Rise Windshear Rise:
As a Maximal Hunter/Scout, Windshear was assigned to hunt for Predacon spies infiltrating Maximal ranks as well as rogue Predacons causing trouble. She got the assignment because she is good at what she does. Add to that the fact that she always seems to be able to subdue her quarry without destroying them, at least not too badly. She hated the Predacons and their Decepticon ancestors for what they had done to not only the Autobots and their Maximal descendants, but also to other species across the galaxies. She knew the Autobots won the Great War, but at a heavy cost.
It was well known that if the Predacons were able to get a hold of the location of Earth, they would use the Cybertronian Transwarp Technology to travel back in time, change the past, and destroy the future. As a result, knowledge and information regarding much of the Great War and Earth was classified as "FORBIDDEN", including the actual location of Earth, knowledge of when and how the Maximals came to be, and who the first Maximals were, sealed away and unseen for centuries. All that is known is that the Maximals rose up from the ashes of the end of the Great War following the Autobots' hard won victory over the Decepticons, and that the Autobots and Maximals worked together to restore life to their beloved home world.
But Windshear had a secret. It was known that the greatest and most cherished Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, had gone into seclusion some time after the Great War, at rest and waiting for the day he would be needed again. It was said that only his direct descendants, the Maximal Primes, could hear his voice speaking to them, guiding them from time to time. Despite this contact being well known to be restricted to only the Maximal Primes, she began to hear his deep resonant voice echoing in her Laser Core while out on patrol one dark night. Yet at first she had no idea who it was calling her.
"Windshear…" the voice echoed within her.
"Who are you?" she asked, at first curious.
"Windshear, come…" the deep resonant voice replied.
She could feel a gentle tugging on her Spark at the sound of this mysterious voice. Windshear reluctantly followed the pull down into the depths of Cybertron itself. As she followed the sound reverberating within her, warily watching the corridors getting larger and larger around her the further in she went, she often thought about turning back. Still the voice urged her on, calling her deeper still. She couldn't ignore the voice, at once commanding and compassionate, coaxing gently.
"Windshear…" the voice called to her.
"What do you want of me?" she asked, growing impatient.
"Windshear, come back…" was the only reply from the strange voice.
When she finally came to a set of doors standing nearly 50 feet in height, she hesitated. Then the voice spoke again as the doors unlatched, allowing her to enter. "Windshear…"
The dimly lit room was large, even by Autobot standards. Seated opposite the door near a control console of some sort was a huge red, blue, and silver bot who, if he stood up would have been around 30 feet tall. His immense size compared to her eight-and-a-half-foot tall frame gave her pause, yet she approached anyway. Then, she saw clearly his insignia and configuration, immediately recognizing him from the painted life-sized statues in the Great Hall she had seen of the Autobot heroes who had fought in the Great War…
"Optimus Prime…" she uttered aloud, in awe of such a legend.
He sat, dormant and unmoving, yet she heard his voice call her name.
Windshear…" his voice said to her, "Come back to us…"
This last statement confused her. She had already found him. "I am here, Great Prime." she offered, unsure of what to do.
"Windshear, come back to us…" was the only reply.
Getting up onto the consol next to him, she approached closer, even dared to reach out and touch him. A burst of energy discharged, hitting her and knocking her off line.
When she awoke, she found herself at home, not knowing how she got there, yet she could still hear the revered Autobot leader's voice echoing along her circuits.
"Windshear…" his voice whispered.
"Optimus?" she uttered softly, looking around at her surroundings, a bit bewildered and disoriented. She then shook herself back to reality. "Must have been a dream." she muses, and yet later that day she found herself standing in the great hall gazing up at the Great Prime's visage. She imagines him alive and moving, his optics glowing blue as he looks fondly at the thriving world resting peacefully in his large hands.
"Windshear…" she hears his sonorous tone, and in her processors she swears she saw him turn his head and look directly at her.
"Windshear, come back to us…" the Great Prime's voice rings in her Core.
A touch to her shoulder shocks her back to herself and she turns sharply, meeting the gaze of a smaller Maximal known as Rattrap. Her optics narrow as she regards him curiously.
"Daydreamin' 'bout the old heroes, are ya?" he teases.
Windshear merely growls at him threateningly.
"Hey! Don't get your circuits in a twist!" Rattrap protests, hoping the larger female doesn't make good on her unspoken threat.
"Take it easy, Windshear." she hears a soft familiar voice call to her. "You seemed lost in your processors and I thought you might like to come back to us."
She looks over at her long time friend, Optimus Primal, gives a final warning growl at Rattrap, then turns more fully towards the direct descendant of the revered Autobot leader.
"Are you functioning alright?" Primal asks her, a subtle tone of concern in his voice. "I tried calling to you but you weren't responding."
Windshear tilts her head slightly, musing at the similarity she hears between her old friend's voice and that of his great ancestor. "I'm fine." she replies simply.
Optimus Primal steps closer and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Just making sure." he smiles softly to her.
He had always been fond of her, she knew, and she rather liked him too. But the Maximal Elders had forbidden anything beyond the friendship they currently shared. Truth be told, she honestly didn't mind the idea of merging her Spark with his; though she kept such thoughts secret, even from her dear friend, Optimus Primal.
"I came to say goodbye," the young Optimus says, a subtle note of sadness in his normally cheerful voice. "My unit will be leaving soon, another survey mission."
"How long?" Windshear asks with a bit more emotion in her voice than she intended.
"Not long, a couple dozen or so Astrocycles* maybe." He chuckles softly at her frown, "Don't worry, it's a short mission this time." *(1 Astrocycle = 6 Earth Days)
Rattrap groans softly, "Am I gonna have to break out the cyber-violins now?" he whines in response to the barely hidden affection between the two, eliciting a warning snarl from Windshear.
Primal gives Rattrap a look which implies that the smaller Maximal should probably keep his vocal processors quiet, or else.
Rattrap merely holds up his hands in defeat, "Yeah, yeah, I know… 'Shut up Rattrap!'" he groans and backs away. "Alright, I'll just go wait in the ship with Rhinox and Cheetor…" he mutters and wanders off.
Windshear tilts her head to regard her friend's great ancestor for a moment. "Do you ever hear him speak to you?" she asks Optimus Primal softly.
"Sometimes, when it's quiet." He looks at her quizzically, wondering at her sudden interest in his ancestor. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asks.
She merely nods and looks back at him. "You better get to your ship before your friends leave without you."
Primal smiles back at her. "Not possible, but I wouldn't put it past Rattrap to try." He turns to step away and as his hand slips down from her shoulder, her hand catches hold of his for a moment, drawing his attention back to her.
"Be safe." Windshear whispers softly.
The young Optimus gives her hand a slight squeeze in response, "Until all are one…" he promises her, then heads out to his ship.
Windshear watches him go, then looks back to his ancestor and namesake. "Keep him safe." she intones softly to the Autobot leader, and then heads out of the Great Hall herself.
Continuing with her missions, she was assigned to hunt down a particularly dangerous Predacon named Sliprunner. After several weeks of hunting and tracking him, she followed him to a launch bay where small Transwarp ships were held. A firefight ensued between them and he sought his escape in one of the Transwarp ships. Refusing to give up her quarry, she followed in a second Transwarp ship.
Sliprunner activated the Transwarp engines trying to get away and she followed him into the rift. In the continuing fire fight, her engines were hit and begin a cascade failure, an explosion imminent. In a desperate bid for survival she rams her ship into his, leaping across to board his ship as hers falls away, spiraling out of control close by. As she wrestled the Predacon in a hand to hand fight, her ship explodes, tearing into the other ship and with Sliprunner between her and the blast, he is destroyed while she sustains moderate damage.
Caught in the gravity well of an alien world, she drags herself to a stasis pod as the broken ship falls into the atmosphere of the planet. The crash tears the ship apart further, throwing her pod clear of the wreckage. The rough landing damages the pod as well, though it still functions. Scanning the area, the pod confuses two creatures for one, blending a White Tiger with the Snowy Owl it had caught. The pod then activates and releases her, her form re-formatted into a kind of Tiger/Owl Gryphon Fuzor. The Trans-Warp explosion also changed her, plus the forced blending of her Spark with that of the Predacon spy, Windshear's superstructure was no longer that of a normal Maximal. She had become a Trans-Metal Cyber-Organic Maximal.
Emerging from the pod on a green alien world, she had no idea where she was or how she'd get home to Cybertron again. She looks curiously at her new form, feeling strange. She decides the odd feeling is merely a side effect of the Transwarp explosion and sets the pod to reconfigure itself into armor she can wear which transforms with her. She also configures the pod's computer into a portable computer system hidden in a shielded area of her super-structure.
While settled to recharge, she begins having nightmare like visions of the malicious Sliprunner reaching into her chest and ripping out her Laser Core, and with it her Spark. Coming out of her recharge mode she opens her chest plate and finds to her horror that her once blue Maximal Spark, now merged with the red Spark of the Predacon, had become a dark Purple. Usually her Spark shows the blue aura of a Maximal Spark surrounding the dark purple nucleus of her blended Spark, but the instability of her Identity Module in her core sometimes causes her Spark aura to flare blood red as the malevolent Predacon side of her Spark tries to assert itself.
Fearing her new unstable state would endanger other Maximals, she abandoned her efforts to return to Cybertron and chose instead to find a suitable place to build a heavily shielded tomb of sorts where she stored a large number of interlinked Energon nodes which she then connected to a rebuilt Stasis Pod she made from the remnant pieces of the pod armor she wore as well as pieces salvaged from the wrecked Transwarp ship.
As she travelled this primitive world gathering what she needed for her indefinite sleep, the sudden appearance of the Ancient Primes startles her. Detecting her presence, they move towards her, curious about her. Instinctively she hunkers down, out of both fear and respect for the Primes who gave rise to all Cybertronian life, their descendants. They were gentle towards her though, and merely displayed their curiosity towards such an unusual descendant of their kind.
"What manner of creature are you?" Logos Prime asks softly.
She looks up tentatively, "Maximal, descendant of the Autobots." she offers reverently.
"Rise, little Maximal." Nexus Prime coaxes, "We shall not harm you. All life is precious to us, especially the lives of our descendants."
She stands up, transforming to robot mode and looks up at the incredibly tall Primes surrounding her.
"What is your name?" Logos Prime asks.
"I am Windshear."
"Windshear, your time is yet to come…" Vector Prime begins, "but your time will come soon enough."
She nods quietly, lowering her head.
"Make your hidden place and sleep until your time comes. One of our descendants will come to awaken you then." The Dynasty's Leader, Prima, instructs.
She nods her agreement and watches them walk away to a rocky crevasse, sacrificing themselves to hide the Matrix of Leadership from the Fallen. She then sets off to complete her hidden lair and what she considered her tomb; the stasis pod from the Transwarp ship.
Settling within the pod, she entered Stasis Lock fully expecting to die there. Her only contingency was the pod's new programming: it would reactivate her if the presence of a Prime were detected in close proximity by the pod's scanners. She hoped that her next awakening would not occur until well after the Great War, if ever. Perhaps the Maximal Primes could help undo the damage that threatens to completely destabilize her Personality Matrix.
While in Stasis Lock for so many centuries, she continually fights off the remnant of Sliprunner as he tries to take over. Her only comfort was in the echo of Optimus Prime's voice calling to her. In her nightmares, she reached for the source of that resonant voice, driving away the malevolent Predacon personality for a time, letting her rest peacefully in the revered Prime's shadow.
Unfortunately her wait in stasis is accidentally cut short when Ratchet and Ironhide, out scouting for Energon sources, follow a faint anomalous reading on their sensors. The pair find her buried den, the den shielding having been broken from an earthquake in the area (explaining the faint anomalous readings that lead them to her den), but leaving her fully enclosed stasis pod intact and undamaged, still surrounded by enough fully charged Energon nodes to sustain her in the pod for a few hundred years more.
"Optimus, we found something." Ratchet says to their leader and friend.
"What is it, Ratchet?" Optimus Prime replies.
"We detected a faint Energon signature and found some sort of shielded chamber buried underground." Ratchet reports.
"There's damage to the shield wall. We would never have detected it otherwise." Ironhide adds.
"There's something else," Ratchet offers, "There's some sort of pod like structure and banks of Energon nodes interlinked to each other and connected to the pod. We think they're powering it and whatever might be inside."
"Alright, repair the damaged shielding first, then to begin assessing the pod and its contents to see if they still function. I will join you shortly." Optimus instructs the pair.
Arriving at the site, the repairs to the shield wall complete, Optimus checks on Ratchet's progress while Ironhide stands guard nearby outside.
"Ratchet, what have you learned so far?" Optimus asks.
"Not much. I don't recognize the language, though some of the symbols as well as the design of the pod look suspiciously of Cybertronian origin. It seems to have been here for several thousand years." Ratchet shakes his head. "What or who ever is inside, I can't tell if they're functional or not, though the pod itself seems operational."
Optimus nods, looking at the pod wistfully. Something strikes a chord within the powerful leader. Sensing something he can not explain, he instructs Ratchet to make the pod and its contents his top priority. "Whoever is inside, I hope they yet function." He touches the surface of the pod briefly, then exits the chamber to leave Ratchet to his work.
Ratchet watches his leader go and shakes his head. "As long as this thing has been here, it seems unlikely…" he mutters to himself as he turns to continue his work on the pod. Yet he knows how precious life is to Optimus, something he inherited from his Prime ancestors.
But the pod detected the noble Prime's presence and started the reactivation sequence. Surprised and worried, Ratchet tries desperately to decipher the meaning of the glyphs and sounds now emanating from the previously quiet pod.
"Oh no, don't start now!" Ratchet implores the pod futilely.
Suddenly the pod cracks open, starling the Autobot medic as the door to the pod opens fully, revealing a heavy fog filling the inner chamber. A sudden resonant screech echoes from the pod and a strange heavily clawed paw reaches out of the fog, partly furred, partly metallic. Soon after the strange appendage disappears back into the grayish fog, the fog billows upwards and the cyber-organic gryphon-like fuzor form of Windshear emerges, snarling softly.
She notes Ratchet's presence with curiosity as she crawls up out of the pod, perching on its end. Ratchet takes a couple cautious steps back from the pod and the Maximal Fuzor.
"Autobot…" she utters softly with a growl.
"Yes," he responds, "I am called Ratchet."
"When?" she asks cryptically.
Ratchet tilts his head. "When what?"
"Time?" she replies, an edge of impatience to her voice.
"Earth time it's evening right now." Ratchet shrugs, still unsure of what she meant.
"Cybertron!" she growls in irritation.
Ratchet shakes his head sadly. "Cybertron is dead…" he offers.
But before he can elaborate, she snarls at him, "You LIE! No Autobot or Maximal would ever give up our home!"
With a vicious roar she transforms into her robot mode, aiming her weapons at Ratchet. Caught off guard by her reaction, he backs off further, his hands up in an attempt to placate the volatile Maximal. Hearing the scuffle, Ironhide rushes in, cannons at the ready. He is closely followed by their leader.
"The war has devastated our home, the Decepticons…" Ratchet tries to explain only to be cut short by her snarl and a shot from one of her cannons, narrowly missing the Autobot medic's head as he desperately ducks out of the line of fire.
"Freeze!" Ironhide shouts, aiming his cannons at the small yet volatile bot.
Optimus grabs Ironhide's shoulder to stop him from firing. "Stand down, Ironhide!"
"But…" the hot tempered Weapons Specialist starts to protest.
"I said stand down!" Optimus orders firmly.
Ironhide reluctantly lowers his cannons, but leaves them active.
Upon hearing the Autobot leader's voice, Windshear stiffens slightly, and as the big bot steps forward towards her, she turns to face him.
"Optimus Prime…" she utters softly, lowering her head and sinking to one knee as a show of great respect.
"There's no need for that, little one." Optimus offers. "It's alright." He reaches towards her to coax her back to her feet. She stands, but keeps her head down for the moment.
"What is your name?" Optimus asks softly.
"Windshear." she replies immediately.
Optimus tilts his head thoughtfully, a memory from the Matrix he carries within him surfacing briefly. "Where did you come from, Windshear?" he asks.
"I am a Maximal hunter-scout from Cybertron." she replies. "I was stranded here after hunting down and destroying a rogue Predacon."
Optimus nods. "And you've been in stasis lock ever since?"
She nods. "I hoped to not awaken until well after the Great War, though I never really expected to wake at all."
"You're from Cybertron's future…" Ratchet interjects, a note of surprise in his voice.
"From your future…" she corrects him. "Maximals are the Autobots' direct descendants."
Optimus nods acknowledgement. "How is it you arrived here in the past?"
"An accident in pursuit of the renegade Predacon." she replies. "He had stolen a Transwarp shuttle and opened a rift. I followed and destroyed him before he could do further damage. But the ship was too badly damaged and crashed here. I couldn't return home."
Optimus nods thoughtfully, "And you went into Stasis Lock hoping to be found in your own time."
She nods. "That's what the Primes said…" she began, but her voice trails off. She looks up at Optimus, "Your Ion cannon is sufficient…" she states cryptically.
"Sufficient for what?" the Autobot leader queries.
"I can not remain. Return me to Stasis Lock or destroy me." she says flatly. "If the Decepticons discover my existence, my kind will cease to be. The future will be undone."
Optimus shakes his head, "No, I will not destroy…"
"You Must!" she growls, "I cannot be allowed to live!" She shifts her stance slightly, her weapons powering up.
"I will not destroy…" Optimus begins again, trying to calm her.
Suddenly her blue optics flare red and she hisses, "Then Die!" she snarls in a deeper voice, firing at Optimus Prime. He barely dodges out of the way, hitting the ground hard as the shot explodes behind where he stood. She then activates a set of afterburners that emerge just underneath her feathered wings and blasts her way out.
Ironhide turns as she flees, taking aim with one of his cannons. His battle reflexes are flawless, and he fires.
"Ironhide, No!" Optimus yells, reaching to stop his weapons specialist. But he is too late, and Prime watches in horror as the explosive shell speeds towards the fleeing Maximal. There's an explosion and Optimus rushes past Ironhide, hoping she may have survived the blast.
Arriving at the site, all that remains are charred pieces of debris, and a single singed wing feather. Optimus gingerly picks up the feather as Ironhide looks over at his war weary leader.
"Optimus, I… I'm sorry…" the battle hardened warrior offers solemnly.
"You did what you had to do." Optimus replies as he turns away. Every life lost weighs heavily on the Autobot leader's Spark, though he does his best to hide the pain and sorrow he feels. But the loss of this one cuts him to his Core, yet he's unsure why.
At the last moment the malevolent Predacon, still in control, threw one of Windshear's Seismic Charges at Ironhide's incoming shot, detonating both and making it appear as though she had been destroyed. Apparently the ruse worked. Hidden and powered down, he watches as the two Autobots search for her, then walk away. Sliprunner knows the explosion would get the Decepticons' attention, so he waits quietly for their arrival.
He watches as Starscream, Megatron, and Soundwave land, searching the area. Megatron's growing impatience with Starscreams failings is evident as he reprimands the cowardly Decepticon for bringing him to yet another of his false leads.
Then a malicious voice calls to Megatron, "I could give you the key to the Autobot's demise, and ensure your future reign over Cybertron."
Megatron pauses in his thrashing of Starscream, turning to look for the source of that voice. "I'm listening. Show yourself and we will talk of this 'key' of yours."
Megatron hears no response, and Starscream takes the opportunity to get himself out of striking range of the dangerously unpredictable Decepticon leader while he's distracted.
"Where are you!" Megatron demands, firing his cannon at several rocky crevasses in growing irritation. "Soundwave, scan and identify the source of that voice!"
Soundwave steps up, scanning the area yet finding nothing. "Scans inconclusive. Source unknown."
Megatron roars in frustration and storms past Soundwave, roughly pushing the smaller Decepticon aside. "Accursed Autobots and their trickery!" he snarls and transforms into his tank mode, activates his thrusters, and takes flight, followed by Soundwave and a reluctant Starscream.
Her optics showing a clear blue again, Windshear lets out a sigh of relief. She had regained control and activated her Holographic Camouflage and "Mask" Systems, hiding her Energon and heat signatures, rendering her effectively invisible. Transforming to Beast Mode, she cautiously sets out towards her hidden lair, hoping the Autobots might still be there.
But what she finds is the empty remains of her shielded lair, her pod and all Energon nodes spirited away by the Autobots. She finds their trail in the dirt and follows it, but then loses the trail as they enter a paved roadway. She switches to her Energon tracking systems, but as the roads become more heavily travelled, the trail becomes scattered until she can no longer follow it. Yet she continues, hoping to find some trace of the Autobots as they invariably head to less populated areas.
She takes to higher elevations, flying over the area and scanning for any trace of the Autobots. Finally, a faint track reveals itself and she quickly follows, hoping the energy trail doesn't dissipate faster than she can track it. To her relief she finds a secluded and well hidden base at the foot of some mountains. She approaches and waits, hidden, for the right opportunity to reveal herself.
She didn't have to wait long though. Optimus steps outside, looking to the horizon. She takes the chance and slips down to the ground at his feet, leaving a trail of pawprints while keeping herself "invisible" with her Holographic Camouflage.
Optimus finally glances down and sees the circling trail of pawprints. Curious, he obligingly follows the tracks to a nearby cave large enough for him to enter, where she waits for him.
"Optimus…" she calls softly, "By now you must know that I cannot be allowed to continue functioning." she states evenly as she steps into the light.
"Windshear!" the Autobot leader utters, his surprise and relief clearly evident in his deep, resonant voice.
She chuckles softly in amusement. "The reports of my destruction were greatly exaggerated." she offers in a rare moment of humor. Her demeanor then turns serious again. "But this time you must be sure, you must complete the task. Destroy me now."
Optimus lowers his head and turns away a step. "I cannot."
"You can't or you won't?" she challenges.
He looks at her. "Why are you so eager to die?"
She shakes her head. "I don't want to die, but I can not be allowed to remain in the past. The future of my kind and our Autobot ancestors is at stake." She steps towards him, "You must destroy me. If for no other reason than that I am a danger to you and the Autobots. Our last encounter should have told you as much."
"What happened to you?" he asks, genuinely concerned.
She sighs, pacing a few steps. "Somehow, in the explosion that destroyed the renegade Predacon, Sliprunner, a piece of him… merged with me. I don't know how, but he sometimes takes control. With my Personality Matrix destabilized, I am a danger to all of you."
"Perhaps there is a way to repair you. Ratchet is good at that." Optimus offers.
"Perhaps… But it does not change the fact that I am out of my own time, and my being here can destroy the very existence of all Maximals."
"How did your kind come to be?" he asks.
She looks at him curiously. "No one knows. All that is known for sure is that we Maximals are descendants of the Autobots, and that my kind rose from the ashes of the Great War. All other knowledge of the subject is forbidden, though it is said that the first Maximal was a Prime, your direct offspring."
He nods thoughtfully, remembering a prophetic riddle he heard in some of his visions of the Dynasty of Primes since obtaining the Matrix of Leadership: "When metal meets flesh, light shall guide the hand; and from the ashes of death shall rise the children of Cybertron." He looks to her and offers, "Windshear, fate never does anything without a reason." He kneels down to speak to her more softly and directly. "Perhaps you are where you are supposed to be."
She scoffs, "I'm an insignificant hunter scout. Nothing more." she states with a dismissive wave of her four-digit omni-directional hand.
"Perhaps you are more than you believe yourself to be." the wizened leader offers.
She gives him an odd look.
"You immediately recognized my voice, yet from what you have stated, you shouldn't have known me at all." Optimus observes.
"You are known to us, and revered with honor. Your likeness and those of the other heroes of the Great War stand proudly in the Great Hall on Cybertron. There you stand, cradling a miniature representation of Cybertron itself in your hands as if it were the most fragile and precious thing in the Universe. The other Autobot heroes stand surrounding you, some with the likenesses of their bonded human companions." She pauses for a moment. "And the legend among them, the first companion… Sam Witwicky… Standing with Bumblebee."
Optimus nods, listening. "Our likenesses, but not our voices." he discerns from her description.
She shakes her head. "No, though sometimes the Maximal Primes, your direct descendants, can hear your voice echoing in their Sparks, guiding them." She sighs softly, "But only the Primes can hear you speak."
"Yet you did, didn't you." Optimus states as much as asks.
She turns away, refusing to answer, which only further confirms his suspicions. The voices of the Ancient Primes have echoed in his own Spark ever since Sam revived him with the Matrix of Leadership, which he later retrieved from the shattered remains of the Harvester Machine. He still carried it, securely locked away in a chamber in his chest, next to his Spark.
"Perhaps you were meant to help us defeat the Decepticons and aide in the birth of our Maximal descendants." Optimus reasons.
She looks back at him for a moment, pondering the thought. She then shakes her head dismissively.
"Is your life not worth the chance to help us win this war and save all of us?" he asks.
She sighs softly and finally relents. "Perhaps, in some small way, I might be of some use to you. But as for being the one to bring about the Maximal race…" she looks at him, "That is your accomplishment alone."
He nods, "Fair enough. We shall see what comes."
"Indeed…" she mutters softly to herself. She then follows the tall Prime out of the cave and back towards the Autobot's hidden base.
As Optimus walks up to the other Autobots gathered, Ironhide is the first to notice the small Maximal following his leader. "Optimus! She survived the blast?" he exclaims, a tone of relief in his deep gravely voice.
Optimus nods, "It seems our little friend has a few tricks tucked away."
She smirks and a compartment opens in her thigh. She pulls out a small device and holds it up in front of her. "Seismic detonators." Windshear says with a grin, her blue optics flicker as she looks up at the taller Autobot.
"Well, I'm impressed." Ironhide states as he looks down at her, his hands on his hips.
Optimus chuckles softly at the exchange, then turns to the group and speaks in a more serious tone; "Windshear has agreed to help us fight the Decepticons. But, her existence must remain secret. Our enemies must not know who or what she is, or where she comes from. The future of our race depends on it."
Ratchet looks down at the small yet volatile Maximal, "No hard feelings then?"
She puts the detonator away and looks up at the Autobot Medic, "Agreed."
Sideswipe tilts his head quizzically, "What sort of chassis is that anyways? Looks rather interesting, if a bit mismatched."
"I am a Mecha-Organic Transmetal Fuzor Maximal Hunter-Scout from Cybertron. Perhaps you would like an Upgrade?" she taunts the silver Autobot.
"Huh. Upgrade my tailpipes." Sideswipe scoffs. "Looks more like that human movie creature Frankenstein's Monster."
She growls and charges up her weapons. "I'll show you what this Monster can do to an obsolete scrap pile like you!" Windshear snarls, her optics flaring red briefly.
Optimus grabs hold of her in both hands and pulls her away from Sideswipe before the pair can engage each other directly, "Easy you two. It's alright, Sideswipe meant no insult, Windshear. Stand down." he says softly, trying to calm her down.
Her optics return to their normal blue glow and her weapons power down.
Optimus turns to Ratchet, "There is a secondary personality that is in conflict with her primary Identity Core that is unpredictable and volatile. She usually maintains control, but until we find a way to remove the hostile personality, we must be careful how we address Windshear."
Ratchet nods understanding. "I saw her optics flare red when she attacked you earlier, Optimus. Perhaps that can be used as an indicator of which side has surfaced."
Optimus nods and sets the Maximal on the ground again. "I noticed it as well. When she is ready, can you find a way to help her, Ratchet?"
Ratchet steps forward and offers his hand to her, "I'd be willing to try if you'll let me, Windshear."
She grasps Ratchet's hand and climbs up on his arm. "Yes. I wish to be rid of this Predacon malfunction that taints my Core." Yet inside, she hears Sliprunner scream with rage. She chuckles internally, "Soon, I will be free of you, and you will finally meet oblivion."
Optimus nods. "It is settled then."
The Autobots gather well inside their hidden base in what amounts to a large repair bay. Ratchet takes Windshear over to an elevated table and she climbs down from his arm. She then lays back, looking up at him as he prepares for the delicate task ahead.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" she asks him.
"Well," Ratchet turns to her, "I've never had to separate two personalities in one Core before. But, we'll see what we can find out about how this happened and try to repair the damage."
She nods, deciding that permanent deactivation was preferable to continued torment from the Predacon within her. She shuts down her primary functions and goes into Stasis Lock. Ratchet leans over her and with his optics zoomed in, begins his work as Optimus stands by watching hopefully while Ironhide and Sideswipe stand guard, just in case.
Ratchet opens her chest plate armor, then her secondary chest panels to reveal her Lazer Core containing her Spark. "Well, that's new." he remarks curiously.
"What is it, Ratchet?" Optimus asks.
"The core of her Spark is a dark purple, yet it still glows blue like ours. But I don't know what is normal for her kind."
"Hmmm… If Maximals are our descendants, then perhaps what is normal for us might be the same for them as well." Optimus offers.
"Maybe. Wait, what is this?" Ratchet looks closer. "Hmmm, part of another Laser Core imbedded in hers, causing a breach. Looks like they fused."
"Can you remove it?" Ironhide asks.
"Possibly, if I'm careful." Ratchet intones, "Hopefully doing so won't deactivate her permanently."
Optimus nods, "Do it, but if her Spark shows signs of shutting down…"
Ratchet nods and carefully reaches in with tiny graspers and laser cutters to remove the fragment. As he cuts the foreign Laser Core shard away, he begins to see more detail of her Spark. "Incredible! Her Spark is unlike any I've seen before. It's so compl…"
Suddenly her Spark flares a malevolent red and all her systems come on line at once, her optics glowing red as well. Ratchet pulls back in surprise as she screams, a feral, visceral sound that startles all in the room.
"Windshear?" Optimus calls to her as she rises to her feet. He sees the savagely throbbing dark red Spark in her exposed Laser Core and winces.
She snarls at him, "Only Sliprunner now. You failed, Prime!" a deeper voice rolls out of her.
Optimus looks at her still open chest and shakes his head, "No, Windshear…" He brings his Ion Cannon on line and aims for her exposed Laser Core. "Forgive me…"
Before he can fire, her core flares bright blue for a moment and the dark voice roars with rage. Inside her chest Optimus can see the two parts of her blended spark fighting each other, flashes of red and blue surrounding the violet nucleus.
Ironhide raises his own cannons, unsure of what is happening. "Optimus?"
"No Ironhide, wait." Optimus pushes his Weapons Specialists arm down, "She's fighting him."
"And if she loses the fight?" Sideswipe asks.
"She won't…" Optimus deactivates his Ion Cannon and steps forward towards her, watching as she screams and shudders convulsively, the conflict raging within her threatening to tear her apart from the inside. "Windshear is stronger than the Predacon…"
After a few moments, she drops to her knees and seems to shut down, slumped over with only her open torso plates holding her up. Then inside her chest blazes blue, and she lifts her head, her optics glowing blue once more.
"There's nothing to forgive, Optimus." Windshear says softly, closing her upper torso plates. She then looks at Ratchet, "Thank you for trying."
Ratchet shakes his head. "A fragment of his Spark seems to have fused with yours when a shard of his Laser Core pierced your chest and breached your Core. I removed the shard, but I can't separate his Spark from yours without extinguishing both."
She nods. "Maybe removing his Laser Core was enough to help me maintain better control."
"At least that's something…" Ratchet agrees.
She nods and looks over at the tall Autobot Leader, then turns away without a word, head down. She drops down off the table and starts to walk away from them, but Optimus' voice stops her cold.
"Where will you go, Windshear?" he asks her gently.
She glances in his direction but doesn't meet his gaze. "Away from endangering you further." she replies.
He moves across the room, stepping up behind her. "Why do you feel yourself to be such a threat to us when you are so willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of your kind yet to be?"
She looks down at her deadly robotic hands, flexing her metallic digits experimentally. She then reaches for her own chest with singular determination. "If you won't, then I must…" she mutters softly as she starts pulling her armor panels open again.
Optimus kneels down and gently brushes her hands from her chest. "No, you are needed here." He then picks her up, bringing her to his eye level. "We will protect you, keep your existence secret."
She looks up into his optics, blazing a bright but gentle blue. Something unspoken passes between them and her entire frame shivers slightly in his grasp. "He knows something, but won't say it. What is it he fears, I wonder." she wonders internally. He regards her with a slight tilt of his head and she suddenly wonders if he actually heard her thoughts. She finally looks away from his gaze, nodding acceptance.
Optimus sets her down again with an answering nod, then rises to his feet, stepping past her without another word. Ironhide follows his leader out, and after giving her an appraising look, Sideswipe heads out as well.
Ratchet then steps towards her, addressing her directly, "Optimus often understands things I can only guess at. In the time I have known him, I have learned to trust his judgment without question." He looks at the empty doorway, "He has been proven right more times than I can count."
"We shall see if this proves to be one of those times, or if his compassion proves to be the destruction of us all." Windshear utters in a low rumble, and heads out of the repair bay to find a small corner of the base to seclude herself into.
Having heard her parting comment, Ratchet looks to the Laser Core shard still laying on the table. "I have to believe he's right in this, little Maximal." he mutters softly.
Over the next few weeks she watches passively, usually hidden from view, as the Autobots come and go. Sometimes they go to gather Energon, other times to gather information. Then comes the call to arms. Decepticons have been detected moving through a nearby city. She chooses to remain hidden as the Autobots head out to deal with the threat. When they return, it is clear they won the fight, and though Optimus glances around, he does not search too intently for her. He knows the time will come for her to act soon enough, so until then he chooses to leave her be.
Several battles over several months go by, and still she keeps herself hidden. As the Autobots return after yet another confrontation with Decepticon forces, Sideswipe expresses his impatience to his leader.
"She's been hiding among us for several of Earth's Lunar cycles now. When will she start helping us?" the smaller silver Autobot asks Optimus once the rest had gone to tend to their own duties and injuries.
"Only time can answer that question, Sideswipe." Optimus looks down at his friend. "She still believes herself to be more a danger to us than aide and fears that getting into a battle against our enemies, she will turn on us without intending to." He looks to the horizon, "But regardless of her decision, Megatron may move more directly soon, and when that happens we will finish this conflict, one way or the other."
"And how many of us or our human friends have to die before that little mismatched scrap pile finally decides to take action?" Sideswipe snorts.
"I don't know…" Optimus shakes his head sadly.
Windshear slinks away unseen, wondering if her own fear of exposure to the Decepticons is proving more harmful to her Autobot ancestors than she intended. She too looks to the horizon and beyond. Closing her eyes, she reaches across her memories, across time and space itself, desperate for answers.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asks, directing her thoughts to the Dynasty of Primes that left her stranded and alone on this organic rock. With no answer forthcoming, Windshear sighs and retreats to her isolated corner of the Autobots hidden base.
As she settles in to rest and replenish her energy reserves, dreams fill her awareness. Windshear finds herself facing the immense silhouette of Optimus Prime, his optics and truck lights glowing a soft blue-white.
"Windshear, come back to us…" she hears his voice calling her, yet she hesitates.
Suddenly a darker shadow looms behind the Autobot leader, malevolent red eyes glowing fiercely in the dark. With a sadistic laugh, Megatron seems to loom ever larger behind Optimus and she watches in horror as Prime's chest bursts open, the light of his spark flickering as he struggles, impaled on Megatron's Cyberclaw.
She hears herself cry out, echoing Prime's own cry of denial as the light in his Spark and optics flickers and goes out. Then her cry of anguish turns to a shriek of terror as Megatron's immense and cruel hand closes around her. In that horrifying moment, she sees glimpses of her Maximal friends, watching as they seem to disintegrate, shrieking in agony as they are consumed by the fires of destruction.
Then she sees Optimus Primal, her closest friend, reaching for her. "Windshear, help me!" she hears him call, then his words are lost in screams of pain and death.
Cognitive awareness returns and she finds herself standing, her metallic hands having torn deep gouges in the close walls of her hiding place. She feels her Spark shuddering inside her Laser Core, threatening to shatter its containment and break free of her torso. She shakes herself back to reality and exits the confines of the Autobot's base. She remains close by, however, and within a few minutes she notes the sudden flurry of activity as the Autobots prepare for battle yet again.
Seeing Optimus Prime emerge, ready for battle, she makes a choice. Come what may, she will follow the Great Prime into battle this time without hesitation. With his voice still echoing in her processors, calling her, she takes flight, following the Autobots secretly as they prepare to engage the Decepticons once more.
Thinking it to be just another Decepticon incursion, the Autobots move in with their human soldier companions and prepare to put down their enemies. Four Decepticons are tracked and located and the Autobots engage them head on. At first the battle goes well as two of the Decepticons fall quickly, but the tide of battle suddenly changes as Megatron and Starscream, together with 8 additional Decepticons, suddenly ambush the now outnumbered Autobots.
Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Ramjet, and Thrust descend from the sky with guns blazing as they lay down heavy strafing fire on the grounded Autobots. Then Megatron leads Bludgeon, Swindle, Onslaught, and Vortex on the ground as they join the remaining two of the four Decepticon insurgence group.
Optimus Prime calls out to his Autobot companions Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Mirage, Hound, Jolt, and Prowl to form up on him in an attempt to defend against the aerial onslaught while fending off the Decepticon ground forces. The humans try to close a perimeter around the attacking Decepticons, forcing them to fight on two fronts.
Seeing her Autobot ancestors pinned down and desperate, Windshear looks to the sky. Spotting the leader of the aerial assault group, Starscream, she launches herself at him undetected until she makes contact, tearing a gaping hole in his left wing and sending the Decepticon Sky Commander spiraling out of control. She follows him down and as he transforms, she attacks, clawing at Starscream's armor with feral abandon. In the confusion, the remaining four Decepticon jets split up, Thundercracker and Thrust going after the Autobots with the other two descending to help Starscream.
Ramjet manages to get a hold of her, pulling her off Starscream's back and throwing her a few dozen yards away. "Abomination Scrap!" he snarls at her.
Windshear merely laughs. "Say goodbye, you overgrown tinker toy." she taunts. "You have 12 seconds… 10… 9… 8… 7…"
Starscream looks at her incredulously, "How dare you speak to me…" he starts shouting at her indignantly as he aims his guns at her.
Windshear merely waves at him and then turns, using her wings as shields against the impending Decepticon debris as she finishes the countdown, "… 3… 2… 1…"
Suddenly Starscream explodes rather violently as two of Windshear's Seismic charges detonate inside his superstructure, scattering bits of charred metal in every direction and taking Ramjet into oblivion with him. Skywarp suffers debilitating damage and Windshear fires her Gauss/Rail cannon at him to finish him off.
As the rest of the Decepticons occupy the Autobots and their human allies, Megatron turns to see the strange little mecha-organic bot take to the air after felling the trio of Decepticon fliers single handedly. He lets out a guttural roar and charges at the insolent creature. "I'll kill you!" he thunders.
Hearing his roar Windshear turns and gleefully engages the volatile Decepticon leader. "Come and try, you gargantuan pile of scrap!" she snarls back at him.
The explosion and Megatron's subsequent howl of rage draws the Autobot leader's attention. To his horror, he sees the diminutive Maximal facing off with the most powerful Decepticon alone. "Windshear, no…" Optimus starts fighting his way through the battling throng trying to get to Megatron before he destroys Windshear.
"Die, little cretin!" Megatron snarls and fires his fusion cannon at her repeatedly, missing the agile little bot as she ducks and rolls in mid air.
"Gotta do better than that, you slaggin' tin can!" Windshear growls as she rolls up and over his arm, clawing at Megatron's weapon housing and firing a few blasts from her own guns at him.
The 35ft tall Decepticon reaches up with his free hand and grabs at Windshear, just catching her leg, and yanks her down off his upper arm, losing several small pieces of his weapon's casing in the process. He throws her to the ground and tries to stomp on her, but her nimble feline-inspired frame maneuvers out of the way. She then scrambles up his leg, ripping out chunks of his knee on the way up. He takes a swipe at her with his cyber claw and manages to catch part of his own thigh instead. Windshear scrambles over his thigh and up his side and back, firing her small Ion Cannon at the back of his shoulder joint before tearing at it with her bare robotic hands. Megatron howls in pain and turns sharply, throwing himself shoulder first into a concrete wall in an attempt to dislodge the ferocious little Maximal. Windshear barely manages to keep from being pinned, but he finally scrapes her off the back of his wounded shoulder. Spinning in the opposite direction than she expected, he catches her with his cyber claw, running her through and pinning her to the wall.
"Gotcha!" Megatron exclaims triumphantly.
Windshear cries out in agony; but to her credit, she snarls and commences tearing apart his fusion cannon rather than succumbing to the pain of being impaled through her mid torso.
With his fusion cannon nearly disabled, Megatron turns and flings Windshear as hard as he can against another concrete wall. He then stalks towards her as she tries to get back on her feet, one hand clutching the gaping hole in her torso. She takes aim at the Decepticon leader, only to find her vision going dark just as a red and blue figure charges into view. The last thing she hears is the sound of her own internal systems screaming a myriad of warnings at her as she collapses, falling into Stasis Lock as her Spark shudders, her Laser Core crushed.
Optimus fights his way out of the immediate conflict and charges at Megatron, but he's too late. His own Laser Core seems to shatter within him as the brave little Maximal falls lifeless to the ground. Sorrow turns to rage as the Autobot leader looks at her killer and he hears himself scream Megatron's name, launching himself at the Decepticon and tackling him to the ground.
The shear force of Optimus' fury shocks Megatron and he suddenly finds himself afraid for the first time in his long and brutal existence. He had never seen such ferocity in the Autobot he once called Brother, even when Optimus single handedly faced Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor in a desperate bid to protect the human boy, Sam. But in his final moments of consciousness, a realization hits Megatron as surely as the enraged Prime's Energon Swords. His gaze falls on the lifeless form of the cyber-organic creature he had killed and he understood. Hatred did indeed give strength, but that strength was nothing in the face of anguish and loss. His last flickering thought was of the most powerful force in the Universe: the Love and true Brotherhood the Autobots shared with each other, a bond which Lord High Protector Megatron never understood or appreciated.
Optimus Prime was relentless in his assault on Megatron. Blinded by a seething anguish built up from seeing so many friends die in this brutal war over the course of his long life, he tore the Decepticon leader apart. Optimus had seen the deaths of many Autobots and humans, but none had such a devastating effect on him as seeing Windshear fall. Yet it was more than just her death that cut Prime to his Core, but with her death fell the future she represented; countless innocent lives yet to be, an entire race of beings that were to be the Autobot's descendants. Untold millions of lives lost in one fell stroke.
Finally, with his rage spent, cognitive clarity returns to Optimus and he looks around at the now unrecognizable and widely scattered pieces of Megatron all around him. Shaking his head sadly, he looks over to his friends to see that the remaining Decepticons had either fallen or fled. The battle was over for now and Optimus retracts his deadly blades. The normally even tempered Autobot leader turns away from the shocked faces of his companions and looks for Windshear's body among the torn metal littering the ground at his feet. Three steps takes him to her and he gingerly picks up the small fragile body. Seeing the jagged hole torn through her frame, Optimus knew she was gone.
Holding her protectively against his chest plates, he starts to walk away from the scene of the carnage he had wrought upon his Brother-turned-Adversary. "If ever you cared for your descendants, please, help us now." Optimus quietly implores the Dynasty of Primes, his ancient ancestors.
As if in answer to his plea, the Matrix of Leadership Optimus carries next to his Spark suddenly stirs, forcing its way out of Prime's chest to pierce Windshear's body. A burst of energy forces her from his grasp, throwing Optimus back several yards. Cries of alarm rise up from the Autobots as Ratchet and Ironhide rush to their leader and friend.
Windshear finds herself floating, drifting in the dark. She looks around, and at first sees only distant stars in a sea of blackness. Then the stars move around her, taking shape. Suddenly she recognizes the faces of the Dynasty of Primes gathered around her.
"Where am I? Have I been destroyed?" she inquires of them.
"In time, you will join us in the Matrix, but not yet." Vector Prime answers.
"You yet have a destiny to fulfill." Nexus Prime states.
"What destiny?" she asks, confused, "I am nothing but a hunter scout, no one of any importance."
"You are far more than you know, Windshear." the Dynasty's leader, Prima speaks up, "You are a Prime."
"That's impossible!" she scoffs, "All of the Maximal Primes of my time are accounted for."
"All but one." Logos Prime corrects her, "You. You are the lost descendant of Optimus Prime, hidden by the elders of your race. They knew your lineage, and your true name; a name that echoes through time in their very Sparks."
"What are you saying?" her voice takes on a tone of awe.
"You, above all your kind, were chosen by the Matrix and the Dynasty. We took you out of time and brought you here…" Vector Prime begins.
She shakes her head, "No, it was an accident. The Predacon Sliprunner opened the rift that dragged us through time."
Vector Prime reaches out and cradles her in his hand, drawing her close to him. "It was no accident. Through the Maximal Primes, we sent you after Sliprunner, knowing you would never give up the pursuit. When he opened the Transwarp rift, I guided your ships through time so that we would know you in the past, and prepare you for your future."
"What future?" Windshear queries.
"The future of the Maximal race, the direct descendants of the Autobots. You are the first, Empyrea Prime." Prima affirms.
"What is…" she starts to ask.
"It is your true name, the name you were meant to carry." Nexus Prime answers her as his hand reaches for her. "Go now, return to Optimus Prime and the Autobots. Fulfill your destiny and make the Maximal race live."
Each Prime extends their hand, curling around her like a protective shell. She feels a surge of power roll through her, though instead of feeling pain, she feels comforting warmth.
Energy surges through the Maximal's body hanging motionless in the air, growing steadily brighter. As Optimus looks at her, a realization comes to him and he recites the riddle that has haunted him since claiming the Matrix; "When metal meets flesh, light shall guide the hand; and from the ashes of death shall rise the children of Cybertron."
Confused, Ratchet and Ironhide look at Optimus questioningly, then all are momentarily blinded by the sudden explosion. As the light dissipates, the Autobots look on as Windshear hovers for a moment, then descends to the ground, holding the Matrix in her hands. She stands there, somewhat bewildered and unsure of what had just happened to her. While her base form seemed to have remained mostly intact, obvious changes were apparent, and all damage was gone. She looks up at Optimus as he approaches her.
"Optimus," Ironhide calls to him, "What just happened?"
At first Prime doesn't respond, merely looking to the Matrix altered Maximal. She activates her thrusters and rises into the air in front of him. Hovering there, she offers Optimus the Matrix of Leadership, which he accepts from her hand and returns it to its place within his armored chassis.
"Optimus?" Ratchet implores quizzically.
Without turning his gaze from her, Optimus Prime addresses the Autobots gathering around him. "We have witnessed the systematic death and destruction of our race for too long in this war. But hope rises again in our midst, for now we have witnessed the birth of a new future for our kind."
She suddenly feels foolish for having pleaded with Optimus to destroy her, not once, but twice. She then realizes that the Predacon who infected her Core for so long was gone. She looks around at the Autobots, understanding now why she had been brought to them in this time. Remembering the words told to her by the Dynasty of Primes, she finally addresses them directly.
"By the grace of the Dynasty, I am to be known as Empyrea Prime, the first Maximal. Your descendants will rise from the ashes of this war to thrive on Cybertron once again in a new race, blending the mechanical forms you know with the organic components you never had before. As the blended Children of Cybertron, we will finally be whole." Now standing a third his height, she settles on Optimus Prime's shoulder, looking rather like a strange raptor perched there with her wings draped around his shoulders.
Smiling softly, the Autobot commander nods and finally turns to his friends. "Autobots, let's go home." With that Optimus Prime transforms and the red and blue flame-streaked big rig rumbles down the road with a silver and black cyber gryphon soaring above him and a caravan of two trucks, a yellow off road style ambulance, and five cars following behind.
Transformers Fan Fiction
Windshear/Empyrea Prime Copyright Leathurkatt
All other characters belong to Hasbro