Chapter 2: Orion Eclipse
Following Unicron's defeat, Megatron's exile followed by his declaration to the end of the Decepticons...and Optimus Prime sacrificing himself to return The Allspark to the Wellspring it originated to give Cybertronian life a better future, Ratchet has long since returned to Earth. Only in company with Autobot soldiers, Ironhide, and Hot Rod, as well. All the while, the rest of Team Prime now station themselves on Cybertron to maintain peace as promised to their late leader.
With Starscream and Shockwave presumably still on the loose, Ultra Magnus, who has assumed Leadership over the Autobots, regularly sends out patrols to track them down. Among so much else, the end of the war brought a lot of changes to an Ex-Decepticon in particular: Knock Out. Not only is he now a part of the winning team, but he is also a well-treated and valuable medic for the Autobots on Cybertron.
Bumblebee has been promoted to lieutenant by Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead is spending his time helping out with repairs to the ravaged cities all across the planet of Cybertron, while Wheeljack teaches a new team of Wreckers to protect their homeworld from threats like the Decepticons. After arriving on Earth, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Hot Rod go to Jasper, Nevada where they meet with some old friends including Special Agent William Fowler.
"You don't suppose that it might be a Cybertronian, do you?" Hot Rod asked. "Maybe a lost Autobot or a stray Decepticon left behind."
"Reports have been stating that supposedly, both Starscream and Shockwave are still on the loose somewhere." Said Ironhide. "Maybe they found their way back here and are trying to keep low heads until they're ready to stir up trouble again. At least that's something I'm bettin' on."
"And more importantly: Ultra Magnus has told us that an old relic of Cybertron is still located somewhere on Earth," Ratchet said. "Hold on a minute: are you saying you three are on a mission or something like that?" Agent Fowler asked. "Yes, actually," Ratchet replied. "We're searching for the last remaining Decepticons that may still be in hiding in order to end their threat once and for all. Before there's a chance they can regain their military might, and restart the war - with or without their leader."
Somewhere in Idaho, a young man named Anthony Carter was birdwatching in the woods with his stepfather. Anthony Carter appears to be 17 years old, his hair brown, and he wears a white grey short-sleeved shirt with an orange number ten, and light blue jeans. His grandfather, Timothy Carter was a jet pilot, and his grandson, Anthony Carter, always dreamed of one day becoming a jet pilot, too.
However, he's currently not qualified to be a jet pilot due to how many times he dropped out of school. His real father died in a car crash, and his mother had to find a new partner who works as a machinist so that Anthony would have a stepfather. Anthony has a love-hate relationship with his stepfather, Johnathan Dave Carter, due to the feeling that he is trying to replace Anthony's real father.
Even so, Jonathan tried his hardest to get on good terms with his stepson. One day, they went on a road trip to explore the forests in Idaho. That leads us to right now, with Anthony Carter spotting a bird just as his step-father asked him a question.
"Hey, Anthony," Jonathan said to his stepson. "Yes, John?" Anthony asked his stepfather. "Would you like me to teach you how to drive?" Jonathan asked. "Drive? Well, thanks but I'm busy right now." Anthony told his stepfather.
"Come on, Anthony. At least let me teach you how to steer the wheel." Jonathan said. "No. I don't want to drive a car. I prefer to ride on a bicycle." Anthony told his stepfather.
"Look, I know that you lost your father, and nothing I can say will make the pain go away. But I still want to be there for you. My dad taught me how to drive a car when I was your age, so I thought I would teach you as he taught me." Jonathan replied, desperately trying to appeal to his stepson.
Anthony looked at his stepdad. "I appreciate you wanting to teach me how to drive a car, but I don't want to die in a car crash as my dad did." He said.
"You're not going to die the same way your father did, Anthony. I know you can do great things. Who taught you how to stand up for yourself while you were being bullied in school? I did." Jonathan began. "Who taught you how to use your binoculars? I did. And who helped you finish your homework before you dropped out of school?" He asked.
"You did, sir," Anthony answered in a low voice.
"Exactly," Jonathan replied. "I understand that you wanted to be a jet pilot just like your grandfather, but there's still going to be a time when you have to choose who you really want to be. When I was your age, I wanted to be an astronaut, but then I chose to become a machinist." He said.
"Because you were fascinated with robots?" Anthony assumed with mild sarcasm.
"No, because I wanted to fix cars, and make machines for a living," Jonathan told his stepson. "It might not be as great, or thrilling as being a Jet Pilot - but it's what I wanted out of my life. It's what I chose for myself." He then gave Anthony a sentimental expression. "And that applies to you, too, Anthony. No one can decide who you are: that's up to you. You are who you choose to be."
Despite his hidden resentment, Anthony did take some of Jonathan's advice to heart, and at least bore it in mind - whether he cared for the man, or not. Soon enough, he and his stepdad sat down on a log near the river where they continued to talk about learning to drive, and other adult stuff.
Meanwhile, inside a cave at a tall mountain in Idaho known as the Sawtooth Mountains, a young Transformer was fast asleep on the ground. His name is Orion Eclipse. He doesn't remember anything about the Great War for Cybertron, in spite of his Cybertronian heritage. He doesn't even remember where he came from or how he even came to Earth in the first place.
Orion suffered from a severe case of amnesia, which robbed him of many of his own memories, and whatever life he once had. All the while, he has been wandering around the planet for eons while scrounging for anything he could get his hands on just to keep him alive and active. Although he had forgotten who he was and where he came from, for some reason there was one thing that Orion never forgot, nor would he ever forget: and that was...his name.
Orion can't remember who it was that gave him his name, but he knew that it was the only thing he never forgot despite the fact that he suffered from complete memory loss. It was almost as if the name itself had echoed in the young Transformer's mind, and spark until he accepted it as his identity. At this very moment, Orion Eclipse was fast asleep in his cave when suddenly, he had a...strange dream.
Orion was standing on a stone surface leading into some kind of city. Soon, he was moving through mountainous skyscrapers made of the most beautiful architecture he had ever seen. However, while he wandered around, he soon came across a war zone. There, he saw a battle between robots that looked much different than Orion...and yet, held some similarity to him as beings who were as 'robotic' as he is.
There were two kinds of robotic armies facing each other: ones that he somehow knew were good, and ones that he knew were bad. Orion Eclipse went into hiding to avoid the carnage of the battlefield, keeping his head low as the chaos raged on - until he saw a red and blue robot with a silver face mask fighting against a grey, bulky robot with red eyes and sharp teeth.
Orion did not know who they were, but somehow he'd felt as if he'd seen them fighting before. The red and blue robot challenged the evil grey robot to a duel, all while Orion Eclipse could hear what the two of them were saying to each other.
"Megatron! Today your reign of tyranny is over. One shall stand...one shall fall!"
The evil-looking robot laughed evilly before he replied to his opponent, "This war won't be over, Optimus Prime! Not until I've extinguished your spark!"
Orion Eclipse watched in fear and awe as he watched the fight between the two metallic giants as they dueled each other with metal swords drawn from their arms. Right before Orion began panicking, and started to fill with fear as he tried to figure out what was happening around him. "What's going on!? Why's this happening!? Who are these robots, and why are they fighting each other!?" Orion thought in desperation and panic.
The battle itself lasted for half a megacycle until Optimus Prime defeated his enemy. But just when it looks like he's about to deliver the final blow to Megatron, the world suddenly begins to crumble, and quake. And suddenly all around them is set ablaze before the world shook from what felt like a massive earthquake and then, right in the middle of it all, a crack in the earth began to open as wide as a titanous mouth, as thousands of Cybertronians fell to their deaths.
Suddenly, a giant metallic being rose from the abyss before Orion lost his balance, and seemed ready to fall into the abyss as well. But he was quick, and he immediately grabbed onto the edge of a cliff before his spark began racing with terror while he struggled to climb back up. Just then, the same giant entity that rose from within the world's core began to unleash an explosion of power that disintegrated everything in its path. Optimus Prime and Megatron were engulfed in flames, reduced to ashes.
But out of the chaos, a bright light appeared before Orion's optics, which made his spark fill with wonder and awe. That swiftly disappeared when he lost his grip and fell into the bottomless pit. His screams echo through the infernal chasm brought on by what could only be described as the Apocalypse happening within his core consciousness. That ended as he reached the very core of the world.
"AAAAAAAAAGHHH!" Orion Eclipse screamed.
The young Transformer got up from his sleep, gasping for air while still feeling the fear of what he had just seen. But afterward, he calmed himself down and realized that everything he had seen was not real. Orion Eclipse pulled himself together since he had no urge to sleep again. He had weird dreams and bad dreams before, but this dream in particular felt like it all seemed so real. Thankfully, Orion didn't die in his sleep.
"Just a dream," Orion reassured himself. The young bot looked around inside of his cave before he got up and took a look outside. Orion could see that it was finally daytime. Orion sighed sadly, "I don't know why I keep having these dreams, but it still seemed so real." he thought aloud.
Orion Eclipse went down from the mountains before deciding to go exploring in the woods. Thankfully, he knew to try and do so without being spotted by humans. Orion had always admired nature since he first arrived. Living alone in Idaho was everything he could never have imagined he would want more from life than anything else.
Whatever he really was, this place on Earth was what he called home. The young bot admitted to himself that while he could not remember how or when he arrived on Earth, and though he loved it immensely, living alone on this planet wasn't always safe. When he first encountered the humans, they feared and despised him as soon as they saw him. They didn't see Orion as a lonely person who needed help: instead, they saw him as a giant mechanical monster that was hellbent on destruction - and was most definitely not of this world.
Since then, Orion Eclipse has forced himself into hiding away from humans for the rest of his life. This had the sad effect of ensuring he would become lonely without any real friends to talk to. The only comfort that Orion found while spending his days alone on Earth was the peaceful scenery of nature. The animals made him feel less lonely but they couldn't speak. Orion had longed for acceptance and he wanted to befriend the humans so that he wouldn't have to spend most of his time talking to rocks or simple wildlife.
But his life of solitude was about to change forever, sooner than he imagined. Orion was determined to at least show himself and speak to one human without frightening him or her. During his time alone, Orion Eclipse did some studies to learn more about the Earth and its inhabitants. He collected information that he found outside of his cave: all gathered from books, novels, newspapers, and other things. Orion Eclipse learned how to read, and he even learned how to write and understand human language. While in the forest, Orion could hear birds chirping and the rivers flowing near him. He sighed in full contentment before the young bot continued to explore through the trees.
Meanwhile, Ratchet, Hot Rod, and Ironhide were out patrolling outside of Jasper while carrying on with their mission to find the missing Cybertronian relic. Not to mention hunting down, and capturing the last remaining Decepticons, Shockwave and Starscream. Agent Fowler mentioned to the Autobots that there had been rumors about a giant robot hiding somewhere in Idaho, and the three had come to the conclusion that it might either be a Decepticon or an Autobot. Then Ratchet had an idea that the missing Cybertronian relic could be located somewhere in Idaho. All of them agreed that they needed to go there now and find this relic before it could fall into enemy hands.
"Are you certain that the relic is located somewhere in Idaho?" Hot Rod asked Ratchet.
"Well, if it's there then we must move quickly before any last of the Decepticons get to it first," Ratchet said.
"If the rumors are true, then there might be a Cybertronian hiding somewhere in Idaho," Ironhide replied. "If it's one of the Autobots, then it's on our side. But if it's one of the last of the Decepticons, then it'll either be Shockwave or Starscream."
"Either way, we need to get to Idaho as quickly as possible." Hot Rod said.
"Then we must call for a ground bridge," Ratchet said before he called one of the Autobots. "This is Ratchet, activate the ground bridge and take us to Idaho!" he said.
At the Autobots Base, Wheeljack activates the ground bridge and a portal opens on Earth, allowing Ratchet, Ironhide, and Hot Rod to enter and get transported to Boise, Idaho as soon as possible. Once they arrive out of the portal, the Autobots begin their mission in Idaho. Meanwhile, Anthony Carter and his stepdad went to a fast-food restaurant where they bought some burgers, some soda, and some French fries. While having their lunch, Jonathan Dave Carter and his stepson are starting to get along with each other.
"Hey, thanks for the food, Jonathan," Anthony told his stepdad.
"You're welcome, Anthony," Jonathan replied to his stepson. "I called your mom and let her know that we'll be back home on Wednesday," he told Anthony.
"How come we're on a road trip and we didn't bring Mom with us?" Anthony asked his stepdad.
"Your mom didn't come along with us because she has to visit an old friend who's sick," Jonathan explained to his stepson. "Plus, she wanted you and me to go on our road trip together so that we'd spend some time getting to know each other a little better. Your mom gave me some money so that we can rent a bedroom at the mini-hotel," he told Anthony.