Epilogue
1000 Years Later…
A thousand years really wasn't a very long passage of time for creatures whose lifespans at times could seem almost infinite. To Predaking it seemed that they had only arrived at their new world only a spark beat ago. A new world that had been named Diuturnus (The name had come from the Vehicon-Predacon M1-L0 or Milo and due to a lack of any better ideas the name ended up sticking.) While the planet shared a few similarities with Earth for the most part it was vastly different. To name just a few these differences, the planet was four times the size of Earth, had two moons and was in close proximity to a gas giant. Not to mention that whereas Earth's seasons only took a few months to complete their cycle, each of Diuturnus's seasons took at least a vorn to complete. So in some ways this world was extremely harsh, but it was also lush and beautiful and the most important thing of all…
It had become a home.
And no one had worked harder than Orb Weaver to make sure that everything was perfect.
Right from the very beginning she had been assigned the task of cloning more Predacon's from the all of the fossils in storage in her ship since she was the only one who was even remotely capable of even attempting the task. Intimidated as hell? You bet she was. But for the first time in her life she could actually put her knowledge of genetics to good use; so after setting up a functional laboratory deep in a cavern, Weaver began the cloning project… Well as best she could anyway considering that she only had enough equipment to create five cloning tanks. It was a small operation but with every Predacon that was successfully given life, Orb Weaver became more skilled with her work and she also became more self-confident in general.
But it was one particular event that truly laid the groundwork for what was yet to come… After four hundred years of isolation, an unknown Cybertronian ship apparently locked on to a high energon reading coming from Diuturnus as it had been traveling nearby and the pilot decided to investigate. Of course no sooner had he exited his ship was he greeted by the sight of many colossal Predacons staring at him and before he could escape the mech found himself apprehended and brought before Predaking and Songbird. While neither was exactly pleased with this new development both of their attention was caught when this stranger hastily pointed out that he was neither Autobot nor Decepticon but just a freelance arms deal-(cough cough) merchant… and his name was Swindle.
His fast talking had saved his life (just as it had many times in the past) but it was what he could offer the Predacons that made him an invaluable ally. After a brief discussion between the mated pair, Orb Weaver was summoned to come and discuss with this merchant about obtaining materials that she needed to upgrade her lab. Weaver had been ecstatic at the thought of improving her laboratory… and Swindle had been ecstatic at the thought of the payday that this was going to bring about. Which brought about a slight conundrum, since the Predacons had developed their own currency but it wasn't the kind that Swindle undoubtedly wanted. He wanted Cybertronian credits; fortunately Weaver had the solution to this… it just involved using money that wasn't actually hers.
Weaver pointed out that she almost felt bad about cleaning out all of Airachnids personal accounts to pay Swindle…
Almost being the key word…
Nevertheless Weaver got what she wanted and her lab now held over fifty-five cloning tanks, various other pieces of lab equipment and a master computer system. However that was the extent of what her funds could obtain because after that she was flat broke. But Swindle saw another opportunity and it was something far more lucrative for the future. He respectfully approached the Predacon king and queen with a business arrangement; he would continue to provide Weaver with the necessary equipment she required for her work in exchange for a steady supply of goods that their people crafted as well as being allowed to personally trade with Predacon merchants. Swindle wasn't stupid and he could see the unique and exotic beauty in the Predacon's wares and if he could sell some of them back on Cybertron he'd make a fortune. Especially considering that he'd be the only person on the entire planet with access to these items and because of that he could charge anything he wanted for them. He would easily be able to turn a profit even at the expense of some good equipment.
While it was hard not to see the benefit of this proposed barter system, Predaking agreed to Swindles idea but decided to add one little detail to this agreement. Namely if he was to speak one word to anyone about where and who he was obtaining these goods from he would personally rip out Swindles oversized optics and then tear his internals out through his mouth. Needless to say that Swindle hastily agreed to these terms.
Although it was whether it was due to protecting his investment or his fear of Predaking's threat one couldn't say for certain…
Anyway, with all of the laboratory upgrades in place Orb Weaver was able not only to increase the number of Predacon she could clone at a time but she was able to further draw on her understanding of genetics and began to engineer an even greater variety in the species of Predacons she was able to create. Which was fine until the day that one particular Predacon was created…
His name was Rampage…
A name that he completely deserved. His creation was an accident as Weaver had been trying to repair a damaged piece CNA and accidentally mutated it… The result was an abnormally large, abnormally powerful dragonformer who was at best completely out of control, and at his worst a psychopathic cannibal! Appearance wise he was roughly the same size as Predaking although considerably bulkier. He had a long pointed snout and jaws lined with saber-like teeth, his wings were different from Predakings in the fact that they were not as sleek as the kings but were much broader and it was clear he could not retract them like Predaking could while in his beast mode. His color scheme was mostly a mix of various shades of red and orange with the occasional splash of purple thrown in, his bio-lights matched his optics and were a deep acid green in color. His robot form possessed a similar color scheme to his dragon form and was also every bit as big as Predaking granted he lacked as many ornaments and spikes as the dragon king had, although he did possess a purple battle mask with a jagged line in the center almost giving it the impression of a vertical mouth. His real mouth was lined with jagged teeth and he was content to lash out and bite whenever he felt like it.
It shouldn't be too surprising that due to his demeanor and his habit of terrorizing anyone weaker than him, (there were times it seemed as though he fed off the fear and terror he inflicted on others.) he ended up clashing frequently with Predaking. The battles between the two were vicious as Rampage was horrifyingly strong and knew how to use his brutal strength; not to mention that he was unpredictable, rapidly shifting between his robot and beast mode. Still Predaking always managed to best him although there were some close calls… very close… But even though he was defeated repeatedly at the servos of his king, the mutants' bad attitude never improved. At one point he even scratched the Predacon insignia off of his chest leaving nothing but an 'X' where it used to be. He became such a problem that Predaking began to think that the only option he had to deal with him would be to euthanize him. However that option was proving to be a problem in and of itself especially since he thought he had already killed his adversary no less than three times beforehand! But as fate would have it another accident in Orb Weaver's lab unintentionally brought about the solution to the Rampage problem. A violent quake damaged the laboratory, destroying several cloning tanks and the Predacons growing within them. It was a mess but amidst the destruction there was something unexpected, there was a single survivor. If you could call it that… The surviving Predacon was a femme, but due to her tank being destroyed when she was so underdeveloped the likelihood of her surviving long was next to nothing.
She really was a depressing thing to look at; her small body had very little developed armor exposing virtually all of her protoform. Her dragon body held no decorative ornaments or spikes past a single pair of horns on her head. Color wise she was a shining silver and white with faintly glowing red bio-lights that matched her ruby colored optics. It was the same story for her robot form, she had barely any armor and her color scheme retained the same hues of silver and white. After hooking the underdeveloped femme up to a makeshift life-support system Weaver asked for Songbird to come down there and see if her healing ability could help her. Song got there as quickly as she could and upon her arrival she did as she was asked and began healing the poor damaged creature… For all the good it did, while it may have helped stabilize her internals it did not give her any armor nor did it do anything to help a speech impairment and she had either. But at least she would live… Still just to be safe Orb Weaver kept her under observation for a little over a week, if only to make sure that she wouldn't drop dead. After that she was free to leave the laboratory, but not before Weaver gave her a name that she believed to fit her…
…Transmutate…
Still worried for the weak femme's health, Songbird decided it was best that she show Transmutate around. But as the two were flying over a certain area a thickly forested swampland Song realized a little too late that they were in danger. She didn't have enough time to get out of the way when Rampage appeared from below and tackled Songbird right out of the sky and as she was still stunned from the surprise attack he managed to pin her beneath his sharp claws. This had been a bad time to forget that the Devilwood swamp was Rampage's territory… He snarled in the face of his queen, fully intending to kill her whether she was a queen or not. But just as he began to draw up his green flames to incinerate her he was hit by a pathetically weak electric attack courtesy of Transmutate. (It should be stated that Weaver had analyzed Songbirds genome and discovered a way to replicate the unique abilities of healing and lightning breath in other Predacons…) He angrily whirled around and prepared to blow whoever dared to attack him straight to the Pit; but the second his optics landed on the small femme he stopped dead in his tracks…
Now the gryphonformer and seen some weird things over the course of her life but watching one of the most dangerous Predacon's ever created curiously inspecting possibly the weakest Predacon ever to exist who was also inspecting him back at the same time was definitely up there. It became even more bizarre when the smaller dragon stopped and reared up onto her hind legs and licked his cheek in such a sweet way that it made Rampage freeze for a moment before he turned and began walking away… And then he stopped and indicated for Transmutate to follow him, which she hastily did. Although she did cast a glance back at Songbird and smiled as though to say that she was happy and then disappeared from sight altogether.
By the time Songbird returned home that evening she needed a cold compress for her helm…
And desperately needed some high-grade to deal with this serious WTF moment…
The first time she told her mate this story he didn't exactly believe her, but when an entire month went by and Rampage did not cause any havoc he started believing her. Eventually Predaking ventured into the Devilwood to speak with Rampage and he found the mutations dwelling, a large cave covered in vines and moss, with a disturbing 'totem pole' for lack of better words assembled from the bones of large creatures Rampage had undoubtedly killed to obtain the parts for this construct. He also found Transmutate outside enjoying the warm sunlight filtering down through the branches overhead; Rampage was nearby also lounging in the sun but the second he noticed his King approaching he transformed and was advancing threateningly at the intruder on his private land. But Predaking didn't want to fight, he wanted to make a deal with the dangerous mech. And it was an arrangement that Rampage actually liked…
From that day forward, Rampage was Predaking's interrogator and executioner. Since there had been a few organized attempts on the dragon king's life and the life of his mate. While it was nothing he couldn't handle, Predaking wanted to be absolutely certain and for that he would require a special type of individual to perform the interrogations. He would also play the role of the executioner for any criminals guilty of only the most heinous crimes. It was a job that Rampage reveled in… and since Rampage was so well known and so feared it only added to the intimidating aura he could put off.
But Predaking knew that while Rampage was more controlled now, it did not mean he was loyal…
He would probably still attempt to kill Predaking if he was given the chance…
But as the old saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer and that's exactly what Predaking was doing…
Overall it had been a very eventful thousand years. Only now Predaking was confronted with something new, it was something that he had been equal parts looking forward to and dreading down to his very core. Songbird was carrying what would be his first biological offspring... When Song had first told him about her pregnancy Predaking felt as though his spark would burst from the overwhelming feeling of pride and joy. But now as he was getting his servo crushed by his agonized and screaming mate he was far more nervous. Still happy, but more nervous. There was another agonized howl and Songbird suddenly lashed out in pain. Unfortunately her fist contacted the side of her mates head and he was promptly knocked out cold…
"Time to wake up your Majesty."
Predaking groaned as he felt a throbbing pain in the side of his head. He recognized the voice that was speaking to him as belonging to Knockout; the blood red Aston Martin having been the doctor who was delivering his and Songbirds sparklings. It was also not that surprising to learn that as the only trained physician on Diuturnus he was also in charge of teaching all of the future Predacon medics. For even though the healing ability was given to a few Predacon's here and there, it could not cure everything. There would always be a need for trained doctors. But as his senses came flooding back to him Predaking's optics snapped open and he stood up so quickly he got a surprised yelp from Knockout.
"Songbird? Is she alright? Are the little ones-?" He began, only to be stopped when Knockout held up a servo silencing him.
"They're fine. They're all fine; your mate just clocked you whilst in the throes of emergence. Something that's not uncommon during births I assure you. But you and your mate have five sparklings. It's normal for dragon Predacon's to have between three and four sparklings while gryphons the average is two to seven so this is nothing unexpected. And don't worry they're all fine… well mostly fine anyway." And before Predaking could question what the medic meant by that, Knockout pulled back the curtain divider revealing that he'd just been placed on a cot in the same room as his Song. Orb Weaver, Moonrise and Freefall were already there, the entire family having been called together now that the sparklings were finally born. Each of them was holding a small newborn while and utterly exhausted looking Songbird held one of the final two. Over the course of a thousand years it became obvious that the two humans turned Predacon's were now aging in the typical Cybertronian way, slowly. At the current moment Freefall was just entering her mid-teenage years while Moonrise was almost at the beginning of her teenage years. Orb Weaver was now a young adult.
"Aw dad these little guys are adorable!" Moony chirped happily as she looked at the little baby dragonformer she held in her arms. The interesting thing about Predacon sparklings was that they were always born in their beast forms and wouldn't transform for several months. Weaver speculated that this adaption arose due to the fact that the sparklings beast forms are physically stronger and allow the little one to be more independent than a regular Cybertronian sparkling. Or what it really translated to was that baby Predacon's were great at giving their parents headaches and nervous fits when they're little.
Even though Predaking still felt like he was in a daze when he looked at the little sparkling Moonrise held, but as he fully registered what he was looking at what he saw was one of the most beautiful things in the world. This sparkling was a little dragonformer, just like him. He could see its coloring was already a stunning black and gold, also just like him… Frag it was a mini him! It even had tiny little mandibles!
"The sparkling that Moony's holding and the sparkling that Weaver's holding are our firstborns." Songbird said as she watched her mates eyes grow wide as he looked at the sparkling before him. Weaver moved in closer it allowed Predaking to look at the little one she was holding. Physically identical to its sibling with the only difference being that this sparkling had his mother's sapphire blue coloration. "They're both mechs and from what I've been told they're spark twins."
"Spark twins?" Predaking echoed as he looked like he wanted to take them into his own arms but quite frankly he was afraid that he would drop them so we decided against it… at least for the moment anyway. But his look of awe quickly changed to one of pride as he smiled down at the sleeping forms of his twin sons. "They will be powerful and deserve powerful names." It was then that the golden twin yawned in his sleep before coughing out a few electrical sparks. "And it would seem that this one has your lightning breath."
"If they're spark twins that means the other one has it too." Weaver pointed out.
"Give them time and they'll be acting like little lightning gods." Freefall chuckled although she remained mostly mesmerized by the little sparkling that she was currently holding. But her eldest daughters' words made Songbird pause as an idea came to her.
"Lightning gods? How about Zeus and Thor?" She suggested.
"Zeus and Thor." Predaking mused for a minute before smiling. "A grand choice of names my love."
"And then there is this little guy. But I guess he's not so little." Freefall said as she walked over to her stepfather and showed him the sparkling in her arms. Now this sparkling was not a dragon like his two elder siblings, he clearly took after its mother and was a gryphon. However he was also quite a bit bigger than the twins and had a rich black, orange and red color scheme. "He's the biggest of the bunch. And with his color scheme he reminds me of a cinders and ashes. What do you guys think about the name Ashfall?"
"I think that it is appropriate... in fact it fits him rather nicely." Predaking chuckled as he moved over to Songbird side and looked at the little one that she was currently holding. "And who is he?"
"She." Songbird corrected as she adjusted the blanket so Predaking could get a better look at his new daughter. Another dragon but this one had a much narrower more pointed face without mandibles. Her wings were different than her sires and actually look to be an amalgamation of both her parents' wings. Her color scheme was also like her mother's, but even though she had just been born coloration held an odd shimmering beauty. "She is the only femme."
"She is so beautiful..." Predaking whispered as he gently caressed the tiny form nestled within the blankets. "with her color scheme she reminds me of a rushing river." He was silent for a few minutes before looking at Songbird who likewise looked at him and judging by the look in her optic, they both had the same idea. "Her name shall be River." But in spite of the overwhelming emotions he was feeling something that knockout had said came back to him. "I thought Knockout said that there were five?"
"There are." Knockout said as he returned to the room everybody else was currently crowded into. At his side was Transmutate, who was currently filling a position as a nurse. As it turned out Transmutate had been gifted with the healing ability and since Knockout's normal assistant, Breakdown, had volunteered to go and deliver the sparklings of one of his Vehicon friends, the strange little femme was a decent substitute all things considered. She was even the one carrying the sparkling in question. "Only we may have a slight problem with this one."
Transmutate walked up to Predaking and very carefully and gently put the in particularly small sparkling in his arms. "His optics are…. very weak…" The femme explained as best she could, even though her speech impediment caused her to talk strangely. "I am….. sorry….. there is…. nothing….. I can do…" Silently he looked at the tiny form in his servos. Immediately it was obvious that this sparkling was the runt of the litter. It was a tiny dragon mech so small he could almost fully fit in one of Predaking's palms. He had a pointed and narrow snout with no mandibles and his wings were similar to Rivers'. His color scheme was primarily black although he was heavily accented with whites, grays and the occasional splash of light blue. Even now his optics were open revealing a pale white color that flickered every now and again. Indeed this child had very weak optics and Predaking knew that there was a very high chance he would go completely blind before he even reached his teenage years.
"He will be just as strong and as lively as the rest of them." He stated as he looked over the tiny squeaking sparkling. "Even though his optics are weak, I know that they shall never slow him down." He knew this, he knew this with such a ferocity that it surprised him. "He will do great things." A servo was placed gently on his arm and Predaking looked over to see Songbird looking at her youngest son with such warmth and affection that it almost seemed to make her glow.
"What shall his name be?" She asked quietly, her voice sounding even more tired than she looked if that was possible.
Predaking need to think long before an appropriate name came to him. "Scythe." He said quietly. "His name shall be Scythe. For he will be as swift and as deadly as the Grim Reapers blade."
"Scythe…" Songbird said as she moved over in the berth so that her mate could sit next to her which he did and he helped her take her smallest child into her arms so now she was holding her daughter and the youngest of her sons. "Oh yes, we can expect great things from him."
"I can already tell…" The great king grumbled as he gently pet his smallest sons little head and he turned to look at the rest of his now very large family and smiled.
"Great things lie ahead for them all…"
And that is it! This story is complete! I am sorry about the delay but I wanted to post the last chapter and the epilogue together so it ended up taking a bit more time, sorry about that.
But to those who have pointed out, yes I'm aware that there are some serious flaws within this story there are some things that I do need to work on. I completely agree. Yes, I have read all my reviews and I really do appreciate the constructive criticism I have received and I will take it to heart and hopefully I can improve on some of my weak points in my next stories…
Although I do not see the need to insult anybody for liking this story. That's just being stupid and childish...
Now to answer the question that a lot of people have already asked me; yes I do plan to write a sequel to this story. There were some things that I felt were a bit rushed but in the end it really just wanted to get this story finished. Those issues I will hopefully touch up on in the sequel…
Not to mention that I really want to build up the world that Songbird and Predaking are living on in the culture they are going to develop and how it's going to compare to things over on Cybertron. Also I chose to call the planet Diuturnus because the word 'Diuturnus' is Latin for 'A very long time.' or 'Until the end of time.' I thought it was an interesting idea...
And yes Rampage and Transmutate will have very important roles in the sequel as well. I'm sorry but Beast Wars was the first Transformers series I ever watched back when I was a kid and it is always held a special place in my heart. And I have always felt a little sorry for both Transmutate and Rampage… And also the idea of Rampage being a Dragon Predacon was just too tempting so I decided to put him in…
However, I do plan on taking a little break first. As much as I've enjoyed writing this story towards the end it was a little draining. And there's also the fact that I want to get working on a Transformers Animated story that I've had planned for some time now. After I get a few chapters of that up and running I'll start working on the sequel to Not Alone…
I just want to say that this is been a really fun story to write and I want to thank everyone who has read this story. And please remember to Read and Review! ^_^