Transformers Dawn
Darkest before dawn
I dedicate this chapter to Spiritstrike, without whom the ideas for this chapter would have remained unwritten.
"Hound has found white energon…the rarest form of energon." Ratchet informed Rafael.
The astonishment in his voice evident. Many believed that white energon was all but gone. The precious blood of Primus had dwindled quickly during the Great War, as both Autobots and Decepticons consumed the substance in the hope of turning the tide of the war.
Much blood was spilled on both sides in the struggle to obtain the energon, instigating conflict and harm, the very things Primus sought to prevent.
The wise few keepers of white energon saw past its use as an aid in war fare, and hid the energon on other planets, in the hopes that it would not fall in Decepticon hands. Hoping that one day the energon would be used in better circumstances.
So to find white energon on a planet Ratchet considered his second home, was a blessing for Ratchet and a sign that some good things are yet to come.
"What does it do?" Rafael asked curiously, eager to know of its capabilities since he'd encountered so many fascinating types of energon during his time with the Autobots.
"It has been said that it possesses incredible regenerative properties. But I've never been fortunate enough to see it firsthand." Ratchet said, recalling old tales of white energon healing mortal wounds on the battlefields.
"So could you use it to grow back a hand for instance?" Rafael asked, with a purpose in mind.
Ratchet thought carefully and soon realised what Rafael was alluding to, making his optics widen and his mouth spread into a smile.
"My thoughts exactly Rafael, I believe it would be possible."
Ratchet quickly re-established a com-link with Hound and asked hopefully, "Hound how much energon is there?"
"Not much, just enough to make one batch."
"Very well, proceed with extracting it." Ratchet gave his order to Hound and began gathering equipment to process the energon.
Meanwhile in the streets of Cybertron, Rodimus was walking by himself with a stolid expression on his face. As he walked slowly in a quiet area, a silver and red streak of colour appeared from around the corner, skating to and fro at a very fast motion. Before long, there was a sickening crunch of metal as the newcomer slammed into Rodimus head on and landed right on top of him, blades already pointing at his neck.
"Watch where you're going!" the stranger growled, picking himself up off the ground, but not helping up Rodimus.
Rodimus got up and tried to explain, "But I wasn't—"
"Save it! I'm not interested." The stranger interrupted Rodimus, shoving him out of the way and stormed off.
Rodimus sighed with frustration and resumed walking with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Why can I never get a break?!" Rodimus complained. It felt as if the world was against him. Although his life was mostly pleasant, it felt shrouded with calamity and Rodimus couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as he walked.
In a laboratory somewhere on Cybertron, a computer monitor made a series of loud and urgent beeps. The Autobot scientist known as Perceptor noticed this and said to a fellow scientist in the laboratory, "There appears to be a large meteor heading towards Cybertron!"
"What's its trajectory?" The scientist asked.
"Iacon!" Perceptor exclaimed, alarmed that such a populated city was the target of the enormous meteor.
"We must take immediate action! I will see if I can access the planet's defence turrets. If we act quickly we can disperse the meteor into smaller pieces to minimize the damage." Perceptor announced, ready to do all that he could to prevent a disaster with the safety of Iacon's citizens in mind.
Perceptor typed in some commands into an operating console and then checked the monitor once more.
"It's travelling at an alarming rate! Getting a fix on it will be difficult." Perceptor remarked a bit anxiously, but remained calm. He knew the importance of his objective and continued typing commands on the console. Once he had gained access to the turrets he consulted the monitor, determined the co-ordinates of the meteor and commanded the turrets to fire at the meteor.
The meteor entered Cybertron's atmosphere and headed ever so closer towards Iacon. The turrets situated around Iacon fired at the meteor. The meteor eventually shattered into pieces. Unfortunately things were never that simple and a crisis was not completely averted. A fairly large piece of meteor headed towards the Well of All-Sparks.
Rodimus spotted the meteor in the sky and watched it as it fell, but frowned as he realised it was heading towards somewhere familiar. Rodimus' optics widened and he transformed into his vehicle mode and raced towards the Well of All-Sparks.
The meteor passed through the opening of the well and continued its fall towards the very core of Cybertron. The piece of meteor eventually reached the core and penetrated the core's metallic shell.
Rodimus soon arrived at the Well of All-Sparks and saw a purple spark emerging from it.
Rodimus transformed back into his robot mode and ran towards the well and dropped to his servos and knees to get a closer look. The core no longer had a healthy blue glow, instead it had a sickly purple colour.
"What's happened to the core?!" Rodimus cried out. His sense of foreboding had been realised and Rodimus feared that the worse had happened.
Rodimus moved his head to and fro, desperate to find some answers, but with no luck since the entire piece of asteroid had entered the well and had not left any remains.
"I've got to ask Optimus!" Rodimus remembered his mentor Optimus Prime and closed his optics.
He sat on the ground and crossed his legs, putting his chassis in a meditative position. Seeing nothing but darkness, Rodimus focused on finding Optimus. Flashes of memories passed through his mind until they came to a stop, and he saw the familiar form of Optimus Prime.
"Optimus! What's happened to the Well of All-Sparks?!" Rodimus asked urgently, desperate for answers.
"The planet's core has been contaminated with dark energon." Optimus gravely informed him.
"Isn't there anything we can do?!" Rodimus asked. After everything the planet had been through, after everything Optimus Prime and his team had done to protect their planet. Rodimus could not allow Optimus Prime's sacrifice to be in vain. If there was a way to save Cybertron, Rodimus had to know.
Optimus paused for a while to consider his answer and answered, "There is a way to cleanse the core, but the cost would be too great."
"Please tell me Optimus! What do I have to do?" Rodimus pleaded, he couldn't bear the thought that Cybertron and its residents were doomed to die.
"You would be required to connect your spark with the core of Cybertron and to find the impurities and contain them. Once your spark returns to your body, neither your spark nor your body would survive for long." Optimus informed Rodimus with regret. It pained him to think that the cost of saving the planet would mean the end for Rodimus.
"If there's any chance to save our home, I'll do it." Rodimus bravely said, ready to selflessly give up his life to save his home.
Optimus closed his optics sadly and told Rodimus, "It has been an honour to share a spark with you Rodimus."
"Thank you." Rodimus smiled and looked upon Optimus for the last time, and disappeared from sight, his consciousness returning to the real world.
Rodimus opened his optics and stared sadly at the well to see where he would meet his fate and closed his eyes once more. His chest component opened, revealing a shining blue spark, the spark left its spark chamber and travelled down towards the core of Cybertron and entered it through a crack in the shell.
The core had already assimilated the dark energon giving it a pale purple appearance. Rodimus' spark went towards the center of the core. His spark glowed brightly as he used as life force to draw the dark energon into his spark, the dark energon swirling into it, restoring the core to its pristine state. After Rodimus' spark had absorbed all of the dark energon, it slowly rose up towards the surface.
After a while it reached the surface and returned to its spark chamber, eliciting a groan from Rodimus. Rodimus closed his chest and felt the poisonous dark energon tainting his very essence, permeating his entire chassis. Rodimus' cyan coloured optics turned into a sickening shade of purple. Rodimus screamed in agony and put his hands to his chest to try and ease the burning pain that was consuming his spark.
Somewhere nearby a young green Autobot was walking towards Iacon, when he heard a loud scream.
"What was that?!" The green Autobot wondered with alarm, startled by the sudden scream.
He ran towards the source of the scream and saw a burgundy form near the Well of All-Sparks.
"Is that… Rodimus?!" The Autobot asked himself. As he got closer to the well he saw that it was indeed Rodimus.
"S-Springer…" Rodimus uttered feebly, recognizing his friend from boot camp with his barely opened optics.
"Rodimus are you OK?" Springer asked with concern and caught Rodimus' chassis as it fell to the ground.
"What happened to you?" Springer asked, wondering whatever could have happened to his poor friend.
Rodimus groaned, his optics slowly shutting.
"Rodimus! Hang in there, I'm calling for help!" Springer cried out and opened his com-link as everything went black for Rodimus.
In a protoform storage facility on Cybertron containing thousands of protoforms, a single purple spark entered the facility and the still form of a protoform. The protoform transformed into a slender purple Cybertronian with red optics and sharp features. His optics glowed brightly as he felt what it was like to be online for the first time. He opened the door to his transparent storage tank from the inside and walked out of the facility.
Ultra Magnus was patrolling this sector of Cybertron that day and noticed the Cybertronian leaving the facility, he approached him but before he could even speak to him, he heard a chilling voice address him.
"You there! Autobot! Where is my master Unicron?!"
"Who wants to know?" Ultra Magnus tested the newcomer, disliking his insolent tone and refused to disclose that information. Who was he to address Ultra Magnus in such a way and ask for the whereabouts of the Chaos Bringer?
"His loyal servant Cyclonus! I demand that you tell me where he is." Cyclonus maintained his questioning, undeterred by Ultra Magnus' disobedience.
"I will never tell you!" Ultra Magnus refused to tell the Decepticon defiantly. He wasn't about to let such important information fall in the wrong hands, especially a servant of Unicron. He would never betray and endanger his fellow Autobots by revealing that information.
"We shall see!" Cyclonus said knowingly, so arrogant in his capabilities that the only possible outcome he imagined was his victory.
Cyclonus charged towards Ultra Magnus and punched him in the face sending him falling on his back, as Ultra Magnus rose Cyclonus punched him from under his jaw, jerking his head back and making Ultra Magnus feel disoriented. Vision hazy, Ultra Magnus stood up anyway and attempted to counter attack with a punch, but was so disoriented that he used the wrong arm and barely scratched Cyclonus with his claw.
Cyclonus smiled cruelly and took this opportunity to take hold of his claw and ask,
"Are you ready to tell me now?"
Ultra Magnus frowned at Cyclonus and struggled to free his appendage from his grasp.
"That's what I thought." Cyclonus smirked and ripped off the claw off Ultra Magnus' arm. Ultra Magnus screamed in pain and bent down to clutch the injured area. Cyclonus raised his arms into the air and clasped his servos together and struck them down on Ultra Magnus' head repeatedly.
Ultra Magnus had lost the fight and collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"Very well Autobot, I shall find my master myself." Cyclonus said and walked away to find Unicron.
Back at the Well of All-Sparks Knockout was kneeling besides Rodimus' unconscious form and was scanning his chassis with a medical scanner. It didn't look good.
"His entire body has been contaminated with dark energon, there's nothing I can do." Knock Out informed Springer. With dark energon there was no way to heal the body, one would either die or be cursed for the rest of their lives with the poison in their bloodstream.
"So you're just going to let him die? Isn't there another medic on Cybertron who can help him?" Springer asked, refusing to accept the reality that Rodimus would be left to slowly die.
"The only other medic I know is back on Earth and he would probably know less than I do!" Knock Out told Springer, but had no effect in convincing him.
"Call him anyway!" Springer stubbornly demanded, even when he knew that it was unlikely that the medic had a solution.
"Ok, ok!" Knock Out said quickly to pacify Springer.
Knock Out put a finger to his head and opened up a com-link with Ratchet.
"Ratchet there's an Autobot named Rodimus who's been infected with dark energon. It's absurd that I'm asking you, but do you know any way to cure him?" Knock Out did as Springer wished and asked Ratchet for answers.
Back at the base Ratchet had finished processing the white energon and was looking at the container when he received Knock Out's message and replied, "Yes I do, hang on I'm receiving another transmission!"
"Ratchet… I'm wounded… need help…" Ultra Magnus tried as best he could to form a cohesive sentence in his weakened state.
Ratchet put his transmission on hold and said miserably to himself, "Primus don't make me choose…"
It seemed so unfair at times, that the joy of discovering the white energon was immediately followed by the anguish that his friends were suffering and that as a medic and a friend, Ratchet had to choose who to treat first.
"Knock Out what's his condition?" Ratchet resumed his transmission with Knock Out and asked.
"Critical."
"I'm on my way." Ratchet replied and ceased the transmission.
Ratchet turned to Hound and gave him a set of instructions.
"Hound! Ultra Magnus is wounded, I need you to take half of the batch of white energon and go to Cybertron and administer it to him."
"Yes sir!" Hound replied obediently, ready to do anything he could to save a fellow Autobot.
Ratchet got a syringe out of his medical kit and filled up half of it with white energon and handed it to Hound. Hound accepted the syringe and Ratchet went over to the ground bridge controls and entered Ultra Magnus' co-ordinates. Ratchet pulled the lever making a ground bridge materialize, Hound quickly entered it and disappeared from sight.
Hound emerged from the ground bridge and saw Ultra Magnus lying on the ground slightly curled as if he was protecting his chassis from harm. Hound walked up to him and crouched down, syringe in hand.
Hound took hold of Ultra Magnus' arm and noticed that it was covered in energon, he winced at the sight of the missing servo, but remembered his task at hand. Hound inserted the syringe into his arm and watched as the barrel's contents quickly drained into Ultra Magnus' bloodstream. Hound withdrew the syringe from Ultra Magnus' arm and waited for the white energon to take its effect.
There was no immediate result since the white energon had to be distributed across Ultra Magnus' entire chassis, but Hound soon noticed that from Ultra Magnus' arm emerged a new hand.
"I don't believe it!" Hound exclaimed, amazed by what he had seen and that the stories he had heard about white energon were true.
Where once was scratches and cracks on his chassis, was nothing as the white energon healed the surface of Ultra Magnus' chassis. Ultra Magnus soon regained consciousness and groaned, he subconsciously rubbed his head, remembering the last thing he had felt before losing consciousness. Hound smiled, relieved that Ultra Magnus was alright.
Ultra Magnus looked around to check if the rest of his body was unharmed, still remembering his fight with Cyclonus when he noticed something strange at the end of his arm. His makeshift claw was no longer present, instead a grey and blue servo took its place.
Ultra Magnus' optics widened, he held up this hand closer to his face and clenched it. He had full motor control, five digits and could hardly believe what he was seeing.
"How is that possible?" Ultra Magnus asked Hound with awe.
"Ratchet and I found some white energon on Earth." Hound informed him.
"Where is Ratchet now?" Ultra Magnus asked, wanting to see a familiar face.
"He's… helping somebody out right now." Hound tactfully answered, avoiding the sensitive topic that Ratchet was treating someone on the verge of death.
Back at the base Ratchet filled up another syringe with the remainder of the white energon and said to himself.
"I only hope it will be enough."
Before Ratchet went to Rodimus' aid, he went over to the recreation area in the base and informed Rafael, Miko and Jack of the current situation.
"I'm needed urgently on Cybertron."
"Why? What happened?" Jack asked, wondering what could have happened that required Ratchet's presence so urgently.
"There's an Autobot who's on the verge of death and I'm the only one who can save him." Ratchet regrettably informed them.
"I hope he'll be OK." Jack expressed his concern, always caring about others.
"Good luck Ratchet, we'll be waiting for you." Rafael wished the medic good luck. With all the tragedy that had happened he was going to need it.
"What are you waiting for?! Go!" Miko urged Ratchet to leave.
"Er… yes." Ratchet said, unsure how to reply and went towards the ground bridge operating console and entered a new set of co-ordinates. He pulled the lever down and entered the ground bridge, syringe in hand.
When he emerged from the ground bridge he saw Knock Out and a young green bot huddling around Rodimus. Springer was the first to notice Ratchet and called out to him, "Hurry!"
Ratchet ran towards Rodimus and gently pushed Springer aside. Knock Out meanwhile updated Ratchet on Rodimus' condition, as Ratchet took hold of his arm and was about to inject it.
"His vitals are very low, but somehow he's still online."
"Thank Primus!" Ratchet thanked his creator out loud, feeling deep gratitude for him for sparing someone he cared about.
Ratchet then injected Rodimus' arm with the syringe and watched with suspense as the liquid drained into Rodimus' chassis.
Would he make it? Was it too late? Were some questions that ran through Ratchet's mind as he waited for the energon to take its effect. The energon took longer this time to take its effect, compared to Ultra Magnus. This was due to the fact that the dark energon had affected Rodimus' chassis systemically and more time was needed for the energon to heal the entire chassis.
Rodimus opened his optics slightly and Ratchet saw a purple glow emanating from his optics. But the purple glow soon lightened into a pale blue glow, indicating that the white energon had worked and that the dark energon had been purged from Rodimus' body.
But that was not the only remarkable thing that occurred, Rodimus' body suddenly began to change. His chest grew bulkier, his shoulders and arms enlarged and his features sharpened. His entire body had undergone an extraordinary transformation. Rodimus rose from the ground and stood proudly.
"Hot Rod! You're alive! And you're looking quite sturdy I might add." Knock Out cried out, happy that the young bot was alive and impressed by Rodimus' new physique, not even questioning how this transformation could possibly have occurred.
"That's not his name. His name is Rodimus." Ratchet corrected Knock out.
"Prime." Rodimus added.
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Rodimus Prime." Rodimus in turn corrected Ratchet
Ratchet frowned and asked with wonder, "How can that be?"
"When my spark was in the core of Cybertron to remove the dark energon from the piece of meteor that had landed in there, I felt the Matrix of Leadership's presence. Although the All-Spark had been merged with the Matrix, it didn't mean that the Matrix was gone, simply that they were one, existing at the same time.
The Matrix gave me strength and some of its power, to help my spark make its way back to my body. But when my spark returned, the dark energon poisoned my body and stopped the Matrix's power from transforming my body."
"And then I gave you the white energon…" Ratchet recalled.
"Yes and it cleansed my body of the dark energon and the Matrix was able to take its effect."
"That's incredible!" Springer remarked, astounded by his friend's transformation.
"There is still one thing you haven't told me…" Ratchet said to Rodimus.
"How is it that you knew I was a "capable physician" before even meeting me?" Ratchet asked the question that he'd been wanting to ask for such a long time. The moment had finally arrived, the moment when his suspicions would be confirmed.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask me that." Rodimus remarked, eliciting a small smile from Ratchet.
"When Primus created me, I didn't have a spark to myself. Primus choose me to be Optimus Prime's reincarnation and we shared a spark… and even our memories." Rodimus finally revealed his secret.
"So Optimus is alive?" Ratchet asked, trying to understand it all. Ratchet had almost given up believing that Optimus still lived in this world, but his faith was soon about to be rewarded.
"Yes, sometimes I can feel him and he helps light the way in my darkest hours." Rodimus told him and appreciated all that Optimus had done for him.
"Thank you for telling me Rodimus." Ratchet thanked Rodimus, unable to express any more gratitude that he felt in words.
Rodimus placed a servo on Ratchet's shoulder and replied, "You're welcome my friend."
And so concludes part one of Transformers Dawn! This would be the season finale if it was a TV series.
If you know a canon Transformers character you think would be suitable for the story or want to see them in a cameo, leave it in a review or a PM and I'll see if I can include them in a future chapter.
I'd like also like to thank those who took their time to read and review this story.