CHAPTER THREE
--The Lost Light--
"So, what exactly are we looking for on Paradron?"
Rodimus blinked, as if suddenly realizing Ultra Magnus was speaking to him. "Huh? Oh, uh, you know... directions to Cyberutopia and all that."
Ultra Magnus frowned. "But do we have anything specific? At least with Caminus, we had the Mistress of Flame to talk to. In fact... why not just go back to Caminus, now that the Secret Order's been dealt with?"
"Mainframe says we're a long ways from Caminus, and that Paradron is closer," Rodimus replied. "Besides... doesn't hurt to look around, right?"
Before Ultra Magnus could respond, the door to the bride opened and, like a dark cloud, Megatron stepped in. Rodimus rolled his optics as he sunk lower into his chair.
"Oh. Hey, Megs."
"Rodimus." Megatron came to stand beside the captain's chair. "I see that we have reached our destination."
"Yeah. Paradron. You might've heard of it."
Megatron said nothing, staring at the metal planet in front of them. There was a long moment of silence between the three bots, with Magnus awkwardly looking between the other two. Unable to take it anymore, he looked back down at Rodimus.
"So, are we all going down there?"
"I mean, I guess, if people want to." Rodimus shrugged. "If some want to stay on the ship, that's fine. I'm not holding it against anyone. Especially after everything we've been through; I'd probably want to shut myself in my hab suite too."
Silence reigned again, the three bots all staring at the approaching planet. Megatron then revved slightly before turning to leave.
"I'll be in my quarters," he muttered.
"I'll... gather anyone who wants to go and lay down the rules," Ultra Magnus said, leaving as well.
"I'll stay here," Rodimus said. "Right here in my comfy chair."
As Megatron and Ultra Magnus exited the bridge together, the former Decepticon leader glanced at the larger Autobot.
"Did he just call the command chair...?"
"Yes," Magnus said curtly, his expression stoic.
"And... he's your captain?"
"Yes."
Brief as it was, Megatron allowed a look of genuine pity to cross his face. "I'm sorry."
Magnus sighed. "So am I."
* * *
"About time you two got back," Dion said as Skids and Brainstorm returned to the lab. "Cop-Tur's been getting impatient."
"Where's Optronix?" Cop-Tur asked, hopping up to the two Autobots. "Did you find him? I want to meet him!"
"Yeah, uh, listen," Skids murmured. "Before we can introduce you to Optronix, we need Dion to change his colors."
"Why?" Dion asked.
"We don't want Optronix to recognize you right away," Brainstorm explained. "We want to make it something of a surprise and, uh, need to set it up a bit."
"Ah, say no more. Luckily, I can switch to my uniform colors in a jiffy."
"Uniform colors?"
"Yup. Watch." Dion pressed a switch on his arm and his orange and blue color scheme was immediately replaced with white and green with purple accents. "These were the colors I woke up with on Earth. They caught on so well with the humans that they became Star Command's uniform scheme."
Brainstorm cleared his vocal processor. "That's... that's great. That'll work. Good."
"Do I need to change my colors?" Cop-Tur asked.
"No, you're good. Let's just... go out and... do stuff. Oh, and Dion, if anyone asks, your name is, uh, Sprint."
"Is that to preserve the surprise too?" Dion asked.
"Uh, yes. Yes, it is."
"All right then." Dion beamed. "Are we all set?"
"As set as we're gonna be," Skids muttered.
* * *
"Stormshot?" Evac poked his head into the darkened hab suite. "Are you in here?"
"What do you want?" came the bitter response.
"We've touched down on Paradron. Wanna go out and--"
"No."
Evac's face fell. "But... everyone else is going."
"I don't care. I'm staying here."
"But they've got casinos and parks and... come on, it'll be fun."
"I'm staying here, Evac. That's final."
The blue mech's shoulders drooped. "Okay. If that's what you want, then..."
"Goodbye, Evac. Have fun."
"Yeah. Bye."
With that, Evac closed the door and walked away, his head hanging low.
* * *
"Okay, that's fifty Shanix for everyone," Drift said as he handed a bag of currency to everyone that passed by. "Remember: Don't go spending it all at once, don't blow it on--"
"Where do you get this kind of money?" Swerve asked, examining his bag.
"None of your business," Drift hissed. "Anyway, don't blow it on any sort of recreational devices or simultronics, don't...."
While Drift went on with his lecture, Skids and Brainstorm discreetly merged into the leaving crowd with a disguised Dion. On the way out, they bumped into Nautica, who had her face buried in a data-book.
"Oh! Excuse...." The Camien stopped to look at the three mechs. "Brainstorm? You're coming with us? I thought you hated leaving your lab."
"Uh, well...." Brainstorm rubbed the back of his head. "I just thought it wouldn't hurt to... get out once and a while."
She smiled. "Well, I'm just glad to have some familiar faces along." She then directed her attention to Dion. "Although I can't say I recognize you...."
"Oh, this is Sprint," Skids said, throwing his arm around the green bot's shoulder. "Brainstorm and I just met him. He's a real hoot. Great guy. Wonderful bot."
"Really? Can't say I've ever seen him before." Nautica shrugged. "Then again, with over two hundred bots on this ship, I shouldn't be so surprised." She extended a hand to Dion. "I'm Nautica, by the way."
"Charmed," Dion said, shaking her hand. "What is that you're reading?"
Nautica held up the datapad. "Oh, this? The Aestic Cybertronian by Dominus Ambus. It's a very good read. I'm already halfway through."
"Hm. I'll have to check that out sometime."
"Yes, well, you can always add it your bucket list," Brainstorm said. "Let's get a move on, shall we?"
"What's there to even go?" Skids asked as they disembarked fully from the ship and into the Paradronian spaceport, where Ultra Magnus was speaking with the dock operator. "Do we have a map or anything?"
"Where are we again?" Dion asked.
"Paradron. It's a Cybertronian colony--"
"Paradron? Well, why didn't you say so?" Dion beamed as he produced a pamphlet. "I've got a map right here."
Skids stared at him, mouth agape. "How do you--?"
"Uh, Skids?" Brainstorm nudged him with an elbow, pointing to a sign. "Look where we are."
Skids moved his optics to the sign... and froze. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
WELCOME TO PARADISE CITY
WHERE ALL ARE WELCOME AND ALL ARE FREE
"That," Brainstorm said, "is uncanny."
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