Part 4
Midnight Express jostled Windblade out of Stasis in the morning. The sun was already peaking in. "Didn't want you to be late for work, lass."
"Midnight! Did... anything odd happen last night?"
"Happen? Like what?"
Like a cosmic lightning storm and a volcano full of dead Autobotswas what she thought.
"Oh nothing, I think something I drank disagreed with me last night," was what she said.
She thanked her host again, called a quick farewell to a still-groggy Nautica, and flew off.
To Windblade's dismay, the Mistress of Flame was expecting her when she landed at the temple, a Stern expression on her face.
"You are late. That's unlike you Windblade. What is the meaning of this?"
Windblade was taken aback by this sudden change of character. "My sincerest apologies Mistress. Last night I had an uncommonly fitful recharge cycle. I thought I may have fallen ill."
The Mistress's face softened.
"So then you felt it too. Come with me."
A confused Windblade followed the Mistress into the temple and through a doorway behind her throne. Down they went into the cliffside and finally into the inner Sanctum of the Way. The dim light played across the carved gold walls of the room, where the Mistress now began to speak.
"This morning I received word from a number of Speakers and other priestesses about seeing strange things in their dreams last night. Swirling colors, garbled whispers, shooting stars."
"There were others? Did they receive the same message?"
The Mistress made a small grunt inside her mouth. "Only I had made any sense of what I saw. And now, you?"
"I thought I had watched too many movies last night. But it had to do with the war, I think. There were planets, and Titans."
"This is most incredible. A ripple in the Allspark, a wave of premonition crashing upon the faithful. It must be no coincidence that the two of us here in Port caught the brunt of it. But that can be pondered later. If you saw the same vision then you must know the momentous message it brought."
They both spoke at the same time -
"Optimus Prime is alive!"
"Megatron is still alive."
- and they fell silent as they realized the gravity of their words.
"You saw Optimus Prime?"
"I saw a bright light, buildings, Optimus Prime in a stasis pod. You saw Megatron?"
"I saw darkness, then a desolate ruin of a vast city. Atop a mountain in the distance was a figure of pure malice with a purple standard in his hand. It could be no other."
Windblade processed that for a moment. "What color was the planet? Did you see the planet you and Megatron were on?"
The Mistress touched her finger to her forehead. "I was on the ground. But in the distance where the clouds didn't reach the sky was a deep blue."
"That's it then!" Windblade shook the Mistress by the shoulders, decorum overcome by excitement. "I saw the planet from afar, it was blue! They must be the same place! And with the pods I saw..."
The Mistress's eyes lit up. "A crash landing."
At present they perceived the silence of the sanctum.
"We may be the only two beings in the universe who know about this."
"But why us?" Windblade asked.
The Mistress gestured to bring up the light in the room, illuminating the carvings on the walls. A tall, feminine figure with a large hammer in her hand adorned the reliefs. The Mistress turned to one of the figures with a sphere wrought of radiant jewels.
"Legends say that Solus Prime created the Matrix of Leadership. Through it she may be able to contact her faithful. It may be that this was a universal distress signal on behalf of the relic, and the knowledge held within."
"So should we alert the Autobots that they need to be looking for a blue, potentially uninhabited planet?"
The Mistress wheeled around. "No! We cannot risk the Decepticons finding out about this. If the entire Autobot fleet is out looking for Optimus Prime then the Decepticons will follow, and trillions more lives could be in the crossfire because of it."
"We can't just leave the Prime - the Matrix! - sitting on some far-off planet! They can send someone to get them!"
"My decision is made and I expect you to..!" She cut herself off. "No, I'm sorry... it's just... as long as the Autobots remain here, we are safe from attack. If they leave, the Decepticons will not forget about the aid we have given their enemies."
Windblade fell silent. The Mistress had never shared that with her.
"I'm sorry, Mistress. These last few months I've let myself be... taken by the offworlders. I envy their freedom. They travel across the Galaxy spreading hope, helping others. And that's why I became a Priestess. To help people!"
The Mistress smiled. "Oh Windblade. That's nothing to be sorry for. It's my own fault. Even as Cybertron grows out to meet the universe Caminus shuts itself in. We used to have missions on Velocitron, Eukaryis, all the old colonies. I look dearly upon all my torchbearers, and I feared sending them out into the madness of this war. Maybe it's time that changed."
Windblade frowned in confusion as the Mistress dimmed the lights and lead her up the stairs.
"The flame of the Great War has fallen to a smolder without Optimus Prime and Megatron. Though thousands take up the fight in their name, it was they who supplied the embers. One day I will tell you what he told me, about how the war began, but until then know this: this war will never end without one of them around to end it. The Prime must be found if balance is to be restored."
"But if we aren't going to tell Autobot high command -"
"Then we will have to send one of our own. Someone who yearns to answer the call of the universe outside." She grinned back down at the Speaker, "someone dedicated to helping others."
Windblade gasped. "Me?"
"I would choose no other than my finest Speaker. Though I would not send you alone. There must be someone else we can trust."
The Speaker suddenly had an idea.
"I know someone who can take me."
"Then Windblade of Caminus, I release you - however temporarily - from my service to undertake this most critical of missions. Go!"
And as Windblade flew out of the temple for the Wharves, she realized she had heard it before; the voice in the night telling her to go, to find the Prime.