Chapter 8

Voltage stared in stunned silence as Deed finished his tale. So many things had happened since the Federation had been formed, but this…this was absolutely incomprehensible. There was no way such a thing existed, even if there was evidence right in front of his eyes.

"There's no slaggin' way that can be true," he murmured.

"Ah, but…it is, my friend," Deed rasped.

"I…I just need time to think about all this. It's too much to take in all at once."

"I understand."

He slumped against the wall, still unable to believe what he had just heard. There had to be some mistake, there just had to be! The fact that such a power existed was beyond him, beyond even the Federation's abilities. They had great powers, but not like this. If the Dark Axis got their hands on it, then it was all over for everyone.

"The Superior Dragon is real after all," he whispered. "And it does exist, meaning…Doomsday's coming."

He couldn't believe it. Doomsday was who knew how long from being brought about, and there was only so much time before the Dark Axis got their hands on the Superior Dragon's powers. The Federation had no data on it, save for what he now knew, and there was no known method of locating it, making their job harder than it already was.

"'Doomsday…the end of all life on Earth as we know it.'"

The former President's quote before contact had been made came back to him. The whole time he had thought it unbelievable to comprehend that Doomsday was approaching, but now, the fact became crystal clear in his memory files as he sat there.

"Are thou alright?"

Voltage didn't even hear him; he was too absorbed in his own thoughts. Instead, Deed let out a yelp that caught his attention.

"Deed…Sorry," Voltage murmured, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"No. Do not…be sorry. I have heard…thee speaking about Doomsday…and I fear…that thou may be right…on that count," Deed murmured.

"Deed, can you tell me anything more about the Superior Dragon?" Voltage asked urgently.

"I…cannot."

"Slag!" Voltage swore.

Deed then grew thoughtful. "But, if…thee can get me out…then I may be able to."

Voltage nodded.

"Okay." He grasped one of his beam sabers and ignited the glowing blade. With one quick slash, he severed the chains holding the knight in place. He put it back on his jetpack and grabbed the other Gundam carefully.

"Hold on."

Deed grasped him as tightly as he could, which wasn't very tight. Voltage sighed and grasped his passenger even tighter before he lifted him onto his back.

The two Gundams bolted out of the hidden chamber, Voltage following Deed's directions. As he ran, he couldn't help but wonder why the Dark Axis was after the Superior Dragon. If they were after its power, couldn't they just have stolen it in the first place? The whole thing didn't make any sense to him. Then again, things didn't make sense in the Federation that often.

In Earth orbit…

The massive silvery vessel hovered motionlessly, no movement or life indicated by lights or engine noise. It was as silent as a graveyard on a misty night.

But, within the systems, there was indeed life as he became more familiar with his new body. He had become aware of the situation when he had tapped into the universal cross-communications system with the powerful communications array. The name Dark Axis turned up many thoughts, but not about little green robots with one eye that said Zako all the time. It seemed to him that there was something more behind all of this. And to figure it out, he needed to figure out what they really were.

So, once he had become adapted to his new form, he lay in wait, listening in on conversations between organizations and worlds as they described attacks, the most recent being a failed attempt on an organization known as the Alliance for Unity, a small diplomatic power dedicated to resolving conflicts through peaceful means rather than combat.

The description of the attacks he heard about were something like the battles of World War II, particularly the Battle of France, in which the country had fallen to the Nazi Party. It seemed impossible, but it was true. World War II had expanded to a new scale, and the Federation was caught in the middle of it.

A new bit of surprising info came in the form of a report submitted by the Universal Post Office through a series of connections. The report stated that the Dark Axis was after some kind of great power, yet, he didn't recall anything of great power hidden in the Federation's boundaries.

'What's this great power they seek? Is it something that Unicron can use to rebuild himself? Or is it something new that we haven't heard of?'

These questions bothered him greatly. He decided to wait for anything new concerning the Dark Axis' search for this great power.

He hoped it didn't come down to the worst case he could imagine.

Location: Jungle Planet

Place: Head Temple

Time: 21:10, 9:10pm local time

Scourge sighed as he sat in his office later that night. So far things were working out in the Federation's favor. The Dark Axis didn't even know that they were planning to liberate those trapped in the camps. From what little he had read on Earth's history, he knew that the war known to them as World War II had resulted in tens of millions of lives lost and untold amounts of damage in money, not to mention the exposure to the worst kinds of treatment and the revelation of humanity's capacity for destruction in the form of the atomic bombs. He found it strange that humans could be so devastating, yet so caring for one another when they fought for it.

The one thing that bothered him though was the constant mention of the Dark Axis' hunt for something. What was it they were searching for? Was it Primus? If so, then why didn't they just convert the creator of the Transformers to their side?

He was so busy thinking that he didn't even hear the Zako creeping up with a control horn in hand, along with a control chip…

On Earth…

Location: Earth Command

Place: Main Office

Time: 22:15, 10:15pm local time

"WHAT?! Scourge didn't answer the communications?" President Warren blurted to her aide, a young man named Grey.

He nodded. "That's right, ma'am. He failed to respond to the numerous calls we sent him during the past fifteen minutes. The operator says that she suspects something's going on down on Jungle Planet."

"…" President Warren was silent as she took in this information. "This isn't like Scourge to not respond to our calls. Something must be up. I'll contact him myself."

"A-are you sure about that, ma'am? I mean, what if he doesn't respond?" Grey asked nervously.

"That I'll take into consideration. Right now, we need to focus on what's most important. I'll contact him to see what's going on. If it concerns the Dark Axis, then we have reason to be worried," President Warren said.

"I understand, ma'am." Grey grabbed his screens and backed out of the room, leaving the President alone to contemplate this.

Strange as it was, she knew that Scourge always contacted her if something arose that he couldn't handle by himself, and this seemed to be one of those times. Years of combat had ingrained her with a sort of sixth sense that buzzed whenever something was wrong, and right now, she was getting a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She began to fear the worst as she activated interplanetary communications.

The screen materialized, showing nothing but static.

"Scourge, come in. This is President Warren. Do you copy? Over," she said clearly.

No answer, except for static.

"Scourge, do you copy?" she asked again.

Again no answer.

Now worried, she bit her lower lip as she tried again. This time, however, someone did answer, but not who she expected. "What do you want, human scum?"

The voice she recognized as that of Scourge, but it somehow sounded different than him. It sort of had more of an evil sound to it rather than pure honor and compassion, but she couldn't be certain.

"Scourge, this is President Warren. What's going on down there? Do you need assistance?" she wondered.

Scourge's voice held a sneer in it as he spoke. "I don't need help from the likes of you, human! I can handle myself, and so can my planet. We're cutting all ties to your puny organization and allying ourselves with the Dark Axis."

That sent shivers down her spine. The Dark Axis?! What was with him?

"Scourge, what's gotten into you? The Dark Axis is the enemy! Not an ally!" she yelled, now fearing the worst as he laughed menacingly into the communications network.

"You fools! Did you think that…what? No! STOP!" his voice cried.

"…Huh?" She stared in confusion as the screen's static began to give way to a clear image of Scourge, yet he seemed a bit different.

"P-President Warren. This i-is Scourge. I d-don't have much time. I can only remain free for so long," Scourge stammered.

"Scourge, what's going on?" President Warren asked urgently.

"The…the Dark Axis…planted some kind…of horn onto my head. I can't hold him back forever."

Hatred at the enemy shot through her like a bolt of lightning. "What? They did what?!" she blurted.

"A…control horn. You must remove it before it takes complete contr—AAAAAGH!"

"SCOURGE!" President Warren stood up as Scourge's optics flared from soft green to pure blood red as the control horn took effect on his body. The red optic flared as he cried out, his spark flashing blue, then red. His armor began to change from the normal sunset orange and purple and green to a dark blue, blood red, and dark purple, his optics shining brightly as a set of wings spread from behind his back and his claws elongated to deadly lengths. His fangs grew outward, giving him the look of a vampire Transformer from legend.

"AAAAAAAAGH!"

"Scourge, you've got to fight it!" she cried, placing her hands on the desk and leaning in closer.

"I can…cannot! It's too late for me! Fight! And win! TILL ALL ARE ONE! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

"NOOOOOO!" The screen went back to static for a moment before it cleared to reveal Scourge standing there, the Dark Axis sigil planted on his chest armor.

"The fool thought he could shun me out of this body, eh? No matter. I'm back in control," the 'new' mech said.

President Warren licked her lips before speaking softly. "S-s-scourge?"

"The name's Deathstorm, human!" the mech snapped.

"Deathstorm?" she repeated.

"Yes, and remember it, for it may be the last thing you ever hear! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The screen fizzled back to static before a black background with the words Connection Terminated appeared. The green-blue words flashed again and again as she sat, stunned at what had just occurred. Scourge, under the control of the Dark Axis? It just didn't seem possible! He was too strong-willed for that to happen to him! He was an honorable fighter who believed strongly in Federation ideals, yet now, here he was, a traitor to their cause!

"No…This can't be…" She slumped back in her chair, her head in her hands. In the two years she had been in office, she had never expected this to happen while she was in command.

Still stunned, she pressed the button on her desk and spoke into the mike.

"Grey, call the leaders together for an emergency meeting. Why? Let's just say it's an emergency that could change everything."

Two hours later…

"HAH?!" The other leaders let out surprised gasps as she finished explaining the whole deal to them.

"You have got to be kidding!" Seto blurted, his eyes wide in shock.

President Warren shook her head. "No. I'm not, guys. Scourge is now under the control of the Dark Axis, and his name is now Deathstorm. We need to find a way to reverse this, if there is one."

"Well, from what we've seen during the last few days, the Dark Axis has begun making bolder moves and moving in to attack the Cybertronian colonies and allies. We even intercepted one of them on their way to Earth. During that raid, we stole from them three of those 'control horns' as they are known amongst Dark Axis troops," said Zero. He glanced at Ciel, who held a small stack of screens and a tulip in her hands.

She held up the tulip. "This is a control horn in its dormant state, which looks like a harmless flower. But, when it's activated, it changes to its actual form to enact control over the being it's attached to; in this case, it's Scourge," she explained.

She passed out the stack of screens which were reports on the data about control horns. "If you read this report, the whole thing is actually quite simple, although the program is quite complex. The program, a personality altering program, is downloaded into the subject's mainframe, and their own personality is shoved aside or deleted temporarily and trapped within the horn in a small space. They're still aware, but unable to act or do anything on their own. It's the same concept with other mind-altering tech used by the Blazians during their war for independence twelve years ago," Ciel said.

"Any way to reverse it?" Steven asked as he opened the screen.

"There is a way to reverse it, but it requires writing a program that can nullify the Dark Axis program's effects. It will take some time to write and create such a program, but it can be done," Ciel explained.

"How long?" Cassie asked, eyes scanning the report.

"It will take about three weeks to write a program capable of canceling out the effects, but it could take less time if we had help from Primus."

"Three weeks…we don't have that kind of time!" President Warren snapped.

"Why not?" asked Famous.

"Three weeks is too long, and the Dark Axis could easily attack us during that time. We need to be ready to counterattack, and we can't do that while we're busy writing programs!" President Warren exclaimed.

"…Hold on. Isn't there another way?" Optimus asked.

"Huh? How so?" asked Mimi.

"There has to be a way in which we can cancel it out without lengthy time periods. Is there such a method, Ciel?" Optimus inquired.

Ciel hesitated before speaking. "Well, yes, but it's very risky," she said, wringing her hands.

"What is it?" Sandra asked.

"The second method involves using a high intensity electromagnetic frequency to cancel out the horn's effects, but the downside is that it could rewire the subject's basic programming to primal levels, delete them altogether, or shut them down permanently," the Orcan scientist/leader explained.

"What about a highly focused beam much like our communications array?" O'hari inquired, his eyes locked onto Ciel.

"It is possible that a highly focused beam could do the job, but it would have to be fired at the right time. Too soon, and you'd miss. Too late, and you'd never get another chance to fire it again. It's a one time deal," she said, shrugging.

"So, in short, we have two options. Waste three weeks writing programs or take the easy, but risky way and use electromagnetic waves to disable them and risk losing Scourge forever. Not many choices we can pick from," Override said grimly.

"There is also a third method, but I'm not sure if it will work," Ciel said.

"Huh? A third method?" Mokuba looked at her with confusion in his eyes.

Ciel nodded. "Yes. In theory, if we can use a jammer, we can sort of cancel out the effects, then use the frequency to short it out. It's never been tested before, so I'm not sure if it'll work."

"Looks like we'll have to see what happens."

"I agree."

The leaders filed out in the order they had entered in. Deep down, President Warren hoped for a miracle.

This time, it seemed only miracles could occur, and only then, did they have a chance at winning this, or so she hoped.

In Lacroa…

Voltage grunted as he helped Deed stagger along the dank, musty corridors of the prison. Already his back was beginning to ache from the effort of carrying him, even though he had obviously been deprived of food and water for who knew how long.

"Are thou alright?" Deed rasped.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he replied, hiding his discomfort from the knight.

He adjusted Deed's body slightly before continuing on. The knight looked at him from over his shoulder.

"If thee are…uncomfortable, we can stop…for a while," he suggested.

Voltage shook his head. "No. I'm getting you out even if I have to crawl with you strapped to a slab of stone," he said stubbornly.

"Thee would do that?"

"Yeah. I'm not about to let whoever did that to you do it again. Now, which way?"

Elsewhere…

The mists of time drift around, hiding many secrets, concealing many treasures, tragedies, triumphs, and sacrifice. Time never stands still in this place, and many events occur in this nonexistent place.

A set of red optics gaze out at the worlds in the mists, their owner contemplating the facts of the war. He knows the truth, the reason why the Dark Axis yearns to become gods and why they seek the ship the humans call the Titanic.

Vector Prime, Keeper of Space and Time, gazes out at them with ageless wisdom, and watches as the humans successfully stop an attempt to raise it. He forwards to the future, the future that is constantly looming closer with each passing battle. In his misty screens he can see countless beings struggling for survival, a handful struggling to reclaim their homes and dreams and futures through futile fights against a massive enemy that has conquered them successfully.

He sees a small handful of humans lurking in submarines near the site, trying to keep what little debris remains of her safe from Dark Axis hands. He can see Dark Axis forces commandeering a hulking ship, one that bears the remains of the great liner and the Dark Axis sigil flapping on the mast.

He closes the misty screen and switches to the future the small power yearns for: a future of peace, of hope, and of life. He can see the main headquarters, Earth Command, glimmering brightly in the sun of Earth. He homes in on the small power's greatest monument in the future: a detailed image of the ship in life size proportions, made out of steel, metal, wood, and glass: a life-sized replica that actually allows beings to experience the ship firsthand before that fateful day in the final battle.

Vector frowns. This future seems more distant by the day, and the Dark Axis's future is becoming clearer as time passes. The gods are getting angrier, and the darkness is overcoming the light. No hope remains.

He knows that their mission will end in failure unless they can stop the Dark Axis leaders, which doesn't seem to be happening; the generals are not being killed by the Federation. In fact, it seems that they are only stalling the inevitable.

"They are doomed…"

In Lacroa…

The sun shone down on the four travelers as they entered into the kingdom, led by Tatha. As soon as they had woken up, the decision had been made to head to Lacroa Castle to see if there was anyone there who could send them back home in time to stop the Dark Axis from getting their hands on the wreck. Tatha had agreed to take them to the castle.

They had spent the morning getting ready to leave, packing up food, water, and their weapons, not to mention a map of the castle in case Tatha didn't go inside with them.

Shute walked next to Captain behind Syrus and Sayla, Tatha in front of them. He let his mind wander as he walked, not even paying attention to their surroundings. He was too focused on the strange feelings he was having when around his friend and not when around his crush back home.

Why was he having them around Captain? For Primus' sake, he was a Gundam, and Shute was a human. It just didn't seem right. Such things were unheard of back home. No human had ever had a relationship with a robot, and he found it disturbing. Then again, what about in other lands, other dimensions, other worlds like Earth? Was it possible to have a relationship with another being, even one that wasn't human? Was it?

He closed his eyes and looked back at his friend and his comrades. Ever since they had arrived, things had gotten weirder and stranger to boot. Humans with auras, hybrid beings, shipwrecks that held some hidden meaning to a certain race…he just couldn't absorb it all.

Things had just moved too quickly after they had fled, leading up to this predicament they were in: separated from one another in Lacroa, unable to return home unless they found someone who could help. He wondered if things were moving way too fast, even for the Gundam Force to deal with.

Then again, what was so special about this organization? What made them so deadly to the Dark Axis? Why did they fight so hard in the face of defeat to win wars that normally would end up with them destroyed? What was their secret weapon? What secrets did they hold? And what was so important about the wreck? He just couldn't understand it, especially the part about the wreck's importance and the fact that there had been an act passed to protect it.

And what about his feelings towards Captain? Was he really falling in love with him? If so, why didn't he just tell him straight out? Was it possible to fall for a robot, and a Gundam at that? What kept holding him back? And did Captain feel the same way towards him? If so, why hadn't he just said 'I love you' to the boy?

What was holding them back?