Yeah I know I'm working on another TF story, but this one is STRICTLY TFA. And I can't work on less than two at a time. I need variety. So, this is my kind-of post-apocalypse story of the archive. Alien takeover, mutant monsters, no living adults to speak of and no help on the way, the works. F-U-N. So, now that I've completed the overview, let's get down to it. I'd give you a bit of a heads-up on what's going on, but I'm mean and I'm actually making you read the story to figure out what's going on. And yeah, Optimus' name changed. I just figured if it changed from Orion Pax to Optimus Prime, it could change again when he took over the Cybertronian Oval Office. R&R

Prologue

Opti-Magnus

"Opti-Magnus!"

The name still feels unfamiliar to me. I still feel like Optimus Prime, the rookie who didn't have a clue how to lead a repair crew, let alone a planet. Optimus Prime, hero of Earth – where he knew what he was doing – not Opti-Magnus, leader of all of Cybertron – where he's totally lost without a clue. But I had time to worry about my cluelessness later. I looked up to see the Jet twins coming towards me down the hall.

"Yes, what is it? I'm kind of busy at the moment." I told them in a gentler tone than I used with most of the mechs or femmes that interrupted me while I was drowning in paperwork and/or wallowing in self-pity.

"We have bad news." Jetstorm began.

"Very bad news." Jetfire agreed.

"It's about the Earth-bound Autobots…"

"...the ones who chose to go back after Prowl's funeral…"

"…We received a distress signal from their base…"

"…It's almost a deca-cycle old already…"

"…Apparently there was some sort of Decepticon uprising…"

The rest of what they said blurred into incomprehensible gibberish. I was frozen, berating myself for being so stupid and selfish as to not check on them – my friends. I still hadn't really gotten over Prowl's death, which was why I hadn't tried to communicate with any of the other members of the old team. Now I realized my mistake. I might just be returning to Earth to find another comrade, another friend I was too wrapped up in my own agenda to save.

Oh, Bumblebee. I thought. For whatever reason, the young bot had decided to return to Earth with Sari. He, Jazz and Arcee had been the only ones who made that decision. Bulkhead, the top space bridge expert in the known universe, had become the top space bridge engineer over all Cybertronian space bridge/space bridge-related teams and corporations. He got to stay at home, but he also traveled frequently enough that he wasn't really ever bored. Ratchet was the head medic on Cybertron, the one with the most experience, the most skill, and the most horrible bed-side manner to ever walk the face of Cybertron.

But Bumblebee, the youngest of my former repair crew, the sarcastic, obnoxious, and caring little mech who kept us all on our toes and reminded us where we stood back on earth – Bumblebee had chosen to go back.

It was easy to see the others' reasons for choosing Earth – Jazz liked the calmness, the smooth cars and the music. He felt like he needed to stay and finish what Prowl had started – putting back together the All Spark. Arcee needed some down time before returning to Cybertron after her ordeal with the Decepticons and losing her memory. Sari was part human. She belonged there. But Bumblebee had declined my offer of a position on the Elite Guard – his dream since he was a sparkling – to go back to Earth, where the technology was slow and there weren't really any other young bots to mess around with.

"Opti-Magnus? Sir?" Jetstorm snapped his fingers in my face.

"Take a ship." I said. "Get a ship and set a course for Earth." He and his brother looked at me, surprised.

"A ship, sir?" Jetstorm asked.

"Earth, sir?" Jetfire questioned.

"We're going to find out what's going on down there and we will help our friends. You two are coming with me." I said.

"But sir, Earth is millions of light-years away from here. Even if you took the strongest space bridge it would take almost a full solar-cycle to reach it." Jetfire pointed out. I smiled grimly.

"Then it's a good thing I know the expert."

Okay so this was basically an introduction, not so much a prologue. You won't hear much about Opti-Magnus for a couple chapters, but stay tuned, he will play a part in this. The next couple chapters are going to focus mostly on what's going on Earth-wise and why there was a distress call hurled out into space. Also, another member of the former team caught on to the trouble before Opti-Magnus did. And Earth's new leaders aren't going to be very happy to see him…