JUST PRIME
It had been a long time since the city of Tyger Pax had looked this beautiful.
Ever since it had been destroyed by the Decepticons a thousand years ago, mere days before the Second Great War, it had more or less been abandoned while the Autobots focused on preserving and fortifying their more important city-states, such as Iacon and the Tri-Torus States. The resources simply could not have been spared to restore the once-prestigious city. Then the Cataclysm happened. Then Unicron happened. Then the Restoration. Then Thunderwing.
It was only now, just over a year after it had been revitalized by Vector Sigma, was Orion Pax finally allowed to enjoy the city he had once called home.
From the window of his living quarters, he could see the glistening silver streets of Peace Boulevard, overseen by the sparking statue of his ancestor and namesake of the city. According to the stories, Tyger Pax had been something of a frontier hero. While the rest of Cybertron focused on expansion in the stars, Tyger Pax was more interested in exploring the unknown regions of the planet itself. This was how he came upon the territory beyond Simfur that was ripe with foundation for a new city-state. After decades upon centuries of petitioning to the High Council, the city of Tyger Pax was officially established in Cycle 5716, if only because of Tyger Pax’s close friendship with Guardian Prime.
It was to here from Iacon that the House of Pax relocated, further legitimatizing its existence in the eyes of many, though some on the High Council saw it as a ploy for their enemy parties to gain an extra seat and thus outvote them. Tyger Pax himself had no interest in politics however and he quietly retired just a year before the First Great War broke out. Surviving the war mostly unscathed, the city of Tyger Pax served as a symbol of tranquility during the Golden Age, an image tarnished only by the Devastator Winds unleashed by the Decepticons in 8814.
Much like the House of Pax itself, it had seen much suffering as a result of the Great Wars. Even with peace having finally been restored, there was still a lingering feeling of… emptiness that could not be ignored. As if a vital piece was missing.
As far as Orion knew, he was the last surviving member of the House of Pax. Tyger was long dead as was Magnum. Any other members had either passed before the war or killed during it. If there were any other Paxes remaining, he had yet to hear from any of them. Only a handful of bots lived in the city currently, none of them people he recognized. In fact, he was pretty sure most of them were neutrals who had stayed out of the war and had only settled in Tyger Pax because it was furthest from the pro-Autobot state of Iacon. If one lived here, they would have no clue of the politicking taking place all around the planet — unless they accessed the Cybernet, of course. Knowing these people however, Orion doubt they would ever want to. He already knew he didn’t.
Yet here he was, standing with his back to his visitor, as he heard the words he had been
dreading to hear ever since he had settled back in his home-city twelve months ago.
“We need you to come back.”
Orion Pax sighed as he forced himself to muster the words he needed to say. Even though deep down he didn’t want to say them, he knew, for both of their sakes, he needed to.
“No.”
Though he could not see her, Orion could tell Windblade was frowning. “No?” she echoed, incredulity and disappointment mixing in her voice.
“Windblade, my time is over,” Orion went on, keeping his gaze focused on the view outside. “I’ve already saved Cybertron, more times than I ever thought I would need to. It’s long time for someone else to take charge. That’s why you have Rodimus now.”
“But, that’s just it,” Windblade said, her voice raising with urgency. “Rodimus Prime is gone. We lost him through a space bridge to Carcer and have been unable to bring him back.”
Orion stiffened at that. He didn’t need anyone to tell him how and why that was bad news. Nonetheless, he tampered what would have been his reflexive response. “What do you expect me to do about it?”
He immediately regretted his words when he heard the hurt in her voice. “Optimus….”
“Not Optimus,” he said, shaking his head. “Not Prime. Not anymore. I’m just Orion Pax now. The Matrix belongs to someone else now. It’s up to him to make things right.”
Windblade huffed, shifting her feet. “This isn’t like you. Usually you’re one of the first to spring into action, regardless of the odds. How is this—”
Orion spun on his heel, startling the red and black Camien. “Look at me, Windblade.” He gestured to his current body, smaller and less-armored than the one he had when he was Optimus Prime. “I’m no longer the warrior I once was. You can’t expect me to hold myself up in a fight.”
“You don’t need to fight,” Windblade replied. “We just need your guidance, your wisdom.”
“And what if my ‘wisdom’ isn’t good enough?” Orion countered. “What if Orion Pax is not as great as Optimus Prime was?”
“He is,” Windblade stressed. “You are. Because you will always be Optimus Prime to us, Matrix or not.”
“I understand that,” Orion said quietly. “But I can’t always be there to save the day. One day, I won’t be here at all. Even the strongest spark burns out someday. That’s why you and the others need to learn how to function without me. You should begin putting your faith in another leader rather than me.”
Windblade opened her mouth to protest further when a small light flashed on her wrist. With a frown, she raised a hand to her helm and answered the incoming call. “Windblade, here.”
Orion couldn’t hear whoever was on the other end but he saw Windblade’s face quickly twist with concern. “Cerebros? Why do you sound… slow down, I can’t….” Her optics dilated as her mouth fell slightly agape. “Hang on… did you just say combiners?”
* * *
Leo Prime was surrounded by mayhem.
As guards of uniform design rushed past his cell, the ground shook with devastating quakes. Alarms bathed the hallway outside with red as an urgent voice blared from the walls.
“We are under attack! This is not a drill! We are—”
A chorus of anguished screams broke out from the end of the hallway, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and metal shredding through metal. Just as the screams died out — in more ways than one, Leo figured — a white and blue bot charged down the corridor and screeched to a halt in front of Leo Prime’s cell.
“Are you a Decepticon?” he asked, reloading his large gun.
“No,” Leo Prime murmured.
“Sucks to be you then.” The Decepticon was about to press ahead when he stopped before the cell next to Leo Prime’s. “Whoa, hang on. What do we have here….”
Blasting the control panel, the Decepticon caused the cell’s ray shield to dissipate before raising a hand to his helmet. “Boss, this is Battletrap. I’ve got a stasis pod here on Level 4. It’s… really freaking big. Like, I didn’t even know stasis pods came in this size.”
“Ignore it, Battletrap,” a voice crackled through Battletrap’s comm, barely loud enough for Leo Prime to overhear. “We’re here for Liokaiser and Monstructor. Anything and anyone else is superfluous.”
“Right, got it.” With that, Battletrap departed from the cell and the sound of his footsteps receded from Leo Prime.
Curling his hands into fists, the former leader of the Maximals stormed up to the wall of his cell. Maybe, just maybe, if he hit it hard enough, it would cause the ray shield to short out. With chaos unfolding all around him, it was his only hope at getting out of here alive.
The first punch did little more than create a dent. A second punch only deepened that dent. Reeling back his other hand, he tried again then again. With one last, rage-filled strike, he heard the sound of something breaking before witnessing the ray shield evaporate before his optics. After removing shrapnel from his ravaged knuckles, Leo Prime stepped out of his cell and spared a few seconds to savor the freedom.
Looking to his left, he saw the remains of the guards Battletrap had killed piled up in front of the corridor entrance, blocking the path. Deciding it would be better to follow the Decepticon and see what he was up to, Leo Prime went in the opposite direction and breezed past the cell containing the large stasis pod, not stopping to so much as glance at it. Before he could get much further however, a large door slammed down in front of him, cutting him off from his quarry. Another fell behind him, leaving him caged between four walls.
“You’re not going anywhere,” a voice crackled from a speaker above him, no doubt belonging to the prison’s overseer Cerebros.
Leo Prime spread out his arms, knowing the warden could see him. “You realize that I am not the enemy here rather than the ones wearing purple badges.”
“For all I know, you very well could be,” Cerebros retorted. “How do I know these guys aren’t part of your network?”
“If that were the case, wouldn’t they have broken me out by now rather than letting me do so myself?”
Cerebros did not reply, though Leo soon realized that this was not because he was trying to think of a counterargument. An earthquake sent Leo Prime flying into the wall in front of him, hard enough to leave a dent vaguely shaped like himself. Another sent him falling back into the one behind him, though this time he was able to use his arms to lessen the impact.
As he stumbled back into the middle of his cage, Leo Prime heard Cerebros speak once more over the intercom, though it did not sound like he was addressing the former Maximal. “This is bad,” the Autobot murmured. “We can’t transform when there’s still people inside. What are we going to—”
A loud, metal thud came from beyond the back wall, in the direction from which Leo Prime had came. Cerebros abruptly went silent and at first Leo Prime thought the intercom had cut out. Then he heard a hissing sound as Cerebros began to speak in a deadly whisper.
“No. No, no, no, no.”
The last “no” was drowned out by something heavy being thrown against the wall. Seconds later, a blue glow enveloped the blast door before it completely vanished. In its place stood a massive robot in purple and gold armor, taking up the entire hallway as it loomed over Leo Prime. Clenched within its giant fist was a small stick sparkling with blue energy.
Leo Prime met the giant’s baleful gaze before diverting his optics to the wand it wielded. He then gave the monster a look of utter bafflement. “What purpose does that serve?”
Killmaster showed him by casting a spell from his wand and blasting the former Maximal with blue energy.
As guards of uniform design rushed past his cell, the ground shook with devastating quakes. Alarms bathed the hallway outside with red as an urgent voice blared from the walls.
“We are under attack! This is not a drill! We are—”
A chorus of anguished screams broke out from the end of the hallway, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and metal shredding through metal. Just as the screams died out — in more ways than one, Leo figured — a white and blue bot charged down the corridor and screeched to a halt in front of Leo Prime’s cell.
“Are you a Decepticon?” he asked, reloading his large gun.
“No,” Leo Prime murmured.
“Sucks to be you then.” The Decepticon was about to press ahead when he stopped before the cell next to Leo Prime’s. “Whoa, hang on. What do we have here….”
Blasting the control panel, the Decepticon caused the cell’s ray shield to dissipate before raising a hand to his helmet. “Boss, this is Battletrap. I’ve got a stasis pod here on Level 4. It’s… really freaking big. Like, I didn’t even know stasis pods came in this size.”
“Ignore it, Battletrap,” a voice crackled through Battletrap’s comm, barely loud enough for Leo Prime to overhear. “We’re here for Liokaiser and Monstructor. Anything and anyone else is superfluous.”
“Right, got it.” With that, Battletrap departed from the cell and the sound of his footsteps receded from Leo Prime.
Curling his hands into fists, the former leader of the Maximals stormed up to the wall of his cell. Maybe, just maybe, if he hit it hard enough, it would cause the ray shield to short out. With chaos unfolding all around him, it was his only hope at getting out of here alive.
The first punch did little more than create a dent. A second punch only deepened that dent. Reeling back his other hand, he tried again then again. With one last, rage-filled strike, he heard the sound of something breaking before witnessing the ray shield evaporate before his optics. After removing shrapnel from his ravaged knuckles, Leo Prime stepped out of his cell and spared a few seconds to savor the freedom.
Looking to his left, he saw the remains of the guards Battletrap had killed piled up in front of the corridor entrance, blocking the path. Deciding it would be better to follow the Decepticon and see what he was up to, Leo Prime went in the opposite direction and breezed past the cell containing the large stasis pod, not stopping to so much as glance at it. Before he could get much further however, a large door slammed down in front of him, cutting him off from his quarry. Another fell behind him, leaving him caged between four walls.
“You’re not going anywhere,” a voice crackled from a speaker above him, no doubt belonging to the prison’s overseer Cerebros.
Leo Prime spread out his arms, knowing the warden could see him. “You realize that I am not the enemy here rather than the ones wearing purple badges.”
“For all I know, you very well could be,” Cerebros retorted. “How do I know these guys aren’t part of your network?”
“If that were the case, wouldn’t they have broken me out by now rather than letting me do so myself?”
Cerebros did not reply, though Leo soon realized that this was not because he was trying to think of a counterargument. An earthquake sent Leo Prime flying into the wall in front of him, hard enough to leave a dent vaguely shaped like himself. Another sent him falling back into the one behind him, though this time he was able to use his arms to lessen the impact.
As he stumbled back into the middle of his cage, Leo Prime heard Cerebros speak once more over the intercom, though it did not sound like he was addressing the former Maximal. “This is bad,” the Autobot murmured. “We can’t transform when there’s still people inside. What are we going to—”
A loud, metal thud came from beyond the back wall, in the direction from which Leo Prime had came. Cerebros abruptly went silent and at first Leo Prime thought the intercom had cut out. Then he heard a hissing sound as Cerebros began to speak in a deadly whisper.
“No. No, no, no, no.”
The last “no” was drowned out by something heavy being thrown against the wall. Seconds later, a blue glow enveloped the blast door before it completely vanished. In its place stood a massive robot in purple and gold armor, taking up the entire hallway as it loomed over Leo Prime. Clenched within its giant fist was a small stick sparkling with blue energy.
Leo Prime met the giant’s baleful gaze before diverting his optics to the wand it wielded. He then gave the monster a look of utter bafflement. “What purpose does that serve?”
Killmaster showed him by casting a spell from his wand and blasting the former Maximal with blue energy.
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