Chapter 5 - Legacy

The one with the power to cleave the Stars from the Night Sky.

From deep within the Decagon's depths, Optimus and Meister could feel the siege on Iacon above. The rumble of distant artillery and the muffled screams that followed uneased the Autobots - Prime especially - but they did not let the sense of uneasiness deter them from their mission.

The Prime and his First Lieutenant drove a Hallway. Normally, that would be considered poor building etiquette but environmental management tended to take a back seat when ones' City was under siege. "The Vault's just up ahead!" Optimus cried out through his Alt-mode's speakers. The duo were headed for the Decagon Vault, a secret, well-defended keep hidden deep within the heart of the Fortress. There, the Autobots placed artifacts and data of particular renown in a space that only their high-ranking commanders could access. There were a great deal of important curios within the vault and Optimus had come for one of particular importance to Cybertron and its long and storied history.

Prime and Meister came up on the vault door and both Transformed into their robot modes. Bipedal now, as the two walked on, the lights in the Decagon began to flicker and fade.

"Power's failing." Meister called out. "Wheeljack must be putting the finishing touches on the Ark's launch procedure."

"The ship is siphoning power from the City now." Optimus said. "It won't be long until Iacon's power grid is completely compromised."

"I know." Said Meister. "I remember him saying that when I brought it in."

"Under better circumstances, I would never have have signed off on the idea, but-"

"We don't live under better circumstances…I know."

"But will history?" Optimus asked. "When the Ark is gone and The Autobots who remain here are left to fend for themselves in the dark, they will curse my name…and they'll be right to."

Prime's lament was accurate. Iacon would soon be a City-State without power and those left behind would soon feel the brunt of that decision. This was just one in a long list of many tough calls Optimus had had to make in his relatively short tenure as Prime.

"Don't kick yourself yet, boss." Meister said. "Iacon is about to fall and the Decepticons? When we're gone, they'll pick this place clean. The Autobots going, as well as the Autobots staying, will share the same opinion: if we're gonna lose Cybertron's crown jewel anyway, then we might as well make the bastards work for it."

Before Optimus could respond, the lights flickered and then the duo were placed in Darkness; the lights in the Decagon depths had completely gone out now and with them: the Decagon's power. Prime and his Lieutenant were left in the dark now with nothing but the lights built into their chassis to guide the way forward.

"It would seem that Iacon's reckoning has come early." Optimus said.

"Then we'd better make it worth it." Meister replied with a grin and a nod. No matter Prime's decision, Meister had long pledged himself to Optimus Prime's leadership. That wasn't going to change now, even at their literal darkest hour.

The two moved to the vault door. "Think we can force it open?" Meister asked.

"We don't have to." Optimus put his hand out and made contact with the Door's frame and as he did, a light began to flare behind the windows on his chest. Prime had called upon the power of the Matrix of Leadership and it answered.

A power surge sparked through the Prime's chassis, feeding from the Matrix all the way out to the palm of his hand and into the door's mechanisms. With a touch, the lowest level of the Decagon suddenly jolted alive. Its lights and systems, which were only a moment ago offline, were suddenly and inexplicably reactivated.

"Authorized user detected." Both Autobots heard an Automated voice say, prompting Optimus to pull his hand from the Vault door. "Welcome back, Optimus Prime."

The Vault door began to shift and transform. Great pylons pulled back with a loud 'thunk' as ancient metal shifted. The Door changed form from 'locked' to 'open' and the vault granted them ingress.

Optimus and Meister entered the vault. "So, Optimus…what are we looking for here?" The Lieutenant asked. Meister was willing to follow Optimus to the ends of Cybertron, but that didn't always mean he knew where the Prime was leading him.

"Megatron and his Decepticons have us outnumbered, out matched and isolated from reinforcements. We need something to level the playing field and, as it so happens, I have hidden that 'something' away here for just such an occasion."

Inside, the Vault lights began to dim; whatever blessing the Matrix had performed to grant the dead space power was wearing off. Under the dimmed lights, all Meister saw about the room was a collection of trinkets.

Ancient Energon Blades used in Cybertron's past, a large Quill pen fit for Cybertronian hands and a flat circular set of expanding armor were just some of the many items, weapons and curios held within.

"These look nice." Meister said. "But I don't know if they'll cut it."

"They won't." Optimus said as he continued on, moving for a long case at the back of the room. "What we're looking for is a little more…storied."

Optimus stopped before the case. A touch from his hand and energy from the Matrix saw its powered lock open up, just like the Vault door had. However, unlike the door, the Matrix did not stop shining when Optimus removed his hand. In fact, as the case began to open, the Matrix only seemed to shine brighter.

"Well, whatever it is we're here for? I hope it's a heavy-hitter. I'm sure the Bots up top are sick of playing defense."

The case before Optimus finished unfurling and sprung itself open. Optimus and Meister looked inside and found a large Greatsword of ancient design. The Sword was mostly split into two colors: a Cobalt blue for the actual blade and Silver for the Grip, hilt and Guard, the latter of which extended all the way from the hilt to half way up the length of the blade. The Silver portions of the sword were clearly based in a kind of metal, Meister ventured a guess and figured it was a kind of Cybertanium alloy. He wasn't a weaponsmith, so he had no real way of knowing. But it wasn't the alloy that caught his attention, rather, it was the blade itself.

"Is that…energon?" Meister asked. Cybertronians we're no strangers to the use of Energon weapons. They'd been using them ever since the dawn of their history. But, with Energon as rare as it was these days in the waning days of the war, an Energon weapon had become something of a rare sight indeed.

"Not just Energon." Optimus corrected. "Rarified Energon,. the rarest kind. The very same material of which sparks are made...and, the same material at the heart of the matrix."

Meister gazed at the The Matrix of Leadership in Optimus' chest; it had not stopped shining since he'd unveiled the blade. Then, Meister turned his attention back to the blade in question. Curiously, there was a rectangle-sized void at its hilt, one that was exactly the same size as the Matrix.

The rest of the lights in the room had finally died out; the Matrix in Prime's Chest was shining so bright that it was starting to hurt Meister to look at - like staring at a lone Star at the heart of an endless void.

Meister watched Optimus open his chest and remove the Matrix of Leadership from his Spark Chamber. "You said the Autobots were tired of being on the Defensive? Well, so am I." Prime said as he took the Matrix of Leadership and slotted it into the Sword's empty hilt.

Upon contact with the slot, The Matrix's shell lost all color, becoming entirely silver while the Blade it was now attached to began to glow white hot. Optimus pulled the Sword from its case and stood tall with it, it was then that Meister finally realized what it was Optimus had come to retrieve.

Now holding the single most legendary power in the Primes' history, Optimus turned to Meister and asked: "How do you feel about going on the Offensive?"