War Dawn: Redux

Thundercracker had retreated barely intact from the onslaught of Optronix with the sample of his mysterious fluid. He had a sneaking suspicion that the strange purple fluid was the same substance as The Sample. But how could Orion have gotten ahold of it?

Meanwhile, Optronix continued to follow his master's orders by destroying absolutely everything in sight. Autobots sent in reinforcements again and again to secure the Matrix and neutralize the one they thought was Orion, but they all fell.

"When did he get this strong?" yelled Braver to his brother?"

Laster didn't hear him over the loud blasts going on all around him. Optronix seemed unstoppable, and the Decepticons took notice.

"The Autobots are so concerned with eliminating one of their own that they've forgotten all about us," Shockwave explained to the Decepticons who didn't follow Starscream to Phrotex.

Their numbers weren't great, but the Decepticons were definately staged to make a comeback. Starscream's army waited on Phrotex to make their move and Brickhouse continued to work with his cloning machine to mass produce soldiers. Shockwave, however, had a different plan.

"What we need is a strong leader, one who will strike fear in the sparks of the Autobots," Shockwave said loudly. "Soundwave, bring out our three friends, would you?"

The Decepticon entered the hall carrying three Autobots behind him in stasis cuffs. Delta, Elita One, and Trailbreaker had been caught.

"These three tried to escape our prison. The problem is, they almost succeeded. Does anyone see a problem with this?" Shockwave demanded.

No Decepticon answered.

"I shall tell you. The Autobots believe that they can simply break into our headquarters and take our prisoners without any fear of repercussion. They don't fear us anymore. Brickhouse has done nothing that would make his predecessor proud and Starscream seems to have given up on Cybertron entirely, opting to look towards other planets instead. Meanwhile, the Autobots have taken to fighting amongst themselves, as I'm sure you've all heard of what the Matrix Herald has been up to, but I will not get into that right now. The point is, the Decepticons need to strike fear in the sparks of the Autobots once more!"

At this point several Decepticons were getting annoyed at hearing the same basic point over and over again. They wanted to hear what Shockwave planned on doing about it, and they made sure he knew. Delta and the other Autobots, however, kept silent for fear that they would be executed on the spot.

"Yes, yes, I can tell you're all getting quite impatient, so I shall make my point now."

Shockwave pulled out a large container of The Sample and then motioned for Soundwave to wheel in an unidentified corpse. The Sample was injected into the body and it immediately began to shake violently. It snarled and flailed its arms around for a short while, but then it seemed to become sentient. The beast calmed down and observed its surroundings briefly. Then Shockwave spoke.

"Decepticons, behold your leader, alive again! Megatron, rise!"

Megatron stood and moved around a bit, just to loosen his parts. He had been in action in quite, some time, but now he was making his great return.

"So what do you think, Megatron? Can you lead your troops to victory once more?"

A smile crept across Megatrons face as he blasted a whole right through Shockwave's chest. He then let out a horrible cackle before answering Shockwave's final question with a resounding "Yessssssssssssss."

"I....I can't believe they got us."

Delta slammed his fist against the cell door in utter defeat. The Decepticons had caught them and imprisoned them once more. Delta, Trailbreaker, and Elita 1 were all confined to a small cell not because it served any benefit for the Decepticon cause, but because it served as a source of amusement to their sadistic senses of humor.

"I can't believe they got us. We were home free!" Delta ranted. "Trailbreaker, I'm so sorry. We'll get you out of here, I promise. But this is just ridiculous! They're treating us like....like...I don't know!"

"Delta, calm down. Getting mad won't help," Elita 1 tried to say soothingly.

It didn't help. Delta just continued to shout and yell. Trailbreaker, however, remained silent and still. There were several times where he tried to kill himself, but his cellmates stopped him. He simply wanted it all to end. He was perpetually trapped, mentally if not physically. The voices in his head wouldn't let up. He continuously heard Sentinel Prime urging him on, but it was almost drowned out from the cries and screams of other fallen Cybertronians whose sparks had evidently gone to The Pit. Trailbreaker didn't know why this was happening to him but he finally quietly accepted his fate. Elita 1 certainly had her servos full trying to keep his spirits up and Delta's rage down.

"Honestly, I don't know why we're even trying anymore," Delta went on. "Did you hear what they said about Orion out there? How he betrayed us? He had the Matrix, Elita 1. That thing was our best hope at saving Cybertron and now it's in the hands of a traitor!"

"I don't believe he'd betray us for even a nanoclik. Why would he?" she answered.

"No clue. But you know what? He had the audacity to-Trailbreaker? Trailbreaker? What's that oozing out of your arm?"

Elita 1 stooped down to observe the purple liquid. It began to flow into the cracks in Elita 1's armor and she became filled with rage. Violently she attacked Delta. All the while The Sample took over her, corrupting her spark. She began spitting the fluid out and it infected Delta as well. Now both of them were destroying each other while Trailbreaker was forced to watch helplessly. The two collapsed in front of him, dead.

"No. No no no no no. This is all my fault," he whispered.

"What's all your fault?" Delta asked.

It was then that Trailbreaker realized that the fluid inside him was making him see things again. The very substance that was keeping him alive was the very one making him wish for death.

"Whatever you do, I beg of you, don't touch me!" he cried.

"Oh...okay. Umm, Elita 1?"

"Don't worry, Trailbreaker. We're going to take care of you. I'm not sure how, but we will," she said, ignoring Delta.

"Elita 1, I think it's time."

This got her attention.

"Are you sure? You're not really on the best of terms with them."

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm activating the signal and calling in The Wreckers."

All was eerily silent in the jail cells. The Decepticons going about the citadel were all abuzz with the fact that their leader was finally back in action. Some wondered what Megatron would do to Starscream and the Allspark. Others wondered if he planned on personally destroying the rouge Orion. Others still wondered why they kept hearing a strange ticking noise near the holding cells. Unfortunately those wondering about the strange noise were overlooked, and as a result, three Decepticons died in the resulting explosion.

“All right, Wreckers, our pal Delta failed his mission so now we gotta bust him out!” shouted Roadbuster.

He was flanked by two Autobots who both wielded large guns. To his left was a blue and white bot named Topspin, a Wrecker just waiting for someone to give him an excuse to kill. To Roadbuster’s right was a yellow and blue Wrecker named Leadfoot. This Autobot was waving around something called a rotoprop (basically a large wheel blade) that he was ready to fire at an instant.

“Delta, where are you?” Roadbuster asked gruffly. “We’re here to save your sorry skidplate!”

“Yeah yeah, just get us out of here,” Delta answered.

“Stand back then.”

The three Wreckers needlessly fired their arsenal at the cell door, blasting it to smithereens. This, of course, would have attracted a lot of attention. The odd thing was that it didn’t.

“Why is no one trying to stop us?” asked an antsy Topspin.
Suddenly the Wreckers started to feel a bit uneasy. Where were all the Decepticons?

“They must be preoccupied with something else,” Elita 1 suggested.

Unfortunately for her, she was right. A large blast of energy narrowly missed her head and disintegrated the wall behind her. Then everything became horrifically clear to the six Autobots. The Decepticons couldn’t bother with the jailbreak because they had their hands tied. Optronix had found them.

“We need heavy fire!” ordered Megatron.

Volley after volley hit the imposter Orion but none left so much as a scratch. When he returned fire, the effects were devastating. Megatron’s citadel was crumbling to pieces, as was Megatron’s sanity. Orion had humiliated him once before, but now Megatron’s hatred for him was exponentially larger now that he was fueled by The Sample. He acted on blind fury, taking several swings at the imposter’s head.

“How disappointing!” Optronix said in disgust. “You’re no better than my universe’s Megatron!”

“What are you talking about? Shut up and fight!”

“A bit more vicious, I’ll give you that,” Optronix taunted.

“I will rip you in half and take the Matrix for myself! I promise you that, Orion!”

This gave Optronix a slight pause. He had no idea what the Matrix was, as he never received it from the Sentinel Prime that he murdered with his own two hands back in his home universe. It stopped him long enough for Megatron to dig his hands into his chest and rip him open, revealing no Matrix whatsoever.

“Where is it?” Megatron demanded. “Where is it? Tell me now!”
Everyone froze and stared at the imposter, baffled by the fact that he didn’t have the Matrix with him. Suddenly Delta realized the truth. The so-called Orion’s betrayal all made sense to him now. Orion would never turn on his fellow Cybertronians, but this wasn’t Orion!

“You’re an imposter!” Delta cried.

“Who are you?” Optronix asked.

“The real Orion would know, and you’re not him!”

Suddenly Delta’s movements became swifter. He rushed past Megatron and grabbed Optronix in a rage.

“What did you do to him?” he screamed. “Where is Orion Pax?”
This caused Optronix to break out in a laugh. This Autobot discovered his secret, but it didn’t change his mission. He still had to destroy everything in sight, and the first thing he could see at that moment was Delta.

“He’ll be fine,” Optronix answered. “But you won’t be.”
The imposter was just about to fire his blaster at Delta’s spark when the Autobot caught his arm. He had a strange, dead look in his optics though. It was almost as though he was in a state of walking stasis, like he wasn’t really there.

“Do not harm this vessel,” ordered a voice that wasn’t Delta’s despite the fact that it came from his body.
Optronix recognized this voice. To his surprise, the world around him melted away and it was just him and the possessed body of Delta.

“My lord, why can I not? Is he not but scrap to be destroyed, as you ordered?”

“Delta is more than just that, my apprentice. He is my own creation, and I have plans for him. He shall be my herald.”

“But….Lord Unicron, I thought I was to be your herald! I am your most loyal servant, and he is trying to stop me from doing your will!”

“Let him live. Kill everyone else.”

And so Optronix threw Delta to the ground and continued his killing spree. Delta had no recollection of the event.

The Wreckers eventually neutralized Optronix, but it was only possible because he bleed out all of his mysterious purple fluid. His body was confiscated by the Wreckers and Megatron ordered his troops to retreat to what remained of his once glorious citadel. The six Autobots, now accompanied by Orion’s crew, decided to get as far away from Decepticon territory as possible.

“What do we do now?” asked Leadfoot.

“We get Trailbreaker back to Iacon and take this guy to be examined,” answered Roadbuster.

Delta remained quiet. He had no memory of the exchange between Unicron and Optronix that had apparently gone on, but he still felt its effect on him. He felt weak.

“Elita 1, do you remember what I told you after we first met?” he finally asked.

“I think so, yes. You said you were bad, didn’t you? You asked if I knew you before and said that you thought you used to be very bad. It kind of scared me.”

“I got the feeling again, back when I was face to face with Optronix. I don’t know what it means yet, but I think some of the answers might lie in that purple stuff that Trailbreaker keeps bleeding.”

“Oh, you mean The Sample?” Thundercracker butt in.

“The what? How do you know about it?”

“The Decepticons found a small deposit of the strange fluid near Kaon and took a small amount of it. We weren’t quite sure what it was at first, but we found out it had properties similar to Energon. We injected some into Trailbreaker to keep him alive when Shockwave was working on him.”

This outraged Delta. He was about to strike Thundercracker when Topspin held him back.

“As much as I’d love a Decepticon smack down, I think you oughta listen to what he’s got to say,” the Wrecker instructed.

So Delta did. He learned that the fluid had regenerative properties to it that could be found in Energon, but not to such a powerful extent. It’s been known to evoke rage at times, along with other various side effects. Its impact differed from Cybertronian to Cybertronian, and it became clear that the impact on Trailbreaker was that it taxed his sanity. It was decided that, once back to Iacon, The Sample would be extracted out of him and be replaced with pure Energon.

“You know, this guy had some of that purple goo in him too,” Braver added in.

“It’s true,” said Magnus. “Whatever that gunk is, it’s bad news.”

“You know what else is bad news?” broke in Skywarp.

“What?” asked Elita 1.

“The fact that our pal Orion is still missing, and so is the Matrix.”

Between the whole ordeal with The Sample, Megatron’s resurrection, Optronix’s attack, and his own uneasiness, Delta had had just about all he could take. Orion, on the other hand, had his own problems to deal with.

The skies over Cybertron had turned to darkness with the looming presence of Unicron. Orion was still in stasis, completely vulnerable to attack. Magnus was seriously considering the option of killing him, thinking that perhaps Unicron wouldn’t come if his herald was destroyed. Still, that left the other Autobots. They would be furious if they found out Magnus tried to murder their leader and would revolt. Total chaos would ensue.

“Slagged if I do, slagged if I don’t. Blacker, what do you think?”

“Don’t ask me. You’re the one in charge, Magnus. This is your choice. I will just say that I heard Megatron suggesting ideas.”

“We will not take the advice from a miserable Decepticon, Blacker!”

“But he said he knew a Cybertronian that could bring the imposter Optronix back home!”

Magnus knew he had to look at every option, even if he didn’t like him. If he had to receive help from Megatron, then so be it.

“Bring him here,” Magnus ordered.

Soon enough, Megatron was dragged up and Magnus ordered him to tell them everything he knew. Megatron revealed that the Mercury of that universe was still in fact alive and well, and he had a machine that could bring the Optronix they knew back home.

“What about the Dark Energon deposits that are all around our planet?” Magnus asked. “They’ll still attract Unicron to us and he’ll kill us all. How do we get rid of him?”

It was then that Orion’s chest started to light up. The Autobot’s mind was once again transported to the Well of All Sparks, but it seemed different this visit. It was foggy and dark. Sentinel’s voice was very faint, but Orion still heard him.

“Who are you?”

“Orion, you need to end this.”
Now a bit of the old Orion snuck out. He could barely ask Sentinel what was happening to him before the Optronix side of him took over.

“Orion, the Dark Energon takes the evil in your spark, all your flaws, your hatred, your deepest desires, and brings them to the surface. Essentially it makes you face all your inner demons at once.”

“Please….help me then.”

“You don’t want to change, Orion! You’re too attached to your inner darkness! You want this in you, but you must fight it!”

“I can’t!”

Optronix had once again taken over, this time in full force. He tried to attack Sentinel, but the former Prime deflected his assault. The very fabric of the Well’s existence began to fade away until it was just Orion, alone with is inner demons. For the first time, he was face to face with Optronix.

“So you’re the one who’s to serve as my master’s herald,” Optronix noted.

“I am no one’s herald.”

“But you do wish you were me.”

“No I don’t!”

“Yes you do! I embody everything you wish you were! Confident. Powerful. A real leader. Orion, you know it’s true.”

“Maybe…..no! You’re corrupt! Sadistic! You’re a merciless tyrant!”

“And you’re nothing but an errand boy who thinks he deserves something more! You secretly hate Sentinel Prime for sending you on your Matrix Quest. You blame him, along with all the other Cybertronians on your miserable version of my planet, for ruining your happy little life. Think about it. You had a best friend. A girlfriend. A decent job that you loved doing. And now it’s all been taken away from you just because you have to deliver some overhyped artifact to an unknown savior. And worst of all, you know that once your quest is completed, you’ll have nothing. You’ll be forgotten and all your Autobot friends will turn to their new Prime instead. Admit it!”

Deep down, Orion knew that his evil counterpart was right. He hated the Matrix for ruining his life and he hated the future Prime who seemed to be impossible to find. Dion. Silverbolt and the Arielbots. Metalhawk. Countless others who Orion had cared about had been taken away from him, and he could do nothing about it. Orion looked up and saw the grinning face of the bot he dreamed of becoming. Optronix was a being not bound by ethics or morals. He answered to no one but himself and everyone feared and respected him.

“Give in to your inner demons, Orion. Just give up. After my Cybertron has been destroyed, yours will be. There is no point in going on, so you may as well give in to your desires. Give in. Give in. Give in!”

And there lied Orion’s choice. He could give in. He could become someone that nobody would dare oppose. Megatron would quake in fear of his ruthlessness and Magnus would respect him. The power of the Dark Energon could give him everything he ever imagined. On the other hand, he could face his inner demons and choose to fight them. As much as he may not have liked it, millions were depending on Orion to complete his Matrix Quest. Even if he didn’t receive the respect he deserved, he still had a purpose. Orion stared his demons down, knowing that he either had to surrender to them or fight them head on.

“Make your choice.”

“I have.”

In the physical world, Orion’s body awoke and he gripped the Matrix. His body was his again, and Optronix was forced to watched helplessly as the Matrix opened up, sending beams of light everywhere. The pools of Dark Energon began to boil then disappear completely. The sky became bright and the form of Unicron disintegrated into nothingness. The Dark Energon in Orion’s body also flowed out and the upgrades given to him by the evil Ratchet rusted away and fell off. In a flash of light, Orion disappeared and was replaced by the unconscious body of Optronix.

Back in his home universe, Orion materialized, startling everyone. He was slightly dazed, but he wore the biggest smile on his face. He was home, yes, but more importantly he had made the right choice. He faced his inner demons and won. With renewed vigor, Orion lead his team back to Iacon.

“We were really worried that you had betrayed us, Orion,” Delta said.

“I was worried about you guys too,” Orion answered. “Glad to see you and Elita 1 brought Trailbreaker back safe and sound. Nice to meet you, by the way.”

“N-nice to meet you too,” answered Trailbreaker, bleeding some of The Sample. This shocked Orion.

“Gah! Dark Energon! How did you get that?” he asked.

“What did you call it?” Thundercracker asked.

“Oh, Thundercracker, I hadn’t noticed you! Good to see you alive again! But yes, Dark Energon is some bad stuff. Get it out of Trailbreaker as soon as possible. Trust me, I know.”

“Tell me everything.”

And so Orion did. Everyone listened intently as Orion told them everything that had happened in the bizarre backwards universe. They, in turn, told him everything that had happened to them.

“Sorry other me presented such a challenge to you guys!” Orion exclaimed. “At least it’s all over now, right?”

“Not quite,” Blacker answered. “We still need to get back to HQ and have Trailbreaker here looked at. Oh, and Megatron’s back.”

“You know what? I think I’m okay with that,” Orion answered with surprising
calmness.

“You sure? Things got pretty intense last time you two faced off,” Delta said.

“Delta, we all have our inner demons we have to face. I went up against mine, and I gotta say, Megatron doesn’t hold a thing to them!”

“Inner demons…yeah,” Delta muttered to himself. “Guess I’ll have to face mine sooner or later too.”

Megatron had lost everything. His troops were either dead or gone off to work for Starscream. His citadel was in ruins, thanks to "Orion." He was barely alive, though he wished he wasn't. When Shockwave revitalized him, everyone thought it would be the Decepticons' big comeback. Really it still could have been, but Megatron wouldn't be responsible for it. He was no longer the big bot in charge. Starscream was. Starscream, the treacherous snake, had finally outdone him. He had the Allspark on his side, Megatron only had the purple fluid that dripped periodically from his mouth.

"Does my Dark Energon serve you well?"

Megatron's head shot up but he didn't see anyone. The voice was unmistakeable though.

"Where are you?"

A pool of Dark Energon in front of Megatron started to take on the form of the only one who was ever able to defeat the Decepticon tyrant in gladiatorial combat.

"I am right here, Megatron, and I have something to offer you."

"Unicron, I refuse to take your charity. One day I will get my revenge for the humiliated defeat you dealt me. Do you understand me?"

"I do. But am I your enemy right now? No. Do you know who is?"

"Starscream!"

"No, you fool, it is Orion. He still has the Matrix of Leadership. If he is to find the next Prime, all hope will be lost for the both of us!"

The orange and purple form of Unicron was just barely remaining in solid form, dripping Dark Energon everywhere. His eyes were piercing and his scowl made even Megatron's Energon run cold. He reached out his hand over the pile of debris where Megatron's citadel once stood and the ground began to shake.

"Unicron, what are you doing? I told you I don't need your-HMMPH!"

He was silenced when a glob of Dark Energon latched on to his face and covered his mouth. The Dark Energon then flowed all around his body, paralyzing him. Now all he could do was watch as Unicron took five Decepticon corpses that had been killed by Optronix and reformatted them. He then looked upon the wreckage of the citadel and, with a gesture of his hand, instantaneously changed it into something resembling a ship.

"If you want your rematch with me," Unicron finally said, "you must prove yourself. These are your soldiers and this is your ship. Use them wisely."

Now the Dark Energon had completely enveloped Megatron and his previously silver exterior changed to the same color of the twisted Energon that covered him. His body began to change, becoming more and more powerful.

"Let my lifeblood flow through you, Megatron. Do not resist, give in."

At last Megatron reliquished his will to Unicron and the last few waves Energon flowed over him. His transformation was complete. Now the five resurrected soldiers stood and pledged their allegiance to the new and improved Megatron.

"Who are you all?" he asked them.

"I am Terrorsaur, the Air Commander. I live to serve you, Lord Megatron."

"You seem like the Starscream I always wished Starscream could be! And the rest of you?"

"I am Tarantulus, the expert spy! Mwahahahaha!"

"He's a bit of a loose cannon I'm afraid. I an the noble warrior, Dinobot. I will follow your orders and carry them out with honor, my lord."

"I AM INFERNO AND I WANT TO BURN THINGS! BURN THEM ALL FOR YOU, MY QUEEN!"

"Did you call me your queen? And is there not an Autobot who shares a similar name, Inferno?"

"IF THERE IS, HE WILL BURN IN THE PIT! GAHAHAHAHA!"

"So I have two maniacs, a bot of honor, a better Starscream, and.....?"

"Yoo can call meee Wazzzzp. I can bee your pilot! Bzzzt! I give my life for yoo if I haaaave to."

"Well, Wasp, I don't intend on letting any of you die on my watch. Except maybe Inferno, perhaps. Unicron, this is a magnificent gift, but I must ask what you are going to demand in return for your generosity."

"The Matrix is all I ask of you. Go, now!"

Megatron and his new troops boarded on the Darksyde for the first time. The physical body of Unicron reverted back into its Dark Energon state and splashed to the ground. Now Megatron had a renewed sense of purpose. He ordered Wasp to set coarse for Iacon, where he would get his revenge.

"Megatron is back in business. Yessssssssssssssss."

Cybertron's inhabitants had could at last give a sigh of relief now that the looming threat of Unicron was gone. Optronix, now returned to his home universe, was put away in custody for his crimes against his species. For the first time, Autobots and Decepticons were united in their shared hatred of the former Autobot tyrant.

"You betrayed us all, Pax," said Blacker with great disdain. "You sickening pile of slag, I can't believe we actually trusted you."

"Is that all?"

"No. Magnus would like to have a word with you too."

Magnus silently entered the prison cell with a look on his face that told Optronix that things would not end nicely for him.

"I'm starting to wish we could trade you in with the other one again, Orion."

"The name is Optronix and don't you forget it."

"You are in no position to be shooting your mouth off, traitor."

"You're pretty confident now, aren't you, Magnus? What happened to the nervous wreck that couldn't do anything without me?"

"He's long gone. I am Ultra Magnus now, the new ruler of Cybertron. I have begun having talks with Megatron and you know what? I think I like the way he thinks. The Decepticons had it right all along, Orion, and now things are gonna change around here."

"How so?"

"For one thing, we're getting rid of all possible threats to the peace, including you. When I first spoke with Megatron, he told me that the Decepticon Mercury is still functioning. I was originally going to bring him in to get you and the other Orion to switch places, but he apparently wasn't needed. How did you end up back here anyways?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Either way, we're bringing Mercury in and he's going to show us a machine of his that will get you out of this universe once and for all."

"And then what? You think that you can take all of Cybertron's rogues and dump them off on some other universe?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Mercury, come in here."

A blue and silver Decepticon was ushered in by Blacker and he looked quite scared. He had come face to face with Optronix before and barely survived the experience. In fact, most thought he was dead.

"So you're alive afterall, eh Mercury? Now I suppose you're going to get rid of me."

"I....I'll do anything I can to make sure no one has to suffer by your hand ever again."

Optronix was dragged to Mercury's machine and was carelessly tossed in to it. Lights and colors flashed rapidly before his optics. He screamed in sheer terror as his body was thrust across the multiverse to an unknown destination. Finally he crash landed on his new home and went offline almost instantly. The Autobot who once had power beyond his imagination was now a powerless nobody stranded on a world he had never seen before....or so he thought.

"Byerk! Lord Megatron, look!" shouted the pilot of the Darksyde.

The ship landed and its passengers exited to examine the familiar body. Megatron could not believe his optics. The being who had taken everything from him was now helpless and weak, just waiting to be ripped into pieces.

"Excellent job spotting him, Wasp. Terrorsaur, Inferno, take him onboard the ship."

"But, my queen, do you not wish to obliterate him?"

"No, Inferno, not yet. I may have a use for him first. Take him in and see to it that he can't escape!"

"Rattletrap, Claw Jaw, secure the Energon silo. B'Boom and Longrack, I'm putting you two in charge of seeing to it that the research facilities are up and running again. Knox and Break, I need the two of you to do inventory on the armory. We don't know what could have been taken from there."

Simeus was trying his best to give out orders to the frantic citizens of Preip. The city had been ransacked by an unknown group of assailants. Leonus was busy at work tracking down the attackers with a team of specialists. Mammothus was getting himself drunk on Energon.

"Hey, get your skidplate in gear!" Simeus scolded. "Leonus is out there working tirelessly to find those responsible for defacing our city, and here you are overcharging yourself! You should be ashamed of yourself, Mammothus."

"Put it on mute, Simmy. I don't wanna hear it."

"And you think you're worthy of the Matrix. What would Orion say?"

"Orion Pax is a traitor who slaughtered a number of our best soldiers. It's not an easy task though, I'll grant him that."

"I highly doubt that's Orion. It has to be some type of imposter. Alpha Trion told me about him, and he would never do the vile things we've been hearing about."*

"Whatever. I still don't trust him. We better get the Matrix outta his hands as quickly as possible."

At this point, Leonus had entered the room. His face seemed simultaneously worn out from searching and utterly shocked at the mess Mammothus had made of himself.

"What in the name of Primus is going on here?"

"Apparently we handle a crisis a bit better than Mammothus here," Simeus answered in disgust.

"I've had enough of this from the both of you."

"Then stop drinking," snapped Leonus.

"So who do you think the next Prime will be?" asked Mammothus in an attempt to change the subject.

"I thought it was going to be Metalhawk for the longest time. He was a friend of mine, and I still grieve when I remember his passing."

"Died in that explosion, taking those Stunticons down with him," recalled Leonus.

"I would've survived the blast, you know," Mammothus drunkenly slurred.

"Show some respect," scolded Leonus while striking Mammothus in the face.

"Ouch! Watch it!"

"Leonus, what if I put your protoform descendant in charge for a while?"

"Leo Minor? Simeus, it's not that I don't trust him, but why would we?"

"Perhaps we should pay a visit to Iacon. Orion's crew is bound to be tied up with this imposter business. Maybe it would be best if we simply went to them. Besides, most of the repair work is already done, and we have a respectable defense system. Preip will be fine if we leave for a short time."

"Then shall we take the Axalon?" asked Leonus. "It'll be the quickest way to get there. Who knows? Perhaps one of us will be discovered to be the next Prime!"

"Then let us get going then. Simeus, you go tell Leo Minor what's going on. We'll be waiting for you."

*The events of Preip and the events of the Armageddon series happened concurrently

"You guys, I can see Iacon right over there in the distance! We're so close. Come on!"

Orion quickened his pace despite the fact that he was more exhausted than he had ever been before. It was quite the distance from Altihex to Iacon; even in their alternate modes it a difficult journey.

"To bad we never got to Preip. It was gonna be ultra gear seeing Simeus and all those bots!" said Braver.

"I'm just glad to be alive. Trailbreaker, how are you holding up?" asked Delta.

"A bit scared to be honest. The Dark Energon is the only thing keeping me alive but it's all gonna removed from my systems. Then what?"

"Don't worry, I did some research on The Sample back when it was in Decepticon hands," Thundercracker answered. "I know a bit about it, and I'll be helping out during the operation."

"Thank you, old friend."

"Guys! Hurry up!"

Orion was so far ahead of the group he was almost out of sight. He kept yelling for the other Autobots to get a move on, telling them that they had to see what as up ahead. Roadbuster offered to carry Trailbreaker, as his thick armor made him immune from the Dark Energon.

"He seems pretty excited, doesn't he?" remarked Magnus.

"I haven't seen him like this for ages. I kind of miss it," said Elita 1. "He used to be so energetic and happy, but this Matrix Quest has really taken its tole on him."

"He's getting better, Elita 1. I get that you're frustrated with him, but he really needs our support," said Delta. "And anyways-wow."

Finally it all became very clear to the group why Orion was so excited.

Okay, finally read through the whole thing. Very interesting twist to everything. Liking it so far.

Wow, thanks for reading it the full way through so far! I do intend on rewriting some bits (most of Armageddon at least) and I'll probably do something to fix plothole here and there.