Bumblebee wandered slowly into what the autobots pathetically called home, deep in the hazardous seas of rust. He wandered in from the rust storm and into a half wrecked old complex that, sadly, now served as autobot HQ. He made his way into the main chamber and sat on a crate and sighed. The autobots had been laid low, lower than ever before. They were no longer fighting a war, they were just trying to survive as long as they could.
He remembered how it had all happened a few months back, at the last battle for Iacon. The decepticons made a final, fierce push against them after learning they had found the Enigma of Combination. It was an ancient, powerful relic that could reforge groups of warriors into combiners. The battle was long and destructive, with many deaths on each side. He had lost many friends. That's when it happened, the enigma was accidentally destroyed and erupted, its energy washing across the battlefield.
Its energy burst completely overloaded and destroyed all the existing combiners and all the warriors who made them up, on both sides. Its rampant and unstable energy then engulfed many of the survivors, forging an all new, all different generation of combiners. Those in close proximity to it and with powerful sparks were engulfed by its energy and absorbed those bots unfortunate enough to be around them. These new combiners were unstable and unable to separate, permanently fused, with their individual minds gradually merging into one. The autobots, blindsided by the circumstances and severely reduced in numbers, were routed and forced to retreat from Iacon; their base…their home, gone.
Bumblebee snapped from his thoughts as the sound of engines was heard, and through the huge hole in the roof, jetfire and windblade swooped in from the storm. The others grouped up around them to hear their report; there were so few of them left. Besides himself and the fliers, the only other warriors left in their force were jazz, perceptor, sideswipe, blurr, road rage, hoist, drift and seaspray. So many had died, and others suffered an even worse fate; to lose themselves.
As if on que, suddenly there was the sound of heavy footsteps and three large forms appeared in the doorway; their leaders, the new combiners. They shared command, just as they shared their bodies. First there was Optimus Maximus, formed from the autobot leader Optimus prime, as well as the autobots ironhide, prowl, mirage and sunstreaker. A fusion of a primes wisdom, ironhides battle fervor, prowl practicality, sunstreakers youthful energy and mirages compassion.
Next there was Elitus, the core of which was Elita One, optimus' lieutenant and spark mate. She had been fused to the autobots ratchet, wheeljack, trailbreaker and skids. The fusion of these five minds created a bot of responsibility, intelligence and creativity.
The third of the great trio was Maximagnus, formed from Ultra Magnus, kup, springer, arcee and hot rod. A mostly stoic and dutiful bot but with a lust for adventure.
The trio of giants approached the other autobots and asked for a report from the fliers. They report another apparent but unconfirmed sighting of megatron wondering outlands. The Decepticons had also suffered a mass power shift. In the last battle of Iacon, another combiner had been formed; Lord Starscream, who had been fused with thunderscracker, skywarp, astrotrain and blitzwing. Unlike the autobots combiners though, he apparently managed to hold complete control and will power over the combined form. He immediately challenged megatron for power and drove his former leader away and now leads the remaining decepticons from his new fortress in Iacon. He had made the decepticons an even fiercer force to be reckoned with. Worse even was not knowing what the wandering megatrons next move would be. A lone wolf was desperate, and most often the fiercest. The autobots were homeless, resourcless and backed into a corner.
Windblade then reported about the status of a planned meeting to form an alliance with the Junkions who live deep in the sea of rust. Such allies would very well aid them, but how much. Bmblebee withdrew from the crowd to sit back on his crate; he had accepted that this was the end of the line for the autobots. Suddenly a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see optimus maximus looking down with concern. He had always looked up to optimus prime, seeing him like a father figure and would never hesitate to ask him for guidance but now he did, was this really the same leader he had once followed. He looked up into the bright blue eyes looking down at him, full of compassion and wisdom, and he knew.