Across the Isle: Short Stories of Past and Present
Ripples in the Ocean
A green and orange toddler, barely considered a youngling now, grunted as she dragged a bucket heavier than herself across the white, pristine streets of Hydronix much to the confusion of her elders but no one stopped her to her journey to the city's edge where ramps of submarines and other ships capable of traversing both sky and sea led to the vast ocean that Aquatron was known for. On an abandoned ramp adorned with an old ship long forgotten, she brought the bucket to the edge of the ramp and sat down with a huff, catching her breath.
The youngling known as Spirelight stared out in the open ocean where the horizon touched the sea far away, farther than she had ever been. "Someday."
A slew of ripples appeared occasionally, creeping towards the docks and Spirelight grinned as her friend was here. Standing up, she stood on the tips of her pedes to grab a water worm. The big white and gold worm took almost two servos to hold and was more than half her size but they were fished out by her sire for bait for larger species that were popular food sources.
"I brought you some food! I kept my promise as usual!" She said happily as she threw the worm as far as she could. It ended up barely missing the ramp and going into the water but she was proud regardless of her throw.
The worm was visibly sinking for a second until it suddenly vanished. Spirelight grinned and got another one.
"You know, this is so cool having a friend like you. I know you can't talk but I thank you for listening. It's always nice to know someone is listening even if what I say doesn't make any sense sometimes. My sire says it's the thought of listening that counts in the end though."
Another worm hit the water and disappeared with a shadow engulfing it. Spirelight smiled at that. She remembered when she first came to the docks when she was feeling a bit overwhelmed in her new classes. It wasn't her peers that were the problem, it was the overabundance of them. She always liked peaceful settings and the old docks by the ocean she found to be just right. That's where she met her friend whom she was able to pet and feed when they exposed their finned backside to her breaching the water. Ever since, she made it a habit to talk to her friend while enjoying her secret spot. Her sire didn't like her wandering off alone, but she thought nothing of it.
The ripples didn't appear again after she threw in two more worms. She assumed her friend was done talking and wanted to go home. "Okay, well, goodbye! I'll see you tomorrow!"
When she returned the next day with the grubs, she did her same routine. The movement among the ocean surface that caused small waves to climb up the ramp a little to her feet made her giggle and she was about to grab one worm when-
"Spirelight!"
She dropped the worm in shock, and it slid down the ramp into the ocean on its own as she watched her sire approaching angry yet also scared. He quickly kneeled down to her and grabbed her shoulders.
"What are you doing all the way out here?!"
"I...I was just feeding my friend the grubs you rejected from your trips, sire."
Her sire shook his head frantically, "Do you know how dangerous it is to be out near the docks alone?! You could get hurt! You could be taken by anyone or anything!"
She whimpered, "But, sire, I-"
"No buts, Spirelight! No going out on your own! My word is final! No more going to the docks! No more feeding this imaginary 'friend' of yours! No more of this nonsense, okay?!"
The youngling grew disheartened and started to cry. "It's not imaginary! It's my friend!"
Her sire's optics slightly grew sympathetic, but he shook away the emotion in favor of a stricter mindset. "You're young. You don't understand how much I love you, which is why I'm telling you that you aren't doing this anymore. Come on, Spirelight, don't make me the bad guy here."
Spirelight ripped herself from his grasp still crying and now stomping in a mini-tantrum. Her sire finally had enough of her stubbornness. He grabbed her wrist dragging her from the ramp and the ocean she loved as she screamed, "No! I want to see my friend!"
"Spirelight, for the last time, I'm not arguing with you! Let's go or you're getting a time out!"
She continued to cry even when her sire grew tired of forcing her to walk with him and instead picked her up despite her useless kicking and screaming in his arms. He sighed as his youngling made it difficult the whole way home.
As they left, however, the bucket of worms remained on the ramp as the ocean barely grazed it. Suddenly, the bucket was forcefully tipped over towards the ocean and all the worms inside were dumped. A second later, the edge of a green fin breached the water only for a brief second before disappearing back into the depths with a growl.
Spirelight didn't keep away for long. In defiance of her sire who was resting from trying to calm her for the remainder of the day, she snuck back out in the dusk of Aquatron's quieter time through her window. She landed on her aft upon doing so but she made as little noise as she could. The streets weren't as busy, and the noise of the city was at a perfect low. She raced to the docks and saw the bucket that once had the worms nodding on its side as the waves gently pushed it.
"I'm here! I wouldn't leave you! Friends don't leave friends, you know!" She squealed in glee. She grew a little sad when, at first, she didn't see any ripples among the ocean. Then a growing visible break among the water made her face brighten again. "Hello!"
Suddenly, the ripples disappeared as she heard her sire again. "Spirelight, how many times do I have to tell you not to come here?!"
The youngling stood up ashamed, tears becoming prominent in her optics. This time, she didn't yell but said in a despairing tone, "I just want to see my friend."
Her sire, now angered beyond normal, loomed over her. "Why can't you listen to me?! Do you want me to be mad at you?! Is that it?!"
"No," she said sniffing.
The closer he got, the louder Spirelight cried knowing he was never going to let her anywhere near the docks again.
"I try to keep you safe as best I can on my own, but you keep disregarding everything I say! When will you listen?! When I'm dead?!"
"I wish you were!" She screamed.
Hearing her say that hurt him and he reevaluated his approach to the whole matter. Her sire realized he was being too harsh to a youngling barely into her new stage of life, but Spirelight didn't notice his change of spark as she ran past him sobbing and he tried to catch her to calm her. But when he caught her arm and leaned down at an angle, she blindly waved her arm out of his grasp alongside her free one and accidentally struck him across the face. He was thrown off by the compromised balance he had on the ramp and stumbled back before tripping and sliding down the ramp. He caught himself midway submerged alongside the discarded bucket and clung to the edge of the ramp as he heard Spirelight still running.
"Spirelight?! Spirelight!"
The sire then sighed and was just about to pursue her to apologize when he heard splashing behind him in the ocean. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from what he could see, but he still peered at the surface for miles. Suddenly, he screamed in agony as something latched onto his leg. No one could hear him as the docks on this side of Hydronix were left to rot. Energon started to stain the water and he frantically tried to climb up out of it. He had no grip and was sucked under in seconds. His screams were silenced and only bubbles appeared on the surface creating small ripples as each popped until they dwindled to none.
Spirelight sat among her bedroom miserable, and she waited for her sire to return to give her a time out as he promised. After a few minutes turned into an hour and an hour became five, she finally left her home. Going to the docks for a third time that night, she found them void of any Aquatronian or other. So, she waited and fell asleep in the old, abandoned ship awaiting her sire.
When she awoke the next day, she found he had still never arrived but while he hadn't, she was pleased to see ripples in the water circling like normal meaning her friend did. She eagerly ran back to her house and got the grubs like normal. She dragged it across town and still received very odd looks from many. Sitting at the edge of the ramp like always, she held up a grub. The ripples stopped circling and resonated nearby like they were waiting for their daily feed which Spirelight was all too happy to fulfill.
"Don't worry, my sire will one day come around to like you. I didn't mean all those things I said to him if you heard us. I was angry. I just wanted to stay your friend. He'll understand that you're friendly eventually. I'll prove it to him."
Spirelight sat at the ramp content. She didn't know how long but she noticed her friend only ate one grub this time. Well, she could keep the rest until tomorrow.
Whistleblower
Scythe passed Autobots left and right, smiling at them with his blue optics and light green color scheme. He tapped the Autobot symbol on his chest with a smirk. No one knew his secret so far. He was just that good.
"Scythe, may I talk to you?" The voice of Ultra Magnus called out.
He paused and turned on his heels to the tall, valiant leader of the Wreckers and Optimus' trusted general standing proudly. Scythe would have raked his optics over the impressive form but with Ultra glaring at him like he had murdered someone, it was not even an option unless he wanted to be knocked out. With a sigh, he followed Ultra to a remote area of the base. Walking side by side, they paced each other.
"You wouldn't happen to know of any unusual activity here, would you?"
"Unusual, sir?"
Ultra Magnus scowled, "This base is the only thing standing between the Decepticons and their ability to overrun Cybertropolis. If they get their servos on this city, they will have access to Cybertropolis' massive warehouse complexes that have near infinite resources. We cannot allow that to happen. Someone has tipped off Megatron of this fact and I need you to find out who it is because Decepticon ground forces are attempting to converge on us as well as other areas on the outskirts of the city. If we don't get this situation under control, we will all be doomed."
Scythe realized what he was taking about and asked, "A traitor, sir, here? I will do everything in my power to help. Leave it to me."
Ultra Magnus smiled, a rarity, "I knew I could trust you, Scythe. Oh, and don't talk to anyone else about this, for security purposes."
"Understood, sir."
With a light tap on the green mech's shoulder, Ultra Magnus walked off leaving Scythe to watch him with a neutral expression before dropping in abruptly, rolling his optics and scowling once the other was out of range. "If only you knew."
Scythe then proceeded back on his initial path. What he failed to mention and what Ultra Magnus never asked was where he was heading. He was heading right towards a private communications terminal he and a few others had access to. It was also one of the few that had no cameras due to the "interference" they posed among the communications. Going inside, he made sure the door was locked before opening a request for a private channel...
"So, I take it no one knows our little secret?"
Scythe smiled as Starscream appeared onscreen. "No one, Commander. Ultra Magnus is trying to spread our forces around the city to protect it. I suggest an aerial assault would most likely be better because they know ground forces are nearby, they don't know we can divebomb them and get the upper hand. Also, I learned this base has fuel cells located in the northern end of it. You make an airstrike on that, you'll have everything you need to blow this thing sky high."
"Excellent work, Scythe, Lord Megatron will be pleased with your progress as am I. We will finally have access to the hidden stores of Cybertropolis' infamous reserves. Upon Lord Megatron's orders, which should be very soon, we will attack. I suggest if you don't want to get caught by the buffoon Magnus or by our offense, you should find a way out of that base within the hour."
"Yes, Commander Starscream." When the Seeker cut out, Sycthe pursed his lips in a deadpanned manner. "But knowing you, you'd probably go ahead with it early to take me out as well."
He knew his timeframe upon leaving that room and he made an immediate beeline to the base's docks. His ship, which was borrowed from Onslaught, was thankfully untouched and was completely fueled. When the Autobots asked where he was heading, he lied and said he had a call to meet one of the lieutenants in Iacon. They bought it.
An hour later, he heard the news. The base was destroyed with most Autobots dying in the process sans Ultra Magnus and a few under his direct command. By that time, he was already given orders to go to a specific location in Iacon that was said to harbor an Autobot infiltrator group that could wreak havoc on the Decepticons if any of its members could pose as them. Given the planet wide war made everyone hard to track on both sides, it was understandable why the Decepticons didn't want the group among them...plus, he was already infiltrating the Autobots so he didn't need faction competition.
When he reached his next destination, he met up with the spy ring elites and put on his best act yet. No one batted an optic his way and no one suspected a thing, just how he liked it. He did his job, and he did it well. They welcomed him like he had always been part of their team. Even though his so-called teammates had nice personalities, it was quite a shame in the end he was just a spy in disguise. He didn't feel as bad when many of them were suddenly killed in an ambush. He could shrug their deaths off easily; maybe he liked them, but they weren't that special.
Like always, he got his praise and payment until one day, the past came back to haunt him. He didn't expect it, but he should have known no one could be lucky forever.
A knock on his door at his temporary chambers in Iacon had him opening it to come face to face with Ultra Magnus again, but the mech wasn't looking at him with anything other than hatred. With a gun pointed at his face, he knew he had been caught.
"What gave me away?" He asked.
Ultra Magnus at first didn't answer like he was embarrassed or just plain irate. Finally, Scythe got his answer. "You didn't tell me you were leaving that base when you said you were called to Iacon. I always get notified when someone leaves the base. Your biggest mistake was not following protocol and not making sure I was in the base when it was destroyed. I'm disappointed in you, Scythe. You're one of the better traitors I've dealt with but apparently not good enough."
Scythe stayed quiet as he raised his servos to surrender while glaring at Ultra. The fact that the Autobot general was right was a blow to his ego, but never again would he make the same mistake.
Space Invaders
Walking on Aquatron's floating city streets as her army corralled the citizens like sheep, she was followed by two Quintesson soldiers hovering beside her. She ignored the looks she was receiving, ones of despair, anger, and agony. They would learn to bow to their superiors.
Among the plaza of the city, a larger Quintesson hovered with five faces each taking turns speaking with their respective emotions. The Face of War snickered as one prisoner tried to stand up to them before the Face of Judgement turned to be center and told the prisoner of the doubts of their threat before analyzing just what made the prisoner so foolish as to argue with them. The Face of Wisdom and the Face of Death were silent in the matter, but the fifth Face of Wrath finally took hold.
"YOU HAVE NO SAY HERE, INFIDEL! WE JUDGE YOU TODAY ON THE PITIFUL EXISTENCE YOU CALL LIFE AND HOW YOU MIGHT BE UNWORTHY OF IT!" Then the Face of Judgement returned, "But we doubt you will pass, for you and your brethren have shown us what is in your sparks. Unworthy you are of the lives you take for granted."
The Aquatronian in question stood their ground. "This is an outrage! You can't judge us! It's our lives! No one can tell us our worthiness to live in a universe where we can all coexist!"
The Face of Wisdom spoke next. "Nothing in this universe can escape judgement. Every day one faces judgement and to pretend it does not exist will only hurt more than understanding it."
The Face of War smiled, "Such a fighting spirit, and here we thought you couldn't be any more of challenge. We like challenges. It makes it so much more fun to watch your hope die."
Upon the triggering word, the Face of Death appeared with a ghostly cackle, "Death will be handed down to all who oppose us! If found guilty, your existence will cease and all who try to say otherwise will be destroyed!"
Quintessa watched with interest as the proud Aquatronian grew silent knowing they couldn't win against the Judge. She approached and for a second, many Aquatronians grew hopefully she would spare them. How foolish they were.
The Face of Judgement acknowledged her presence in a rare change of personality as they were the normal speaker of the Judge when in casual conversation. "My Queen, as you can see, these lifeforms are insolent."
The silver and purple tinted leader narrowed her optics. "They just need some reminder of who their creators are."
It was a lie. Primus, the Allspark, and many other forms of nature were the real creators but it wasn't like the Aquatronians needed to know that. Here, only she was a god and that's how she wanted it to stay. It was what she deserved after years of being Quintus Prime's test tube creations. No more would they bow to anyone. It was their turn to take control.
She simply waved off the Judge's concern. "Keep pressing, there's only so many times you can tell someone they are inferior before one must make the decision to off the defiers. Is that not a fair judgement?"
The Judge started to smile before the Face of War rotated center stage. "A shame really and we were hoping they would show some promise, but we understand. Hmm hmm, their lives are nothing but a joke and we will eradicate that. Prepare the courts!"
The Quintesson soldiers obeyed and wrapped their cybernetic armored tentacles around the arms of many Aquatronians to prevent them from fighting back as they were dragged to their own Council chambers. The Judge followed, their tentacles coiling with anticipation.
Quintessa shrugged off the cries and pleas of the Aquatronians and turned her backs to them. "Talk about a singing their tune when they are about to die."
The two Quintesson guards beside her growled like mocking laughter in response.
Aquatron was hers to command and warp to her design. She had plans for this world and next on her list once her legion was settled was Cybertron.
She began to levitate and twirled in a circle in glee. "Oh, how I wished for so long to enact my revenge across these pathetic worlds! It's Aquatron today, boys. Tomorrow we might as well have the entire galaxy at the palm of our hands!"
As she laughed, her guards circled her in the air with equal amusement.
Immortalized
Klea Pakora roared as another bot hit the ground dead, Energon staining everything it could reach. Another challenger gone, another disappointment littering her territory. Many in her place, assuming they would ever reach it, would have boasted victory with a monologue, an insult of the dead, or maybe a prideful gesture to show the people they were the leader now. She merely grunted down at the corpse before walking away. She had no interest in anything except protecting her herd as she had always done for the past millions of years. It was always the same tale and the same ending. Nothing changed except the type of bots that would enter her domain to claim her throne every other day, it seemed. Victory was stale at this point.
Her Dinobots cheered her, she merely tipped her head in acknowledgement of the praise. What they couldn't see, what they couldn't know, was that she was growing tired. She had done almost everything in battle she could do. She had fought every bot of every different sentient species on Kanjis. She had been around long enough to see the generations pass and yet, none of them seemed to be any smarter than the last thinking they could just take her throne. It's a pity so many valiant and powerful bots had to learn the hard way not to take what wasn't theirs. She was tired of fighting and having the same boring routine, but she made herself promise to fight until death and she planned to keep doing so.
The nickname the planet gave her in her youth, Klea Pakora..."the almighty"...was a burden sometimes. It meant she couldn't be anything less than a goliath. She was getting older, hundreds of millions of years and counting. There was a wonder just how long her spark would hold from all the brutality she gave and took the brunt of. The scars of her years weren't pretty to look at for too long.
Did she yearn for death? Klea Pakora couldn't say anything for or against the question in her mind. She knew she wasn't indestructible. No one was, but everyone had a tendency to glorify her and that made her question things. She wouldn't always be around and arguably, that scared her a bit more knowing the herd might fall into the wrong hands and she was becoming tired, slower.
"Something on your mind, my dear?"
When she passed a group of raptors in the gardens of a temple built in the side of a mountain, she saw among them her high priest and trusted friend, the wise Farseer. The Styracosaurus-like Dinobot, with her wide head crest and giant horns spread out and decorated with gold-trimmed banners tied between each, sat with her front paws pressed together in a formal pose. Various gold piercings, rings and tattoos across her regal indigo armor that became gradient to black at her legs and tail emphasized her devotion and years to her craft as a shaman and an oracle. Even the king himself sought her out for advice.
There was no hiding any emotions or any thoughts from Farseer. As gentle of a giant she was, a fool she was not. Her psychic powers made her one of the few on Kanjis that could and would isolate anything on the mind and tell one to their face what troubled them.
As Klea Pakora approached, the raptors that were her assistants paused from their meditation to make way for the Tyrannosaur. Even though Farseer was their master, Klea Pakora was still their overall leader as was she to Farseer. But she trusted the old Dinobot's words of advice and commands far more than she would admit. Farseer was never wrong.
"Nothing you could probably help me with but thank you for your kindness."
The decorated Dinobot peered up at the leader from her seated position with calm silver optics as they briefly pulsed bright before returning to normal. "No, I cannot but I can offer you this. Some might argue leaders are not needed but what they fail to realize is there are leaders to protect and serve those who cannot find their way alone. That's why they exist, not for power or for showmanship but for someone to be able to trust. Leaders like you who protect the herd instead of trying to rule over it help guide others which is what a true leader should be. Greater fools who call themselves such are not leaders as they proclaim but tyrants, and every tyrant falls eventually as you have proven. True leadership, physical or spiritual, always leaves an impact for good."
Klea Pakora gave a small smile but shook her head. "I'm afraid it's a bit more than that. I'm growing tired, Farseer, mentally and physically. I can still fight but it's only a matter of time. It's just too much."
Farseer raised a brow, "Is it now? And yet you still stand before me. If it was too much, it would be you lying dead in the field and some stupid bot shouting a victory to the heavens that they probably wouldn't even know what to do next after claiming. If it was too much, you would have let them kill you. Unfortunately, the price of being a leader is you take the brunt of everything thrown against the herd and yourself, and you are expected to defend it because that's what the role you've taken requires you to do. I don't expect you to rise with new purpose after this, but I want you to understand how important you are and how you can almost be defined as a god given your nigh-invulnerable stance in life. You built yourself up to this degree to be unchallengeable. It is tiring, true, yet you have the strength most could only dream of to carry on regardless. Do you think if you were to retire or pass...someone could replace you?"
The Dinobot leader sighed, "I suppose not. I chose this fate, didn't I, when I killed Varekna, the past herd leader?"
The raptors moved to form two parallel lines as Farseer moved her front legs out of the meditative position and slowly pressed both onto the cloth she had been lying on to push her heavy chassis to stand. All the muscle and girth of the ceratopsian-like Dinobot flexed upon being used again. Despite being old and often relying on her abilities to do mundane things, she still stood for Klea Pakora and the latter was reminded visually that her friend was still capable of taking just as much damage as her as the horns she supported on her face were not for show above all.
At full height, Farseer almost was as tall as Klea Pakora and that was without her standing on her hind legs. She moved towards the Dinobot leader at a slow but powerful pace. "Walk with me, my dear. These joints need some exercise today anyway."
The gardens of the temple were beautiful, but Klea Pakora was stuck focusing on the ground more so than it. Farseer didn't have to look at her to know her mind was still reeling.
"You want to know if you could do more without tiring of your leadership, not having to deal with the possibility of losing to those who seek to take control of the herd. You love the herd, you love what you do but it's the challengers that are the problem. One day, I believe they will stop. After all, how many idiots do you think there are on this planet? And no, that's not my wisdom speaking. Literally, how many more bots cannot see the blood in the grass before they get a clue that you are still unbeatable?"
Klea Pakora scoffed, "But what happens when one day I do die? There's got to be someone out there that can kill me, and you know this as much as I do."
"Is that your concern?" Farseer smirked humorously.
"Well, not really...yes... somewhat?"
Farseer then stopped walking and grunted, closing her optics as Klea Pakora paused just past her before turning around. The Tyrannosaur Dinobot saw her horns glow as energy swirled among her head. Klea Pakora knew what that meant; Farseer was looking into the future trying to find her death. When the energy died and the horns stopped glowing, Farseer gave her a stern look.
"I know who your enemy is. The battle will be costly but not just to you. Another world holds a monster, and two bots seek to destroy it. You will fight the monster and you will die but your sacrifice will not be in vain."
Klea Pakora felt somewhat downtrodden hearing the word "die" but if it was to help someone, maybe it was worth it. Still, if a monster won against her, that would put her herd in danger, and she would refuse to let that happen...if she had the power to do so. She bowed her head with a solemn growl.
Farseer then said, "But not all is lost. I cannot change this fate, but I can alter the aftermath of it."
The Dinobot leader became confused. "How so?"
"You say you struggle with the concept of inevitable death, and you do so not out of the concern of your own well-being but the concern of the herd's. For your nobility, I offer you the gift of life for the price of a piece of your soul. But Klea, there are unfathomable consequences for eternal life. The ritual will take everything you have mentally, a portion of your soul taken to make the rest of it incorruptible. Your body and spark will be indestructible but each time you come back, or you take a life, you won't be the same and with it, changes will gradually take hold of you that you won't be able to stop. For your particular case, the more you kill, the more direct your mindset will become. You will protect the herd, but you will lose your compassion and your sense of fairness to everyone else on the outside until you are consumed by a single driven objective. Do you wish to do so?"
Klea Pakora was still. Her optics flickered occasionally, from looking at her oracle to looking elsewhere. She wanted to protect the herd forever if she could, as many members as physically possible. A part of her knew the consequences would turn her into nothing short of an animal that could talk but maybe it was necessary. She peered at her surroundings between the raptors and several other decorated Dinobots walking among the temple. It was to protect all of them...
"I'll do it...for the herd."
Farseer didn't look pleased but neither did she seem angry or disappointed. It was like a business exchange and Klea Pakora knew there could be no emotional opinions other than neutral among such a delicate subject matter.
"Very well then, follow me," the priestess said. The raptors overheard and once she nodded to them, they immediately went to prepare for the ritual.
Klea Pakora did as she was told and entered the temple.
"Klea, I hope you know that this type of ritual is, in a sense, cursed. Even King Kronos doesn't like it. But you will pull through, I know you will. You will always be here to protect your herd."
You will always be here to protect your herd.
You will always be...
Lifeless, enraged, battered, bleeding...but not dead.
As the Cybertronian Predator finally fended off the rest of the Dinobots before limping away, the herd stood beside the bodies of the fallen and their orphaned younglings. Among the bodies, Klea Pakora's remains lied with the chassis several feet from her decapitated head.
Suddenly, steam blew from lifeless nostrils. It shouldn't have been possible; it couldn't be. That's what she told herself in her faded mind. Her spine and the cabling surrounding it severed from the main body twitched when the body itself developed a faint light within. It began to move, grabbing its missing head. Wires reconnected, cabling reattached with gears and armor slowly repairing themselves. The head was still lifeless even as it and the body were one again.
Klea Pakora's optics lit up abruptly as her jaw realigned itself and she stared blankly in the direction she was positioned towards for a second before narrowing her optics and cracking her newly attached neck to peer towards the Black Mountains visible and the Mystic Marshlands unseen. She let out a vicious roar as her vocals came back to life.
Damned. Defied. Revived. Immortalized.
Apprentice of Archives
Rockrider flipped through the screens displaying the history of the Thirteen Primes when her servo was lightly swatted by Alpha Trion.
"Are you really that bored? There is no mere glancing when it comes to Iacon's vast archives. Read."
The bronze femme scowled, "It's just...how do you process so much of this information? It feels like it's never-ending. How do you go about reading all of this in one sitting?"
Alpha Trion smiled and said, "Yes, it is a lot but, my apprentice, it is all valuable information and who knows, you might find what you read here may come in handy one day. The best way is to simply read it like you were there. Picture each detail as you go; it is much more tolerable that way. Trust me, I will admit that I was once where you were with all this. It was quite a handful and I wanted nothing more than to skip some of the older material, but we do what we must to keep the tradition alive."
As the red and purple mech walked off, Rockrider was left looking at the data pad screen again, placing her chin on her palm in weariness. Going with her mentor's advice, she began to picture the actions described more so than plainly reading the words. It didn't impress her too much but the visual seemed to work.
When she was done with it after two hours, she went onto the next set regarding the politics and caste system. She scoffed to herself upon realizing this. Recently, a mere low-caste gladiator from Kaon was challenging the system and she couldn't believe how ungrateful the bot was. Without the caste system, there would be no order, nothing but chaos. To hear people complain that the system was unjust was laughable and they were unaware of just how much freedom they had in comparison to most other forms of government like the Quintesson rule every Cybertronian heard in old tales.
"So stupid, the so-called revolution will never last," she muttered to herself.
"Ah but doubting the power of the voices of others can be quite a disadvantage," Alpha Trion interrupted, seating himself across from her. "I have seen when a single voice finds a way to carry through the noise of the room and I have seen it change bots to see a new perspective, and sometimes it is unfavorable. Liege Maximo was particularly guilty of that back then and Megatronus too. We underestimated Megatronus Prime, and he killed Solus Prime which we never thought he could do despite his ultimatum for violence or for change."
Rockrider frowned, "What happened to him?"
Alpha grew a bit hesitant but knowing the question came from his own fault of speaking about the Second Prime, he sighed, "Megatronus grew corrupted. Some argued he was coerced, and others believed he was bad to begin with. What he wanted was to change how Cybertron was run because he didn't like the 'corruption' growing within its powers. But something snapped in him, and he ended up murdering Solus, his lover, when she questioned him. He was banished after that, where to I cannot say but the Allspark is the only one that knows."
"You make it sound like the Allspark is alive or something?"
"It is. It has consciousness just like you and me. Back then, it was very endearing. It changed too and is currently in its...hibernate state. Well, we don't speak much about its past now and days. Back to the subject, Megatronus wanted change and like this gladiator, who ironically named himself after Megatronus, they both sought to fix the supposed unfairness of the system. Hopefully, this new Megatronus doesn't kill people over it aside from his current job, of course."
Rockrider pursed her lips in thought. "What's your opinion on the matter?"
"Me?" Alpha Trion asked. "Well, I myself haven't experienced the wrong side of the caste system so technically I cannot make an accurate comment about it. From the lower classes point of view though, I've heard some things regarding new bylaws and regulations, how the classes are treated against the elite like us. One thing you must understand, Rockrider, is that there will always be trouble in any form of government and, in my opinion, the people should always come first and foremost. Don't take the privileges you have as a universal experience or for granted. This gladiator, Megatronus, might be right but it's up to you and many others of your generation to understand why he's making the protest in the first place and helping fix what needs to be fixed...even if you must do some unsavory things to get it done. The price of freedom and choice is sometimes very steep."
Rockrider slowly nodded. Although, she did have some doubts that this Megatronus was really what he was claiming to be a victim of. It wasn't uncommon for fake protests to occur to cause unnecessary chaos simply because the party at hand wanted to. The legend of the Allspark once said it went mad and it was trapped in its crystal casing because of that. It was put back in its place and no one had a problem with that. Who's to say this gladiator wasn't just being ungrateful and needed to be dealt with?
She kept her opinion to herself, however, and simply continued reading. She caught Alpha Trion briefly peering at her with an unreadable expression but thought nothing of it.
Just then, a large, faded gold mech appeared carrying data pads. He grunted, "Alpha Trion, sir, your requested information."
"Thank you, Wrathzone. Oh, have I introduced you to my apprentice, Rockrider?"
Wrathzone looked emotionless. "Can't say that you have."
That didn't sit well with Rockrider, not that she was bold enough to speak out on Alpha Trion forgetting to mention her to his bodyguard. She knew who he was. The mech did the minimum to acknowledge her before carrying on with his duties.
"I see that look," Alpha Trion said. "Wrathzone is a very quiet mech. He prefers just doing his job more so than socializing. Don't think he hates you or anything; it's just how he is."
Rockrider was suspicious to say the least but if he was trusted by Alpha Trion, she couldn't judge him a whole lot.
"Tell you what, if anything happens to me, I'll be sure to have Wrathzone be your partner that way you can get to know one another, and he will always be there to protect you."
She smiled a bit at that. It was a rare moment today that she smiled. But little did she know the reality of the words he said would eventually come true.
Months later did she receive the most devasting uproot of her life. Megatronus, now shortened to Megatron, declared war with the government and fellow archivist Orion Pax, now promoted to Optimus Prime, who Rockrider always believed was a naïve clerk barely suited for the glorious archives she was much better equipped to deal with. Finding out he was the reincarnation of the missing Thirteenth Prime was distasteful but having him fighting with a newfound Autobot clan was a mockery of everything Cybertronian.
Alpha Trion suddenly raced past her with guards and ordered them to evacuate precious data and relics stored within the Iacon Hall. Rockrider found herself metaphorically pushed to the sidelines like she didn't even exist.
"Make sure everything gets transported! I want not a single record untouched!"
She tried to speak, "Uh, Alpha Trion, sir-?"
"-Not now, Rockrider. Smokescreen, prepare the Omega Keys for launch!"
A young white and blue rookie saluted passionately. "On it, chief!"
Rockrider grimaced at the disrespectful nickname but was surprised to see that Alpha Trion didn't seem to care one bit. He never had nicknames, yet a newbie was allowed to call him that?
"Alpha-?"
He turned on her quickly and she cowered slightly from the sudden movement. "Rockrider, please just-just go to the transports and wait there!"
She was shocked but when he frowned somewhat angrily at her pause, she felt like she was just a waste of space. He never acted like that before. Nothing today was normal...and it was all because of that stupid gladiator and the useless clerk from the lower levels. Just because they were enemies doesn't mean either of them were right. They ruined everything.
Rockrider went to the transport bay and awaited Alpha Trion as directed. After almost an hour, he still hadn't appeared, and all but one Omega Key arrived as commanded to the main transport set to go into Cybertron's atmosphere and fire the pods containing an individual relic into a specific set of coordinates of space.
While she waited, she overheard a few of Alpha Trion's guards. "Who is that?"
"I don't know. Alpha Trion's daughter? Though I never heard him say he had a daughter."
"I don't think that's his daughter if he never mentioned her. He talks about Orion nonstop like the mech's his son so if she was related to him, he would have said something. She's probably someone who works in the base offices."
"Heh, she's probably just a cleaning staff or something. Oh, Boss is calling us. We still need to load Bay 8 with the rest of the relics."
She stood frozen in place upon hearing that. Alpha Trion never mentioned her, and she was his apprentice. He favored Orion-Optimus over her. Did all the things they laughed over not matter, all the bonding they did over the archives themselves not mean a damn thing?! No, apparently not. Alpha Trion only cared about Optimus' success and Optimus' well-being and-and-and...
Rockrider quivered slightly as her mind raced processing all of it. Alpha Trion didn't care enough about her to even mention her name...not once to anyone. All she seemed to be was a forgotten secretary, not even that probably to him.
Forgotten like the many forms of data in the Iacon Hall that most people didn't even know existed anymore. And it was all their fault! It had to be! Megatron starting his stupid war and Optimus taking her mentor away from her! And they were once friends, maybe even more. The war was just a setup to ruin everything! She was sure of it, so sure that she started seeing red. Nobody knew who she was, but they would one day. She would make sure of it, and she knew exactly which bot would help her.
Speaking of whom, she saw Wrathzone running at her before immediately stating, "Alpha Trion is dead! We have to leave now!"
"W-what?!"
Rockrider wasn't given an explanation aside from that as he grabbed her arm and forced her into the transport as he prepared for takeoff with several guards following inside. She saw through a window as the ship left the docks Decepticons outside bombarding the Hall of Records. Peering back through another, she watched part of the docks start to break as an explosion went off and the other transports were forced to leave.
The life she knew was gone; Alpha Trion was gone. No one knew she existed, and her life had been a lie. Upon the assault of the reality of the situation, Rockrider could only sit stunned as Wrathzone navigated them up towards the atmosphere to launch the relics. This was a nightmare. From apprentice to nobody in less than an hour. She wanted to cry but she was far too shocked to do so.
AN: Another round of character stories for you to see their perspective of war and conquest. Now you know what Scythe and Rockrider did before the events of TFP and this story. I would say I pity her but nah. The first segment was the most fun because although it technically doesn't feature a character...it features something more horrific. Writing these were always fun and I'll be sure to do more in future series.