CHAPTER FOUR
Fortress Maximus, somewhere on Earth
“We have to stop making this a habit.”
Cerebros stirred at the familiar voice as his systems booted back online. As his visual sensors came back into focus, he was greeted with the sight of several diminutive Cybertronians standing in front of him. In the lead was a bot in orange and red armor plating, whom Cerebros immediately recognized as the Titan Master Infinitus.
“You…” Cerebros started to say. “What are you… what just happened?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Infinitus asked.
Cerebros struggled to think for a moment. “You… you and your friends attacked me and Dai Atlas… and then one of you plugged their needles into my neck….”
“That would’ve been me,” said a gray and red Titan Master whom Cerebros recognized as Stylor. “I was trying to bring back your memories as Kord. I’m not sure if I was successful, though….”
Infinitus tilted his head questioningly at Cerebros. “Do you remember anything? About your past life?”
“I’m… not sure,” Cerebros muttered. “I’m still trying to remember what happened in the last… however much time has passed.”
“More than a couple of days, I’ll tell you that much. After we took control of Fortress Maximus, we went after Iaconus, a dangerous Titan whom we thought had perished long ago. We followed him to Liege Maximo’s colony world only to be brought back here by Onyx Prime just as Iaconus destroyed Liege Maximo’s planet. We fled the first chance we got and left you and our leader Sovereign to Onyx Prime’s mercy.”
“Thanks for that,” Cerebros said dryly. “Really appreciate it.”
Infinitus looked away out of shame. “I regret dragging you and Fortress Maximus into all of this and treating both of you the way we did. But we became desperate—Sovereign especially—when we realized Iaconus was still online. You may not remember, but the destruction he brought… it was perhaps one of the many factors that ended up driving the Thirteen Primes apart.”
“I’ll take your word for it. What about Onyx Prime? Is he still around?”
“No. He is dead. I’m not sure how but we’ve all sensed it. That is why we have returned here, to you; now that Onyx is no more, we are no longer in fear of his retribution.”
“Is that right?” Cerebros narrowed his visor as he took in the crowd of Titan Masters standing in front of him. “Then how come there are a lot less of you now? I remember there were tons of you back when you first brought me and Fort Max here.”
“Some of the others fled to the Decepticons,” said a red and black Titan Master. “I guess they thought they would have better luck with Megatron and his folks than with the Autobots.”
“Most of them had already been aligned with the Decepticons back when we were in hiding, Convex,” Infinitus pointed out. “It’s only natural that they would seek refuge from those they perceived to be their own kind.”
Cerebros groaned to himself, still struggling to process everything. “Great. So what now?”
Infinitus shrugged. “That’s entirely up to you. Sovereign is dead now, thanks to Onyx. We don’t have a leader anymore.”
“We have you,” said Stylor.
Infinitus shook his head. “I’m not leadership material. Been there and done that already. Besides, what would I be leading you towards? We don’t have a goal or purpose anymore.”
“Tell you what,” Cerebros said. “How about I take you guys to my Autobot buddies and we can lock you up in the brig for all of the trouble you’ve caused. That sound like a good purpose for you?”
“I told you he would still be pissed with us,” Convex muttered.
Infinitus sighed before looking back at Cerebros. “I suppose that’s as good a fate as any. Do whatever you think you must.”
“I will,” Cerebros said, already headed for Fortress Maximus’s controls. “Not like I needed your permission anyway….”
As he started to bring the Titan’s systems back online, Cerebros heard Infinitus approach him from behind but did not turn around to look at the Titan Master.
“Cerebros, please understand that it was never our intention to bring you harm. We just wanted what we thought was right for Cybertron.”
“I’m sure you did,” Cerebros replied. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure that justification will be good enough for the others. After everything you’ve done, especially just now with me, it’ll be hard for any of them to trust you.”
“I understand,” Infinitus said, lowering his head in defeat. “I just… I just wanted to make that clear.”
Cerebros did not offer any further reply. Within minutes, Fortress Maximus was back online and lifting up towards the sky.
Metroplex
“I was wondering how long it would take you to finally see me.”
Primus sat alone in his cell, separated from his two visitors by a ray shield. Rodimus Prime stood by the ray shield with his arms folded over his chest while Convoy stood behind him, watching on in silence.
“I take it you still have the Matrix?” Rodimus asked.
“Not even a hello? Is that how little I am worth to you now?” Primus bowed his head, looking at the floor. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You and the others never paid much attention to me.”
“We don’t have time for your pity party. We’re trying to fix the mess you caused and—”
“The mess I caused?” Primus’s head snapped back up, his single optic flaring. “You were there when Lord Imperious revealed his true scheme, Rodimus. You should know that it was never my intention to—”
“It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t ‘your intention,’” Rodimus snapped. “You still fell for the Destructons’ lies and did all of their dirty work. If you were the ‘all-knowing god’ that you claimed to be, you would have seen right through their deception.”
To this, Primus seemingly had nothing to retort with. After a moment, a compartment opened up in his chest and he reached in to pull out a familiar looking gold spherical artifact with silver handles. The Matrix of Leadership glowed as brightly as it had before when Primus had first taken it from Rodimus Prime. The ray shield lowered and Rodimus stepped into the cell. Convoy was close behind him, a weapon trained on Primus in case the false god tried to pull something on them.
“Do you intend to use it against Unicron?” Primus asked as he handed the Matrix to its rightful bearer.
“We haven’t discussed it yet,” Rodimus replied, opening up his own chest compartment to place the Matrix back in. “I doubt we will since it would mean destroying Earth as well. We would need to somehow exorcise Unicron’s soul out of Earth before destroying it with the Matrix.”
Primus shook his head. “That won’t do you any good. The Matrix can destroy Unicron’s body but it cannot fully eradicate his essence. When you first defeated him two years ago, you only succeeded in destroying his current vessel while his essence was banished back to the Dead Universe.”
“You seem to know more about Unicron than any of us do,” Rodimus said. “Mind telling us the full story?”
At first, Primus did not speak and Rodimus started to think he wasn’t going to answer. Then, the former Grand Architect looked over to Convoy and asked, “Do you remember Antilla?”
Convoy shifted, still keeping his weapon pointed at Primus. “I… yes, I remember Antilla.”
“Do you remember how the Antillans used a weapon to wipe out all life on their planet, forcing the Primes’ forces to flee?”
“It’s all a bit foggy in my memory, but… yes, I remember.”
“Then you would have witnessed the birth of Unicron as you know him. The weapon that the Antillans used was the Talisman; through means that escape even my understanding, the Talisman managed to open a portal to the Dead Universe and infuse its essence with Antilla, creating the being you know as Unicron.”
Rodimus glanced at Convoy. “Did you know about this?”
“Not at the time,” Convoy replied. “Liege Maximo may have said something about it while I was in his captivity, but by that point I had already fallen into despair and was no longer paying attention to him.”
“How did the legend of Unicron start, though? Did you and the other Primes come up with it or did it originate somewhere else?”
“I’m not sure how or where it originated, but it definitely predated our time,” Convoy said. “I believe it was derived from the Old Cybertronian word for ‘uncreator.’”
“Indeed,” Primus said. “The Uncreator. My opposite. The Quintessons saw us as two halves of a whole and created me to serve as a counterbalance to the Chaos Bringer.”
“But the incident at Antilla happened long after the time of the Guiding Hand,” said Convoy. “How could the Quintessons have known about Unicron before he existed?”
“The idea of Unicron existed long before his physical creation. According to Quintesson myth, he was the chaotic half of their god Daiakuron while Primus was the peaceful half. While they had no proof of Unicron’s existence at the time, they nonetheless saw the need to create me so as to counteract Unicron’s inevitable arrival. It just so happened that their predictions came true in more ways than one.”
“I’m not going to pretend to understand any of this and just take your word for it,” Rodimus Prime said. “Unless you can tell us how to destroy Unicron once and for all, then we have no further business here.”
“Is that it then?” Primus asked. “You’re just going to abandon your former crewmate in a cell to wither away?”
“You’re no crewmate of mine,” Rodimus snapped. “You’re just using him as part of your body. As far as I can tell, you share none of his good qualities. All I see is the Grand Architect.”
“Would it help if I separated into my individual components again?”
Rodimus blinked, taken aback by this. “You… you can do that?”
“All you need to do is ask.”
Rodimus shared a glance with Convoy before saying, “All right. Go ahead. Just don’t try to pull anything.”
Without a word, Primus’s body began to shift and split apart. His chestpiece disconnected and unfolded into a familiar orange Autobot; his legs folded back up to form Chief Justice Tyrest; his head, the Magnificence, fell to the floor; and his arms reconnected to form the blue and white-armored Adaptus. As the other components tried to recompose themselves and take in their surroundings, Adaptus picked up the Magnificence from the floor and handed it to Rodimus.
“Why don’t you ask my brother Epistemus?” the former Grand Architect said, smirking slightly. “He’s always professed to have all the answers to everything.”
Silently glaring at Adaptus, Rodimus Prime took the Magnificence from him and handed it to Convoy. He then guided Rung out of the cell before reactivating the ray shield, sealing Adaptus and Tyrest in.
“You feeling all right, Rung?” Rodimus asked the psychotherapist as the three of them headed out the brig. “We can take you to Ratchet to get checked up on.”
“I… I don’t know what’s going on,” Rung murmured, rubbing his head. “The last thing I remember is—”
“Don’t worry about it. All that matters is that you’re here and you’re safe.”
“Oh, I would not go that far, Rodimus Prime,” Adaptus said from behind them. “I don’t think any of us are….”
But Rodimus had already stopped listening as he, Convoy, and Rung departed from the brig.
* * *
“So,” Wheeljack said, staring at the ancient artifact placed in front of him on his worktable. “How exactly is this supposed to work?”
“How do you think it’s supposed to work?” asked Swerve, standing across from the engineer. He had been holding onto the Enigma of Combination ever since receiving it from a dying Cannonspring, using it to create the combiner Defensor when the Destructons attacked the Lost Light not so long ago. “It’s the Enigma of Combination. It makes combiners, like magic.”
Wheeljack shook his head, rolling his optics. “Magic doesn’t exist, Swerve. There has to be more to it than that.”
“Well, how else do you explain it being able to merge the Protectobots into one giant robot?” Swerve asked.
“Well, for one thing, the Protectobots had already had their bodies modified to form a combiner,” Wheeljack replied. “During the war, shortly before the Cataclysm, Optimus Prime had us look into creating combiners in response to rumors of the Decepticons doing the same. We didn’t get as far as actually combining them when Thunderwing went on his rampage, but the work had already been done. My guess is that the Enigma just enhanced what they had always been capable of doing.”
“Oh.” Swerve seemed somewhat disheartened by this revelation. “I never would have guessed. I don’t think First Aid ever brought it up.”
“Probably because he and the others were sworn to secrecy.”
“Were there any other Autobots involved in the project?”
“Yes. The Aerialbots and the Technobots volunteered and received the same treatment. If the Enigma can do the same for them that it did for the Protectobots, then we’ll have at least three combiners to combat any the Decepticons have made so far. Which is still one too many for my liking….”
“Hey, three is better than none!” Swerve then thought for a moment before saying, “Could you modify me to form a combiner?”
“No,” Wheeljack said, a bit too quickly. “Don’t have the tools or the resources at hand.”
“Is that really the case or are you just saying that to—”
“Enough chatter,” Wheeljack said, picking up the Enigma from the table. “I need to call some bots up to my lab. Maybe have Perceptor and Brainstorm stop by, too. You might want to step out ‘cos it’s going to get pretty crowded….”
Taking the hint, Swerve sighed and stepped out of the lab. As he did so, he saw Rodimus Prime and Convoy walking in his direction, accompanied by a familiar orange bot.
“Rung?!” Swerve exclaimed. “By the AllSpark! We thought you were—”
“Not now, Swerve,” Rodimus said. “We need to take him to Ratchet so we can make sure he’s—”
“Wait.” Convoy stopped at the door to Wheeljack’s workshop, peering inside. “What’s that you got in there?”
“What?” Wheeljack asked, turning around and holding up the Enigma of Combination. “This?”
Convoy’s optics narrowed. “Where did you get that?”
“A while ago, we picked up Nexus Prime—or what was left of him—and he gave the Enigma of Combination to us right before he went offline,” Swerve said. “I say ‘gave’—it’s more like I took it out of his subspace pocket while he was on his repair slab.”
“Swerve,” Rodimus groaned in exasperation.
“Hey, we were getting murdered by the Destructons at the time!” Swerve said defensively. “Desperate times and all that, you know.”
Unfazed, Convoy asked, “Did he say anything before he… before he died?”
“I wasn’t there but Velocity told me that he said something about five that needed to be one or something like that,” Swerve replied. “I’m not sure what he could have meant about that.”
“He was probably referring to the five bots that made up Primus,” Rodimus suggested.
Convoy shook his head. “No. He wouldn’t have known about that. None of us did. If anything, I believe he was referring to himself. Nexus Prime was comprised of five components.”
“Okay…?” Swerve said. “But… they’re all dead now, except for one of them I think. Why would he use his last words to ask us to find his own dead components?”
“I can’t say I know for sure at the moment,” Convoy admitted as his gaze wandered to the Enigma in Wheeljack’s hands. “But if there’s one thing I know about Nexus, is that there’s always more than one way to interpret his words.”
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