I am back! How is everyone? Good? I hope so. How was your Christmas? New Years? Mine was good. got a tone of stuff for the new apartment and though I had to work New Years, nothing to bad happened. So all in all a good and and beginning of the year. But enough of the small talk right? You all are probably biting at the bit for me to just get on with it. So I will be kind and stop rambling. Here it is, Ladies and Gentlemen, the first chapter of the second book of the Skylight Trilogy! dun Dun DUN! Chapter 1 of 'Beyond the Dark Horizon!'
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but the plot and Katie.
It was the middle of the night, yet here he was, standing in front of a large reflective surface in the scrap yard's farthest end, an attempt at not alerting the others. Optimus stood quietly as the metallic surface in front of him reflected a form he had come to know all to well.
"Micronius." He said, as loudly as he dared.
"Optimus." The small Prime responded with a dip of his helm.
"Why is it that you have called to me? Is Megatronus once more returning? Did we not take care of him?" He had been worried about that, though he tried not to let the others know his inner thoughts.
"While we do fear that he is still alive, it is another equally troubling situation that has spurned us once more to action." The ancient Prime turned his optics to the ground. "I fear that we made a mistake long ago. One that was and is being paid for by another." He was silent for a moment before looking up and continuing, guilt shining clearly in is optics. "After we first were created we faced the Unmaker. Our brother, Megatronus, as you well know, betrayed us and sided with our enemy. We cast him into a black hole, thinking it would kill him, and stopped the Unmaker from unleashing his destructive goals. After such, Primus created Cybertron and filled it with life. He charged me and my siblings to lead our people, but eventually we began to grow restless. We longed to explore. To go to the places many of out new brothers were discovering. Unfortunately, we could not. We asked Primus for a 'gift' of sorts, I suppose. A power that would see to Cybertron's care so that we could fulfill our sparks desires. We had expected him to grant us this power in some tangible way, but never did we expect him to grant us such power in such a vulnerable form. I see now that he was trying to speak to us, but we tuned him out, choosing instead to listen to our own voices before his. He created the power we had wished for, but had placed it in a small sparkling femme. The first Prime to be created after us thirteen; The Fourteenth Prime." Optimus could feel his optics widened. All of Cybertron knew the story of the Fourteenth Prime, the Great Betrayer. A Prime nearly as corrupt as the Fallen.
"Didn't the Fourteenth Prime betray all of Cybertron?" Optimus asked, feeling he already knew the answer. Micronus only shook his helm.
"No Optimus. It was all of Cybertron who betrayed her. The history you know is not the true account of what happened. It was perverted and altered so that the true betrayer would remain unknown. So that the crimes he committed would be placed on another. We, my other siblings and I, allowed this crime to occur. We were to blind, but we see now the truth as only those whose sparks have passed on can; clearly. We have learned that we were wrong. Mislead by one we had trusted. Once more a brother betrayed us, betrayed Primus, and we were to blind to see until it was nearly too late. Only this time, we were to late."
"I do not understand. How can history be so wrong?" This was not making much sense to Optimus at all.
"I know it is hard young Prime, but I beg you to listen. Deltus is not the enemy. Long ago, she was created by Primus to guard and control the power we asked for. The power, I believe, you know as the 'Allspark.'" The red and blue mech nearly had his engine stall out. The Allspark belonged to the Fourteenth Prime? "Yes, I know it is much to grasp, but it is true. Our younger sister was the one for whom the Allspark was created for. Actually it was a part of her spark. She could use the power at will. Granting life at her whim, but at a cost. As it was tied to her spark, if she used to much energy at once, it could potentially drain her spark and kill her. She seemed to know this and other limitations from the start, but once again, we were to blind to see. We had her use her powers to create for us great living ships, the Titans, but we had little regard for her well being. It wasn't until she passed out, on the verge of total spark failure that we realized that there was even any limitations to her abilities. It was then our greatest sin was conceived." Micronus looked toward the sky. "We spent countless orns devising a way to extract the power from her so that it could be used to its fullest potential, disregarding Primus' design entirely. In the end, it is by this method our little sister met her end."
Optimus stared at the reflection of the small Prime in front of him. The Primes had even thought of such a thing? He'd, as all of Cybertron had, been taught that the old Primes, the originals created by Primus himself, were without blame. That they led Cybertron to become a planet of exploration and saved Cybertron from the perils that tried to end it's existence.
"I know what you are thinking Optimus and I can tell you that when Cybertron needed us most, we were to far away to lend aid. We did not even know a treat had crept up on our home until it was far to late. The Quintessions had come and ravaged Cybertron. Then the Decepticons rose up under the leadership of Megatronus. We were not present for a moment of either war. We returned to Cybertron as the Decepticon War was ending. Deltus, little Deltus, she saved Cybertron. She created the Knights to battle the Quintessions and then fought the war against the Decepticons and the Fallen. She managed to drive the Quintessions back to their planet and brought home those they had taken. Then without rest, fought a battle that was not hers to fight. Megatronus was our demon to face, yet she bore that weight willingly, knowing we were to far away to care. She had fought for a planet she believed didn't want her. Fought each battle with little reguard for her own life, believing death was her only fate. A fault that lies on us." It was in that moment that Micronus actually looked as old as he was supposed to be. He seemed smaller somehow, his shoulder plates seemed to sag, and his lustrous paint job seemed to suddenly dull.
"Optimus, we convinced her that she was only created to protect the power within her until it had reached it full potential, then she was to die and release that power unto Cybertron. We convinced her that she had always been meant to die. This is our greatest sin. She was always meant to live. To lead Cybertron. To do as the Primes before you have done. We did not see that. We only saw what we wished and did as we wanted. Not know, or caring, that it extinguished a spark long before it merged with the Well. And it has cost her her chance to find peace."
"What do you mean Micronus?" Optimus asked, slowly beginning to understand just how little he truly knew of the past. He had once been a data clerk. He had once been able to access all of the records of Cybertron, but he had let himself overcome his curiosity and remain ignorant. Would he have learned any of what Micronus was telling him, had he just had the nerve to look?
"Deltus is bound to a place she calls the 'In Between.' An appropriate name indeed. The simplest definition is a realm between living and dead. A realm in which one can see both the Well and the Pit. It is here she resided alone, except for sparks who have recently died, but have yet to accept their fate. These sparks however, are only that sparks. They have no tangible form in the In Between. As far any of us can tell, she was the only one to have a physical form there. We do know why she was trapped there, though." Once more Micronus had spoken on things beyond his understanding. He had never heard of the In Between. He had died, but had gone to the Well, where the Original Primes found him and trained.
"Wait. You said you knew why she was trapped there. How?" He asked, letting his curiosity get the better of him. Micronus smiled sadly.
"She is trapped, Optimus, because there is a part of her spark that has never died. Unless this part is destroyed in its entirety, she will never know the peace of the Well. She is tied to the power that you call the 'Allspark'. So long as even a fragment of it exists in any of the multitude of dimensions where it can be found, she will never find true rest. A fate we sealed her to. A fate I fear can never be reversed. You have been taught to revere the Allspark. To protect it above all else, or Cybertron would never be able to heal itself. The fact of the matter is that the Allspark is not needed. So long as Primus exists so shall Cybertron. It from him that it heals. From him that our planet survives, not a small portion of his power given form and life." Micronus paused to let Optimus soak up the vast amount of knowledge that had just been dropped on him.
"Optimus." The recently resurrected Prime locked optics with Micronus. "I fear that the true Betrayer has found his way out of his prison. At first we believed him. At first what he said made sense. We had no reason to doubt him. He had stood by us in all our decisions. Yet, as more and more spoke out against him, against us and our choices, we found ourselves questioning things we should have a long time ago. By the time we finally made the right choice, listened to those mechs who knew Deltus the best, it was too late. Liege Maximo had already made his move. He killed one of my minicons, one I had personally made for Vector, but whom had chosen to partner with Deltus. Using the minicon's death he lured Deltus into a trap, where he used the very device we had built to steal from Deltus her power. We had originally believed that it would merely divide her spark in two and then extract her power into it, but our calculations had been very wrong. We arrived just in time to see it's use. It tore her spark apart violently, ripping it right out of her chest plating, a wound not even one of us Original Thirteen could have withstood. She died believing that we could not change. Believing that death was always what had been intended to her. We betrayed her trust and in the end our own narrow-mindedness killed her." He took in a shaky intake of air. "We can not ask for her forgiveness. We cannot change how things have come to happen. It is not our place, though trust me, we wish for nothing more then to right our wrongs. But as it would be, we are once more too late."
"Micronus you have shared with me much, but as usual you have told me nothing. You initially spoke of an equally troubling situation as to the rise of the Megatronus. What is it that you wish of me? And please do not speak in riddles or give me a history lesson this time." Optimus demanded, tired of being told information he had no use for. Information he did not fully understand.
"In order for you to aid in this situation Optimus, you needed to be aware of what really happened. In order for you to preform the task ahead of you, we needed you to understand what it was that you would be facing." Micronus answered somberly.
"And what exactly will I be facing?" Optimus once more asked.
"We are not entirely sure. But," Micronus said holding up a servo, silencing the impatient Prime. "We know the Fallen is still out there somewhere. We just cannot yet find him. We also know that Liege Maximo has escaped from his prison as well. This is equally as dangerous, as he is just as evil as Megatronus. Do not underestimate either of our brothers, Optimus. Both mech are exceedingly dangerous. Beyond deadly. One may serve Unicron, but the other only serves himself." Optimus listened quietly, hoping Micronus would soon make sense.
"We fragmented the power before he had the chance to absorb it into his own spark, sending the fragments to every dimension in which our people dwell. Deltus is the only one who can reclaim that power. The only one who can make it whole again. Liege has already found her. As far as we can tell she is safe for now, but Liege Maximo was able to turn nearly all those who knew her in the dimension she resided in against her. She was sent into another dimension, one where she is unknown, but as you already know, in name she is considered an enemy of Cybertron. If Liege finds her again, I fear that she will be unable to fend him off." He paused. "Primus originally sent her to live amongst the humans in a dimension as far away from our world, our people, our wars and trials, as she could be without cutting her off completely. He found a way to make her human, thus she may not know who she truly is nor why Liege is after her." Micronus added, looking Optimus in the optic.
"Optimus, your mission, the one we ask you now to take on, is to find Deltus Prime wherever she may be. Find her and protect her. If Liege were to find out that Megatronus was free, if he hasn't already, I fear that an alliance, however tenuous, may be made. If so, she will not be ready. It took an army standing beside and behind her to fend off one of them last time. Now, she stands alone, no army, and quite possibly not even a friend as far as we can tell. Please, Optimus. Find her. Do what we could not. Save her before she falls prey to the greed and ego of another once again."
Optimus stood in shock. Micronus' very long winded tale made sense now, as he said it would. Had Micronus asked him prior to telling him what he did, he would have said no. Now though, he felt he had no choice. Deltus was a victim. A victim who was unaware of the danger that followed her. His spark ached at the injustice. All of Cybertron had been lied to for eons about its truest hero. A hero that had spent just as long paying for crimes committed by others, her name slandered and cursed. He knew he would take on this task. No one should hold the fate of the world on their shoulder plates alone, and from the sounds of it, Deltus had the fate of multiple universes resting on hers.
"I will do it Micronus, but not for you or any of the other Primes. I will do it for her." Optimus declared. Micronus smiled at him, gratitude shining in his optics.
"I had hopped you would. She needs mechs on her side." Optimus nodded as a thought struck him.
"If she is in another dimension beyond this one, how am I to reach her?" Micronus gave him a small smile.
"For that, you have a Decepticon to thank. He has unknowingly weakened the boundaries between the dimensions. Perhaps this is why the Fallen and Liege were able to get free. We will never truly know. But to answer your question Optimus, you did not think we would not send you aid? We want you to succed where we could not. This is Pylon." A small ball of light shoot out of the sheet metal, zooming around Optimus before stopping right in front of him. The light took shape and soon enough a small mech, somewhere between the size of Fix-it, Jetstorm and Slipstream, was hovering before him.
"Pylon has a unique ability to create portals between dimensions where the veil, as Vector likes to call it, is weak. He has helped me get out of more then a few scrapes. He will aid you. And this," Another light light flew out of the metal sheet, this one didn't seem as interested in observing its surroundings. Instead the ball of light flew towards the hovering minicon and as the other had, he took form. "Is Aegis. He is Deltus' partner minicon. He would not let us leave him behind." The little mech, who also seemed to hover, turned and shook a fist at Micronus, a string of clicks and beeps leaving his vocalizer. Optimus watched in amazement as Micronus flinched and raised his servos.
"I can not apologize enough Aegis. I know this. But she will need all the friends she can get and we both know that other then the Knights of Cybertron who served under her, she will have none. And you also know that most, if not all, of those mechs have long sense died." Aegis didn't seemed pleased with that answer. He warbled back, one fist shaking, the other on his hip joint. Micronus didn't seem to have answer this time. There was a long moment of silence before Micronus spoke again.
"Aegis, I do not know if any survived, but there is always hope." Micronus looked back at Optimus. "I wish you the best of luck Optimus. I do not know how to guide you, but I will do what I can when I can." With a nod of his head Micronus faded from view.
Optimus stood staring at the large piece of metal wondering what in Primus' name he got himself into. Pylon tried to calm Aegis but all he got was a series of angry clicks. Pylon gave him a long pleading beep. Aegis huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, but relented.
"Optimus?" The large mech turned. Bumblebee stood, optics curious, not far from him. "Is something wrong?"
"It seems the Primes of old have a new task for me. One that is urgent and could affect far more then just Earth or Cybertron." Bumblebee's optics widened.
"Really?! What task?!" Optimus sighed.
"It will take some time to explain."
"I've got all night." Optimus smiled. Bumblebee had grown up so much in the time he had been away. It was then the two new minicons decided to make themselves known. "Uh, Optimus? Who are they?" The large mech sighed. It was going to be a long night.