A/N: I was gonna wait a week after the 8th chapter in 'Of Steel and Magic' but I couldn't wait...but anyways so good to be returning to the Decepticons...sort of...this is the introductory chapter of our latest new character joining us from the very first campaign I ever played, so this girl be close to this heart of mine. And she is the only character to 'die' technical, Luna was left for interpretation but it was assumed she was dead and Moon never died because the campaign fizzled out before the ending...so my little gnome druid is special...so lets she how she copes with a new mission after her death!

Chapter 9-Sudden Endings, Slow Beginnings

Unknown POV

I remember the tavern well, the quiet music, the soft laughter and conversation. It was the day, so it was sparse in patrons. I remember the smells, the smell of booze, sweat, meat and wood.

I remember coming in, dejected with myself and others.

I began to drink and drink and drink, until everything was numb and warm. His face suddenly came into view, looking at me with concern, what a fool. He was a fool, who had just murdered a man who was plagued by the death of his wife.

What right does he have to worry about me?

He was like me and as such, I did not give him the time of day.

The other, the Half-Orc Fighter, he didn't care and that was alright.

But him, the Half-Elf Bard, he cared and I hated it.

I remember yelling at him, I remember telling him he had no right to have done what he had done. Then, I remember pulling my scimitar from my belt, brandishing at him...I had thought about even before that moment.

I had done horrible things, I was a monster, blood was on my hands and the pain that came with that...it was hard to handle.

And to see those around me, begin to transform into the same monster as I was. Well...I had enough.

His worried blue eyes stared at me, he asked, "What are you doing?"

And with my voice hollow and dead I replied, "What needs to be done, Zirul."

I turned that scimitar not on him, but me.

The sword slide nicely past my ribs, striking my blackened heart. I smiled, as I coughed up blood, feeling the pain was how it was meant to be. I fell back out of the bar stool.

I heard him scream out my name, rushing to my side to heal my wound, but I pushed him away.

"No…" I whispered, "Let me die...as the monster I was...and am…"

Then, darkness.

For a longtime, I felt darkness but I felt at peace.

My name was Magna 'Mage' Turan, and I died by my own hand.

It was how I wanted it to be, but, what I didn't expect was for the darkness to give way to sounds and light.

...what is going on?...

"Get up, Mage, it's time you opened your eyes." A voice called, it was smooth and...deceptive? I don't know the word for it.

"Come, let us talk." Another voice called, this one sounding like many voices speaking at once.

My golden eyes opened to a strange sight, I didn't see the skies of the Hells or the bluest skies of Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. It was a different sky, it was ever shifting in its nature, one minute blue the next green, purple, red and so on and so forth.

My small Gnomish form sat up, I took myself in, I looked like I was alive again. My studded leather armor was undamaged, my scimitar at my side, my light green hair not full of dirt and grime, my olive skin not covered in dried blood and dirt.

I touched where I had stabbed myself, to find only a nasty scar remaining.

"What-" I was about to ask but stopped and stared, staring down at me were large beings made of metal and wires. One seemed not humanoid, it was hard to tell as plates kept shifting and moving while the other looked like they were made of many parts that could come apart.

"Ah good, now that you are with us, we have much to discuss, Deathless Thorn." The many voices one said, his colors a red while the other golden.

I stared in shock, "Who are you!? What are you!?" I demanded, staring down the two beings, I was never intimidated by anyone larger than I and that was basically everyone.

"Manners, sometimes we forget, young one." The golden one said.

I scoffed, "Young?! I'm 129 years old, you dolt!"

"Trust me, Deathless Thorn, we are older. Compared to us, you are young." The red one commented. "Now, my name is Nexus Prime, the First Combiner and this one here is Amalgamous Prime, the creator of the Transformation Cog."

"Okay, start explaining or I start calling storms to fry you!" I yelled at the tall beings.

With a chuckle from each, they both began to explain everything to me.

I was selected for a mission, to end a war in their world on a planet called Earth with other champions of the Primes. Got to keep my powers, sweet, but I'm going to be one of them...less than stellar.

But with everything out of the way, one thing still bugged me, "Why do you keep calling me 'Deathless Thorn'?"

Amalgamous chuckled at that, "That would be our creator Primus's work. He has a title for each of the champions, you are the Deathless Thorn."

I narrowed my eyes, my swirl tattoos on my check scrunching, "Do the other's have names like that or is that just me?"

"Well yes, two have already arrived on Earth, one that has joined the Autobots named the Devoted Loyalist. Recently, Primus has predicted which champion will go where. And so far he has not been wrong, so more champions will join the Devoted Loyalist." Nexus said, musing about the whole naming thing.

"Well, who else will join the Autobots and what about the Decepticons?" I asked.

Nexus smiled, "Well that would be the Chainless Witch, the Unholy Mistress and the Worn Seamaidan."

Amalgamous then added, "As for the Decepticons, the one already there is named the God Scorner, the others, are the Shadow Hunter, the Ruthless Servant and you, Deathless Thorn, have been predicted to join the Decepticons."

"What makes him so sure of it?" I asked, with a smirk.

"Girl, he is a god, I think he knows his stuff." Amalgamous said.

"Right, well, I was going to join the Decepticons before you told me all of that so…" Both Primes smirked and looked at each other, "Oh shut it, just put me down there already!"

"Don't worry, Mage, we won't bug you to hard…" Nexus said with a laugh.

"But don't expect us to sit idle back like our other siblings either, we like to get our servos dirty sometimes and have some fun!" Amalgamous said with a playful grin.

I groaned, "Great, just great."

I heard the snap of fingers and suddenly, the world went green.


"Ugh, why can't I ever wake up like a normal person…" I asked myself, my head pounded like a motherfucker, gods, where is booze when you need some?!

I suddenly gasped as I realized I was somewhere else.

I studied my new surroundings, it seemed like I was in the middle of a debris field in an inky space. I looked around only to gasp, I was looking down at an entire planet, the blue and green ball reminding me of home yet the landmasses were all different and only one moon instead of three.

"What happened here?" I wondered out loud.

Suddenly, text appeared in my eyes..or optics? I know I really hate this terminology thing in my head-er helm, gah!

It was called a HUD, it displayed that everything in my body was working. Yadda yadda yadda...uh, something called my Spell Pool? I guess I have no need for components to my spells...sweet! But there was something else, called my...Wild Component? Oh! This is where my power to transform into animals comes in! Nicely done Primes!

Anyways, back to the basics.

I noticed a piece of shiny metal pass me, my reflection staring back.

I was a very short 'Cybertronian', don't know how short but I'm small but not Minicon size either. I still kept my studded leather, it was just now metal and the studs were spikes on my shoulder pads, wrist guards, around my collar, shins and even around my faceplate.

I still kept my spiky hair now turned into almost porcupine needle metal spikes that were somewhat flexible that almost went to my peds, between the spikes and the 'hair' was slightly pointed audios. My scimitar was strapped to my back now, covered in a red substance. My fingers were claws now, which was cool.

My protoform was an olive color with my druidic swirl tattoos still on my cheeks. My golden eyes now optics remained, my 'hair' was still a light green with most of my armor jet black with verdant green highlights. My wheels were in my shoulders and hips and I had no heeled peds.

"Strange, but cool." I noticed in my palms were my spell focuses, my onyx stones.

I looked back to my surroundings, unsure of how to move in a floating area such as this.

Suddenly I heard the familiar caw of an eagle, looking to my left came into view a minicon! But it looked like an eagle, the golden metallic feathers guiding it towards me, even in the vacuum of this space. I smiled as I knew those sparkling black optics.

"Wendigo!" I shouted and the bird rushed into my arms, the eagle companion had been my first friend back at the Druidic Temples in those Hinterland Mountains. I raised her from the moment she hatched and she has been by my side since.

As she crashed into my arms she pushed me into a direction but I didn't care.

"How did you get here?" I asked her, there was something in my spark, that's new, that popped up and suddenly a bond was formed.

She spoke through the bond, 'The Primes allowed me to come, I wanted to protect my Mother.'

I smiled fondly, "Glad to have you back, my little sun!"

She transformed and connected to my chest, completing the bond between me and her. Fulfilled, I smiled happily out into the space that now moved past me.

CLANG!

I had slammed into something large hard, I rubbed my back in a groan. I twisted my body around to see just what I hit and I was shocked to say the least. I had run smack into a Cybertronian corpse.

My Energon ran cold, as flashes crossed my mind, of a house raided by Orcs, of a city under attack by an army, monsters of sea dragging me down...someone's blood on my hands, a chase through the streets…

"STOP!" I yelled out to myself, I hit my helm to make it stop, the pain dragging my thoughts away to that instead.

A soothing feeling washed over me from Wendigo and I sighed.

I looked back to the corpse..only to stop for a moment. The way she was built, the way she looked...she almost looked like a...Fetchling! But, that means…

...she is the God Scorner!? O-Or the Devoted Loyalist?

N-No, something tells me this is God Scorner…

….Strange…

Anyways, I slowly made my way to her, she was heavily damaged. Everything wasn't spared to what I assumed was an explosion. But, the center of her chest was the worst, it had a gaping hole in it. Something was glowing from it though, looking deeper I saw crystals of purple hue surrounding and sustaining the purple spark.

I dared not touch it, as sparks were still an unknown to me.

As I stared at her black optics, I wondered, why haven't the Decepticons come for her? Did they think she was dead? Most likely due to the carnage around us now. So how do I get their attention?

'Any ideas, little sun?' I asked my minicon daughter.

'Hm, maybe try touching the spark? You never know!' She chirped back, I sighed to myself.

Despite myself and caution, I reached out tentatively, aware that my digits were now very sharp, I carefully lightly touched purple spark only to pull back painfully, hissing at the stinging.

But when I pulled back a wave of energy blasted out from her, almost knocking me back. I grabbed onto her arm and suddenly her optics onlined and she gasped horribly, her pure blue-green optics flickered as stared at me before going black once more and her frame going lax in my grip.

To say that was terrifying was an understatement, I only reached up to the mid section of the God Scorner. And with that kind of title given to her, I wondered what her actually new name was.

"Now what?" I asked the empty space around me and my new 'friend'.


It took sometime before anything happened and in that time, I had been thinking of names. Wendigo was fine with hers, as she liked it and didn't want to change it, but I could no longer be Magna 'Mage' Turan anymore.

So, here I was, thinking of names near an almost dead corpse. When suddenly the sounds of...I don't know what they were but the damn terminology thing called them jets; started getting louder.

I panicked, this could be the Decepticons now!

'Stay calm, Momma, just go cradle her helm.' Wendigo suggested and I sighed.

"What would I do without you?" I asked but she already knew the answer, so, taking my sun's advice I used her corpse like body and made my way to her helm, cradling it so that it was in my lap. Well as best as zero gravity would allow.

The sounds got louder and louder, I closed my optics telling my fear to go away even just for a bit. With soothing waves from Wendigo, I opened my optics again to see cresting around the wreckage were four 'planes'. Each of them sped up before transforming in front of me and God Scorner.

Three of them looked like triplets with slight differences, one red and silver, one blue and white and the other yellow and purple. The last one was a slim bot with no face but a screen instead.

All of them were silent, as they stared in shock at me and the almost dead Fetchling.

So, to break to ice I spoke first.

"You gonna help me care for this poor spark or are you just going to stand there like a bunch of dead trees?"


I stood next to the femme who had been hooked up to life support. Tubes were attached to her battered frame and her hole covered by a bigger one of those tubes.

I had learned her name, Moonfall. A nice name.

Also, I had learned that she was indeed a Decepticon, so she was most definitely God Scorner. The four mechs I met where the seeker brothers Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp. The other was a mech by the name of Soundwave.

Starscream, out of all them, was most desperate to get her back to this ship, the Nemesis. He seemed most worried, most relieved to see her at least alive and not dead. He seemed to really care about Moonfall, more so than the others.

I have now come to the realization that I am incredible small amongst others. I was only half the size of the two-wheeler on the slab, the mechs, towered over her so they were giants to me. I had to crane my neck to look at their faces, which was nothing new to me, being Gnome meant being one of the smaller races.

'It's okay momma, you are still big to me.' Wendigo chirped, I chuckled and rubbed her form on my chest, she purred happily.

Suddenly the door opened and in came the largest mech I have ever seen. He stood taller than the other mechs, with silver and purple paint, scars on his face, a large cannon and red optics that could kill at a glance. An air about me made the others now their place, I knew just by looking at him he was the leader and one not to be messed with.

...not to mention he was good-looking, scars and all.

I stared as he silently walked into the room staring at Moonfall, with a neutral expression. Then, his optics landed on me, I stared right back. His optics were surprised, most likely due to my height. But then returned to a neutral stance.

He spoke first, his voice like a rumbling thunderstorm. "So, you are the one to bring our comrade home alive?"

I nodded, "Yes, I am."

He hummed, "Do you know who we are?"

"You are the Cybertronian faction known as the Decepticons and you lead them, Lord Megatron." I responded, the little history lesson the Primes gave me was a huge boon.

"That is correct, I have never seen such a...Cybertronian before, where do you hail from?" He asked, his optics never leaving mine.

"I am from below Cybertron, hailing from the Countless Lands." I said.

"Countless Lands?" He asked, his brow raising in curiosity.

"It is where she's from," I motioned to Moonfall and it seemed to click for him, "We are merely different races, she is what we call a Fetchling and I am a Gnome, a small stature race."

"I see, she did say you diversified in unique ways." He mused looking at the battered femme.

"Indeed, there are many different kinds, but enough about that. I want to know...what happens next?" I asked, my weight shifting ready for anything.

He was silent for a moment, "Would you be interested in joining the Decepticons?"

I smiled, "Maybe, if you can guarantee that I am not kept out of the loop of things, I hate when that happens." Hissing the last part, he seemed to nod in understanding.

"I accept those terms, femme, tell what is your name?"

My name! I was thinking of one before, but no, I didn't like it now.

What name suited me? Described me?

In the back of my helm I heard the mischievous laughter of the two Primes and one popped to the forefront of my helm.

"My name is Nerium and it's an honor to serve you, Lord Megatron."

A/N: Don't worry, we are gonna see more povs from other characters as we move forward in the story, main focus on the champions but sometimes will see other pov's. Next chapter will explore the pov's of the Cons during Masters and Students as well as the after effects of Moon's 'death' before she is found with Nerium! And yes, the same goes for Of Steel and Magic, more pov's coming in that story too!