TransFormers
'The War Within
The Golden Age: 03"By Primus, it's beautiful…"
Jetfire gazed reflectively at the panorama spread out below him. Seldom before had he felt so relaxed, so at peace with himself. So unlike the harsh reality being played out below him. Currently in his jet form, with large red booster rockets attached to his back, Jetfire was sitting in orbit around Cybertron. He was, he smiled to himself, the first person to achieve escape from Cybertrons gravity under their own power. An achievement to be proud of, to be sure, but… His smile faded. Of what real use was it, in todays world. Jetfire found his eyes drawn towards the stars Cybertron orbited, as often happened when he was feeling wistful and disillusioned with himself.
"Beautiful…"
He dragged his gaze back towards Cybertron. He wondered how much longer he could put off returning. Time, he thought, to put his thoughts into words, to leave a record of what had been achieved here. He activated a recorder, one that would record what his eyes were seeing as well as what his mouth reported.
"This is my world, Cybertron. See how the suns make it shine, glowing like it's a star itself. I often wonder how we came to be here, how our race came into existence. Like an increasing number of others, I feel the Matrix Doctrine doesn't hold true, like it's missing a few essential facts. Withholding, maybe."
He shook his head. Even now, he couldn't just express joy at the scene below him. He started again.
"This is Cyberton. My world. My home. My prison."
Now he smiled again. It was most unlike him to be so moribund. Idly he wondered if his subconscious was trying to keep him up here as long as possible, keep him away from the ground, and the reality he was growing to hate. Trying to gather his thoughts, he was distracted by a flash from the equator, and a sleek form rocketed away from Cybertron.
"Countdown. How I envy him."
Countdown had won a place in Kalis' space program, just before funding was cut so far back as to be non-existant. His was the last mission scheduled for the foreseeable future, to go to the rim of the galaxy and back, try to find signs of life in the cold, distant, uncharted reaches of the universe. He'd never really spoken to Countdown, but knew of his thesis and research on extraterrestrial life. Countdown was the best person for this job.
"I wish I could have gone… but my skills are needed here…"
Jetfire grimaced to himself. At least, that's what they told me when my application was turned down. Time to go, he told himself. In the middle of calculating his re-entry vectors, he noticed two flashes of light from the surface. Utilising his enhanced vision capabilities he zoomed in on the objects speeding across the sky. Sophisticated thermal readers and radiation counters spiked into the red, confirming what his eyes told him already. Thermonuclear missiles. Launched simultaneously by Vos and Tarn from the drive trails. Jetfire activated his comm. knowing as he did so that it would be too late for the people on the ground. The missiles passed each other.
"Control, this is Jetfire! Emergency code three-nine-two-eight! You need to-"
The missiles hit.
The light of a thousand stars obscured Jetfire's vision. For long minutes, there was nothing but white light. Finally Jetfire's eyesight came back, filters sliding away. He stared down at the flaming mass below him.
"Oh no…"
Inside the Council pavilions at Iacon, panic and confusion reigned. Voices shouted above one another, clamouring to be heard. Two of the viewscreens above the councillors heads showed nothing but noise, and static kept breaking up the others. A red light bathed the scene in an eerie glow. Sitting higher up behind a raised workstation Tomaandi lowered his gaze behind his steepled fingers.
"Xaaron?"
The gold hued robot turned away from the window, where he was staring out at the twin columns of smoke drifting over the horizon.
"Sir?"
"Are the rescue teams en route yet?"
"Yes. Their ETA is about two hours from now. Kalis' teams should reach Vos sooner. We can't contact any city-states further out than that due to the radiation fallout. Ah, sir?"
"Yes, Emirate?"
"Why has this happened?"
"We don't know. Relations between Vos and Tarn were, well, difficult, but to think they'd go this far…
"Go and await the rescue teams making contact. You will be our man on the scene. I will try and regain order here."
Xaaron turned and, with great restraint, walked out of the room. As soon as the doors slid shut, however, he broke into a run…
Closer to, the impact site resembled nothing more than the gates to the fires of the inferno. A great scar gouged out of the surface of the planet, the metal surface incinerated and vanished into oblivion. Fires blazed uncontrollably, and explosions continued to rock the ground. The smoke, acrid and burning, billowed across the land, scarring and tormenting whatever it came upon. Further out, the ground lay crumpled, pushed up into ripples like a pushed out blanket. The smoke was less dense here, although still dangerous. The fires raged, but sporadically, and much less out of control. Out from under rubble and wreckage injured and deformed people pulled themselves out. Groans and moaning filled the air. Into this nightmarish vision came six robots, grim and determined. They pulled up, and transformed into their upright forms. One, a white and red medic, raised his hand to his mouth.
"By Primus…"
A taller, all red figure placed his hand on the shocked robots shoulder.
"I know, but we've no time for that."
"I'm sorry, Ironhide. But, where do we begin?"
Ironhide turned to the others.
"Grapple, Windcharger, see about moving some of that wreckage. Hosehead, get those fires out. Bumblebee, start scanning for survivors trapped in the rubble, we'll get them out first. First Aid, get your medical bays prepped. I'm gonna contact Iacon," He looked at what used to be Vos, as the others began moving to their positions. "We're gonna need some help."
Days passed. As the rescue teams valiantly fought to rescue the trapped and injured citizens, more worrying news reached the council in Iacon. The council reconvened to hear the reports from the returned teams. The whole room was filled, representatives from every city-state present. Just one seat was empty, the most important seat in the room. A nervous tension crackled through the air. A white robot with red flashes took the floor.
"It was horrific. The whole city-state, just gone. All those people…. We got some survivors but…"
He stuttered into silence. Ironhide, returned from Vos, took up as he faltered.
"Just like Red Alert says, it was exactly the same at Vos, no-one even knows what caused it. They were just going about their business, and BOOM. They don't understand. Do we?"
Xeon, looking paler than those present had ever seen him, spoke.
"This information stays in this room for the moment, understand?"
Everybody nodded in mute agreement.
"It would appear that Tarn and Vos launched missile strikes at each other, at exactly the same time. We never imagined that hostilities had got this bad. Of course, we are doing all we can for the refugees flooding into Iacon, but we will need to shut our borders soon. We just don't have the resources or space. We will need all your co-operation to repair this damage, and accommodate the survivors. Do we have it?"
Again, everybody nodded. Red Alert drew his eyes away from the empty seat that he had been staring at, and spoke.
"Lords, where is the Overlord?"
An oppressive silence fell on the council. The Overlord was one of the oldest Transformers in existence, and needed regular, almost constant check ups and refuelling. He had held the title of Overlord for so long, no-one functioning remembered his real name, and he joked that he couldn't either. Despite the fact that his systems were weak and frail at the best of times, he maintained a rigid control over Cybertrons councils and running, but now… Tomaandi replied breaking the deadening silence.
"The Overlord is safe. He was in Altihex at the time. His bodyguards are escorting him back through Tarn, in the company of two other concerned citizens. They should be back within the week."
Red Alert frowned, and then asked "On foot? Why?"
"It's the quickest way back to Iacon. And all the shuttles are needed moving people and supplies to and from the disaster area."
"Who are the two 'concerned citizens' then? How can we trust them?"
Tomaandi frowned. Red Alert was a good man, and very handy in an emergency, but his underlying paranoia could grate sometimes.
"A records clerk from Tarn, called Optronix, and one of Tarn's games team, called Megatron."
Red Alert relaxed a little at this. Alright, he thought. Megatron and the Overlords two bodyguards, Nightstalker and Ravage. Three of the most feared warriors on Cybertron. They should be able to handle anything lurking out there. And as for this Optronix, well, he can see to it that the Overlords systems don't crash, and keep him fuelled by sharing his own. Yes, that should be alright. His musings were interrupted by Tomaandi adding "But I do have some bad news. Guardian Prime was in Vos. He has not been found."
Ironhide's eyes widened. He was in charge at Vos. If Prime hadn't been found, that would make it his responsibility. Suddenly choking for breath, he gasped out the question they all needed answering.
"And the Matrix?"
"Was lost with him. And I must emphasize, this information does not go anywhere. The population would riot if they thought the Matrix had been destroyed on top of everything else."
The doors slammed open, and Jetfire burst through, brandishing an optical disc.
"My Lords, I have terrible news!"
The room seemed to sag a little more. People began shaking their heads, other slumped in their chairs. A couple of heads hit desks. Xaaron stood and placed his hands in the air in front of him.
"Try to stay calm, and tell us what is wrong." he said in conciliatory tones.
"Cybertron is, my Lord. The force of the explosions have knocked us out of orbit. We're slowly moving away from Alpha Centuri!"
Xaaron sat down heavily, clutching his head in his hands. Well, it could be worse, I suppose, he thought. We could be moving towards them.
Weeks passed. The fires died down, but the unrest didn't. Rioting broke out across the planet, in every major City-state. Rumours grew, of the Council hiding the truth of what happened in Vos and Tarn, of manipulating events so that it's nearest political rivals would destroy themselves. And rumours that the Matrix had been lost. The best efforts of the council couldn't stop people from noticing that Guardian Prime hadn't been seen since the explosions. And with the news that the Overlord had died during the journey through Tarn, it was whispered that now, maybe, it was time for change. Time for a less mystical group of people to take charge. Secret meetings sprung up all over Cybertron, gathering force until they all came together. Where once there had been hundreds of small isolated groups, now someone had rallied them, brought them together until there was only one large group in each City-state. It was to a clandestine meeting of one of these groups, in Iacon, that Jetfire found himself at. The idea of abandoning the Matrix doctrines appealed to him, of ushering in a new era of science and peace, of finally being allowed to explore the cosmos that had drawn him here. All these thing were being promised by the leader of this cell. And tonight, the leader of the whole movement was rumoured to be here.
As Jetfire walked through the doors and his eyes adjusted to the relative darkness, he looked around to see who was here. A larger crowd than usual, drawn by the rumours. He noted several people whom he recognised, among them some of the more famous State Games warriors, like Grimlock, Sunstreaker and Straxus. With a jolt of surprise he saw Shockwave, leader of Tarn leaning against a back wall. Shockwave had noticed him too, and gave him a slow nod of acknowledgement. Turning back to the raised stage at the front, his eyes widened again. Up on the stage, conferring with a figure shadowed in the wings, was Starscream.
He hadn't heard from Starscream since before the attacks. When his friend hadn't been in touch, Jetfire had assumed that he'd been simply too busy dealing with the shattered remains of Vos' population to deal with personal matters. But now, seeing him here on the stage in front of these people, Jetfire wondered exactly what had Starscream been up to?
Turning to face the crowd, Starscream walked to the front of the stage.
"My fellow Transformers, welcome!"
A cheer went up.
"I will not waste any of your time tonight. Instead, I give to you the person who has made all this possible. The being who will make so much more possible. I give you Megatron!"
As the crowd roared, Jetfire found himself reeling again. Megatron? The warrior who had been assumed lost with the Overlord and his two bodyguards in Tarn? Now organising groups that advocated a new order? Jetfire's eyes narrowed. He didn't like this. On stage, Megatron had begun to speak.
"My friends, the people of Iacon have betrayed you! They knew of the impending destruction of your home cities and they did nothing! They allowed what they saw as their biggest rivals to global power be destroyed! Now who will stop them taking over the whole world? No one, unless we do something! Now is not the time for words. The time for peaceful demonstations has passed. The people in power will not listen! We will make them listen, by force! We will take the power from those who misuse it! We will bring the power back to the people who deserve it! Those people are us! We will bring down the Iacon oppressors! We will bring to Justice those traitors who brought you to your knees! Death to the Traitors!"
The majority of the crowd erupts in a frenzy of yells and cheers. Jetfire shhok his head and turned to leave, but found his way blocked by Shockwave.
"I would like a quiet word with you, Jetfire."
Shockwave then turned and walked out the doors. Jetfire followed him.
The rally continued for several hours, gradually taking the shape of a tactical meeting. Squads were organised, orders given. Long after darkness fell, the meeting began to break up. As the crowd dispersed, Megatron motioned Starscream closer.
"Look at them, Starscream. What a rabble to try and change the world with. And now we have announced more miltant measures, more still will drop out."
He turned to look at Starscream.
"Anyway. To business. You used to work in a research lab in Polyhex, did you not? Before your tenure as City Governor."
"Yes, Megatron."
"Was there anything in there that may aid our cause?"
"Possibly, Megatron. There were several experimental weapons, made for the peace keeping forces, and some surgical enhancements designed for deep space exploration. Once grafted onto a Cybertronians body these give enhanced speed, agility or strength. Some give other, more esoteric abilities."
"Excellent. Soundwave has gathered some of the flock best suited to this task. Take them and attack the labs. Liberate as much as you can. Leave no witnesses."
Bowing slightly Starscream turned and walked away, Soundwave leading him to a small group of figures, in the corner. As Megatron watched him go a shadow spoke to him.
"Is this wise? Putting him in charge of those warriors and abilities?"
Megatron looked down.
"Ah, Ravage. You need not worry. All those present are now utterly loyal to me, and me alone. I have every faith in him."
The research facilities were deserted, save for two figures in the main lab.
"So, what are your impressions of Megatron?"
"I don't trust him, Shockwave. He seems to be itching to get in a fight. And there's something, I don't know. Something wrong with his eyes."
"Certainly he is unstable. But he does speak some sense, Jetfire. Iacon did know of Vos' warring intent. I told them that on many occasions. And he is persuasive. I have heard that he has gained the support of Thunderwing."
"Kalis' head of R&D? He's not the sort of person to trust easy. It took Countdown three vorns to persuade him he wasn't an industrial spy."
"Indeed. So if Thunderwing is with Megatron, and Starscream and the cream of the State Games teams too, then perhaps he is speaking the truth about Iacon. Perhaps he has proof."
"Perhaps. But I went to the Council in Iacon when the reports were being collated. They seemed as shocked as everyone else."
"By then they would have had time to prepare."
"I don't know… Maybe…"
"In any case I must leave. Tarn's survivors need me, and I have spent too long away from them already. We will talk again, Jetfire."
With Shockwave gone, Jetfire sat down at his workbench. He picked up a small light pen, and began to spin it in his fingers, brooding over the nights events. No, Megatron was not to be trusted, he was sure of that much. As for Shockwave, Starscream had told him too much for him to throw himself behind that side. And Starscream. What was he doing with Megatron? There had to be a reason for him to be with Megatron now the Games were finished. Why were they all following Megatron, anyway? He was just a fighter, someone like Starscream would have been better at running a resistance. He'd had the experience of leadership. Megatron was charismatic, sure, but…
With a sigh, Jetfire reached out for his log tapes from his orbital booster flight. With all that had happened, he'd not got around to uploading it yet. No time like the present, he thought, and at least it'll take my mind of all this politics. He pressed play.
The wall exploded.
Blown off his chair, Jetfire struggled to his feet. Switching one of the monitors over to the security feed, he watched in astonishment as five jets flew down and transformed into robots. All clutching pistols.
"Who-"
The screen exploded in a shower if glass and wires. Whirling round, Jetfire saw first a smoking blaster, then the face of his friend, Starscream.
"Starscream! What's going on? Who are they?"
Starscream stepped through the smoking hole in the wall. His face was twisted by an ugly smile.
"I'm truly sorry Jetfire, but a new power is rising in this world, and I intend to be on the winning side."
Starscream pulled the trigger, and blew a hole through Jetfire's chest. Jetfire collapsed, twitching, to the floor. Starscream turned to the other robots, one of whom was carrying a backpack, who were making their way through the doorway.
"Take any hardware you think will be useful. Kill anyone you meet. I'll deal with the schematics and plans for the enhancements."
He turned to a row of lockers, as the others disappeared.
"Now, there should be some disks or portable drives in here somewhere."
He rummaged through the lockers, turfing out whatever was inside onto the floor.
"Ah, here we are…"
Walking to a workstation, he inserted the disk in the computer and began tapping at the keyboard. After a couple of minutes the screen flashed up the legend DOWNLOADING: Do Not Interrupt Connection. The others returned, arms full of weapons and guns. Starscream nodded approvingly at the haul.
"That'll do," he said, and his eyes lighted on a particular item. "Hmm, a Null Ray. I'll keep that myself."
With a beep, the computer announced that the files had finished downloading. Pulling the disc out of the computer, Starscream pulled some explosives out of one of his cohorts backpack.
"I'll set the charges. I need to destroy this place myself."
The others left the building as Starscream placed the bombs around the room. With that done he turned and set the timer down in front of Jetfires face.
"Goodbye, my friend."
Starscream left. In the silence that was left, Jetfire could hear his report still playing, as the timer counted down the last moments of his life.
"This is Cyberton. My world. My home. My prison."
And then his world exploded.