SEEDS OF AN EMPIRE
Timeline: 990 Years Ago (shortly after Volume VI)
-
The one and former ruler of the Decepticon Empire, trapped in the body of a monster, hovered in the middle of outer space. Unable to move or speak, he secluded himself to his thoughts, plotting revenge against the one he had thought like a son and reminiscing about days long since past.
Trannis, the once and former emperor, dreamed of times he longed to live again.
-Four thousand years ago-
"'Golden Age,' my afterburner," the blue and maroon miner growled as his pickaxe struck the rocks of Kaon's subterranean levels. "I wouldn't call a world run by slavery exactly golden."
"You hit the nail on the head, kid," said a green and black one. "It's been like this for forever and I doubt it's gonna change anytime soon."
D-16 ignored their conversation as he worked away. It was the same discussion he had been hearing for the past nine centuries. Every time a new guy came in, the older ones filled them in why they were working and why they would never stop. Thanks to the caste system established by Nominus Prime, they were chained to Kaon's mines for the rest of their lives.
"You'd think a guy called Guardian Prime would fix it," said a red and tan mech.
D-67, the green and black one, snorted. "Sure, maybe in Iacon and the Tri-Torus States. But forget about here and the rest of the Badlands. To them, we're just-"
The mines fell silent when a violet glow suddenly illuminated them. All heads turned to D-16, who stood over the ore he had just uncovered.
"What the Pit is that?" D-91 asked.
"Kinda looks like energon except... darker," MD-03 murmured.
"Hey, what's the holdup?"
The miners turned to see their manager, a black and purple mech called Backbite, push his way through to the ore. All of the miners hastily moved to get out of his way.
All save for D-16.
Upon reaching him, Backbite scowled. "Know your place, Genericon. Get out of my way."
D-16 stared at him for a long moment before stepping aside. Backbite's eyes widened upon seeing the glowing ore.
"By the AllSpark," he murmured. "What is this?"
As he moved to touch it, D-16 suddenly raised his pickaxe and drove it into the manager's back. Backbite screamed as the rogue miner dragged the axe's blade down his spine. D-16 then pulled the tool out and swiftly decapitated the manager.
As Backbite's head rolled to the ground and alarms began to blare out, D-16 turned to his fellow miners and bellowed, "The time has come, my brothers! For too long have we been restrained by this unjust law! Today, we take arms and defy our so-called masters! Who's with me?"
The roar of the gathered miners was louder than the alarmed cries of the arriving Autotroopers.
D-16 grinned. "Then let us begin."
* * *
"This better be worth my time, Delta."
Delta Magnus frowned as he walked into Guardian Prime's office. "I'm afraid it it, sir."
The Autobot leader looked up from his work, optics narrowed. "Out with it, then."
"An uprising of sorts has broken out in Kaon. The miners have executed their managers and are now rioting in the streets."
"Is that all? Can't the Autotroopers contain it?"
Delta Magnus shook his head. "Dozens of them have been slayed already. Perhaps I should dispatch the Triorian Guard?"
"Handle the situation however you see fit," Guardian said gruffly. "I doubt this revolt will last longer than a day."
* * *
"Sector Seven is clear," the Overcharge trooper reported to its superior. "That should be all of the rebels."
The leader of the Triorian Guard unit, a purple and tan mech of the same body-type as the Overcharge, smirked as he regarded the captured miners. "Thought you could revolt that easily, eh? Sure, those Autotroopers aren't that hot in a fight, but us Triple Changers? You'd have to be suicidal to go against us."
Then, with a sneer, he said, "Whose bright idea was this revolt, anyway?"
None of the miners responded. At the commander's gesture, one of the Overcharge troopers raised its null gladius sword and drove it into a miner's spark, killing him.
"Only a revolt leader would care about his pals," the commander grunted. "Unless you truly are that heartless of a bot, then we're going to see some-"
"I started the revolt," D-16 spoke out.
The commander smirked as he made his way towards him. "And what do they call you, ya pile of slag?"
D-16 did not answer, refusing to identify with his mundane designation.
The Triple Changer pressed the barrel of his rifle against D-16's head. "Answer me or you'll go down in history as a nameless martyr."
"My name is Trannis."
The commander's optics blinked and then he laughed. "Oh, that's rich. Giving yourself a proper name... if it's gonna be anything, it's gonna be Scrapheap."
Turning to his lieutenant, the commander said, "Have these jokers transported to Pyrovar. If they get the rebellious urge again, they won't have much to take over there."
The lieutenant nodded and barked at the Overcharge troopers to get to work. Despite the situation, D-16- newly-identified as Trannis- felt a grin creep onto his face. This was sure to be merely the seeds of what was to come....
-Present-
And he had been right. Upon arrival on Pyrovar, Trannis and his new-found followers executed their Overcharge captors and laid out the foundations of what would become the Decepticon Empire.
The name "Decepticon" itself was derived from Trannis' plan to obtain resources for their empire from the Autobots and other worlds via deceit. The last and greatest deception culminated with the assassination of Guardian Prime and thus the start of the Great War.
First Great War, Trannis bitterly reminded himself. He had no doubt that Megatron was attempting to repeat history by murdering Sentinel Prime and declaring another war against the Autobots. Having already named himself after one of the Thirteen, he was not much surprised.
Now all he could do was bide his time and wait. One day, he would have his revenge against Megatron and be able to reclaim the Decepticon throne for himself. Until then, he had only his memories to keep himself occupied....
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