Star Wars Destiny Chronicles: Imperial Warlords -- Dark Empire / Crimson Empire / Restored Empire

IMPERIAL WARLORDS, PART III

The Dark Empire Remnant

    The sudden death of the clone Emperor left a major power vacuum in the Dark Empire. Between this and the secession of several Imperial forces led by Grand Admiral Thrawn, this left the Dark Empire vulnerable to an attack by the New Republic following not long after their failed attack on Coruscant. With no means to fight the Republic, the Empire evacuated Byss and fled from the Deep Core.

    Retreating to the Outer Rim, the Dark Empire established temporary command on Ord Cantrell, where the members of the Ruling Council attempted to select a new leader and rebuild their power base. As head of the Ruling Council, Burr Nolyds was considered a natural shoo-in, but was despised by the Moffs, particularly Darius Onneir. Despite this, Nolyds remained in command of the Dark Empire until he was mysteriously assassinated two months later.

    Shaken by this event, the Council promoted Councilor Xandel Carivus to replace Nolyds, figuring him to be a spineless coward whom they could easily manipulate. What they did not know was that Carivus was the one responsible for Nolyds' death, having made a deal with a mysterious benefactor to ensure his rise to power. Unbeknownst to Carivus however was that his "ally" was purposely trying to destabilize the Dark Empire to ensure they would not pose a threat to Darth Vorath's Empire, which Thrawn had defected to.

    To this length, Carivus' benefactor secretly increased tensions between the human and non-human members of the Ruling Council by killing each. This eventually led to Carivus disbanding the rest of the Council and declaring himself Emperor. This enraged Baron Ragez D'Asta, whose daughter had been imprisoned by Carivus, and he unleashed his fleet on Ord Cantrell. With the help of Moff Onneir and ex-Royal Guardsman Kir Kanos, Carivus was overthrown and executed.

    Under the leadership of Moff Onneir, the remnant relocated to Bastion, where it would remain for the next fourteen years until its demise at the hands of the New Republic.

Ennix Devian and the Restored Empire

    Born and raised in the alien slums of Abregado-rae, Ennix Devian was selected from the Imperial Security Bureau for special training under Darth Vader, becoming a personal assassin for the Emperor himself. Following the Battle of Endor, Devian, disillusioned with the Empire under Sate Pestage, formed the Kaarenth Dissension, which was dedicated to restoring the "True Empire of Palpatine".

    To create the effect that his empire was the "true" one, he seized control of an incomplete Worldcraft and fashioned it as a new Death Star, placing it somewhere in the Moddell sector. After this Death Star was destroyed by the New Republic (with the aid of a Star Tours StarSpeeder), the Kaarenth Dissension fell under the radar, briefly resurfacing in 8 ABY before retreating again.

    By 13 ABY, the Kaarenth Dissension had renamed itself the Restored Empire. With the collapse of the Dark Empire (and unaware of the fledgling Crimson Empire on Dromund Kaas), Devian felt ready to take on the New Republic and restore Palpatine's vision. Unbeknownst to him however, his faction had been infiltrated by a number of Imperials from Darth Vorath's Empire. Under Devian's nose, these infiltrators sabotaged many of his plans, such as stalling an assassination attempt on Senator Leia Organa Solo and her children as well as preventing him from acquiring zinethium, which he planned on using to blow up the New Republic capitol on Coruscant.

    Just as Devian became suspicious of what was going on, he was confronted in his throne room by former Royal Guardsman Kir Kanos, who had been recruited by the Sith to execute Devian. After a long, fearsome duel, Kanos succeeded in executing Devian. As a result, the Restored Empire collapsed and ended up being folded into Vorath's Empire. It remains unknown if Kanos ended up joining as well or remained an independent agent.

Crimson Blood: Espaa Valorum's Tale

   Stretching back to the days of the Old Republic's restoration following the New Sith Wars, the Valorum family has been one of the most prestigious families in the galaxy... at least until it all came crumbling down with the failure of Finis Valorum, penultimate Chancellor of the Old Republic.

   Overwhelmed by the legacy of his forebears, Finis had failed to effectively stop the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo and was voted out of office. For the next decade, he became the target of many an assassination attempt -- both at the hands of the Separatists as well as his successor Sheev Palpatine. With everyone but some select Senators against him, Finis had only one ray of light in his life: his son Espaa.

    Espaa's exact parentage remains a mystery to some genealogists. While he certainly carried Finis' blood, the identity of his mother has been up for debate. Many suspect Sei Taria, a staff aide whom was rumored to have been in an affair with Finis while others believe him to have been born from a brief marriage the elder Valorum once had.

   Regardless of his heritage, Espaa Valorum's existence was not a secret to the Empire. Unbeknownst to the public, Espaa had actually been serving in the Senate Guard since shortly before his father's tenure as Chancellor, continuing to serve under Palpatine who kept close watch of him. When the Empire came to power, Espaa was made a member of the Emperor's Royal Guard, loyal to the man who had disgraced his father.

    After Palpatine's demise, Espaa fell under the service of acting Emperor Sate Pestage only to enter the radar of Darth Vorath, a Sith Lord who was working towards rebuilding the Empire for his own use. Promised the idea of restoring his family's name, Espaa easily fell under Vorath's sway and was installed as a puppet ruler for the so-called "Crimson Empire", which would eventually become the restored Empire once Vorath had weeded those still loyal to Palpatine.

   Alas, Espaa's dreams were never realized as, once Vorath had everything in place, he no longer had need of a puppet and eliminated Valorum without second thought and took control of his Empire. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, a Finis Valorum was sworn in as Chief of State of the New Republic...

From the Archives: Transformers Regenerated Unfinished and Unused Thirteen Backstory

Okay, this isn't exactly one of the old stories I mentioned in my last From The Archives post but rather an unused concept for the Thirteen in my Transformers Regenerated universe. I've decided to post it here for prosperity (and so I can refer to it for future story ideas).

THE THIRTEEN: ORIGIN

    The beginnings of the Thirteen dates back to the earliest days of the Silver Age, around nine hundred thousand years ago. The population of Cybertron had been divided into several houses and ruled over by Primon, the Lord High Protector of Cybertron.

   While Primon was a benevolent ruler, his trusted confidant and advisor Trachis, the Liege Centuro, was known to be manipulative and his influence over Primon grew stronger as the Protector became older. At first, Trachis' manipulations manifested as sudden changes to the law and stricter government policies. It wasn't until the Curtailment Act did eyebrows begin to rise.

    Under Primon's rule, all Cybertronians with beast forms enjoyed freedom among society. The Curtailment Act robbed them of that right, however, as all beast-formers were forced to stay within the borders of the city-state of Corumkan, home of House Primal.

    Other minorities were affected by the act as well. Dimunitive Minicons from House Micron were secretly sold into slavery and Shifters from the Mutacon tribe were relentlessly harassed. The other Houses simply turned a blind eye to this, but one lone mech saw the injustice of it all and sought to do something about it.

    Virtus Pax traveled from his home city of Tyger Pax to Apophenia, ruled by the prestigious House Decimus. There he spoke with his trusted friends Decimus Vectorum and Alpha Trion over the current state of affairs. Being Primon's scribe, Trion informed the other two of his suspicions about Trachis. After hearing this, Virtus decided a rebellion was in order.

    Trion was enthused by the prospect, having long detested the recent corruption, while Vectorum was doubtful. However, he complied when Virtus brought up the possibility of recruiting Beta Elitus, the blacksmith of Venix, who could forge weapons for them to use.

    Once they had recruited Beta, Virtus led his company to Ankmor Park in Gygax, where he had learned news of an uprising by the Minicons against the slave traders. Allying with Modus Micron, Virtus and his companions brought down the Malignus cartel and captured their leader, Ariex. They soon learned that Ariex, a member of House Primal, had been coerced by another party to trade Minicon slaves so that his own kind were not treated in kind.

    With this news, the company set out for Corumkan. Upon reaching a small settlement called Iacon, the now-five were ambushed by assassins sent by Trachis, who had learned of their activities. After a heated battle, the company found shelter at a refueling station ran by a mustachoid mech and occupied by five others.

    Vectorum instantly recognized the tender as a member of House Ambus and was surprised to find such a prestigious bot running a lonesome bar. The tender, named Ebrius Ambus, admitted to being disgusted by the corruption which ran in his family and had seceded from it. After hearing of Virtus' endeavor, he agreed to join their party.

    Having overheard their conversation, the bar's five patrons approached Virtus in the hopes of joining. At first Virtus declined him, after learning their leader Nexus was a scion of House Maximus like Trachis and thus a possible ally of the Liege Centuro. However, Nexus revealed to him that Trachis was not actually of House Maximus, instead having worked his way into the House through bribery and other sinister means.

    In actuality, Trachis belonged to a cult who worshipped Mortilus, the god of death. The cult's aim was to topple the Cybertronian government and send society into chaos, all as a sacrifice to their deity. Upon learning of this, Virtus agreed to let Nexus join the company, especially once Nexus and his four friends demonstrated their ability to merge into one entity.

    Now seven strong, Virtus led his followers to Corumkan. Arriving at the gates of Castle Trypticon, the ensemble were confronted by the guards, who suspected them of ill intent. However, the presence of Modus convinced them to let the company in, knowing the Minicons were as much a victim of oppression as they themselves were.

    The seven were then escorted to the throne room of Onyx Primal, the Predaking of Corumkan. He listened to the company's story and was enraged to hear of his people's involvement in the Minicon slave trade. He eagerly agreed to aid Virtus and volunteered his own forces to strike at the capitol.

    As the gathered rebellion set about preparations, Virtus received an unexpected visit. A Shifter going by the name of Adaptus (after the god of infinite shapes) approached him, claiming to have been following him and his company since Gygax. He told Virtus that it had been Trachis' cult that had bullied Ariex into the slave trade in an attempt to further divide the Houses. Adaptus also claimed to know all the ins-and-outs of the cult and offered his knowledge to Virtus, to which the leader agreed.

    While Virtus had his talk with Adaptus, other developments occurred among the other six. Alpha Trion had decided to adopt a beast mode to express his acceptance of beast-formers, and to protect his House by taking the name Alpha Trizer. Decimus Vectorum, meanwhile, decided to seek out his old friend Maxa Quintus to provide much needed brains to the present brawn in their group.

    It was on the eve of the strike on Castle Primon that the company received one last surprise. Under the others' notice, Nexus had summoned the head of his house, Liege Centuro Tyran Maximus. When Tyran arrived, Virtus and the others were livid, knowing Tyran to be one of the ones responsible for corruption within House Maximus.

    While Virtus refused to let Tyran join, Nexus implored him to reconsider. Corrupted as he was, Tyran was nonetheless a highly influential figure in Cybertronian society. If the people witnessed him in aiding the rebellion, they would instantly rally behind them.

    Despite Virtus, Vectorum, Alpha, and Beta being vehemently opposed to the prospect, they were outvoted by the others, with Modus being the deciding vote. Once Tyran had been allowed into the ensemble, he introduced to them two warriors he had brought with him: a traveling duo who had been fighting the spread of crime long before Virtus. One was another member of House Maximus, named Autonomous. The other simply called himself Megatron.

    At last, the Thirteen had been formed. With the weapons Beta had forged for them and Onyx's beasts supporting them, they were finally ready to bring forth long overdue change.

Transformers Regenerated: Lost Light VII, Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

--Carcer--

    The robots gathered in Carcer's radio station watched as the static plagued recording played on the telescreen. Due to Swerve's long untreated condition, the data on Agent 113's bullet had become corrupted over time and most parts of it were difficult to make out.

    What could be gathered however, was that, at the time of making the message, the double agent's position had been compromised and he was at risk of being discovered by his teammates. He also mentioned a schism brewing within the Decepticon Empire, but any further details he gave were replaced with static. At the end of the message (or whatever could be made of it), Agent 113 warned High Command about Brainstorm and his illicit dealings, before being cut off. Then the screen went black.

    All was quiet for a moment as those present took in all that they heard. Minimus Ambus then turned to Cogwheel, who hovered in the back of the room with Ratchet and Velocity.

    "How long have you known that there was an Autobot infiltrator in the Decepticon Justice Division?"

    "As long as I can remember," Cogwheel replied. "I believe it was roughly midway into the war I was contacted by High Command. They told us medics to keep a lookout for Agent 113's 'bullet messages,' which he would shoot directly in the right eye of an Autobot badge."

    Ratchet frowned, tilting his head. "I don't recall getting that memo."

    Cogwheel shrugged. "It may have only been a select few. I never met any other medics who shared my obsession with badges."

    Standing behind Karmen, Rodimus inclined his head to the Carcerian comm officer. "Any chance you can recover whatever data was corrupted."

   The winged black and red femme shook her head. "I'm not that kind of bot, pal. Although...."

    "Although what?" Sentinel Major asked, hovering over both bots. "What is it?"

    "Well, not to brag or anything, but I'm kinda good at picking up frequencies that the average audio sensor can't." Karmen tapped the side of her helmet as she pointed at the blank screen. "I picked up something while that was playing. I'm pretty sure it was coordinates."

    "Coordinates to where?" Minimus asked.

    Karmen looked at each bot standing behind her before saying, "Show of hands: who here believes in the Necrobot?"

*  *  *

    "Admit it! You were worried about me."

    Skids glanced at Swerve as the two mechs walked back to the rejoin the others in the Great Hall. "I was concerned about you dying, sure. I mean, I'm sure everyone was."

    "You were worried," Swerve said snidely, jabbing the taller mech with his elbow. "You didn't want to break up the act so soon."

    "Break up the...? What act?"

    "Swerve and Skids!" the minibot loudly proclaimed, throwing an arm around Skids while gesturing dramatically with his other hand. "The Dynamic Duo! The Palpable Pals! The Bodacious--"

    "You can stop right there," Skids interjected as he gently removed Swerve's arm from him. "Look, don't take this the wrong way -- you're a great bot and all -- but I don't think any kind of 'double act' made up of us would work. You're all jokes and laughs. I'm all... neither of those."

    "Exactly! Some of the best pairs are those who are nothing alike! I mean, look at Rosanna and Squawktalk. Not only did they keep making music together even when they were on opposing factions, but they stayed Conjunx Endurae!"

    "Didn't they break up a few months ago?" Skids asked. "Pretty sure I heard something like that while we were on Cybertron."

    Swerve's smile faded slightly. "Yeah, well... they're still making music together."

    "I personally wouldn't consider back-to-back break-up songs a good example of collaborations working...."

    Swerve opened his mouth to rebut that statement but lost the chance to when they reached the Great Hall. Simultaneous to their arrival, they say Nightbeat, Nautica, and Getaway leaving in the opposite direction."

    "Hey," Skids called over to them. "Where are you guys headed?"

    "Absolutely no idea," Getaway said, stopping with Nautica to meet the duo. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Nightbeat, who kept on walking. "He's going on another one of his detective sprees. We're just tagging along 'cause we're bored."

    "Are we even allowed to roam freely?" Skids asked. "So far our stay here has been anything but hospitable."

    Getaway shrugged. "Eh, who cares? We've gone through worst places, haven't we? And these Carcerians don't seem that hostile."

    "Nor do they seem very welcoming," Skids muttered. "But... what the heck. I'll come along. How 'bout you, Swerve?"

    "Uh, I'll pass," the minibot replied, uncharacteristically quiet. "You guys go have fun. I'll... go see what Tailgate's up to."

    Skids frowned as he watched the red and white bot head into the crowded hall, wondering what had suddenly gotten him so down. When he turned back to Getaway and Nautica, he found the two staring at him.

    "Hey," Nautica said. "Is everything all right?"

    "Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine." He gestured to Nightbeat, who was already retreating out of view. "Let's catch up to him before we lose him."

*  *  *

    Skyfall tried very hard to ignore the fact that he was shaking. Perhaps through denial he could actually manage to stop his trembling and proceed with the mission with some professionalism.

    Or he could just not do this. But that did not seem to be an option -- and it was too late go back out now.

    As he stepped over the Carcerians he had just deactivated, Skyfall stared straight ahead at the relic hovering over its secured, laser-protected pedestal. Four triangular shapes jutted out from either side of the metal sphere, which glowed with sheer untapped power.

    The Enigma of Combination. Nexus Prime's masterpiece.

    While Skyfall had never given much credence into the first Thirteen or their status as omnipotent demigods or what have you, he could not deny the power he felt radiating from the Enigma. It called to him, drew him in. Suddenly, he had stopped shaking.

    He took swift strides towards the artifact, stopping only to retrieve the needed security card from one of the guards he had offlined. Coming up to the pedestal, he slid the card into the security panel. When it prompted him for an optical scan, he lifted up the lifeless guard and manually lit up their optics before bringing their face up to the optic scanner. Once it had performed the scan, the lasers faded away, leaving the Enigma vulnerable to retrieval.

    Smiling with satisfaction, Skyfall moved in to take his prize.

*  *  *

    "I assure you, my patient is 100% docile! There is no need to--"

    "Don't tell me how to do my job, speakermouth," the bulky femme snapped at Froid as she and two others put restraints on Sunder. The Carcerians had come in mere minutes after Nightbeat and the others had left, completely unannounced. They had demanded to see Sunder right away and wasted no time in arresting him, ignoring Froid's protests.

    For his part, Sunder himself up up no fight and did not seem concerned at all. This did nothing to alleviate Froid and his protests continued to fall on deaf audio sensors.

    How had the Carcerians even known about Sunder? Save for a select few, no one had left the hall since they had arrived. So unless Rodimus or any of the others had informed their hosts of Sunder (doubtful given their focus on the ailing Swerve), then the Carcerians should not have known about the infamous mnemosurgeon.

    Unless they had been led here....

    Froid swung to look at Rung, who was watching the scuffle impassively. "You," he hissed. "You called them here."

    Rung met his gaze evenly. "Why do you suspect that?"

    "Don't play dumb with me, Rung. You've already made your opinion on Sunder and my relationship with him quite known. You summoned the Carcerians here and pinned them on Sunder."

    Rung frowned. "Froid, I really have no idea what you're--"

    "You didn't say anything when Skyfall was taken away. You could've have easily spoken up about it then. But no. You wanted to have your moment. You wanted to prove yourself to be the better mech." Froid reached up to his neck and snapped off the Primal Beads tied around it. "Well, guess what? You're not. You never will be; not as long as that stain still marks your record."

    With that, he turned on his heel and marched towards Sunder. The Carcerians arresting the mnemosurgeon moved to stop him but the psychologist was quick in his action. With medical precision, he threw the beads at Sunder's face....

    And they landed right in the criminal's empty eye sockets.

    Blue lights shone brightly as if born anew. A disproportionately wide grin formed from Sunder's mouth, dental plates gleaming white.

    "Oh," he said, his voice grating like razor-sharp grinders. "Now we're going to have fun." 

Transformers Regenerated: Lost Light VII, Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN

--Outpost Two--

    The whole station shook beneath his feet. Gunfire rang outside the room and bolts of plasma zipped past the viewport. All around him, things were falling apart.

    He thought about calling for help, to ask for reinforcements but he quickly thought better of it. Even if one of the other Directors did send support, he would never hear the end of it. He would be mocked for his failure for all eternity, a fate he saw as worse than death.

   No, he would stay. He would stay here and burn with all his failures. It would only be fitting.

    The Wreckers were just outside his door. He could tell by the intense screaming and the twisting of metal. Any minute now they would be here, and he had to do everything under his power to make sure they didn't get their hands on what he had spent so long making.

    After making sure all of the charges were primed and ready for detonation, Magnificus then turned to the door and waited.

*  *  *

    "P-please! D-don't kill me!"

    Guzzle glanced down at the black-colored Decepticon at his mercy. Their legs had been blown away by his trusted gun and a good portion of their faceplate was missing, revealing a petrified expression.

    "Please," the Decepticon repeated. "You're an Autobot. You don't--"

    "It's Loudpedal, right?" Guzzle asked, keeping his gun trained on the 'Con. "You're that music artist from Monoplex."

    "Wh-what? No. I'm not--"

    "I mean, I'm not one to judge, but I never would've pinned one of you 'Cons as the creative type, y'know?"

    "I'm not Loudpedal!" the Decepticon shrieked. "I'm Vivisector! The Butcher of Pyrox! The 'Con of a Thousand Faces! I am one of the greatest minds in the Decepticon Empire! I--"

    "--Need to work on your marketing pitch," Guzzle interjected before pulling the trigger of his gun and blowing the Decepticon's head to pieces. Moving away from Vivisector's remains, Guzzle looked upon his handiwork. Dozens of bodies littered the floor, with only a few still twitching with life. None of them were in any condition to fight, so he did not waste the firepower on them.

    Hearing the sound of engines, Guzzle turned to see Kup and Ironfist driving up to him, followed closely by a yellow and purple truck. As they transformed to robot mode, Guzzle instantly got a whiff of a very terrible smell.

    "Good grief, what did you guys drag out of the trash disposal?" he exclaimed.

    "This is Toxitron," Kup said, gesturing at the burly mech. "He's an Autobot."

    "He smells like a Junkion took a bath in the Acid Wastes."

    "Me am very defended by that!" Toxitron snapped angrily. "You am not very mean!"

    "And he talks like a Dinobot. Wonderful." Guzzle sighed. "Well, I'm finished here. What's next?"

    After surveying the damage Guzzle had wrought with a small look of disapproval, Kup then said, "Springer just radioed me. He and the others have made their way to the control room. We're to meet them there and help 'em take down Magnificus."

    "Well, what are we waiting for?" Guzzle said, changing into his tank mode. "Let's wreck."

--The Lost Light--

    The robot who looked like Megatron stood there on the edge of the landing ramp, aiming his fusion cannon at the Autobots. In return, they simply stared at him in shock, too stunned to move, and waited for him to unleash his wrath.

    Minutes passed by. No such attack came. The apprehensive Autobots exchanged uncertain looks, unsure of what was going on. Eventually, it dawned on the Megatron copy that nothing was happening and he lowered his cannon in confusion.

    "What is--"

    "Now, Strafe!" Red Alert cried.

    The Technobot let out a yell as he fired at the double. As Megatron staggered back, Powerflash unleashed a stun bolt from his gun, which sent the Decepticon's systems into shutdown and brought him down to the floor. While Aquafend and Deftwing rushed over to restrain Megatron, Red Alert strode over to Dealer and slammed the butt of his gun into the other mech's face, knocking him down.

    "You have ten seconds to give me a good reason not to flush you out the airlock."

    "I had no idea!" Dealer said. "There were six capsules on the ship when I stole it from the 'Cons and I didn't know what was in them! And I don't know how he got out. I swear on my life."

    Red Alert did not look at all convinced. In fact, he looked even more dubious than he did before. However, just as he raised his gun to strike Dealer again, he heard Aquafend call out to him.

    "Red! His head's getting away!"

    Confused, Red Alert turned to see a tiny robot running out of the hangar, leaving behind a headless Megatron. His optics nearly shorting out from seeing this unexpected development, he quickly raised the rest of the ship's security detail on his comm.

    "All units, dispatch! We have an intruder on board! Repeat: intruder on board!" Once the message had been broadcasted, he then turned to Powerflash. "I want you to take Dealer to the brig. The others and I will track down whatever that thing was."

    "Shouldn't we investigate his ship as well?" Powerflash asked. "In case there are other Megatrons?"

    "There's no time to worry about that," Red Alert, already converting to his car mode. "Just get him into a cell before he causes any more trouble."

    With that, the security director drove off, followed closely by Strafe, Aquafend, and Deftwing. Powerflash watched them vacate the hangar before directing his attention to Dealer. After staring down at the other mech for a moment, he then offered him his hand.

    "Come on, pal. You're more use outside a cell than in one."

    Dealer looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

    "Red Alert might not trust you, but I'm the kind of bot who's willing to give second chances." Taking Dealer's hand, Powerflash helped the bot up to his feet. "Now, you said there were six capsules on your ship?"

    "Yes. Some Decepticon scientist put them on board. I'm pretty sure that..." he nodded to the headless Megatron, "...came from one of them, since I found a capsule with a broken canopy."

    "Then we'd better make sure the others are sealed tight," Powerflash said as he headed for the ship. "The last thing we need are six Megatrons running around."

    "Right," Dealer murmured as he followed the yellow and red mech. "To think that would ever be a genuine concern...."

--Outpost Two--

    "About time you guys got here!" Rotorstorm said as Kup, Ironfist, Guzzle, and Toxitron drove up to join the other three Wreckers at the door to the control room. "Did the old rustbucket hold you guys up?"

    "Shove it, kid," Kup snapped, transforming to robot mode. "I've killed for less than that." Brushing past a debased Rotorstorm, the veteran stepped up to the Wrecker leader Springer, his green and yellow armor scratched up from some sort of scuffle. Pyro was standing nearby working the door's control panel to open it.

    "You're sure Magnificus is in here?" Kup asked.

    "Positive," Springer said. "From what I've gathered from Agent C-308's reports, Magnificus is a control freak and thus never leaves this room, where he can see and control everything on this station."

    "Doesn't that mean he can see us?" Ironfist asked, looking around for cameras."

    "Probably. But frankly, so what? I don't think there's anything he can throw at us that he hasn't already--which has been a bit lackluster thus far."

    "Who's to say he doesn't have something cooked up for us past those doors?" Kup pointed out.

    The six Wreckers all fell silent, mulling over the veteran's words. Toxitron, on the other hand, simply strode over to the door and pushed Pyro aside.

    "So smart," he muttered. "Leave it to I to ruin the day."

    He then proceeded to put his hand to the door. Inexplicably, a corrosive substance exuded from his servos, slowly burning into the metal and causing it to disintegrate. Beyond the melted door was a very frightened black and silver mech, who looked completely astonished by the appearance of Toxitron and his accomplishment.

    "No... how did you... no...."

    Frantically, Magnificus opened a compartment in his chest and reached inside. Before he could get whatever he was reaching for, Toxitron lunged forward and slammed his fist into the Decepticon's face. The blow was enough to short out Magnificus' systems and the scientist collapsed to the floor, his chest still open.

    Pleased with himself, Toxitron turned to the Wreckers and stood proudly with his arms akimbo.

    "I are worst Autobot ever!" he proclaimed.

    Springer glanced at Kup, who simply shrugged.

    As the Wreckers entered the room, Springer said, "Pyro, Ironfist, cuff him and get him out of here. Rotorstorm, start going through the logs and download anything of note. Kup and I will stay on the lookout for anymore 'Cons."

    "What about I?" Toxitron asked.

    Springer turned to the garishly colored clone of Optimus Prime, looking him up and down. "You... can stay here with Rotorstorm. Keep him company."

    "Thanks for thinking of me," Rotorstorm replied sardonically. "Remain me to return the favor someday."

    With that, the Wreckers got to work. As Ironfist and Pyro put restraints on Magnificus, the former noticed the Decepticon's chest compartment was still open. He moved to close it... only to see what was within.

    "What is it?" Pyro asked, seeing him staring at his discovery.

    "There's... there's a timer in his chest," Ironfist murmured, stepping back.

    "What?!" Springer rushed over to see for himself. Indeed, ticking down with bold red numbers, was a timer with only a minute and thirteen seconds left to go. With no indicator on what it was counting down to, Springer decided to take no chances and drew his sword, raising it over Magnificus' chest.

    "Stand back," he ordered the other two.

    "What are you doing?" Ironfist asked.

    "I said stand back!" With that, the Wrecker leader drove his blade into the Decepticon's chest and the entire room erupted with a blinding light.