CHAPTER FIVE
--The Lost Light--
As soon as he had gotten Blaster's alert, Ultra Magnus came rushing onto the bridge. He immediately came to a halt when he saw that most of Luna 1's surface was lit up.
"What just happened?" he asked.
"Not sure," Blaster said. "I've lost contact with both Rodimus and Drift's teams. My guess is they had a run-in with whoever's down there."
"This isn't good," Magnus said. "Let's bring the ship down and--"
"Wait! I'm picking up some sort of transmission. Let me put it on visual."
Blaster worked the controls of his station and a few seconds later, a face in shadows appeared on the screen, red optics glowing.
"Unidentified spacecraft, I suggest that you leave this very instant. I have fourteen members of your crew at my mercy and need only snap my fingers to execute them. I can do the same to you."
Magnus stepped up to the screen. "I am Ultra Magnus, second-in-command of the Lost Light. None of us mean you any harm."
"Then explain why you have activated the hot spot and disturbed the sparks I've been trying to keep safe."
"We had no knowledge of any hot spot. We simply came across Luna 1 and--"
"A strange coincidence, is it not?" the mysterious being said icily. "Of all the systems in the galaxy, you happen upon the very one my base of operations is."
"We came to this system with the intention of visiting Earth," Magnus said. "We had no idea it was missing."
The stranger scoffed. "Don't play games with me. It's common knowledge amongst Cybertronians that the Functionists destroyed Earth ten years ago."
Magnus blinked. "What? The Functionists were ousted... right after the Second Great War started."
"Now I know you're lying. There is no such thing as a Second Great War and the Functionists were never ousted-- they have been in control of Cybertron for the past two thousand years."
"Two thousand years? Back then, yes, but never publicly. They used the High Council as a front and Sentinel Prime as a figurehead."
The stranger glared at him. "You really don't know your history well, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Sentinel Prime was killed at the end of the Great War two thousand years ago and the Functionists have been in command ever since."
--Luna 1--
"Riptide owes me fifty Shanix."
Sitting next to Swerve in the dark, dungeon cell Drift's team had just awoken up in, Tailgate asked, "Why?"
"We made a bet on how long it would take for us to get captured at some point in the quest," Swerve said. "It tends to happen a lot, from what I've experienced."
A loud bang sounded across the room. All heads turned to see Whirl pounding at the cell door.
"Whirl," Drift said exasperatedly. "Punching the door won't open it."
"Then what will, eh?" the ex-Wrecker snapped. "Begging the Guiding Hand to make a fist and smash it down?"
"Being flippant towards others' beliefs certainly won't," Cyclonus muttered.
"What? I was being serious--"
"Enough." Drift raised a hand for silence. "We will find no way out of this by arguing or hitting things. We must find peace and be calm."
"Kind of difficult to be calm when you've got an ex-Decepticon, an ex-Unicron agent, a screwed-up empurata victim, a cranky medic, and Swerve all in one room," Ratchet muttered.
"Point taken." Drift turned to Rewind, who was sitting with Swerve and Tailgate on the bench with his head in his hands. "You okay, Rewind?"
"My database is a mess," the archivist murmured. "Ever since earlier today, I've been recalling stuff that never happened. It's like... it's like my database is just making stuff up."
Drift rubbed his chin. "Now that is strange. Perhaps it is a sign of some sorts, a message from Primus--"
"Oh, sweet spark, not this scrap." Ratchet stepped up with a scowl on his face. "This has nothing to do with Primus or that Guiding Hand rubbish. If I had to wager a guess, Rewind, you could be suffering some sort of variation of information creep. Between your age and your large database, it could be susceptible to corruption."
"But it's not just a case of reinterperting facts, Ratchet," the archivist said. "It's complete fabrication of events. Never once in history-- the history I know-- have the Functionists ruled Cybertron in the High Council's stead, or consider certain classes as subject to extermination."
"Um, guys?" Swerve said. "I noticed this earlier, but didn't want to interrupt all the wonderful arguing and stuff... but what are those marks on the wall supposed to mean?"
Everyone looked to see what it was Swerve had spotted. Those who had mouths proceeded to let them drop open.
"And here I thought we wouldn't be getting any more surprises," Ratchet said.
--Lost Light--
Although he knew Rodimus would throw a fit if he found out, Ultra Magnus had to take a seat in the command chair. All of this was too much to comprehend; it was almost coming to the point where he could no longer tell what was reality.
Still massaging his helmet crest, Magnus said to the being on the screen, "Sentinel Prime didn't die at the end of the war."
"It's pointless to keep up this charade. Everyone knows that he did-- unless you were born after the Purge, which I find unlikely."
"It would appear we're on totally different pages here." Magnus thought for a moment before saying, "How long have you been on Luna 1?"
The mech snarled. "Why should I tell you?"
"Please. I believe it is necessary so we can clear things up. How long have you been on Luna 1?"
The being hesitated before speaking. "710 years."
Ninety years from the present, Magnus thought. "Does the name Optimus Prime mean anything to you?" he then said aloud.
"No."
"Then how about Megatron?"
"As in Megatronus, the Fallen Prime? Then yes. But I know not of any others by that name."
"Then what about the Five Dark Epochs? The Simanzi Massacre? The Siege of Massunstrad?"
"I have never heard of such events."
"I don't think anything's wrong with him, per se," the scientist said. "Between what he's telling us and our discovery of Brainstorm's time machine... I believe we've ended up in an altered timeline."
"You mean... Brainstorm's already rewritten history?"
"Or is in the process of doing so. This could only be a possible future that we're currently in. If we act fast, we can follow Brainstorm back in time and stop him from making the necessary changes and making this future an inevitable one."
Magnus mulled over this before returning to the mysterious being. "Let's make a deal. If you spare our crewmates and allow us to land, we can review each others' conflicting histories and try to deduce a solution."
"How do I know you're not trying to trick me?"
"Well, as we've both seen, we're doing a horrible job at it."
The being glared at him for a moment before saying, "Very well. You are free to land."
Magnus nodded. "Thank you. Though, one last thing: do you mind telling us your name?"
Again, the stranger hesitated before saying, "Boltax. You may call me Boltax."
--Cybertron--
The probe unit known as EVE floated in place within a brightly-lit chamber. Standing before her, datapad in hand, was the Functionist Councilor designated Ten-of-Twelve, the Evaluator. He regarded EVE with his single optic, betraying nothing of his thoughts, before finally speaking.
"Probe unit EV-001. You were assigned to Primal Vanguard Unit C-69-14, designation Minimus Ambus, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"You are aware then, that the Primal Vanguard has been dissolved and, as a result, most EVE probe units are now considered obsolete?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then it should no doubt please you to know that we have a new assignment for you. We have found evidence that Cybertron's missing satellite-- Luna 1-- has appeared in the Sol system. Your mission is to scout out the system and, if it is indeed there, the moon itself. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Very good. You leave now."
-
Author's note: I have no idea how time travel works (other than what's shown in Transformers), so the stuff Que's said so far (and will say in future chapters), I have no idea if it's actually plausible. Then again, neither is time travel itself.
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