The Deal With That Now shuddered slightly as it entered an approach vector to Cybertron. Springer made an absent-minded tutting noise as he punched a slight course correction into the navigation computer. Next to him Ultra Magnus sat in the co-pilot seat, finishing a report that he would send to Optimus Prime once he reached his office. The report was purely on his negotiations with the Galactic Council, and his troubling encounter with the former Decepticon warrior, Cyclonus, would be reported to Prime in person.
The communications link burst into life and the voice of Goldbug came through.
"Cybertron air control to Deal With That Now, we have you entering Cybertronian airspace on vector 859, please transmit security clearance, over."
Magnus punched his security clearance into the console, and transmitted nodding to Springer who donned his headset.
"Transmitting now, over," Springer replied. Despite the war being over, the Autobots remained in a state of constant vigilance, should Scorponok or any other of the unaccounted for Decepticons ever see fit to put in a reappearance, planetary security, at the behest of Kup, remained tight.
"Transmission received, code verified. Welcome back Magnus." Goldbug responded. "Please change to vector 784 and we'll provide an escort."
Springer and Magnus exchanged uneasy glances. Escorts were not usually afforded to diplomatic ships upon return, unless the security risk level had been raised. On cue Air Raid, one of the functional former Aerialbots and Strafe, formerly of the Technobots settled into a flight pattern alongside the ship as it eased towards Landing Bay 3 on the outskirts of Iacon.
Magnus felt disquiet but didn't say anything while Springer was busying himself landing the shuttle. The auto-pilot could handle it fine, but Springer always insisted on doing everything by hand. He maintained that it kept his skills sharp. As the ship descended to a stop, Magnus saw several Targetmasters drive up to the docking bay, and convert to robot mode to stand alongside Air Raid and Strafe. This was unusual.
Magnus descended from the rear ramp of the ship as Kup arrived, flanked by Sureshot and Blurr. Blurr's Nebulon companion Haywire sat on the light blue mech's shoulder. He was the only Nebulon left on Cybertron at this point, as the Headmasters were still garrisoned to Nebulos, and the other Targetmaster Nebulons had either left (Spoilsport) retired (Peacemaker) or been killed in action (Firebolt, Recoil, Pinpointer) years previously.
Kup looked serious. He marched straight up to Magnus, and handed him a datapad.
"Delegate Magnus, Optimus Prime needs to see you immediately. We've had a major security breach. Report to the Command Centre at once for a briefing, I'm afraid my team here will need to search the ship as per protocol."
Magnus scanned the datapad and his optics flickered briefly. This wasn't good news.
"How could they steal a ship? Are you sure about this?"
"I'm afraid so. I mean, we'd heard they hadn't been adapting well to post-war life, but to be honest, nobody had really taken much of an interest in them. Last I had heard they were boozing it up in Maccadams most nights. We didn't expect this – to be honest, they smashed through security before we knew what had hit us. Guess we've gotten a bit soft, what with the war being over."
Springer ambled his way down the ramp and along to the group, exchanging friendly nods with his former comrades.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Technically, Springer was a civilian and didn't need to know this information, but he and Kup had always been fierce friends, so the Security Chief turned to face him.
"Bad news lad. Twelve hours ago the five members of the wartime special unit known as the Dinobots smashed their way into Iacon spaceport, trashing several of the security forces, and stole a ship. They blasted off immediately. We have no confirmation as to their destination, but Perceptor thinks they mean to go to Earth."
Anywhere but Earth thought Magnus to himself. Earth was a major political hot potato just now. Following the hate plague of 2008, huge damage had been done to the infrastructure and population of Earth. Several right-wing political anti-Cybertronian movements had been formed and the Autobots had been forced to drastically reduce their presence on the planet, especially with Decepticon aggression now a thing of the past. Spike Witwicky's new allegiance to Nebulos, as part of the Autobot known as Fortress Maximus, had resulted in a new Earth Ambassador being appointed who did not share Spike's progressive views toward other races. Optimus Prime had only recently signed a new treaty with Earth, vowing to reduce the number of active Autobots on the planet by 15% year-on-year, with a view to packing up Metroplex by no later than 2022.
"Were there any casualties amongst the security team?" Springer's gentle enquiry cut through Magnus' reverie.
"Pipes, Sandstorm and Sideswipe all took a few bumps and scrapes, but Hoist assures me they'll be back in action within a few joors."
"Glad nobody was seriously hurt, anything I can do to help?"
"Appreciate the offer lad, but you're a civilian now. Get yourself home and try ta stay out of trouble, eh? If we need you, we'll call you."
If Springer was offended he gave no sign of it and instead nodded a farewell to all, clapping Blurr on the back before suddenly metal twisted as he transformed to helicopter mode and rose from the landing bay, with a slight hiss from his rear engines he was soon streaking away into the clear Cybertronian sky.
Ultra Magnus watched Springer go and then transformed to his vehicle mode before beginning the drive to Iacon city centre. Kup and his detail fell into formation with Kup alongside Magnus, Blurr up ahead and Sureshot behind. Kup was providing an update but Magnus was only half-listening, his thoughts drifting to his encounter with Cyclonus. If the Dinobots started to cause political unrest, and it somehow became public knowledge that a prominent ex-Decepticon lieutenant was on the loose, then even more anti-Cybertronian sentiment might spread among the aligned planets. More than ever, Magnus thought to himself, the wisdom of Optimus Prime was required.
As the party drove deeper into Iacon, Magnus noted that the restoration programme aimed at rebuilding the city was not making much progress. Buildings lay empty and many were still in a state of disrepair, shelled out husks of once proud structures paid silent and damning tribute to a four million year war. Cybertron was lacking materials, workforce and Energon. Many of the Cybertronians who had returned to civilian life had wanted to get away from Iacon, which was simply too ingrained as Autobot Headquarters for many of the Transformers looking to start over as neutral unaligned Cybertronians.
The road was mostly straight, and Autobot Headquarters loomed into view in the distance. Before his return to Junk, Wreck-Gar, working with Grapple had refurbished the place, and it now gleamed like a beacon in the centre of the city. It was here that the five members of the Autobot Council made decisions pertaining to the future and security of Cybertron, and Magnus, as a member of that Council, felt the dull ache of responsibility on his spark. He felt tired.
Until 2005, the Autobot Council (admittedly a wartime council, but still a command structure) had consisted of Optimus Prime, Prowl, Ratchet, Ironhide and Jazz. Following the events of the Unicron War, four of the Council were dead (temporarily in Prime's case) and Jazz, following the deaths of many of his companions had requested a demotion back into the ranks, which new leader Rodimus Prime had been only too quick to grant.
A new council, consisting of Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Kup, Perceptor and eventually Blaster (Springer, the original choice had refused outright) had been set up and run the Autobots until Optimus Prime's resurrection in 2008. Subsequently, Blaster had been removed from the council (although he remained in charge of Autobot City on Earth) and Hot Rod made deputy to the returned Optimus Prime. Perceptor had been making a lot of noises recently about wishing to leave the Autobots and begin a civilian life of research, either on Cybertron or Kimia, and discussions about replacements had proven fruitless thus far.
Magnus thought over all the names that had been thrown about. Blaster, Hound and Hot Spot all wanted to stay on Earth for one reason or another. Jazz and Springer were now civilians, as were Omega Supreme, Sandstorm and Sky Lynx. Silverbolt had been one of three Aerialbots who had died on Junk during the final battle. Punch too was dead, shockingly at his own hand following the end of the war. Neither Hoist nor Sideswipe had shown any indication of being suited for command roles, and Arcee was on Nebulos with the other Headmasters. That left Goldbug, who Magnus had championed but Kup, Hot Rod and Perceptor were unconvinced by. Indeed, Goldbug, in his previous life as Bumblebee had been mostly sidelined since 2005, mainly serving as Carly Witwicky's car following the deaths of a lot of the so-called "ark-bots" in the Unicron War. He'd gotten off pretty well compared to some, Magnus mused to himself, as thoughts of Mirage and Trailbreaker manifested unbidden in his processor. He wondered briefly if poor Mirage was part of the reason Hound refused to return to Cybertron.
The gates to Iacon opened and the Autobots entered, driving past several mostly unmanned computer terminals and up to a large lift in the centre where they transformed back to robot mode. Kup and his detail nodded their goodbyes to Magnus, as he punched his own private clearance number into the lift security console. It beeped twice and the doors slid smoothly open. Magnus walked inside and the door shut crisply behind him. The lift then started ascending towards the Command Centre where Optimus Prime would be waiting.
The lift doors opened and Magnus walked into the Command Centre. The room was circular, and lit dimly in the blue of the five computer console screens where each member of the Council would sit, Prime's post facing the other four. A small table filled with energon refreshments stood to one side. At the flick of a switch, Magnus knew, reinforced steel would cover the glass windows and the room could be converted into a battle centre. Thankfully, there had been no cause for that since its refurbishment.
Optimus Prime rose from his post, a datapad in his hand. His optics were dulled and grey. Magnus instantly realised that his old friend was clearly upset.
"Prime?" he enquired gently.
"Magnus, I've just received terrible news. Sparkplug Witwicky is dead."
Magnus felt his spark dull with sorrow. His brain raced with questions.
"What? When did this happen? Does Spike know? What about Daniel?"
Optimus Prime lowered his head somberly and then his optics rose to meet those of Ultra Magnus. He spoke falteringly, and with pain in his voice.
"We don't know for sure, but it looks like he was murdered."
