PROLOGUE
Warrior’s Gate, Cycle 515 (9,300 years before present day)
One of the first twelve hot spots to be activated on Cybertron, Warrior’s Gate was considered a sacred region by many. According to legend, it had been the birthplace of one of the Knights of Cybertron (as were the other eleven hot spots) and had served as a battlefield during the God War. Whether or not such tales were true, it was a place held in high importance and thus not somewhere to be treaded lightly.
Thus, when Alpha Trion received the summons to Warrior’s Gate from an old friend of his, he knew the matter was of great importance.
Driving across the deserted plains in his terrain-based alternate form, he detected his bestial friend waiting for him up ahead. Known to most as simply “the Shepherd,” Onyx had fought with Alpha in the rebellion against the Builders over a decade ago. In the years since, he had given himself the task of watching over the hot spots of Cybertron and caring for the newborn sparks they birthed until they were ready for the outside world. Naturally, Onyx particularly favored those that had beast forms like himself and tended to neglect those with more standard forms. While Alpha Trion had his grievances with this attitude, he knew it was not his place to voice them.
As he drew closer to Onyx, Alpha Trion transformed into his robot mode and walked the rest of the distance. He nodded his head in acknowledgment to Onyx and the beast-former responded in kind.
“Fair tidings, old friend,” Onyx growled softly. “I hope life is treating you well.”
“It’s treating me well enough,” Alpha Trion replied. “Now then, why have you summoned me to this sacred place?”
“There has been another activation,” Onyx said. “Over a hundred sparks have been ignited.”
“And? This is a natural occurrence, Onyx. Why call me over to witness something I’ve seen for myself plenty of times?”
“Because I want you to meet one of the protoforms.”
Confused and intrigued, Alpha Trion followed Onyx as they descended from the precipice overseeing the hot spot and stepped onto the spark field. Many of the newborn sparks had grown their bodies and were in the process of testing them, some already being able to transform. The pair moved past all of them as Onyx led Alpha Trion towards a lone protoform sitting by themselves in the center of the field. Before they could get any closer, Onyx signaled Alpha to stop.
“He doesn’t like being startled,” Onyx murmured. “Best to approach him with care.”
“Is this the one you want me to meet?” Alpha Trion asked, watching as the protoform picked at something on the ground. “What is so special about him?”
“I saw his spark the moment it ignited,” Onyx said. “It was green.”
Alpha Trion looked at him in surprise. “You mean… he is a super-spark?”
Onyx nodded gravely. “Super-sparks,” as they were named for their association with stronger-than-average bots, were a rare type of spark. From what Alpha Trion had heard, only one in every thousand sparks was a super-spark, though he was not well-versed in that field to be confident in those numbers.
“This is big,” Alpha Trion murmured. “The last known super-spark was born centuries ago, during the Age of Wrath.”
“I know,” said Onyx.
Alpha Trion glanced at him. “What do you intend on doing with him?”
“I was hoping you would be able to bring him under your care.”
“Me?” Alpha Trion was taken aback by the statement. “Why?”
“Like you said, super-sparks are rare. Who knows if he will turn out to be the last one for good. It would be prudent that we keep him protected at all costs.”
“But why me?”
“You are the only one I trust, A-3,” Onyx said solemnly. “Out of all the others, you are the most peaceful and least ambitious. The others — Prima in particular — would try to exploit him for their own personal gain. You are not like that. I trust that you will keep him safe.”
Alpha Trion frowned. “I have never mentored a protoform before.”
“Then you could use the experience.” Onyx nudged him towards the newborn. “Go on,” he said, with some humor in his voice. “Don’t be shy.”
With an exasperated huff, Alpha Trion approached the protoform, careful not to startle him. As he came up on the young one’s left side, the protoform looked up but did not react. He regarded Alpha Trion with a curious expression as the older bot knelt down beside him.
“Hello, my friend,” Alpha Trion said gently. “I would like to welcome you to the world.”
He extended a hand to the protoform. The young bot gave it an odd look before returning his gaze to the Trion.
Alpha Trion sighed. This was going to take some getting use to. “My name is Alpha Trion,” he went on, lowering his hand. “I come from a place called Kutanzuule, domain of the House of Trion.”
“He’s only been alive for a few hours, Alpha,” Onyx spoke up behind him. “Try not to fry his brain module with information.”
Alpha Trion gave him a look before turning back to the protoform. “My apologies,” he said quietly. “I have a tendency to get ahead of myself. Enough about me; what is your name?”
“What’s a name?” the protoform asked, innocently.
“A name is… it’s what you call yourself. It’s what you wish people to say when introducing you or trying to get your attention. For example, I like to be called Alpha Trion. My friend over there likes to be called Onyx. What would you like to be called?”
The protoform moved his optics to the ground, looking as if he was deep in thought. After a moment, he glanced back up and said quietly, “I don’t know.”
Alpha Trion sighed again. “Not to worry. It can be difficult to think of a good name, especially when others are already taken.”
“Can I have your name?” the protoform asked.
“Um, well, no. Alpha Trion is my name. It is unique to me. It can’t be anyone else’s.”
“What if I changed part of it. You can be Alpha Trion and I can be… something-else Trion.”
Alpha heard Onyx fail to hold back a snort. Ignoring the Shepherd, he forced himself to smile as he took the protoform’s hands into his own.
“That’s a good place to start. In fact, several members of my house share my name, including my partner Beta Trion and my good friend—”
“Omega.”
Alpha Trion blinked. “Pardon?”
“Omega Trion.” The protoform said the name with a sense of certainty Alpha had not heard him express until now. “That will be my name.”
Alpha Trion mulled over it before slowly nodding. “Then so it will be.”
With that, he pulled the protoform to his feet, taking a moment to study the younger bot’s bulky gray and black body.
“Welcome to the House of Trion, Omega,” Alpha said, resting a hand on the protoform’s shoulder. “I trust that you and I will have a long and lasting relationship.”
ALPHA AND OMEGA
A Pax Cybertronia Interlude
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