CHAPTER ONE
"I really hope you have a logical explanation for this, Shockwave."
The mono-eyed Decepticon Councilor stared back at Rodimus Prime, visibly unfazed by the several bots surrounding him and staring him down. Placing his arms on the conference table, Shockwave calmly leaned forward and met Rodimus' stern gaze.
"What makes you think I have any involvement in all this?"
Rodimus gestured at the four recently-revived Autobots standing behind him: Bulkhead, Strongarm, Topspin, and Twin Twist. "All four of these guys said they saw your little assistant when they woke up in the Mausoleum. Said assistant also mentioned a little thing called Ore-14, which sounds a little similar to Ore-13. And thanks to Starscream, we know you had a hand in creating that."
Shockwave nodded. "You are indeed correct. I created Ore-14 as a test run for the other thirteen Regenesis ores. I gave it the properties of regeneration, to reverse the effects of death and destruction."
"Right. Okay." Rodimus cleared his vocal processor, not expecting such a straight answer. "Now let me ask the second biggest question: Why?"
"Why what?" Shockwave asked.
"Why did you feel the need to resurrect bots, least of all Autobots? I would expect you'd at least bring back a Decepticon or two?"
"What makes you think I haven't?"
Rodimus opened his mouth to speak but Shockwave cut him off. "The only reason you've been seeing only Autobots resurrected is because the Autobot Mausoleum provides a convenient source for test subjects. We Decepticons are not known for our respectable burial practices."
"What about Strongarm?" asked Elita-One, gesturing at her former crew-mate. "Bulkhead and the Jumpstarters I can understand, because I helped preside over their burials... but Strongarm didn't have a body we could recover. She was taken by the Terrorcons right before we obliterated them."
"Fistfight was able to retrieve her remains and piece her back together," Shockwave explained. "She was, in fact, the most challenging of our subjects, given how she had died. Nonetheless... well, you can see the results for yourself."
"And was Sixknight brought back the same way?" asked Dai Atlas.
"Yes, although he was not an intended subject. The initial batch of Ore-14 was created near Metrotitan's location; I imagine it was residual samples that brought him back, even if there wasn't enough to revive the others who had died on Theophany."
Rodimus exhaled loudly as he began to pace around the room. "So you made a variant of energon that can bring people back from the dead. Do any of the other thirteen ores have god-like properties?"
"Well, Ore-13 as you know contains raw, unrefined power itself," Shockwave replied. "Ore-1 can manipulate time, Ore-2 can cause anything it touches to deteriorate..."
"And where exactly are all of these ores?" Elita asked. "We know Ore-13 is on Earth...."
"By a coincidence that even I struggle to form a logical reasoning for, all of the ores ended up on worlds connected to the original Thirteen Primes," Shockwave said. "Ore-4, for example, ended up on Caminus, the colony of Solus Prime."
Windblade stirred in her seat at the mention of her homeworld. "And the other colonies? Velocitron and Eukaris?"
Shockwave nodded. "Ore-9 and Ore-11, respectively. And then there's all of the other colonies yet to be rediscovered by Cybertronian kind."
Rodimus raised an optic ridge. "And do you know what some of these undiscovered colonies are?"
Shockwave hesitated. "Some, yes. Arduria, for instance, as well as LV-117. Gorlam Prime was also a targeted location, although that world has since been lost."
"And does anyone else know about the full extent of this Regenesis project of yours?" Elita questioned him. "Or are you the only one?"
Again, Shockwave was hesitant in his response. "As far as I'm certain, I am the only one who knows," he said.
"In that case, I expect you to provide us with all of the details pertaining Regenesis so that we can retrieve all of the ores before they fall into the wrong hands." Rodimus carefully regarded the one-eyed Decepticon, expecting any form of protest. Shockwave remained still and silent, not displaying any changes in body language.
"We're already sending a detachment to Earth," the Prime went on. "Hopefully they will be able to locate and retrieve any left-overs of Ore-13."
Elita gave Shockwave a pointed look. "We expect you to be one hundred-percent cooperative in this situation, Shockwave. It won't do you any good not to be."
"Believe me, Autobot," Shockwave answered coolly. "I wouldn't dream of working against you."
"What makes you think I have any involvement in all this?"
Rodimus gestured at the four recently-revived Autobots standing behind him: Bulkhead, Strongarm, Topspin, and Twin Twist. "All four of these guys said they saw your little assistant when they woke up in the Mausoleum. Said assistant also mentioned a little thing called Ore-14, which sounds a little similar to Ore-13. And thanks to Starscream, we know you had a hand in creating that."
Shockwave nodded. "You are indeed correct. I created Ore-14 as a test run for the other thirteen Regenesis ores. I gave it the properties of regeneration, to reverse the effects of death and destruction."
"Right. Okay." Rodimus cleared his vocal processor, not expecting such a straight answer. "Now let me ask the second biggest question: Why?"
"Why what?" Shockwave asked.
"Why did you feel the need to resurrect bots, least of all Autobots? I would expect you'd at least bring back a Decepticon or two?"
"What makes you think I haven't?"
Rodimus opened his mouth to speak but Shockwave cut him off. "The only reason you've been seeing only Autobots resurrected is because the Autobot Mausoleum provides a convenient source for test subjects. We Decepticons are not known for our respectable burial practices."
"What about Strongarm?" asked Elita-One, gesturing at her former crew-mate. "Bulkhead and the Jumpstarters I can understand, because I helped preside over their burials... but Strongarm didn't have a body we could recover. She was taken by the Terrorcons right before we obliterated them."
"Fistfight was able to retrieve her remains and piece her back together," Shockwave explained. "She was, in fact, the most challenging of our subjects, given how she had died. Nonetheless... well, you can see the results for yourself."
"And was Sixknight brought back the same way?" asked Dai Atlas.
"Yes, although he was not an intended subject. The initial batch of Ore-14 was created near Metrotitan's location; I imagine it was residual samples that brought him back, even if there wasn't enough to revive the others who had died on Theophany."
Rodimus exhaled loudly as he began to pace around the room. "So you made a variant of energon that can bring people back from the dead. Do any of the other thirteen ores have god-like properties?"
"Well, Ore-13 as you know contains raw, unrefined power itself," Shockwave replied. "Ore-1 can manipulate time, Ore-2 can cause anything it touches to deteriorate..."
"And where exactly are all of these ores?" Elita asked. "We know Ore-13 is on Earth...."
"By a coincidence that even I struggle to form a logical reasoning for, all of the ores ended up on worlds connected to the original Thirteen Primes," Shockwave said. "Ore-4, for example, ended up on Caminus, the colony of Solus Prime."
Windblade stirred in her seat at the mention of her homeworld. "And the other colonies? Velocitron and Eukaris?"
Shockwave nodded. "Ore-9 and Ore-11, respectively. And then there's all of the other colonies yet to be rediscovered by Cybertronian kind."
Rodimus raised an optic ridge. "And do you know what some of these undiscovered colonies are?"
Shockwave hesitated. "Some, yes. Arduria, for instance, as well as LV-117. Gorlam Prime was also a targeted location, although that world has since been lost."
"And does anyone else know about the full extent of this Regenesis project of yours?" Elita questioned him. "Or are you the only one?"
Again, Shockwave was hesitant in his response. "As far as I'm certain, I am the only one who knows," he said.
"In that case, I expect you to provide us with all of the details pertaining Regenesis so that we can retrieve all of the ores before they fall into the wrong hands." Rodimus carefully regarded the one-eyed Decepticon, expecting any form of protest. Shockwave remained still and silent, not displaying any changes in body language.
"We're already sending a detachment to Earth," the Prime went on. "Hopefully they will be able to locate and retrieve any left-overs of Ore-13."
Elita gave Shockwave a pointed look. "We expect you to be one hundred-percent cooperative in this situation, Shockwave. It won't do you any good not to be."
"Believe me, Autobot," Shockwave answered coolly. "I wouldn't dream of working against you."
* * *
After nearly two years, Livewire could safely say she was the happiest being in the universe.
When she had lost Strongarm to those Terrorcons, she never thought she would find someone to form a close connection to ever again. But then Primus or whichever deity slammed their foot down and proved her wrong.
In all her life, Livewire could not think of a single time where she was happier than when she was with Spiral. Even the moments she had had with Strongarm, as much as she treasured them with all her spark, had been far too scant and fleeting for her to properly savor them. Yet with Spiral.... she had long since lost track of how many dates the two of them had been out on, each one being better than the last.
And she was determined to make this one The One. The one that they would both cherish and remember for the rest of their lives.
She had already gone through the first two acts of Conjunx Ritus with Spiral over the course of the past two years: They almost always held hands, which covered the Act of Intimacy, and she had told Spiral of her darkest secret, a secret not even her brother Jolt knew about. So that was the Act of Disclosure over and done with.
That just left the Acts of Profference and Devotion. It was Livewire's hope that she could get the last two done before the night was over... and before her nerve circuits gave out.
The setting was as perfect as it could be. Spiral simply loved races and had been avidly following the Ibex Cup since it started late last year. Livewire personally found them boring, but she was willing to prosper through anything to make her beloved happy.
The moment Roulette crossed the finish line to Spiral's elation and the crowd's applause, that was when Livewire decided it was now or never. She turned around and brought out the emerald gem from her subspace compartment. The race-lights gleamed off the shimmering stone and caught Spiral's eye.
The Velocitronian gasped in surprise. "Is that...?"
Livewire beamed. "A bona fide Emberstone. Well, not really bona fide-- I mean, the real Emberstone is just a myth, but Big Hoss told me that it--"
Spiral silenced her by raising her hands to either side of Livewire's helm and gently pressing her mouthplate against her face. Livewire had heard about "spark-kisses" from her friend Glyph, but they were evidently more commonplace on Velocitron given the ease Spiral was having with the practice.
Lost in bliss, Livewire didn't realize people were screaming for their lives until Spiral broke the kiss and pulled her down just as a huge Insecticon flew over their heads. Dozens of the giant robot bugs had begun swarming in on the race tracks and they were now all converging on the crowd stands.
The same Insecticon that had attacked the couple doubled back and shot towards them again. Pushing Spiral behind her, Livewire deployed her electric coils and lashed out at their attacker. The beetle screamed as it was electrocuted before dropping to the ground as a burnt husk of metal.
Of course, killing this one Insecticon simply served to draw others to their location and there were soon several of the giant bugs circling around them. Some of the racers had broken off from the tracks and were now shooting at the Insecticons, but that didn't stop one from pinning Livewire to the ground and pointing a blade at her neck.
"The stone," the black and gray Insecticon growled. "Hand it over."
Today, Livewire decided, had quickly veered from being the best to the worst romantic date in all of history.
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