THE FIRST RESISTOR: LIO CONVOY'S TALE
Eukaris, Cycle 8814
It was a new day on Eukaris, and Razorbeast was hardly ready to face it.
Resting comfortably in his porcineacon form, he watched as the sun slowly rose from behind the horizon and cast its golden rays of light across Talon Valley. In the distance, he could hear beasts letting out various cries as their way to rouse others from their slumber. Another day met yet another twenty-four hours of laborious struggle. It had been this way for the last century and it did not look like it would be changing anytime soon. To this day, he had no idea what exactly it was he and his fellow Eukarians were working for, as their new Predacon rulers had never been exactly clear in that. Whenever anyone started asking questions, it turned out to be the last thing they did.
Razorbeast wondered what would happen if he didn’t show up for work today. Would someone be sent to find him and drag him to work? Would the Predacons send their thugs to hunt him down and either capture or kill him? Or would anyone even notice his absence? The Fur Walkers were one of the largest tribes on the planet; what difference would one less member make?
Today was not the first time Razorbeast had considered taking that risk. In fact, it wasn’t even the seventh or thirteenth time. Each day since the Predacons took over the planet, he had entertained the idea of standing up and speaking out… and each and every time, he had dismissed it, telling himself that there would be another time. Maybe one day, someone would be the first to make a stand… but today, it would not be him.
Resigning himself to his fate, Razorbeast got up from his resting spot and headed off to join his fellow Fur Walkers at the work site. For the past several years—it might have even been decades at this point—they had been working on digging up something that was supposedly beneath the planet’s surface. Stars knew what that something was, since the Predacons had never bothered to tell them, but in that time they had made hardly any progress, other than uncover a small patch of metal. At this rate, they would probably all run out of energon before they had uncovered whatever it was they were digging up. A part of Razorbeast wondered if that was the idea….
Up ahead, he could see the other Fur Walkers had already got to work. Bone Crusher was handing out tools and supplies for the others to use, although some—such as Diablo—were trying to use the claws of their beast modes to get the job done instead. As Razorbeast approached the site, Bone Crusher spotted him and acknowledged him with a curt nod.
“’Bout time you showed up,” the larger Eukarian grunted as he handed Razorbeast his tools. “Part of me was worried you were gonna try somethin’ stupid today.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Razorbeast said. “Well, actually, I would, but there’s a difference between dreaming and doing.”
“For some, there is.” With that, Bone Crusher sauntered off to work on his own project. Small talk was often discouraged by the Predacons during work hours, and Bone Crusher wasn’t exactly the type who would try and get on their bad side.
Razorbeast walked over to where Diablo was working. From the pained expression on the younger Fur Walker’s face, he could tell that the whole “bare claws” thing wasn’t working out for him. Razorbeast extended a spare tool to him but Diablo shook his way.
“Thanks, but I’ve got this.”
“Doesn’t seem that way to me,” Razorbeast remarked.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. Just need to…” Diablo winced as his claws struck a metal patch. “…Take my time is all.”
Razorbeast sighed as he laid the spare tool next to his comrade. “I’ll just leave this here for you when you break a nail or something.”
Leaving Diablo to his work, Razorbeast looked for his own spot to dig and readied his shovel. As he raised it, ready to stab the ground with it, he looked over and saw that one of the Fur Walkers—an elder by the name of Backstop—was not working. Instead, he simply sat there with his hands folded over his lap, head dipped with the lights of his optical sensors dimmed.
“Backstop?” Razorbeast said uneasily. “Shouldn’t you be working?”
“No,” Backstop calmly replied. “There is no need to.”
“But the Predacons—”
“The Predacons do not control us, Razorbeast. Only we have full control of our minds and bodies.”
The elder Eukarian’s words seemed to reverberate all around the camp site as many workers stopped to look over at Backstop. Bone Crusher in particular frowned as he regarded the other Fur Walker with a concerned look.
“Backstop, what are you doing? You know what the punishment is for not working.”
“I am well aware,” Backstop said. “But the Predacons cannot punish us all for not working. They need us.”
“But you’ve seen what they’ve done to others, haven’t you?” said Armordillo. “They’ll kill us!”
“They cannot kill all of us,” Backstop said firmly. “It is only through fear that they control us. If we stand against that fear, then they can no longer control us.”
“Where is this coming from, Backstop?” Bone Crusher asked. “Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
A sage smile crossed the elder’s crimson faceplate. “Let’s just say that I’ve been… enlightened.”
* * *
“Come on, move faster! Why do you think Chela gave you flippers?”
Cybershark groaned as he nearly collapsed onto the seafloor with the large metal object he had been carrying. His fellow Wave Walkers swam past him, not paying him any heed… save for one. An orange squid, whom Cybershark knew as Claw Jaw, dropped whatever he was carrying as he swam back to check on his fellow Wave Walker, transforming to his robot mode.
“You good, Cyber’?” Claw Jaw asked.
“No,” Cybershark grunted. “I’ve been at this all day and it’s causing strain on my joints. I don’t know how much longer I can keep going.”
“Well, you’ve got to, ‘cos you know Manta isn’t going to tolerate us slacking off.”
“She doesn’t tolerate anything.”
As if summoned by name, Manta herself came swimming up to the pair, causing the water around her to bubble as she quickly converted to robot mode.
“Hey! You two had better get back to work or I’m reporting you to the Predacons!”
“Cybershark is getting worn out, Manta,” Claw Jaw snapped. “You’ve been pushing him all day.”
“If he cannot handle the stress, then he is of no use,” Manta said icily. “Leave him behind and get back to work. I’ll handle him.”
“No.” Claw Jaw stepped between Manta and Cybershark, splaying his arms out. “I know what you’re going to do to him and I won’t allow it. It’s not right!”
“You don’t get to decide that, scrub,” Manta growled. “Now stand aside or I will have you both executed!”
“Claw Jaw,” Cybershark said quietly. “Do as she says.”
“But—” Claw Jaw started to say.
“Now.”
Not waiting for him to move, Manta grabbed Claw Jaw by the shoulder and shoved him aside. At that moment, Cybershark got to his feet, pointed his arm-mounted tail at her, and fired. A harpoon shot out and skewered Manta right through the shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell back. This got the attention of the other Wave Walkers, who immediately stopped what they were doing and looked back to see what the commotion was.
As Cybershark helped him to his feet, Claw Jaw looked bewilderedly at the fallen Manta. “What… what did you just…?”
“Sorry for dragging you into that,” Cybershark said. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to actually check up on me. Appreciate it though.”
“Cybershark, what the hell did you just do?”
“What you just did for me.” Cybershark smiled at his smaller companion. “It’s called standing up for what is right.”
* * *
“Sonar! What in Onyx’s name is going on?!”
Perched upside down from the branch of a high tree, the gray and red bat feigned a yawn. “No need to shout, Lord Divebomb. I can hear you just find.”
The large Predacon eagle flapped his wings ferociously as he hovered in front of Sonar. “You and your Cloud Walkers were supposed to have delivered materials to your assigned work site by now! Why have they not yet done so?”
“Because I told them to take the day off,” Sonar casually replied.
“You what?!”
“Again with the yelling.” Sonar waved one of her winged arms. “I have sensitive hearing, so keep your voice modulator at a respectable level.”
Divebomb’s optics flashed angrily. “You dare give orders to me?”
“You do it to us all the time, so what’s the big deal?”
“We Predacons are your masters! You answer to us and will do as we say!”
“By whose authority?”
“By ours!”
“Ah.” Sonar’s bat ears twitched. “So it is by your authority that we must do things according to… your authority. Isn’t that a bit of circular logic?”
“I don’t have time for this,” Divebomb growled. “You are coming with me to answer for your transgressions.”
“No. I don’t think I will.”
Suddenly, bursting from the surrounding trees came a flock of Cloud Walkers, who quickly began to surround Divebomb. Several of them lashed out at the Predacon with their talons and pecked at him with their beaks. While Divebomb shielded himself with his wings to block their attacks, his back was still left unexposed and the falcon Sky Warp managed to deliver a piercing blow from behind. Squawking in pain, Divebomb spread out his wings and spun himself around, knocking back some of his attackers with the force of his wings.
“You will pay for this!” The Predacon screeched. “You will all pay for your treachery!”
While some of the Cloud Walkers prepared to attack him again, Sonar motioned for them to stay back, allowing Divebomb to take off into the sky. As he flew off in the direction of the Predacons’ fortress, Sky Warp transformed to her robot mode and landed on a branch next to the one Sonar was perched under.
“You know, that felt good and all… but we are so dead.”
“Are you kidding?” Sonar smiled. “I’ve never felt more alive.”
* * *
“Traitors! You will all pay for your—”
Guiledart was cut off as T-Wrecks struck him with his large red tail, sending the yellow-plated Scale Walker flying and crashing into two others. As the large tyrannosaurus turned to storm away, a purple and red pteranodon flew at him, clawing at him with its talons. Growling, T-Wrecks swung his large body around and snapped at Lazorbeak with his massive jaws, only for the pteranodon to fly out of reach. This proved to be a distraction as Hard Head came charging at him in his helmeted dinosaur form and rammed himself into T-Wrecks’ leg. The blow was powerful enough to knock the tyrannosaurus off his footing and he staggered back as he transformed to keep his balance. Looking up, he saw that he was now surrounded by his once-fellow Scale Walkers, all poised to strike at him if he made a move.
“I thought you were smarter than this, ‘Wrecks,” Guiledart muttered as he came up to stand at the front of the group, helped up by Killer Punch and Saberback. “You more than anyone should recognize that the Predacons are our true rulers and not to be questioned.”
“The Predacons don’t rule through might,” T-Wrecks retorted. “They rule through fear, which is far more weaker than pure strength.”
“Was it not them who overthrew Magmatron?” Lazorbeak asked snidely. “Please, someone refresh my memory on that one.”
“They overwhelmed Magmatron in numbers, not pure strength alone. If Razorclaw truly wanted to be recognized as Beast King, then he should have fought Magmatron one-on-one in combat.” T-Wrecks fixed Guiledart with a cold glare. “I’m surprised you aren’t standing here with me, Guiledart. You were Magmatron’s most trusted lieutenant.”
Guiledart stiffened, his face stone cold. “My loyalty to Eukaris, as represented by the Beast King. Today, that Beast King is Razorclaw, and if you insist on standing against him and the Predacons, then—”
He was cut off once again as a loud screech pierced the air. Everyone looked up as a large gray and red pteranodon burst out of the trees, followed shortly by several other Scale Walkers. Taken off guard, Guiledart and the others had little time to react as these reinforcements charged into them, with a dark brown triceratops ramming herself into Guiledart, knocking down Killer Punch and Saberback in the process, while a green pachycephalosaurus collided into Hard Head. After taking down Lazorbeak, the gray and red pteranodon transformed to robot mode and rushed over to T-Wrecks’ side.
“Sorry for the delay,” said Terranotron. “Got held up by Thrashclaw and her goons.”
“Better late than never.” T-Wrecks converted back into his beast mode. “Let’s go now while they’re down.”
Triceradon, Dinotron, and the others fell back in line as they followed T-Wrecks into the dark forest, leaving behind the Scale Walkers they had once considered brothers, not knowing that they had just made history.
* * *
“Members of the four Walker tribes are rising up all across Eukaris,” Headstrong reported as Razorclaw paced back and forth in the throne room of the five Predacon Lords. “No word yet from the Crawlers or the other minor tribes. The leaders of the Wave Walkers and Scale Walkers have reasserted their loyalty, but Sonar of the Cloud Walkers directly ordered her people to attack Divebomb. No word yet from the Fur Walkers’ leader.”
“I say we round them up and start executing them all,” growled Tantrum. “I’m sure once we kill ten or fifteen, the rest will fall in line.”
“Or it will make them want to rebel even more,” Divebomb pointed out. “Clearly the tactic of fear isn’t working out.”
“Then what other option do we have?” asked Rampage. “Do we beat them into submission? Because I don’t have a problem with that, if so….”
“As powerful as we are, we are only five,” Razorclaw said. “The more Eukarians that rise up, the better the chance they have at outnumbering us. We need to rally those who have not yet betrayed us and unify them into one army. A Predacon army.”
“The Scale Walkers should be easy enough to recruit,” said Divebomb. “Most of them are already loyal to us. Same with most of the Wave Walkers. The other two tribes will be trickier; even before now, they’ve always had a… rebellious streak.”
“Eh, it’s still two tribes against two,” said Headstrong. “I like those odds; even more so if we bring in the Crawlers.”
“Indeed,” Razorclaw agreed. “Now, the question that remains is… why? Why now, after a hundred years, have these Eukarians started to stand against our rule?”
Rampage shifted uneasily on his feet. “I might have an answer to that….”
The other Predacons directed their attention to him. “Well?” Tantrum huffed impatiently. “Out with it then!”
“A few days ago, before all of this kicked off, I heard some rumblings among the Fur Walkers about someone wandering across Eukaris, visiting each tribe. From what I understand, he is not from any of the Walker tribes and very well may not even be from Eukaris.”
“He’s Cybertronian, then?” asked Divebomb.
“More than likely,” Rampage answered. “Apparently, he goes by the name ‘Lio Convoy.’”
Razorclaw took in a sharp inhale. “Convoy,” he echoed, his voice a low rumble. “That sounds like an Autobot name.”
“How can the Autobots be here?” Tantrum exclaimed. “I thought Magmatron cut off all contact from Cybertron. They should have no idea of what has transpired!”
“Unless this one is a straggler who came on his own accord,” Divebomb suggested. “Perhaps he came here expecting to find haven only to find… well, something not to his liking. And now he is trying to change that.”
Razorclaw chuckled. “Oh, he can try. But he is going to need more than just riot-inciting rhetoric. Perhaps it is time for us to take a page from Magmatron’s book and rule through might rather than fear.” The light of the Predacon leader’s visor flashed as it filled with malicious glee. “Let him recruit all the rebels he wants. It won’t be enough.”
* * *
“Look! Over there, coming over the horizon!”
Razorbeast looked in the direction Diablo was pointing in and saw a figure walking towards the Fur Walkers’ work site, silhouetted by the sun. He felt the piston in his body tighten up. He and the rest of his group had decided to follow Backstop’s example and refused to continue working, although their supervisor had not yet come by to check up on them. Was this them making their (admittedly overdramatic) arrival? Had the Predacons already been alerted and they had sent one of their executioners to start making some examples out of them?
He raised a hand to shield his optics to get a better look at the newcomer’s features. At the very least, they did not resemble any of the five Predacons lords; while they seemed to have a lion alternate form same as Razorclaw, the stranger wore white and red armor plating rather than black and gold. Additionally, they wore a blue helmet over their head, with a silver faceplate covering their mouth. Blue optics shone from their shadowed face; optics that exuded a sense of confidence that Razorbeast had never seen in anyone living on Eukaris before.
“Who the hell is that?” asked B’Boom as he and the others started to gather behind Razorbeast and Diablo.
Backstop chuckled. “That, my friends, is our key to freedom.”
“What are you talking about?” Bone Crusher questioned him. “Do you know this ‘bot? Who even are they?”
“Why don’t we let him explain?”
Coming to a stop before the gathered audience of Fur Walkers, the stranger raised an arm in greeting. “Hello, my friends. My name is Leo Prime. I come to you in peace… and to free you from the shackles of the Predacons.”
“Prime?” Bone Crusher repeated incredulously. “As in, like, Onyx Prime?”
“It is a title I assume not to assert authority, but to inspire greatness,” Leo Prime said. “Onyx Prime created this world to free our people from the oppression of Cybertron, and now I have come to free you from the oppression you face on your own world. For too long have you suffered under the Predacons tyranny. But now, it is time for their rule to come to an end.”
Razorbeast glanced at the others, wondering what they were thinking. Backstop looked as if he had already been prepared for this moment, looking on with approval as the stranger spoke. Most of the others, such as Bone Crusher, B’Boom, and Diablo, seem entranced by his words, as if they were words that they had long been waiting for someone to say but had not dared to think them themselves. Still others such as Tigatron and Wolfang were hard to get a read on, although that was pretty much typical when it came to those two specifically.
“As we speak,” Leo Prime went on, “the other tribes are rising up against the Predacons rule. Cloud Walkers, Wave Walkers, even some of the Scale Walkers have set down their tools and decided that enough is enough. You should do the same. We must all send the message to Razorclaw and his cronies that we will no longer stand for the torment they have subjected us to. If they rule through fear, then we must show them that we are not scared. If they rule through might, then we must show them that we are not weak.”
Somewhere in the crowd, someone let out a cheer. It startled Razorbeast, who had been lost in the words he was hearing. It was quickly joined by another cheer from Diablo, then one from Armordillo. Even the quiet and reserved Fangwolf was nodding in agreement.
“It is time for us to maximize our efforts in creating a better world for us to live in. The time for kings and tyrants has ended; from here on out, there is only the maximal, the greatest of all outcomes.” Leo Prime raised a fist to the air. “Freedom!”
“FREEDOM!” The gathered Fur Walkers threw their fists into the air as well, and Razorbeast was surprised at himself for joining in. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders; as if all the strain that the century’s worth of toil the Predacons had forced onto him had all been wiped away.
Today was indeed a new day. And now, he was ready to face it.
