Chapter 11: The New Breed
Unicron
Earth date 13.07.2005
Flames crackled, dark energy surged, the hiss of metal filled the vast emptiness of the chamber.
The wreckage of dead Decepticons littered the ground around the huge forge, formerly proud warriors reduced to mere scrap. From somewhere within the vast wall a tractor beam flashed, carefully sifting through the wreckage, sorting out pieces of an individual Transformer.
At one time he had been the Decepticon named Skywarp. A fearless, if intellectually limited warrior who enjoyed the heat of combat and found fulfilment in following the crusade of his leader Megatron. His existence had ended, though, when his body had been perforated by laser fire in the skies above Autobot City. Oh, he had survived the actual battle, but shortly afterwards he had expired, his body surrendered to the vastness of space, his Spark snuffed by lack of energy.
His shell remained, though. And within its data banks there was the sum total of his memories, his experience, his skills, his very personality. Everything expect his life force remained. And to the dark god Unicron, that was quite enough to provide excellent raw materials.
Skywarp's remains were dropped into the forge and melted down. In liquid flame they were refined and put together again. Only a short time later a new form emerged, a new warrior created in the fires of Unicron. His looks had changed considerably. Gone were the black and deep purple, replaced by blue and light grey. His body was sleeker now, yet with a sense of power he could not have matched in his earlier existence. Bat-like wings spread out behind him, making him appear like a demon out of human myth. His face was shaped along sinister lines as well, deep red optics gleaming.
"SCOURGE, THE HUNTSMAN," Unicron announced. "HE WILL FIND MY ENEMIES, NO MATTER WHERE THEY HIDE, AND HUNT THEM DOWN TO EXTINCTION."
Scourge bowed before his master as the tractor beam flashed again, selecting more pieces from the pile of Decepticon wreckage.
Autobot City, Oregon, Earth
Earth date 13.07.2005
The sun had just crested over the horizon and Ultra Magnus looked over the assembled Autobots. He felt a sharp pain in his Spark. Many faces were missing. The last battle had dealt them a terrible blow and the fact that the Decepticons had suffered as many losses was of little consolation. He saw it in the optics of the troops. His troops. He was leader now. It would take some time until he got used to this.
Taking a moment to lock eyes with Grimlock, Blaster, and Skyfire, the highest-ranking Autobots to survive the battle, he prepared to address his people.
"Autobots, this last day has been a dark one for us. Many of our comrades were lost. Their memories will stay with us, even though their Sparks are gone from this plane."
He paused for a moment, allowing everyone present to remember those who had fallen in battle. Ironhide, Prowl, Ratchet, Brawn, Wheeljack, Windcharger, Huffer, so many others. And Optimus Prime. His loss weighed on Magnus' mind the heaviest.
"Our friends have given their all and we must not squander their sacrifice. At this very moment the Decepticons are in disarray. Their losses have been as heavy as ours. Their leader is gone as well. And if I know the Decepticons, the selection of a new one will not be a smooth process."
That managed to draw the barest of smiles from some of the Autobots in the audience.
"We are all tired. Some of us have yet to recover from the wounds suffered in the last battle. But we will never have a better chance to win back our home world than we have right now. As we speak our comrades on Cybertron's moons are already on Cybertron's surface, fighting to gain a foothold in Iacon and drive the Decepticons off our world. They have made great progress thanks to the absence of most of the Decepticons' elite.
"They still need our help, though. Energon shipments are assembled as we speak. We have enough functional shuttles to move our available troops. The EDC is prepared to aid us."
He paused again, looking at the assembled humans standing on the platform next to him. They had proven their worth in the last battle and would no doubt do so again in the battle to come. The humans had never asked to be involved in this war, but were prepared to fight in it to keep their world safe from the Decepticons.
Spike Witwicky was standing next to Marissa Fairborne, a grim look on his face. Spike served more in an ambassadorial role in the EDC than an actual combat one, but the former boy mascot of the Autobots was a trained pilot and all the hounds of hell couldn't have kept him out of this fight.
"It will be a risky mission," Magnus continued, "but one I believe has a very good chance of accomplishing what we've tried to do for so long."
He looked at every single Autobot present. There was sadness, yes. Tiredness, yes. Even pain in some of those not yet properly repaired. But what he also saw in every single optic was determination.
"Prepare yourself for battle, Autobots. Man your shuttles. We will launch in one hour to take back our home world."
Unicron
Earth date 13.07.2005
Flames crackled, dark energy surged, the hiss of metal filled the vast emptiness of the chamber.
The tractor beam selected the shattered remains of three Insecticons from the pile of dead Transformers. Like Skywarp they, too, were no longer alive and, Unicron noticed, two of them never had been in the first place. They were clones, created from the Insecticons' unique ability to replicate themselves if given enough raw materials. Only the one known as Shrapnel was the real thing. Still, the two clones would still have their uses as raw material to enhance this new warrior.
Using Shrapnel as the core of the new creature to be born in this forge, a towering figure was created, the remains of the clones were merged into him. Stepping out of the flames it dwarfed Scourge, a blue and purple behemoth with giant claws for hands and gun turrets adorning its chest. Its optics also gleamed a deep red.
"TEMPEST, THE ARMADA," Unicron announced. "HE IS BRUTE FORCE PERSONIFIED AND WILL OVERRUN ANY OPPOSITION THAT DARES STAND IN MY WAY."
Tempest growled deep in his metallic throat and knelt beside Scourge, still larger than the other Transformer had been when standing. Behind them the tractor beam flashed once more.
Darkmount Fortress, City of Polyhex, Cybertron
Earth date 13.07.2005
"Starscream!"
The Decepticon Air Commander and heir apparent to the Decepticon mantle of leadership turned around, a broad smile still on his lips. He was in the best mood of his long existence and nothing would spoil this day for him. Not the raging battle currently taking place in the ruins of Iacon, not the looming threat of a counterattack by the Earth-based Autobots, nothing. Certainly not the sight of an obviously enraged Shockwave storming toward him.
The military governor of Cybertron was a foe to be feared, he knew, but only in terms of potential combat strength. Personality-wise Shockwave was nothing to write home about. If he had any personal ambition at all, Megatron had made sure to completely erase it back in the day.
"I have been informed about what happened on the transport ship," Shockwave said, coming to a stop in front of Starscream. "I will have you executed for treason."
"Will you now?" Starscream asked, sounding decidedly unworried.
"You abandoned our leader, the mighty Megatron, to die in space. Extermination is too good for you."
Starscream snickered, then proceeded to backhand Shockwave with all his strength. The purple war machine stumbled, falling onto his behind. Looking up, he saw Starscream's null ray cannon pointed directly at his inhuman face.
"The decision to ... lighten the ship's burden was a unilateral one, Shockwave, made by all functional command-level Decepticons present. As I'm sure you've been told. Survival of the fittest. Megatron led us for a long time, but his days are over. As his second-in-command I am Decepticon commander now and we will make it official later today, right before we crush that little Autobot folly in Iacon. And if you have a problem with any of this, Shockwave, tell me now so we can ... deal with it!"
For a moment Starscream wondered whether he'd actually have to kill Shockwave now, but only for a moment. Megatron sure had done a number on this one. Shockwave was a spineless coward, a great administrator, but no backbone whatsoever. He lowered his head.
"I have no problem, Commander Starscream."
Unicron
Earth date 13.07.2005
Flames crackled, dark energy surged, the hiss of metal filled the vast emptiness of the chamber.
Reflector's two remaining bodies fell into the fire, the third having been vaporized onboard the Autobot shuttle before the siege on Autobot City even began. Unique among the Decepticons, Reflector had been a single Spark divided into three distinct forms. The distinct disadvantage of this uniqueness had been his vulnerability. The death of one of his three forms had sent him into shock. He had been easy prey for the Autobot guns during the battle.
The two bodies were merged into one, the remains of the formerly tripled personality reshaped according to Unicron's wishes. Only a short time later a new form emerged from the forge. A sleek and lethal robot, coloured grey and blue, two laser cannons resting on his shoulders.
"ULTRON, THE AIR MASTER," Unicron announced. "NOTHING IN THE SKIES WILL ESCAPE HIS EYES, NOTHING IN FLIGHT WILL MATCH HIS SPEED OR FIREPOWER."
Autobot City, Oregon, Earth
Earth date 13.07.2005
"Roddie! Hey, Roddie! Wait up!"
Springer caught up to Hot Rod, who was already on the ramp of the transport shuttle. All around them the landing field was filled with frenzied activity as Autobots boarded ships and prepared to head into battle. Springer himself was more than a little nervous, but right now his greatest concern was his friend.
"We need to get moving," Hot Rod just said. His outward damages had been repaired during the long night, but Springer didn't need to be a psychiatrist to see that some damages could not be healed in a CR chamber.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Springer asked, putting a hand on Hot Rod's shoulder. "Arcee told me that..."
"I'm okay," he interrupted him, brushing his hand away. "I wish everyone would stop asking me that."
"Well, after...," his voice trailed of.
"After what, Springer?" Hot Rod yelled at him. "After what happened yesterday, you mean? After I interfered in a battle I had no business interfering in and ... oh, what was it now? Oh yes! After I cost Optimus Prime his life? Are you maybe talking about that?"
Springer flinched back from the pain and self-loathing he could see in his friend's optics.
"It's not your fault, Roddie," he said, but even to himself his voice lacked conviction.
"Whose fault is it then? Everyone keeps telling me I shouldn't blame myself, but who else is there? Optimus would have won that fight if not for me. Everyone knows that. Optimus would be here right now if not for me. So tell me, my good buddy! How is this not my fault?"
Without waiting for an answer Hot Rod turned around and barded the shuttle, leaving Springer to look after him with a sinking feeling in his fuel tank.
Unicron
Earth date 13.07.2005
Flames crackled, dark energy surged, the hiss of metal filled the vast emptiness of the chamber.
The tractor beam sifted through the wreckage once more and produced the damaged shell of a blue and white Seeker, Thundercracker. In life he had been a brave, if sometimes reluctant warrior, doubts about the cause somewhat diminishing his effectiveness in battle. His disdain for all things groundbound had brought him into the Decepticon camp, his desire to fly freely and unopposed, to do what he wanted instead of following the rules of some flight-incapable Autobot elders.
Now he was just raw material. The blue and grey Seeker was thrown into the glare of the forge, coming apart only to be reformed into a new shape. What remained of his personality was reshaped as well, his doubts erased, his skills refined, his resolve made absolute.
The figure that finally emerged was larger, deadlier, grimmer than the Seeker ever was. Purple and grey in colour, the new warrior flexed his metallic muscles as power coursed through his veins, more power than he had ever known before.
"CYCLONUS, THE WARRIOR," Unicron announced. "SECOND-IN-COMMAND OF MY MINIONS, MOST POWERFUL OF THEIR NUMBER SAVE ONE."
What remained of the Decepticon wreckage was disposed of, whatever or whoever it had been before no longer important. Deep within the fires of the forge something stirred, though, something that had been immersed in fire for some time now, fully aware.
Something that started to move towards the surface.
Darkmount Fortress, City of Polyhex, Cybertron
Earth date 13.07.2005
Shockwave looked after the retreating form of Starscream and deep inside his thoroughly logical mind things were busily at work.
Over six million Earth years ago Shockwave had been subjected - unwillingly - to the infamous Robo-Smasher software. Megatron had feared that the former ruler of Tarn might make a bid for Decepticon leadership, so he had taken an opportunity to reprogram Shockwave for absolute loyalty after a fierce battle had left the purple war machine heavily damaged.
Ever since that day this programming had ensured Shockwave's loyalty, but had also turned one of Cybertron's most feared warriors into a whimpering, ineffective coward. Anything that could be seen as disloyalty to Megatron was squashed, making sure that Shockwave showed no initiative, no bravery, certainly no personal ambition.
Now logic said that Megatron was dead. Shockwave had seen the report of the diagnostic drone and concluded that his leader must have expired in space by now. Logic said that the subroutine ensuring loyalty to him was no longer needed and only took up valuable processing space. He promptly deleted it.
The Decepticon that rose from the ground was a very different one from the whimpering coward Starscream had struck down but minutes earlier. A dangerous glint in his single optic, Shockwave headed towards his control room, already making plans.
Unicron
Earth date 13.07.2005
Flames crackled, dark energy surged, the hiss of metal filled the vast emptiness of the chamber.
The four minions knelt, awaiting the command of their master. They would remain so for all time if needed, unwavering loyalty instilled into their very essence. They didn't need to wait that long, though.
A final shape emerged from the forge, powerful metallic limbs pulling it free of the liquid flames. Taller than all the others except Tempest, it exuded an air of power unmatched even by the behemoth. A crown adorned its head, the menacing barrel of a particle accelerator cannons rested on its upper right arm. His body still glowed from the heat that had birthed him, his steps left charred imprints on the ground.
"YOU HAVE BEEN RECREATED. IMPROVED, REFINED, GALVANIZED. AND THUS YOUR NEW NAME IS GALVATRON. FIRST OF MY MINIONS."
The newly christened Transformer glared at the unseen voice, something deep within him rebelling against the thought of serving anyone. That voice was quickly squashed, though, memories of pain and torture that seemed to have lasted a lifetime flashing through his mind. He was Unicron's creature and had no choice but to serve him.
At least, a small voice inside him whispered, for now.
The wall in front of them slid open, revealing the empty vista of space. An unseen command made Tempest step forward, the huge robot transforming into a spaceship much larger than even his robotic form. The other minions did not hesitate to board that ship, taking their positions on the bridge as if they had done so a hundred times before.
Finally Galvatron stepped forward and took his place in the command chair. He balled his fist, felt the power surging through him, and motioned to start their journey.
"GO! DESTROY THE MATRIX!"
End Chapter 11
Author's Notes: Cyclonus and Scourge appear the same as in the original movie. Tempest is a slightly modified version of Armada Tidal Wave (or rather the Japanese Micron Legend Laser Wave). Ultron resembles Energon Dreadwing. Finally Galvatron looks the same as his movie version, but will have a different alternate mode than that silly gun thing. Just wait and see.
