A/N: If chapter 1 didn't involve Primacron and the Aether, I'd recommend rereading it, as the current version does.

Cybertron

Solus Prime turned toward her station... and let out an electronic shriek of agony as the fires of the Pit tore through her abdomen. Static invaded the Cybertronian woman's vision. She could no longer feel her lower body; it was no longer attached. The universe tilted, slamming the floor up against her right shoulder. She fell onto her back, and her head flopped to the left. Megatronus was nowhere to be seen. Nor was the Allspark resting upon her pedestal.

"'Tronus?" Solus commed, her signal very weak. Silence. She didn't want to believe that the man she loved could do such a thing, but what other explanation... Darkness took her...

I'm right here, my sister. She felt herself being lifted...

After what felt like only an instant, yet surely was far longer, awareness began to flow back into Solus' brain. She was standing upright, meaning her lower body must have been reattached, and she thus had to be in a repair chamber. As the repairs continued, Solus Prime recalled when she'd first met Megatronus, in the chamber where they and the rest of the Thirteen were first activated. He had looked at her in a way none of the others had. Megatronus had seen something in her that no one else had. The others had become her brothers, and she their sister. But it was different with her and Megatronus. They had become lovers, not siblings. They'd loved each other for ages... And he had thrown it all away, his lust for power apparently greater than his love for her.

Solus' gold-yellow optics came back to life, to see her brother, Vector Prime, standing before her. He was mostly gold, with some dark maroon on his upper arms and upper legs. Blue running lights matching his optics adorned his forehead, as a triangle, while another, circular one was set into a small depression in the center of his chest. Near his knees and wrists were a few more such lights. Connected to his back, via maroon armatures, were a pair of elongated triangular wings. The upper third or so of his head was maroon, while the rest was gold.

"He's... gone, isn't he?" Solus already knew the answer. Her brothers would never let Megatronus live after what he had tried to do. There'd been no choice. She stepped out of the repair chamber, toward her brother.

"I am so sorry, Solus." Vector Prime embraced his sister.

Solus broadcast a mournful burst of static. Why the Pit would he join the rusting Rebellion? An increasing number of Cybertronians had been expressing their belief that they should rule over the organics, and that the organics would be better off this way. The Quintessons had held a similar view of the Cybertronians. The Rebels were essentially attempting to become the new Quintessons! Solus' sparkmate... former sparkmate had become a slagging Squid! If the one she had trusted more than anyone else had been willing to murder her, and if he had betrayed everything she believed in... How could she ever truly trust anyone...

Solus glanced at each of her brothers who were gathered around her and Vector. Any one of them could be a traitor. She looked back at Vector. Even him. Onyx Prime had been the first to betray the Thirteen...

"He took the Allspark, and tried to take her to an undetermined, alternate location on Cybertron," Liege Maximo informed her. He emitted a disgusted hiss of static. "He must have intended to meet with someone. He tried to flee to hyperspace when we chased after him."

"When the Allspark fought back, he had to eject her," Vector said. "Several of our brothers..."

"I cannot express how sorry I am," Maximo said.

!

Millennia later, deep within the bowels of Cybertron, there was the faintest of stirrings. The faintest spark of activity inside a mechanical brain. An ancient and dreadful memory resurfaced.

Kill Primus. Kill Primus. It had started as a whisper. At first Unicron had believed it to be his own subconscious speaking to his lingering longing for revenge, for it was his own voice he'd been hearing. Yet it felt as though some phantom were speaking to him. This shadow had always been with him. Unicron had been abandoned by himself, and his brother. But the shadow had ever been his companion. His only companion.

But Unicron had tried to kill Primus before, and had nearly died. I would not ask this of thee unless it could be done. I will equip thee. All thou must do is give thyself unto me.

The power of the Aether began to coalesce around Unicron, as though of its own accord. This darkness was oppressive, and seemed intent on consuming him. An ever worsening sense of hopelessness came upon him. This darkness was pure evil, and burning with something beyond hatred.

A rift began to form in the fabric of spacetime. It grew until it was almost a mile long. This fissure then broke open as though by an earthquake or, in this case a... space-quake. Within it lay a great bulbous cavern, having a texture somewhere between stone and flesh. The brownish red material was heaving in a dozen or so places, as though it were breathing. One such area proceeded to throb rapidly, like a drum being beat.

The drum's skin burst open, releasing a disgusting spray of what resembled pus, and other vile substances. The rotten smell of sulfur found its way to Unicron's olfactory sensors. A large, wriggling clump fell back to the ground. Blades and claws broke through, and a revolting skeletal creature crawled its way out. It was off-white, like old bones, and glistening with a dingy green-yellow sheen. This abomination turned toward Unicron. It opened its mouth, revealing wickedly sharp and serrated fangs, and let out a roaring shriek. Red flames engulfed its body, yet it did not burn.

More boils began to burst, birthing more of these demons. They started scuttling, galloping, and flying toward the rift. And then, in an instant, the tear sealed itself up. "What was that?" Unicron inquired, greatly disturbed.

His own voice answered him. Thou callest it the Pit, while others call it Gehenna or Sheol. Still others call it Hell or Hades. It is only a matter of time until it is broken open. The demons that I have created will be let out. The Infection will be unleashed!

Unicron somehow knew that the shadow spoke the truth. "What are you?"

I am the Aether. I am Death. I will murder the Force and feast upon it. All who stand against me will be murdered! But those who join me by becoming murderers will be saved. Thus I give thee a choice.

"I will be a murderer, then." Unicron knew he had just committed a grave sin, but what else could he do? He did not want this abomination to damn his soul. He felt himself starting to fall, despite the fact that he was in space, yet he was not physically falling... Unicron's soul was falling. His despair grew at this. Had he been decei...

Burning needles seemed to stab into Unicron's spark, and then dissolve into molten alloy. So agonizing was it that he could not even emit an electronic scream. A horrific jolt exploded from his spark, ripping through his circuitry, and causing his body to jerk. The pain subsided to a gentle smoldering, and for several minutes he simply floated there, in the star-speckled void of space. He had most certainly been deceived! And he had just been murdered.

Thou art a fool, Unicron! Didst thou not think a being of pure evil might be a liar? Thou didst do a wicked thing by making this pact, and thou shalt be punished.

The shadow was right, and Unicron was without an excuse. The pain reignited as foreign things that did not belong began growing within his body, boring through him longing to escape. And he began to rust, his coppery-bronze components turning a decayed looking brown, and the once vibrant yellow dulling. A pair of horns sprouted from his head, while a large horn erupted from each shoulder. Spikes tunneled their way out of his shins. Four large, long objects burst from near his shoulder blades.

A small spot on the back of his hand began to burn, as though from a drop of acid. Unicron glanced at his hand to feel and see a circle being etched into his hand. Five lines carved themselves into his hand, forming a pentagon within that circle. This pentagon became a star as ten more lines joined it to the circle. It was the worst change of all, for it was a seal of damnation. A symbol of folly.

Dead End's hilt began to writhe and tremble. The tree roots carved into this Anti-Matrix started to snap and fracture. Oily black vines grew out from these broken briers and thorns, and whipped about madly. Some of them found purchase on Dead End's blade, and held fast. They pulled and tightened, forcing the blade downward to squash the impossibly shaped cube-like object beneath. Dark slime oozed out like very thick blood.

The vines continued to pull, dragging the Anti-Matrix, which twitched like an impaled insect, ever upward. The former hilt soon reached its perch, where an unseen hand squeezed its middle. The Anti-Matrix took on the shape of a double-headed hammer as its innards were further disturbed. Legs appeared where the Anti-Matrix had been joined to the sword. The Anti-Matrix scuttled to the tip of the sword like an impaled insect. The broken branches did their best to heal themselves, coming back together at most unnatural angles.

Onyx flames erupted from the oily vines, traveling along their length, and quickly consumed the entire mallet. Unicron knew a similar fate awaited him.

Oh Unicron, how thou hast fallen. Thou hast become a Prince of Darkness, and a slave to it. Thou provest thy worth, and thou livest. When thou hast lost thy worth, thou wilt die a second death.

!

Green optics flickered weakly, before going dead. They lit up again, igniting into a green fire. Monitor lights gleamed in the darkness like thousands of optics. His head must have been near one of Cybertron's super computers, deep within the bowels of Cybertron. Just where the rest of his resided was a mystery.

His brother, Primus, had beheaded him. Yet that second death had not come. The Aether still had a use for him, it appeared. Perhaps Primus had died from his wounds. Unicron sorely envied his twin, for whom damnation did not hungrily await. Primus had been far too wise to believe any of the lies Unicron had tried to tell. Unicron was actually been glad of this. Yes, he hated his brother, but not enough to desire his soul to be cast into the Pit.

But that was all in the past. It was time to consider the present. Unicron reached out to the Aether, and managed to slowly turn himself around. He was in a large cavern, with monitor lights in all directions. He tilted his head up to see the outline of a tower; he had to be near the actual computer core of Cybertron. This was no coincidence. The Aether had brought him down here.

Unicron drew more heavily upon the Aether. Deep within a planet that existed in the Force, this was sure to go unnoticed. Nonetheless, it was with great care that he extended his awareness outward. Many beings were dying, upon and around Cybertron. A massive battle was raging. He could feel the Force shuddering at the violence. So this was what had awoken him.

Unicron grabbed onto the computer tower with the Aether, pulling himself over to it. Several meters above his head were some access panels, having been designed for some with an entire body. He brought his attention to where his neck had been severed. Jagged bits of alloy began to twist and elongate, becoming claws. Power couplings wormed their way from his neck. The couplings intertwined in twos and threes, forming limbs.

Unicron upended himself, and wrapped his new limbs around the tower. He pulled his head up some, and latched on, digging shallow furrows into it. He reached his limbs up further, and disengaged his claws, before hauling himself up. Over the course of several minutes Unicron crawled up the tower like an inchworm.

The nearest access panel flew off its hinges. Safely anchored to the tower, Unicron separated his power couplings, and started plugging in to the various ports. He drew upon the Aether, focusing his mind on the tower. Unicron pushed his spirit from his head...

Unicron was now incredibly vast. He was an entire planet! The Aether could certainly use that, especially once Unicron began to truly understand his capabilities.

!

For thousands of years the civil war between the Autobots and Decepticons had raged. But with the recent capture of Cybertron the Autobots had taken a significant step toward ending it. The Decepticon warships had either retreated or been destroyed. The same held true for most of the Decepticons who'd fought outside said warships. Though an undetermined number of Deceptcions had become stranded, either due to some sort of damage or fear of being killed before they could escape Cybertron's mass shadow. These were being hunted down, and executed. Both in their starfighter alternate forms, Solus Prime and Vector Prime were surveying their assigned quadrant for any more of these terrorists. Solus just wanted to be done with this so that Cybertronian society could get back on the proper hyperlane.

"Sine and cosine functions are quite similar; it doesn't take much for them to shift to one another," Solus Prime pointed out.

"True," her brother conceded. "But the regularity is concerning. On the surface it seems random. A highly quantumized analysis reveals a highly complex pattern of disruption."

"I knew that," the lilac and purple-pink colored Autobot quipped. Vector Prime had the most advanced quantum computing systems of the Thirteen. He could pick up on things the others could not.

I cannot express how sorry I am. Those words saw fit to echo through Solus' mind this day. Liege Maximo had spoken them shortly before betraying the remaining of the Thirteen, and becoming the leader of the newly formed Decepticon movement. Shortly thereafter, Maximo and his second-in-command, Megatron, led an assault on Sacred Chamber in a nearly successful attempt to steal the Allspark. Onyx Prime had demonstrated that the power of the Force could corrupt Cybertronians far too easily, leaving the Thirteen with no choice but to launch the Allspark somewhere out into deep space. They then founded the Autobot faction.

"I'm detecting increasingly anomalous energy outputs from this quadrant's systems," Vector warned. Solus detected her brother's transmission going out on a range of several different frequencies. "The sine and cosine functions are starting to change to tangent and cotangent functions. I suspect the stranded Decepticons have hacked into some of Cybertron's systems. I'll try to trace this back to them."

"Acknowledged," commed the Autobot at the other end.

Solus scanned the quadrant again. The presence of tangent and cotangent functions certainly was not normal, and had her a bit worried. She detected several target locks, and blasted upward while shunting extra power into her rear deflector shield. Still she experienced a brief burning sensation as a shot grazed her shield.

"Light and medium weap..." That same Autobot's message cut out in a short burst of static. He was likely dead. Vibrant blue energy beams rained up around Solus and Vector.

"ons opening fire," someone else finished. "It's happening all over Cybertron."

"There's something we're not seeing," Vector reasoned. "There aren't nearly enough Decepticons here to do that. The heavy weapons will likely open up next." Just a glancing blow from one of those could cripple a Cybertronian.

"Traitors," the unnamed Autobot responded. "It's happened before."

Massive blue energy beams erupted from Cybertron's surface as the heavy weapons were taken over. Warships and Autobots began stretching with pseudomotion, before vanishing into hyperspace, as they escaped Cybertron's mass shadow. A starship buckled in the middle, and sprayed out huge chunks of shrapnel as too many energy beams converged on it.

Solus' sensors filled with momentary static as something scalding hot ripped into, and past her deflector shield. She knew she was leaking energon. One more hit and she was dead. Vector didn't comm her; he also knew she'd just suffered a severe hit, and that there was nothing he could do to help her.

"Cybertron's gone," Vector commed.

"Gone?" a relieved but perplexed Solus asked.

"Shut down your engine." Solus did so, and started repairing her energon leak.

"The planet somehow configured a hyperdrive right under our scanners. I need to follow it and determine what's happening. I can transport you through hyperspace. I would be unwise to chase Cybertron alone."

"Alright," Solus agreed. Even as she transmitted she felt her brother clamp onto her. Less than a second after that the stars elongated and melted into the mottled gray and black void of hyperspace. "I'll power down for a bit."

"Good. I'll wake if anything important and time sensitive happens," Vector promised.

"Thank you." Solus then allowed her mind to sink into the empty void of sleep.