Author's Note: Tada! I said I'd be back. This is the prologue to my When Shadows Hide the Sun rewrite, now called Those of Us Who Persevere (the reason for the title will become clear later.) My updates may be slow, but I won't give this one up. Chapters 1 and 2 are in progress right now, so hopefully they'll be up soon (and a bit longer). Please let me know what you think, and suggestions are welcomed.

Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro, etc. I do not own any aspect of the Transformers francise.

Prologue

Embracing the Future

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."

--Abraham Lincoln

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, stood silently at the waters' edge, the cool gray of the predawn sky dimming the bright colors of his flaming red and blue paintjob, solemnly observing the enormous aircraft carrier's laborious journey out to sea, the still gray figures of fallen brethren lying ominously on the deck.

Good-bye, brother, he bid in silent farewell, spark heavy. He had always known this would be how it ended; known since the day he had admitted that his sibling was beyond his reach, but that did not make accepting it any easier, not even remembering the numerous, heartless crimes that Megatron had committed, or his relief at the end of the war. Though they had been enemies, they had remained brothers—even if only in his memories, but brothers nonetheless. It was as hard to let him go as it would be if they had remained best friends.

May the Matrix welcome you, he concluded as the ship sank out of sight over the horizon.

Optimus turned to leave, then paused, sparing one last, fleeting look at the now empty ocean. His brother had slowly been fading from him since his betrayal, and now he finally disappeared. Then he straightened his massive shoulders and turned to face the patient figures waiting behind him: black colored, weapon-loving Ironhide; green, grumpy Ratchet; and the humans: Simmons, Banachek, and Secretary Keller, the latter two in crisp suits; Simmons still wore the bullet-proof vest he had donned for the battle. Behind them, pulled off the road, were three black SUVs and a recharging Bumblebee. They had worked through the night to remove the bodies away from prying civilian eyes and load them onto the ship to be dumped in the Laurentian Abyss, and, combined with his wounds from the battle, the young scout was in rough shape. They were all in dire need of a welcomed recharge. Inside the SUVs slept the young humans: Samuel Witwicky and Mikeala Banes, Maggie Madsen and Glen Whitman. Beyond, the sun's first golden rays spilled over the horizon, beginning a new day.

A new day, with no war.

A new day, on a new world.

A new day, with much to do: a base to build…alliances to form…a transmission to send…hope to spread.

Resolve strengthened, Optimus turned his back fully on the past and embraced the future.

XXXXX

Oblivious to the small farewell committee gathered below, a molten red comet streaked through the upper atmosphere before disappearing as the foreign body entered space.

Starscream let out a cry of both rage and triumph as he felt the emptiness of space cool his superheated hull. Accessing his memory files, the Decepticon allowed his armor and plating to revert back to his original Cybertronian seeker form before activating his afterburners and blasting away from the accursed planet, fury unbridled and uncontrollable—and he had no will to control it. Anger, hatred—they made him strong, impenetrable. Fury at himself for trusting incompetents, fury at his leader for being incompetent, fury that insects, infidels, had beaten him.

But they have not, the seeker reminded himself, thoughts dripping malice and silent vows. I will have my revenge. They will be obliterated. This is not the end. By Primus, he would be back. Until then…he had an army to commandeer. Fury and triumph again bubbling forth in a garbled scream heard only in his mind, flooding his systems with ecstasy, Starscream poured on extra speed, relishing in the weightlessness, barrel-rolling in the process, firing a few rounds from his Vulcan cannon as he recalled the obscure coordinates that would ensure his victory.

He had traveled for nearly six million years in his search for the All-Spark, leaving shortly after the Battle of Tyger Pax. The All-Spark, the giver and creator of life, the one weapon that he could use to overthrow not only the Autobots but that incompetent fool who had called himself the Decepticon Supreme Commander. That title was worthy only for him, the true ruler of the universe. The All-Spark had been his key to victory, but it had been destroyed. Oh, the irony, that the very thing that had filled Megatron's every waking moment—pure, raw power—had been his undoing. He had finally had it within his grasp, and it had destroyed him. Oh, but it would not be the same for Starscream! No, he would never fall victim to his desires!

And everything he had ever wanted had now come to pass: Megatron was removed from the picture, and he was the only surviving Decepticon from that battle. The only Decepticon who knew the truth. The only Decepticon who had seen Optimus lift the last fragment of the All-Spark from the fallen Supreme Commanders' glowing chest.

Starscream released another silent cackle as he descended upon the Nemesis. The ship was big enough to be a floating city, large enough to house several hundred Decepticon warriors. It had been thought lost after the last great space battle. Starscream had stumbled across the powered down ship when he had entered this sector of the galaxy, and had investigated out of curiosity, finding, to his utter amazement, that the Nemesis remained in perfect running condition. Its' proud hull carried more than its' fair share of scars, criss-crossing the dark purple like many badly healed wounds, and a sizable chunk had been blasted away from the ships' posterior, but the engines and weapon capabilities remained useable, and so, more importantly, did the transwarp drive.

Now was the time for him to claim his proper place in the Decepticon Army, now was the time for his triumphant return, and now was the time to finally crush the Autobots and conquer the universe.

Author's Note: And there it is! Tell me what you think, hmm? ;)