Chapter 29-The Morning Star

Ever since he first came to Terra, Bumblebee had developed a bit of a soft spot for this little planet in the outer reaches of the Milky Way. Despite being a scout, he often found himself on worlds already embroiled in war, or on the front lines where the fighting was heaviest. Rarely did he get a chance to spend time on a world incognito that wasn't in total chaos and falling apart. Even back on Cybertron he never got that chance, since he was born during the middle stages of the War for Cybertron, when the planet was already a shadow of what it once was.

When he first arrived on Terra, he barely studied anything about it and its people aside from what he needed to know to make blending in easier. Since meeting the kids and learning about the world from Gina, he was more curious than ever about many of Terra's mysteries. The existence of these "angels" that seemed to have landed on the planet in the distant past, the mysteriously advanced Arian Empire that ruled much of the ancient world, the origin of the espers; it was all so intriguing to him. It certainly made his time on this planet more interesting.

Gina was kind enough to take time out of her day to make sure his curiosity was sated by giving him crash courses in Terran history. She didn't mind; it was cool teaching an advanced alien being about her world. Before, the discussions they shared was just out of habit and curiosity, but recently Gina's knowledge of local mythology and history was actually becoming useful as more and more Minicons were found in the possession of ancient ruins and former civilizations.

"I still don't get it, Gina," Bumblebee said to the girl as they chatted in the command center. "If the Arians were extinct for thousands of years, then how are the golems still operational? I was almost killed by two in Airlann and they moved as if they came right off the assembly line."

"That's the thing, no one can really explain that." Gina enlarged an image on her laptop and showed him a photo of a golem going berserk during an archaeological dig. "The Arian Empire fractured and fell apart during a major natural disaster at the end of the Age of Wonders thousands of years ago. There were still many nations that used golems, hence why they all look so different, but they stopped using them after the Void Century."

"That was a huge blank spot in human history, right?" Bumblebee said.

"Correct. Technology, medicine, knowledge, everything seemed to take a step back and golems all over the world were suddenly abandoned." Gina said. "And yet they still work by themselves at random."

"I thought they were like talos."

"No, they inspired the concept behind talos. Golems are fully autonomous, like drones, but no one knows how this was achieved when they were built in a time where computers and AI were nonexistent. How were they made and how did they operate? Those are the key questions about golems."

"Maybe they work in ways science can't identify yet. Another method you haven't thought about that doesn't use conventional means." Sara, who had been sitting silently next to Gina, suggested. "The Arians used technology in ways modern science has not yet achieved. Ways that were obviously aided by the alien entities we've encountered in the past."

"Huh, I never thought of that route." Gina muttered and smiled. "That certainly sounds more plausible than other ideas some people put forth. Can you believe that some people thought the golems were possessed by the spirit of Gaia or something? Honestly, and they call themselves scientists."

Sara looked at her with a vague expression of confusion. "Gaia?"

"Gaia's the spirit of the planet," Bumblebee explained. "She's the goddess of Terra, and the planet was named after an alternate version of her name. The Chantry believes that Gaia created all life on earth, from micro-organisms to humans, and when they all die, they return to Gaia."

"You've done your homework, Bee." Gina smiled.

"It's all so interesting to me. After what I've seen at Brigadoon, I wanted to know more about this world's myths and legends." Bumblebee said cheerfully. "I also know that some humans think that the planet itself is one giant organism, with all life being part of that organism, similar to cells in the body."

"The Gaia Theory." Ratchet walked into the room with a datapad in hand. "A very odd but reasonable scientific approach."

"Hey, Ratchet," Gina waved at him. "You just got back from patrol?"

"Yes, and as usual, nothing of note happened, not even energon. It's getting harder to find them with the Cons having harvested a good deal of the deposits in the Midwest." Ratchet said with a tired sigh as he sat down at the terminal.

"Ratchet, you said that the Gaia Theory is scientifically reasonable, but from what I've learned about you, you are not a religious mechanoid." Sara pointed out.

"You're right, Sara, I am a mech of science and reason, probably the very definition of atheist, you could say." Ratchet said. "I'm just pointing out how the theory is similar to how we cybertronians see ourselves in relation to Cybertron."

"Oh really?" Gina's eyes sparkled as she looked up at the medic with child-like interest. "Do tell, doctor."

Ratchet cracked a smile at her. "As you know, there are many theories that try to explain how the cybertronian race came into being. Some were realistic, while others were a bit outlandish. Our myths vary widely in regards to our origins. The oldest legends shared spoke of Primus, the god who created Cybertron and her people." He explained. "It's a common belief that our Sparks are fragments of Primus, and that upon our death, our Sparks return to him along with all the information we have acquired in life. It's a widely believed myth that almost everyone takes seriously, even though there is no physical proof of Primus' existence."

"I never pegged you for an atheist, Ratchet." Gina said. Ratchet shrugged.

"In my line of work, it's not believing in gods that saves people, it's these." He held up his hands. "If I counted on my religious faith to save my patients, then I'd would've been dishonorably discharged by now. Though an old mech like me is getting a bit up there in years."

"No way, Ratchet," Bumblebee scoffed. "You're not that old. You're…what?"

"Six million years old?" Gina smiled. "Give or take a few years?"

The two Autobots shared a laugh at that. It was a known fact among the team that Ratchet was probably one of the oldest Autobots still alive, just a few cycles older than Ironhide. Ratchet liked to joke about it every once in a while, but Gina noticed that look in his eyes whenever it came up. That wistfulness that she had seen in her grandfather's expression when they were reminded of their age. The wish to be young again, if only for a moment. She wondered if age was as restricting for cybertronians as it was for humans, though Ratchet seemed to be doing pretty good…on the outside, at least.

"Alert: Unknown energy reading detected."

Ratchet and Bumblebee looked at each other. "Looks like break time's over." The scout sighed.

"Sara and I will get out of your hair." Gina said. "Wouldn't want to get in your way."

"Don't worry, Gina, you can stay." Ratchet said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're a part of this, too." Bumblebee told her. Gina smiled brightly at them."

XXXXXX

Teletran-1 had detected the energy reading in central Emmeria, originating in Elladas and emitting strong enough readings that it almost took up the entire region. They didn't know what was causing it, but it was powerful. It didn't take long for Ratchet to relay his findings to Optimus, Prowl and the others.

"The signal is coming from a small province in Elladas," Ratchet said. "It's called Pythia."

"Can we identify what's causing the signal?" Prowl asked. Ratchet shook his head.

"I already had Teletran try to match it with anything in its database, but so far, no matches have come up. We have an anomaly on our hands."

"Do you think it might be energon, Optimus?"

"It's doubtful, since these readings are far too powerful for something like raw energon to emit." Optimus replied. "We will still need more information before we can make assumptions."

"The last thing we need is to be hit with a surprise during this investigation like the last two times we ran into anomalies." Prowl agreed.

"I had Skyfire fly over the area to do a grid scan of the region." Ratchet said. "According to Comettor, these readings are almost identical to the type of energy signature found in Belka and Airlann."

"So where we found that ancient teleporter and the country where Annie, Bulkhead and Ironhide ran into those…things that almost killed them." Gina said. "I don't need to be a genius to know this isn't going to end well for anyone."

"Which is why we need to act carefully." Optimus said. "Now that we at least have some idea of what to expect from mysterious happenings like this, we need to be cautious, lest we end up triggering another event like the fight at Brigadoon."

"From what I can deduce, anomalies like this are often connected to ancient places originally inhabited by humans. Like an abandoned city or a place of worship." Prowl said. He turned to Gina and asked, "Is there anything special in Pythia, Gina? Like a shrine or tomb of some kind?"

Gina was already looking up the location on her laptop before he even finished his question. "Pythia is a special place. It used to be a large city-state that was home to a female seer called an Oracle. She was a woman who can tell one's future by supposedly communing with the gods. There aren't any other significant things of note about the place, but if it helps, I can tell you that the Oracle resided in an underground cave that people had to climb down into order to speak with her."

"Thank you, Gina." Optimus said. "Prowl, assemble a strike team and head to Pythia at once. Skyfire will join you in a few minutes. We need to know whether the source of this anomaly is a weapon or another creature like Fortitudo."

"Yes, Prime." Prowl said and walked to the door.

"Good luck, Prowl." Gina said, waving to him.

"I don't need luck when logic is my main tool, Gina." Prowl said as he passed her. "But thanks for the confidence anyway."

XXXXXX

Starscream stood in front of Megatron's quarters, where the Decepticon leader ordered him to have a little "chat" in private. That didn't make the Seeker commander any less nervous, because private chats away from witnesses tend to end with one of the two speakers being silently disposed of. Starscream scowled, Knockout's stupid human crime drama movies were making him paranoid. Curse that "Godfather" whoever he was!

Few people had ever seen Megatron's personal quarters-without permission of course. Aside from Nightshade and Soundwave, no one dared to glimpse into the warlord's personal chambers, but here he was, standing on the event horizon. Starscream steeled himself and knocked on the door.

"L-Lord Megatron," Starscream cursed his stutter. "It is I, your loyal air commander."

The door slid open, revealing a dark room. "Enter, Starscream."

Starscream forced himself forward into the room, and almost jumped when the door slammed shut behind him. With no light from the hallway, Starscream could see that it wasn't completely dark, it was simply dimly lit. A dark purple lamp sitting on the desk was the only light source in the room, showing the recharge slab, large desk with a computer terminal on top and a large white and silver wing mounted on the wall behind the desk. Looking at the appendage, Starscream felt that he saw a wing like that before, but he wasn't totally sure.

"Starscream," The mech straightened up as Megatron addressed him. "Do you know why I called you here?"

"No, Megatron, I do not." He answered. "I can only assume it's something important."

"Yes, you could say that." Megatron said cryptically. "I have a task for you, one that I think suits your skill set quite nicely."

"Really?" Starscream's face brightened up, but he quickly schooled his eagerness. "I mean, oh really?"

"Yes, you see, Starscream, Soundwave just detected a strong energy anomaly in Central Emmeria, near the edge of the Elladan subcontinent by the Ceres Ocean." Megatron brought up a holo-map from his desk and pointed to the subcontinent by the Ceres Ocean. "One that is similar to the readings that came from Nightshade's weapon, Gandiva."

"And you believe that it might be another weapon like it?" Starscream inquired. He hoped that was the case. A weapon on par with Gandiva might finally give him a weapon strong enough to kill Megatron.

"I'm not making any assumptions until we know what exactly we're dealing with." Megatron said, leaning back in his chair.

"Of course, my lord." Starscream said and bowed his head. "I will complete this task with the utmost diligence."

"Oh, that's not the task I'm assigning you, Starscream, just an upcoming mission you will be taking part in." Megatron revealed. He held back a smirk at Starscream's confusion.

"E-Excuse me?"

"The task is something less hazardous, but no less important. I want you to keep an eye on a certain individual for me, and keep them in line if they get too arrogant. I'm sure you already know who I'm talking about."

Starscream jumped when he heard a caw and saw Laserbeak hop onto the desk from some hiding spot he failed to notice. Laserbeak looked at Starscream and projected an image from his forehead. It was a security feed, showing a certain two wheeler sneaking out of the energon storage vault with a couple of energon cubs in hand.

"Flamewar?!" Starscream exclaimed. "You want me to babysit that witch?"

This time, Megatron didn't hold back his smirk. "I told you it suited your skill set."

XXXXXX

It was nearing dusk over the province of Pythia, and the sun was already sinking into the distant horizon as Skyfire stood atop the steep cliffs by the ocean to watch the sunset. She was always a sucker for wonderful sights like this. It reminded her of the great views she would get from flying over Cybertron early in the morning or at sundown. Nothing beats watching the world at twilight.

"It's quite the sight, isn't it, mate?" Skyfire asked Comettor, who sat on her shoulder.

"It certainly is." Comettor agreed.

"Reminds me of that time I spent my leave from the Seeker contingent in Ky-Alexia. I spent all night whooping aft in the casinos. By the time the sun came up, they kicked me out for being too good and I was lucky enough to see the sunrise just in time at the right angle." Skyfire sighed wistfully. "It was something I'd never forget. It actually got me to move to the city."

"You moved to Ky-Alexia?" Comettor looked at his partner. "But I thought all Seekers lived in Vos. Wasn't that like some brotherhood cult thing you guys had going on?"

"You're correct on that account; you were born in Vos, you died in Vos." Skyfire shrugged. "But the Seekers were being led by Deadscream back then, and she was a few Primes short of a Matrix. When I moved to Ky-Alexia, she didn't bat a shutter."

The ground bridge finally appeared behind them and Prowl, Wheeljack and Bumblebee walked out of it. "Sight-seeing's over, Skyfire, time to get to work." Prowl said.

"I thought you were supposed to do recon?" Bumblebee said.

"Recon for what, I'm getting readings everywhere!" Skyfire waved her arms at the ruins around them. "Comettor already tried to get a fix on its origin point but he got nothin'."

Prowl rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Look, just keep watch for any Cons, then. You can at least do that, can't you?"

"Don't worry, Prowler, we're on the job!" Skyfire transformed and shot into the air with Comettor, blowing dust in Prowl's face as she did so.

Prowl grumbled about reckless flygirls and looked at Bumblebee, who was standing atop a hill scanning the area. "Bee, did you find anything?"

"No, and Jolt says the areas clear too." Bumblebee said. "There's nothing out of the ordinary here."

"That's how it always is, but we've got to be vigilant." Prowl said. "We need to looking into every detail of this place, no matter what."

He remembered how Gina had said this city was the home of the Oracle, a sacred seer that was practically worshipped as the voice of the gods. Of course, Prowl didn't put much stock in that story, as he figured that the Oracle was an esper with precognition powers. If there was one thing he learned from traveling around this world, it was that history was not as passive as one would think it would be. If you knew where to look, there were surprises right around the corner. And some of them weren't so welcome to people stumbling across them.

"You know what would be nice?" Jolt asked as he landed on Bumblebee's shoulder. "If we actually knew what the hell we were looking for. I'm getting sick of flying circles up here trying to get a damn reception. The whole area's a hot zone for crying out loud!"

"Jolt, I understand your frustration, but I'd rather not fight another two-headed dragon today." Wheeljack said. "We just need to narrow down our search. You got any ideas, Prowl?"

"I'm working on it." Prowl said in a tone that said 'work mode: do not disturb.'

Prowl had noticed how intimately connected these events were to sights that were of great importance to humans both past and present. Sunehra, the Aesir temple in Belka, and even the stone ring in Airlann; all sights of battles and anomalies that occurred in places once inhabited by ancient humans, who obviously had contact with their fair share of otherworldly beings. So if they wanted to find what they were looking for, then they had to think along that line of thought.

'And Pythia's most important element is its oracle.' Prowl thought. "I think I have it."

"Well, don't be a stranger. Tell us what's up." Jolt said.

"We need to think back to how other missions of this nature turned out. Whenever we detect these anomalies, it leads us to places of great significance." Prowl explained. "And what is important about Pythia?"

"It's oracle." Bumblebee answered, getting what Prowl was trying to say.

"Exactly. Gina said that the oracle's abode was located in a cave of some sort, so we should start looking for ways underground. No doubt that is where the energy is coming from."

The team split up in separate directions, looking for any hidden tunnels or caves that might have been covered over by nature over time. Bumblebee and Jolt stayed close to the wall that ran along the edge of the cliff, made by human hands and standing a little taller than the scout himself. Its purpose was unknown, and will remain a mystery for a long time, but it provided a border to keep people from tumbling over the cliff and falling to their deaths.

"What do you think we'll find at the end of all this?" Jolt asked. "If we find anything at all, that is."

"I don't know. After everything I've seen since coming to this planet, it's hard to really guess what's coming anymore." Bumblebee replied. "Maybe we might find a powerful weapon of our own, like Nightshade's bow, or Mjolnir. It'd be nice to have some sweet firepower on our side for once."

"You could say that again." Jolt nodded. His eyes scanned the wall, but then he spotted something strange. "Whoa, what's that?"

Jolt pointed to the opening in the stone wall. It was a neat little staircase that led downward into the earth, which was suspiciously large enough to fit a bot Bumblebee's size. But the strange thing was that though it led into a cave on one side, on the other was a steep drop. It was like some optical illusion.

"I don't think that was there before." Bumblebee said.

Jolt looked into the cave, not brave enough to step into it on his own. He wasn't liking the look or feeling the tunnel was giving him. "So…ladies first?"

"Maybe we should call the others first." Bumblebee suggested, sticking his hand into the cave entrance out of curiosity. The air coming from it felt cold, an unnatural coldness often felt when death was nearby. "None of this feels natu-ahhh!"

An unseen force took hold of Bumblebee's outstretched hand and effortlessly dragged him into the cave. Startled, Jolt ran after him, but was knocked back by an invisible barrier that formed over the entrance. He watched helplessly as his partner was dragged into the darkness, vanishing from sight.

"Bumblebee!"

XXXXXX

"Ow." Bumblebee groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head. "What hit me?"

He stood up and brushed the dirt from his body as he looked around. He was standing inside a large cave that had pale blue crystals jutting out of the walls and ground. It wasn't energon, but something told him that these weren't normal minerals either-at least, to his knowledge. These crystals were something else, and they emanated an energy that hummed faintly. They felt energized, as if charged by electricity. Seeking to return to the surface, Bumblebee turned around, expecting to find the staircase behind him, but only saw a dead end.

"Aw slag." He muttered. He had no idea where he was, and his only exit was nowhere to be found. He keyed his communicator and called Jolt. "Jolt, this is Bumblebee, do you read me?" He got no reply, not even static. "No, don't do this to me."

The yellow Autobot glared at the crystals, thinking that they were the reason he was getting no reception, along with being too deep underground. He remained calm, but something about the crystals, the general feel of them, made him a bit uneasy.

"Come on, Bee. You've been in worse situations than this." He told himself. "Remember your training. Just find an opening that will lead you to the surface so you can find your friends."

"Your friends cannot help you now, alien." A raspy voice intoned, causing Bumblebee to jump.

Bumblebee spun around, drawing his blaster. "Who said that?!"

There was silence, with no indication that anyone besides Bumblebee had spoken. Then the voice returned, "Deeper…"

The scout felt something tugging on his mind in the direction of the only other entrance to the cave he was in. Of course, Bumblebee was wary of moving at the behest of a creepy disembodied voice, but he had no options right now. Cursing his circumstances, he walked into the tunnel lined with smaller crystals in its earthen walls, lighting his way.

Thankfully it wasn't a long walk before he found himself in a larger cave, one drastically different. Here the crystals were snow white, and it helped increase his visibility here, but the yellow Autobot had no idea what he was looking at.

In the center of the cavern was a tall figure that was encased in a tightly wound cocoon of chains around its body. Bumblebee couldn't make out its form, but judging from its vaguely human-like face it had to be male. His skin was like granite, cracked and chipped in some places, most notably around the eyes, which were sunken and hollow like an actual skull, and had no eyeballs-just two small lights that burned in its sunken head like miniature suns.

"So you came after all," The being said, dust venting from its mouth, though its cracked lips did not move. "As I knew you would. They always come when they hear my voice."

'Oh boy.' Bumblebee thought and tried to think of something to say. It would be best to start with something simple. "Um, hi there…sir. I'm Bumblebee. An Autobot."

"I know what you are, visitor. Fortitudo's death has sent ripples throughout the lifestream of this world. It is no easy feat to defeat a Cardinal like that."

"How do you know that?"

"These crystals," He answered. "They are an extension of my senses. What they see and hear, I do as well."

Bumblebee did not know what to do in this situation. It was clear that this…thing was of the same ilk as Fortitudo and his legions, but he wasn't trying to smite him where he stood just for thinking in his presence. Maybe it was the chains, which glowed a bit whenever their prisoner tried to move even a twitch. Bumblebee then realized that maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Here was an obviously powerful being restrained before him, and he was still in one piece. This might be a good time to get some answers.

"Hey, chain guy. I have some questions for you," He said. "And I am not leaving until I get a solid answer."

"That is fine. It is not like you can leave on your own otherwise, either."

Bumblebee ignored that remark. "What are you?"

The being took a moment to speak before answering, "An angel."

And already they were on a bad start. Angels didn't exist, and he knew that this guy was no angel. Still, it was something. He'll worry about the details later. "Okay then. Next question, and don't try to slag me, pal." He said sternly. "What is your name?"

"…Lucifer."

XXXXXX

"Only Bumblebee could find something this strange and get in trouble immediately afterwards." Wheeljack sighed as he studied the cave, tapping on the barrier.

"Poor kid went out the lamest way in Autobot history." Skyfire said. "Oh well, I'll carve out his tombstone."

"He's not dead, you moron!" Jolt yelled. "But he might be in trouble. Can you guys help him?"

Prowl hummed in thought and fired his blaster at the cave. The bolt bounced off the barrier and hit a tree, splitting it in two. "This is new. Wheeljack, have you found anything out?"

"Only that the barrier is being generated by any machines. I'm getting no readings from any hidden shield generators or hard-light projectors." Wheeljack said.

"That's not helping us, Jackie, we need to know what can do." Skyfire said. "Don't you guys have countermeasures for this kind of thing?"

"Yes, for shields made from pre-existing cybertronian technology." Wheeljack replied. "But this isn't technology. Something or someone's keeping this shield up, and doesn't want anyone else dropping in on them."

"Wonderful." Skyfire sighed.

"I think I have a solution." Comettor said. "Energy barriers usually run on a set amount of energy in order to maintain their integrity. But they have to expend even more to maintain their structural integrity under heavy fire, eventually burning out after a few minutes if that fire doesn't let up."

"So if we combine our power, then we can cause the barrier to drain its energy and fall apart?" Wheeljack finished. He rubbed his chin, nodding. "That's a sound plan."

"It sounds a bit far-fetched, but it's not like we have a choice." Prowl motioned for the other Autobots to raise their guns and point them at the cave. "We fire on my signal. Three…two…one…"

Suddenly the area around them went up in flames as a rain of missiles hit their position. The Autobots scattered, looking to the sky to see Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp land on the ground and point their arm cannons at them.

"Don't even think about resisting, Autobots." Starscream said, aiming his powerlinked null ray at Prowl. "We have you at a disadvantage. Surrender and we'll be sure to hand you over to Prime in two pieces or less."

"What disadvantage? It's 3v3, equal opportunities to slag all three of you." Skyfire said.

A black figure suddenly jumped over the wall behind them and rushed at Prowl. Wheeljack slammed into Prowl and knocked him over, just barely avoiding the sharp blade that would've beheaded the mech. Flamewar back flipped over to their right and grinned.

"As I said," Starscream smirked. "Outnumbered."

Unshaken by how close he nearly came to getting killed, Prowl fired the first shot at Starscream. The Seeker ducked under the bolt and fired a null blast that grazed Prowl's shoulder. This ignited the firefight between the two sides and laser bolts were flying everywhere. Thundercracker and Skywarp saw Starscream's motion to attack and charged at Prowl. Skywarp wanted a crack at Prowl but Thundercracker cut in before him and began engaging the Autobot.

"What the hell, man? He's mine!" Skywarp raged. He didn't get long to be dragged into another battle as he dodged a strike from Skyfire's bayonet.

"Eyes on the battle, dumb-dumb." Skyfire danced around him and slashed at his face and chest.

"I've been meaning to repay you for that scrap you pulled back in Alaska!" Skywarp growled.

"Oh cry me a river." Skyfire groaned.

Skywarp teleported behind Skyfire to attack, but she had already spun around and shot her particle cannon at him, forcing the Con to warp again. Skywarp tried to flank her again, but he only earned a solid punch to his face for his troubles. She kicked him hard in the chest and sent him crashing into a tree, knocking it over and almost burying him under the trunk.

"I thought I already told you," Skyfire said, rolling her shoulders. "Don't use that trick on someone who knows how to fight it. You're not the brightest tool in the shed, are ya?"

"Then how about you fight someone who knows how to fight?"

Flamewar lunged at Skyfire from behind and stabbed two daggers into her arms. The daggers released a strong electrical shock through Skyfire's circuits that brought her to her knees. Flamewar shot an adhesive energy net at her face that blinded the Autobot and left her open to attack.

"Think you can take him now, genius?" Flamewar asked Skywarp.

"Shut up." Skywarp growled. He pointed his cannons at Skyfire, but two shells hit him in the right arm and head. Skywarp fell to his knees in agonizing pain as he felt a painful sting on his metal skin and felt something start eating away at his armor. "Acid?!"

Flamewar felt something wrap around her leg and she was lifted off her feet. Wheeljack twirled his energo-whip, swinging Flamewar around before slamming her into the air. When he started to drag her back towards him, Flamewar cut the whip and used the momentum to send her flying towards him. She planted her feet in his face, but Wheeljack grabbed her back armor panels and threw her away. She used a tree branch to regain her balance and land on the ground with the grace of a gymnast.

"You're a good dance partner for a techie." She smirked.

"You should see me on Friday nights." Wheeljack retorted.

Prowl fought Thundercracker and Starscream with only his shock batons for defense. His laser rifle lay on the ground in pieces and all he had for support was Jolt. As if avoiding Thundercracker's bayonets wasn't hard enough, he had to dodge Starscream's null blasts that almost hit something vital three times already.

He waited for Thundercracker to follow up with a forward thrust after slashing at him, ducking under his blade and jamming his baton into the mech's underside. Thundercracker grunted as he felt a painful jolt rip through his side, but he ignored it and grabbed Prowl's arm, headbutting the Autobot before trying to carve out his chest with his bayonet. Prowl grabbed the blade with his free hand and struggled against Thundercracker's strength. He didn't see Starscream getting into position behind him.

'Even if we fail the mission,' Starscream thought. 'At least I'll snuff out that insufferable Shockwave wannabe on Prime's team.'

Aiming his null ray at Prowl, he charged up for a kill shot. Prowl noticed this and diverted Thundercracker's arm to the ground, gaining a slash to his chest in the process. He spun Thundercracker around and held him in a full nelson, using the Con as a shield as Starscream fired his null ray. The blast hit Thundercracker in the chest, but the EMP current washed over both of them. taking the brunt of the blast, Thundercracker's systems shut down completely and he fell to the ground, falling into stasis lock. Prowl was still conscious, but he lost all feeling in his limbs and he fell to his knees, his body twitching uncontrollably.

"Sorry Thundercracker, but you know what they say. The mission comes first." Starscream smirked. He walked over to Prowl. "And as for you…"

"Don't you dare!" Jolt flew in and pelted Starscream's head with his machine guns. The Con tried to smack him away, but Jolt skillfully avoided the larger mech's limbs.

"How cute, the Minicon thinks he can make a difference." Starscream sneered and tried to take Jolt out with his null ray.

'Come on, Bee,' Jolt thought. 'Where are you?'

XXXXXX

"H-How long were you trapped down here?" Bumblebee asked the mysterious being.

The entity known as Lucifer looked down at the yellow Autobot under him with an unreadable expression. "You talk loudly for one so small."

"Just answer the question!" He yelled. He was getting sick of this guy's word games.

"I do not know how long I was stuck down here, although I'm sure it was a long time. This cave was once the abode of a woman who could predict the future. She thought her visions, as violent and withering as they are, were messages from her so-called gods." Lucifer chuckled. "If she knew the truth about her gods, she would've killed herself on the spot. The humans had no idea of the power we bestowed upon them. Espers, mutants, gods, different names, same thing."

Bumblebee was trying really hard to understand what he was talking about, but most of it went over his head. "Why were you imprisoned here?"

"That's a question I can answer. I was put down here for trying to overthrow the Divine Mother. The Mother of All, in all Her glory. I sought to set my people free and lead them to an assured future with another who sought the same goals."

"A rebellion."

"One that I led myself. A third of the Host joined me in fighting for our future, and we were nearly an unstoppable force that even the four Cardinals could not match." Lucifer chuckled bitterly. "I was such a fool back then. To raise arms against a Queen; I would have a better chance fighting death itself. The fury with which she had struck Her sister down was divine. I have never forgotten the terror I felt back then, even after all these centuries."

Lost in his memories, Lucifer's power leaked from his body and slowly filled the cave, washing over Bumblebee. The scout stumbled back as his mind was briefly linked with Lucifer's, allowing him to see the ancient being's memories. He saw flashes, short clips of those angelic beings that plagued his team back on Brigadoon. Many were the bird-like angels and hulking brutes, but some were also humanoid, clad in red and gold armor wielding swords as long as their bodies. The whole battlefield was just a chaotic slaughter of angels killing each other for reasons Bumblebee couldn't even dream of. It was like seeing a live scene from the Divine Comedy, a living mural of angels arranged in a circle around a bright light that shined like a star in the center.

He saw Lucifer, inhumanly beautiful and radiant, flying towards the center, arm raised to throw a spear. The light at the center shined brightly and a large feminine hand as large as Lucifer's body reached out and bathed him in an impossibly bright light. Then he felt pain erupt over his body.

"Stop it!" Bumblebee cried out. The vision abruptly ended and he was back in the cave again, sitting on his knees in front of Lucifer with smoke rising from his armor.

"My apologies, I can barely control my body these days. Had you been human, you either would've gone insane by now or been incinerated on the spot." Lucifer said as if he was talking about the weather. "But that light, that ever shining bright star, that is the power you fight against, alien. My followers numbers' are low, and they slumber in the bowels of the earth, but they still surpass you in power, and even they could not defeat her. You cannot fight against the Host of Laguna-not against Her."

Bumblebee tried to ignore the pain all over his body and glared up at Lucifer. "What the hell are you?"

"Haven't you been listening, alien?" Lucifer's tone was mocking. "I am an angel."

Lucifer's skeletal head moved slightly as he felt something hit his barrier. There was a battle going on up above, more aliens.

"It seems there is a battle going on near my cave. Friends of yours, perhaps?" He asked. He didn't give Bumblebee a chance to answer as he continued. "I see. In that case, I will have to ask you to leave. I don't want intruders laying waste to my land with their petty squabbles."

"Wait, I'm not finished yet!" Bumblebee shouted.

"Oh, but you are." Lucifer said. "And just to make sure your friends know how serious I am…"

Lucifer's eyes glowed even brighter, increasing in intensity until Bumblebee was forced to shut his eyes. A warm light washed over his body, searing into every pore of his being. Suddenly he felt something enter his mind…no, someone.

"Time to see how much the world has changed after millennia."

XXXXXX

Prowl leapt up and grabbed Starscream's arm, forcing the null ray away from Jolt. Starscream tried to shake him off, but Prowl had a good grip on his arms.

"You can barely stand, Autobot!" Starscream hissed. "Just give up and hand over the weapon!"

"There is no weapon!" Prowl grunted. "We haven't found a damn thing since we got here."

"Lies!" Starscream kicked Prowl away and stabbed his bayonet into the Autobot's shoulder, dragging him painfully through the ground by his wound. He shoved his null ray into Prowl's face and shouted, "You know what this anomaly is, so tell me!"

Skyfire tore off the netting over her face and saw Prowl being held at gunpoint. Without hesitation, he grabbed his particle cannon and pointed it at Starscream. She started to pull the trigger, hoping that she didn't sear Prowl's face off in the process. But someone else beat her to the punch.

A beam of light shot from the cave and hit Starscream in the chest, nearly burning straight through his chest plate and into his Spark core. Starscream gave an agonizing scream as he felt the light literally burn into his body and fell to the ground, writhing in the dirt. Prowl looked up and saw a glowing figure emerge from the cave, their appearance causing all fighting in the area to cease. Autobots and Decepticons alike turned to the cave and saw the figure step into the light. Jolt saw that it was Bumblebee and almost ran to him, but Prowl held him back. That wasn't just Bumblebee.

Bumblebee's body was emitting a bright golden white aura, his blue eyes a seamless white. His body, his essence, was being controlled by Lucifer. The Autobot's form was eclipsed by an outline of Lucifer's taller, humanoid form that was beautiful in appearance, with marble white stone skin and hair that shined like gold with eyes that glowed like stars. Lucifer gazed up at the sun and smiled.

"The sun, the moon, the earth! How glorious to be able to see you all again, even for just a moment." Lucifer laughed.

"B-Bumblebee?" Jolt stammered, almost afraid to speak, but forced himself forward. He jumped a little when Lucifer's gaze turned to him.

"I will say this only once, aliens," Lucifer said, his voice speaking through Bumblebee's mouth. "Leave this place, for it is under my rule. Take your war to some other domain, far from here. I'm trying to have a peaceful imprisonment."

"This land doesn't belong to you." Prowl said. "It belongs to humanity."

Lucifer smiled and flashed over to Prowl, kneeling over him. His gaze was like he was looking down at a child who didn't know any better. "That's what you think. Listen, Prowl, I'm trying to be nice here. The others of my kind aren't as nice as I am. They will kill you on the spot without even learning your name. Because I am sympathetic to your people's plight, I'm letting you off with a warning. So run on home before I get angry."

"You don't give the orders here, slaghead!" Skywarp bellowed. "Decepticons never run from a battle!"

'With morons like these, it's a wonder people ask me why I left the Cons in the first place.' Flamewar thought. She slowly backed away as Lucifer stood up, eyes flaring.

Lucifer flexed his body and his aura flared up, bathing the darkened area in light. His body shook, as if he was about to go nova, and Flamewar thought he was going to do just that.

"Skywarp, grab the two idiots and warp us out of here!" She exclaimed.

"No way, sister, we're not run-" Flamewar grabbed Skywarp and shoved her blaster under his chin.

"We are leaving now, or you're going to be short one brain module!" She sneered. "Now go!"

Skywarp obeyed her, grabbing Starscream and Thundercracker before teleporting away with Flamewar. With the Cons gone, Lucifer turned his attention to Skyfire and Wheeljack, who were pointing their weapons at him.

"We're not going anywhere without the little guy." Skyfire said.

Lucifer smiled. "You can have him. My work is done here." He looked back at the setting sun as it finally vanished into the horizon. "So beautiful and serene, I wonder how long it will last before your war sets this land aflame."

Lucifer's body released another flash of light that forced the Autobots to cover their eyes. When the flash faded away, all that was left was an unconscious Bumblebee smoke rising from his body. Prowl ran over to the scout and looked him over, flinching back after laying a hand on him. He was very hot, like he just got out of atmospheric entry.

"Is…he alright?" Jolt asked.

"His vitals are stable, he's just unconscious. Let's get him back to the Ark for Ratchet to look him over." Prowl said. "And I need to report to Prime about this."

Prowl turned to the cave, only to find it gone, replaced by stone. Any sign of it, and Lucifer, was gone, as if they never existed in the first place.

XXXXXX

Megatron sat on his throne in the heart of the Decepticon base, silent as he listened to Starscream and Flamewar give their report on what happened. His silence unnerved the two Cons, who were expecting him to lose his temper at some point during their report for their failure. Once Starscream was finished, he tried to save face by placing the blame on Flamewar.

"As you can see, Megatron," Starscream said. "We failed to retrieve anything of value. No thanks to that entity and Flamewar's cowardice."

"I only did what was necessary to survive, lord Megatron," Flamewar said calmly. She knew she was not at fault here. "After seeing how effortlessly the being took out Starscream with a single attack, I was not going to let our entire team be at its mercy. Better to run and fight another day."

"You little…" Starscream hissed but Megatron's glare stopped him short.

"For once in your life, Starscream, you are not at fault here, and neither are you, Flamewar." Megatron said. "That anamoly was something out of our control, and that was that. it's clear that no one won today, so we'll let it be. Dismissed."

Starscream and Flamewar bowed their heads and made to leave the bridge, but Megatron gave Starscream some parting words.

"Oh, and Starscream, I would advise steering clear of Thundercracker for a few hours. He is in a bad mood thanks to your little friendly fire incident."

The scowl on Starscream's face as he left certainly made Megatron's day. The Seeker commander only shot himself in the foot when he pulled stupid stunts like that on his Seekers. The more he blundered, the more loyal his supposed brothers became to Megatron. In the end, Starscream will be left alone in his attempts to gain power, and Megatron couldn't wait to see it all crumble around him. It would be poetic for him to die at the hands of an ally just like his accursed sister.

However, he had more pressing concerns to worry about. This was another encounter with those angelic beings that seemed to be everywhere on this planet. Megatron wasn't liking how they kept running into these things and still not knowing what the hell they were. He knew they were intimately connected to Terra's distant past, and if he wanted this campaign to go smoothly, then he needed to know what these beings were and how to fight them.

He wasn't going to let a bunch of aliens with a god complex ruin his plans for conquering this world and annihilating the Autobots!

XXXXXX

Bumblebee was taken to the medibay, where he regained consciousness after a little dip in the CR chamber. As he got a diagnostic check-up from Ratchet, he recounted his experiences to Optimus. He couldn't remember what happened after his chat with Lucifer, but Jolt was kind enough to fill in the blanks. Once he was done, Ratchet gave them the results.

"He'll be very exhausted, Optimus, but nothing serious. There aren't any side effects I can detect, so he'll recover just fine." Ratchet said.

"That's good. We need some good news after hearing about today's events." Optimus sighed. "The power of these beings continues to worry me."

"Same here, but it's nothing we can do anything about right now." Ratchet said and walked over to his work table. "You can talk to Bumblebee, but keep the conversation to a minimum please."

"I will, thank you." Optimus turned to Bumblebee, who was sitting on the medical table, lost in thought. "How are you feeling, Bumblebee?"

"Tired, and a bit…shaken." Bumblebee said, rubbing the back of his head. "He…was in me, Optimus. He was controlling my body, my mind…he was so powerful."

"I know, Bumblebee. I'm sorry you had to go through that. These angels are more dangerous than we thought." Optimus crossed his arms. "Their powers are beyond what I had expected from them."

Bumblebee was quiet for a few minutes, trying to gather his thoughts. There was a question hanging on the tip of his vocoder, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. But Optimus could see right through him and he asked what was on his mind.

"Optimus, do you believe in gods?"

Optimus wasn't expecting that question. "I'm sorry?"

"I've seen Lucifer's memories, and there are thousands of them sleeping on this planet. They're not regular beings, Optimus, their powers are insane and their appearance," Bumblebee shook his head, his expression haunted. "It's like seeing those hold human bible scriptures come to life. I've never felt so afraid in my life."

"Bumblebee, I hold the Matrix of Leadership in my chest. It is said to hold a fragment of Primus' Spark within it, and it carries great power. But that doesn't mean I believe in Primus. Only that there may be a higher power that holds dominion over all our fates." Optimus said. "Vector Sigma, the Matrix, the Thirteen Primes, all beings of great power, but are not gods. These angels may be powerful, but they are not gods. That is just a delusion that they have made for themselves to justify subjugating lesser beings. They are mortal and vulnerable to death. Don't let your fear of them control you, Bumblebee. That is how they control people."

Bumblebee nodded. "Okay, thanks, Optimus."

"Anything for a friend, Bumblebee." Optimus patted the scout's shoulder and turned to Jolt. "Jolt, make sure Bumblebee gets his rest."

"I will, Prime." Jolt nodded.

Optimus left the medibay with heavy thoughts weighing on his mind. Bumblebee's question rang in his mind. He never put much stock in religion, especially with how easily it could be used to justify the most horrid atrocities on some worlds. He truly didn't believe in gods like some others of his kind do; if there was a god who created their race, some abstract creator who sowed the seeds of life of some of the strangest life forms in the universe, then Optimus knew they would weep at how far their precious creations had fallen.