Chapter 6
Cybertron 9.000.000 years ago - close to sector Iacon, the Autobot capital
The three Decepticons from the future were on their way to the Cybertron sector Iacon to find a certain person.
Galvatron was sitting in Cyclonus cockpit and thinking about his situation.
He couldn´t believe that he was doing this.
After he nearly had killed Gunpoint, Cyclonus had told them about what he remembered about this prisoner transport.
Yes - Galvatron remembered as well.
The raid of a certain energon storage at the beginning of the war. Megatron and a group of his soldiers were trying to get the energy to supply their troops for their next major campaign.
A number of young Autobots who were working in the facility were shot during the attack.
One of them was a robot named Orion Pax. He easily remembered how the impressionable fool had allowed Megatron access to the energon.
This young robot had admired Megatron back them. He could have eventually been rebuilt into a warrior and made a Decepticon... could have.
But when he tried to stop him from taking the energon he had sealed his own fate - but in another way Megatron had believed back then.
It had been a waste. Along with him a few others were destroyed. For example a female Autobot and another young robot named Dion.
It wasn´t until ten thousands of vorn later (1 vorn = ca. 82 years) that Megatron found out that they had actually been rebuilt, but not into Decepticons.
Two of the Autobot´s bodies had vanished shortly after the energon raid. Orion Pax had in fact been nobody else when the later Autobot leader Optimus Prime.
Along with him, the female commander Elita One had been rebuilt.
The Autobot eldest Alpha Trion had found them both and gave them new, much stronger, bodies.
The third one - the Autobot named Dion - was captured barely alive and his personality core sent to the new mind prison in the sector Kalis.
This core was lost a few years later in a prisoner transport, when Megatron had ordered the evacuation of the Kalis sector.
Millions of years later, after the Decepticons found one of Alpha Trion´s secret workshops and his data-files, Megatron found out the truth.
Alpha Trion had not only created Optimus Prime and Elita One from this robots, he had also somehow got his hands on the personality of Dion and rebuilt it into a third of his creations - Ultra Magnus.
Who had appeared a short time after Dion´s personality vanished from the prisoner transport. Dion´s personality-core, that was exactly this one with the number 50.
Optimus Prime became the new Autobot leader, Ultra Magnus the new Second in Command of his army, Elita the leader of all female Autobots.
Megatron had accidentally created his three worst enemies.
xxxxxxx
Border of the sector Polihex
The three seekers had been flying over the area for a few hours now. As they finally detected what they were looking for, they transformed and landed.
Two damaged and deactivated Decepticons were lying next to the destroyed remains of a box.
A third one was lying behind a wall, close to them.
"Try to bring them back on-line," Skywarp said to the others.
xxxxxxx
In the sector Iacon
Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge had reached Iacon. They were now close to their destination.
Galvatron admitted what originally happened to Orion Pax and the others was a for the Decepticons very unlucky coincidence. But what he was doing now was even going a step further.
Gunpoint told Skywarp 9.000.000 years ago that they were ambushed by a group of Autobots and three mysterious renegade Decepticons.
xxxxxxx
Border of the sector Poliphex
After some field repairs and a few strips of energon, the three unconscious Decepticons were back on-line.
Skywarp took a look at the damage.
"The Autobots got you pretty bad right?" he asked them.
"It wasn´t only the Autobots," the seeker Gunpoint answered for the three of them.
"When we were fighting the Autobots, three renegades used the chance to attack and take us out."
The other two damaged cons looked at each other. It hadn´t been this renegades who put them into stasis mode. But if Gunpoint made them look better by telling this, they had no problem with that.
They saw that one of the seekers who came with Skywarp was examining the box.
"They also destroyed the personality cores of the prisoners," Gunpoint told them.
The seeker scanned the remains of the box and told Skywarp what he found out.
"What he says is true. This damage was caused by a Decepticon weapon. But the core with the number 0050 was not destroyed. It is missing."
Skywarp found that really strange.
"Had the renegades only taken one and destroyed the rest?" he questioned Gunpoint.
"Ah - yes, they said they only needed one and destroyed the rest then." He was caught of guard by this question. He hadn´t realized one core wasn´t inside as he destroyed the box.
"Bastards," Skywarp said quietly. Then he addressed the others.
"Good we have been here long enough. There might still be enemies in the area and you are in no condition to fight. We go back," he told them.
xxxxxxx
Sector Iacon - Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge
They knew now that Gunpoint didn´t tell Skywarp the truth about what happened to the five cores.
Destroying them to keep them from falling into the Autobot´s hands?
Maybe he would have been able to justify that. Even if it wouldn´t been looked well upon by many of Megatron´s warriors.
Good, Galvatron admitted. Maybe in the later times of the war nobody would have even asked what happened to them. But right now the war had not so far escalated yet.
Only that it weren´t Autobots who had been coming near the prisoners.
Cyclonus and Scourge had just defeated their opponents. For all Gunpoint had known, they could have been simply reinforcements to help them.
But he had still destroyed the cores. Then he lied to save his own hide and blamed some mysterious renegades for it, renegades who turned out to be he, Cyclonus and Scourge themselves.
The personality they had now with them was the one of the Autobot Dion, that was meant to be rebuild into Ultra Magnus a short time in the future... a very short time.
The only thing that Galvatron knew was that the `renegades´ left with Dion´s personality and only a few days later Ultra Magnus appeared. Built from exactly the same core, as Alpha Trion´s records proofed later.
The only explanation is that the three renegades gave him the personality.
He, Cyclonus and Scourge had accidental interrupted the past - or, more likely, they had made sure that it played out as it was actually meant to be.
They had obviously done exactly this here in the past like he knew it.
In short, they were on their way to Iacon to hand the core over to Alpha Trion. It was them making sure that Ultra Magnus is being built.
He was knowingly helping to create one of his worst enemies.
xxx
Galvatron couldn´t believe that he was doing this.
They transformed into robot mode and landed.
"Are we really going to do that?" Scourge asked Galvatron. "Would it not be better to just eliminate Ultra Magnus here in the past? Then we would not have to deal with him in the future."
He approached Scourge and looked him hard in the eyes.
"And how do you think would that influence the timeline? Ultra Magnus is one of the most important Autobots. The entire history would change without him. The world like we remember it would not even exist. Think alone about his role in the battle of Iacon in a few weeks," he reminded him.
"Yes mighty Galvatron I understand perfectly."
Scourge had to admit his leader was right.
Galvatron remembered something else.
"By the way Scourge. Ultra Magnus was one of the reasons Unicron rebuilt us in the first place. We might not even exist when he is removed from history. Do you want to die out there in space?"
The Sweep now had an actually fearful expression on his face.
"And what about the Matrix?" Galvatron continued. "Who knows what could happen to it if the entire history is changed? If it gets lost over the years Unicron might simply attack Cybertron and not bother with anything else. Do you still think we should eliminate Ultra Magnus now?" he asked Scourge.
"No - you are right, that would jeopardize our own existence," the tracker answered.
"If Ultra Magnus will stand in my way in the future, I will gladly destroy him myself. But for now we need him alive.
All what I wanted was a minimal manipulation of the past. I only wanted to travel a few years back. And now I have to deal with our timeline falling apart. All this was not part of the plan," Galvatron exclaimed.
"We will correct this mistake and then we will return to our time," he said.
xxxxxxx
Sector Iacon - close to Alpha Trion´s secret hide out
A single robot was walking around in the tunnels under Iacon. He was on the way to his creator.
It was Optimus Prime, the leader of a Autobot fighting group that was active in this sector.
Optimus had been rebuilt from the remains of the young Autobot Orion Pax a few years ago. He had been given a much stronger body and a new battle programing by Alpha Trion.
But despite that he was still very inexperienced, especially for his new duties. So he was still often seeking advice by his new creator.
He had reached Alpha Trion´s workshop.
"Alpha Trion," he called him, "do you hear me?"
After a few moments the older robot appeared.
"Optimus - I am happy to see you," he greeted him, "but don´t you think it is a bit risky to walk alone through the sewers of Cybertron to reach me?" he asked.
Both were well aware about the risk. Not only for Optimus himself. Alpha Trion had built him to be the future of the Autobots, the first of a new form of warrior robot.
His destruction would be a great loss for the future, especially if it was caused by carelessness.
"I knew the risk and the chance to run here into a Decepticon patrol is more than unlikely. Especially one that is actually able to match me," the younger Bot told him.
"And if you don´t want me to walk around here to find you, maybe you should be in a place where I can reach you more easily," he added.
"I live out here because I don´t want to be found Optimus, especially not by the Decepticons," Alpha Trion replied.
"But you can not expect me to do things completely on my own yet," Optimus reminded him.
The young Prime had the potential to lead the Autobots, Alpha Trion was aware of that. The entire military force and and not only a group of underground fighters.
But so far it only was the potential.
Optimus watched around. He admitted, even after all he had gone through, this place still made him a bit nervous.
"If you have to hide somewhere, had it to be here of all places?" he asked his creator.
Alpha Trion´s hideout was in fact nothing than the ruins of an old abandoned temple complex.
"The former owners of this place were told to be psychopaths, worse than the Decepticons. We used to tell each other fright tales about how they would hunt for young robots to use them as live sacrifices." Optimus remembered.
"Yes and this is probably one of the last places were the Decepticons would anticipate me to be, especially with the history of this place," Alpha Trion explained to him.
"I wanted to hear your opinion about a few things," Optimus stated.
"Good I will try to help you. What do you want to talk about?" his mentor wanted to know.
"Megatron´s activities in the last time. It seems that he is trying to drive all Autobots out of the sector Kalis."
In the moment he had ended that sentence the two Autobots heard a deep voice.
"Alpha Trion, Optimus Prime - I am honored to meet you."
As they heard that words, Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge appeared.
Optimus draw his gun.
Who ever this Decepticons were, they knew who they were dealing with and they looked very powerful. Judging from the data his sensors picked up from them alone, they would be much more than a match to him.
Optimus didn´t knew a group consisting of so powerful warriors even existed.
He had really made a deadly mistake by coming here alone, he thought to himself.
"I am not here to fight," the leader of the group - Galvatron - addressed them.
Optimus, who of course didn´t recognize the three Decepticons in their new forms, only saw three potential enemies who were very dangerous.
He knew he was outmatched here. But their leader said he wanted to talk, so maybe they could.
It could have been a trick. But for what? It wasn´t as if he had a chance in a fight against all three. So it wasn´t as if they needed to fool him into false safety.
The Decepticons however weren´t so sure themselves.
"We didn´t know Prime would be here," Scourge whispered to Cyclonus.
"We will deal with it and remember, Prime is even more off limits than Magnus."
"Who are you and what do you want then?" Optimus asked the Con who he had identified as the leader.
"My name is of no importance to you right now. I have an offer for both of you," Galvatron told them.
"Show it to them Cyclonus," he addressed his second.
Cyclonus took the mind of the Autobot out of the storage place where he had carried it.
"This - as you recognize it, is the personality component of an Autobot. It belonged to a robot who was shot in a energon storage raid two years ago," he informed their two enemies.
"His Name was, if our information is correct - Dion," Cyclonus finished his explanation.
Optimus nearly froze at the words of the Decepticon.
Was it truly possible?
Dion had been his friend nearly since his creation and had been killed at the day he had nearly died himself too.
But if he could have been rebuilt, when there might be a chance for Dion too, if his spark had truly survived back then.
"How is that possible?" Optimus asked.
"This Autobot was heavily damaged and sent into the mind prison in Kalis. We got it when Megatron transferred the prisoners somewhere else," Cyclonus answered.
"I want you Alpha Trion, to give him a new body," Galvatron said.
"Why should a Decepticon want us to build a new Autobot warrior?" Optimus wanted to know.
"I have my own intentions - Optimus Prime. What should be interesting for you is that you can save a life here. And let us say it would be of interest for me if you give this robot the best body you can find and recruit him into your group."
"You are a renegade right? You lead a group that opposes Megatron and hope Alpha Trion will create a powerful warrior against him, am I right?"
This was the best and so far only explanation Optimus could think of.
"You should never think that you completely understand my motivations. But if it is that you want to think," Galvatron replied in a mysterious manner.
"Who says that this mind is actually who you said?" Alpha Trion questioned. "For all we know this might be a Decepticon. Or it could be manipulated somehow."
"Do all the tests and research on it to be sure if you want. We won´t hinder you. But let me assure you, it is all exactly as we said."
"We will test is first," Optimus replied to Galvatron´s statements.
He could only hope that it was truly his old friend.
"If this was all you wanted, you have it and can leave now," he stated.
But saw that none of the three made any move to leave. Instead they were standing in some distance to the Autobots.
"We will wait here and see if everything will work out," Galvatron said.
Optimus was willing to take the personality core if it turned out to be save. But he didn´t want these Decepticons to look over their shoulders the entire time.
Neither did Alpha Trion. But he on his part only staid silent and observed, for now.
"I have once trusted a Decepticon and nearly died for it," Optimus told them.
Galvatron walked casually over to him. This Optimus Prime, he said to himself, wasn´t his great rival.
This was a young and inexperienced robot and on top one who´s body was over 9.000.000 years behind in technological development than his.
Here, he realized, he could easily rip him to pieces without even trying. This being before him wasn´t even fit to be called his enemy.
And ironically this Optimus didn´t even realized how chanceless he truly was against him.
It would be so easy.
But in the same time he could do nothing to him. Not without wiping out his own past and destroying the world he came from in the process.
"Listen Autobot - I don´t need your trust and we could kill you easily if we wanted. I have no interest in your war. And that is the only reason you two are still alive. You should better help Alpha Trion with his work."
With that he left Optimus Prime standing.
The young Autobot went back to his creator. There were still a few things he wanted to talk with him about.
"I have never seen Transformers like this. Everyone of them seemed to be as strong as Megatron, at least. Where can they be from?" he asked the older Autobot.
"I don´t know Optimus. They claim not to be part of the war and have nothing to do with Megatron. We can only hope that is true.
But remember, we were already searching for a mind for a new prototype even before they appeared. If they are actually honest with us it would be a stroke of luck."
"That is the other thing I wanted to talk with you about," Optimus said to him. "The sector Kalis. Megatron is completely evacuating it. He removes every living being from it. I need to know why."
xxxxxxx
City of Kalis
The entire sector was nearly empty now.
Only from time to time you still saw a Transformer.
And then there were the Decepticon patrols that were still searching the area regulary.
Two Cons who obviously had tank alt modes were walking through the deserted city.
In some distance they saw a wrecked looking figure.
It was a Empty - a homeless Transformer - who was physically in a such a bad state that it was nearly impossible to tell if he was originally of Autobot or Decepticon heritage.
The pitiful robot had obviously been scrapping for energon in the deserted town. He was sow low on energy that he could barely stand on his own feet... and he didn´t notice the Decepticons close to him.
As he finally saw them it was already too late. They were standing right before him.
"Hey look - we have forgotten something," one of them told the other.
"We were supposed to completely clear the area," the other said.
The empty looked fearful at the two warriors.
"Please - I was only searching for some energon," he cried out. "I have nothing. I have nothing to do with your war. I have been living on the streets for years. Please."
But they just ignored him.
"We have to clear the area. We should do it in the fastest way," one of the two Decepticons said.
Then both of them aimed their weapons and fired.
xxxxxxx
Iacon - Alpha Trion´s place
"We have now checked the personality. It is really who and what you claimed,"Alpha Trion told his three Decepticon guests.
"I have already a new prototype warrior ready. We will soon be able to activate him," Alpha Trion informed them.
"Very good. I guess it was fate that we came to you right?" Galvatron replied to him.
The Decepticons were standing before a wall that was full of different writings and pictures.
In another corner of the room stood something that seemed to be the remains of some kind of old altar.
"What is this place? It looks like some kind of antique ruin?" Scorge asked the old Autobot.
"This was once a temple of a sect called the Brotherhood of Chaos. Have you heard of them?"
"A few times," Galvatron told him, "but tell me more." He was starting to be curious.
As Megatron he himself had once to deal with this sect. Or rather you could say, he had to put them down.
"According to the old cybertronian faith we and all other mechanical lifeforms were created by Primus - a godlike old and powerful being. But Primus was not alone.
He had a counterpart, a being similar to him but with a different nature.
This was a demon called the Chaos Bringer. Primus created life - the Chaos Bringer on the other hand destroyed it," Alpha Trion explained to them.
He showed them a washed out picture of a dark giant figure with horns and wings that was gripping smaller beings with it´s claws and swallowed them.
"In opposite to other cybertronians, the Brotherhood of Chaos believed that the Chaos Bringer was right. That he was stronger than Primus and would win.
So they worshiped him. They even claimed that he had drawn one of the first cybertronians - one of Primus original creations - to his side who would one day rule with him."
Alpha Trion showed them one of the writings on the wall.
"Look - written here is what is said to be the name of the Chaos Bringer - Unicron."
As Alpha Trion said this word, it caused a shock for all three reformed Decepticons. But they barely let it show.
"What is this?" Scourge asked a bit unsecure. He pointed at the last picture on the wall.
"That is another part of the prophesy of the brotherhood," Alpha Trion told them in a casual tone.
"It says that the Chaos Bringer will return someday and that before he will arrive he will send a warrior, a messenger for him who will prepare his coming."
They looked at the wall. The painting showed a figure that was painted in a so dark color that it looked nearly black.
The figure had a three piked helmet and was surrounded by similar dark beings that had claws and bat like wings or had large pointed horns on their heads.
Galvatron looked at Alpha Trion.
"Do you believe anything of this could be true?"
Trion was about to go back to his work, as he looked back at the Decepticon.
If he had noticed the ressemblance of his visitors to the drawings, he didn´t let it show.
"I don´t know. The beings who have been controlling this planet 2.000.000 years ago always claimed that they alone were our builders. But they were known to lie.
We don´t know if they had truly created us or if they simply took over a already existing world and made a slave colony out of it. If there was concrede knowledge of anything before, it was lost."
The Decepticons looked each other in the eyes as the Autobot was gone.
"It is that possible? Is Unicron really this being?" Scourge asked fearfully.
"This..." Galvatron pointed at the walls, "…only proofs that Unicron was in contact with Cybertron before.
We already knew that he was powerful. It shouldn´t surprise us that some fanatics worshiped him as a deity. They did the same with the Matrix, Vector Sigma and who knows what else."
Galvatron balled his fist.
"I don´t care if Unicron is a god or a demon or whatever else. I swear I will bring him down. I will find a way."
xxxxxxx
A few miles from them a group of Autobots was assembled - the Elite Security Squad.
"Did you find them?" their leader Def-Charger asked his warriors.
"Yes and it looks as if they had captured three Autobots. Two of the captives are working on a deactivated third one," Cable answered him.
"Good - then we will get them out."