Chapter 18
Unity
"Glad that you found me." Stripes said.
"We feared we were too late." Megatron said. "Luckily, that is not the case. Shockwave, get us out of here." He ordered over his communicator.
Shockwave went to the helm of the ship, and maneuvered the ship away from the planet, exiting the atmosphere.
"Now, on to other pressing matters. Who is this new… acquaintance you've met?" Megatron asked.
"A drifter. But I think he can help us." Stripes said. "His name is Sideways."
Megatron looks over Sideways, suspicious. "You sure we can trust him?"
Stripes put on a poker face. "I'm pretty sure we can. He had the perfect opportunity to kill me earlier. If he didn't then, I don't see why he would now."
Megatron glanced over at Stripes, then Sideways again. "Very well. I will have quarters assigned for him." Megatron then walked off back towards the front of the ship, yet skipped the lift to the bridge. "In the meantime, Stripes, I need to teach you the ways of combat. Next time, you need to be ready. Come with me. Both of you."
"Combat training, huh?" Stripes said as he followed Megatron with Sideways. "Alright, where and when do we start?"
It was then that one of the doors opened to reveal a large training area on the deck. It was well-lit, yet barren of any other objects. It had a sterile gray hue to it's color.
Megatron then turned to face Stripes. "We start here, and now. Ready your sword and spar with me. Both of you. You have much to learn. Thankfully, you have the Kaon Gladiator Champion to teach and guide you. But eventually, we will need a second teacher."
Stripes drew the Matrix Blade off his back, preparing himself. "...And, who is this second teacher?"
"When you are ready, Stripes." Megatron said. "When you are ready."
# # # # #
Meanwhile, Primal and Indominus-Rex watched Stripes, along with Sideways train with Megatron on one of the viewsceens.
"Ah, the youth is quite impressive." Indominus-Rex mused. "I've never seen a Cybertronian with such impressive combat capabilities. Then again, being the Son of Primus it is only expected he would have such combat capabilities available to him. Even though they are unrefined and quite crude at this point..."
"Agreed." Primal said, reluctantly. "Though I hate having to agree with you, Indominus..."
"Oh, how it pleases me to have the great Primal of the Maximals agree with me." Indominus smugly replied, rubbing it in. "Let me just savor this moment..."
"I'm not going to reply to that." Primal said flatly.
Indominus-Rex just grinned. Then, they were interrupted by a loud electrical crackle, followed by Waspinator flying around erratically before crashing into a nearby bulkhead.
"Waspinator, What in the pit did you just do?" Indominus rex said with a deadpan.
"W-W-Waspinator re-regrets being c-c-curious ab-b-b-out decepticon st-st-starship..." Waspinator answered, convulsing with feedback. Indominus just facepalmed.
# # # # #
Galvatron, Cyclonus, Scourge, and Swindle landed on the ice of Antartica after departing the Revenge, the starship Unicron had gifted to them.
Unicron stirred. "My heralds… you return. But you were not successful..."
"No, father." Galvatron answered.
"Galvatron, you have failed me." Galvatron and the rest of the Deprived then felt a sharp pain in their spark chambers! "I will not tolerate failure from any of you."
"Father..." Galvatron begged. "Spare us… Sideways betrayed us! He's sided with the kin of your mortal enemy! The Son of Primus!"
Galvatron paused, stopping the torture. He then let out a roar, as the earth quaked around the ground the Deprived stood upon! The ice began to crack, and shatter! A Unicron avatar then erupted up from the ice, in his true and terrible form with a terrifying roar!
"This is why you don't send your heralds to do your job for you..." Unicron said. "I will have to deal with him myself. In the meantime, track down your treacherous brother! I will be waiting outside the Kuiper Belt of this system until you find him."
# # # # #
Megatron and Sideways suddenly collapsed in pain in the training area as they sparred with Stripes and Bumblebee!
"Woah! Sideways, what is it?" Stripes ran up to the former Unicronian herald!
"Augh… It can't be..." Sideways gripped his chest in pain. "My… father… He has... awoken!"
Stripes felt his fuel pump turn over and stop for a few seconds. "...What?!" Stripes exclaimed. "...How?!"
"Whoa, Who's father?" Bumblebee asked, completely confused. "What are you talking about?"
Stripes made a gulping sound. He knew neither Bee nor Megatron would like the answer.
"...He's a herald of Unicron." Stripes answered. "He wanted to defect..."
Bumblebee got on his communicator. "Arcee, get the crew together for an emergency meeting. We have some bad news..."
# # # # #
Everyone sat down In the briefing room, wondering what was going on. Sideways was in Energy cuffs under Megatron's orders, which Stripes had protested against. His protests however, were in futility as they entered the briefing room.
"Megatron, is this really necessary? He pledged his allegiance to me..." Stripes continued.
"He is a security risk!" Megatron snapped. "You should have told me this in the first place when you met him!"
"I was trying to figure out an appropriate time and place, Megatron!" Stripes snapped back.
"Alright, what's going on?" Ultra Magnus asked as he was the last to enter the room.
Megatron had Sideways stand up in the center of the room. "This is what's going on! This is a herald of Unicron! I fear he was sent to infiltrate our ranks!"
"Oh, that's just lovely." Indominus-Rex's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You didn't have a first clue at "Herald of Unicron?" He looked in Stripes' direction, raising an optic ridge.
Stripes facepalmed. "For the last time, he swore his allegiance to me! He knows what will happen if Unicron succeeds! If he really was trying to infiltrate our ranks, he could have had many opportunities to kill me already! Hell, he would have done it on the planet if he wanted to!"
"That's just Prime, but you should have still considered the risks!" Primal added in.
"I did." Stripes said, looking at Primal in the optic. "I figured it would make more sense to have someone with Intel on Unicron and the Deprived."
"Oh yes," Indominus-Rex said, drawing out his sentance. "Bring someone from the other side into the heart of our operations.
Brilliant logic."
"Stripes does have a point, though." Bumblebee said. "Sideways has had more than enough opportunities to offline Stripes by this point. Maybe he truly is our ally."
"You shouldn't be arguing like this." Sideways interjected. "My Father has awoken! Even now I sense he is trying to track us down! If he doesn't find us in by the end of the Stellar Cycle, we're all doomed! He'll go after Cybertron itself! We need to accelerate your training, Stripes!"
"...And how long is that in human terms?" Cross asked.
"...One Stellar Cycle is one of your Earth Years." Bumblebee answered.
"Oh, Crap!" Razor bolted out of his seat. "That's less than eight months from now!"
Stripes looked up to ceiling in despair. "Oh my god… How in the name of my father do you expect me to do this in eight months?!"
"Well, you are now Cybetronian. That won't be as a monumental of a task as if you were still human." Sideways said. "As a Cybertronian, you have greater memory, and better retention."
"Plus, we believe you can do this!" Mia said. "Where there's a will there's a way, right? Don't give up on us now, Stripes! You've already done things many would consider impossible! I mean, you did raise Bumblebee back from the dead!"
Bumblebee put his hand on his chest near his spark chamber. "Yeah, kid. You kinda did..."
"...Plus, you've got us to help you! Now let's put aside our differences and help you stop this apocalyptic threat!" Mia finished.
Everyone nodded in agreement, some grudgingly.
"We must make haste to Cybertron." Megatron said. "Perhaps by speaking directly to your father, you will realize your destiny."