I know that this has been a very, very long wait for most of you and I deeply apologize for that, but we're so close to the end. Only four updates away now. And Part V is incredibly intimidating for me on my end since, well, everything needs to be wrapped up and completed, and I'm hoping to deliver this story to you all in the best and most enjoyable way possible. I hope I manage that with today's update too!
Special thanks to squireofgeekdom, Isame, and brokenEisenglas for the feedback!
Transformers, Beast Wars, and related properties © Hasbro
story © RenaRoo
Twisted Legacy
Part V: The Day the World Caught Fire
Chapter 5.1: Heavy is the Head
Optimus, even as Orion Pax, had never thought of his pragmatism as a flaw, nor did he believe that his lack of interest in mysticism and the occult did his judgment a disservice. He understood technology, he understood character, and he understood power balance. And he did so almost in strictly terms of gray.
Sometimes sacrifices needed to be made to balance powers in the right direction, to work for the greater good.
And though there was a science to the fantastical tale these future Rodimus and Windblade weaved, the fact that it was still very much fantastical kept the Prime from being completely won over.
Not to mention, the very notion that Starscream was somehow capable of bringing Cybertron into a new, peaceful Golden Age did not endear Optimus to them in the least.
"And you're certain you can't tell me how long my reign will be?" Starscream continued, hand firmly on his chin as he looked thoughtfully at the time travelers.
"If we tell you too much we risk changing everything," Windblade — the older, less decorated one — reminded him impatiently. "Probably for the worst, to be honest."
"Well, we definitely wouldn't want that," Starscream agreed. "I need to continue my leadership just as if I had no idea that this was happening. For the good of the planet, of course."
"Oh, please," the current Windblade muttered, crossing her arms across her chest and rolling her optics back into her head. Fortunately, it seemed to be low enough that Starscream either felt he could ignore it or hadn't heard it to begin with.
"What's the matter, Prime? Turbofox have your tongue?" Starscream asked Optimus instead, looking incredibly smug at the moment. Which, in effect, Optimus tried desperately to remind himself that it was just the set of Starscream's face in a way. "Time travelers came from the future to let us know I usher in an entirely new Golden Age for Cybertron. You must be thrilled at the prospects for our future."
"We didn't really travel millions of years into the past to fluff egos," Rodimus argued.
"I am pleased to know that long sought after peace is nearly within Cybertron's grasps, Starscream," Optimus answered steadily, keeping his voice low and reserved. "How it is ushered in and under what power becomes increasingly of less importance. I am simply thrilled at the prospect of ending this strife and destruction."
Looking at Optimus in some amusingly exaggerated awe, Rodimus laughed. "By Primus, I have missed just how amazing your speeches were."
"A defining trait according to the archives," older Windblade teased before the doors of the laboratory burst open.
"What's the meaning of this intrusion!?" Starscream shouted at the guards who filed in. "I'm listening to nostalgia for my reigning superiority over the people of Cybertron and all of its blessed
"Sir, we apologize, but there has been a breach in the blockade," the soldier reported to Starscream directly.
"What!?" Starscream screeched. "What is the entire point of a blockade then?"
"That's the problem, Lord Starscream, our blockade is mostly concerned with the ship fields and Iacon… this was a breach on an entirely different side of the planet. It was in the abandoned districts."
"Was it Kaon?" Optimus asked immediately, stepping toward the guard.
Starscream glowered toward him. "Of course your first instincts blame Deceptions. Once an Autobot, they say."
"Actually, Sir, it wasn't Kaon," the soldier said, turning to ward Optimus. "It was the remains of Nyon. And we have a trace on the ship. It belongs to the Lost Light. I don't know if that means anything—"
"It mean everything," Optimus answered, immediately heading toward the door toward himself.
"Where do you think you're going, Prime! You don't have my permission to leave!" Starscream snarled.
"I doubt I will need further confirmation on my actions, Optimus said clearly.
He had every intention of walking straight out of the laboratory with that final line, but to his surprise and annoyance, the time traveling Rodimus got in the way,
"We need to talk about this before we do anything brash and… timeline-changey," Rodimus said clearly.
"No more than you and Windblade have already decided for us," Optimus shot back.
"Well, to begin with, that's a little unfair, don't you think?" Rodimus said with feigned hurt. "Secondly, maybe while working on those memories, you can actually think about the consequences here since an entire timeline is something I've set in some future historical texts already."
"Do you know who would be at Nyon?" Optimus demanded.
"I think you don't need confirmation," Rodimus explained with nodding support coming form Windblade behind him. "But yes, I know — or, rather, I remember what's going to happen next. For the most part. It's going to get… really confusing very quickly."
"We are already at confusing," Optimus assured him, continuing to make his way to the door.
"Yes, but we're talking not only about the logistics of time traveling and interference, Optimus Prime, but the actual possibility of forever changing the good that may come from all of this," Windblade assured him.
"Good?" Optimus asked, turning to face the travelers as well as the rest of the group gathered in the laboratory. "Nothing good can come from extremism, from blind worship, from this… line of Primes which have continued to reign unjustly until Cybertron was all but dead." He paused and looked intently at the future Rodimus' face, so heavily scarred with the print of a hand that Optimus had seen on their own time's Rodimus days before. "From allowing self mutilation to appear to others as some sort of stigmata in a future further perverting of what is just handed down stories of creation and destruction."
"That's not what this is," Rodimus said, pointing toward his faceplate. "It's a reminder, every day, to myself and to every bot I meet, that a price comes with everything we do and everything we achieve. And that we have to wear our mistakes if we survive them."
The others in the room looked at Rodimus with widened optics.
He noticed and immediately offered a sly smile, shrugging. "It takes a few million years but I got good at pep talks eventually."
Optimus was far from convinced, however. "What you wear as a scar, I saw Error and a dozen acolytes wear as a symbol of disorder and hatred," he said plainly. "That is not a symbol on today's Cybertron, and I find it hard to believe it could come about in a supposed new Golden Age."
"That's because you don't actually know Error or why he's been toying with everyone until today," Rodimus answered.
"Yes, supposed future Prime," Starscream said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the nearest wall. "I would like an explanation as to why this grave threat couldn't be revealed to us before it happened or if it is capable of destroying my glorious legacy — the new Golden Age, brought in by me, once again — why it wasn't done sooner." His nose curled in disgust. "Or what ever anyone could want in a dump like Nyon currently."
"Because," Rodimus said, hands on his hips. "Today, at Nyon, is the day that Error and the First New Generation of Cybertron first ignited their sparks. And any changes he wished to make could only really take affect once he was sure he wouldn't be insuring his own destruction."
For a moment, there was only silence, then Optimus stepped forward himself, breaking it. "There is a Hot Spot in Nyon today?" he asked critically.
Rodimus' smile grew somewhat brittle and he looked right into Optimus' optics. "The most important Hot Spot in Cybertrons post-War history. The Hot Spot that will unite the Council and breathe a new sense of alliances between all Cybertronians once and for all."
"And it is imperative that it be saved before Error can ensure that only his own spark is allowed to thrive," old Windblade announced.
"Then there is no time to waste," Optiimus agreed. "Let's roll out!"
The oath of Do No Harm was difficult to maintain in the middle of a war zone, and if anything was to make Velocity appreciate First Aid and Ratchet's unorthodox perspective in the medical world, it was most definitely going to be the combination of their last stand on the Necroworld and the horrors of the fight before them in the middle of a sea of newly emerged sparks.
The lumbering giant of a mech lunged at them, fists alight with flames. And while the others were quick to move out of the way, Velocity all but grabbed her hardheaded captain to dive out of the way with him since he was standing his ground.
Immediately, Rodimus began pulling and fighting against Velocity's hold, even as it saved his life. "Let go of me!" he growled. "Velocity! I'm ordering you—"
"You might still be my captain at spark, Rodimus, but I'm your doctor and keeping what's available of your kibble alive is going to be worth putting up with your complaining!" Velocity fought back angrily.
"Don't call me Rodimus!" he snapped at her. "And don't you see? He's the guy! The one that… He messed me up! He confused me and… He made me by— Velocity, fragsake let go of me!"
"Everything that's come out of your voice box has just made me more sure than ever before that I am not letting go of you," Velocity replied sternly. "So just go ahead and drop that idea from your mind, Hot Rod. You're damaged, and as long as you're damaged, I outrank you!"
Rodimus stared at her with a mixture of surprise and anger that left him uncharacteristically speechless.
If she had had the time, Velocity would have basked in her assertiveness but there was a vicious roar from their attacker that drew her attention instead. And most horrifying of all, she finally could see not only the damage she had rescued Rodimus from, but what effect it had on the area surrounding his point of attack.
"No! The Sparklings!" Velocity gasped in horror. She let go of Rodimus and covered her mouth in shock. Her insides felt twisted and coiled in revolt against the senseless loss. "He snuffed out an entire patch of young sparks! An entire grouping of young life and it's all gone. What horrible kind of creature is this thing—"
Before she could continue rambling in terror, Rodimus took off from beside her at a speed and with a dexterity he had not shown since waking from stasis.
Velocity whipped back into doctor mode and got to her feet. "Rodimus! Stop right there!" she yelled.
Wasting no time, Velocity transformed mid leap into her alt-mode, hitting the ground at full speed and living up to her name in order to keep up with the damaged captain. Her damaged captain that was determined to put himself right in the midst of the stand off between Nightbeat, Brainstorm, Nautica, Drift and the horrific Error.
"Error!" Rodimus growled out, his hands suddenly enveloping in a white hot flame themselves.
The bulky monstrosity slowly turned, just enough to see Rodimus and grow an unnerving grin. "Ah. At last, my Prime. At last we meet, and at last I shall handedly give you a defeat."
"Rodimus! Get out of here!" Drift yelled as he lunged for Error with his swords drawn. There was a clang of swords against armor, but Error had managed to hold off any damage by keeping his heavily armored forearm up.
Drift was bearing as much weight down with his swords as he could, determined to break through the armor Error was hiding behind, but when the metal was broken enough, it ht a thick rubber tread, which caused Drift's optics to widen in surprise.
"Ah, there we are," Error said almost gleefully before beginning to start up the treads on his arms, the fast rotation sounding like a saw that led to Drift's swords shattering at the friction.
Taking advantage of the swordsmech's shock, Error then landed a powerful kick to Drift's chest, sending him flying backward into the rest of the Rod Squad.
"Pathetic," Error chuckled, aiming his hand at the group as a flame grew.
Seeing there were only a few feet between Rodimus and Error at that point, Velocity slung herself around, skidding to a halt between them as if to create a border with her own body between Rodimus and Error. "Rodimus!" she yelled at him angrily.
It did nothing to stop the determined Rodimus, however, as he just leaped, kicking off of Velocity's alt-mode to propel himself at Error.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Rodimus roared, landing a flaming punch against Error's cheek.
Even Velocity felt slightly in awe of the moment as it played out, as that was not exactly a small feat by any means. The others seemed to join her in their amazement, though — that was their Rodimus back. Impulsive, feisty, full of fire.
But that awe was quick to disappear the moment he landed and his less armored, still healing frame crumpled under the momentum of his jump and sent him falling over himself, his damaged side hitting the ground and inspiring an anguished yelp.
"Rodimus!" Drift called out, immediately getting to the captain's side. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be better when someone takes that fragger down," Rodimus gritted out, looking pale. "Also… maybe some fuel could help out."
Brainstorm, surprisingly enough, stepped forward, looking more curious than anything else, head tilted. "The technology you're using to come to our time? To disguise yourself and your followers? If you're really a time traveller, tell me how many times my worst-best ideas are used to come back and bite all of us in the aft in the future. I think as their creator I deserve to at least know this much."
"Brainstorm!" Nautica snapped. "That's not helpful!"
"It could be if I know which ones are bad, I'll keep a tighter lid on them and make sure they're not mass produced," Brainstorm offered.
"You're still going to make them?" Nautica demanded.
"Obviously. They work," Brainstorm replied candidly.
"Don't you see? It doesn't matter if he chooses to make them or not, because they've already been made in this future!" Nightbeat corrected them all. "He has to create them for this paradox to happen to begin with. He can't choose to change that. Which is also probably why Brainstorm was the only one left undamaged on the Eukaris attack — his future inventions and the survival of those inventions are things that were necessary to get us to this point. And, more importantly, to get Error and his followers here."
"None of that is answering my question!" Rodimus snarled viciously as Drift helped him stand up. "What did you do to me? Why? Why did you let me survive instead of making… making—"
Velocity transformed back into her natural mode, looking at the scene from the other side of Error. Her spark was pulsing strong, so much anxiety at once.
She had an instinctive, intuitive need to get to Rodimus — to her patient — and keep him from stupidly stumbling into further physical or psychological damage. But she also needed to see what Rodimus knew and had refused so far to share with all the doctors and friends and crew around him just what he remembered or what had happened.
And she needed to save the young lives surrounding them as well. Her duty as a doctor called for it.
"The answer is the same for everything," Error answered. "I played you, my former Prime. I played you like the instrument of my own design just as is asked of me by Primus himself. He guided my hand, and likewise I used my gifts to guide yours."
"Shadowplay," Velocity all but whispered to herself, realizing how the pieces were beginning to fit.
"But why?" Nightbeat pressed Error.
"So that we could meet like this on this day," Error said confidently, raising his hands to reveal that during the excitement, his acolytes had spread out into the field of the Hot Spot. "And you could watch as we used Primus' Guiding Light to take away from you the very future you all have worked to build — that you all sought while being so undeserving, one and all."
Sparing no time, Velocity shouted to her friends, "Spread out! Save the Sparklings!" she ordered, turning to race back to the ship.
"Velocity! What about you?" Nautica cried out in fear.
"I'm calling Ratchet and First Aid!" Velocity answered. "We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Don't you dare defy my planning!" Error roared.
In the corner of her vision, Velocity could see the giant mech turning to stomp in her direction. She aptly shifted back to her alt-mode to speed off from him. Surely, given the difference of frames, he would have no chance to keep up with her.
But what she hadn't taken into account was that he didn't need to reach her.
Instead, the lumbering giant pressed his wrists together, aimed in Velocity's direction, and shot a hurdling ball of fire in her direction.
Swerving to avoid it, Velocity couldn't zigzag enough to avoid being singed by the fireball, leading to her letting out a scream of pain.
She nearly flipped in her alt-mode, but a quick transformation held her skid, somewhat painfully, on her knees for a distance.
While Velocity pushed to her feet, she fully expected for Error to take advantage and finish her, but when he didn't she looked back to see why. To her surprise, rather than spreading out and protecting the Hot Spot, her friends had all tackled onto Error's arm, keeping him from aiming it.
"Velocity!" Rodimus growled out as he helped the others. "Get to the ship and call for help! That's an order! You're not allowed to die today! I'm saying that as your captain! So do it!"
Velocity felt her chest raise and she nodded. "Yessir!" she yelled back before turning and racing to the ship to do just that.
Starscream almost did a double take when he walked down the halls and found none other than Windblade standing in wait for him just outside the Council's chamber.
She had a muted expression, thoughtful but purposefully reserved. Her eyes, as usual, were her real give, though. They shone with intrigue, concern, and anxiousness. If she was ever to live in the world of politics, someone was going to need to teach her how to keep such blanketed emotions under wraps.
He sure as the Pits wasn't going to waste time doing it, that was all Starscream knew for sure.
"Windblade, you're here," he said, letting the snideness come through. "Rather than placing yourself in the thick of what's sure to be almost clear destruction. I find it hard to believe that you grew a sense of self-preservation since your last excursion into snooping, so why are you here instead of following Optimus Prime and all the other fake future Primes out into the middle of nowhere for what's certain to be a complete and total trap?"
For a moment, just a moment, Windblade let her optics harshen their glow and she put her hands on her hips. "Do you really care why I'm still here, Starscream?" she asked.
"No, not in the slightest," he assured her. "I only care so far as how it's going to effect what I'm having to do now to make sure that regardless of what happens in the junk heaps of a forgotten slum, this planet continues to spin on its axis and all its citizens — here and abroad — maintain some sense of order and security."
"Then we're here for the same thing," Windblade assured him, glancing off.
Dissatisfied, Starscream moved in closer to her. "But, to sate some of my curiosity on the matter…" he began.
Windblade turned completely toward Starscream and looked him straight in the optics. "If some future version of yourself came into the past to try to stop someone from the future from using your religion as an excuse for destroying literal Sparklings, how would you feel about it? Would you want to follow this anomaly into battle? Possibly learn more about what kind of bot you will be shaped into over time?"
"Hm," Starscream hummed in response. "I suppose I would never know since I carry no faith, seriously doubt the credibility of those who claim to be traversing through time, and most of all, the very idea that there would ever be a Rodimus Prime." He scoffed and shook his head. "And you Camiens question why most Cybertronians have ignored the sanctimonious faith part of all this Primacy superstition." He could see the way she was grimacing beside him so he threw her a false smile of sympathy. "Oh, my pardon, I didn't mean offense."
"You did," Windblade said flatly.
Starscream waited for a moment, looking at Windblade's face before growing impatient with her lack of reaction. "I must say, Windblade, as little as I care for your regular disposition, I am not a fan of you in a completely foul mood."
"I'm just not in the mood to be played with today, Starscream," she snapped back. "Or for being your excuse for putting this off."
He balked and stood straight again. "Me? I have no fear of this conference," he defended. "I just don't want the people to become too alarmed over what's probably nothing. And what's probably definitely not the first Hot Spot on Cybertron since the end of the War. That's just asking for mechs everywhere to get their hopes up."
Curious, Windblade looked back at him, head slightly tilted. "You don't believe anything the time travelers said? Even after they proved who they were with their spark signatures?" she asked.
"Of course not," Starscream said with a flippant twist of his wrist. "Didn't you hear what they said? I am supposed to be such a good leader I bring us into a new Golden Age. Are you telling me you believe that?"
She stared at him for a moment before crossing her arms. "I believe that I've learned not to underestimate you, Starscream," she said instead. "And I think you want to believe at least that much is true because it'll make up for the part of all of this chaos and turmoil we've been through thanks to Error at least a little bit possibly redeemable."
"Other than leading our united people through this unspeakable hardship, I have no idea what you're referring to, Windblade. I've been completely uninvolved," he said smoothly as he finally opened the doors to the Council of Worlds' chamber where their fellow representatives and the media were ready and waiting.
Leaving Windblade behind, Starscream climbed up to his usual seat at the head of the table, clearing his voice box, and then looked out to the gathered crowd. They stared back at him attentively and with heavy suspicions.
"Cybertronians, one and all, we are looking to the end of our darkest hour as a unified world and preparing to move forward to a new age," Starscream began, a cocky smile growing as he continued. "A new Golden Age, you might say. One with us unified as the final hour approaches those terrorists which sought to destroy our faith and unity with one another. But in order for us to all achieve those lofty goals of unification and sanctity, we must first learn from the horrors that came before and see to it that we change our futures."
As he paused dramatically, Starscream smirked and looked down to Windblade in particular. She had quietly crossed the room, standing by Chromia again, those all-telling optics surprised and curious about the speech.
Suddenly, Starscream knew she really hadn't known what to expect from him. A realization which made everything only that much more wonderful.
"What I'm proposing is new legislation to be brought before the Council of Worlds, worked out between us all to more agreeable terms," Starscream continued. "About the regulation and state sponsored study of mnemosurgery."
There was a collective gasp across the room, and Starscream crossed his hands on the podium before him. "It is a dark and devious form of invasion of the most personal kind. And it has been used by many sides of many conflicts to disastrous effect. I propose regulation at the highest level, and sponsored study in its reversal and long term effects."
The tension did not break, if anything it grew thicker. But Starscream had succeeded.
He was the one who publicly and diplomatically framed the discussions to come.