yes...." he whispered.

*

Spook didn't like what he had to do, but he knew it was necessary. He was the only one besides Steve who could access the Interface link to Midnight and get him to listen, but he was also the one Midnight hated for what he had done in the past. They had reached a level of tolerance in the last years and Spook had vowed never to do anything that would hurt his young friend ever again. He had invaded his mind when they had first met, playing with him, taunting him, testing his abilities -- and he had been surprised to see that this unusual robot was Interfaced one hundred percent! He knew he had done a lot of harm later when his mind had latched onto Midnight's, trying to keep himself sane and lucid, driving Midnight nearly over the edge instead. He had made mistakes and he had learned from them.
No more intrusions.
He had honored this vow, but now he had to break it. Midnight would die if he didn't get into his mind and shut down the extensive bleeding. The Sentinel was in deep shock from the agony and pain he was going through and he didn't realize that he was losing his body fluids, most of all the nurturing yellow 'blood'.
Spook sighed softly and looked at the two other robots present. Dagger was close to fretting openly about his leader and the Venerakkin appeared like he had finally stopped thinking about how to overpower his captor. Dagger had acted in the best intent, but he had used force, like he did most of the time when he needed to get something done in a hurry. And then his optics fell on the still unconscious Steven Parker. Even if he were conscious, he wouldn't be of any help. Steve was living out the pain and confusion of Midnight's mind and he would only try and shoot everyone coming close to his partner.
"Forgive me," the large half-serpent whispered and opened his mind, touching the familiar Interface link and going in.

Something came at him.
Matrix energy!
Gods!
He was swamped by it, thrown backwards, hitting the wall.
No air!
Pain.
Blood!
Steve!
Agony.
A blinding light all around him.
His partner screaming.
His own screams of utter agony and pain as his body reacted to the Matrix energy around it.
Skin blistering.
Tearing.
Blood.
Darkness.

Spook waded through it all, trying not to feel it, but wincing every time nevertheless.
"Midnight!" he whispered intensely.
More confusion.
"Get past it! You are dying! Harden your exterior skin!"
Confusion and fear.
Panic.
Go away!
Spook felt the young Sentinel's mind draw away from him. He knew who he was facing and he was reacting on instinct.
"If you don't do it, I will!" he called.
No reaction.
"All right. I hate to do it and I know you will hate me for the rest of your life, but to give you this life I have to invade you more....."
And Spook broke through the barriers, delving deeper and finally reaching his goal. He didn't stop to take a look at everything else that was now open to him, the most private realms of Midnight's mind .... the place where the Interface was, the place he shared with Steve.... the place that defined him. Spook ignored it all, though he was curious, and simply activated a circuit that would harden the soft skin and stop the bleeding.
Then he removed his presence carefully and looked at the Venerakkin.
"Your turn," he only said.

* * *

It was a dead end. Optimus sighed. He should have known. The tunnel stretched for several hundred meters, then stopped abruptly because part of the ceiling had caved in and was effectively blocking everything. There were several doors along the corridor, but the rooms behind them were empty of anything useful. And none of the rooms had a connecting door somewhere else.
It was frustrating. They were trapped and Megatron was dying! Optimus growled darkly and turned -- and froze right where he stood.
No......
Not far away, just a few feet down the tunnel, a luminous body of energy hovered. It sparkled faintly. It didn't look overly beautiful, as expected of an energy life-form. The body was like a tangled string of wool, unraveling here or there, tentacle-like extension swinging back and forth. The color of the body was a bluish yellow, looking like an unwashed piece of cloth.

Something cold and slimy invaded him, tore through his mind. White-hot pain raced through him and his circuits screamed as they were overloaded by an energy he didn't know. He thought his memory circuits were bursting and something slipped into his body.

Optimus staggered back, blue optics wide. He felt panic rise inside of him, threatening to overwhelm his logic circuits, taking over his motion control......
Tji!
Here!
Trapped with him.
He gasped faintly at the implications and materialized his gun. Without hesitation he fired at the energy body, missing it twice and hitting it the other two times. And it slipped away.
Optimus was shaking badly and he had to lean against the wall so he wouldn't collapse.
"Optimus?"
He whirled around and his gun whipped up. His trigger finger curled and he nearly shot the small form he was now facing. Sparks stared at him in shock, then surprise.
"Sparks!" he breathed.
"Yeah, it's me.... are you okay? We heard gun fire...."
"I ..." His voice was shaking and he felt uncontrolled tremors pass through his body. Dropping the weapon he inhaled deeply. "There is a Tji down here."
Sparks frowned and looked around. "Are you sure?"
"I saw it!"
"How can it be down here? We are several levels beneath the surface," Sparks pointed out carefully.
Optimus stared at the cat, noting her tone of voice and feeling an irrational anger surge. "It was here!"
"Whow, easy, okay! It was here!" Sparks gave him a long look. "And now it is gone. Did you find a way out?"
He knew a change of topic when he heard one and the anger doubled because of it. He had seen the Tji! It had not been his imagination running wild!
"No," he ground out. "We are trapped."
With the enemy.... which is looking for a victim.
You.
It will come after you.
You know it.
He squelched the little voice, but it didn't stop. Optimus' hand clenched around his gun and he shot nervous looks around. Sparks saw it, but she didn't comment.
"Get back to Megatron," he then ordered. "I want to ..... have another look."
She sighed silently and ever so slightly shook her head, her tail twitching, but she left him alone. Optimus breathed deeply, willing himself to relax, but the tension inside him grew even more. His energon pump seemed to be a clenched into a tight ball of fear and every beat echoed loudly into the silence of the corridor.
I saw it. It was there and still is.
Watching me.
Waiting.
For its chance to attack.
He recoiled and his back connected with the wall, energon roaring through his body. He knew he was trembling uncontrollably now and the panic was spreading. His mind flashed back wildly, confronting him with the invading presence of the Tji over and over again. Imaginary pain lanced through him, numbing him, paralyzing him.
Inside him, the Matrix pulsed, but he didn't feel it anymore.

*

On the surface, Rodimus felt echoes of what was coming through the Matrix and from Optimus. He got the impression of panic and pain and fear. Shuddering he wondered what would make Optimus react this way.... He was a strong person and few things had such a deep effect on him. Of course he could be afraid, but never downright panicky! Following the echoes of the Matrix, his only guidance system, he climbed through the ruins. He tried not to think of his own condition too much because it would only result in too many worrying thoughts. He knew he should have shut down long ago, give in to the demands of an abused and tortured system, but he hadn't, compliment of Interfacing. He had never experienced this side of Interfacing before, but he had heard about it -- from Midnight. The Interface partner could shut the robot's mind off from his body and keep the body functional enough for the robot partner to move with it. Shanygn was currently busy getting his systems rerouted, making it possible for him to act while in bad need for repair. He knew he looked like death warmed over, but he didn't care. He had to find Optimus!
The main problem was that the whole area had been swamped with Matrix energy when Ralyk had erupted out of Vector Sigma and trying to pinpoint the Matrix was a difficult task. He was glad he didn't have to bother with a collapsing system right now.
Leaving the remains of the space port behind, Rodimus homed in on South Port, or what had been left of it.

* * *

Magikk sat back and looked at his work. Midnight was, thankfully, still unconscious. He had stabilized the Sentinel leader, but he still needed professional, medical help. Dagger stood close by, his gun now at his side.
"Get help," Spook said gently.
"But...."
"I'll stay with him," the green serpent continued. "I'll watch him and Steve."
Magikk straightened. "Med bay is probably overflowing, but you can't leave him here until someone might stumble over you. He needs to get into a stasis field and then treated. The Matrix energy is still in him and though he is stable now, this won't last. It's like a slow poisoning."
Dagger bit his lip but he finally nodded. "I'll find someone."
"And if you can't get anyone to come, get them to give you a portable stasis field. I don't have one left," Magikk advised.
Dagger transformed and shot off in search of more help. Spook watched him go, then looked at the smaller Venerakkin at his side. "And you should continue as well. There are more who need your help."
Magikk smiled slightly. "Yes. There shouldn't be any more problems in the next hours."
"I can handle it."
The Venerakkin gave him a long look, then nodded, transformed and took off as well. Spook remained behind. He curled up around his protégé and settled for a longer waiting period.

* * *

Spike was dirty and tired as he was steadily going up through the airvent. He didn't know if he'd be able to find his way back to the others, but his mind had categorized this as unimportant right now. His first priority was to get help and if it meant going down the airvent later on to find his way back, he'd do it. He had memorized features of the labyrinth of partially blocked, sometimes barely wide enough to squeeze through.
His hands, cut by sharp metal and protruding screws and bolts, removed another grill and he climbed through the tight opening. His artificial skin was cut in so many places he wondered if he needed a completely new one or if this stuff would heal. Finally he stumbled out of the airvent, breathing a sigh of relief.
Spike was in a hall which looked like a hangar, though one badly shot up and missing half the walls. By way of orientation he had to be somewhere close to South Port. He walked out of the artificial opening and looked around. His jaw dropped as he saw the devastation.

*

Mel had stopped pacing up and down when Nightmare had remarked about her running a ditch into the already battered floor and was now sitting with her back against the wall, studying the opposite side of the room. Jonathan was still busy repairing Nightmare and Mel suspected he did it to keep himself busy, distracting himself from the stuffy air down here and the fact that he might die. Nightmare was very quiet, the only sound the sometimes rustling mane or a creak from his bruised body. He had shut down his oxygen intakes already to conserve the breathable air for the two humans and Mel knew she'd soon have to switch to her life support system, also supporting Jon.

Nightmare watched his human friend, noting how tense she was and trying to project confidence. He knew she'd pick it up through her empathic abilities and soon he had a result. Mel looked up and gave him a wry smile. She had to feel emotions from all over the place, those of the dying and wounded, mainly because they were so strong. She had improved her abilities in the past and she had grown a lot better. Nightmare sighed to himself, his ears twitching. He could pick up some kind of energy waves himself, though it had nothing to do with empathy. It was his link to the doorway and right now it was even more open than usual. He felt is pulsate greatly, as if it was fed with random energy, but it wasn't opening.
The doorkeeper twitched his ears again, uncomfortably aware of how close they were to the doorway chamber a well. He hated to think of what might happen if the system blew again and with Ralyk gone, it might just happen again. There was no more over-all control, especially with the main control, the space station, already gone. He vividly remembered what had happened last time: Mel had been blinded for life, something he still felt guilty about whatever the others said.
"Not your fault, I've been telling you," a soft voice muttered into his audio receptors and he flinched. Mel smiled at him. "If you want to feel guilty, don't go projecting all over the place," she added just as softly.
"Sorry," he sighed.
She chuckled, then coughed a bit. Jon was already looking like he'd soon pass out from oxygen deprivation and Nightmare knew help had to come soon. Mel dug out a spare oxygen can and gave it to the mechanic, then activated her suit's life support. The oxygen bottle gave Jon another two hours and the life support would give her another day. Her mind was already trying to figure out a way to share the life support with her friend.
They had to hold on.
Her father would find help.
Somehow.

* * *

Megatron watched Prime and noted every little gesture, every movement, every look, and he knew Sparks was right. Something was going on and if was affecting Optimus on almost every level. He was tense, jumpy, nervous ..... And now and then a feverish light glittered in his optics. He was carrying his gun constantly now, not leaving it out of his eyes, and he was checking on their surroundings just as frequently.
Sparks walked over to him as Prime made another one of his checks, after reassuring himself that Megatron was not worse off than before.
"He is troubled," the cat said softly, worry tingeing her voice.
Megatron had to agree. "You said he thought he saw a Tji?" he asked.
She nodded.
"And did you see it?"
"No. Maybe it was already gone, but I also didn't register it on my scanners."
Megatron frowned. Was Prime losing it? Or had Sparks' scanners malfunctioned? Or didn't the Tji register?
"I wouldn't be so worried about this if it happened to anyone else," she went on, "but Optimus had a nasty experience with Tji before -- and from all the symptoms he displays, he is flashing now and then."
"Yes. Sparks, do me a favor....."
"A favor?" she asked with a sarcastic smile. "You, the mighty Megatron, asking poor little me to do you a favor?"
He glared at her. "Watch it, fuzz face, or you'll find your tail nailed to the wall!"
"Oh, I'm soooo scared!"
"You better be or it's your paws as well!"
Sparks grinned at the small fight, knowing it was a kind of normality Megatron needed right now.
"So what can the humble cat do for the Mighty One?" she teased.
Megatron shot her another acid look. "Watch him," he then only said and his red optics were very serious.
She met his gaze just as seriously. "I will," she promised. "As long as you are doing okay here...."
"Yes, I'm as okay as I can be with this beam stuck inside me! And even if I get worse, he needs someone with him! That's you, cat!"
Sparks scowled.
"Don't scowl," he growled. "Make yourself useful!"
She muttered something to herself, but she obediently left the chamber he was trapped in to follow Optimus. Megatron dimmed his optics a bit to conserve energon. He knew he could trust Sparks to keep an eye on Prime. Because of his nearly shut-off visual he didn't see a luminous cloud of energy sneak into the room, hover a second and then leave again.

* * *

Midnight came around to a world of pain and his body on fire. He was dimly aware that Steve was not with him, but he was too weak to panic. He felt his partner was alive and close, as well as unconscious. That had to be enough for now. Damage reports went on-line and Midnight briefly wondered how he could be alive. He remembered how the Matrix energy had washed over him and then ... then there had been darkness. A small memory about Dagger slipped into his waking mind, how the Sentinel had tried to help him..... but it was all so hazy. His optics went on-line now as well and he tried to focus them. His audio sensors registered the sound of distant explosions and he felt small quakes rippling through the planet. And then he felt something close by.
The Sentinel leader turned his head, slowly and painfully, and was greeted by a wall of dark green metal. His hand encountered another wall and he was feeling a brief disorientation rise. Then a face appeared above him.
"Stay calm, young one," a dark, soft voice said. "You are safe."
Midnight slowly got an idea where he was lying. Spook had apparently curled up around him, enveloping him and spreading his wings over the badly hurt Sentinel.
"What .... Dagger...?"
"I sent him off to get help. One of the Venerakkin had to perform emergency surgery on you to save your life... You were bleeding to death, in a sense of the word. Just stay calm and don't move too much. Help will come soon."
Midnight, still thoroughly confused, scanned for Steve and finally picked up some more. The human was close to coming around as well and he was unharmed, though probably bruised and battered. And then another memory entered and he gasped sharply. His visor fixed on the gentle, golden optics above him.
"You!" he cried.
Spook's head reared back and he sighed. "I'm sorry...."
"You invaded the link!" Midnight accused hotly, energon surging through him, dimming everything else, including the pain, for the time being. "You entered my mind! You ....."
"I did what was necessary for you to survive. You skin wouldn't harden and you were totally out of it, as was Steve," Spook said sharply. "I hate what I had to do, but I did it for your survival!"
Midnight's anger cooled a bit, but he was still seething because of the invasion. Spook was the only robot capable of this and he had done it twice before, every time without Midnight's agreement. And now he had done it again.
>>Saved your life a weak voice whispered inside him and Midnight flinched slightly.
>>Steve?! Relief swept through him as the Interface link strengthened with every second.
Steve stumbled over to where Spook was still guarding Midnight and the large half-serpent helped him to his partner. Steve had taken off his helmet and his face was pale and worried, eyes shadowed. A bruise was forming on his cheek.
>>Hi he said with a smile.
>>Are you okay?
>>A bit bruised and my head aches, but else I'm fine Steve sounded exhausted but Midnight was incredibly glad he was alive.
Now the human looked him over and his eyes grew even more shadowed. Midnight knew he looked terribly and he felt terrible as well. Steve continued to close the bond of their minds and Midnight relaxed more and more.
>>He didn't mean any harm Steve told him gently. >>He saved your life
>>He invaded!
>>Helped Steve corrected him calmly. >>He could have done a lot of harm, but he didn't. He simply activated your skin protection and then removed his presence. He didn't hurt you
Midnight stared grimly at his partner. He didn't like Spook, though the ancient robot had done a lot for him lately, had protected him and tried to make up for his mistakes in the past.
>>Midnight, without him you'd be dead Steve said sharply.
>>I know..... He inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry," he then said aloud.
Spook looked at him, most likely aware that both partners had been conversing through their link. He could have listened in, but he hadn't.
"You have every right to feel this way, my friend," he now told the injured Sentinel. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"I know." Midnight winced as a stab of pain raced through his smashed hip. He had to postpone every other response for over a minute, riding out the pain. He was partly aware of Steve helping him, setting the scene for a phasing, then he was back on-line.
And Steve had phased.
>>What...?
>>Calm down, partner. I'm here and we'll handle this just fine Steve told him, already doing his best to help dim the pain even more without cutting Midnight off from his sensors.
The black robot simply lay back, trying to relax. It wasn't easy.

* * *
Med bay was overflowing with patients and helpers. First Aid, looking also not exactly like he should be up and about, was going systematically through the ranks of the wounded and listing them on the surgery and repair schedule after the seriousness of their condition. Disaster, Skywolf and Perceptor were handling repairs right now, but they needed more help. Many had volunteered to help with the smaller injuries, applying first aid, but a lot needed repairs on a higher level. And still many more piled in. There seemed to be no end to it. First Aid had no idea if they would ever manage this incredible amount of work, but he could only hope.

Up in space, the shock after Ralyk's self-destruction was slowly seeping away. Ultra Magnus barked orders to get the Monolith going and the giant ship started to move slowly. The Apocalypse, heavily damaged, limped behind and she was busy finding missing warriors and collecting the dead. The radio controller was desperately trying to get in contact with South Port, but Ultra Magnus had no high hopes. West Central was also not coming through.
"Energy levels in the atmosphere are too high," the controller then said, shaking his head.
Magnus nodded. "Try sporadically. And prepare a shuttle to get me down to the surface!"
"Yes, Sir!"
He walked over to his own station and got himself a line open to the Apocalypse. "How does it look?" he asked solemnly.
Shockwave's always unreadable face showed no emotions except for a flicker in his single optic. "Apocalypse has sustained extensive damage on several levels. Hull breach in seven forward sectors. We contained the fires. Ten crew members are injured, two died."
Ultra Magnus dimmed his optics in shared grief. Both flag ships ran with mixed crews of both factions -- which had been a decision of the Council and which had shown to develop quite nicely; better than expected, even -- and though he had no idea whether Autobots or Decepticons had been harmed or had died, he felt the pain. He had come to accept the alliance in the decades it had lasted.
"We are still scanning for survivors, but so far, none have been found. All body shells were no longer containing life," Shockwave added.
Magnus sighed. "Give me a list when you are sure," he said softly.
"Of course."
He terminated the link and sat back, aware what this had cost them and how it could have ended. They had nearly lost, had nearly been totally obliterated, if it hadn't been for Ralyk. The Tji had come prepared and they had come prepared well. He wondered how much it would still cost them. This hadn't been a victory; it had been a narrow escape.

* * *

Optimus Prime came back from another round and sank down on the floor, gun still clenched in one hand, optics too bright for Megatron's liking. He had seen symptoms like these among his own warrior in the past. They had been convinced that the enemy was among them, hiding, watching, waiting for the moment to strike and kill. They had refused to go into recharge, running on a minimum level of energon, even using a kind of drug to keep themselves alert all the time. Some had flipped completely, others had gone into depression, maddening themselves with the thought of threat everywhere, others had finally come around. Those who had flipped had been a danger to everyone, sometimes hallucinating, shooting at things only they could see. They had become schizophrenic.
And now Prime was in danger of it as well. Sparks had yet to confirm the presence of the Tji Optimus was seeing all the time and Megatron trusted her instinct. She was partly an animal and, like for instance the Predacons, had acute and superior animal instincts. She had accompanied Prime for some time until he had threatened to shoot her legs out from under her if she didn't leave, so she had left, looking immensely worried.
And Megatron was deeply worried about Optimus Prime as well -- and this was like a revelation. He had always respected Prime as an enemy, a capable commander and someone not to be underestimated. After the alliance he had slowly grown even more respect for the Autobot leader, much more respect, since he suddenly made decision unlike his former self. The past, his deaths and resurrections, had left their traces and the war had changed him as well. Megatron had turned his view from a respected enemy to a respected ally -- and into a friend.
And he had to help this friend. He was in no position to do much more than talk and maybe, in a few more hours, he might not be able to do that anymore. He was acutely aware of his condition, even though most of his damage reports were down. He knew he was dying and that, without help, this would be his fate.
"Prime," he started.
"Leave me alone!" the Autobot snarled.
Megatron wasn't impressed. "No."
Optimus glared at him, eyes even brighter than usual.
"If I leave you alone now, you'll just act stupidly," the Decepticon leader continued coldly. "And it also has to be you who has to leave me.... I'm pinned down here."
"Who are you to judge me?!" Optimus growled, anger and rage battling inside of him.
Sparks gave an exasperated sigh. He simply glowered at her.
"A friend," Megatron said, voice level, ignoring the cat.
Prime stopped, eyes widening a bit. He slumped down, burying his head in his hands, trembling a bit. "You don't understand," he finally whispered.
"Then make me understand."
Blue optics fixed on him, indecision, fear, pain and vulnerability shining in them. Megatron was suddenly convinced that no one had ever seen this expression outside closed quarters. Maybe Rodimus, when they had been talking, because Megatron suspected that the younger Prime knew a lot more things about his older colleague than he would ever tell. But right now Optimus wasn't facing a trusted partner and friend; he was facing Megatron who, besides being an ally for decades now, was still someone he had fought for millennia, an enemy for too long.
"You couldn't relate to it .... the possession .... this strange thing in your head .... knowing every thought, using your mind against you ....."
Megatron hesitated. "Maybe not," he confessed. "But maybe I do."
Optimus turned his head, optics expressing surprise. Megatron regarded the ceiling for a time.
"Unicron," he then said, almost inaudibly. "He.... he invaded my mind after he made me into Galvatron. He forced me into ... service." He spat the last word. "He knew every thought, every emotion I held. He went through my memories like someone would through a library room, reading what he wanted to read, laughing, taunting .... erasing. He formed my mind, shut out what he thought I wouldn't need, giving me other memories, warping my mind. And he locked himself into it as well." He clenched one hand into a fist. "And when the Autobots destroyed him, a part of me died with him -- my sanity. I felt his death in every detail, as if it was happening to me. My mind was blazing ... on fire..." He stumbled over the words that finally, after such a long time, found a way out. "And I lost it. I couldn't take it. Too much....."
Pain laced his voice and he tried to get his control back. He had shoved those memories aside, locked them up and had hoped never to have to dig them out again, but now he had. Because he wanted to help Optimus.
What has happened to me?
He had never talked about it in the past before and none of his closest friends, if he could count them as such, knew it either. When he had come back from Galvatron, when a freak accident that should have killed him had given him back his sanity and his former life, no one had asked. Maybe some had wondered; Soundwave surely had. But no one had approached and asked. Now he had opened this box of memories again and had shown the contents to someone who had been his fiercest enemy once. He trusted Optimus, shocking as it was to realize this, but it was the truth.
"I didn't know...." Optimus began, but Megatron shook his head.
"It's long gone," he said, as if to convince himself of it as well. But not forgotten.
Both shared the silence that followed, each wrapped up in his own thoughts.
"But for you it is not," Megatron then said into this oppressing silence.
Optimus shivered.
"You are seeing the enemy...."
"Because such a thing is here!" Prime shouted. "What do you think I am? Insane? Crazy? Out of my mind? You think I'm imagining it?" He rose to his feet and stared down at the severely injured Decepticon. "I saw it! With my own optics! One of them is here and it is waiting to take me over!"
"Prime...."
But the Autobot was already out of the room. Megatron sighed deeply. Optimus was losing it -- slowly but surely -- and there was nothing he could do because he was tied down here. He cursed his condition. All of a suddenly he wished Rodimus Prime was here with them. The young commander had an incredible talent talking to Prime and getting somewhere. He could draw him out of hiding and he could make him open up. As young as he was, he sometimes was ancient in his ways and behavior..... Megatron was surprised by his thoughts again. He had known Hot Rod as one of the enemy, a young hot-shot, but in he last decades he had seen changes in him that did not all come from the Matrix. He had become Rodimus Prime for a reason and there was also a reason why he was so much like Optimus Prime. Few people actually saw this and Megatron, someone who had known Prime all his life and had faced him countless times, saw them.
He stared silently at the ceiling. Talking to Optimus Prime had reopened old wounds. He hated to think of Galvatron, the madness and the pain. He had all his memories, except for a few, which were rather hazy, of this time. He had had nightmares about reverting to the hated other person, about going insane again, but he had never talked about it to anyone. He knew a few others were maybe experiencing something similar -- Cyclonus for instance. He had been born at the time Galvatron had come to exist as well. His body had been changed, his personality altered, his whole former self erased or twisted or scattered. Cyclonus never talked about anything he might remember from his former self. And Megatron thought he remembered quite a bit. Scourge and the Sweeps were another case, though he doubted either of them had any memories of their old lives left. They didn't act like it.
Megatron wished he could simply erase Galvatron, but that was impossible. At least not without risking a complete eradication of everything else attached to the hated life. And now he had recalled it all to help -- without much success. He just wasn't good a this sort of thing. It was not his line of work; come to think of it, it also wasn't Rodimus', but the Autobot handled it much better, as it seemed, than he had.
"Are you okay?" Sparks asked softly as she walked up to him.
"I am dying," he growled at her. "No, I'm not okay."
The cat sat down with a sigh and shook her head. Megatron's optics glowered briefly, then he stared at the ceiling again.
"Shouldn't you trail Optimus?"
She raised one furry eyebrow. "He'd blast me on sight."
"As if that little threat ever kept you from doing it anyway," he snarled, reminding her of how many times she had followed him and how many times he had shot at her.
"Well, you weren't on the brink of total breakdown at any of those times," Sparks shrugged. "Optimus is and I'm worried about him."
"As am I," Megatron ground out. "But he won't listen...."
"He is listening, but he is not realizing what you say." She gave him a serious look. "But I have."
He didn't like the look she gave him. He had seen her looking at him this way several times in their shared past before and every time he knew what it meant: Sparks understood him, was compassionate and she cared. He hated her every time she did this because it showed him how close she had grown to him, despite his constant expression of annoyance at her continued presence, and just what lay behind this furry face and the constantly amused and teasing emerald optics. She was incredibly young, recently born in Cybertronian terms, but she understood so much .... of him, of life and of emotions, that it was frightening sometimes. And he was shocked to see how much he reacted to her presence, how much he relied on her being there sometimes -- just bodily present.
"Don't even start," he hissed, trying to put as much menace in his sometimes failing voice box as possible. Megatron knew it was of little use. Sparks seemed to be impervious to threats of any kind.
"I wasn't." She shrugged. "We both know and we both understand." She smiled softly, then settled down beside him, rolling up in a bundle of fur.
Megatron looked down at the small, black form and then returned to watching the ceiling.

* * *

Rodimus moved like a zombie. He had all his motor controls back and Shanygn was only concentrating on giving him enough energon to keep him on his feet and perform adequately. She had dampened the pain and he only felt it as a small annoyance in the background. His mind was racing with finding Optimus Prime. He knew his friend and partner was close. He was trapped beneath the ruins of South Port and something was happening to him. The Matrix circuits sizzled and burned from time to time; it wasn't like a transmission of pain, more of fear and panic. Rodimus had no idea how much he could trust these waves of emotions since his body had been swamped with Matrix energy when Ralyk had broken free, but he was pretty sure most of it came from Optimus. Both leaders were intricately linked through the Matrix and later through Rodimus' Interface partnership. Strong emotions and especially pain transmitted and told the other one when something was terribly wrong. Right now, something was really, really wrong.
"Rodimus!"
Someone ran up to him and Rodimus stared at him. "Cliffjumper?" he finally managed.
The smaller Autobot nodded. He looked a bit singed, but otherwise he was fine. "We tried to contact you after the sector went sky-high! What happened?" He eyed Rodimus anxiously and the young commander knew he only saw burns, bruises, cuts and scorch marks. He was a walking wreck.
"I'm okay," he muttered. "Optimus...."
"We've been looking for the command staff. We think Megatron, Sparks and Optimus are buried under there." Cliffjumper gestured vaguely toward the ruined East wing.
Rodimus followed his gesture and stared at the pile of metal and glass. Yes, Optimus was there.... somewhere. He walked over to the pile, ignoring Cliffjumper, who ran after him.
[He's here...]
Shanygn was already hard pressed to keep him functional and right now she was battling several relay breakdowns and so she only answered with a grunt. She had switched off all of his sub-routines, all his unnecessary functions, everything but the essential.
"The Matrix..." Rodimus whispered.
Cliffjumper nearly bumped into him as he stopped abruptly. "Matrix?" he echoed. "You can feel the Matrix?"
Rodimus nodded. "Optimus is here," he muttered, swaying slightly.
Shanygn cursed softly and rerouted some of the back-ups she had managed to install and gave him a better feed. Still, it only helped a bit. Rodimus needed energon and he needed professional medical help soon.
Cliffjumper contacted some of the search teams spread out over the whole ruin. They arrived soon and Rodimus heard himself give orders, clear and precise orders, while most of him stood back and watched the Cybertronians work. To his optics they were nothing but shadows, blurry-edged shadows, laboring to lift heavy struts and broken doors and walls off the pile. He had no idea who they were, unable to attach names. He heard them ask him questions and he heard his answers. He was functioning, but just barely. His voice was stable, but he was slowly getting very detached from it all.
He didn't care.
They needed to find Optimus.
Another twinge from the Matrix made him aware of the urgency.
Hold on. We're coming!

* * *

Ranora had followed the call and she had seen the Bearer of the Matrix. He wasn't alone and he didn't seem to be inclined to listen. She had almost physically felt his hatred and she understood him in a way. So she had hidden again, following him slowly, barely giving him a glimpse of her, hoping that in time he would accept her peaceful presence, but he didn't. He seemed to grow more angry, more afraid, almost erratic in his behavior. Ranora sighed deeply. She didn't have much time left before her body would start breaking down on her. She needed to talk to him, get this out in the open.
She had to show herself and make him listen.

* * *

Optimus paced along the tunnel, alert as always, his burning optics shedding their own light. He couldn't see a single tendril of the Tji, but he knew it was here.
Echoes of what Coshoff had done to him so many years ago bounced aimlessly through his mind, trying to penetrate his inner self. He would never be able to forget it. It was imprinted in his mind -- forever. All that had happened, all that had been.

"Who are you?" Optimus whispered.
Firebird smiled cruelly. "You really want to know?" He knelt down beside the dying robot. "Of course you do."
And he touched his forehead.
Optimus screamed in agony as something cold and slimy invaded him, tore through his mind. White-hot pain raced through him and his circuits screamed as they were overloaded by an energy he didn't know. He thought his memory circuits were bursting and something slipped into his body.
Tji!
"Yes!" he heard the other one whisper. "Tji."
The Matrix revolted, first recoiling, then fighting back, pushing the invader away. And then the robot let go of him. The evil presence withdrew and left him alone. Weak and dying.

Prime shuddered. He had seen it, whatever everyone else said! And then he saw it again. It slipped out of the debris in front of him and just hovered there. Optimus felt a cold wave spread inside of him and he raised his gun.
The Tji approached this time, not disappearing again, its tentacles waving about, reaching for him.
The Autobot leader stumbled back, knowing fully well how ineffective his weapon had been before. Still, he fired at the cloud of energy again. The Tji shuddered once, but didn't flee. It came closer.
"No!" Optimus exclaimed and did the only thing his feverish mind told him to: he fled.
Transforming into his truck mode, Optimus roared down the narrow tunnel, crashing into debris lying on the floor, his sides scraping along the walls. The corridor was too narrow for his bulky alternate mode, but he didn't care. Sparks flew off the metal and his paint job was soon no more. Full-fledged panic had ignited in him and his sensors registered the Tji right behind him. He accelerated even more and tore along the corridor at high speed.
He didn't see the small black/white shadow.
He didn't hear the cry of protest.
But he felt as his cab crashed through the debris that had come down from the ceiling. His trailer slammed into the wall with a resounding 'bang' and for a whole minute he was completely stunned. His mind reeled around the Tji and finally he had motion control back. He transformed and stumbled away from the debris, scanning for the enemy.
That was when he discovered Sparks. The small cat had flattened herself against the wall and looked like a roadkill victim, which she had narrowly avoided transforming into. Wide green optics fixed on him.
"Sparks?" he stuttered.
She continued staring at him. "What in the name.... What were you thinking?!" she finally yelled. "You nearly ran me over, you wossname!"
"I'm ...sorry... the Tji... it's after me!" he whispered, panic rising again.
Anger lit up the smaller robot's optics. Sparks had just about had enough. As she prepared to launch into an enraged yelling, Optimus gasped and stumbled back.
"No!" he cried.
She whirled around and her optics widened. A few feet away hovered a luminous cloud of energy.
A Tji.
Optimus had been right..... there was one of those things down here for real!
"Great....Cybertron!" she whispered.
Optimus had moved back against the pile of debris he had crashed into earlier as far away as he could. He was trembling badly, his optics flickering, gun shaking as well.
"Go away," he rasped.
The Tji just hovered there, tentacles waving. It closed the distance slowly, almost hesitantly. Sparks stepped between Optimus and he enemy. She transformed and called out her staff from sub-space. She rarely used her weapons supply because she had her quite sharp talons, but right now those would be of no use. She got into a battle-ready stance. The Tji stopped, looking indecisive. Everything Sparks had heard about those things had given her the impression that they simply swooped down on their victims and took them over. Some of the Cybertronians, as well as all Interfaced robots, were immune, but Sparks was not one of them.
"No," the Tji suddenly said, it's voice strangely female. "No fighting."
Sparks frowned. "You are not here to fight?" she clarified.
"Yes."
"Then why do you keep stalking us?!" she demanded.
"Help," the energy creature whispered and to Sparks it also sounded weak, as if it had already suffered a lot. "Body shell...was killed... I'm trapped...."
"You could have shown yourself more openly!" she snarled, not relaxing out of her stance.
The cloud changed its color to the yellow. "I'm the enemy," she whispered.
"True, but by stalking you didn't exactly show any good intentions either!"
"I never meant harm. I need help....."
"Help?"
The Tji, Ranora as she told them, quickly explained what she needed and Sparks knew they were in trouble. As she heard a wordless gasp, she risked a glance over her shoulder and was shocked to see just how badly Optimus reacted to the presence of this creature and what it had asked of them. His optics were pools of sheer panic and pain and he was trembling so hard he couldn't keep his gun aimed. He was close to what humans would call hyperventilating, his mind overheating, coolants no longer able to stabilize and minimize the damage.
"Get it away," he moaned. "Don't let it touch me!"
"Optimus....."
"No!" he shrieked.
Sparks was barely fast enough to evade getting trampled as Optimus made a run for it.
"Optimus, wait, no!" she shouted but it was useless. Sparks let lose a string of curses and then turned to look at the Tji. "You had to pick him, right? Of everyone down here it had to be him!"
Ranora was quiet and her color scheme changed a bit more to the yellow. Sparks snorted, torn between running after Optimus and dealing with this .... thing. She decided that dealing with Ranora took priority.
"Come with me and no tricks!" she ordered.
The Tji followed without protest.

*

His mind was a jumbled mix. Pressure was building up and cracking his walls, some of them ancient and often tested in the past, some only lately erected around certain memories. The walls were battered and had been often strained through events, but none had ever broken down.
Now the first cracked.
Memories leaked.
Some unimportant and petty.
Some important.
Some fearful.
Some frightening and terrorizing. Those were the ones coming out of the dark recesses of his mind, hidden there, shoved back to forget. Now they were back.
Orion Pax died.
..... and the image of a Tji was hovering in front of his inner eye, mixing with the death, blaming the luminous creature.
But it hadn't been a Tji killing him, ....or....?
He was born again.
The war came upon him full force, involving him on all planes, making him a center figure everything revolved around.
... and the Tji destroyed Autobot ships and bases.......
He was killed again.
He came back.
He died.
He came back once more.
It was all a vicious circle. He couldn't die! They didn't let him! They kept bringing him back to their own amusement! Images of tentacled beings with several faces blurred with Tji energy bodies. That wasn't right, was it?
Plaster burst off the walls in large chunks and then the whole wall just broke in on itself.
All memories mixed now and there were no more second thoughts about what he saw.
No more focus. No more control. Just emotions.
Optimus Prime screamed, but the scream echoed only in his mind. He swayed at the edge of insanity and it was so invitingly easy to take the last step ..... to give in ......

*

Ranora knew she had made a mistake. She had tried to touch someone who had been touched by her kind before -- and had suffered immensely through it. Hovering miserably in one corner she watched the small robot Sparks pace the room. Now and then she looked at Ranora. Another robot, a Decepticon, was lying on the floor, badly hurt, his red optics burning with barely contained rage. He couldn't do anything concerning her, but he could stare her down. She knew him because of his energy signature and she could classify him, and she could also see that he was protected by Ralyk. She wouldn't be able to touch him.
Sparks finally stopped. "This is bad," she muttered.
"You finally came to that conclusion, fuzz face?" Megatron mocked.
She glared, but there was no malice in it. "We have to get to Optimus and stop his self-destruction!"
"We can't. Not we. Others maybe, but he doesn't trust any of us enough to listen." The Decepticon leader looked thoughtful. He had tried, really tried, but without success. Optimus accepted him, but he didn't give him the same amount of trust he gave Rodimus Prime.
"It might be too late then," Sparks said softly, face full of worry.
Megatron didn't reply. He knew that as well. His optics swiveled back to the hated Tji. It simply hovered there. If he had had his gun, he'd have shot it.
"I'm sorry," the Tji now whispered. "I didn't mean to......"
"Of course!" Megatron snarled. "And you didn't mean to slaughter us!"
The cloud of energy flinched almost imperceptibly. "I realized we were wrong...."
"It's too late now!" he hissed. "If you haven't noticed it yet, there is a war going on and this planet is about to be obliterated!" Megatron's eyes glowed deep red.
Sparks couldn't really blame him for feeling this way. She felt it as well, but she wasn't as vocal about it as her 'owner'.
Ranora sighed softly. Mistakes had been made and those mistakes would almost likely cost everyone their lives.

* * *

He felt a terrible loneliness spread inside of him. A loneliness that wanted to swallow him. Everyone had left him, he was alone, no-one was there. His mind reeled with the concept and he curled his arms around his body.
He was alone.
Trapped in his own body!
Then he heard others pronouncing him dead while he screamed that he was still alive.

Rodimus flinched violently as the Matrix struck again. He had been uncomfortably aware of the echoes all the time, but Shanygn had shielded him from the clear images it was transmitting. Now something had slammed through the protective shield and it let him stagger. He was too weak himself to battle it much and when Shanygn finally got the shield back up, he was reeling from the transmission.
Madness.
Insanity.
Panic so complete that it was overpowering, all-encompassing, omni-present.
No help.
No hope.
Surrender.
He groaned softly, shaking a bit. What was happening to his friend? Why was he feeling this way? It couldn't be because he had seen a Tji .... or could it? And then he remembered Firebird, the possessed Decepticon who had managed to go through the shields: Coshoff. He knew Optimus had suffered from this, had even fallen into a coma, but such an extreme reaction....? Rodimus was confused. Maybe Optimus had been hit harder by the invasion than always imagined. If yes, this was quite serious.
"Are you okay?" Cliffjumper asked.
Rodimus felt himself straighten up, though his mind wasn't more than a hazy collection of scattered thoughts, and nod. "I'm fine." He surveyed the proceedings concerning the rescue. They had come quite far.
Suddenly he heard jet engines and a second later a known figure touched down.
"Starscream?" he asked, surprised.
The former Decepticon looked a bit worse for wear, but no one had come out of this battle unscathed, and he was accompanied by his sister. Sphere looked even worse, but she was on her own two feet and didn't appear like she'd keel over in a dead faint in the next moments.
"Rodimus Prime," he greeted the Autobots' second. "I come to offer my help."
Rodimus had no time to think much about it. He could deal with Starscream's sudden reappearance later. Right now someone needed his help. "Optimus Prime, Megatron and probably Sparks are buried down there," he explained, nodding to here Jazz, Cliffjumper and Pipes, who had joined them in the last minutes, were digging into the rubble. Jazz had detected an air bubble not too far beneath them and further scans had shown that they could access a level from here and then continue down.
Starscream nodded, then walked over to the three Autobots and started to wordlessly assist them, blasting away rocks or lifting them out of the way. Rodimus watched him in amazement, then glanced at Sphere.
"Are you okay?"
"Better than you," she said calmly, smiling. "I will continue toward West Central. They will need all the help they can get in med bay and I think I can assist."
Rodimus nodded, already partially detaching himself again. He had been fully 'conscious' throughout the conversation, but now he was retreating into the hazy world again while another part still reacted normally.
They had to get to Optimus.......

The moment they broke through was also the moment Rodimus was jolted briefly back to full awareness. He walked over and activated his night vision, then lowered himself into the hole. Jazz, Starscream and Pipes followed while Cliffjumper stayed outside. A slightly scorched number painted on the wall told him he was on sub-level five. He concentrated on the echoes from the Matrix and then walked toward the elevator. The doors were, as not otherwise expected, shut and Jazz helped him force them open.
"Oh man," Jazz muttered, looking into the dark and silent elevator shaft.
"Down," Rodimus said slowly. "They are further down."
Starscream joined him at the opened doors, frowning. "How far down?" he asked.
"I don't know...."
The former Decepticon looked at him, optics narrowing. "Then how can you be sure they are down there?"
"The Matrix," Rodimus heard himself answer.
"I see."
"Then let's not waste more time here," Jazz said and moved over to where the handholds were, "and get down!"
One after another they started to descend.

* * *

The last of the surviving Tji strike force was obliterated in a hail of deadly fire and the body shells floated in space, drifting past the two flag ships and countless fighters. As far as Ultra Magnus could determine, only a few Tji had managed to escape, but just barely. He had let them. It was far more important to secure the damaged Apocalypse and continue searching for survivors. The Monolith was parked close to Cybertron and a shuttle was ready for him. They had on-and-off contact with Blaster, who had given them a vague idea what it looked down there. Catastrophic was a too mild word for it. None of the Council except for Tornado had been accounted for and Magnus felt his fuel pump clench at the thought.
"Shuttle is ready, Sir."
He nodded and rose from the command chair. "Continue as ordered," he told his crew, then left.

* * *

The Matrix feedback was almost overpowering. Rodimus knew Shanygn was hard-pressed to uphold the shields tightly and he felt her labor to keep him safe from the violent reactions coming through his link to Optimus. The other three robots were behind him, letting him lead them where he felt the Matrix pulse and twist. Suddenly a small shape appeared and Starscream raised his gun.
"Whoo, wait a second!" the shape protested.
"Sparks!" Jazz exclaimed.
The cat stepped out into the open and Rodimus was genuinely surprised to see her in humanoid mode. But the surprise lasted only for a brief time.
"Where are the others?" he asked.
She gave him a close look, noting his devastating exterior condition, then nodded over her shoulder. "Megatron is in a room back there. He's badly hurt and lost enough energon to evoke pump failure in lesser models. He hangs on by sheer willpower. And Optimus....."
Rodimus flinched. He thought he knew.
"He went off somewhere. A lot has happened and I'm not sure you will like all of it."
And then she explained in brief terms as she lead them to the room what had happened down here.
"A Tji?!" Starscream hissed, optics glowing.
"Yes. Her name is Ranora. She is weak and lost her body shell. She was drawn to Optimus because of the Matrix and she doesn't mean harm. She couldn't lift a tentacle against one of us," the cat said softly.
"This creature won't be able to do anything at all when I'm done with it," Starscream snarled.
Rodimus turned slowly and fixed him with a cold stare. "We won't harm her. She has come to us freely and has surrendered. She will be put under guard but we won't kill her. Is that understood, Starscream?"
Starscream looked at him, blinking. Rodimus' voice was icy and authoritative, totally unlike his usual voice. He found himself nodding. The others stared as well, getting their composure back quickly before entering the room Sparks now indicated, but they had been surprised as well. As they walked in, Rodimus felt a sudden light-headedness. He knew he was close to system failure, but he had to go on. Just a bit longer.
There were two occupants in the room. One was Megatron, lying on the floor, optics dimmed, a lance protruding out of his chest plate. His left side was badly twisted and torn, he was surrounded by liquids from various systems and his left leg looked like someone had taken a large knife and cut it open. In the far corner of the room a sickly yellow cloud of energy hovered. It didn't move and made no indication of attacking them. Pipes ran over to Megatron and started to assess the damage. It looked bad.
"We need a medical team down here, fast!"
Rodimus nodded. "Contact Cliffjumper, give him your position." Keeping an optic on the Tji he turned to Sparks. "Where did Optimus go?"
"Down the corridor. I didn't dare follow him this time. He nearly ran me over twice before."
"You stay here, I'll find him." With that Rodimus wanted to leave, but Jazz barred his way.
"I'm coming along," he said calmly.
"No, Jazz. Optimus hasn't exactly lost it, but he is seeing things that aren't there. I want you to stay here and guard the Tji!" Rodimus decided.
"Starscream can do it. And you need backup." Jazz gave him the look of someone who had another drawer full of arguments ready in case these two didn't work.
Rodimus sighed. "Okay, but stay back when we find him."
"Will do."

* * *

Optimus Prime slowly sank down on the ground. His thoughts whirled around the reason of his flight. And where was he?
What am I doing? Where are my friends? He looked around, listening intently and thought he could hear footsteps somewhere. His mind told him to run, but another voice, a tiny, little voice, told him to sit tight. The footsteps were help. They signaled the coming of his friends. Slowly, he got up again.
No, no! It's the enemy! Remember the cloud of light! It can hide inside your friends, turn them into enemies!
The footsteps came closer and suddenly someone stepped around the corner. Optimus thought he knew him -- strangely enough. Who was he? Why was he so familiar?
"Optimus?" the figure asked.
The voice was familiar, too. It was calm, but insisting.
The other one came closer, his hands outstretched, signaling he was unarmed. His movements were very unsteady and Optimus thought he saw the strain he was under in those familiar blue optics.
Still.... he had to be careful.

Optimus Prime's optics were wide with what Rodimus thought he recognized as panic. And that shocked him. Optimus had faced the enemy many times, had been in life-threatening situations before, had spent time running low on energon and fearing every beat of his pump might be the last; he had been held prisoner by Decepticons, had been beaten and shot at, stabbed or poisoned-- and it had never resulted in such an expression in his optics. He appeared on the verge of a total breakdown.
"Optimus....?"
Rodimus approached carefully.
The Autobot leader's optics narrowed into suspicious slits. "Who are you?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Rodimus blinked. "I'm Rodimus Prime, don't you know me?" Please, not amnesia! It can't be amnesia!
"I don't know you."
"But I know you, Optimus! Don't you remember me? We are partners! You are the Autobot leader and I'm your second-in-command....."
Optimus frowned. "You're lying to confuse me," he then hissed.
"No, I'm not. It's like a nightmare. You're living in a dreamworld. What you see is not real!" Rodimus insisted.
"A dreamworld?" Optimus echoed. "This isn't a dream! This is reality!"
Rodimus stepped even closer. "No. It isn't," he repeated. "I'm Rodimus Prime. I'm not a dream." His optics never left Optimus'.
"Rodimus?"
"Yes. I was Bearer of the Matrix after you died. We are still connected by it. You can feel it if you just try...." This had to work. Cybertron, please! It had to!
"Matrix," Optimus whispered. "Yes." He touched his chest plate. Then his optics lit up. "I can ..... I remember..." Suddenly relief swept over him. "Thank, Primus! They didn't get you!"
"They? Who are they?"
"The creatures! They are everywhere!" Optimus' voice rose a bit. "They infiltrate and spy and worm their way into your mind!" Now his voice was vibrating with fear. "They killed me and then they revived me again, just to kill me once more!"
"Op.... stop, please!" Rodimus felt desperation rise as he recognized what was going on. Something had broken inside Optimus and he was tethering on the brink of insanity.
"We have to destroy them..." the older Autobot whispered. Then he suddenly listened up.
Rodimus could hear footsteps. That had to be Jazz. He gave Optimus an encouraging smile. "That's a friend and...." He was cut short by Optimus' hand clamping around his wrist.
"Friend?" he hissed, his whole body tense.
"Jazz. You know Jazz, right? He ...."
The grip became crushingly painful and Rodimus gave a wheeze of protest.
"You can't trust him! He could be one of them! They are after me! And after you as well!"
"Optimus, no! There is no danger anywhere!" Well, if you ignored an ever-weakening Tji in another room, heavily guarded of course.
Optimus' optics became bright pools of swirling panic. "You're one of them, right? It's a trap!"
Rodimus was getting very desperate now. His own body was dangerously close to the edge, but this was the edge that led to unconsciousness. He couldn't give in to the temptation of losing himself in the blackness just yet.
"Roddy?" he heard Jazz call.
"Stay back!" he ordered, never taking his eyes off his partner.
"What...?"
"I said, stay back! That's an order!" His voice held a tone of authority seldom heard and the Autobot specialist found himself complying without a second thought. Rodimus was his commanding officer after all.
[The Matrix] Shanygn whispered, her voice faint inside his mind because she was busy concentrating on so many other tasks.
Yes, the Matrix. He could use it to stabilize his friend, use the power inside and the resonant energy everywhere to clean his mind. But first he had to get to it.....
Optimus had trained his weapon towards where the voice had come from.
"Optimus, listen to me," the second-in-command said softly. "The Tji are gone. All dead. There is no danger here anymore!"
"No, they are here. I saw one." Optimus looked around in fright. "Lurking.... waiting.... for me....." His optics narrowed on Rodimus again. "You don't have to pretend! You are one of them! You try to lure me into safety, then kill me. I'm the last!"
The gun swung toward his mid-section and Rodimus tensed.
[Shanygn?]
[One try] she answered distantly. [You don't have any more energy left]
[One is all I need]
Rodimus' hand shot out and grabbed the gun barrel in a grip Riverdance had taught him, disarming his friend in one fluid move and flinging the weapon aside. He used Optimus' surprise to push him back against the wall and dig his fingers into the seam between his chest plates, forcing them open. He had to get to the Matrix!
"No!" Optimus screamed and tried to force Rodimus off, but his movements were uncontrolled and panicky, unable to get a hold strong enough to inflict damage.
Rodimus, powered by his last reserves, all channeled by Shanygn into this desperate action, was too strong. He managed to unsnap the chest plate and it swung open. The young second touched the Matrix.
It glowed softly.
Warmth and radiance.
And then the light spread.
The Matrix sucked in the free Matrix energy all around it, channeling it like Shanygn had channeled the energon, then let it flow into its current host. Optimus stiffened, his optics widening as he felt the energy course through him.
It repaired.
It healed.
But it didn't take the memories away, nor did it remove the scars. It only repaired the walls that had broken. It couldn't take away fear and emotional wounds.
Optimus fell back against the wall, optics flickering, body tense.
Rodimus had removed his hand from Optimus' chest space and now watched in a kind of distant amazement how the chest covers closed on their own. Voices drifted over to them. There was a puzzled frown on his forehead and he was drifting further and further away from reality. He knew he was now totally out of energon, his systems were shutting down and even his Interface partner couldn't change anything about that. He had gone on longer than he should have been able to already and his body was demanding its due.
Suddenly Optimus looked at him. "Roddy?" he asked, worry tingeing his still unsteady voice.
Rodimus sighed in relief and smiled. That was when his knees buckled. There was no stopping the breakdown of his systems any more. Everything shut down and his optics went dark with unconsciousness.
Optimus caught the crumpling Autobot. "Rodimus!" he exclaimed with shock.
And apparently out of nowhere Jazz and Pipes rushed to his side. He didn't know where they had come from and right now he didn't care. All he was worried about was the lax form of his friend he was holding in his arms. He saw the charred layers of skin, the bruises and cuts, the shot wounds and dents.
"We have to get him to med lab," Pipes' voice held a note of deep worry. "This had to happen sooner or later. He was running on his last droplets of energon!"
Optimus saw another med team busying itself further down the corridor and his memories rushed back. He watched the others work, watched them run around in the tight confines of the corridor, then transport Megatron away. Rodimus was next. He caught a wisp of something sickly yellow, guarded by Starscream, but he didn't look too closely. He simply walked after the med crew.

Optimus Prime stood outside the ruins, his optics gazing around the destruction that greeted him. He was unable to really comprehend what he saw. Nothing stood anymore. South Port was leveled except for a few walls and smoke was curling up into the sky. Fires burned in the distance and here and there something exploded. The south continent looked like one gigantic wound.
He had no idea how many lives this war had claimed or how many were wounded or buried somewhere under the ruins, like himself and Megatron and Sparks, trying to dig themselves out, envying the dead. He only knew that they had survived, though he didn't believe in a victory.
"Great Cybertron," he whispered hoarsely.
It would take months, maybe years to
rebuild what had been destroyed. The times to come would be hard ..... on all of them. They would have to struggle and they would have to find resources, but Optimus knew they would survive.
Somehow.
They always had.
.......

to be continued in 'Aftershocks'