The Transformers

Episode 102: Thefts and Secrets–Part 2

The eight Decepticons began trying to annihilate the four Autobots on the battlefield. Skywarp, Thundercracker, Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, and Misfire were in their jets modes, Blitzwing and Sixshot were in their tank modes. While Arcee (with Blaster riding in her in radio mode) and Springer tried to avoid the barrage of firepower in their car modes, Astrotrain was in his train mode charging Ultra Magnus in his truck mode in a game of Chicken. It was a draw as both of them collided and wrecked.

As Springer and Arcee split up and tried to avoid their attackers without straying too far from the path to Vector Sigma, Arcee said, "First Megatron, now Thundercracker and Skywarp. Which Decepticons are gonna rise from the grave next?"

"I'd be more worried about staying alive," said Springer. "We're outnumbered!"

"Then let's jam!" said Blaster as he activated his radio waves.

"Look out!" screamed Triggerhappy as the waves disrupted him and caused him to crash into Slugslinger. Both went down.

"Oh, no you don't!" said Sixshot as he transformed to gun mode. Blitzwing transformed to robot mode and grabbed his teammate's gun form. He fired, knocking Blaster out of Arcee. Springer then ran over Blitzwing from behind, causing him to drop the Sixshot gun. As Sixshot was sent flying out of Blitzwing's hands, he transformed to winged wolf mode and pounced on Springer, forcing him to transform back to robot mode to try and fight him off. Arcee wanted to help Springer, but couldn't at the moment as she still needed to shake Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Misfire.

Just then, help arrived as Optimus Prime, Hot Rod, and Kup approached in their vehicle modes. They transformed to their robot modes and began firing on the three remaining Decepticon jets. Prime and Kup fired their weapons and took down Thundercracker. Hot Rod fired his tailpipe guns and hit Skywarp, forcing him to descend. Brainstorm had stayed in his jet mode and fired on Misfire, saying, "Take that, Misfire!" When Misfire went down, Brainstorm transformed to robot mode and joined his teammates on the ground.

Astrotrain transformed back to robot mode, slowly got up, and realized that reinforcements had arrived for the Autobots. He and his group were too damaged to continue fighting. He transformed back to train mode and his teammates began boarding, all except Sixshot, who was still on top of Springer. Arcee transformed to robot mode and shot Sixshot off of Springer, forcing him to transform back into robot mode. Sixshot turned and said, "You'll pay for that, girlie!" But then he saw the four newly-arrived Autobots and how damaged his friends were. "Another time!" he said as he headed for Astrotrain. When he got in, Astrotrain rolled away.

Optimus and the others approached their teammates. "Is everyone alright?" asked Prime.

Ultra Magnus transformed to robot mode and slowly got up, shaking the cobwebs out of his head. "That collision rattled my transmission, but I'll be fine."

Blaster, now in robot mode, answered, "I took a major hit, but I'm okay."

As Arcee helped Springer up, he acknowledged Prime and his group. "You arrived not an astrosecond too soon. Megatron, Soundwave, Cyclonus, and the Predacons may have already reached Vector Sigma."

"And to make matters worse," added Arcee, "somehow, Thundercracker and Skywarp are alive again too."

"I thought those two jets looked familiar," said Hot Rod. "But what does Megatron want with Vector Sigma?"

"No doubt he wants to create new warriors," said Prime. "But how does he plan to activate it without the key?"

"I noticed him carrying something," said Blaster. "I think it was a duplicate key!"

"Oh no," said Optimus. It had just dawned on him. "They must have created it after Silverbolt destroyed the original! That must be what they stole from Shockwave's old control center!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Kup. "Let's get down there and stop those Decepticreeps!" Optimus nodded in agreement. He and the Autobots immediately made a break for the Vector Sigma chamber.

"We're almost there," said Soundwave. Soon, they arrived at the entrance. It opened and all the Decepticons entered.

"Vector Sigma," breathed Megatron. "The mega-computer that is the source of all Transformer life." All the present Decepticons stared in awe. Finally, Megatron said, "Soundwave, release an Auto-scout and carefully remove Vector Sigma. We must safely get it back to Charr. Predacons, merge into Predaking. If any Autobots try to stop us, destroy them."

"Yes, Megatron," said Razorclaw as the five Predacons immediately transformed and united. Soundwave pressed his shoulder button, releasing a tape. It transformed into a small scout vehicle with a grabbing claw. First, Soundwave carefully probed Vector Sigma, trying to find a spot where the claw could grab it without damaging it.

Optimus was leading his team towards Vector Sigma when he pulled to a stop. "Halt, Autobots!" He noticed a glow up ahead. Though he and his team were still too far back to see the Decepticons, he knew where the glow came from. He turned and noticed the looks on each of their faces. Each of them knew it too.

"We're too late," said Arcee.

Hot Rod adjusted his optics to get a closer look up ahead. "And Predaking's guarding the entrance." His optics went back to normal as he added, "We don't stand a chance against him."

Optimus Prime turned away from his troops and stood there helplessly, mentally berating himself. Arcee's statement was correct: the Autobots were too late. If Megatron somehow escaped with Vector Sigma, Prime knew of the consequences. Countless Decepticons, each ready to destroy him and his forces in a heartbeat. He cursed himself for not thinking of this or taking steps to protect Vector Sigma.

Optimus then pushed these thoughts aside. Now was not the time to worry. Now was the time for action. He took a deep breath and turned back to his team. "Autobots, we have only one option: we must go and fight the Decepticons directly."

"That's suicide!" protested Brainstorm. "Predaking will destroy us as soon as he sees us!"

"I know," said Prime. "But we have no choice. We must prevent Vector Sigma from falling into Megatron's hands at all costs. Even if we destroy Vector Sigma and ourselves in the process, he must be stopped!"

All the present Autobots looked at each other. Each of them were worried and for good reason. But Optimus Prime was right. They were at the end of their rope. Megatron was in possession of Vector Sigma, and there was only one way to stop him. Not a word was spoken. Finally, Kup said, "Might as well go down fighting."

All the Autobots tightened the grips on their weapons. Seeing they were ready, Optimus gave the command. "Now!" The Autobots immediately charged forward, firing away.

Predaking saw the coming assault and took the shots. They appeared to have little or no effect on him. He fired his weapon, hitting Optimus Prime directly in the chest. He fell and was miraculously still alive. Without hesitation, all the other Autobots charged forward, still firing. Predaking gunned down both Hot Rod and Springer before Ultra Magnus fired his shoulder rockets. Predaking stumbled but didn't fall. As Soundwave carefully tried to guide his Auto-scout to remove Vector Sigma, Megatron and Cyclonus watched as Predaking fought the charging Autobots. Megatron noticed Prime lying on the ground, damaged but functional. He smiled cruelly and said, "This will be so sweet. Cyclonus, prepare to receive." He then transformed to gun mode, landing in Cyclonus' hands. "Fire!" ordered Megatron.

Cyclonus fired Megatron's gun mode. Optimus saw the blast coming as he got to one knee and was barely able to roll out of the way.

As Predaking gunned down Kup, he landed in Blaster's arms. Kup grunted in pain and said, "It's been nice knowing ya."

Soundwave watched as his Auto-scout carefully moved Vector Sigma away from its normal position in the chamber. As the scout was moving, Vector Sigma all of a sudden started to glow. "Megatron!" he cried. "Something is wrong!"

All fighting stopped at Soundwave's cry. Both Autobot and Decepticon alike turned to see the glowing super-computer glow brighter and brighter. As it brightened, the Auto-scout was incinerated and Vector Sigma began to rise within the chamber. It rose higher and higher, higher than Predaking.

Vector Sigma reached the top of the chamber, glowing as bright as anyone thought it could glow. Then, Vector Sigma exploded in what seemed to be a million rays of light, though in reality, it was much less than that. The light dimmed down enough for all Transformers present to see. To see the transparent form of a being. The being descended, its face showing no emotion. It stared at the present Transformers for several moments. Then it smiled. And spoke.

"YOU HAVE DONE WELL." It's voice was neither male nor female. It was just that: a voice. "NOW THE TIME HAS COME TO SET YOU FREE."

Megatron spoke, quietly asking, "Who. . . are you?"

"I AM PRIMUS."

All the Transformers gasped and stepped back. Primus was always believed to be a myth! Even in the oldest of Cybertron's ancient texts, Primus was an obscure name!

"COUNTLESS MILLENNIA AGO, BEFORE RECORDED HISTORY, THE AGE OF THE GODS WAS DRAWING TO A CLOSE. I WAS THE LAST OF THE GODS OF LIGHT. MY TASK WAS TO DESTROY THE CHAOS-BRINGER, UNICRON. BUT HE WAS TOO POWERFUL. I COULD NOT WIN BY FORCE ALONE. SO I IMPRISONED HIS LIFE ESSENCE INTO A METAL PLANETOID. I HOPED THAT THE THREAT WAS OVER."

"HOWEVER, ANTICIPATING THAT IT WAS NOT, I RESHAPED MY PHYSICAL BODY INTO WHAT YOU KNOW AS THE MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP. A PORTION OF MY LIFE ESSENCE WAS STORED INSIDE. THE REST WAS STORED WITHIN THE CORE OF THIS VERY PLANET OF CYBERTRON, INTO WHAT YOU KNOW AS VECTOR SIGMA."

"WHEN THE QUINTESSONS CAME INTO EXISTENCE AT THE BEGINNING OF TIME, THEY DISCOVERED VECTOR SIGMA, AND PROCEEDED TO CREATE THE FIRST OF YOUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS. THE MATRIX STAYED BEHIND, BURIED WITHIN A MOON NEAR THE PLANETOID WHERE UNICRON WAS IMPRISONED. FROM THERE, I WAS ABLE TO KEEP AN EYE ON HIM."

"WHEN PRIMACRON REBUILT UNICRON TO CHANGE FROM ROBOT TO PLANET, I WAS POWERLESS TO STOP IT. BECAUSE I MYSELF WAS TRAPPED WITHIN BOTH THE MATRIX AND VECTOR SIGMA, AND BECAUSE MY BODY WAS NO LONGER A BODY, I COULD NOT DIRECTLY INTERFERE. WHEN UNICRON REBELLED AGAINST PRIMACRON, I MADE MY WAY TO CYBERTRON, KNOWING THAT EVEN IN HIS NEW FORM, UNICRON WOULD TAKE MANY CENTURIES TO REACH ME."

"WHEN THE FIRST BEARER OF THE MATRIX RECEIVED ME, I TAUGHT HIM THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG, GOOD AND EVIL, FREEDOM AND SLAVERY. IN TURN, HE CONVINCED THE OTHER ORIGINAL CYBERTRONIANS TO REBEL AGAINST THE QUINTESSONS. IT WAS I WHO ALSO GAVE YOUR ANCESTORS THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO TRANSFORM, THEREFORE MIMICKING UNICRON'S ABILITIES. AND FOR EVERY AUTOBOT LEADER WHOSE SPIRIT ENTERED THE MATRIX, I BECAME MORE AND MORE POWERFUL. POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DEFEAT UNICRON ONCE AND FOR ALL. AND YOU SUCCEEDED. I THANK YOU."

Primus smiled as it looked at the Transformers present, who took in the information with the sincerest of belief. Primus then looked at Optimus Prime. "OPTIMUS PRIME, I SENSE YOU HAVE A QUESTION."

Optimus nodded. "Two actually. Why didn't you warn our ancestors, why didn't you warn any of us of Unicron's eventual arrival."

"I DID. REMEMBER THE PROPHESY THAT AN AUTOBOT WOULD RISE TO LIGHT YOUR DARKEST HOUR? I DID WARN YOU. JUST FROM A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW. YOUR OTHER QUESTION."

"Why a war?"

Primus frowned. It answered angrily, "MY POWERS ARE NOT LIMITLESS! I DID NOT KNOW WHAT TRAITS WERE THE BEST TO DEFEAT UNICRON, SO I GAVE THEM ALL TO YOU! I HAD ANTICIPATED SOME DISAGREEMENT AMONGST YOU, BUT NOT A WAR OF SUCH MAGNITUDE! PERHAPS IT WAS INEVITABLE THAT YOU WOULD BE DIVIDED. YET THE CONFLICT HAD IT USES. IT TAUGHT YOU SELF-RELIANCE, HONED YOUR ABILITIES, AND BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN YOU. THIS WAR WAS STARTED BY YOU AND YOU ALONE. THE END OF YOUR WAR WILL COME AT A TIME OF YOUR CHOOSING."

Primus' anger died down. It spoke again, "THE TIME HAS COME FOR ME TO SET YOU FREE. TO SEEK YOUR OWN DESTINY. OPTIMUS PRIME AND MEGATRON, STEP FORWARD."

The two leaders did as they were told. Two prismatic bolts came from Primus' eyes and hit them in their chests. The two leaders jilted at the sensation that flowed through their bodies. When it was done, their chest cavities opened by themselves.

"BEHOLD, THE FULLY RECHARGED AUTOBOT MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP. AND THE DECEPTICON MATRIX OF POWER."

Optimus Prime stared at his recharged Matrix, the blue crystal shining brightly as ever. Megatron looked at his Matrix and noticed that it was just like the Autobot Matrix except whereas, the Autobot Matrix had a blue crystal, this one had a red crystal. The casing around it was silver as opposed to the gold casing around the Autobot Matrix' crystal. The handles around the Autobot Matrix were white, while the handles of the Decepticon Matrix were black. Primus continued to speak.

"EACH MATRIX HOLDS THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF CYBERTRON, AS WELL AS THE SPIRITS OF YOUR ANCIENT LEADERS. ALSO, EACH MATRIX HAS THE ABILITY TO GRANT LIFE TO NEW TRANSFORMERS. BUT BE WARNED, DO NOT EXHAUST ITS POWER TOO QUICKLY. IT MUST HAVE TIME TO RECHARGE. FOR IF YOU EXHAUST THE POWER, IT WILL BE LOST FOREVER. REMEMBER, THAT GOOD CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT EVIL, NOR EVIL WITHOUT GOOD. PEACE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT WAR, NOR WAR WITHOUT PEACE. THERE IS NO COMPASSION WITHOUT HATRED, AND NO HATRED WITHOUT COMPASSION. IT IS ALL PART OF THE COSMIC BALANCE."

Primus then began rising and glowing. Brighter and brighter until vision was impossible. Both the bright light and Primus then began to fade. As it disappeared, Primus bade farewell. "FAREWELL, MY CHILDREN."

When the light died down, all that remained in the Vector Sigma Chamber was Vector Sigma itself and the eight Autobots who had journeyed down there. Seven of them looked around, wondering what had happened to the Decepticons. Optimus Prime, however, continued to stare at Vector Sigma as it floated back to its normal place. Ultra Magnus finally broke him out of his reverie. "Prime?" Optimus was shaken out of his trance as he turned to his old friend. "Are you okay?"

Prime nodded and looked back at Vector Sigma. "Ultra Magnus," he said finally, "see if Vector Sigma can be moved to another location. I don't want it to fall into the wrong hands again."

Back on Charr, Megatron was watching four new warriors train. Ever since he and his army discovered themselves mysteriously back on Charr, many of them had been asking him, Soundwave, Cyclonus, and the Predacons what had happened. While they were being filled in, Megatron immediately sought to test out his new Matrix to see if Primus' words were true. The birth of the four new warriors proving themselves on the training ground made him smile. Things were finally looking up for the Decepticons' future. Eagle Eye and Windrazor's power, smarts, and attitudes were just what Megatron liked in warriors. Nightracer, a female Decepticon race car, was one of the best sharpshooters he had ever seen. Terradive, however, was merely brute force without a lot of brains–which was just fine with him.

Megatron thought about what Primus said. If there was such a thing as destiny, he was going to pursue it the only way he knew how: defeat the Autobots and conquer the Universe. This brought a satisfying smile to his face.

Back on Cybertron, the Autobots were discussing the significance of their meeting with Primus.

"Can you believe it?" asked Hot Rod. "We were actually face-to-face with a god!"

"Yeah," agreed Arcee. "That was, as I believe the humans say, far out!"

"But is it really true what he said about this war?" asked Springer. "That we brought it all upon ourselves?"

"Who's to say?" asked Kup, answering the question with a question. "I learned a long time ago that life throws you a lot of unexpected twists and turns."

Optimus Prime had been staring out upon the city of Iacon the whole time. Ultra Magnus approached him and said, "Prime? You've been quiet all this time. What do you think of Primus' words?"

There was silence for a long time. Finally, the Autobot leader responded, "I'm worried for ourselves."

"What do you mean?" asked Magnus.

Optimus turned to face all the Autobots present. "If what Primus said is true, about destiny, about us bringing this war upon ourselves . . . what does that say about us?"

No one had a satisfying answer.

The End