CHAPTER EIGHT
The site of the prehistoric Stonehenge monument had been the agreed-upon meeting place for the two Autobot teams. After being told the Decepticon sighting had been dealt with, Rodimus and company had departed from Burton's residence and come to the strange arrangement of stones to await Sky Lynx, Jetfire, and the others.
As they stood around in robot mode (night had already fallen, making humans scarce), Rodimus looked up at Ultra Magnus, who had his eyes on the sky.
"So what do you make of Burton and his findings?" Rodimus asked. "Any bots you recognized?"
"I had heard of Undertread -- or Bulldog, as he's called now," Magnus replied. "One of the planes I believe was Powerdive, a Decepticon I arrested in Cycle 9720. I heard he had escaped Garrus-4 fifteen years later, but never managed to locate him."
"And Cogman?"
Magnus shook his head. "I've never known a Cogman in all my life. I wouldn't be surprised if he was telling the truth about not remembering Cybertron."
Rodimus mulled over this just as Sky Lynx came into view. The Autobot shuttle landed before the team of eleven and lowered its front ramp, allowing Jetfire and his team to disembark. Rodimus waved at the flier, but Jetfire's face remained fixed in a morose expression.
"Hey, Jets!" Rodimus greeted him. "Sounds like you guys have been having all the fun. So far all we've gotten are more questions than answers."
"Rodimus." Jetfire's grave look was enough to damper the red bot's spirits. "It's... good news/bad news time."
Rodimus did not like the sound of that. Those words always filled him with dread. "What is it?"
Jetfire looked around. "Where's... where's Rewind?"
"Chromedome!"
Jetfire tensed as he and the others all turned to see Rewind running up to a certain brown Autobot, who was standing on the edge of the ramp.
"Hey, you found him!" Rodimus patted Jetfire on the arm. "Nice job."
Jetfire shook his head. "But, Rodimus, he can't... he doesn't...."
As the Autobot flier fumbled for words, Rewind launched himself into Chromedome's arms... only for the mnemosurgeon to immediately drop him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Chromedome snapped at the archivist.
Rewind stared at him in stunned silence. "But I... you... we're...."
"I have no idea who you are," Chromedome stiffly replied, walking past him. "You must have me confused for someone else."
"No! Domey!" Scrambling to his feet, Rewind ran after him. "Please don't be--! This can't be happening!"
Ignoring him, Chromedome continued to walk up to a slack-jawed Rodimus. "Captain," he said with a nod. "I apologize for my foolish behavior. I shouldn't have left without telling you. Who knows what trouble I could've gotten into with a time machine."
Rodimus stared at him mouth agape, unsure of what to make of anything. "Time machine...?"
"Don't worry, the case was destroyed with the D.J.D. Unfortunately, Dominus Ambus perished as well, making my entire task moot."
"Dominus?" Rodimus looked to Rewind, who shared his shocked expression.
"Yeah, he was their pet turbofox," Chromedome went on. "I'm guessing he was a loadbearer like his brother, Minimus."
"Loadbear-? Okay, hold up." Rodimus raised a hand. "You remember going back in time to find Dominus Ambus?"
"Yeah...?"
"But you don't remember Rewind?"
"Should I?"
Rodimus ran a hand over his face. "Then why did you set out to find Dominus if it wasn't for Rewind?"
Chromedome tilted his head. "I... I don't know what you're talking about, captain. I've been searching for Dominus for half a millennium. That's all there is to it... isn't it?"
A cold silence fell over the assorted twenty-odd Autobots. Rewind stood in utter distraught while the others wore grave or confused expressions. Rodimus sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Right. I get it. This is Tarn's idea of a joke. He and his freaks forced Chromedome to alter his own memory and made him forget about Rewind. This is their last laugh."
"So the D.J.D. are dead?" Magnus asked.
Jetfire nodded. "I blew up their shop, which made a lot bigger explosion than I had thought it would make. I get the feeling that it had been wired to explode and kill them."
"But... who would do that?" Rodimus asked. "You'd have to be really on their side to sneak that pass them."
"Who cares?" Rewind snapped. "How are we going to fix Chromedome's memories? How do we make him remember me?"
"Let's take him back to Autobot City," Magnus suggested. "We can examine him there."
"And what about the stuff with Burton?" Arcee asked. "Are we not going to look into that?"
"We can leave a few bots here to continue investigating," Rodimus said. "Right now though, Chromedome's more important."
"What are you guys talking about?" Chromedome asked. "I feel fine."
Rodimus smiled sadly as he patted him on the shoulder. "And that, my friend, is the problem."
--Autobot City--
"Are you telling me none of this is making sense?"
Doomshot shook his head, staring at the string of information on Brainstorm's screen. "I mean, I recognize some names: Nexus, Onyx, Myskrion. But I can't put any faces to them. I don't remember living through any of these events or meeting these people or... anything."
Brainstorm sighed as he sunk back into his seat. "Maybe next time Sentinel drops by, I can--"
"Wait." Doomshot's head perked up. "Did you hear that?"
Brainstorm sighed. "Not this again...."
"I'm serious, Brainstorm, this Titan's talking to me," Doomshot said. "Ever since we moved in, I've been hearing his voice, speaking words."
"All right then, what's he saying?"
"I don't know. I...." Doomshot was silent for a moment as he listened. "...I think he's saying there's another Titan on Earth."
"Oh, joy," Brainstorm said dryly. "We could always use another one of those."
"Quiet!" Doomshot hissed. "He says... he says his name is Fortress Maximus."
"Fortress Maximus?!" Brainstorm nearly jumped out of his seat. "Here?!"
"There's an Emissary," Doomshot went on. "I must find him before...."
"Yes?"
"Black angel." Doomshot's voice was shaking now, his optics growing wide. "Rust Desert. Onyx. Nexus. Sovereign. Infinitus."
"Yes, keep saying gibberish, it's obviously getting you somewhere."
"Maximo. Vigilem." Doomshot clutched his head. "Slow down. What...? The Matrix? I don't.... Fallen, Ominus, Gemma, Scepter, Quintessa, twelve, Primal, Earth, Knights--"
"Okay, okay!" Brainstorm put his hand over Doomshot's mouth. "That's enough I think."
The smaller bot looked up at him. "What does it all mean?" he asked.
"Slag if I knew," the scientist replied as he sat back down.
"What are we going to do?"
"I think...." Brainstorm terminated the current screen and brought up a new one. "...we need to ask Sentinel to make an unscheduled visit."
--Folgan Castle--
Night had fallen and his sire was fast asleep. All was quiet in the Burton residence.
Cogman quickly descended the spiraling staircase into the dungeon below. Torch in hand, he navigated the maze-like labyrinth with great ease. Having lived here for over seven hundred years, he knew it as well as the back of his hand.
Down here was where the children slept. Cybertronians that had ended up stranded on Earth were brought here where they were safe. Some remained in robot mode while most slept in vehicle form. Some of them never woke up, making Cogman wonder if they were even still online.
Making his way to the end of the room, where the most recent acquisitions were kept, Cogman set his optics on a large orange truck. Stepping up to it, he ran a hand over the dust that had collected over the past few months and uncovered the blue insignia it bore.
A blue Autobot symbol with the shape of a sword running through it. The seal of the Circle of Light.
Cogman smiled softly to himself as he gently patted the truck. "The time is near, my friends. You don't have much longer to wait. I promise.
With that, he withdrew from the truck and walked the way he came, humming a little tune he called the Empyrean Suite along the way.
TO BE CONTINUED
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