PROLOGUE

Kaon, 10,000 years ago

"Well…What should I think about it?"

In "The Cybertronian Victory", nobody spoke. All of people had their optics glued to the holographic screen. The screen displayed news about Cybertron's new state. Everyone was surprised by the last event: Vos City had fallen during the night. Vosians'd joined Megatron as well as his Decepticons. Everybody was talking about it since this morning. The bar wasn't an exception. The owner cleaned and served cubes while listening to the customers' points of view.

"I don't get it" A brown bot said. His name was Thunderclasher. He was a regular customer. He was drinking his cube, a dark stare. "Vos was supposedly neutral."

"Hm, I'm not that sure" The owner gently replied. "Vos already harboured Decepticons' purple colours."

"What about the Vos's Head?" The waiter added. Windstorm for friends. "He's the Air Commander. Starscream. He's a good commander. However, no one would deny his hunger for power. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd decided to join Megatron in exchange of a high rank."

Thunderclasher raised one eyebrow.

"Why would Megatron bother with a bot like Starscream? Everything Megatron can give to him is a position of Second-in-command."

The owner glanced back at the screen.

"Ha. Speaking of which…Megatron is announcing it."

"Sheesh. It wouldn't last. You already heard Starscream's speeches in live, right? You can play it on every Cybertronian social networks. He said there is no such thing as too much power."

"What do you mean?"

Windstorm shrugged.

"I meant…Starscream will get tired of his rank. One day or another. Why would he be second-in-command…why can't he rule?"

"With Megatron? He wouldn't take such a risk"

"Your bet?" The waiter smiled.

Thunderclasher let out a sigh. He put 10 Shanix on a table.

"Okay"

"I bet: before the end of the cycle, there would be attempted murders against Megatron"

"Well. If it can put an end to this conflict…"

"Autobots will never win"

The owner nodded. There were Autobot bars and Decepticon bars on Cybertron. The ones who joined one faction refused to welcome or serve the other. This bar welcomed any Cybertronian. No matter the faction as long as their insignias were kept hidden. They didn't wish to get in any trouble. Of course, they already guessed each one's faction though people didn't display it by using their optics' colours. Thunderclasher was definitely a Decepticon. Windstorm remained ambiguous about his position. That was none of his business. As long as he worked…

Anyway, no matter who the winner was…Cybertron was slowly dying. The owner stared at his energon.

Soon, there'll be no more. Because of that war…

Thunderclasher finished his cube. He put it down on his table. He was ready to go.

"I have my wife to return to"

"You're lucky. You and your family…I'm quite envious"

The customer laughed. Above him, the screen was still turned on. Autobots were announcing their defeat in Vos. That's the other Second-in-command. Ultra Magnus. A stern face, he tried to make his voice heard despite cameras' cracklings.

Thunderclasher closed the door behind. The owner asked Winderstorm to throw unusable cubes off. He wanted to make room for new customers.

Then they heard a shrieking scream.

"What's this?" Winderstorm cried out.

The owner didn't answer back. Shock was obvious on his face. He exchanged a worried look with his employee. Both of them then rushed outside.

In front of the bar, they found Thunderclasher. The owner narrowed his optics. His back faced them, standing up straight. His corpulence prevented them to see what's going on.

"Hey, buddy…What's wrong?"

Thunderclasher immediately turned back. They gasped in surprise.

An orange and white bot, red optics, firmly holding Thunderclasher by his neckcables, his laser-gun on his forehelm.

"Okay" The owner said, his arms up. "Let's calm down"

"What do you want? We can talk" Winderstorm added.

Thunderclasher struggled. However, the stranger didn't release him. He coldly stared back at them. He didn't lower his weapon.

"What do you want?"

"…Your energon. Your Shanix. Now." The bot answered.

The owner bit his lipplates. Thunderclasher winced in pain as soon as the bot tightened his hold around his neck. He'd become one of his friends. He couldn't abandon him. Winderstorm let out a sigh.

"Okay. Catch it!"

The waiter'd reacted. He threw a bag full of Shanix at him. It landed near the stranger's pedes. The bot nodded in approval. Yet he didn't let Thunderclasher go. He slowly knelt down to grab the bag. His chassis opened. He put the Shanix inside, then closed it up.

"I want energon, now"

"What? Isn't it enough?" Winderstorm yelled, scandalized.

For emphasis, the bot took his pede off. He violently crashed Thunderclasher's. The latter screamed in deep obvious pain. He wasn't joking. If they didn't obey, he would kill him! The owner immediately went back in his bar while Winderstorm was trying to talk. The owner grabbed more cubes of energon, full. He put them in a bag. He came back and throw it at the bot.

"Now, let him go!"

The bot didn't pay attention to him. He simply took the bag. He checked the content. He seemingly counted the number of cubes. He also checked if they were full. A satisfied look on his face, he loosened the grip onto Thunderclasher. Then he roughly pushed him off, far from him. Thunderclasher nearly lost his balance and leaned on a wall. He coughed, trying to catch his breath. He looked horrified by what'd just happened. The bot still had the bag in one servo, the laser-gun in another.

"Who are you?" Winderstorm asked.

The stranger didn't reply. He simply moved back. In the end, he turned around and started running, leaving the bar as fast as possible. As soon as Thunderclasher came to his senses, he grabbed his own laser-gun, the one he'd always carried with him.

"Thunderclasher, don't!"

He didn't listen to him. He pointed the weapon at the orange stranger. Then he shot. The bot was way too fast. He dodged the laser, jumping on the side. The stranger turned around and shot as well.

This time, Thunderclasher collapsed on the ground, energon bleeding. Winderstorm and the owner let out a scream of terror, rushing over to Thunderclasher's side. Fortunately, the laser'd just hit the leg. The bot hadn't aimed for the spark.

"You'll be fine, buddy!"

They looked up. The bot'd transformed into his alt-mode. They just had the time to catch sight of an orange car.

Then the car vanished.