Chapter 7

The planet Paradron

It had only been a few days since the invasion.

The entire population was now in slavery.

The complex that had once been the government-building had become the headquarters of the occupation force.

It was the place where Starscream, the new lord of Paradron, was residing.

At the moment he was sitting inside a improvised throne-room next to his new ally and confidant Slipstream and they were over-viewing the situation.

It was only a few weeks ago that he was nothing, he realized, less than even a renegade, only a bodiless spark lost in the void.

Now he was the leader of the Decepticon army and master over an empire. Two populated planets, outposts on a half dozen others, and the means to conquer hundreds more, all that was his.

After all these years, he finally was in the position he should have been from the beginning.

"The work is making progress as planned," Slipstream informed him. "The slaves are under control and no resistance is showing.

If everything continues without disturbances, the weapons I have promised you will be ready in less than 20 cycles."

"Good, very good," he told her.

"There is still the matter of the group of natives who have escaped the planet," she reminded him.

This, however, left a sour taste for Starscream.

He would have liked to think that the refugees were absolutely no threat, but he knew that in the other reality like this one, they had actually made it to Cybertron, which ultimately led to the loss of Paradron for the Decepticons.

Was there a chance that history would repeat itself?

"If this group manages to reach the other Autobots, it could cause problems for us," he stated.

"We are still interrogating the personnel of the space port they started from."

From the way she said the word "interrogating", it was clear that she meant torturing them. Cute, he thought, only a few days back she wouldn´t have the sense to use euphemisms due to her alien heritage.

"However, you will soon have a power under your control that will allow you to stop any attack," she continued. "We could even destroy this planet ourselves and it would not make any difference. You could just conquer a dozen others."

"No," he replied, "this planet is mine. I won´t loose a core piece of my new empire. You will give me these weapons and then I will crush every possible Autobot attack."

"If you say so."

"Believe me, I will win this war soon once and for all."

"As long as you fulfill your part of our alliance. Remember, when the Autobots are dealt with, your new technology will help us to defeat the other side."

Starscream saw that with every day she was acting more like a real Decepticon instead of an alien intelligence inside a Cybertronian body.

Good, that probably meant that she would be easier to get along with.

So this was the beginning of his new empire.

For a moment his mind drifted to the Autobots and Decepticons of his own world. He knew they were still there.

The Autobots allied with the humans, defending their world, even seeing that pathetic organic planet as some sort of second home, now surely living in the peace that they had yearned for so long and the Decepticons still out there somewhere in the universe, probably ruling entire worlds, without him, far out of his reach.

With him being scorned and despised by both sides.

They thought he was defeated forever, they thought he was nothing, only a spark drifting through the nothingness for all eternity.

Galvatron, Optimus and Rodimus Prime, Cyclonus, Ultra Magnus, Soundwave, Scourge, that blasted human Spike Witwicky, even Optimus Primal and Megatron Two and their insignificant bunch; he could not even say how much he hated them all.

He wished nothing more than that he could reach out and destroy them. But he knew it was in vain.

Their counterparts would suffer in their place.

He had already dealt with the Megatron of this world and he thought he had gotten rid of Optimus Prime, Skywarp and Thundercracker. The last two without them getting turned into their new incarnations.

But as it turned out, Optimus had survived Megatron´s shooting in this reality and somehow Cyclonus and Scourge had appeared.

Slipstream had suggested that maybe the Vok from the other side had found the five robots they had abandoned and turned them into their new forms.

If that was true, they were already active here and working against them. It didn´t matter, soon he would be invincible.

He laid back and let himself drift into thoughts of his enemies dieing horrible, painful deaths.

xxxxxxx

Cybertron, sector Polyphex - Decepticon Headquarters

At the same time in his office in the Decepticon HQ, the governor of Cybertron, Shockwave, was in a conversation with an special guest.

"The information you have given me has proven to be correct, Scourge," he addressed him.

"As I assured you," the robot replied.

"It however doesn´t confirm your identity," he reminded him.

This Decepticon, Scourge, arrived on Cybertron a few days ago. Nobody knew him or had ever met him before. While he claimed to be a recreated version of Thundercracker, there was, of course, no proof for it.

The news he brought, however, was far more disturbing. Scourge gave them evidence that the new Decepticon leader, Starscream, had been taken over by a alien presence and that this being was also responsible for Megatron´s death.

That, however, was only one more reason for Shockwave to hasten up his plans.

Such an impostor could not be allowed to continue to lead the Decepticons. But the truth was that he had begun to prepare a take-over attempt.

Even if he had been who he claimed to be (and that was, in this case, already not too promising from the beginning), their new leader had made a line of dangerous mistakes and had to be removed.

It was for the best of the Decepticons, logic dictated so.

Scourge and his group, on the other hand, could be a valuable addition to their cause.

He would see how the relationship with them would turn out.

"Alone, the information I gave you should be proof about my identity," Scourge claimed.

"It is true that you have very intimate knowledge about the inner workings of the Decepticon army and about Thundercracker´s personal history. That means that you are either one of our officers or someone who has access to very good spy work," Shockwave said.

"But…," Scourge started to reply.

"I accept your offer to join us, for now," the Decepticon governor informed him. "Tell this to your group when you contact them."

"As you wish, Shockwave," he responded.

xxxxxxx

Planet Paradron

The female Transformer named Slipstream, who was actually a Vok intelligence in a new body, watched silently as a line of electrical shocks were sent through the body of the helpless robot. She followed every movement and every scream with great interest.

This physical existence had in the beginning only been a way to further her own goal and to keep an eye on their ally Starscream.

But she had to admit she had also been curious about the experience and very quickly she came to really appreciate it.

It was fascinating to see what kind of agony the creature was going through at her command.

In her old formless existence, she was responsible for many deaths. She made and supported decisions that meant life or doom of entire worlds, but never like this, never this close and in person.

Finally, the device shot one last, extremely high load of electricity through the Autobot´s body and he lost consciousness.

She finally came to the conclusion that the prisoners actually had no further knowledge about the whereabouts of the refugees.

"Kill them," she ordered the clones.

xxxxxxx

Cybertron

Scourge was standing on top of one of the buildings of the skyline of Polyphex

"Cyclonus," he spoke into his comm.-system, "Shockwave has agreed to our offer. He seems to believe us."

"Okay Scourge, we will return to Cybertron and reunite with the regular Decepticon forces. We will meet you in 1.2 cycles."

"Understood, Cyclonus."

xxxxxxx

Autobot City, Earth

"So you five are what, exactly?" Carly questioned the group of strange visitors.

"You could say travelers in time and space," the being in Springer´s body told her. "Where we came from, we are descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons you know."

"In short we are Maximals," Rattrap commented. "Only she´s a Pred." He pointed at `Arcee´, who only frowned.

"We are here to stop a certain enemy," he informed her.

"Yeah, Starscream," Cheetor muttered.

"Starscream?" she asked.

"He´s not who you think," he replied.

"That is all very interesting." They heard a voice and Mirage was appearing next to them. "It is good to know that you are not a threat to us, but Optimus Prime would still like to talk to you," the Autobot said.

A second later, the door opened and Ultra Magnus stepped inside, followed by the Protectobots.

xxxxxxx

Somewhere in an unknown universe, 2 million years in the past

It was a dimension where the conflicts between the Autobots and the Decepticons never played a role on the cosmic scale.

Here, on a small organic world, another war was taking place.

For the last two generations, this planet had been separated into rivaling political blocks.

And for the longest time, this competition between the different factions played out with relatively little actual violence.

This planet had been in the state that on Earth was known as the Cold War.

That, however, changed around one local year earlier. It was at that time that a group of visitors arrived on their world.

These strangers were the first aliens who had ever contacted their species.

They claimed to be refugees from a very old civilization that didn´t exist anymore due to a cosmic disaster.

The aliens were a form of intelligence that they had never seen before. Instead of creatures of flesh and blood like themselves or even mechanical life-forms, they were living energy, without bodies or permanent forms.

What they didn´t know was that these beings were not only not from the planet they claimed to be theirs, they were not even from their universe, and that a great part of what they had been telling them were lies and that their motives were all but benevolent.

The visitors offered them new technologies, weapons and the chance to explore space. In exchange they asked for little, very little, only a share of the material that they were helping to create for their own benefit. It was a alliance nobody would have refused.

But soon it became clear that the relationship the aliens were developing involved only one of the four main powers. This happened to be the most ambitious one and most determined to dominate the others.

Over the course of several months, the visitors supplied them with weapons, technology and secretly, new ideas.

The outcome was unavoidable. For a time the other states who had been left out tried to clear up the "misunderstanding" with the visitors, but of course it was in vain.

After six months, war broke out. It was the attempt of the one super power that the aliens were supporting to achieve global rule.

By the point when they found out how they had all been manipulated, it was far too late.

In the beginning, the aggressors had the upper hand over their opponents and were on the brink of subduing them, but after some time, the other states formed an alliance and managed to fight back.

The nuclear weapons that their world had possessed before were quickly replaced by far more advanced anti-matter projectiles that left no fall-out, but were able to cause even greater destruction.

Another thing that barely anybody was aware of was the fact that the allied nations were suddenly able to defend themselves against the attackers was no coincidence. Shortly after the outbreak of the fighting, another group of visitors showed up and offered them help.

In its final phase, the war devastated the planet and cost the lives of nearly a quarter of their population, all that in only a half year. By that time, the tide had completely turned against the ones who had originally started it.

The capital city of the nation who had started the war was surrounded by the armies of their enemies and under siege both from ground and air.

In the middle of this area, in their military headquarters, were also residing both their own leadership and their invisible ally, a group of three Vok presences that were supporting them with technology and advice.

Out of a mixture of desperation and fanaticism, their leaders had agreed to the creation of one last weapon in addition to the already large stockpile that they were already holding in secret bunkers all over the town. This one was promised by their partners to be able to cause a destruction like never seen before.

But they would never have the chance to use it.

Their enemies had started to storm the city and their defenses were being over-run.

During all this, the three Vok renegades were discussing if they should get involved themselves or if they should just abandon the planet and start again somewhere else.

But like the organic beings they had been using as their tools, they would never have the chance to make their move because it was too late.

A large ship, one like this world had never seen before, materialized right over the headquarters.

A moment later, a device was activated and aimed directly at the building. It was one of the major weapons to be used during the civil war of the Vok, a special kind of energy radiation, especially designed to target the life essences of their own kind and destroy them.

Before they knew what hit them, the three Vok were wiped out from existence and a short time later the leaders of the single nation realized in panic that the voice of their allies had been silenced forever.

But for all of them it was already too late. In the moment it became clear that the war was lost, a secret order was being given in one of the weapon factories.

Not wanting their resources to fall into the hands of their opponents, the Vok renegades had secretly programmed the computer that was controlling the production to self destruct should the inner defenses of the capital be broken.

A giant explosion covered the area, leveling the entire city and erasing nearly all traces of the presence of the visitors.

This was the story of one of the worlds that became involved in the Vok civil war. It was one of the most prominent and also the one with the most tragic results.

The planet was scarred for centuries and never completely recovered. The following generations returned to a more primitive lifestyle and banned all higher technologies. This continued until the decline of their civilization 1,200 years later.

xxxxxxx

In another time, dimensions away, a creature named Slipstream was being informed about the disastrous results of the battle.