Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

   Thanks to the Grade-A navigation system on Devcon's ship, Windblade and the Autobot bounty hunter had tracked Turmoil's ship to a planet on the edge of Nebulon space. As the ship made its descent through Taros Seven's atmosphere, Windblade anticipated her upcoming confrontation with Deadlock as she sharpened her blade.

   Is this against the Autobot Code? she wondered. Looking down at her sword, she tried to justify her reasons for taking this path of revenge. Yoketron was like a father. We're at war. He's a Decepticon. I am delivering justice.

   Windblade sighed as she returned her blade to its sheath. Yoketron had once told her that vengeance was not something a Cyber-Ninja partook in. But that was before the war.

   At this point, revenge pretty much drove everyone.

*  *  *

   The tide had turned against the Decepticons, but in Impactor's eyes, it was for the worse.

   While Scourge's bloodlust was now focused on the Decepticons that had just arrived, this only meant that Orion Pax was plummeting deeper and deeper into darkness. If he wasn't stopped soon, Orion would truly be gone for good.

   "We'd better vamoose before he sets his sights on us again," Roadbuster said behind him. "Scoop's gone to get the Xantium prepped-"

   "No," Impactor said sharply. "We have to save Orion before he kills himself."

   "What if he kills us in the process? And how are we sure that that's Orion?"

   "We're not," Impactor admitted. "But either way, he has to be stopped."

   "How?" Springer asked. "We're down to little over forty mechs. How are we going to stop either him or the Decepticons?"

   A small smile crossed Impactor's face. "By being Wreckers."

*  *  *

   "So, what's Prometheus?"

   Having just escaped from the scraplets, and not knowing what was up ahead, Perceptor decided that now was as good a time as any to speak his mind.

   Without looking at him, Azimuth smiled slightly. "I've been expecting you to ask that ever since we boarded the ship. Emirate Xaaron gave you the message, it would seem."

   "Yes," Perceptor murmured. "I recall the name from my venture into the Hydrax Plateau with Scrounge two decades ago. What does it mean, exactly?"

   Azimuth was silent for a moment before speaking. "What do you know about the Titans?"

   "I know that they are the vessels of the fabled Knights of Cybertron, but nothing beyond that. Are you saying Prometheus was one such Titan?"

   "Yes," Azimuth replied. "The last one made, in fact. From what I've read, he strayed from the path the Knights had set him on and absorbed the light of a nearby star, before releasing it and provided fire for all to use."

   "No offense, but that sounds stupid," Perceptor said. "So, what does Prometheus have to do with this quest?"

   "This is his corpse."

   Both Perceptor and Glyph stopped in their tracks and gave Azimuth bewildered look. "What?" they exclaimed in unison.

   Azimuth smiled, though what she was amused by, Perceptor had no idea. "When I discovered him twenty years ago, Prometheus was awoken by my arrival and he spoke to me. He told of his story, saying he was betrayed by his brothers and left here to die. From that day forward, he has vowed revenge and I was his first chance to satisfy his taste for vengeance."

   "How?" Glyph asked.

   "I was the first living being he had seen in eons. I was the only connection he had to the rest of the universe. Thus, he asked me to find the rest of the Titans and rewire their brain modules so that he could mentally control them."

   Perceptor raised a metal brow. "So, what do these recent Titan sightings- Hydrax Plateau and Xeres- have to do with this?"

   "They were Titans I had discovered and brought under Prometheus' control," Azimuth said. "When they were discovered, they just so happened to have been awakening at the same time."

   "What about those poor bots murmuring Prometheus' name?" asked Glyph.

   Azimuth's face fell. "'Poor' doesn't begin to describe it. They were bots I captured to use their spark energy to reboot the Titans."

   Perceptor's jaw dropped open, both at what Azimuth had stated and the bluntness of it. "What? Are you saying that you killed fellow Cybertronians just to reactivate these Titans?"

   The old astronomer nodded, her face impassive. "Pretty much. Sacrifices had to be made."

   "But why?" Glyph exclaimed. "What makes an ancient Titan worth several innocent lives?"

   "Innocent." Azimuth spoke the word slowly, as if she had never heard of it before. "Are we truly innocent, even now, when we are at war?"

   "But some of them were fellow Autobots! And even some of the Decepticons may have been good once. Why are you doing this, Azimuth?"

   The older fembot stared at the younger one, her optics twinkling with... was it pride?

   "I have been chosen," Azimuth declared. "Primus himself, through the Knights, through Prometheus, has chosen me to undertake this mission."

   "What mission?" Perceptor asked.

   "To retake Cybertron. For too long has it gone without strong leadership, leadership which the Titans we have believed in for so long have."

   Perceptor shook his head, not believing a word of this. "I'm sorry, Azimuth, but you have truly lost it. I cannot allow you to do this."

   "That's okay," Azimuth said nonchalantly as she raised her arms. "I don't need your permission anyway."

   As she pressed a panel on her right arm, Perceptor suddenly lost control of his body and he collapsed to the floor, with Glyph doing the same.

   "I have been chosen," he heard his former colleague say as he slipped out of consciousness. "That is all I will ever need."

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

   "Well, Killmaster, it looks like you missed out on the fun."

   The massive Decepticon seethed at Terradive's comment but neither said nor did anything. Instead, the crew of Turmoil's ship surveyed the damage Scourge had done to Taros VII. Cities were in ruins and the bodies of Autobots, civilians, and even fellow Decepticons littered the ground. The only action taking place was between Scourge himself and little more than fifty Wreckers, whom the super-warrior was swiftly massacring.

   Turning to Turmoil, Terradive said, "Looks like he's got it all handled, sir. Shall we just kick back and enjoy the show?"

   Without even looking at the orange flier, Turmoil backhanded Terradive across the face. "We came here to be participants," the commander snarled. "Not spectators."

   Raising his fist towards the sky, Turmoil bellowed, "For the glory of the Decepticons!"

   The others echoed his cry and followed Turmoil, charging into battle.

*  *  *

   He had to stop. He wanted to stop. He fought against every urge just to make himself stop. But he couldn't.

   A part of Scourge that still saw himself as Orion Pax felt as if he was simply watching the carnage he was creating and not directly causing it. He tried to speak, trying to cry for help towards the Wreckers he was fighting, but they were either not listening or he was ultimately mute.

   For a brief moment, everything had come to a halt. Topspin and Twin Twist were deactivated, Fastfix and Scoop were firing at him, and Leadfoot was at his mercy. Orion took this as a chance to take control of his own body, but only managed to cast a pleading glance at Impactor before Scourge took over again, throwing Leadfoot into Fastfix and Scoop.

   Impactor was moving in an instant, with Springer and Roadbuster behind him. The Wrecker leader aimed his harpoon launcher at Scourge and fired it into his shoulder, using it as a grappling hook to climb onto the larger mech. Orion could then only watch as Impactor wrestled with him while his Scourge persona fought back.

   "Listen to me, Orion," Impactor grunted as he avoided punches thrown at him. "I know you're still in there, deep down. You've gotta stop this."

   What do you think I'm trying to do? Orion tried to say, but none of it exited Scourge's mouth. Instead, the Decepticon super-soldier grabbed Impactor by the arm and wrenched him from his shoulder, throwing him to the ground.

   As Scourge began to slowly approach the fallen Wrecker, he turned at the sound of cheering and saw a large group of Decepticons moving towards his position. He remained motionless as the leader of the group, a silver and black tank, converted into a large robot form.

   "I may not be one to give out praise," the Decepticon commander muttered. "But credit is given when it is due. You are to be commended for your thorough work."

   Scourge did not respond, instead focusing his cold gaze on the commander.

   Some of the Decepticon exchanged odd glances, but the commander simply stared back. "Megatron was right in choosing you to lead the Warriors Elite. You humble Decepticons such as myself."

   Still no response. This was the most restrained he had ever been save for whenever he was in the presence of Megatron, Shockwave, or anyone else with a decent amount of control over him.

   The commander folded his arms across his chest. "Now then, since you are the field leader of this battle, I must ask: are we to finish off these Autobots or take them prisoner?"

   "Neither." Before Orion could stop himself- or was he himself anymore?- Scourge brought out his blade and moved into an attack position. "I'm going to kill all of you."

*  *  *

   "This is not happening. This is not happening. This is not-"

   "News flash, Swerve!" Livewire snapped as she and the others fled from the horde of scraplets. "It is happening!"

   Jolt let out a yelp as a scraplet latched itself onto his leg with its mouth. He unfurled his electric whips from his arms and lashed at the small creature. While it succeeded in forcing the scraplet off, two more leapt at him and bit at his head.

   "This wasn't what I had in mind about fending off dangers," Jolt said. "I'm not too keen about becoming a scraplet's dinner."

   "There's two openings coming up," Azimuth said, nodding up ahead. "We'll split up and try to confuse them that way. Glyph, Perceptor, you're with me."

   As the six Autobots reached the two separate tunnels, they instantly divided into two groups, with Azimuth, Perceptor, and Glyph going down one and Swerve, Livewire, and Jolt the other. After about twenty minutes of running for his dear life, Swerve heard the scraplets fall silent and he dared to turn around. Much to his relief, there was no longer any sign of the swarm.

   "Well, guess we've lost them," he said. "So now what?"

   "I guess we just keep going down the tunnel," Livewire said. "Hopefully we'll meet up with the others soon."

   "Great, just my luck," Jolt muttered. "I'm stuck with Miss Hyperactive and Mister Shut The Heck Up. That thing about cesium salami is starting to sound not so bad after all."

   As the trio continued down the tunnel, with Livewire in the lead, Swerve glanced at Jolt. "I see where you're coming from with the 'Mister Shut The Heck Up' part," he whispered. "But so far, Livewire hasn't really struck me as 'hyperactive.'"

   "What? You think she got her name for the electric wires on her arms?" Jolt said, shaking his head. "She may be calm and collected now, but-"

   "OH MY GOSH! WHAT IS THAT?!"

   The tunnel was instantly illuminated by Livewire's wire-whips as she lashed out at something neither Jolt nor Swerve could see. As the other two Autobots rushed up to Livewire, Jolt raised a hand to calm her.

   "Take it easy, sis," he said sternly. "Whatever it is, it can't-"

   He suddenly froze when he saw what it was Livewire had been attacking: the mutilated remains of a wingless, teal-colored Seeker. His optics were frozen in terror and his jaw hinged up and down as he murmured something.

   "What's he saying?" Swerve asked.

   Having finally cooled herself down, Livewire knelt down next to the Seeker to hear him better. After a moment, she turned to the others and frowned.

   "Prometheus."

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

   In their countless years of service, the Wreckers had rotated through several roasters, its lineup ever changing. Some would step down and later rejoin, others would get the boot, while the rest either stayed for life or got killed in battle.

   And right now, Impactor was seeing a lot of the latter.

   He had prepared the Wreckers for this, building their numbers well into the hundreds for the next Great War. And yet they were already down to half that number due to one single Decepticon.

   Scourge. The name had once belonged to an old warrior who served under Nova Prime before vanishing with the rest of the Ark's crew. Now it was being used by the ebony Decepticon that now mowed down their forces.

   An apt name then, Impactor thought, albeit one I'm gonna curse to the Pit.

   As he hid behind the rubble from a toppled building, accompanied by his old friend Roadbuster and a recent recruit named Springer, Impactor racked his brain module for another strategy, for their twenty-four others had failed.

   "My Path Blaster's all outta juice," Roadbuster muttered. "Only got two frag grenades left. And I already used my Dimensional Decimator on that Vehicon horde."

   "My gun's out too," Springer said, discarding his twin-barreled gun. "Still got my sword, but using it against that... nightmare would be like using a stick against a Cybernought."

   Impactor cursed under his breath. "What were we thinking? Picking a fight with one of those super-soldiers... are we that dense?"

   Roadbuster grunted. "Wouldn't blame ya'. We were told that he was a hundred bots-strong and so we brought a hundred wreckers. Turns out they meant a thousand bots-strong."

   Frowning, Impactor turned in his position to see how the others were faring. "Horrible" was what he was expecting and was what he saw:

   Topspin and Twin Twist laid at Scourge's feet, alive but in stasis lock. In the Decepticon's strong grip was Leadfoot, who was struggling to raise his gun at the elite warrior but was too weak to do so. Behind Scourge were Fastfix and Scoop, firing their weapons at him but failing to make even a scratch.

   Suddenly, Scourge swung around and smashed Fastfix and Scoop with Leadfoot, sending all three of them falling to the ground as their bodies collided. The Decepticon then pivoted around and made eye-contact with Impactor, causing the latter's spark to leap.

   However... there was something about the Decepticon's blood-red optics that gave Impactor pause. The way they stared at him, angled down slightly, he could have sworn there was a strong hint of... was it sadness? Remorse?

   Then there was his build. A large windshield on his chest and a grill on his abdomen suggested that his alt mode was a truck. But the way they were arranged made him think of Optronix, who it surely could not have been.

   Then it dawned on him.

   In the midst of his realization, he barely noticed Roadbuster speaking. "We should retreat sir. If we stay here any longer, we-"

   "We can't," Impactor said.

   Roadbuster and Springer gave him puzzled looks. "Why?" the latter asked.

   "Because Orion Pax needs us."

*  *  *

   Once the Sojourner's Passage had landed near the Titan's corpse, Azimuth and her team of five disembarked from the ship and approached the fallen Titan. As they examined its rusted exterior, it was Swerve this time who voiced the question on everyone's mind.

   "So, how are we going to get in?"

   "There's a large opening on his left leg just barely large enough for all of us to fit through," Azimuth said. "We'll go through there and make our way to its head."

   "Am I the only one creeped out by this?" asked Jolt. "I mean, going through some giant's body, not to mention one of a suppose ancestor... doesn't it seem like sacrilege?"

   "Ah, don't be a scared cyber-cat, Jolty," said Livewire. "What's the worse that can happen? Mortilus force-feeds you cesium salami?"

   Jolt tapped his fingers together. "Well... I'm not much fond of cesium salami."

   Soon, the team of six were through the opening in the Titan's leg and into the giant's internal workings. To Perceptor's surprise, there were very few wires, circuits, and gears that were common within a Cybertronian. It was almost as if someone had tore them out.

   Or if they were never there in the first place.

   "Can you tell me anything about the metal material, Swerve?" Azimuth asked.

   Swerve sighed. "And I here I was hoping you'd brought me along to break up the monotony."

   He knelt down in front of the wall of the leg and ran a hand across it. He then brought out a cylindrical-shaped device, attached it to his visor, and examined the metal more closely. 

   After ten minutes had passed, Livewire said impatiently, "Well?"

   "Well, besides the rust, our Titan friend has seemed to have been infected by Gold Plastic Syndrome, photo-degradation, Cybercrosis, and pretty much every disease you can name except space barnacles and scraplets."

   "Is any of it contagious?" Perceptor asked.

   "Surprisingly, no," Swerve replied. "Most of it seems to be subdued and only slowly spreading, probably because if its ginormous size."

   "Glyph, can you figure out its age?" Azimuth asked.

   "Just by looking at it, it has to be at least thousands of years old," Glyph replied. "I've seen relics from the First Golden Age younger than this. Also, there might be something of concern."

   "What?"

   "Swerve was wrong about there being no scraplets."

   All six Autobots turned to see several dozen pairs of purple eyes staring at them, followed by the glistening of razor-sharp teeth.

   "Well, this quest sure took a turn for the worse," Swerve muttered.

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR

   Located within the Quintesson Pan-Galactic Co-Prosperity Sphere's territory, the bleak world of Monacus was a haven for gamblers, criminals, and all sorts of low-lives. Not to mention bounty hunters.

   Avoiding the death glares from the numerous alien residents of Monacus' district Sheol, Windblade quickly figured that Cybertronians were not a welcome sight here. Nonetheless, she was certain of at least one other Cybertronian who visited Monacus from time to time. Entering a casino marked as Gyconi's Gambling Corner, Windblade moved through a crowd of Urtuskians, Skuxxoids, and Torkuli before finally reaching the table that was her destination.

   "It was about time you got here," said Devcon. "I was just about ready to leave this dump. It reeks of Ick-yak droppings in here."

   Windblade smirked as she sat across from him. "Perhaps if you deactivated your olfactory sensors, it wouldn't be so bad."

   The blue and red Autobot bounty hunter grunted. "Perhaps, but it wouldn't get rid of these grubby aliens."

   "Right. So, about the job...."

   "Not one for small talk, eh?" Devcon placed his arms on the table and leaned on them. "You say there's a Decepticon- a specific one- that you want dead because...."

   "Because he killed my master," Windblade said coldly. "And yours."

   Devcon blinked. "Yoketron? You know... you know who killed him?"

   Windblade nodded. "A Decepticon named Deadlock. Far as I know, he's currently the second-in-command of a 'Con named Turmoil."

   "Turmoil?" Devcon said in a loud whisper. "You seriously want me to mess with one of Megatron best and scariest commanders and his lieutenant? There's not enough credits in the galaxy to convince me to risk my afterburner like that."

   "Well, luckily, you don't have to worry about that," Windblade said. "I just need you to help me find Deadlock. I'm killing him myself."

   "Is that so?" Devcon scratched his chin. "You're crazier than I thought; confronting a scary Decepticon and defying the Autobot Code. But who am I to deter you from your vengeful quest?"

   "Nothing can deter me," Windblade said coldly. "Yoketron was like a father to me and I must avenge his death."

   "Yeah, just try not to get your self killed in the process." Devcon then drained the can of oil he had been leaving unattended before saying, "My ship's waiting outside. Let's go find this Spawn of Mortilus."

*  *  *

    The Sojourner's Passage-- Azimuth's vessel-- had taken off from Cybertron and the "Titan Explorers", as Swerve wished to call themselves, were well on their way to visit the Titan Azimuth had discovered. As the crew of six all sat in the ship's cockpit, it was Jolt who voiced the question on everyone's minds.

    "How did you find the Titan, Azimuth?"

    The old Autobot hesitated only briefly before speaking. "Not long after I had disbanded the Patterners, I disembarked from Cybertron to pursue my life-long dream of exploring the universe's endless wonders. While in the middle of this, I detected a strong energon signal in this uncharted system. I eventually followed it to a moon orbiting a ringed gas giant. It was on that moon that I found the Titan."

    "So the Titan was generating the energon signature?" Perceptor asked.

    Azimuth nodded. "I believe so."

    "But if the signature was so strong, then... could it still be alive?"

    Azimuth shrugged. "It's hard to say. It never awoke while I was examining it."

    "Man, the more I hear about this, the less I can wait to get there!" Swerve exclaimed. "How much longer now?"

    Azimuth smiled as she brought the ship out of hyperspace. "We're here."

    Perceptor, Swerve, Glyph, Jolt, and Livewire all stared in astonishment at the sight that greeted them. Sprawled on the surface of a moon was indeed a Titan. Thousands-of-years-worth of rust corroded its armor plating. Wires and gears were exposed in crevices in its armors. Its mouth hung open in frozen anguish while long-dead optics glistened with the stars it laid under.

    The long silence which hung over the six Autobots was broken by an excited Swerve. "I don't care what happens to us; this quest just made it to the Top Ten!"

*  *  *

    Turmoil and his team had decided to stay on Dabola while Shockwave and his team explored the Titan's remains. However, no more than twelve hours had passed when the scientists returned.

    "There is nothing of interest to be found," Shockwave reported to Turmoil and Scrapper. "Little more than torn out gears and wires. Nothing that Lord Megatron could use for Trypticon."

    "What could possibly be out there that could tear apart a Titan?" asked Deadlock, standing at Turmoil's side.

    "Another Titan, perhaps," Shockwave said. "However, I do not care enough about such myths to hypothesis why a Titan would perform such an act."

    Deadlock opened his mouth to speak again but was cut off by a curt hand gesture from Turmoil.

    "If that is the case, then we have no further reason to stay here," the commander said. "If it's all the same to you, my crew and I shall be off."

    As the Decepticons parted ways, Deadlock said to Turmoil, "Where to now?"

    "Taros Seven," Turmoil replied. "We are to take Killmaster there and assist a fellow Warriors Elite in battle."

    Deadlock blinked. "You mean there's already one of them there? Why do they even need help then?"

    "Because they're up against one of the only things the Autobots can successfully throw at them."

    "And what would that be?"

    "The Wreckers."

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

   Has it truly been twenty years? Perceptor wondered as he drove towards the Delta Magnus Spaceport. Perhaps the war had causing him to ignore the passage of time. He could still remember the day he last saw Azimuth, almost vividly. 

   She had stood before them and the other Patterners at their meeting place near Iacon, looking proud and imposing as always. "My friends and colleagues," she had said to them. "It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that we must no longer be united as one. I have read the stars, and they have told me that Death is fast approaching. I know not when it will arrive, but it will take many with it when it leaves."

   "Why must we disband?" asked Reflector. "How will it affect future events?"

   "I do not know," Azimuth had replied. "All I can tell you is that we must."

   And disband they did. From that day forward, the only Patterner Perceptor ever saw again was Astroscope; Reflector had left to join the Decepticons while Azimuth and the others had simply vanished. Perhaps now he would be able to find out where Azimuth had been all these years and what she had been doing.

   Arriving at the spaceport, Perceptor found the other four members of Azimuth's assembled team: the young archaeologist he knew as Glyph, two others he didn't recognize... and Swerve.

   Perceptor came very close to asking Primus to spare his spark.

   Transforming from his red truck mode, Perceptor waved in greeting to his new teammates. "Hello, Glyph, Swerve. Who are these two?"

   "Their names are Jolt and Livewire," said Swerve. "They aren't really scientists, just warriors to cover our backs in case things get rough."

   "What could possibly be in the 'Titan' we're exploring that could attack us?"

   "Anything! Nanocons, Insecticons... just about anything that infests billion-year old corpses."

   "Say, when is this Azimuth person supposed to show up?" asked the black and silver fembot Livewire. "My boredom meter is going off the scales."

   "Then wait no longer."

   The five Autobots turned as one to see an orange-colored, slightly bulky exploration truck driving up to their position, before stopping and converting into its robot mode. As Azimuth completed her transformation, Perceptor was surprised to see how unkind time had been to her.

   Her once spotless finish was now covered in stains of rust; her joints creaked slightly as they moved, as if they hadn't done so in quite some time. Her once wide, ever-watching optics were now narrowed into slits and seemed to be losing focus. Even the mere act of walking seemed to give her strain, for she used a small staff to support herself.

   Perceptor knew that Azimuth was old- older than him, even- but not like this.

   Catching his gaze, a weak smile crossed Azimuth's face. "Perceptor. You don't look a day older since we last met."

   Perceptor frowned. "And you look a million. What's happened to you?"

   Azimuth waved off the question nonchalantly with a hand. "That's irrelevant to the mission at hand. Shall we hurry along then to this Titan? I shall brief you on what there is to know along the way."

   "Heck yeah!" Swerve exclaimed, thrusting his arms into the air. "This is going to be so awesome! A real life Titan. Can you imagine it, Perceptor?"

   "Barely," Perceptor replied, still casting worried glances in Azimuth's direction. "After all, seeing is believing."

*  *  *

   "Was this all you could extract?"

   "It's all there was to extract, my liege," the Constructicon Scrapper said to Megatron, gesturing at the single arm and headless upper torso of a Titan. "We could dig deeper, but I don't see how the rest of him could have fit that far into the planet."

   "No matter," Megatron growled. Turning to one of the Decepticon commanders standing at his side, he said, "Shockwave, I want you to conduct an investigation of the Titan's inner workings."

   Shockwave's face- or lack thereof- was emotionless as always, yet his single optic managed to betray a hint of bemusement. "You want me to desecrate the corpse of our supposed ancestors."

   Megatron smirked. "It's not as if you believe in the Guiding Hand and the Knights or other, as you call it, 'nonsense.'"

   "Of course not," Shockwave said coldly. "I am simply surprised that you are ordering me to do this and thus want me to perform such vandalization."

   "Does it truly matter in the long run?" 

   Shockwave fixed his singular gaze on the Decepticon leader, as if searching his expression. Finally, he said, "I suppose not."

   "Then assemble a team and get to work."

   With a bow, Shockwave moved off to carry out his orders. Once he was gone, Megatron turned back to Scrapper and said, "I take it you will be able to handle things from here."

   The Constructicon nodded. "Yes, my liege. I will have things under control."

   "I do hope so, Scrapper," Megatron said with a menacing grin. "Would I expect anything less?"

   He savored the frightened expression showing through Scrapper's visor before heading back for his ship. Along the way, he sensed the approach of Turmoil without even turning to face him.

   "Lord Megatron," Turmoil said. "I-"

   "If you are seeking a reward for uncovering two pieces of a Titan, then you are looking in the wrong place."

   "No, my liege," Turmoil muttered. "It concerns a certain elite warrior of yours."

   Megatron came to a full stop and faced the Decepticon commander. "Killmaster?"

   Turmoil shook his head. "Scourge."

   Megatron said nothing, instead nodding for him to continue.

   "I have heard... things said about him. They say that he is clever and intelligent, yes, not to mention effective in combat... but they also say that he is more likely than any of the Warriors Elite to attempt to usurp you and, perhaps, succeed. I know you've installed fail-safes into him, but what if that's not enough?"

   To Turmoil's surprise, Megatron smiled. "I am one step ahead of everyone, Turmoil. Not just the Autobots, but you, Starscream, Shockwave... and Scourge."

   Turmoil tilted his head. "You have an emergency fail-safe?"

   "Certainly," Megatron chuckled. "Five of them."

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

   "There's no such thing, Swerve."

   "Aw, come on, Percy!" said the stout white and red mech standing in Perceptor's office at Kimia Facility. "It's just too much to be a coincidence! I mean, first you and Scrounge discover a Titan's arm two decades ago, then Halftrack, Comettor, and Astroscope go missing, and now rumors about the 'Cons having found a Titan-"

   Perceptor whirled away from his project to face Swerve. "All right, first of all, don't call me 'Percy.' Second of all, I don't know what Scrounge and I found at the Hydrax Plateau all those years ago. Third of all, the Calabi-Yau was near an exploding planet, so of course they would get killed or go missing. And fourth of all, what makes you think the Decepticons aren't pulling a ruse?"

   "But what about the name Prometheus?" Swerve asked, ignoring Perceptor's question. "A few months ago, Ratchet said he got a dying patient saying that name. And you said that-"

   "I know what I said," Perceptor said hastily. "Like I said, I'm not sure what it was Scrounge and I found at Hydrax."

   Swerve scratched his chin, determined to get Perceptor to admit that he was wrong about the Titans. Finally, the metallurgist said, "What does Azimuth have to say about all this?"

   Perceptor blinked. "Azimuth."

   "Yeah, you know... Azimuth. Founded the Patterners over three thousand years ago. Impersonal, thinks logically, and talks with big words I can't pronounce. Azimuth."

   Perceptor sighed. "Swerve, I haven't spoken with Azimuth in nearly twenty years."

   "Why? Did she dump you?"

   "I- what?!" Perceptor glared down at the shorter Autobot. "Swerve, we were never- our relationship was never like that. We were just friends. Working partners."

   Swerve grinned. "Right. So, where's Azimuth now?"

   "I don't know. Like I said, it's been two decades. However...." Perceptor sighed, knowing what Swerve would say in response to this. "I do have her comm frequency."

   "Oh-ho-ho! You've got her phone number! You lucky cyber-dog!"

   "Ahem."

   Swerve yelped as he whirled around to see a tall, blueish green mech standing behind him. He then sighed in relief. "Oh, hey, Brainstorm. Sorry, I thought you were... Trailbreaker or someone."

   Brainstorm gave Swerve an odd look but instead turned to Perceptor. "Hey, Perceptor. Emirate Xaaron wants to speak with you."

   At the sound of the old Emirate's name, Perceptor's mouth dropped open. "What for?"

   "Heck if I know. He's in Room 113. I wouldn't keep him waiting if I were you."

   As Perceptor headed out of his office, he wondered what it was Xaaron wanted. They usually only spoke at Ethics Committee conferences. What ever it was, he partially hoped it did not have anything to do with Titans.

*  *  *

   "I wish to speak with you about the Titans."

   Perceptor found it incredibly hard to keep himself sitting upright and not bang his head on the table he was sitting at. Noticing the tense expression on his face, Emirate Xaaron smiled.

   "Don't worry, it's not a question of belief. I know you don't believe in the Knights of Cybertron and whatnot."

   That's an understatement, Perceptor thought, though he visibly relaxed.

   Xaaron reached under the table, pressing an unseen control panel, and a holographic depiction of a supposed Titan appeared on the table.

   "The Titans have long been said to be the vessels of our supposed ancestors, the Knights of Cybertron. As you know, it's fairly recently been reported that the Decepticons have found such a legend on Dabola, and some say that the Calabi-Yau was destroyed by one."

   "What of it then?" Perceptor asked, beginning to grow impatient. "These 'discoveries' are nothing new and we've ignored them on multiple occasions in the past. Why does it matter now?"

   "There's been a third discovery," Xaaron said. "On a satellite near an unclaimed gas giant world."

   "And?"

   "It was discovered by your former colleague Azimuth."

   Perceptor's eyes dilated in surprise. "Azimuth, you say? What did she have to say about it?"

   "A lot," Xaaron chuckled. "It would take the entirety of my life to read her report out loud. Anyway, she is conducting an exploration of sorts within the Titan, and wants you to be a part of it."

   Perceptor nodded. "Then I accept. Where am I to meet her?"

   "On Cybertron, at the Delta Magnus Spaceport," Xaaron said. "Oh, and there was a message she wanted me to deliver to you."

   "What is it?"

   "'Beware of Prometheus.'"

*  *  *

   "Lord Megatron, I simply do not see how this is possible."

   Watching as a team of Constructicons extracted the giant Titan's arm, Megatron cast a glance at the Seeker Air Commander standing beside him. "Explain, Starscream."

   The gray and red Seeker gestured at the massive arm. "Titans don't even exist. They're just myths; legends."

   "It would seem that you are wrong."

   Starscream glared at him. "With all due respect, my liege, I have dabbled in enough science to know that it is near impossible for one to create a Titan. One, perhaps. But several? Impossible."

   "Please do tell me why," Megatron said, his tone inflicted with sarcasm.

   The Seeker rolled his eyes. "If these so-called Knights of Cybertron could create so many Titans, then why are we still having difficulty finishing Trypticon?"

   The Decepticon leader smirked. "It is my hope that all of our answers lie in there."

   Following his gaze towards the Titan's arm, Starscream hastily shook his head. "No, no, no. You can't be serious."

   "And since when have I ever been known for my humor?"

   "You're delusional," Starscream said. "A fanatic. You name yourself after The Fallen, even styling yourself to be evocative of him. You rant and rave about being the true heir to the legacy of Primus. And now... this."

   "Is there something wrong with that?"

   "With all due respect, my liege, yes. Your blind devotion and delusions of grandeur will only lead to utter defeat." Starscream paused, as if expecting a violent reaction of sorts. When Megatron gave none, he went on. "What if your beliefs turn out to be wrong, and we have no backup plan to compensate for it? Trannis probably would have-"

   He squawked as Megatron backhanded him across the face, sending the Seeker sprawling to the ground. As Starscream scrambled to his feet, he looked up to see Megatron glaring down at him.

   "If you ever compare me to that sorry excuse for a leader, you will regret having ever been built."

   With that, the Decepticon leader turned on his heel and strode away from the frightened Seeker.

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga V, Prologue and Chapter One

EDITED 11/16/2017 Replaced Crystal Widow with a nameless bartender. I have... plans for that particular character.

PROLOGUE

Twenty years ago

   "This had better not be a prank, Scrounge," Perceptor said as he drove after the younger Autobot through the Hydrax Plateau. "You know that I don't believe in things like Titans."

   "Trust me, Perceptor," Scrounge replied. "If this isn't a Titan, then I don't know what it could be."

   A figment of your imagination, perhaps, Perceptor thought, but he chose not to say it out loud.

   The two of them finally came to a stop at the edge of the Plateau, where they could look out into the Rust Sea. Through the haze of polluted air, Perceptor could make out a large piece of metal jutting out of the sea, vaguely shaped like an arm.

   As the two Autobots transformed to their robot modes, Scrounge turned to Perceptor. "Well? Think it could be anything else besides a Titan's arm?"

   Perceptor scratched his chin and then folded his arms. "It barely even looks like an arm. How do you know it's not a spaceship or something?"

   "Pretty oddly shaped for a spaceship, isn't it?"

   "Perhaps it's the remains of a Cybernought from the war."

   "A Cyber-? Perceptor, how is a Titan's arm any less believable than-"

   "Okay, so maybe it is a Titan," Perceptor said irritably. "But then so what? I don't see any Knights of Cybertron piling out of it and I highly doubt Vector Prime is hovering behind it, chowing down on energon goodies."

   "Vector Prime?" Scrounge shook his head. "Titans don't have anything to do with the Thirteen."

   Perceptor sighed. "What I'm saying is that I doubt the discovery of a Titan's corpse is going to make much of an impact in the grand scheme of-"

   He was abruptly cut off by a loud groan. Suddenly, a large figure burst out of the Titan's arm and landed right in front of Perceptor and Scrounge. The former knelt down and rolled the mech onto his back, seeing his green, terror-filled optics.

   "Who are you?" Perceptor asked. "Why were you in there?"

   "Sheesh, professor, can't you worry about the details later?" Scrounge knelt down as well and touched the mech's head. "You okay there?"

   "Prometheus," the bot murmured.

   Scrounge raised an eyebrow. "Prometheus? What's a Prometheus?"

   Perceptor shrugged, looking back down at the mech. "Can you tell us what happened? Can you tell us anything?"

   "Prometheus...." The mech started to shudder, his optics flickering, before becoming still.

   As Scrounge stood up, he stared at the bot's lifeless body puzzlingly. "Well, that's just bizarre."

   "More bizarre than that?" Perceptor asked, staring at where the mech had appeared from.

   Scrounge turned around, following his gaze, and froze.

   The Titan's arm was gone.

DAWN OF THE AUTOBOTS

Part 2: When Titans Rise

CHAPTER ONE

Present

   "T minus nine minutes, Halftrack."

   The white and blue Autobot cursed under his breath as he garnered as much Gold Energon as he could from the dying planet's core. Any minute now, the planet was going to explode and if he didn't make it back to the Calabi-Yau soon, he was going to go with it.

   "T minus-"

   "Okay, Comettor!" Halftrack snapped at his comlink, jumping onto the turbolift platform he had arrived on. "Pull me back up!"

   As the platform made its ascension back towards the Calabi-Yau, the dying world of Xeres started to crackle with red energy; continents plunged into the fire pits that were now consuming the planet.

   Frag, can't this platform go any faster? He slapped one of the pistons connecting the turbolift to the ship, causing it to shudder and then stop. 

   While Halftrack busied himself with a swear-filled rant, he heard Comettor say, "T minus six minutes. What's the hold up, buddy?"

   "This blasted turbolift won't move!" Halftrack snapped. "This planet's gonna eat me alive if you don't get me back up soon!"

   "I'm on it, pal. Just hand in there."

   "Do I have much of a-?" Halftrack's irritated retort was cut off by a loud groan. His spark leaping with fright, the Autobot explorer aimed his optics towards the ocean of lava below him. Emerging from it was a giant arm....

   "Comettor," he murmured, "you're not going to believe me, but... I think a Titan is rising from the ground."

   "You're right, I don't believe you," Comettor said as the white and gold Autobot himself appeared on the Calabi-Yau's boarding ramp. "Save your pranks and wry humor for when we get back to-" He froze as he saw the exact same thing Halftrack was seeing. "Oh. Wow."

   "Yeah. Wow. Now get me back up! My amazement is already transcending into full-blown panic!"

   As Comettor struggled with the turbolift's pistons, the Titan let out another groan as the planet began to shake violently, nearly knocking Comettor from his perch and into the sea of lava.

   "T minus three minutes," he muttered to himself. "Not good, not good...."

   "Ah, frag it!" Halftrack snapped as another tremor nearly pushed him off of the platform. "I'm climbing up! Tell Astroscope to prepare for take off!"

   Another groan from the Titan, sounding softer and... stranger than the previous ones, prompted Halftrack to look down at the mythical titan... and he froze. Something inside his chest burned.

   "Prometheus," was the last thing he uttered. A giant fist was the last thing he saw.

*  *  *

   Formal Autobot funerary practices had become rarer and rarer as the Great War dragged on, for so many fell in battle practically every day. Nowadays, Zeta Prime held an "overall funeral" at the end of the day where he read off a list of names of Autobots who were either killed or missing in action.

   "Gauntlet and Revo, Temptoria. Astroscope, Comettor, and Halftrack, Xeres. Flint and Switch, Ibex."

   As the list of names dragged on, the lone Autobot watching the Iaconian Newsfeed Service's broadcast of the event let out a sigh. She had seen so much death, seen so many sacrifices, that no even a proper funeral would do them justice.

   "So what will it be, hon?"

   Windblade glanced at the old femme standing behind the counter at the Rust Bucket. Turning in her seat, she said, "Give me a glass Ankmor Energon. And a few answers."

   The bartender raised an eyebrow. "Would I happen to know them?"

   Ignoring the query, Windblade asked, "Have you happened to have heard of the name Deadlock?"

*  *  *

   Buildings had been toppled. Villages had been plundered, cities pillaged. The deactivated bodies of Autobot warriors laid at their feet. The Battle of Dabola had been won. And victory could not have been achieved without the aid of one of the Warriors Elite.

   The massive Decepticon super-warrior assigned to the Dabola strike team shadowed over Deadlock and the others, a pair of optics glowing on his undersized head. In his enormous hand was a "wand", which sparked with electric energy. Deadlock wasn't exactly sure why he need one; his fists did enough damage.

   "You have performed most sufficiently, Killmaster," the Decepticon commander Turmoil said to the purple and gold giant. "I expect Lord Megatron will reward you most greatly."

   Killmaster merely grunted. Either he was a bot of few words or simply did not have a large enough vocabulary. While Turmoil had a group of Vehicon troopers gather up Autobot prisoners of war, the rest of the Decepticons talked amongst themselves.

   "I dunno about you guys, but that Killmaster fellow gives me the creeps," said Terradive as he stood alongside Deadlock and Skyjack. "Don't ask me why, he just... does."

   "I just wanna know why he has a 'wand,'" said Skyjack. "I mean, all it can do is jump-start deactivated Vehicons, but then any bot could use it."

   "Maybe he feels an affinity towards them," Deadlock mused aloud. When the other two gave him strange looks, he shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just throwing things out there."

   Terradive cracked a grin. "Well, don't. You might hit someone in the head."

   As the three Decepticons laughed, their repartee was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Turmoil. The tall, powerful commander seemed to be glaring down at them, even though his optics were concealed by a visor.

   "I hate to end your intelligent conversation, but we seem to have a situation," Turmoil said.

   "What? Did Killmaster sit on someone?" Terradive joked.

   Turmoil said nothing and instead led the three Decepticons to a location on the outskirts of Dabola's capital city. Jutting out of the ground strangely was a large, leaning building with wiring protruding from it. It took Deadlock a few minutes to realize that it was not a building he was staring at....

   But a Titan's arm.

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga IV, Epilogue

EPILOGUE

   Like in all wars, the victory at Vehicon had come at a price; the Autobot soldier Orion Pax had been captured by the Decepticons and spirited off to who-knows-where. It was anyone's guess what Megatron's intentions were.

    As he sat at his desk, scribbling in his journal and studying the Covenant of Primus as he always did, Alpha Trion could not help but wonder if this Orion Pax was destined for something. His name continued to crop up in random places, whether it was from the mouths of news reported or the text of ALTernity Today.

   It would make sense, of course; Orion's brother, Optronix, had meant to succeed Sentinel Prime when the time came, only for him to end up becoming their sworn enemy, Megatron- a name derived from the forsaken name of The Fallen.

   Almost absentmindedly, Alpha Trion took his copy of the Covenant and turned to one of its first pages, which introduced the first Thirteen: Prima, Vector Prime, Sigma Prime, Solus Prime, Micronus Prime, Alchemist Prime, Nexus Prime, Onyx Prime, Amalgamous Prime, Quintus Prime, the Liege Maximo, the Fallen, and the Arisen.

   As Alpha Trion's eyes glided across the pages, studying the names and roles of each Prime, he began to wonder: each member of the Thirteen was said to have represented an aspect of Primus, with the first few representing his goodness, and the last his darkness.

   If that were the case, then was the Arisen truly darker than the Fallen, as some often theorized? And if Optronix was to be the metaphorical "reincarnation" of the Fallen, as some prophecies predicted, then who was to be Arisen's reincarnation? And what about Prima, Vector, and the others?

   Leaning back in his seat, Alpha Trion let out a sigh. As he always told himself, all he could do was record time as it happened and do nothing to intervene or prevent an event from happening.

   And if the rise of Megatron was to perhaps herald the return of the Chaos Bringer just as the fall of Megatronus had, then so be it.

*  *  *

   "Frag, how were you able to put this armor on in the first place?"

   "Not so loud," Suture hissed as Ratchet removed the Magnus Armor's chest plate so that he could repair it. "Do you want the whole infirmary to know my secret?"

   "Technically, they already do," Ratchet muttered as he brought out a welder. "The medics, at least."

   Suture sighed as he looked at his temporarily discarded helmet, sculpted to resemble the late Ultra Magnus' head. "Ever since I took up this job, I've been almost as paranoid as Red Alert; not just about getting my cover blown, but also...."

   "Also what?" Ratchet asked when Suture didn't finish.

   "Ghosts," the former medic said quietly. "I feel as if Ultra Magnus' ghost is haunting me, influencing my every movement."

   Ratchet snorted. "There's no such thing as ghosts, Suture. Just like there's no such thing as a Sparkeater, or the Necrobot, or a Gliding Fist."

   "Guiding Hand," Suture corrected him. "And I suppose you have a point. I just feel like this whole concept is amoral; posing as a dead bot and denying them a proper funeral... it's a bit creepy, if you ask me."

   "Maybe you should see a psychiatrist like Rung," Ratchet suggested. "I know he's not a medic and thus not technically allowed to know your secret, but I also know that he has a duty of care towards his patients and keeps such info confidential."

   Suture merely shrugged, leaving Ratchet unconvinced that he was considering it. Before he could return to his work, the door to his workplace slid open and Lancet came rushing in, dragging in a heavily injured Autobot.

   As Suture hurriedly put his helmet back on to conceal his identity, Ratchet gave the young medic an irritated look. "Lancet, what did I tell you about knocking?"

   "He's hurt really bad!" Lancet exclaimed. "His spark's shrinking by the second! And besides, Cogwheel's room is all filled up!"

   "All right, hurry up and get him on a recharge slab." As Ratchet helped Lancet lift up the Autobot's failing body, the former immediately confirmed the younger medic's evaluation; the poor mech's spark was no bigger than his thumb.

   "I don't know, Lancet," Ratchet murmured. "I don't think we can save him."

   Suddenly, the dying Autobot's arm shot up and grabbed Ratchet by the shoulder, pulling him down. Then, in a raspy voice, he spoke a single word.

   "Prometheus."

   Then, with a flicker from his optics, the Autobot died.

*  *  *

   Megatron stared at the comatose body that stood behind the orange-tinted glass shield of the capsule, situated within the Foundry of New Kaon. While he waited for Rossum and his crew to retrieve another sample of ununtrium, all Megatron could do was envision the victories he would achieve with the completion of the Warriors Elite.

   Worlds would soon fall into his grasp. Citizens would soon tremble at the mere sound of names such as Heretech and Killmaster. And their leader....

   Megatron mused over the prospect of Orion Pax leading his super-warriors. His brother's appearance would be drastically different of course, and the name 'Orion Pax' simply would not do for a Decepticon. Then, it dawned on him.

   Worlds falling. Citizens trembling. Like a plague they come....

   Grinning, Megatron patted the glass shield of the capsule. "You will do well for the Decepticon cause... Scourge."

TO BE CONTINUED

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga IV, Chapter Nine

   I'll be posting the epilogue later today.

CHAPTER NINE

-Approx. an hour ago-

   "I don't think I'm meant for this, Chief Justice. I'm a doctor, not a soldier."

   As the crew of the Enforcer boarded the newly-prepared ship, Chief Justice Tyrest turned to Ultra Magnus who, a very short time ago, was a mere medic named Suture.

   "You agreed to this, Suture," Tyrest said. "I thought that this was what you wanted; to be more than just a doctor."

   Ultra Magnus frowned. "Yes, but you're thrusting me head-first into a battle. I was expecting to get a bit of training first."

   Tyrest smiled. "This is your training. Anything else any instructor would throw at you would be too easy. Trust me; the moment you touch ground, you will know what to do."

   He then placed a hand on his Duly Appointed Officer's shoulder. "I have faith in you, Suture, just like we all had faith in the original Ultra Magnus. You must bring back that faith. You must become the legend he was. You must become Ultra Magnus."

   "And if I fail."

   Tyrest's smiled wavered, but only briefly. "Then the legend will go on, carried by someone else. Even if you die, you will at the same time become immortal."

   He moved his hand away from his protege's shoulder and began to walk away.

   "Both Delta and Ultra Magnus left behind a legacy, Suture. You must do your best to uphold it."

-Now-

   Sandstorm could not help but simply watch with a mixture of aw and envy as Ultra Magnus tore his way through hordes of Vehicons and Predators, a team of Elite Guardsmen following in his wake.

   Wow, talk about your epic comebacks, Sandstorm thought as he joined in the fighting. Even Sentinel Prime would be jealous.

   Before long, the tables had been turned; a sea of Vehicon parts caked the ground and the surviving Predators were on their knees with Autobot guns trained on them. The Battle of Vehicon was over. As Decepticon prisoners were led onto the Vis Vitalias and the Enforcer, Thunderclash walked up to the Elite Guard leader and shook hands with him.

   "Consider myself humbled," Thunderclash said with a smile. "I thought I could handle this by myself, but-"

   Ultra Magnus raised a hand to silence him, smiling as well. "You did what you could, and that's all anyone could ask for."

   Thunderclash nodded. "Thanks for the rescue all the same."

   "Speaking of rescue, we seem to be down one Autobot."

   The two Elite Guardsmen turned to see the young Autobot Flash walking up to them, dragging the deactivated body of Scorch behind him. 

   "I found Scorch's body here," Flash said sadly. "But the last time I saw him, he was with Orion Pax, but I didn't find any sign of him at all."

   Thunderclash frowned and turned to Ultra Magnus. The Elite Guard commander's gaze was on Scorch's body at first before switching to the Decepticons' factory. Thunderclash followed his gaze and then gave him a concerned look.

   "You don't think-?"

   'I don't," Ultra Magnus said sharply. "I know."

*  *  *

   Stalker, Skydive, and a team of Decepticon scientists had been on their way to the Foundry, carrying the comatose forms of Orion Pax and Skydive's own subject, the Ammonite combiner Paddox, when Sixshot suddenly intercepted their trajectory.

   "You must leave Vehicon," the Warrior Elite said.

   Stalker gave him a baffled look. "What do you mean? Did Skyquake give this order?"

   "No, but there's no use in arguing the point. Almost all of the Predators and Vehicons are dead or captured; in fact, those present here, along with Skyquake and Snare, are probably the only ones left."

   "Is that right?" Skydive said. "Well then, at least we won't have to tolerate that idiot Talon-"

   "Shut up," Stalker hissed. Turning back to Sixshot, he said, "So what do you suppose we do?"

   "There's a ship waiting in docking bay fifty-one. If I were you, I'd get onto that ship and get the Pit out of here."

   "Are you coming with us?" asked Rossum, a member of Skydive's science crew.

   "I will hold them off," Sixshot said. "Buy you and Commander Skyquake some time."

   Stalker tilted his head. "Loyal to the cause to the last. I respect that in a Decepticon."

   "Shut up and get our manifolds out of here."

   As Stalker and the other Decepticons hurried off, the Predator couldn't help but smile behind his mouth-plate. If Orion Pax was supposed to be better in every way than Sixshot, then the Autobots had a lot to reckon with.

*  *  *

   Ultra Magnus brought down the factory's doors with such force that Sandstorm though he would bring the whole building down onto their heads. The Elite Guardsman then signaled him and the other Autobots to follow him. 

   They had barely made it halfway down the first hallway when trouble came: a large tank colored in purple, white, and green, firing its twin barrels. Sandstorm ducked to move out of the tank's line of fire and fired his rifle. The blast barely made a dent and did nothing to stall the Decepticon; in fact, it only irritated it further.

   The tank came to a stop and started to shift its parts. However, instead of converting into a robot, it turned into a large, four-legged beast, razor-sharp fangs jutting out of its upper lip. It lunged at Ultra Magnus, who moved with sharp reflexes. He grabbed the beast's front legs, causing the both of them to fall to the floor. The beast clawed at him viciously and with much veracity, carving a groove into his chest plate.

   With the beast's attention on Magnus, Thunderclash moved behind it and grabbed the animal by the back of its neck, pulling it away from Ultra Magnus. He then instantly let go as the beast reared up on its hinds legs and converted into an armored buggy, driving back down the way it had arrived as a tank.

   "By Adaptus, how many modes does this guy have?" Rotorstorm exclaimed. "And to think, I was jealous of Sandstorm."

   Suddenly, the buggy performed a U-turn and transformed once again, this time into a giant, hovering blaster cannon.

   "Get down!" Ultra Magnus bellowed.

   As the Autobots dropped to the floor, the floating cannon unleashed a blast of energy, just barely grazing the fallen Autobots. The moment the attack had stopped, Ultra Magnus instantly got back to his feet and charged towards the cannon, guns ablaze.

   The giant weapon transformed for the fourth time, this time into a large, green and purple robot- the same who had viciously oppressed Thunderclash and his men. Pulling out a pair of blasters, Sixshot unleashed a volley of fire at the Autobot veteran, who managed to shrug it off and fire two rocket launchers on his shoulders. The missiles hit Sixshot square in the chest and sent him flying onto his back.

   For a moment, everything was still. The Decepticon was unmoving and no Autobot dared to move a single strut, lest it cause the giant to stir. The silence was finally broken when Sixshot spoke.

   "I had underestimated you, Ultra Magnus. I had thought you outdated; yesterday's model. But I was wrong." Sixshot rose to his feet and the Autobots readied themselves for action, but the Decepticon did not attack. "Consider myself humbled."

   With that, he blasted an opening into the roof with one of his blasters and converted into a jet, blasting off into the sky.

   Silence followed for a bit before Whirl said, "So how many modes is that?"

   Rotorstorm started counting on his fingers before sighing. "Six. Well, consider me jealous as heck, Decepti-creep."

Transformers Regenerated: Unicron Saga IV, Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

   "Never before in my- our life have we seen something with such beauty."

   11613/9, having reunited with his fellow Ammonites to form Paddox, looked in fascination at the factories of Vehicon. To either side of him and Sixshot, mechanical arms moved at rapid speed, moving Vehicon parts from the conveyor belts to attach to awaiting exostructures.

   "This just what we need to crush Imperius Drax and his Terradores! The things we could create... we would be unstoppable."

   Sixshot looked at the Ammonite combiner with a glint of slyness in his optics. "Would you like to see what's behind the scenes?"

   "Yes, please," Paddox said eagerly. "We could create a thousand war machines with these."

   "Indeed, you could," Sixshot said as he led the ex-Autobot to the factory's control room. "If you had the patience of a half-million years."

   "We've been at war for sixteen million years. Another sixteen million wouldn't hurt."

   Of course not, Sixshot thought, shaking his head with disdain. War is just another day at the park for you.

   The two of them soon arrived at the control room. Covered in stainless steel and coated with silver paint, the only thing that stood out in its design was a control terminal placed before a wide window which oversaw the factory's inner workings.

   "Help yourself," Sixshot said to Paddox. He couldn't help but find it pathetic as the Ammonite combiner eagerly rushed over to the terminal. Luckily he wouldn't have to suffer him for any longer.

   Leaving Paddox to his machinations, Sixshot moved to a nearby intercom and contacted his superior. "Commander, this is Sixshot. The Autobots have been defeated and captured. Now then... you don't suppose you could put Skydive on the line, do you?"

*  *  *

   "Well, this is a lovely predicament we're in."

   "Shut up, Whirl," Sandstorm hissed, casting a worried glance at Thunderclash. The entire 92nd Battalion- or what was left of it- were on their knees with their arms behind their heads. Vehicons and Predators stood behind them with their weapons trained and ready to fire. Thunderclash himself was completely motionless and devoid of expression, making Sandstorm wonder if he was even still online.

   His thoughts were distracted by the sudden burst of excitement from one of their Predator captors.

   "Oh, yeah! We are not to be messed with!" cried a slate-colored mech.

   "Sheesh, kick it down a notch, Wingblazer," said a magenta-colored Predator. "It's not like we conquered Cybertron or something."

   "But we've just defeated the one and only Thunderclash!" said the one called Wingblazer. "That's, like, cooler than defeating someone like Dai Atlas or even Zeta Prime!"

   "I wouldn't celebrate just yet," said a bright red Predator Sandstorm recognized as Snare. "My scanners are picking up the arrival of an Autobot ship."

   "How many?" asked the Predator Sub-Commander Falcon.

   "Just one," Snare replied. "And it doesn't look like a standard model. It's white and red."

   "White and red?" exclaimed Wingblazer. "I thought all Autobot ships were orange. You know, that annoying, bright, sorta-not-gold orange."

   "Not this one, though it definitely has the Elite Guard insignia on it."

   "Elite Guard?" The magenta Predator snorted. "We just kicked the afterburner of one of their best. What makes them think one lousy-"

   A blast from above silenced the Predator for good. The others, including their Autobot captives, looked up in alarm to see the Autobot ship Snare had described flying from the planet's stratosphere, unleashing a hail of fire.

   "Talon, lead all of the Jet Vehicons against that ship!" Falcon barked. "The rest of you, prepare for battle, though I doubt this will take long."

   "Wanna bet?"

   Before any of his captors could react, Whirl jumped to his feet and grabbed the pointed pike his Predator guard wielded, stabbing them through the chest. He then lunged at Falcon and skewered the Commander's face with the pike, crushing his brain module and effectively killing him.

   Turning to his startled comrades, Whirl said, "Hey, I did call this a 'lovely' predicament, didn't I?"

*  *  *

   "What is the meaning of this, Megatron?"

   The Decepticon leader grinned at his brother, restrained to an operating table and heavily scarred. "This is an experiment, Orion. An experiment that will benefit the future of our race."

   Orion Pax glared at him with baleful eyes, something Megatron would have never expected to see from his righteous brother. "The only thing that will benefit our race would be for you to end this pointless war."

   "Pointless?" Megatron scoffed. "I'd hardly say this war is pointless, brother. If you knew how things worked behind the scenes, you would know that everything to this war has a reason."

   The glare did not waver. "And this experiment? What does this have to do with anything? And why did you select me?"

   Megatron smiled. "Because you're the right person for the job." His holographic form turned to Stalker and gave a curt nod. "You may begin."

   Stalker cackled. "I'll go get my crew."

   As the Predator hurried off, Orion gave Megatron a panicked look. "Begin what? What are you going to do to me?"

   "I have been working on a project," the Decepticon leader said. "For the past five years, I have been creating a series of super-warriors, whom I call the Warriors Elite. Unfortunately, almost all of them are either too dumb or too powerful for their own good. I need someone with intelligence to lead them."

   "And what if I refuse?"

   "Oh, that won't matter. The Achilles Virus and other fail-safes that Shockwave will install will ensure your sworn loyalty to me."

   Orion blinked. "Shockwave? You mean the High Councilor?"

   Megatron nodded. "Yes. I was able to sway him to my side with some... persuasion."

   At that moment, Stalker returned with a group of Decepticon scientists. "Ready when you are, Lord Megatron," the former said.

   Megatron grinned. "Take him to the Foundry."