War as Old as Time Itself
Summary:Three months after The Battle For Earth, a mysterious mech abducts Optimus Prime from Cybertron and so his friends find themselves needing help to find him. A strange group departs their planet for the journey, while Optimus slowly mends gaps between his own people and the gaps with their greatest enemy.
Previously...
The white cyber ninja he remembers seeing on Earth suddenly looked very concerned about something. Megatron watched in fascination as the alarm grew and found the poor bot's useless attempts at getting his superiors' attention rather hilarious.
And then there was shouting outside the chambers doors and it stopped all talking in the Council when it burst open, revealing the commotion.
Had he been a lesser mech, he would have writhed under the stare of those incredibly blue optics.
As it was, his spark jumped in joy and his interface panel suddenly got very tight at the sight of such anger on those pretty faceplates of his little Prime.
Optimus looked positively livid.
Now...
When his somewhat mentor had left him in the vacant Archives, Optimus had all but dived into all those uncensored datapads and started reading. The further he got, the more he was disgusted by the leaders of Megatron's time and all the things they did... Let's just say, Optimus Prime was the angriest he has ever been in his function.
By the time he finished reading about what happened to Galvatron, a warframe who used to hold the title of Lord High Protector during the war with Quintessons but was later executed for the 'crimes' of trying to threaten the Council and place himself as ruler of Cybertron, he realized that he had not left his position for days and his chronometer informed him that the Warlord's trail has already begun.
He simply got up and was about to storm the Council and give them a piece of his mind, had it not been for a concerned Roller, who managed to make him stop long enough to consume the energon cube the Minicon had brought him. And so with a full tank and his little companion struggling to keep up with him, Optimus transformed and rolled out.
He couldn't explain this rage, this indignation he felt for what was done to the Decepticons. For all that they are cruel and manipulative, they were still sentient beings! Cybertronian people! Their brethren, if not by frame, then by spark and species!They were all created by Primus, for spark's sake!
No, this anger he could not explain, but it was his and it wasn't. But it didn't matter. The Council of the old has mistreated the Decepticons once and it has resulted in the Great War. Now, they were looking to do so again, by either leaving them leaderless or by pitting their beloved leader against them. And if Alpha Trion was to be believed, as he should - the mech probably saw more of Cybertron's history than anyone or anything else- then the Decepticons will do the one thing no one would even consider just to get back at the Autobots, and they really didn't need the squids on their proverbial doorsteps.
It was for this reason that Optimus Prime stalked through the Primal Basilica and straight past the startled guards, into the Council chambers, where he saw Megatron for the first time since his return to Cybertron.
His rage only warlord hadn't been treated since their arrival back to their home world. It made sense, it was only logical that they not return their greatest enemy to his prime condition, but basic repairs should have been made.
Instead, all Optimus could see was the hasty medical treatment Ratchet had provided back on Earth, right after their battle. It made Optimus sick, the sight of such injuries so long untreated. He was probably in a lot of pain, but he had to give the Decepticon credit. Megatron showed no pain or discomfort, either on his faceplates or in his field, but the way his optics glowed dimmer, anyone with basic first aid knowledge would know that he was in agony. Optimus was horrified when it occurred to him that it could be because the mech was not fueled enough.
The hot rage turned cold. It must have showed on his face because the guards flinched back a few steps and, across the room, Jazz squirmed.
Megatron looked impressed and approving.
Ultrat Magnus cleared his throat. "What is your purpose here, Optimus Prime? What reasons do you have to not only interrupt this important session, but to enter with so little respect?"
The red and blue Prime straightened his backstruts. "Respect should be earned, not demanded. Sir." It was added as an afterthought, startling those who knew him as a Cadet in the Academy and making Megatron and Alpha Trion extremely proud and pleased. "As for why I'm here, it's because I don't believe Cybertron can survive the repeating of this particular mistake again."
"And what mistake
would that be?" Alpha Trion decided to be Unicron's advocate and threw fuel to the already raging fire he could see in the young Prime's optics. Megatron turned sharply to look at him suspiciously, but the old mech only had optics for Optimus. "The re-installation of the slave coding." Gasps were heard throughout the Council, but it was then all drowned out by Megatron's furious snarl.
"If you so much as look at that coding, I will personally see to it that not just the Autobots, but Cybertron itself is destroyed!" It was incredible, how Megatron could go from uninterested to ferocious in nanoseconds. ''I do not care if I have to detonate this planet, I will not allow the Decepticons to be used as slaves!''
''And they won't be.'' Optimus said with a scary surety. Alpha Trion grew excited. ''I won't allow it.'' It couldn't be, right? A lot more was needed, the kind of more that he regrets ever allowing the Magnuses to set their grubby little servos on, despite it being necessary at the time. ''I won't let any Cybertronian become like our own oppressors had been. We are better than that.'' The little Prime looked every mech in the eye as he said this. ''We are better than them.''
There were murmurs among the Councilmech anew. Megatron was shocked that only a few mechs seemed to know of whom the little Prime was talking about. Could they all be so young? He looked at Ultra Magnus, who looked resigned and proud both even if reluctantly, then at Alpha Trion. The older mech seemed both elated and disappointed, happy and sad. How odd.
''And what does a maintenance bot know of politics and justice, old buddy?'' Came the insulting remark that quickly whipped off any affection from Alpha Trion's faceplates and instead replaced them with a scowl.
If the red and blue Autobot had fangs, he would have completely bared them in his grin. ''Only as much as the Archives know about them.'' A blue hand reached into subspace and came out with a stack of old, old datapads. He took the one on top and gave the rest to a little Minicon who had rolled in after him. And wasn't that a strange sight. Minicons were completely neutral. Yet here was this orange and white Minicon, looking up at the little Prime with almost impossible affection in his little yellow optics as he took the datapads, even if it should have been rather difficult to show emotions with no true faceplates to speak of. He was round around the edges, almost too round, but there were obvious limbs. His legs were a bit longer, indicating he had a similar altmode to Optimus's own, if only the miniature, Cybertronian version. He had a strange crest on his forehead. A truly odd little fellow.
''You see,'' Optimus's voice snapped everyone out of their staring at Roller and they turned to him. ''The last time someone tried enslaving Cybertronians, any Cybertronian, they were nearly completely neutralized. A brave warframe went deep into Quintesson space and blew up two thirds of their population, thus not surviving himself, just so we can our freedom now. He went on his own, wanting to save his people, meaning not just Decepticons, but Autobots too. There were no factions back then, only Cybertronians, different in built,'' At this, he looked from the Council, to Sentinel (glared more likely), to Alpha Trion and Ultra Magnus (determination), to Megatron, where his gaze stayed. ''But still the same in spark. Our programming might be either for building or for war, but our sparks are all created by Primus and come from the Allspark. If we enslave the warframes, we should enslave our fellow Autobots as well.''
Murmurs of disagreement here.
''We are better than the Quintessons, and we should start showing it by disregarding anything they would consider acceptable, starting with the slave coding itself!''
Alpha Trion beamed with pride, and Ultra Magnus resigned himself that he was feeling it as well. The Councilmech, or a good part of them, rose from their seats and applauded Cybertron's young hero, making Optimus flush. Megatron allowed his spark to flutter this time and his EM field extended to Optimus, allowing the bot to feel his gratitude. Jazz cheered in the background while Sentinel scowled.
''It is decided then,'' Ultra Magnus spoke, hitting the hilt of his Hammer against the tails a few times to quiet everyone down. ''The trail will commence tomorrow at noon. Dismissed.''
Optimus smiled and saluted at the Council chamber, many of them saluting him back. And with that, the little Prime and his even smaller companion left the Primal Basilica, never noticing a pair of impressed red optics, nor the convinced and determined pair of air force blue optics.
That recharge cycle, a smoke bomb was dropped into an apartment and a figure dropped from the vents. Roller tried waking up his companion, but it was useless as the Minicon himself was getting tired and falling into an emergency stasis. The gray and brown frame looked at the two bots in front of him and made a quick decision, taking them both. He made quick work of getting out of the great city of Iacon, boarding his ship and taking off world, warping when he was well out of Cybertron's atmosphere, knowing he had very little time.
The red and blue bot was well loved and he was losing time with every klik. The kid needed to be briefed on the mission he was about to get and the responsibility he was saddling him with. There was no doubt in his processor that he had chosen the right mech.
Primal Major just hoped Optimus Prime was strong enough.