"We thought that we were going to defeat savathun. We were experienced. We'd been around since the tower was built. Two titans and a hunter. We were wrong. We weren't meant to kill her, so we failed. We failed, and now my fireteam is dead. I'm alone here. This is Garrick-3, signi-"

"That's where the feed cuts. Seems like savathun got the upper hand."

"A shame. Their fireteam was one of the best."

"Indeed. It appears that we have need of you once more, guardian."

It is a little known fact that the traveler is an extension of Primus himself, who is a creation of the Winnower. And so, the ghosts too are tethered to the allspark, as are their guardians. They share a spark. Unfortunately, a human or awoken guardian is not truly tethered. The exo, however… they are pulled home with their ghosts. Cybertron is on the brink of war with itself. It is in need of guardians. We just so happen to have three fresh sparks, pulled too soon from their shells. We will give them new form, matching their protective shell. They will remember their time as guardians. They will be given a third chance. Let us see. Let us hope… That this is entertainment enough.

The first one wakes…

"Guardian. Guardian. Guardian! Get up!"

"Uggghhh…", groaned Garrick, waking from his longest death so far, "where- oh- okay- that's weird."

"What is?", asked his ghost.

"I can't tell the difference between my body and my armor."

"Isn't that normal for exo?"

"Yeah, but normally there's SOME kind of sense of difference."

"Hold on," the ghost said, startled, "does your helmet have a mouth?"

"Does it?"

"Yes, it does."

"... Damn."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Do you feel-," Garrick started to say.

"Bigger?", finished his ghost, "Me too."

"Oh, okay. What the actual fuck?! What is happening here?!"

"I don't know!"

"Okay, let's try to remember the last thing we did before we died."

"We?"

"Yeah- Ohhhhh. Oh my god."

"What?"

"I died my final death."

"Then how are we- you know what, nevermind. We need to find out where we are, and why this entire planet is made of metal. Let me check to see if whatever happened messed up your subroutines. I don't need you locking in place the second you get out there."

"Okay."

"Alright then, let's see… Wow. Just… Wow."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. There's just an extra few subsystems here. Some stuff about a… T-Cog. Vehicle mode, available weapons. Here's something about energon… Whatever that is, you're st capacity. It seems like we still have access to our weapon blueprints, my storage system, and all of our glimmer and shards are still with us. Check your weapons."

"Alright. Monte Carlo, check. Fourth Horseman, check. Tractor Cannon, check. Are my armor systems still intact?"

"Yes, they are. The exotic systems you put inside your armor still function… Somehow."

"What can I say? It was a stroke of genius."

"It was insane."

"Eh. Let's get moving."

The were walking for 5 days, only stopping when one of the planets many strange mechanical beasts attacked them. Garrick was starting to give up hope, when suddenly…

"I've figured it out!"

"What?"

"The T-Cog, I know what it is now!"

"And?"

"The T stands for transformation. Vehicle mode sound familiar?"

"Yeah, you mentioned it when we got here. Five days ago."

"It's YOUR vehicle mode. You can transform!"

"... You shittin' me? I've been walking for days with no sign of civilization!"

"Just try to do it."

"Fine!"

And he tried. He felt something trying to move around, but it wasn't letting him. He tried again. And again. And on the fourth try… The sound of joints moving in and out of place, metal plating snapping apart and back together. He had transformed into a Drake model tank, shaped similarly to his armor. Parts that hadn't existed on him before drained some of his glimmer supply, but not by very much.

"Well then. This is still slower, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's keep going."

So, they did. Some of the parts from the drake remained on Garrick's armor… body? He supposed it was his body now. The tank's cannon was attached to his right arm, and the treads were attached to all four of his limbs. When he looked down the barrel near the end of his search, he saw that the inside glowed with void energy. He wondered which of his sentinel abilities translated over to this new form. And, as he neared the Edge of the city, he wondered if his fireteam, his friends, had made this seemingly cosmic journey as well.