Chapter 1 – The Decision
"It is the determination of this Autobot Council that despite our best wishes, the planet Thalous must be abandoned. The Energon the planet contains is poison to our systems, and the planet's natives refuse to lift a finger in defense of their own lives. The Autobots stationed there will be called back to the front here on Cybertron. We need them here." The Speaker of the Council's voice was heavy and sad, reverberating inside the council chambers so all could hear. It was obvious that the Speaker was not pleased to make the announcement that he must, but the decision of the Council was based on the facts at hand.
The Council Chambers them selves was a huge room. The Council sat in shadowed silence above the room on a tiered balcony. A lone beam of light shone down on the person of an aged Autobot, his slight steel gray and black frame standing behind a podium.
The war was not going well for the Autobots. The Decepticons had found some new source of Energon and it tipped the scales of battle in their favor. Many Autobots have died.
"With all due respect Great Speaker, we must consider the Autobot Charter. We were created to protect others, to serve others. We can not just abandon a free and intelligent people to Decepticons," Optimus Prime's voice rang with the tone of truthfulness and meaning, filling the cold hall with the warmth of his compassion.
"For millions of years we were the defenders of those that could not protect themselves. We have battled endlessly from Cybertron to Echiea, Nebulos to Earth and then back to Cybertron yet again. We defeated our own programming to be servants and workers to become warriors and soldiers, and we did it to halt the rampage of the Decepticons, those that were meant to be the warriors turned to conquerors. I have ordered friends and companions to their deaths in order to save lives of those the Decepticons endangered needlessly. Leaving Thalous to fend for it's self now would be an insult too all those that lost their lives in this good fight. If this happens, how can we as Autobots look at each other and know that those that are now one with the Matrix died pointlessly?"
Ultra Magnus, seated beside Jazz and Prowl as Optimus' advisors well behind the large Autobot leader and somewhat in the shadows, heard Prime's words and felt pride in the Autobot leader. Prime was all that this war stood for, the pillar of strength that kept the Autobot way alive. From almost the beginning Magnus fought beside his leader, living, and were it to become necessary, dying at his command. It is his job, the job of any good soldier.
The Speaker sighed heavily and shook his head. With aged dignity the Speaker turned and looked to the ancient faces of the members of the council. Each one looked grave and solemn, but resolute. The Speaker turned to Prime and sighed sadly.
"It is the decision of the Council that the troops on Thalous be brought home. If the Thalousians will not take up arms in their own defense then they must fall to their fate. Even the Earthlings attempted to defend themselves despite being as ineffective as a tiny asteroid on the surface of a star.
"We must also take into consideration that the planet has no tactical value. It has no useable resources to speak of, a harsh environment outside the settled City-Nations and provides little in trade. Frankly, the Council believes that the Decepticons are only there because we are. We can see no reason for them to be there either, other then to provoke us into spreading ourselves too thin. At our current numbers, we simply cannot waste the resources on that useless planet.
"The decision has been made Optimus Prime. It is your place to obey, not to question. The session is adjourned."
Magnus could not believe his auditory receptors. The Council was ordering Prime to recall all Autobots from the planet and leave it defenseless. This was madness! Magnus looked at Prime with wide optics. Prime just stood there, hands on the podium with head cast down. A dim beam of light from the high above ceiling shown down on him, highlighting his bowed head. He knew that this was not right, but was just accepting the verdict of the Council. Magnus felt rage building inside him. He understood what war was about. He understood that innocents needed protected, no matter the cost. He understood death as he understood life. He had carried the Matrix once, if only briefly. He felt its power, its righteousness. He knew what it was like to risk his life day in and day out for beings that could not, or even would not, fight for themselves.
Something snapped in Ultra Magnus at that moment, some tiny change that would forever alter his life and his outlook. Anger forced him to act.
"NO!" he shouted, standing. The Speaker jerked his head angrily around toward Magnus. "There are living people on Thalous, metal beings just like us. They live and think and attempt to make a life for themselves. They know nothing of war, they have known only peace for eons."
"You, Ultra Magnus, have not been given leave to speak. You are here in an advisory role and still here on the sufferance of the Council."
"Your permission or no, I WILL speak and you WILL hear. I cannot allow you to leave undefended the planet Thalous. Are we not Autobots?"
"We understand your indignation Ultra Magnus. We too argued long this subject, what it means to wear the Face of Primus. In the end it came down to what is best for the Autobots and Transformers as a race here where the war is. Thalous is a distant planet, far removed from Cybertron. They must fend for themselves, as they have the technology to fight the Decepticons, yet instead they hide in their city-nations and wait for the next storm to blow them into the cosmos. No, we can not help them anymore." The Speaker's voice trailed off and he started to turn for the Council exit.
"You understand nothing!" shouted Ultra Magnus as he stepped up to the light. "Tell me Speaker," said Magnus with a booming voice, "or anyone in the Council, do you know what it is like to enter a battle and know with certainty that you will not live through it? Do you know the fear that grips your insides when an explosion shakes the ground under your feet? Do you know the pain of living when all those around you are dead? I do! I know that it is to make war, it is all I remember anymore, the endless fighting. If I cannot fight for something more noble the land and resources then what purpose is there to fight at all? Tell me O wise and noble Councilors. If there is nothing to fight for, why do we fight?" The light in the Council Chamber was always dim, but light shone off Magnus's battle armor. He stood tall and proud, filled with a burning fire of purpose, facing the Autobot council with the strength of conviction, his optics bright in their passion, his stance straight in strength.
"Why do you fight Ultra Magnus?" asked a member of the Council, breaking the millions of years old tradition of speaking the mind of the Council only through the voice of the Speaker. His voice was as dry and brittle as old parchment, but it filled the Halls with power. "You fight because it is your purpose. Do we know what it is like to feel fear and death? That is our purpose. If fear and death meant nothing we would all have been cast into oblivion eons ago, the Transformer race erased from the Cosmos as if we never existed."
With that the members of the Council stood and walked single file out a door on the upper section of the Chambers that was reserved for them, a long and snake like line out the door. Magnus watched them go, the fire in his heart turning to ice. He knew the data, knew that each day the Autobot numbers decreased. He knew that every fighter was needed. Yet in his heart of hearts, that place that had bonded and felt the will of the Matrix, he knew that he could not just stand by and let an entire race pass into memory.
"Magnus, my friend."
Magnus looked toward the direction of the voice. Optimus Prime stood before him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you feel Magnus, I feel it to. I would like nothing more then to see the people to Thalous safe. However, the Council has ruled." Prime paused, looking at his age old friend. "Walk with me."
Together the two Autobots strode from the Council Chambers. They walked in silence for the most part, feeling the bond that has formed between them over the millions of years of fighting. After nearly twenty minutes of walking the dim and empty corridors of the Autobot temple they entered the observatory, its windows showing all of Autobot City sprawled out below the massive structure that was the Autobot religious center. The two walked up to the windows to gaze at the scenes below.
Thousands of Transformers moved about their daily lives, the routine broken only by the occasional Autobot patrol group. Many were building new structures among the bones of the old, or renovating existing facilities, making it more comfortable a place to live. Still, after over a hundred years of occupation, what was once the ruined metropolis of Paradise City still bore the many scars of its occupation by the Decepticons. Thousands of buildings were destroyed for no reason other then rampant violence. It was with this view of both a hope for the future and a reminder that hope is a dangerous thing in this war that the two Autobot warriors once again began to talk.
"Prime, I don't understand. The Council is ordering a complete withdrawal from Thalous, a planet bearing intelligent life not so unlike our own to the hands of the Decepticons. The population will be tortured and destroyed simply because they will not defend themselves."
"Well I know this, Magnus. I have been in the callus hands of our age old foes and know well of the cruelty they are capable of, yet still I must wonder about the reasons for them being there. Energon is too scarce of a commodity to waste on rampant destruction now. It must be that they were simply there because we are. Our ambassador and scientists were rejected when all they asked for was to better understand the planet and the nature of its Energon. We, both Decepticon and Autobot, know that the Energon on the planet is poison to us. We were hoping to find a way to filter it, but between the failed treaty and the ever present Decepticon disruption, no way was found. We only maintained only a light garrison there anyway, and only to monitor Decepticon activity and break up any raids that come up. There have only been a few simple raids in the seven hundred years we have been there. I have to believe that once we leave, so will they." Prime stood with hands behind his back as he spoke his mind to Magnus. His gaze was monitoring the reconstruction led by a Neutral named Hightower.
"Prime, what if the Council is wrong? I can't shake the feeling that we are missing something. We cannot let the people of Thalous be deserted. They know nothing of war. They have had only peace for the last tens of millions years. Their last war was before ours even started! Can we stand by and abandon them and still call ourselves Autobots? I cannot." Magnus turned to face Prime, anger contorting his usually calm and serene face.
"Magnus, you have ever been a free individual. You follow your heart into the thing you hate most because you know no other options. You fight because you want peace for yourself and most of all our people. If it costs you your own life, then that is the cost that you are willing to pay. You above most understand the cost of this war."
Looking intently at Prime, Magnus said, "Prime, why are you telling me this?"
Prime lowered his head and stared at the floor. Minutes passed, and still Prime had not spoken. Magnus returned to the window, watching thousands of his fellow Transformers attempt to live a normal life amid the broken reminder of what war is.
A crew of Transformers on the east side of New Paradise was putting the finishing touches on a communications tower. Magnus zoomed in and focused on the operator, watching the final preparations. Within moments the tower lit up and the crew cheered joyously. Autobots and Neutrals shook hands and patted each other on the back, sharing the small victory of creation over destruction.
"Magnus, I can not, will not, order you to stand down. Whatever you do now is a burden you must shoulder from this day forward. Let your heart lead you where you must go. Walk the paths of destiny with wisdom."
Ultra Magnus thought over Prime's words for a moment, nodded, and walked out of the room.
Optimus Prime, Supreme Leader of the Autobot forces, felt his metal heart break.