I've been trying to expand the "Beast Saga" universe here and there, adding in elements of culture and politics - things that don't really have a huge bearing on the story itself, but help round out the characters and give some shape to varying motivations and behaviors.

No character or planet can exist in a void, so this is sort of a "deleted scene" that would have taken place during the point two-ish chapters ago when Cyberton and Earth had passed close enough in their distant, respective orbits to maintain a holonet communications link.

The important thing about this is that it is meant to establish some characteristics of both the Maximal Imperium and the human governments: they are made up of good people and bad people. They try to serve and protect those under their charge, but sometimes they do bad things. That doesn't make them villains, not in the traditional sense, but it can make alliances...complicated.


Roster:

Quaros- Oa representative

The Right Hon. Magnaboss- Maximal leader

General Cicadacon- Predacon representative

Peer Soriza- Nebulan representative

N'baro- Tachyon/Ultralink Refugee Assembly representative

President Override- Velocitron/Autobot representative

Ambassador Chase- male human representative (Western Hemisphere)

Ambassador Sumdac- female human representative (Eastern Hemisphere)

"The meeting will come to order."

Holograms, varying in size and quality, solidified around the circular projectors, meant to simulate a table. Tension crackled in the air like the static that arced from one projector to the next as the representatives of seven governments faced each other down. The speaker, a shriveled, blue-skinned creature with beady, glowing eyes, cleared his throat once more.

"Gentlemen - excuse me - Ladies and gentlemen, as the Unit E United Sector Initiative's designated representative of the Guardian Space, I cannot help but ask why there is a Predacon in our midst at this particular gathering."

"It is a valid question, Representative Quaros," answered a chimeric mech with an earth-shaking voice, "But the Tripredacus Council has disavowed the terrorist forces of Galvatron and the crimelord Megatron II, and have since sued for recognition as a separate nation. Representative Cicadacon is party to this discussion as a gesture of good faith."

The mech in question, a broad-shouldered warrior with a boxy, horned helm lit in an indiscriminate red light, bowed in what was obviously meant to be a genteel gesture. "Your indulgence is deeply appreciated, Unit Council, as is the kindness of the Honorable Magnaboss, as my people try to sort out our identity amidst an admittedly troubled origin."

This did not sit well with the three organic representatives.

"I see then that the Maximal Imperium is very reasonable when dealing with the secession of unconnected people-groups...when they are a related species." The representative from Nebulos crossed her arms and glared at the Cybertronians, but her words were directed more to the Terran ambassadors, who were more likely to sympathize with her.

"Please, Peer Soriza, this meeting is under the terms of a truce. Let's not drag border wars and the legality of varying colonizations into it just now." The hologram of Earth's male ambassador lifted a hand for a moment as if he wanted to comfort the obviously distressed humanoid, but dropped it again. When the other representatives had calmed somewhat, he spoke again.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the United Sectors council, if we could get back to the purpose of the assembly, there have been reports coming in from multiple sectors of unidentified and potentially harmful anomalies in the fabric of time and space. Can you help clarify these at all?"

Representative Quaros blinked slowly, wizened face contracting into a frown. "Forgive me, Representatives Chase and Sumdac, but I was under the impression that the human species were so advanced in their instincts of persistence and curiosity that of any of us, you would know the most." There was a hint of ice in the old voice, and his eyes narrowed.

"Hey now," a slightly nasal, metallic voice rose over the others as a very young representative waved one metal appendage. "No need to be nasty, old-timer." His single, bright eye flicked off in an approximation of a blink, then on again as he turned a slightly awed gaze to President Override.

"What's eatin' Grandpa over there?"

The representative of Velocitron - and the last known vehicular Autobots - hid a smile at the younger being's enthusiasm as she answered. "I know that this is also your first time at a council meeting, Representative N'baro, but please be polite. The Guardians and the Humans have not always been on the...best of terms."

"That's putting it mildly," Quaros sneered, "Considering that the last time the council met, the Americans declared war on Oa!"

"Cold war. Not open war. There's a difference," Representative Sumdac replied placatingly. "And they did warn you that the consequences of your trade embargo of our Cybertronian allies would be unpleasant."

"Not to interrupt," Cicadacon purred, and his hologram leaned forward with a self-satisfied smirk, "But I am very interested in these "anomalies" that the Earthling ambassadors mentioned. Are they dangerous?"

From her position just to Cicadacon's left, Override opened a data packet and moved the contents to a shared space on each projector, showing a list of statistics and observations.

"For the moment, no. At least, not in our space. The walls of reality are thinning, but the most the Velocitronians and Autobots are experiencing are visions and false memories. Disorienting, but hardly dangerous." She steepled her servos and glanced about. "What of your sector, Peer Soriza?"

"We've had two serious breaches, each about a meter across, on Nebulos's main moon," the dark haired woman reported. She added files of her own to the United Sectors database. "One collapsed into an unstable singularity that took a good portion of the dark side of the moon with it. The other was in flux for a while, but has settled into a holding pattern and discharges a deca-liter of an unknown colloid every two weeks. Our scientists are treating it as a biohazard until we have further information."

A visual was blown up onto the main feed of a multi-colored, pulsing goo of some kind in a containment field. The general consensus was that it was a thoroughly fascinating - yet disgusting - substance.

"Of yet, the Tripredacus council has had no dealings with any such anomalies or singularities," General Cicadacon interjected, "But we have had rumors that the renegade Galvatron - who we do not support - has been experimenting with a bio-weapon. I'm sure it has little to nothing to do with your time-space problems, but as a token of goodwill, I thought our resident human representatives ought to know, since he's holed up on their world."

"The Maximal Council has also received these reports," Magnaboss added calmly, "From Lio Convoy. He usually acts as the intermediary for the human governments and the Council, but he did not inform us as to whether he'd reported to you or not. As for the weak points in the fabric of reality, Maximal scientists have noticed an odd effect in historical artifacts, many of which are activating after centuries of dormancy, but we have had no breaches."

The Cybertronian, Nebulan, and Near-Cybertronian representatives looked expectantly at the remaining three factions. After a few seconds of silence, Representative Quaros spoke up.

"Our sector of space sees thin patches in the time-space fabric all the time. It's part of how many species get from planet to planet without the journey taking years. Might I remind this gathering," he added mildly, "That most species do not have the safety of the Space and Ground Bridge technologies that Cybertron refuses to share with any but their current trade partner?" He then clarified his statement by saying that if there were any unusual breaches or anomalies in his home quadrant of the universe, they weren't causing any more damage than anything else was. He then ceded the floor to the Terran ambassadors.

"I'm afraid we really haven't had time to look into the anomalies - though we have detected some pretty big ones on Earth within the last two months," Representative Sumdac admitted, "Lio Convoy did send our operatives a rather vague report on the breaches, and how they negatively affected one of his team members. Other than that, we haven't been able to get any scientists working on it."

Her counterpart nodded in grim agreement. "It's...been an interesting year."

Peer Soriza raised her hand and was subsequently recognized as having the floor, then directed a question at the humans. "I apologize if this seems rude, but I truly am curious: if you are aware that Galvatron is on your planet, and have a team of Maximals there to help bring him down, why don't the human governments work together and end the threat once and for all so that more focus can be put on the anomalies?"

Representative Chase shook his head, blurring his hologram slightly. "International tensions aside, we are also dealing with two other foreign incursions at the moment."

A map was projected over the database in the center, highlighting countries and showing multiple orange and red markers.

"In the western hemisphere, we've got the onset of an invasion from Makino - the counter to which is being aided by Representative N'baro here, and Unit E's sister organization, N-Tek." Chase made a vague gesture to half the map. "Meanwhile, we've got a full-scale, deeply entrenched conflict in the northeastern hemisphere with the Colonists, who have infiltrated fairly high into the chain of command of a lot of governments. Until we know how many leaks we have, it's best to assume that the humans won't be able to aid any United Sectors affairs for a while."

The word "Colonists" met with a resounding and collected groan of disgust. "Filthy organic hive-minds!" General Cicadacon growled, and made a gesture as if wiping dirt from his armor.

President Override made a sound of agreement. "They are known to the Intergalactic Justice Division as being guilty of almost as many crimes as the Decepticons and the Oncoming Storm."

Representative Quaros turned a sympathetic eye on Sumdac and Chase. "You have the condolences of Oa. They are a remarkably resilient pestilence to deal with - though not impossible to eradicate. They tried for Oa once, long ago. You'll note, of course, that I say "tried". We drove them off quickly." The words were meant to be encouraging, but they still carried the taste of a backhanded compliment.

"Representatives Chase and Sumdac, why did your governments not ask Cybertron for assistance? Our anatomy renders us immune to the effects of Black Oil and hybridization attempts, which is why the Colonists leave us alone. You could have come to us." Magnaboss looked troubled, for he had always carried a deep regard for humanity, though he could not always remember why.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, your honor." Peer Soriza's voice was temporarily distorted by a particle storm in Nebulos space before clearing up again. "Article IV.C.2a of the Anthropoid Statute forbids contact between Earthlings and Cybertronians, remember? This is the only time they can directly speak to you."

"Representative Soriza, I hardly think this is the time to bring up the-" Override was interrupted as Magnaboss held up a hand the size of her helm.

"No, Peer Soriza is quite right. The Anthropoid Statute is a black mark on the names of all who claim to be followers of the Autobot way, of Optimus Prime's way. It is, unfortunately, rather deeply rooted into the Cybertronian legal system, but over the past vorn I - and several members of the Council of Elders who agree with me - have been steadily working to have it repealed. Our hope is to have it rendered null and void within the next fourteen Earth-years."

"So soon? That's quite progressive of you, Magnaboss." Override dipped her helm and smiled. "I believe the Autobot refugees on Velocitron would thoroughly approve."

Representative Quaros cleared his throat with a squeaky little "a-hem!" to gather the attention of the council. "I take it then that we've reached the point of the meeting in which the United Sectors takes a vote as to which threat Unit E pursues?"

"You're gonna want to vote for the Makino thing. Trust me." N'baro piped up. He drooped a little when no one paid him any heed.

"All those in favor of taking up arms against the Colonists and driving them out of Earth completely?"

Four of eight hands were raised.

"All those in favor of ending the Ultralink threat before they are ready for full-scale war?"

Only two hands were raised this time.

"All those in favor of further investigating the unknown substance leaking from reality breaches across the universe?"

All eight hands were raised, albeit some rather reluctantly.

"Then it's decided." Representative Chase closed his extra data feeds decisively. "We'll leave the Ultralink threat to N-Tek and the Colonists to a specialized task-force we'll put together. All other brainpower will be set to working out where the breaches are coming from."

"Right," said Peer Soriza, "And all data discovered should be channeled to the shared Unit E data hub on the moon of Titan." The others quickly agreed, and whatever data was already known was soon uploaded.

To Cicadacon's disappointment, he was not given access to the database as the Predacons were not officially recognized as a separate nation yet. This would put plans on hold for a little while, but then again, Cicadacon was very patient - sometimes to the point where lesser Predacons accused him of going Maximal - and he could wait until he had gained some trust.

"Very well then," the Predacon said, "This has been a most informative experience. I can only hope that the legal status of the Predacons is verified soon: I look forward to working with you all more - particularly if these anomalies in time and space should make their way to Tripredacus territory."

"You are, at least, close enough to Cybertron for aid," President Override's complaint was couched in a tone of good humor. "If we experience any breaches on Velocitron, the best we can do is shut down the quantum generators and pray we can avoid any Gallifreyan entanglements."

One by one, the holograms of the representatives flickered off until only Magnaboss and Representative Sumdac remained.

"I take it your cover story is holding?" the woman asked.

"Indeed. The majority of the Maximal High Command believes we have been out of contact with the human species since the days of Optimus Prime. They remain unaware of our continued alliance."

"Good." Sumdac stood, though her hologram did not change in size. "And I'm glad you're trying to take down that Anthropoid Statute thing as well. A fair amount of the human governments - particularly some of the ones in the West - were considering withdrawing their support of the trade partnership if your planet continued to legalize discrimination against humanoid organics. This ought to calm things down at the next United Nations conference a little."

The two holograms "shook hands", a purely symbolic gesture as they were galaxies away and not using holomatter technology.

"Please, thank your leaders for their support," Magnaboss answered. "And if I may say so, I was approached in secret recently by a Maximal - who wishes to remain anonymous - who had been doing some unauthorized research on your planet. She believes there is a way to safely dispose of the nuclear radiation that seems to be so harmful to humans."

Sumdac listened intently, well aware that even hearing this much information about the more covert workings of the Maximal government was a sign of deep trust.

"The vitreous-positive spark type, shared by some ten percent of Cybertronians and Near-Cybertronians, naturally manufactures fewer alpha particles than other spark types. It is possible that - when the Galvatron debacle has been settled - the scientific community could send a few vitreous-positives to break down the radiation into its individual components and process the harmful ones into energon." Magnaboss paused. "Of course, none of this would be without the consent of the ruling bodies of the affected areas." He knew there would be a good deal of debating and diplomacy to wade through before anything of the sort took place. The humans of planet Earth were not quick to trust, and he knew that many of them had become suspicious of Cybertron after the Great Upgrade and the subsequent colonization of Nebulos in the early days of the Maximal Council.

Magnaboss was encouraged by Representative Sumdac's enthusiastic reception of the idea, though his mood dimmed somewhat when she brought up General Cicadacon.

"I'm sure that he does want the Predacons to be recognized as a separate people-group," she said, "but how much can we actually trust him?"

The huge mech snorted. "Offhand, I'd say I trusted him about as far as Representative N'baro can throw him."

"That's what I thought."

The two promised to keep an eye on Predacon activity in their respective corners of the universe before respectfully bidding each other farewell and signing off.

Neither one noticed an extra, eighth projector up near the ceiling that had been recording every word. With a soft click, it shut off. The fourth triciesennial United Sectors meeting had ended.