Chapter 2
Five years have passed since the end of the Hate Plaque and the truce between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
The Decepticons had barely been heard of during that time. It was a period of an unstable peace. The Quintessons, badly damaged by the side effects of the plaque retreated into their own territory.
It was the December of the year 2011. The Autobots celebrated the anniversary of the truce.
xxx
Optimus Prime was standing on a tribune in the center of the Autobot capital Iacon.
The inhabitants of the sector, his officers and friends, the still living members of his old crew from the Ark and a great number of other spectators who came to the celebration were present. They all were assembled on a place before the platform with Optimus standing on it. He was about to hold a speech. Optimus spoke about the wars of the past and reminded the spectators about everything that they were able to accomplish and everything they have lost.
Before the five years of this truce, this planet had barely known peace for the last 9.000.000 years. Since the golden age, it had been in a nearly constant state of fighting. With the short break of the one year peace after the Unicron battle.
The only thing that slowed the war down in the end was the fact that it had slowly eaten up all the resources and energy. Cybertron became close to being a live less husk. The Autobots and Decepticons traveled to other worlds in search for new energy, like earth. But that only led to the war spreading to this other worlds. The Autobots found allies and friends on this other planets. People who are here with them now. The most prominent of them was Spike Witwicky, the ambassador of earth and one of the honor-guests. All this people, several more from worlds the Autobots had even lose contact with, Autobots, human and Aliens, were now hearing Optimus speaking.
"Autobots and friends," he began, "it has now been 5 years since the end of the fighting. Five years since we got what we wanted, peace. Even without guarantee. Nobody says that either the Decepticons or the Quintessons will hold this peace. Nobody, not even them, had ever promised us anything. But for now we have it. We had years of peace and happiness. We can live in freedom and security for now," he explained to them that this peace was possibly only temporary but that it was still worth something.
"But let us not forget the ones we had lost in the war," he reminded the spectators. Then he gave a testimony to a few of the countless millions of beings who had perished in this endless war.
"Ironhide, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Prowl, Brawn, Huffer, Powerglide, Windcharger, Topspin, TwinTwist, Firestar, Rack n´Run, Chromia, Red Alert and Elita One," Optimus listed a few Autobots, only from the last years of the war. Some he knew personally.
"and countless others," he continued, "Autobots, humans, titanians and other, to numberless to even count. Let us remember them." Optimus speech ended. First it was requited with silence, after a few moments with applause from everybody.
Next to Optimus came Ultra Magnus, Hotrod and Kup to the tribune. Ultra Magnus continued to speak.
"Autobots, for the last years plans were made to reinstall the high council that ruled the Autobots before the war. With that we will have a democratic government again. One of the many things we lost in the long fighting. This new government body will lead the Autobots along with the Prime and his officers."
Ultra Magnus announcement was answered with similar applause as Optimus speech but a bit less enthusiastic. Politics were less popular with the most sentient´s when speeches of glory and good times.
The last one to speak was Hotrod, Rodimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots for two years and Optimus most likely successor. He spoke of similar things as Optimus but reminded everybody more that they had to stay on guard, that their enemies could always strike again and that they probably will have to fight for their peace again some day. Hotrod´s speech was less optimistic as Optimus but, as many had to admit, more realistic. He ended with words nobody would forget soon.
"Time, that is what the Hate Plaque and the truce afterwards had brought us. At first time to rebuild and bring our lives back in line. Then time for ourselves, time to be happy, time to take care of our worlds, time to live." So ended his oration.
Ultra Magnus stepped beside him.
"A great speech Rodimus." Magnus was one of the Autobots who still called Hotrod Rodimus from time to time. Especially if he did something really impressive. So the name became something of a compliment.
"Yes it was great," Optimus confirmed.
After the declamations were over, the celebrities were going on and the Autobots, humans and aliens present were slowly leaving the place. They would celebrate in other parts of the city. Over the last years the anniversary was becoming basically a universal, giant party. Suddenly the alarms were going off.
A few Autobots were transforming and driving to the computers to check what had caused the alarm. Others were trying to calm down the spectators. Some of them were starting to get nervous. Under the crowd was a robot standing who looked cybertronian in design but wasn´t wearing any insignia of the Autobots or the Decepticons. His body was mostly black and he had red eyes like the most Decepticons. The unknown robot only said the words.
"It is beginning."
xxxxxxx
The Autobot Mirage was sitting on one of the terminals of Cybertron´s main computer teletraan 2. He was one of the Autobots who had volunteered to run the security of the planet during the festivities. Standing next to him were now his comrades Jazz and Hound. Behind them was Optimus group just entering, accompanied by Perceptor.
"What has happened Mirage?" Optimus asked.
"It it is…" the Autobot was perplexed. "Optimus. According to this data a very large object has just materialized right in next to Cybertron", Mirage explained.
"How big?" asked Kup.
"Twelve kilometers in length and height. In it´s form it is, well, basically a giant pyramid. "
"And that has simply appeared out of nowhere?" Optimus was stunned.
"Perceptor. Can you give me some information's about the object?" Perceptor, Cybertron´s best scientist sat down next to Mirage and started to analyze all the data teletraan could receive.
"According to this Optimus, the object is showing tracks of various sorts of energies. Energon, kinetic, Chrono, Gravitation, rests of laser fire."
"Interesting," Optimus stated.
"Chrono, does that mean it is possibly not from our time?" Hotrod asked. He had seen such effects before.
"Good possible," Perceptor answered, "but that would not explain the other readings teletraan is receiving."
"We should send a team to study this object and check for danger," Ultra Magnus suggested.
"Good," Hotrod agreed, "I will lead the team."
"Hotrod," Optimus started to speak.
"What," the younger Autobot countered, "this is something interesting for a change," he said. Do you think I don´t take this seriously? Or would you rather send someone else, someone who is not part of the leadership? If I remember right you had never hesitated to get your hands dirty."
"Okay, you are right," Optimus answered. "Go, take Sky Linx. Perceptor, Hound and Mirage go with him."
A few minutes later the Autobot were, inside the living shuttle Sky Linx, on the way to the pyramid. They saw that the entire construct was built from silvery looking metal.
"It looks impressive," Hound stated
"This could be a very important discovery," Perceptor pointed out.
"Then it is only fitting…" Sky Linx told everybody, "…that I carry the Autobots who will first set food on it." The shuttle-form Autobot had sometimes more than a bit of an ego. Hotrod had to smile about this.
They found some sort of landing hangar on the surface of the pyramid. As they arrived there Sky Linx landed and the four bots left him. They departed to the inside of the complex.
After walking for a few minutes through a tunnel they arrived in like a large hall. The hall was nearly 2 kilometers long. On the other side of it they saw something that looked like a large monitor and some mysterious looking instruments around it. As they walked through the room they saw something else. A small device, looking very much like the big pyramid they were in, but small enough that a Autobot could hold it in one hand, was floating in the air somewhere on the side of the hall.
Perceptor saw the small pyramid and walked to it. As he came closer the monitor came to live. A picture appeared on it. The monitor showed a planet they all knew very well, earth. Then they saw a familiar silver and red F15 approaching the planet, Starscream. Suddenly a strange projectile came from the planet and exploded in space. Because of the giant explosion Starscream was losing control and was crashing somewhere on earth.
"Do one of you recognize this scene?" Asked Hotrod, who had seen all that on the screen.
"Yes I remember," Mirage answered, "that was 1984. Starscream used an experimental energy generator for an attempt to blow up earth and that while the other Decepticons were still on it."
"A nice move," Hound commented. "That was 27 years ago."
"We should inform Optimus," Hotrod decided. "Perceptor, have you found anything that could be dangerous?"
"Here is nothing that confirms any sort of threat," the Autobot scientist answered.
xxxxxxx
A half hour later Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Kup, Mirage, Perceptor and Hound were standing before the monitor and watching scenes from the past.
Megatron was kneeling on the ground. Optimus Prime was standing before him with his gun in his hand. Optimus and Hotrod knew this scene all to well.
"Optimus I..." Hotrod tried to say something.
"It wasn´t your fault," Optimus answered. "No it was mine. I should have known he would try something like that, like he tried it about 1.000 times before."
On the monitor they saw Megatron begging for mercy. Back in the year 2005 when this fight happened, Optimus was taken back by this. Now he saw only an blunt and obvious trick to stall time, reach the gun and shoot him. And he had given him all time in the world, he remembered this, while the Optimus on the screen talked.
xxx
"You who are without mercy, now beg for it. I thought you were made of sterner stuff."
As he was finished with that little speech, Megatron already had the gun in his hand. Matrix, Optimus thought as he saw the scene, `I am an idiot´.
Then they saw Hotrod tackling Megatron to stop him. But the young Autobot was overpowered in no time and taken hostage instead.
xxx
"I shouldn´t have gotten have gotten involved," Hotrod explained.
"I shouldn´t have fallen for the oldest trick in the world. And you wouldn´t have a reason to get involved in the first place," Optimus answered.
Then they saw another scene, Galvatron, lying in a sea of molten plasma. Then Cyclonus and the Sweeps landed and Scourge dragged Galvatron out. Right afterwards they saw how the Decepticon leader started beating or shooting his subordinates.
"That has to be it," Ultra Magnus said, "how Galvatron turned insane. I never thought I would see it myself someday."
Then the scene switched. Galvatron, Cyclonus and the Sweeps were now attacking a space-station. The Autobots saw on the monitor how the cons shoot the station until it was completely destroyed and the humans on it were either blown up or floating helpless in space.
"The attack on the Space-Defense Platform in 2006. With that fight the war was restarted," Hotrod remarked.
Again another scene. A group of Quintessons were working on a body, Optimus body. The Autobot leader turned ice-cold inside. He didn´t want to see that. They saw how the body came back to false live. Then a space battle. Autobot ships were blown up by Quintesson artillery. Optimus said in a sad tone.
"I have let them into a trap. Over 50 Autobots dead because I couldn´t resist their programming."
"That wasn´t you," Kup told him.
"No it wasn´t," Optimus confirmed. "That was only my body. It was the Matrix, as I got the Matrix back, my mind was downloaded from it. But even then I couldn´t resist them until you stopped me." He looked at Hotrod.
At the same time in another room in the pyramid, the black robot who was on the anniversary celebration was standing before one of the foreign instrument terminals. Out of his hands came energy, a dark looking form of lightning, that seems to, connect him to the machine.
Back in the hall the Autobots were in, the small pyramid on the side started to glow. A sphere of energy was started to be built up around it. Without any warning the energy-sphere expanded and started to pull all objects close to it in. Hotrod and Ultra Magnus, the Autobots next to it, lost their hold and were pulled into the sphere. Then it was over. The sphere, Hotrod, Magnus and the small pyramid were gone.
"Hotrod, Magnus. Where are they?" Kup yelled.
xxx
Hotrod woke up. Grass, trees, birds were singing, a yellow sun, this was definitely Earth.
How did he get here? Had this strange object that they found somehow transported him to Earth? Good so far, he had to do something.
Hotrod transformed and drove off to go back to find other Autobots.