Here's a new short story I have been working on, it will be a few chapters long and will take an origin kind of approach to the whole transformers legacy. Enjoy! Prologue part 2 will be up soon. It may take some time for me to post new chapters, as I can not work on a regurarely basis on this.

Prologue: Fading lights (part 1)

"Little did we know that the hope we all shared, would soon become our final exodus." - Optimus Prime​

***

Tigris Pax, one of the most gracious cities of Cybertron, known for its grand temples, cathedrals and highways; it was the proud legacy and highlight of Cybertronian culture. All of the great Primes had pledged their oath of honor inside The Great Hall of Tigris and most of Cybertronian culture had originated in the suburbs and bars of this legendary city. Where it once was a shining star, it had now been reduced to a dark pile of death and silence. Tigris Pax had fallen, it had been depleted of energy and not suitable for live any longer. The once bright highways which curved through the city, were reduced to sleeping serpents.

'The last of the refugees have been transported to the nearest cities, Megatronus Prime.' The communication specialist finished reading his datapad and sighed. He was a slender bot, covered in a rather dark bluish metallic plating. His chest resembled some sort of trapezium shaped windshield one would encounter on a vehicle. His head ornament showed three sleek spikes, bending backwards, much like antennas. He represented agility, swiftness and speed like no other.

'Sadly, every emergency baraque is overrun. Both Iacon and Kaon are reporting problems with providing sufficient energon and housing. If they do not receive additional supplies quickly, they will be forced to send some of them away sir.' Soundwave's optics closed in sorrow, he had lost several comrades through the energon shortage already. He was saddened by the lack of solutions, but more so by the lack of any foreseeable improvement in the future.

Megatronus Prime - a proud and adept leader, head of the universal exploration department and energon deposit - sat hunged over behind his hologram table. His chin buried inside his hands, optics closed. A shiver went down his spine as he leaned back and rubbed his forehead. A faint metallic scratching broke the eerie silence.

'Thank you Soundwave. Sadly, we have no spare energon supplies. It is far too early to start testing the synthetic energon Optimus Prime's department is developing.' Megatronus stood up and asked for the datapad, hoping for some miracle solution to drop out of the sky.

'Try to persuade them in keeping the refugees a little while longer. I will converse with Optimus and Sentinal Prime on the matter, but we must not give up. Hope is the only thing they have left and I am not giving up yet.'
Soundwave acknowledged and took the datapad back. He bowed and left the room while slowly transforming into his jet mode. Megatronus prime walked back to the desk and punched in some commands. The hologram shifted to a thermographic map showing the exterior of Cybertron. About a quarter was dark, completely devoid of life.

'Oh my precious Cybertron, what has become of you?'

The map shifted to the interior of Cybertron, showing it's core. A highly unstable mass of energodium. Unusable as fuel in the form given. They had the technology to split it into energon, but it would mean the death of their planet.

'Cybertron, I will do everything in my power to save you.'

***

The medical bay in Cybertropolis was filled with Cybertronians suffering from severe energon deprivation. Ratchet and Red Alert, two experienced medical officers, were discussing the case of acute lock-in. The Cybertronian had instinctively turned off every body function and had reverted inside his mind to save energon.

'There is nothing we can do about it Ratchet, we have no energon to spare. Even if we do find a way to save him, he'll loose his legs. The artories are clogged up with residual energon wastage and he won't survive a limb replacement operation as his spark pulse is still to weak.' The white Cybertronian cleaned his hands as he started walking towards other restoring pods.

'He’s a lost cause. As harsh as it may sound, we are wasting our time on him.'
'I am not giving up Red Alert! I have sworn to save every Cybertronian in need of help!' The building trembled, lights flickered and spark monitor screens went dark for a few clicks before they turned on again. Red Alert cursed and ran towards the main control room to do a full system check.

'I will find a way! Even if it means extinguishing my own spark!' Ratchet spat out as he ran to the nearest pod to check on the occupant.

'Shockwave better hurry with his synthetic energon! Or I will introduce that optic of his to very unpleasant areas!' Ratchet shook some wires and made sure they were plugged in. The filtration device kicked in and the blue substance in which the patient was floating started to clear up again. A faint life signal was picked up which made Ratchet calm down a bit.

Red Alert came back and his optics looked worried, his shoulders twitched and his hands started shaking as he approached his colleague.

'How long have you been working already Red Alert?' Ratchet stepped back and grabbed a scanning probe, concerned about his friend.

'Quite some time already, can't really remember when my last break was.' Red Alert leaned against one of the regeneration pods and closed his eyes, rubbing his square, white head. The medic had a square body frame as well, with dark blue and red highlights curving around his chest panel. His legs were rather thin to support the bulk he was always carrying around.

'Go home friend, we don't want you to end up here as well. This old chap is not going to save all these bots on his own, my spark is to old for that.' Ratchet quickly scanned him, luckily he found nothing out of the ordinary except for the exhaustion level.

'A moment ago you swore to help everyone here even if it meant your death', a little chuckle escaped his mouth, barely noticeable.

'Oh shut up medic, go get some rest!' Ratchet kicked Red Alert's feet and turned around as a distressed First Aid came running into the medical bay, nearly tripping upon every step. The bulky white medic, covered in red striping, slipped to halt as he panted, mumbling his distress.

'I need some help in there,' pointing to the emergency aid hall, 'some foolish young bot tried to impress with an alpha class alternate mode. His transformation cog couldn't quite handle the complexity.' First Aid came to breath and gazed at the both of them, awaiting some form of response.

'What do you need us for? Perform a hard reset on his t-cog and problem solved. Not that hard a procedure. Tried whacking him with a blunt object already?' Ratchet smiled as he remembered how satisfying it was to hard reset youngsters fresh from the academy.

'Ever seen a comet repel unit stuck in mid transformation? His weapon systems seem to be having an error 404: designated area not found. If the joints get stressed any further, the explosives will detonate and take out the entire hospital!'

'And you come with that information now? Fool! You open with the important dangerous stuff first!' Ratchet transformed and sped to the mentioned area, hoping he wouldn't be too late.

***

The streets were empty, garbage littered around and the buildings were vacant. The search parties had just completed the first of twenty quadrants. Hound threw a search orb through the door of a skyscraper and activated it on his datapad. The device started to spin and flew through the room, searching for a life signal. Hound stepped away from the building and let the device do its job. The heavy build bot, covered in metallic camouflage patterns halted in the middle of the street and monitored all of the seven activated search probes. After scanning through about five percent of the city, they had yet to encounter the first sign of life. Hound was not surprised, no mentally stable bot would remain living in a dead city. They had only been deployed to make sure no scavengers would raid the area and take advantage of unguarded homes.

Hound called Bumblebee on a hidden frequency for a status rapport. He had sent out several scouts to get some preliminary data before he would send an entire team into an ambush.

'Nothing to report yet sir. But I have noticed some lights further up north, you might want to send in Starscream, I'll send you the coordinates now.'
Hound acknowledged and sent the data immediately to Starscream along with the order. He was expecting a tantrum from the aerial unit, but he remarkably accepted without hesitation.

'What's wrong Hound? You look like you've seen a ghost!' Ironhide walked up to the squad leader and patted his shoulder. Hound shrugged and turned around.

'Starscream accepted a direct order, without mouthing me off.'

'Maybe Primus does exist', Ironhide laughed and opened up a crate out of which he pulled a laser rifle and attached it to his arm.

'Base camp is set up, do you need me to check up on something?'

'Yes, take Drift, Crankcase and Breakaway with you and meet up with Bumblebee to check up on those coordinates I’ve send to Starscream. I feel iffy about that light source up north. He might not bee able to manage it by himself. If you need back up, I'll send up Warpath.' Ironhide nodded and transformed, complaining about the youngster not being suitable as back-up, as gun crazy as he is.

'Drop the attitude Ironhide, he might save your live someday!' Hound yelled as the red heavy duty vehicle drove off.

***

The High Council oval office was large enough to seat a couple of fifty council members. A crescent ark split the room in half and was aimed at three thrones at the other end of the room. A large hologram projector had been installed into the floor that divided these thrones – the center one covered in golden accents and slightly bigger than the other two silver thrones – and the large aula. All the lights were turned on – which covered the room in a bluish aura – an threw dark shadows between the seats. The room was empty except for three Cybertronians. Optimus Prime stood on top of the hologram projector and was studying the molecular structure of the new version of the synthetic energon Shockwave had produced. Optimus called up the molecular bindings of real energon and selected a few atoms.

‘You say these atoms are redundant and unnecessary to sustain energy?’ Optimus read the rapport that appeared next to the atoms and highlighted a few cybertronian symbols.

‘Yes sir, I analyzed several energon waste deposits and found nothing but these atomic structures. It seems that the cybertronian body splits these components from the rest and has no need for them.’ Shockwave walked around on the holo-floor and opened a virtual file and threw the contents to Optimus Prime.

‘However, when I fabricate the experimental compound, the energy signal seems to be unstable. And the molecular structure is virtually identical to real energon without those specific atoms.’ Shockwave, the lead scientist of the Cybertronian Scientic Academy directly under Optimus Prime, was specialized in this matter and had been working on energon since the day he had ended his training. Everyone was convinced that if someone could find a solution for the energy shortage, it would be Shockwave. Sadly, his research had not been without hazards. Thanks to his experiments, he had already lost an arm and one optic. The injuries had been so severe that he had to undergo reconstructive surgery, his missing hand could only be replaced by a laser device which could be – if needed – replaced by offensive weaponry. His face could not be restored either, both his mouth and the larger part of his face had been corroded by acid. The specialists had replaced his entire face by experimental scanning equipment which gave him the ability to shift between several filters which would prove helpful in his research.

‘What do you mean with unstable Shockwave? Will the construct simply fall apart or will it go kaboom? Please be precise in your wordings.’ Sentinal Prime, older and extremely more wiser than the both of them combined, spoke in his slow, well lived voice. Although he possessed an extremely high intellect, he did not choose to show this in his language.

‘I’d better show the effects in a simulation I ran. My hypotheses were rather grim for the fate of the participants so I programmed the computers to run a full spectrum simulation. The results were rather disappointing as the data suggested only one possible outcome. I controlled for systematic errors and coding flaws, but the results are significant beyond the 99% level.’ A blue projection rose up between the three bots. It resembled a standard Cybertronian model with the mean date model for each part. The cybertronian ingested a standard portion of synthetic energon. The time log showed a slow progression over time until it halted and the projection zoomed in on the spark of the Transformer.

‘As you can see here, some anomalies start to occur inside the spark. I have cross referenced with medical files and these occurrences would not be evaluated as threatening during a medical check-up.’
Both Optimus and Sentinal walked around the projected bot and observed the data, not mentioning a word. They only watched and let Shockwave continue his argument.

‘After several cycles, this period is the only uncertain variable at this point, the instabilities seem to increase both in size and severity. These are paired with memory loss and sudden transformations.’ The simulation suddenly halted at a certain time date: 30 cycles after the first usage of synthetic energon.

‘I have cancelled the simulation after this time stamp. It is rather unpleasant to view.’

Sentinal Prime crossed his arms behind his back and sighed loudly to indicate his distress. He gazed at Shockwave without turning his head, ‘continue the simulation Shockwave, we need to know the consequences of every alternative.’

The purple armored scientist nodded and waved his still functional hand. A progress bar appeared and completed quickly. The projection flickered and continued, the spark seemed to grow at a fast pace all the while several tumors started to reach out through the body. After two more cycles, the transformer was completely transformed into an unrecognizable monstrous heap of bleeding blubber after a period of excruciating pain.

‘This simulation only takes into account one single portion of synthetic energon not even sufficient to last through a full cycle. I have run the numbers and the result of multiple uses of the synthetic alternative ion a daily basis are disastrous, and far more quicker than which this simulation suggests. I have not included that simulation as the current one says enough.’ The room was ever more silent as both Optimus and Sentinal took in the horror.

‘These consequences seem to be even worse than the former versions,’ Optimus stated.

‘This is unacceptable Optimus, we cannot use this. It looks like the experiments are generating even worse consequences than wen testing began.’ Sentinal Prime scratched his head and sighed. He tried to come up with a solution, but this was not his area of expertise. If even Shockwave could not come up with a solution, then he would not even come close to suggesting a formula.

‘Shockwave, you said that you’ve replicated the molecular structure completely except for those redundant atoms. Is it possible that those atoms serve a stabilizing purpose?’ Optimus asked as he reopened the molecular file. Shockwave came closer and inspected the data.

‘Some research on energon does suggest that your hypothesis is true sir. However it is still uncertain why our bodies filter out those particles without rendering the fuel unstable. Furthermore I have not been able to fully identify the atoms to its precise specifications.’

‘Which leaves us with two options, either the substance is yet unknown to us…’

‘Or inexistent in our solar system.’ Shockwave completed the sentence of his leader.

‘Which leaves us with a rather grim future.’ Sentinal Prime lowered his head, desperately seeking for a solution. He knew that Megatronus Prime had sent out several reconnaissance squad to nearby galaxies, but they had all come back without a suitable replacement for energon or any form of fuel that could be adapted to suit their needs.

‘As much as I hate to say this Primes, but we are running out of options and out of time.’

 

This is fantastic. Well written and enjoyable, I loved it!  

 

Thank you! The next part will be up either at the end of this week or somewhere at the begin of next week.

 

Here is part two of the prologue to this story. I don't have an idea yet on when the next chapter will arrive, I have already started writing it but I have no idea on when it'll be finished.

Prologue: Fading lights (part 2)

The coordinates Hound had sent to Starscream were located in the upper north quadrants of the city. The seeker had easily found them, the light source had given it away from even high up in the air, Starscream hadn’t even needed the coordinates to find it. He hovered around the target in his stealth mode, low thruster output and no detectable signal. He had not seen any movement inside the room nor had he picked up any sound, but he was not too keen on hovering without back-up. But he hated waiting for Bumblebee and Ironhide’s squad, he went in.

After transforming and doing a quick scan of the interior, he did not find any sign of life. Starscream sneaked around and cleared the area. It was a standard living property for a common transformer, one not rich on credits nor too poor to pay for proper living conditions. It counted four rooms, one larger living unit, one maintenance chamber and two smaller units with resting pods. The lights source Bumblebee had spotted was located inside the living area, of which the outside wall had seemed to be blown out. This had not struck Starscream as odd until the draft had kicked. The light source came from the biggest unit and appear to come from a barrel of purple fluids. Starscream’s scanners did not recognize the substance and contacted Hound for further orders.

***

Soundwave sat at his desk arguing with the council members of both Iacon and Kaon. His tone was calm, experience had taught him that heated arguments did not solve problems, as some other bots did believe. However, this conversation had lasted for several hours already and the communication specialist was experiencing problems in maintaining his calmness.

‘Megatronus Prime asks you personally to harbour every refugee where possible. It is our duty to provide shelter and nutrition for those in need, certainly in times like these. If we do not offer safe havens, a civil war will likely be unleashed which only worsen the problem.’

‘I understand your arguments Soundwave, but Iacon and Kaon are two of the largest cities on Cybertron. We possess enough military force to protect our civilians. We barely have enough to support them, we will not hesitate in doing what is right for our citizens, even it means refusing the refugees. It they wish to start a war, then they will be responded in equal arms.’

‘Is that your final offer Council member?’ Soundwave could guess the answer, but he wished that society had not yet dropped this far below humanity.

‘Yes, that is our final offer. We are locking down the cities as we speak. We cannot allow order to be disrupted', a slight pause. 'Our apologies Soundwave.’

‘Your opinions shall be transferred to the Primes, we will speak again Council member High Wind and Laser Light.’ Soundwave terminated the connection and sighed. He could barely refrain from destroying his communication panel. Times were worsening, and the direction of the change was not one to be relieved about. Soundwave looked up as one of his colleagues entered the room.

‘Sir, the satellites have picked up a signal, it is from another galaxy. It originates from an unknown sector yet to be explored by Megatronus Prime.’
Soundwave was still reflecting on the dispute with the two Council members and barely paid attention to what was being said. How was it even possible that elected representatives of a nation refuse those who are in distress. Even more so, how could someone prefer engaging war above living with less quality but saving others in turn? The ignorance and cold blooded tone of their voices infuriated the ever calm Soundwave.

'What is the nature of this signal?' Soundwave mumbled barely coherent.

‘We have not been able to fully analyse it yet, but initial data suggests it is an attempt to communicate from a sentient species.’

Those last words awoke Soundwave from his thoughts and sent a rush of electricity through his spine. ‘Show me right away Perceptor!’ Soundwave jumped up immediately and followed the Cybertronian as they ran to the satellite control room.

***

Bumblebee arrived at the building where the light source was emanating from and tried opening the doors. They should've opened automatically upon his approach, but as the city had fell without fuel, Bumblebee had to force them open himself. He assumed Starscream had already entered as he did not spot any aerial unit in the air, the thick walls prohibited any form of communication so he could not ask him person. He wouldn't be able to inform Ironhide's squad if he went in alone, but that problem was solved quickly as he heard the revving of engines behind him. Ironhide, Drift, Crankcase and Breakaway arrived and pushed themselves up as they transformed. Drift immediately ran inside and jumped all over the place, yelling for everyone hiding to come out.

'Does he ever calm down? If I see him running about my wheels start hurting', Breakaway rocked his head and forth grabbing hold of his weapon .

'Stop caressing your gun Breakaway, if you want to shoot someone, wait until you spot Starscream. It's about time someone puts a hole where his vocal processor should be.' Crankcase smirked and followed Drift inside and sprayed some oil over the floor.

'Hey Drift, come here, I believe I heard something!' The young bot reacted immediately and skidded back to Crankcase, not noticing the oil. He crashed into the wall behind Bumblebee and growled to Crankcase. The following sentences he uttered were incomprehensible as they melted into one word. Even the growling was more understandable.

'The walls haven't let me contact Starscream yet, I think he's already inside.' Bumblebee mentioned to Ironhide. 'What is the game plan?' He asked his superior.

'We're going up. Hound does not trust this light source and he's not too fond on Starscream tackling it on his own either.' Ironhide chuckled and stepped through the forced doors. 'Never sent in a whack plane on a tank's job.'

***

'Stand still fool! Or do you want a missile up your spine?' Ratchet pushed the mistransformed head deeper inside the body frame with his foot and swung his sledgehammer upward.

'This ain't going to hurt a bit', Ratchet laughed nearly maniacally as he brought down the hammer. A loud crack echoed through the room and the youngster screamed in pain.

'Screaming already? I haven't started the hard reset yet!' The half vehicle, half robot combination shuddered and tried to correctly transform to avoid Ratchet's treatment.

'Hold still boy, I need to aim for your head!' The rescue operation started to look like a rodeo show, the medic was winning.

Ratchet raised the sledgehammer again and struck down with immense speed. The following bang uncovered a smile on First Aid's face as he was watching how the young Cybertronian finally folded in on himself and took on the right proportions and body orientations. The youngster fell dormant and did not respond to any form of stimulus.

'Keep him a night over and he'll have rebooted by morning. Oh boy, what do I like a successful hard reset to end the day.' Ratchet stepped of the comet repel vehicle and threw the sledgehammer into a corner. He bent his back backwards and stretched his arms to loosen up the servos. The brightness of his optics dimmed a bit.

'I think I'll call it a day First Aid, unless you have something else for me to take a whack at?'

'I just might,' First Aid surfaced a datapad, typed in some commands and handed it over, 'we've received reports from a transport. They asked us to prepare the titan medical bay.' Ratchet took the datapad and responded before he had read the report.

'The Titan bay? That is for titan size cybertronians only, all the active ones are sent out on a mission.'

'That's why I am asking you to prepare the bay. It concerns your friend.' First Aid did not get to finish his sentence.

'Omega Supreme', Ratchet's tiredness wore off and the brightness of his optics cleared up again, albeit it was not because of happiness.

***

Megatronus arrived at the door of the Grand Council, he was searching for Optimus and Sentinal Prime. He was hoping for some miracle solution for the problem given. They had been dealing with the energon shortage for so long now, they once knew that the problem would escalate into a possible mass extinction of their race. The Primes had taken precautionary measures; investments in research and development; investments in galactic exploration; reducing the mortality and birth numbers greatly, but all efforts were in vain. All it served was the postponement of the feared cataclysm. Megatronus Prime opened the grand doors and stepped into the main hallway, not impressed by the Cybertronian art and the many historical statues, he had seen them all more than once and had many other things to think about.
He was not alone in the Council, many servants and officials walked around, greeting him while they passed. Megatronus did not respond, not that he did not want to, he had just spotted Optimus, Sentinal and Shockwave leaving for the exit. He hastened his pace, quickly gaining on them.

‘Primes, Shockwave, I need a word with all of you.’ The three of them halted and greeted Megatronus Prime.

‘We have been expecting you brother, but your secretary informed us you were dealing with important issues.’ Sentinal Prime spoke in his gentle tone, as if he was not worried at all.

‘Yes, Soundwave reported that Iacon and Kaon are refusing refugees from Tygris. I have not received further word of it, but I am worried with these developments. However, that is not the main reason I need to speak with you.’

‘I can imagine the energon shortage is troubling your mind as well’, Optmis said as he gazed at Shockwave with a nearly undetectable sliver of disappointment. ‘Shockwave has not found a suitable replacement yet, he is set further back with his recent research. It seems that the fabrication of synthetic energon is virtually impossible with the elements we know.’
Megatronus gasped in disbelief, he knew the definitive meaning of those words but would not accept their demise.

‘Impossible, we have developed so much technology and machinery. We know so much of the universe and our own planet and yet we are doomed to extinction?’ Megatronus looked directly at Shockwave, nearly infuriated by his failure.

‘I am as disappointed in myself as you are sir, but it appears that the necessary components to fabricate a successful alternative were all used in the formation of energon during the birth of Cybertron. There is nothing more we can do but to rely on off-planet fuel deposits which are suitable for energon adaptation.’ Shockwave excused himself and walked away from the Primes, he had more experiments to do even if he already know the results.

‘There is no need to blame the scientists Megatronus, they have all worked very hard on this project’, said Optimus Prime to defend his division.

‘That is the problem with you Optimus, all of this nothing more but a project to you! You fail to comprehend the severity of this crisis!’ Megatronus nearly shouted as his failed to control his temper any longer.

‘Take it easy brother, we are pulling way too much attention here,’ Sentinal stepped in between them and guided the Primes to a nearby empty room, ‘the last we need is a public who loses trust in their arguing leaders. As Shockwave stated, we need to rely on off-planet resources, your search parties must have located some fuel rich planets or sectors?’

‘We have found potentially interesting planets indeed, the only problem is that their inhabitants need the fuel as desperately as we do. They are not giving in without a fight, and we are losing that war. I just received reports of the fall of Omega Supreme on Gigantis. We constructed Titan sized protoforms just to fight the giants of Gigantis alone and even they are failing!’ Optimus gasped as Megatronus informed the Primes about the exploration.

‘His spark refused the implantation in the Titan class body during battle, he suffered severe injuries as a result. I have yet to await reports from our medical staff, but I would be seriously surprised if his body can still be repaired. I have been on Gigantis, starting the initial fuel negotiations, I have witnessed their severe brutality.’ Both Primes stared in disbelief, Omega Supreme was one of their strongest soldiers. They knew it was a risk transplanting his spark in a new Titan body, but it was a risk Omega was willing to take. Rumoured had it that Omega could take on Trypticon and Metroplex, so his fall was an important turn around during battle.

‘I was forced to retreat all our troops, abandoning that planet was necessary. But with that, we have lost our last known fuel rich planet.’ Megatronus turned around and calmed down, he was beaten. Fighting with the other Primes was indeed not the solution, but the report of Omega Supreme’s fall had broken him.

The sound of hasty footsteps pulled their attention, a familiar voice called for the Primes. Megatronus, Optimus and Sentinal exited the room they had sought discretion in and met up with the aroused Soundwave. He was holding a datapad in his hands, it was functioning and showed several data signals that were being analysed.

‘Primes, I might have a solution for the energon shortage! We have just received a communication signal from an unknown planet. It is a fairly simple broadcast type of message, it keeps on repeating itself. We are still analysing the signal but it much resembles our ancient binary language. Other parts of the message seem to resemble some sort of rhythmic use of sound and other data appear to be some sort of rudimentary form of imagery!’ Soundwave halted his bantering and gazed at the Primes who looked like they found a great pile of treasure. They all nearly spoke in unison.

‘Show us the data and analysis immediately!’

 

This one might be a bit dialogue heavy, but next will be the complete opposite and will contain more action! Hopefully you like it.

Chapter 1: The spring unfolds

The elevator hummed gently, as the purring of a young cyber kitty. A faint glow emanated from below the floor and casted a dull blue light over the scouting party. Floor numbers passed by as they approached their designated floor.
'I am genuinly surprised that your idea worked Bumblebee, who knew the elevators in Tygris Pax were equipped with kinetic power cells.' Ironhide wondered amused as Drift skipped by on the illuminated cirkel.

'What better way to keep Drift busy until we find Starscream? And who knew Crankcase had severe motion sickness?' Bumblebee smirked as their fellow scout staggered about, nearly loosing his balance.

'I definitely need to get my gyro checked up when we are done here.. You really think this is funny eh Breakaway?' Crankcase ducked as he needed to concentrate on his consciousness for a moment. 'Do I need to bring up last Dark Hole Feast again? Remember the kerosine incident?' Beakaway's laughter halted abruptly and his cheeks seemed to blush as far as was possible for cybertanium to change color.

'Shut it you two, as far as Breakaway's comical incident was worthwhile, we are on a mission', Ironhide could hear Breakaway cursing Crankcase for spreading the secret.

'This.. Is.. Awe.. Some.. Why.. Don't.. You.. Join.. Me?' Drift increased his velocity and the elevator's humming became slightly louder.

'He is honestly enjoying himself, isn't he?' Bumblebee said.

'Rumor has it he received too much energon in his growing pod, I think he sniffed a bit too many factory fumes whilst growing up', Ironhide replied, signaling to Drift to take a halt as they approached the correct floor number.
'You provided the elevator with enough kinetic energy for the following years!' Crankcase stood back up and sighed, he walked towards the door and mumbled something about getting off the hellish ride. Ironhide and Bumblebee followed the motion sickened scout and searched for the well lit room. As they rounded their first corner, they were surprised by the sound of gunfire and impacting bullets.

***

The room was silent except for the humming of datapads and holographic projectors, several Cybertronians had gathered around the holograms shown. The three Primes hadn't said a word since the beginning of the analysis, nor during the various replays of the signal. Melodies, unique and different tunes and an amalgam of compositions filled the room and resonated against the walls.
'It is beautiful, who would have thought that a primitive humanoid species can produce such sophisticated sound fabrications', Sentinal Prime listened with his eyes closed and gently moved his fingers on the rhythm of the so called music.
'These images show a carbon based lifeform, I am surprised their bodies are so flexible and yet achieve a certain level of durability!' Optimus Prime studied the life form and was amazed by the simplicity of it's complexity.

'The first extra-terrestrial, sentient life form which appears to be peaceful. Their cultural systems and hierarchies look similar to our Cybertronian Primus structure. Are the Prima's and Ultra's notified about this find Soundwave? We need the full Primus Council on this development.'

The communication specialist nodded in agreement and signaled one of his messengers to spread the word. He closed in on the central data hub and punched in a few commands, the holograms selected a few images after which they zoomed in on certain areas. A few mountain ranges, natural formations and volcanic activity appeared to be the focus point of Soundwave’s attention. Several streams of data and statistical analysis appeared after which the communication officer started his plea.

‘After cross referencing all our collected data on known planets and a content analysis of the received images, I have concluded that there are potential energy resources available. The planet should be rich in ores and minerals, furthermore the core of the planet seems to be highly energetic. Combined with the many raw fuels which should be the result of the planet’s rotation and gravity, we should be able to create pure energon.’

The Primes gazed at each other, silently agreeing on what needed to be done. Megatronus stepped forward and skimmed through the pictures. His optics widened and a small grin decorated his face. He loosened his servos and turned around to his colleagues, clearly enriched with a sense for adventure.

‘What do you think Optimus? Opportunities like these don’t provide themselves easily.’ Optimus nodded and reflected all of the risks for a moment. They could not risk another war on a distant planet, every drop of energon was needed to survive, they did not have any to spare. Then again, the humanoids were not technologically advanced and above all inferior to their own species. An all-out war would clearly result in victory on their part, but was it up to them to decide upon the fate of another species? Was it their right to obliterate another solely for the advantage of their own?

‘I agree that this opportunity is the one we need, but can we afford the risk of another war Megatronus? I realize we could easily conquer them, provided the imagery is correct and not a cunning deception.’ Optimus threw a glance at Sentinal and he received a nod, his mentor had always been a bit more conservative about this matters as well.

‘I urge for prudence with this one, I want more definitive data and intelligence on this planet and species. Send in Soundwave with a reconnaissance unit and let him provide us with a clearer picture. I know this is not an opinion that you will favor, but we cannot risk the loss of energon at this moment in time.’

Megatronus’ smile dissipated and his optics widened a tad more. His armor flexed and servos grunted, he clearly disliked the proposition.

‘Neither do we have the energon to waste a time debating the ethics of war and survival Optimus, you understand the severity of this situation as much as I do.' Megatronus' face tightened, his optics narrowed and the cybertanium alloy on his forehead flexed.

'Calm down brother, Optimus has made some valid points and I am quite sure he has enough understanding of the situation. We all have had to deal with loss, but that is all the more reason to proceed with caution.' Sentinal spoke gently and raised his hands, urging the Primes to control their temper.

'I am certain we still have sufficient energon supplies to wait for more information. And we all have to keep in mind that we are waging war on different planets, if we divide our troops even more chances exist that our other adversaries will push back our forces and retaliate. We do not have the means to conquer the humanoid primates, maintain our positions elsewhere and defend the very home we are trying to save. Defending the last remains of a planet which is already dead with forces soon to be extinct is futile Megatronus! We need to be smart in this!' Sentinal had always had the demeanor of a wise sage. Even in stressful situations - and there had been plenty recently - he tried to apply logic and rational thinking, even when it ment a disadvantage for him.

'I have always admired you Sentinal, even though you had your flaws, but you are pushing the boundaries here. You sound as if you have given up all hope already! Cybertron is not a lost cause and we are more than capable in succeeding with this military operation!' Megatronus had approached both the other Primes and his posture had changed menacingly, a faint albeit visible anger had taken refuge in his eyes.

'We will pose the question to the council and await the results of the voting. The three of us are too biased considering our area of expertise. Let the Primas and Ultras decide with us, the more arguments we get in this matter, the better.' Optimus nodded in agreement as Sentinal left the room. The situation had grown hostile and that was not benevolant for their cause. A war was not profitable for them and certainly not one amidst their own leaders.

As soon as Sentinal had left the room with Soundwave in his wake, Megatronus stepped closer to Optimus and gazed at him briefly without speaking a word. His eyes were hardened and some degree of contempt was detectable. Optimus Prime did not provoke, he did not want to anger his brother. Megatronus was a great leader, but he was known for his change of temper.

'You are making a grave mistake Optimus, you are carrying the weight of the entire Cybertronian race and culture on your shoulders. I urge you to decide consciously.'

'I am well aware of my responsibilities Megatronus, I have made the necessary conclusions. I urge you to do the same.' Optimus turned around and walked away, clearly aware of the sudden tension that had risen between them.

'I will derive the necessary conclusions when the time is appropriate Optimus, I hope you provide me with the right incentives.' Optimus halted for a moment, slightly turning his head. He nodded when the message was clear and left the room.

Megatronus waited a few clicks in the now darkened room, he waited until he could no longer hear Optimus' footsteps. He grunted, silently at first until it grew into a fierce bellowing. The military leader launched his fist into the hologram projector and destroyed the control panel. Oil leaked out and faint sparks emitted from the wiring below, a service drone left the room and scanned the damage after which it made some processing noises. Megatronus interpreted them as disapproving as far as a service drone could make opinions, he crushed the bot as well before sighing and ordering a clean-up crew. They asked him what happened and he told them it was none of their business.

'I have to put something in the report sir. Care to try again?' Megatronus was not satisfied with his tone of voice, but he knew he had stepped out of line with this behavior.

'I slipped.'

'Was that before or after the projector got destroyed?'

'Listen to me carefully, I'll only tell you this once. I slipped.. Twice.'

The other end of the line went silent, not a noise nor a snicker came through.
'Yes sir, understood.'