The Children of Primus
 
By Tony “Thunder” Klepack


    “What does thou think so far?”
    Sunfire turned her attention back to the Human beside her. Avatar Prime, as he was called, smiled warmly at the glance. His chiseled features showed little wear despite his apparent age and his
green-brown eyes conveyed a sense of strength and dignity that she decided she found attractive.
    “It’s... amazing. It truly is,” she replied.
    “I knew thou would like it.” He gestured about them. “This place fills us with the greatest of pride--it is a testament to the beauty our kind can create when we work toward the right ends.”
    Sunfire took a moment to further ponder the environment about her. She, Avatar and Militant Prime stood in the midst of a vast underground cavern, larger than any other she had ever seen. For as far as she could gaze, vegetation filled the subterranean world. Trees and plants of a sub-tropical climate dominated this world, juxtaposed with fields of grass on the ground about them. In the near distance, a vast waterfall dropped off the edge of a cliff face into a valley. Birds of some variety she could not identify soared in flocks through the air, and all around them she could hear a cacophony of animal sounds.  All of it was set against a brilliant blue sky which framed a vibrant white star.
    The skies were holograms, Avatar had told her, as was the star. During a twelve hour cycle, the holo star slowly would move across the sky and set on the horizon, making way for a starfield at night. They didn’t really need the illusion for practical reasons, of course--merely because they preferred the touch of reality it added to their botanical caverns. Everything else, from the grass to the water to the animals, were real. The livestock had been breed naturally and the vegetation had started off engineered until it had gotten to a point where it could reproduce suitably on it’s own. The whole environment had a manufactured weather cycle to keep it running properly.
    Amazingly, Avatar Prime had told her they had many other such bio-environments. Some like this one, some adjusted for farming and so forth. Still other parts of the Masters home were exposed to the surface of the planet itself and supported small gardens of plants and other vegetation as well as some of the older living quarters for their people. Avatar had explained that the surface was not entirely warm enough to support all their crops and so they’d had to construct these climate controlled underground caverns to accommodate their food needs. Additionally, as time wore onward, they had decided to move some of the newer living quarters slightly below the surface for better security.
    It was hard to believe the Humans were capable of such a feat--the Humans on Earth had never gotten anywhere near this level of sophistication in all their time. And yet these Humans had risen far beyond needlessly destroying their biosphere with pollution and worshiping greed as their god, like so many of Earth’s peoples still did.
    Earlier in their walk, they had passed through a vast, lush garden and she had watched as the Masters’ young children played contently with each other, blissfully unaware of the harsh Galaxy beyond their enclosed world. And she supposed that was as it should be--one should always have the opportunity in their life to experience the wonder and beauty of life before being subjected to the dark underside of it.
    She had been that young and innocent once...that is, until the massacre of Autobot City and the death of her idol, Optimus Prime. She had, for the first time, really tasted the brutality of war and the horror of watching her peers die around her. But Optimus’ sadistic dismemberment by Galvatron had been the worst of them all--and only the knowledge that he was really an entity called a Syntara and had in fact survived as the new Decepticon identity, Tempest, did her any real consolation.
    She put the thought out of her mind, instead deciding to concentrate on her mission in the here and now and not on the past. With luck, if she and her kind survived the coming destruction, maybe she could find Tempest again and they could be together once more. But that was only going to happen if things went well and she succeeded in her mission here and that meant not daydreaming about the past and events she couldn’t control.
    “Greetings, Avatar and Militant,” a new voice addressed them from behind the triumvirate.
    All three turned in time to see a young dark haired woman approach them.
    Avatar smiled at the newcomer. “Ah, Rapture. How art thou this fine day?”
    “I’m very good, thank you,” she said, returning the smile to the Prime. Her eyes darted to Militant and Sunfire. “And I hope you both find yourselves in good health as well.”
    “Indeed, we do,” Militant responded, trying to act cordial for the first time that Sunfire could remember since she’d met the Master.
    Avatar gestured to Sunfire. “This is Sunfire. She too has come from the Motherworld, just as yourself.”
    A look of genuine surprise crossed Rapture’s face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sunfire. I had no idea you were from Earth as well--judging by your appearance I thought you were from Eden.”
    Sunfire smiled slightly. “Uh, no. It’s just a coincidence that I resemble the Masters. I didn’t realize there were other Humans from Earth here either.”
    “As far as I know, I’m the only one,” Rapture replied.
    “That is correct,” Militant chimed in. “We found Rapture on an alien world called Dantros Three. She was traveling the cosmos to...” He looked at her curiously.
    Rapture shrugged. “I was trying to find myself. They have a little problem with that concept, Sunfire. For the Masters, they are trained from birth to understand their place in the universe and how their role benefits the whole of their people.”
    “But you had lost sight of that place for yourself,” Avatar said. “I would not desire to experience such a thing myself. For a Master to be devoid of life purpose...it is almost unthinkable.”
    Sunfire noted the expression on Militant’s face seemed to reflect Avatar’s own...a tentative surface scan of their minds and she confirmed the bewilderment within. Rapture’s plight must have seemed alien to them. Truthfully, she could sympathize--it was not even a common occurrence among her own people.
    Rapture nodded, her mind clearly suppressed by some sort of emotional weight. “It’s too bad we’re not like that...I once belonged to a team of superhumans on Earth called the Neo Knights. We were charged by G.B. Blackrock to defend the planet from the Decepticon menace. But on one of the last assaults at the time, I lost a good friend.” She hesitated, as if lost in the image of the moment. “It’s not that Dynamo and I were anything more than friends, but his death was hard to take... and after that battle, the Decepticons left the world alone until just recently. We were no longer needed and I bummed around Earth for a while until I went into space to see if I could find a reason for it all again.”
    “And then we found her,” Avatar spoke. “And welcomed her into our family.” He looked to the woman. “His death was not your fault, Katrina...you could not have done anything to have saved him. I have looked into your mind and seen this truth.”
    Rapture looked at him, clearly unsettled. “I’ve had years to come at this from every available angle and I suppose you’re right ultimately...but it doesn’t make it any easier. He gave his life for mine...and I can’t understand why I was spared and he wasn’t...it’s almost as if the Universe was playing some sick joke on me.”
    Sunfire observed as Avatar Prime rested his hand upon her shoulder. He remained silent a moment, as if considering his next words. She cast a glance at Militant right then and noticed his gaze was trailing off, looking toward the valley. Could he be so insensitive to Rapture’s plight, she wondered. Or was it that he could identify in some way?
    “He died a hero and protecting you...there is no greater honor among our people than to sacrifice one’s life for the protection of another.” She looked up at him and he smiled gently. “You dishonor him by not accepting his sacrifice on your behalf.”
    “It’s just... not easy,” Rapture whispered gently. She looked up into his eyes. “But I promise I’ll try...”
    Avatar gently squeezed her hand. “It is all I can ask of you,” he said, his voice delicate.
    Militant cleared his throat intentionally, hoping to release them of any further emotion. It had the intended effect, breaking Avatar and Rapture out of their reverie.
    “Ah, yes, perhaps we should continue our journey...” Avatar turned to Rapture. “Wouldst thou like to join us? We were showing Sunfire the splenders of Eden.”
    Rapture looked about uncomfortably. “I’ve taken enough of your time, perhaps I should--”
    “Nonsense, child!” Avatar snapped. “You are one of us and when one of us bleeds, we all bleed. When one of us falls, we all weep; when one of us is wronged, we are all wronged and take revenge. It our way...”
    Rapture smiled slightly at that.
    “Okay,” she said softly. “And... you really consider me one of you?”
    “Indeed,” Avatar replied. “I know thy heart is with our own...thou belongeth with the Children, even share the great gift from our Lord with us. Surely, thou recognizes this truth by now?”
    She nodded. “I guess I do. I just...I just needed to hear it from you, is all.”
    “I am not comfortable with this,” Militant interrupted. “It is enough that we have permitted two outsiders to enter the sacred retreat that is Eden, but to allow them access to all our secrets and give them the ability to sabotage our righteous vengeance before we have even dealt it to thine enemy?! Have thee gone mad, Avatar, or hast thou merely forgotten what our forefathers died for?”
    “Stop being so melodramatic, Militant!” Avatar began. “Our security is hardly compromised--”
    “Our ancestors came to this world homeless, millennia ago, and only through much perserverence and death did they accomplish what they did here. Despite the horrors and injustice that the mechs committed against them, they endured and built a beautiful paradise here. We have survived due to stealth and not being presumptuous about our choices. Would you disregard our principals now?”
    “Of course not,” Avatar replied. “They will be told the Truth about our sacred Jihad first and be given a chance to chose as their hearts direct them.” He cast a glance at Sunfire. “However, I am confident they will make the right choice...”
    “And if they do not choose as you believe?”
    “Then they will be taken to a safe, populated planet and dropped off there.” Avatar looked him in the eye. “They are Humans as we are--fellow Children--we do not murder our own kind. No matter what they may believe... that is what the mechs do and we are above such savagery.”
    “Why do you hate the mechs so much?” Sunfire asked. “What did they do to your people that they warrant such loathing?”
    “She asks that thou reveal the Truth to her, Avatar. Will thou do so?”
    Avatar Prime cast Militant a scornful look and then turned his attention to Sunfire. “That was always my intention.” Her met her gaze. “But first I wanted you to see our world, that you might be able to truly appreciate our position in the holy war against the Defilers. To understand in part what we are and what we represent.”
    Sunfire nodded.
    He turned and motioned behind him for the others to follow.
    “Come. It is time...”
            *            *            *
    Reality warped back into existence as Starscream thundered out of the interdimensional void of Hyperspace. Swiftly checking her sensors to verify that she was indeed at her intended destination, she banked upward sharply and placed the giant metropolis that was Grand Central Space Station squarely into her viewport.
    “Impressive, isn’t it?” Starscream asked that small corner of Gwen’s mind that still belonged to the Human. “Grand Central Space Station... the largest space station in this sector of the Galaxy. Home to all types of lifeforms; from the lowest scum to the most prestigious in society. All, except our kind, that is...”
    The space station had been built millennia ago by a coalition of traders and miners seeking easier access to civilization from their remote operations out on what was then the Rim of known space. As years passed, hundreds flocked to it seeking opportunity in one form or another. New business bloomed, inviting further development of the station and enticed additional populace. And it had all eventually lead to this megalopolis.
    As with any burgeoning populace, there was an abundant criminal community on the station and there had been one for some time. Several organized crime clans operated out of the station, controlling smuggling, extortion, contraband and the like. Many small time hustlers, thieves, mercenaries and
techno-criminals also resided there.
    And that was exactly why Starscream was here. After hacking into the Dark Glory’s computers and copying some of Megatron’s personal log files, she had tapped into the interstellar webnet and done a search for decrypters. Additional research had revealed the name and suspected location of someone said to be a master decrypter--and that place was here. A Humanoid named Lykos was said to be the best there was in this area of the Galaxy; she hadn’t been able to turn up much about his background but if he could do the job it didn’t really matter to her.
    She just hoped this was all worth the trouble. But if anything could give her the ability to survive and challenge Megatron’s power, then it would certainly be the very source of his power--the aliens whom had supplied him with the means to create it all in the first place. And certainly the first entries in Megatron’s log would--ideally--have their exact coordinates or at the very least, information that was specific enough for her to figure it out.
    Starscream signaled the station control and commanded Gwen to request landing clearance. After a few moments of conversing with the station control via interstellar translator, Gwen was given a time that corresponded roughly to forty standard minutes before their turn came up in the docking list.
    But that was okay. Because Starscream had already waited several millennia for a serious attempt at gaining Megatron’s power for herself. What was a few minutes more one way or the other?
    She supposed she’d have to send Gwen in alone to contact Lykos, given the station’s absurd
anti-robotic laws. Of course, he would be there too... it was not like Gwen could escape his presence in her mind very easily.
    Starscream relaxed her mind and waited for the landing. Everything was working out according to plan and if things continued as they were, she would soon gain the power she’d always sought.

    Gwen walked down the titanian central corridor of the station. As impressive a sight as the station was on the outside it paled in comparison to the interior. Cathedral ceilings ran the length of the corridor, each lined with an array of gold, silver and other precious metals. Everywhere, buildings large and small dotted the street. Several pedways and tram tubes interconnected the larger buildings in this district and large banners in multilingual symbols indicated which area and section of the station she was in. The street was crammed with aliens of all types--mostly travelers like herself as well as a select few merchants.
    They had all cleared customs a few minutes earlier and this maw of the station now greeted them all. From here, anyone could go anywhere their heart desired--to seek out pleasures and satiate desires, conduct business, or gather supplies.
    The area had the distinct feeling of having been manufactured to Gwen. The air had a staleness to it that she had previously experienced only in large manufacturing plants or artificial environments like the Dark Glory.
    She noticed the area was full of large glass or crystal windows, full of arboretums, impressive monuments--some of which were combined with spectacular water fountains--and streets that were unusually clean for an area with such a high traffic volume. She suspected this area must have been occupied largely by the megacorporations and other wealthy businesses. And it made sense to her--they would have the capital to jockey for the pristine spots in the station and give the appearance that the entire station was as clean and respectable to prospective clientele--people were fools and they would buy the illusion...they always did.
    Some things never changed, she mused, no matter where one’s travels took them in the Galaxy. As with any other place, Gwen knew that this station had myriad places where it was rundown and the less reputable types hung out.
    And that was exactly where she expected to find this Lykos character. After all, one did not go to obtain illegally decrypted information from reputable sources--generally, the megacorporations had their own unofficial staff in-house for such instances.
    Gwen walked for several minutes more until she approached a wide junction. Beyond her, the central corridor continued onward for as far as she could see. To either side, the station split off into two other slightly less impressive, yet equally large sections. On both corridors, banks of elevators and escalators lined the walls in two parallel alcoves, allowing access to several other floors she could not immediately see.
    In the dead center of the junction, a large crest that was the station’s symbol lined the floor. Several aliens stood atop it and examined holo maps in mid-air, each searching for their given destination. It didn’t take too much for her to realize that the crest concealed an elaborate holo grid for travelers. Shrugging, Gwen stepped into the area and instantly activated a holo map in front of her.
    After a few typed commands into the holo touchpad before her, she found a listing of the least... impressive sections of the station. Typing a few commands more, she narrowed it down to the names of the bars in those locations. Several were marked by station security as having been locations of gang
shoot outs, murders and the like. Some were closed down and some remained open even now.
    It seemed logical not to start with places that were too rough--a decrypter wouldn’t want to be found easily, but he would want to be found by the right people... and putting his own life--or the lives of prospective clients-- in jeopardy by inhabiting the wrong establishments would be foolhardy. And if this Lykos character was as reputable as he was cracked up to be, he would have enough brains to habitate a location where he wouldn’t be located easily or attract attention, but still be accessible.
    Gwen typed in several more commands and brought up another list of suspect drinking establishments in the station’s less attractive sections. She worked at it for a few more moments until she had collated a rough listing of bad drinking establishments from station records.
    Bad...but not too bad. Exactly the types of establishments where one did not take their life into their own hands upon entering, but would be a fool to enter just because they had a thirst to quench. The type where crimes happened, but not en masse. A type of place where someone could go unnoticed and yet be accessible to their clientele.
    Using her enhanced memory, Gwen poured over each and every single bar’s location. She supposed she could have used the station’s mobile printer units that circled the immediate vicinity to make a hard copy, but why risk having an item someone could obtain or duplicate? That would only attract the wrong attention for her.
    Finishing up, she erased the screens she had just accessed and returned the holo map to it’s main menu. Stepping off the crest, the grid immediately eliminated the virtual terminal she had been using. Satisfied, she turned and headed off to her left and one of the elevators in the wall.
    There were several locations to investigate and it would take her the better part of a stellar cycle to complete her search, maybe even more time than that. But she would search every one of these establishments until she turned up Lykos and enlisted his help...

    As it turned out, Gwen hit the target after only searching six other locations. She had turned up other decrypters in the process, most of whom she had no idea if they were any good or not--and Starscream did not concern himself with anything less than the best.
    She had also been propositioned by several different species, much to her annoyance. It seemed Human females of her esthetic appeal were considered quite the trophy by members of the criminal elite in some of these establishments. She’d had to break several hearts--not too mention a few bones, fingers  and other appendages too--to communicate her disinterest to some of these criminals.
    It had been a taxing search, but at long last she was here; an establishment a few of the others had casually mentioned or intimated that Lykos sometimes frequented. A mid-sized pub called the White
L’aa-gun’ya, it had the appearance of a structure that had been literally carved out of an immense piece of navy-colored marble. The windows and entrance portal alike flowed smoothly out of the framework of the building, as if they had been sculpted and not just constructed.
    It was an impressive sight for such an institution to boast, Gwen had to admit. Although this was far from one of the nicest sections of the space station, the pub seemed to convey a certain dignity. Almost as if it had built in defiance of the rundown condition of the rest of the community about it...or perhaps it had been built at any earlier time, when this neighbourhood had not yet reached this level of degradation with the dream of having it acquire a higher status and clientele, only to have a semi-respectable area of the station decay about it over the years.
    A symbol of a lost dream... Yes, that metaphor suited this establishment well, she decided.
    Taking one last gaze at the exterior of the building, she steeled herself and walked through the portal, effortlessly opening one of the large chrome-plated doors to the inside.
    A more typical drinking establishment greeted her within. The pub was atypically soft lit and some sort of soft alien jazz emanated from hidden speakers. All about her, people walked about the place and others sporadically dotted the tables and bar, each attending their own business or pleasure as was the case.
    Gwen’s attention was immediately drawn to the large statue of a wild beast in the center of the room. Sculpted from jade and silver, it was a cross between a reptile, hawk and canine. It’s ruby eyes looked off at nothing, the expression conveying a sense of fierceness and strength. All about it, petite water jets sprayed up in arcs, the liquid ending up in a small moat set about the statue’s perimeter. She immediately recognized it as one of the creatures native to the Pi’an--most certainly this L’aa-gun’ya creature the pub was named after.
    She remembered the wildlife from that world all too well--millennia ago on a early scouting mission,  Starscream and his three wingmates had landed at Pia, scouting for energy sources for the emerging Decepticon Empire. Although they had found it and decided the Pi’an--being nomadic savages at the time--wouldn’t pose too much of a potential threat to their extraction operations, the wildlife had been a different story. He had lost one of his wingmen almost immediately to the packs of the savage things and before they had successfully effected an escape, another had been brutally shredded too. He and Skywarp had to leave that warrior to it’s fate--left to bleed to death, alone in an alien environment.
    Not the ending she would ever want to suffer, she knew. No, the only real way to meet one’s end was in a blaze of glory during battle. Not that she wanted to die really, but if one had to chose a certain method that would be the one for her, she knew.
    Turning in the direction of the bar, she did her best to casually saunter in an attempt not to seem too rushed to get there.
    “Hello.” Gwen smiled to the bartender and seated herself at the bar.
    “<Good evening, most pretty one,>” his voice translator replied. The slits he had for eyes glinted slightly as he’d said it, which would’ve communicated his thought even without the device. “<What are you having to drink?>”
    “Actually, I’m looking for someone,” Gwen replied in her sweetest tone. “His name is Lykos...would you happen to know if he is here?”
    A look of suspicion immediately crossed the bartender’s eyes. “<I am afraid I cannot help you, my dear lady.>”
    “Ple-ease?” she begged, doing her best to pout. She reached into her pocket and produced a silver credit chip. “Perhaps, I could make it worth your while?” she said in her most innocent tone.
    He looked down at the chip and snatched it up in his tentacle.”<Of course, I don’t normally accept bribes...>”
    Gwen smiled again. “Of course...”
    “<But since you are such a lovely female and you don’t seem to want to do him any harm...>” He pointed one of his other tentacles off to his left and a man whom was seated at wall alcove with another being that was wearing a cloak. “<He is the one that is closer to the wall...>”
    “Thank you...” Gwen told him, winking her eye at him and smiling warmly. She turned and strode slowly over toward the table.
    Arriving at his table, he swiftly looked up at her as did his companion.
    “Are you Lykos?” she asked.
    “Perhaps,” he replied. “Are you in need of his services or...?”
    “That’s correct.” Gwen’s eyes darted to his encloaked associate and then back at him. “I understand you’re the best.”
    Lykos smiled slightly at that--most likely seeing the comment as an attempt at flattery. “You’ve heard correctly...” he told her, a tinge of sarcastic humour in his voice.
    “I should be going,” Lykos’ associate spoke, rising from his chair. “Another time, my friend.” He smiled at the other. Looking briefly at Gwen, he gestured to the recently vacated chair. “My lady...”
    Gwen nodded and slipped into the chair as he turned and strolled off toward the bar. She took a better look at her new business partner. Lykos was an ordinary Humanoid alien by all appearances--he could’ve easily passed as an actual Human on Earth although she doubted he had actually originated there. He had blue brushcut hair and gray eyes, and dressed in loose-fitting attire that reminded a small part of her mind of the Human residents of a monastery, although more fashionable. Upon closer examination, she noted his left forearm was cybernetic and decided that he probably lost it in some earlier life incident.
    “I need you to crack a triple-encryption code on some files I’ve...come into the possession of.”
    Lykos nodded. “It sounds fairly straight forward. I take it you have a sample of the encryption source code? If not, I will need a piece of the actual file to work with.”
    “No, I have a sample.” After all, she was nothing if not thorough. She produced a data crystal from a small pocket on her jump suit and slowly handed it over to him.
    Lykos produced a small hand scanner and slipped the crystal inside the data port. Pressing a button he glanced at the screen. “This is some nice work....whomever you borrowed it from really knows their work.”
    “But you can crack it, can’t you?”
    He turned the scanner off and removed the crystal. “It shouldn’t be a problem...it’s just going to take me a little time is all.” He glanced at the crystal. “Probably about a day for the precise code...if you can afford to wait that long?”
    “I’ll make do.”
    “Now, there’s the little matter of payment.... My standard fee is ten thousand credits, but since this is going to take a little bit of my time, I’ll need an extra two thousand on top of that.” He studied her neutral expression. “You can afford to pay me, right?”
    “Twelve thousand is a little steep. It’s a bit more than I expected, but I suppose if you want the best you have to pay for it.”
    “Damn straight!” Lykos grinned.
    “I should be able to afford it.” Gwen told him. “If I have any problem....” she reached under the table and caressed his thigh, shifting her hand up to his crotch. “Then perhaps I can think of other ways to pay you,” she purred.
    “That might be nice,” he agreed gently, “but credits are nicer still.” He slowly slipped her hand back off.
    Gwen sighed. “Very well. You’ll get your money...I’ll have all of it by tomorrow.” She looked at her chronometer. “Say thirteen hundred hours?”
    “That’s fine. We’ll meet back here,” Lykos responded.
    Gwen rose and swiftly left the pub. She had been hoping to persuade him with her feminine charms but since that had backfired she would have to try some sort of alternative approach to obtaining the capitol. After all, she only had two thousand, six hundred credits on her and that would buy her little.
    But she’d get the money and then she’d get access to Megatron’s files. She’d gone too far to fail now--she just hoped those files were worth all this trouble.
            *            *            *
    Tempest paced down a solitary corridor on the Dark Glory, barely aware of her surroundings and caring little where she went. It had been a harsh few days since she had reawaken in the Medcenter and discovered--much to her horror--that she had been dealt the harshest blow by her Syntara brethren; they had removed her Syntara powers! The very essence that was once her core was gone now and she felt lost without it.
    It had been an ethereal assassin whom had attacked her and left her unconscious... a
semi-sentient energy construct that was programmed with one sort of purpose--seek out it’s target and carry out it’s instructions--which were usually termination of it’s target. They were difficult, if not impossible, to stop or delay once they were unleashed on their intended prey.
    In fact, it had occurred to her that it was very unusual that they had used the assassin to merely strip her of her essence and not actually terminate her lifeforce. She had only ever seen an ethereal assassin once before, countless millennia ago when one had hunted down and killed a rogue Syntara. Generally, they were only talked about in hushed whispers among her kind; the kind of fate no one had ever wanted to endure and so they remained loyal to Syntara ideals for that, if nothing else.
    Perhaps... perhaps they had believed in removing her powers that they were somehow performing her a mercy by not taking her life? Had one or more of the Three decided that her sin in destroying Midnight with her natural power was a great transgression but yet not so great that it warranted the ultimate due?
    But for her it seemed an even greater punishment to take her powers--her very essence and connection to her own kind and leave her here alone like this. Cut off from her own higher awareness...stuck inside this frail mortal shell...
    Helpless...
    She had been spared death, but she did not understand why. She could do nothing now...the Syntara had most certainly removed her from her assignment in this Universe, no doubt assigning it to one of her peers. She had no powers and no further purpose here...and she was all too aware that the Holocaust--the great Shokoract--was on it’s way here. How much time would she suffer like this before it occurred and claimed all of the Transformers?
    Despite their intentions, the Three had done her no favour! She was spared death only to wait and wonder--to suffer needlessly while the End came around her and inevitably consumed her. A swift death would have been a mercy by comparison with the fate that awaited her.
    A feeling of bitter humour passed through her as she recalled how the Autobots would have once looked upon Optimus Prime to save them from inevitable destruction. How he, and only he, could defend them and protect them from no-win scenarios. If only their faith had been well placed and not invested in someone whom was little more than a fraud! She was nothing--nothing--without what she had lost!
    A real hero would have depended on their own depth of character and inner strength to be able to rise to the occasion and conquer their enemies, not the illusion of personality and powers, to do so. Optimus Prime had merely been a role she had played as had the Decepticon Tempest been the same. She had been an agent of a higher force and emulated what was needed for the role, that was all.
    Truthfully, she had acted for the Syntara for so long she didn’t even know who she really was without them. She had been removed from the only family she’d ever really known and now, she would not have enough time as a true Transformer to find out whom she was without them. She would perish along with the other Transformers first.
    She disliked taking such a defeatist attitude but Tempest had examined her options and they were not many. She couldn’t go to the Autobots--they would never believe her whole story without some proof to back it up and she could not provide that proof--assuming she could even get close enough to communicate with them before she was shot down. Likewise, Megatron would require some similar tangibility in her story and even then, there was no certainty either faction, galvanized against this new enemy, could do much.     Another option would be to travel back to Cindras 2 and beg the Three to reverse their decision against her--but she doubted there would be any point. The Three were hard to convince otherwise once they resolved to do something, believing they had considered all possible outcomes in making their decision.
    As far as she could determine, she had no real possibility of preventing the Shokoract anymore. Her replacement might have a chance of doing so--but she’d had more experience as being a Transformer than any of the other Syntara and wondered if another could amalgamate itself in fast enough to make a difference. And that was assuming the Syntara had even bothered sending another agent--perhaps they had changed their minds after this incident and decided to abandon them completely. After all, this would only really affect Cybertron’s children for the foreseeable future and the Syntara had plenty of time to stop the incursions later on in other realms of the Omniverse.
    Tempest stopped at a viewport and gazed longingly out at the stars, wondering if she could find solace out among them. She knew better than to be so naive as that, but the weight of the world around her wieghed heavily upon her shoulders. Any way she looked at, she couldn’t see it ending well for her, nor her adopted people.
    She rested her arms against the steel railing in front of her and settled her head against them. The stress was too much on her and it was all she could do to prevent herself from weeping openly. She glanced up once and looked about to make sure no one else was there. To her surprise, she saw Face standing a meter and a half away at the corridor junction, looking her way. Seeing he had been detected, he stood a moment longer and then turned and strode away.
    A chill passed through her mind as she wondered why he had been there. Could he know somehow? Or was it merely a coincidence? She supposed it didn’t really matter ultimately--if it was coincidence, he would not bother prying. If he knew somehow that all was not normal about her, well, then it didn’t really matter--he could turn her over to Megatron and when she refused to talk, he would put an end to her life and spare her this unbearable torment...
            *            *            *
    “Let the Circle of Primes convene now,” Avatar Prime spoke as he stood at one end of the circular table. All around him, a mixture of other Masters seated themselves in organic chairs that they had summoned up from the material of the walls and floor about them.
    The room was large and had a moderately high ceiling to it, although the area directly above the Circle’s table was lower, providing a sort of alcove to shield them. Some form of architecture designed for defense, Sunfire wondered. Although the Circle and where Sunfire and Rapture stood were well lighted, many areas of the chamber were obscured in darkness--possibly because the Circle did not need every area of the room pointlessly illuminated or perhaps they preferred the subtle lighting evoked this way.
    As with the rest of the buildings she had been in, this one was of organic nature. It’s walls pulsated slowly and hummed their usual soothing tone. Unlike the other rooms though, this chamber’s walls were a vibrant blue and the pulsating portions were violet--contrasted against the green-yellow she had experienced in other places. Perhaps it was because this place was more important and they wanted to call attention to that? Or possibly older in it’s origins than the rest?
    Above all of them, a domed skylight that revealed a swirling mist that she recognized as being a nebula. She had found the name in Avatar’s mind and known it was called the Creator’s Cloak Nebula although the Cybertronian designation for this nebula was far different, relying instead upon the usual numeric code that the Autobots and Decepticons designed millennia ago, long before the Great War had split their people apart.
    This area was part of the settlement that was on the actual surface of Eden and this complex was home to both the Prime Council and council chambers proper. Avatar had explained to her that they had reserved this complex--one of the first to be used as a living area for their people so very long ago--as a testament to their past struggles. He had told her how it was a constant reminder to him of the reality of their present situation and how they were forced to conceal themselves here. How the Prime Council dwelled in an area without the luxury of being able to lose themselves in the fantasy environment of the botanical caverns below and kept their minds focused and disciplined on the grand task at hand for their people--although he had been elusive as to what that was exactly, instead telling her she would know it shortly for herself.
    “We are the Circle of Primes, Sunfire and Rapture,” Avatar Prime addressed them. “We are the body that governs the Children of Primus...we guide them, protect them, defend them and set policy for their future well being.”
    He looked to his far right. “This is Instructor Prime--the teacher of our people. He and his fellow sages teach our people the ways of our devices, how to live our lives in accordance with the will of our Creator, how to become more fully what we are.”  He gestured to the next Master. “This is Tutor Prime--the one responsible for helping our people correct their paths when they stray from it. He reveals when they err and shows them the path to salvation.” Next to him. “She is Healer Prime--the one whom saves our peoples from illness and death.”
    “Observer Prime, the sentinel of our people. He watches all things around us and alerts us to dangers and events of relevance alike.” He turned to his right side and introduced several more, finally reaching Militant Prime. “And, of course, Militant Prime whom you already know. He is charged with protecting our people and destroying our enemies. He commands the Holy Fist of Primus--our force of Sentinels that will one day soon help us reclaim that which is rightfully ours.”
    “Since the beginning, we have been called Prime--in honor of our positions as leaders of our people and in reverence to our Lord Primus himself. When we are chosen for the task, our original name is supplanted by our new title and we are honored to assume that position.” Avatar gestured at the circular table that the Primes were seated at. “This is a round table. There is no head, no foot...all of the Primes are equals in doing our Lord’s will. Each fulfills their intended role for our people to make the body function--that is all. Power means nothing to us in the sense that you are used to.”
    Sunfire nodded her understanding. Beside her, Rapture stood patiently and waited--apparently more at ease with herself now.
    “Tell me, Sunfire and Rapture, do you appreciate the wonders of our world now that you have been shown them?” Instructor Prime asked, his gaze set on Sunfire. “Especially you, Sunfire. You are newer to us than Rapture and have much to learn of our ways still.”
    “I don’t know what it is that you want me to say, so I will tell you this: I have seen your world and know that it is a beautiful place and that you are a people of peace,” Sunfire replied. “This much is apparent to me.”
    “She speaks for both of us,” Rapture added. “You have the power to create much splendor and beauty here--free from the shackles of oppression and the greed that still resonate with our own people of Earth.”
    “Well said!” Healer exclaimed, slamming her hand onto the table emphatically. A couple of other Masters did their best to suppress smiles at that action. Sunfire suspected the Prime was not prone to such outbursts often.
    “Sunfire and Rapture, are thou ready to learn of the Holy Truth? And will thou promise not to speak of what is revealed here to any outsiders?” Avatar asked.
    “I am ready and I promise not to reveal the Truth to any others.”
    “Yes.” Rapture looked at Sunfire sheepishly and smiled.
    “Very well...then let it be revealed.”
    The assembled Primes closed their eyes and began concentrating... in a few moments, the room melted about Sunfire and she felt as if she were levitating in mid-air. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew it to be a telepathic projection directly into her mind. She was really still standing in the Circle’s chamber, but merely felt otherwise.
    She watched as she floated in the endless brilliance of space--a lower, guarded part of her mind recalled how it used to feel to do this in her spacecraft mode...to float for hours and just meditate on all of life’s wonders and the meaning of existence...but that been years ago--back before Autobot City’s massacre, her death and transition into adulthood in the here and now.
    The celestial silence was quickly altered as she felt herself rushing up toward an image of a enormous being, clothed in a red, orange and yellow attire... She knew him to be Primus--defender of light, Unicron’s greatest enemy and Creator of her people...
    ‘Before his final battle with the Dark God, Unicron, our lord Primus was a guardian of life and the principles that embodied it’s preservation...’
    She watched as she soared past the image of Primus and rocketed over the image of a primal world, it’s surface cracked and burning with molten lava and spewing volcanoes... above it all, she saw thousands of meteorites whirl through a rough orbit of this celestial body.
    ‘He seeded many worlds with life...including his greatest pride--man on the world that creation called Earth...’
    The corresponding image was awash with a golden energy as they spoke, it’s surface cooling and taking on a more hospitable look. Several hundred of the orbiting asteroids collided themselves against the planet then, melting and turning into vast oceans of water. She observed as the surface rapidly changed into a hospitable world with soil for planting, rough elemental gases mixed into a breathable atmosphere and clouds of water vapour formed in the skies... in orbit, several of the asteroids were crushed against each other, superheated, and formed into a small satellite that fixed itself in orbit and left the rest of the area clear of any other celestial debris. She suspected it was not quite literally all this fast, but that it represented image of creation in the Primes collective minds.
    “I don’t understand,” Sunfire said aloud. “How is this all possible? The Autobots detected no civilization on the planet when the Ark crashed there.”
    ‘That is correct,’ the mindspeak answered. ‘There was no one there at that time...however, they had been there long before...’
    Sunfire watched as the images shown her revealed a primitive man--even then, more advanced then the Humans scientists of the present had believed--tame their environment around them and advance in technology...she watched as their technology evolved slowly into living organisms not unlike that which she had observed the Masters use.  
    ‘Primus made Mankind the brightest of his creations at the time and they advanced relatively fast, harnessing their environment and eventually learning how to utilize the organics of their world as living machines, as they themselves were respectful of the fact they were living machines. So too, they knew better than to destroy their environment--instead they dedicated themselves to living in harmony with the rest of it all, functioning symbiotically as a great whole...
    ‘As his creations progressed in skill and understanding, Primus moved on and created other worlds and yet more lifeforms... until the day he and Unicron--the Dark God that he had been created to counterbalance and destroy--met up in a fierce conflict that annihilated whole star systems and destroyed many of the races Primus had created or sworn to protect.
    ‘The irony of this was not lost on our Grand Lord and so he took their battle to the astral plane, where he seemingly fared no better against the dark beast... wounded, he decided to make one last desperate attempt at stopping Unicron...he tricked the Dark One into rematerializing in the physical world alongside him. So bent on destroying his foe was he, that Unicron failed to realize that Our Lord was far from finished the battle and instead had tricked him into reappearing at the precise location of two large metallic asteroids!
    ‘The energy of their mutual arrival was so great that it flooded the immediate area with tremendous power, and propelled both asteroids off in different directions, thousands of light years from one another...Primus would inevitably arrive near the Alpha Centauri star system while Unicron’s course set him off toward what we now know as the Rim of known space...
    ‘Unicron reshaped his new prison into a semblance of his former self and continued to sow chaos and destruction wherever he went... while our Great Lord reshaped his prison into a new planet which his creations would deem Cybertron and set forth that final creation, the Transformers.
    ‘There would come a time when both creations--man and machine--would meet up and the Universe itself would shudder...’
    Could it be true, she wondered. Could Primus have really created the Human allies of her people as well as her own kind? It seemed implausible at first thought and yet, the evidence seemed to lead her inevitably in that direction. Sunfire had known some of the details beforehand thanks to the Syntara but was truly astonished by this revelation and she wondered if it would ultimately harm her chances of making allies of these people or help it?
    For now, all she could do was continue to watch and listen and hope the correct path would present itself in due time...
            *            *            *

    Matthew Kirkby and Face stood inside the holochamber where the former had been engaged in meditation techniques for the last week. After five days straight of meditation, Face had given Matthew a day off and they had now returned to the holochamber for the “next phase” as Face had put it.
    “So, what are we going to be doing now exactly?” Matt asked him as he sat atop the headless shoulders of his Headmaster body, Talon. “I get the impression that the meditation sessions are at an end?”
    “These ones are, Matthew,” Face replied. “However, remember to keep doing so in personal sessions--they will clear your mind and be of great benefit to you for the coming battles.”
    He punched in a series of commands on a hovering keypad and the holochamber reformed into a deep oval-shaped chasm with cris-crossing catwalks running the depth of the chamber and sporadic bits of machinery on platforms interconnected to the catwalks at intervals. Every so often there were entryways running off into adjacent unseen chambers. The bottom, if there was one, was too far down to be seen. A slight wind wailed through the depth of the chasm, making it all seem eerily real to Matt.
    “This is something right out of Star Wars!” he exclaimed. After a moment’s consideration, “well, pretty close in my opinion.”  
    He just hoped Darth Vader wasn’t about to show up...
    “So, um, what’s next?”
    Face smiled at that and tapped in a few commands. Behind them, the Headmaster version of Starscream appeared out of nowhere. Even immobile, she held that certain arrogance about her expression that Matt recognized from the brief couple of encounters he’d had with Gwen’s fully merged persona.
    “This is a simulation of Starscream,” Face told him. “I want you to fight her now to determine if you could best the real Decepticon. There are no safeguards on her hologram--she may kill you if you do not fight well enough to best her. There are no predetermined boundaries nor rules to this conflict--it is as reasonably close as one can get to true combat with an opponent without actually fighting another living being.”
    He tapped another command on the keypad and smiled as Starscream jerked suddenly. “You may begin...”
    Matt abruptly merged with Talon’s body, reforming himself impossibly into the Transformer’s head module. He spun in time to see, Starscream draw a nasty looking sword out of sub space or pretend sub space--
    He didn’t have time to finish that thought as she swung the blade toward him and he ducked clumsily, avoiding the blade’s edge by what felt like a few inches. Swiftly, he leapt and flipped himself backward avoiding her sword’s range.
    Talon had the briefest moment to note Face was hovering up above them and watching the battle unfold. He looked back down in time to see Starscream charging at him, her sword ready to impale him in one stroke. He dodged and slammed his fist into her face, dropping her clumsily to the ground. She rolled off the catwalk they were on and dropped down into the shaft. A moment later, she landed safely on a lower walkway.
    Not wasting any time, Talon leapt off after her and landed a few feet away. Sheathing her sword and re-storing it in sub space, she called up her machine gun--a weapon he had no idea she actually possessed--and fired off a round at him, forcing him to dodge and drop off the platform. Two explosive projectiles tore through his upper right arm as he did so.
    Dropping in the air, Talon transformed to jet mode and flew upward toward her position.
    “Fool! Starscream is not so easily defeated!” She howled as she dropped off the catwalk above at precisely the right moment, her foot catching the underside of his fuselage and glancing off it. The slight impact was more than enough, however, to alter his trajectory and crash him into a nearby machine.
    ‘Damn! She’s really pretty good...and I’m not. I wonder if this an accurate representation of Starscream?’ Talon transformed and untangled himself from the mess of machinery he had struck. Fortunately, none of it seemed to be easily conducive to explosion.
    ‘Knowing how Face has been so far? I’m betting he’s got her schematics stored in sub space!’ Whisper replied. ‘Now, shut up and give me a hand here!’
      Talon leapt to his feet and drew his laser rifle as Starscream arrived at the end of the same catwalk.
    “Oh, now we’re going to try and fight back are we?” she taunted. “You’d risk harming your precious Gwen? Kill me and she dies too--I’ll make sure she goes down with me!” At that, she fired off a round of bullets at him.
    Talon had been ready this time and leapt for cover behind the machinery he had crashed into moments earlier. After she spent her clip trying to pierce his cover, he emerged and saturated her with laser bolts. None hit their target however, as she dodged them all by flying up and out of the way.
    “Really Matt--we could’ve been such good friends!” Starscream yelled. “But you just didn’t think I was good enough, did you?”
    Talon soared up at her and crashed into her, having ignored her ploy. The two Decepticons tumbled and crashed to an adjacent walkway. Starscream leapt to her feet first and drew her machine gun, but he chopped her forearm and it clattered to the ground. Shoving her crudely, he reached her weapon and smashed it in two, effectively disarming her of her firearm--or so he hoped.
    She recovered and drove her knuckles into his face, stumbling him. She swiftly followed up with a kick to his mid section and then began a roundhouse kick to finish him. He reacted in time and ducked, forcing her to miss. He drove his fist into her lower back and kicked her knee joint, dropping her to the ground.
    “Give up?” he asked confidently.
    “NO!” Starscream yelled, spinning off her stomach and firing a particle rifle into him. He had little time to consider where she’d gotten the rifle or that she may not have only possessed one firearm as he collapsed to the deck. His chest armor had been pierced in several places and his body was bleeding internal fluids.
    Above him, Starscream smiled and slowly lowered her rifle to bear on him. Further above them, Face hovered and watched the proceedings. In a world of pain, Talon’s gaze drifted to the Tactician...he had failed the Decepticon....or maybe, this was the way Face had wanted it all to turn out for all he
knew--the new Headmaster killed in a training accident and thus Megatron would be rid of him. Although he doubted the words even as he thought them...
    His opponent was not lost to the direction of her prey’s stare. Believing him to be attempting to signal some sort of reinforcements, she spun and briskly fired her laser rifle in Face’s direction. After a moment, she saw no opponent and turned back to her prey--who was nowhere to be seen!
    “Curse him!” she growled. She looked at the small pool of fluid and determined that he must have somehow hovered upward to conceal his tracks. Looking up, she heard a sound in front of her and heard a loud CLANG then the whine of jet engines as something flew down from the catwalk.
    She fired madly at the sound but failed to strike a target. Below and off to her left, Talon soared up the other side of the shaft in his cloaked form. He knew he couldn’t support it for long but thanked his luck that she hadn’t concluded that he was still in front of her but utilizing a cloaking device. She’d suspected instead that he had somehow leapt up above her--and that mistake had given him the time he needed to drop off the platform and transform.
    He swung around to the other side of the catwalk, where Starscream searched vainly to pinpoint the sound of his engines. Decloaking behind her, he loosed a salvo of missiles at the catwalk and banked upward, avoiding her particle bolts as she acquired her newly visible target. The missiles struck the catwalk and destroyed it, with Starscream staying ahead of the explosion by what must have been nanoseconds.
    His last glimpse of her was her body aflame and falling into the chasm. She had then transformed to fighter mode and flown up toward him!
    “Catch me if you can!” he yelled out, cloaking himself in the process.
            *            *            *
     ‘The Humans and Transformers crossed paths quite by accident, and it was only a short time before they discovered their mutual origins. The Humans saw the Mechs as threats to their own grandness and abominations to the principals of life Primus had upheld. Their logic was that Primus had created these beings as a last minute defense against Unicron since he could not contact them and warn them properly. Being automatons, they believed the Transformers were soulless creations and set about trying to enslave them in the name of their mutual god.
    ‘Instead of submitting to their superiors will, the Mechs rebelled against their authority and soon the struggle turned into a mortal war. The victor having the right to the legacy of the Great Lord... ‘
    Sunfire watched as images of war filled her mind and she saw hundreds of Transformers and Humans meet their horrific end at the others hands. She watched as dozens of organic vessels pulled away from the wave of Cybertronian ships and how the fleet continued onward toward Earth.
    ‘After a brutal conflict that lasted years and killed thousands on either side, both the worlds of Cybertron and Earth lay decimated by the confrontation. Our kind were losing to the Mechs and we were forced into vile retreat. Rather than accepting their victory, the Mechs pursued our kind back to the motherworld and caused the greatest terror we would ever know--the Biocaust!  
    The mechs ultimate weapon was to crash an enormous freighter into our greatest city--obliterating it almost completely. The resultant chemical release from the vessel poisoned our atmosphere and rendered the motherworld all but lifeless.’
    The images showed her the fleet of Cybertronian warships and one of the vessels as it angled  sharply into the Earth’s atmosphere and she watched as the air darkened, and life everywhere succumbed to the chemical cargo it carried, leaving the world dead and wasted...  The Earth was all but destroyed by Sunfire’s people in an act of vengeance and she began to see why these people despised the Transformers so much. Who could ever forgive such a brutal and sadistic enemy? Of course it had been a long, long time ago and much had changed among them...but scars such as the Masters had were not easily healable.
    ‘We retreated as far away as we could get at the time--vowing to rise one day and gain revenge on those whom had dealt us such a terrible defeat. On those whom had defiled our once beautiful home and brutally murdered our women and children... we searched for millennia for a world where we could retreat to and be safe from our adversary.
    ‘Eventually, we found this lost world in a dead star system and over the millennia began to recreate it’s surface and interior into something resembling the lost glory of our ruined homeworld. We used our technology to conceal it with an artificially constructed nebulae--we deemed it the Creator’s Cloak in honor of our lost Lord...
    ‘During our long search for this place, some of our people became dissatisfied with our ways and our vow of vengeance and decided to seek out the motherworld once again...
    ‘They would eventually find it and, upon arriving, they discovered it was barren and lifeless but once again habitable to our kind--the scars on the planet having healed over somewhat and the biological compounds that took the life rendered inert without living hosts to thrive inside. Seeding the planet with new vegetation and livestock, they began the arduous struggle to restore our homeworld and make it ours once more... once they had satisfactorily restored the planet, they renounced our technology and our way of vengeance for a simpler life...all history was rewritten over time and memory inevitably faded in time...
    ‘But the residents of Eden never forgot the atrocities committed against them by the mechs and worked over the centuries both to transform Eden further still and to plot vengeance against their greatest enemy.
    ‘That opportunity would eventually present itself when a convoy of mechs appeared early in your Great War, bound for deep space and a new way of life. Ironically, these despicable machines conferred the title “the Disciples of Primus” upon themselves, believing they would be able to restore their race’s lost honor by embracing a life of peace--as if mechs could ever pursue such a course! We took them and used their bodies and vessels as raw material in our plan of holy redemption against the mechs--we eliminated their inept programming and rebuilt them all, programming them to do our bidding and recapture our Lord’s final resting place of Cybertron. It took a long time and much patience, but now our plans are finally nearing their fruition.’
    The images faded back into the Circle’s chamber and Sunfire found herself and Rapture standing where they had been to start with.
    “Alas, our plan was enacted too late to save our Lord Primus’ essence from being used against the Dark Beast. Since he did not know of us, we could have acquired the essence and allowed him to destroy the mechs for us...” Avatar sighed. “Still, there is a final part of our Great Lord in existence even now...it belongs to the sleeping Guardian on Cybertron. Even now our forces occupy Cybertron and scour it’s surface for that last part of our Creator so that we might bring it back here and do it the proper honor it deserves.”
    “Also, the Disciples will eliminate the Decepticons forces,” Militant added. “Or soften them greatly, allowing our forces to finish the job.” Although Sunfire got the impression from his tone that he wanted that honor himself and disliked fighting a war this way.
    “Patience, Militant,” Tutor Prime told him. “We must be cunning in our dealings with the mechs--as they were with us and the Biocaust.” He smiled. “Once the Disciples soften them up, we will move in for the rightful kill.”
    Militant made an agreeable sound, but Sunfire doubted his conviction was sincere.
    “Of course, the Ark and Nemesis crashed on our homeworld before our people returned to Earth and resettled it. So well hidden were they both that we did not realize they were there until only a few years ago.” Avatar rose from his seat and smiled.
    This is our sacred Truth...the reason we commit to the Jihad as we do,” he spoke. “You are the first outsiders to ever hear of these things.”
    He walked toward the two women and stopped in front of them both. “Before you make any decision as to whether you will join our cause or not, please return to your mutual chambers and meditate on what you have seen here today. Consider everything and once you have done so, make the choice you feel is correct for you. I will not attempt to persuade you to side with us--it is a decision you alone must make. And if you do not decide to join us, you have my word as Avatar that no harm shall befall you.”
    “Thank you, Avatar,” Rapture said. Her and Sunfire turned and left the council chamber at that...
            *            *            *
    “Oh! Cyreicles, you’re so wonderful...“
    Gwen’s wry body rode the grey skinned humanoid, her every gyration matching his. His four fingered hands massaged her breasts as she moved up and down on top of his body. Her hands rested roughly on his muscular chest, feeling the breath going in and out of him.
    After several moments further, Gwen thrust harder against him and then pulled off his body slowly, feeling his body go into the throes of intense pleasure from their coupling. She moaned slightly and collapsed against his chest.
    “You are...amazing...” she purred as her hands caressed his chest.
    “It is you who are amazing, my dear,” Cyreicles responded in a soft tone. He reached down and traced the outline of Gwen’s face with his fingertips, knowing she would enjoy the contact on her sensitive skin.
    She glanced up at the male’s face and smiled slightly to herself. Nuzzling closer up against his body she sighed contentedly and allowed herself to enjoy the moment.
    Starscream had decided that it would be easiest for her to locate a rich man and seduce him to acquire the money she needed to pay off Lykos for the decryption data. And so she had met Cyreicles Z’on in his casino, the Dark Larykh, early that afternoon as she had embarked on her mission.
    There had been several candidates, of course. She had found her way to a wealthy area of the station where both businessmen and less reputable types spent their time trying to wager money on games of chance in gambling establishments. The whole concept struck her as ludicrous personally--obviously the games were all in the favour of the house, making the odds of actually winning very remote. On the flip side, she supposed owning such a business would be quite monetarily rewarding...and that would have been enough for her at one time, but now she wanted something more--real power! The power to decide whom lived and died, and the respect and authority that Megatron himself commanded...
    Nothing less would do.
    Despite all the potential candidates, Cyreicles had stood out in the crowd. He was a young and muscular alien of whatever species he belonged to, with rippling charcoal skin and an incredible physique. His maroon eyes seemed oddly soulful for being the owner of such an establishment and his mane of dark brown hair only added to his attractiveness.
    He had a cluster of young females from several different races surrounding him at his game table, all cheering and trying in vain to capture his attention as he was engrossed in one of his games. Gwen knew he could have any female that he wanted and she quickly discovered that he was the owner of the establishment.
    She decided in order to get his attention that she would have to do something more drastic, so she joined the game he was playing--a game with a laser particle wheel and crystal cards called Par’tik--and placed all of her credits on her bet. Much to her utter shock, she didn’t loose and actually scored a forty-four on the wheel, meaning she doubled her credits in one attempt.
    It had the desired effect and Cyreicles immediately took note of her. It helped also that she scored successfully multiple times in the first several rounds. As she went onward, she learned that to score a twenty-two meant not losing one’s money, scoring forty-four meant doubling the money they had wagered and eighty-eight meant quadrupling the winnings. Any other number between one and one hundred was an instant loss, although if one didn’t get one of the desired numbers in the wheel spin they could choose up to three cards randomly to make up that number. Of course, if they failed they would forfeit their winnings.
    As it would happen though, Gwen eventually lost in the game. Trying to recover from the
stumble--and impress the young casino owner--she bet all her remaining winnings and lost even worse. But, as she’d hoped, it had the intended effect of impressing Cyreicles and making him feel sympathy toward her at the same time.
    He had engaged her in conversation at some length and inevitably brought back to his private suite in the adjacent hotel. His was a vast and impressive living quarters on the very top of the building in the penthouse. After a little wine--he did not realize that it no longer affected Headmaster partners as easily as normal Humanoids--they had fallen into each other’s arms and given into their own carnal desires.
    “You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met, Gwen,” he told her in his rich accent as she lay in his arms. He ran a hand slowly through her crimson hair. “A match in both spirit and beauty--that is a rare combination.”
    True, but she suspected she was hardly the first woman to have heard this little speech. Still, she played along and smiled at him, hoping he would take it as lost, adoring love. As expected, he returned the smile and bent down to kiss her passionately.
    “I have something to show you,” he whispered into her ear.
    Gwen giggled. “I thought you already showed it to me!”
    Cyreicles chuckled at that. “Very funny. That’s not what I meant though.”
    He untangled their bodies and rose slowly, walking over to a holo-painting on the wall. Carefully, he slid the painting aside to reveal a large wall safe. Pressing his index finger against the sensor on the plate and then tapping in a security code on the adjacent keypad, he swung the thick metallic door open.
    Reaching inside, he produced a diamond necklace and brought it over to her, leaving the safe open.
    “This has been in my family for three generations,” he told her as he fastened it around her neck. “I hope you like it.”
    “It’s beautiful,” Gwen squealed. She threw her arms around Cyreicles and hugged him emphatically.
    After a few moments of embracing, she drew back from him and cast another look at it. “Wow...you must be rich!”
    “I have been lucky in my life,” he admitted. “As have my forefathers before me.”
    His hand gently tugged at her chin, forcing her to look up into his eyes. “But now that I have met you, I feel truly fortunate.”
    “Me too.” Her lips met his passionately and they held the embrace for several moments. Her hands caressed his face and hair as they cuddled. Abruptly, her hands jerked his head unnaturally to the left and she heard a gruesome crack as his neck broke and his body crumpled onto the bed.
    “Sorry,” she said, placing a kiss on his still form.
    Rising, she crept over to the open safe and pulled out a handful of various jewels and currency. She had lucked out with this one--not only had he been wealthy but he was also stupid enough to have shown her where the safe was and spared her the trouble of having to open it. And there was a lot here--she figured a good couple of hundred thousand credits worth of valuables in the safe between the currencies and the jewels. She would definitely be able to peddle it for a deflated value and get the money she needed to pay off Lykos--plus a modest commission for herself.
    Swiftly Gwen dressed herself and quickly adjusted her crimson mane to look more presentable. She cast a final inspection at the handsome corpse that had belonged to Cyreicles. A part of her felt a twinge of remorse at his passing--she suspected it was the fragile little piece of her mind that belonged to Gwen Piterson and was concerned with such morality. Of course, she had removed a beautiful and generous man from the universe--but she suspected few but the most conniving women would be truly bothered by the passing of such an individual.
    If nothing else, other than the money, he had given her a wonderful night of passion and she would remember that for quite some time to come. It was a shame that he hadn’t been more careful with security around relative strangers...just because he invited them into his bed didn’t mean he should have trusted them.
    Grabbing a briefcase off of his table, Gwen dumped the comp pads and papers out of the case and quickly used it to appropriate as many valuables as she could from the dead entrepreneur’s safe.
            *            *            *
    Starscream crept along a corridor in the holochamber that connected with one of the adjacent chambers in the simulation. Hidden by his cloaking field, Talon watched and waited for her to approach. His bleeding had temporarily clotted thanks to internal repair systems, but he had been seriously injured by this lousy hologram of the real thing and it was debatable how much longer he could maintain his stealth mode before he ran out of the extra energy to do so.
    Starscream searched slowly, being careful to investigate every detail of the area. Talon suspected she had known to pursue him to this area by the obvious trail of internal fluids he had bled as he had tried to sneak into here. It was a shame he’d been betrayed by something so obvious--there were literally dozens of places to lay low in this holo simulation and, in theory, he could’ve stayed holed up for hours while his body repaired itself.
    He had to take her out--and fast--before she did the same thing to him! Of course, Starscream was far less damaged by comparison, but that was just one of those minor details he didn’t want to concern himself with...
    ‘Ah well. Who wants to live forever anyway?’
    ‘I do actually!’ Whisper’s voice responded. ‘But I suppose if I don’t agree to act, she’ll make sure I don’t!’
    Starscream moved subtlely, her particle rifle at the ready. She turned to her right and scanned the area that was full of crates, suspecting it would be a good place for her prey to cower. Behind her, Talon materialized...
    Somehow alerted to the fact, she spun, her weapon at the ready. But Talon was faster--he slapped the rifle out of her hand and it clattered to the deck out of immediate reach.
    “Give up?” Talon grinned. He assumed a defensive position, his fists at the ready.
    “I’ve beaten better than the likes of you!” She snapped, flipping backward and drawing her sword out of sub space.
    She charged at him, ready for the kill. At the last moment, he dodged her strike and jumped backward, more clumsily than she had beforehand. He crouched and opened a small compartment in his left leg, removing a small object from it.
    “It’s time to end this,” Talon said, igniting a purple-blue laser sword. “Prepare to die!”
    “Neat trick!” Starscream snapped. “But it won’t save you from my wrath! First you and then Megatron himself!”
    The two Decepticons charged at each other, swords at the ready. Their two weapons clashed brilliantly, thanks to the energy from Talon’s weapon.
    Clearing his mind, Talon met every thrust and strike his virtual opponent made. As the sword fight continued, he found himself combating his enemy’s attack far easier than he had before, somehow managing to keep her from inflicting any further blows on him.
    Seizing a brief opportunity, he swung his sabre at her and severed her sword’s blade from it’s hilt. Starscream was too stunned to react before he slammed his fist into her face, toppling her to the deck.
    “Would you really do it?” she asked, leaning up on her elbows as he stood over her, his sword poised over his head for a final strike. “Really kill me and your precious Gwen too?”
    Talon whipped his laser sword downward in one fine stroke, severing half of her body in two. At the waist line, he casually brought it out further cutting the right portion loose of her body. The body dematerialized into particles and vanished totally.
    “You’re not real,” he muttered under his breath as he deactivated his sword.
    “Well done, Matthew,” a voice spoke from behind him. Talon turned casually and saw Face standing there as he expected.
    “How did you get here so fast?” he asked.
    “It’s the dimensions of a holo simulation,” Face replied. “Despite appearances, only a small section of the ship is really used. I was never far away.”
    He produced a comp pad and tapped some commands into it. Around them, the vast and unusual chamber vanished, replaced by the standard holo chamber.
    “You have done well,” Face continued. “Although you were slow to start off. You were overconfident in the face of your enemy and it cost you.” Talon looked down at the gaping wounds in his chest section.
    “However, eventually, you recalled the lesson that I have attempted to teach you--to clear your mind of distraction and maintain your focus in the presence of your enemy. That is what saved you from your death at the hands of this simulation and allowed you to best it.”
    “Thanks,” Talon said, checking the two entry marks on his right shoulder. “So, does this mean I’m finally ready to face the real thing?”
    “Perhaps.” Face smiled slightly at the other’s exasperated expression. “You are progressing well, Matthew, and that is quite encouraging. You do not possess all the necessary knowledge yet but our time to combat Starscream is growing closer and I believe you can stand on your own in battle.”
    Talon tried not to smile at that but failed slightly--praise from the elusive Face! It was the first time he could ever remember such an occasion.
    “There are times for everything,” Face responded in his customary way of seeming like he knew what Matt was thinking. “For now, it is time for us to go to the Medcenter and have your wounds attended.”     He turned toward the exitway.
    Talon breathed a sigh of relief and followed after him, still feeling euphoric after his triumph over the hologram of Starscream.
            *            *            *
    Sunfire stood on the balcony of the quarters that the Masters had provided her, her bared feet feeling the soft pink grass that decorated most of the floor. She had been quartered in the older section of their settlement--probably so she would be close to the council once she made her decision.
    She had been lost in thought for hours, pondering what the Masters had told her earlier about their mutual origins with the Humans of Earth and the Transformers. Far above her in the eternal night sky she could make out shapes floating about in the atmosphere. Avatar had explained earlier that their vessels were living organisms and most of them parked themselves there, preferring the open spaces provided by atmosphere as opposed to the more limited quarters of the subterranean world below.
    Could the Masters let it all go, she wondered. Abandon their precious Jihad to side with their greatest enemies against the darker threat that now awaited them all? The knowledge the Syntara had given her had made it clear that they could only conquer the Enemy united as a force and not fighting each other. And yet, the Masters had spent millennia obsessed with the one objective of destroying their enemy and now, at long last, they had engaged their plan. Would their fixation blind them to all other facts and potential threats? Could an emotional wound carried so long simply be abandoned in the face of new knowledge?
    How could she ever make them understand what was at stake?
    A siren sound sang gently behind her and she recognized it as the organic sound that passed as a doorbell among the Masters. Turning, she walked back into the suite and toward the wall/door.
    “Enter,” she called out.
    The wall twisted and warped, forming an entryway for Avatar Prime.
    “Greetings, Sunfire,” he said, smiling at her. “It has been hours and we were concerned that you were still well.”
    “Yes, thank you. I was just...lost in thought, is all.” She sauntered back in the direction of the balcony and he followed.
    “Have you made your decision yet? You understand our holy Truth--will you embark on the Jihad with us?”
    “I’ve been pondering that very question. Tell me, is the Truth all there is for your people? For you?” She met his gaze. “Is revenge on the Transformers the only thing that matters to your people anymore?”
    “There are other things,” Avatar replied, clearly caught off guard by her response. “But this...this is our purpose. Our reason for being...”
    “But why? What does it really matter?” he asked. “The Mechs are abominations--and they must be destroyed! We alone are the true Children of Primus and we must honor his memory by eliminating these abominations. They are impostors to our deserved heritage! Surely, Primus would not have approved of them if he had really been given the choice.
    “Tell me, Sunfire...did the Truth not convince you as it did Rapture? Are the Autobots truly so important to you that your own kind comes second?”
    If only he knew...
    “It’s not that,” Sunfire replied. “But...have you ever considered that maybe your people’s drive for revenge has clouded you to other things? I’m not speaking of lost opportunity, but rather, other threats...”
    “Such as?” Avatar’s gaze pierced her soul. “We already know that the Dark Beast, Unicron, has met his fate. Surely, there can exist no greater threat than that.”
    “But what if there is?” Sunfire stood her ground. “What if there were an enemy out there so
great--so powerful--that it sought to destroy all the Transformers--and the Masters for their connection to them?”  She paused. “Then what? Your quest for revenge would blind you to such an enemy until it had already struck--and then, it would be too late.”
    “What are you saying, woman? How do you know of all of this?”
    Sunfire hesitated. She didn’t want to bring the Syntara into this conversation--they had selected her to be their Harbinger and allow her people to deal with this threat on their own. Speaking of them would violate that whole process. If only there were another way...but one failed to materialize in her mind right then.
    And...would the Masters trust--or even believe--a woman whom claimed to have once been a Transformer? After all, even her fellow Autobot brethren hadn’t believed her claims. Of course, she was more coherent now, but still, it was a little hard to comprehend--even for her sometimes.
    “Stop playing these games!” Avatar Prime snapped. “Will you join the Masters or not? Is there really a threat--or not? Tell me!”
    She could feel Avatar’s mind trying to probe hers telepathically, but she quickly blocked the attempt. She did not want him to learn of the reality of the situation--not this way.
    “Impossible,” he gasped, looking into her eyes and finding his powers rendered useless in getting what he sought. “No one should be able to block the probe of Prime--especially an Earth woman with no talent!”
    He stepped back. “What are you? Is this some sort of Mech ruse? A trap like Militant had tried to warn me about?” he asked.
    “I...I can’t tell you,” Sunfire whispered, not meeting his gaze. “I’m sorry.”
    “As am I...”
    A moment later, security arrived in her quarters and surrounded her. She suspected they had always been nearby since she was an outsider among the Masters and therefore a potential security risk.
    “Take her away, Sentinel,” her ordered one of the two guards. “And place her in a detention cell--” his gaze drifted to her. “--until she either decides to talk or confess that this is indeed a Mech deception of some sort.”
    The guards removed her abruptly and Avatar stood there, watching as she silently went along with the guards, her expression not meeting his. He looked out over her balcony, wondering about his own judgment and feelings and whether he could rely on them or not.
            *            *            *
    Gwen had very little trouble finding contacts to dispense of the jewelry and other valuables of the late Cyreicles Z’on. She had made forty six thousand credits off the riches and foreign currencies she had stolen--more than enough to pay Lykos his commission and then some. Although a bare shadow of what she suspected the jewels were really worth--but she didn’t care. She had only sought a means to an end and they had provided her with such.
    She just hoped Lykos was as good as he was reputed to be with decrypting security codes. Otherwise, this entire mission had been in vain and she would have to reconsider her options in tracking down Megatron’s mysterious Benefactors.
    Gwen walked into the White L’aa-gun’ya ten minutes earlier than agreed upon and found Lykos already nestled in at his customary booth near the back of the establishment. She observed as he gave a reptilian alien a data crystal and the other bowed deeply and rose, taking it’s leave.
    Wasting no time, she made a direct line for the booth and the decrypter. As she approached, he looked up and smiled at her, a look of recognition rippling across his youthful face.
    “Greetings,” he said. “I am glad you are so punctual...were that all my clients were so efficient.”
    Gwen said nothing to that and seated herself across from the decrypter.
    “So, did you get the right decryption algorythym for my file?”
    Lykos nodded and produced the data crystal that Gwen had given him the previous afternoon. Inserting it into the device he had laying on the table from the previous transaction, he turned on the scanner and showed her the sample decryption code she had provided. Inserting another crystal into the spare port beside it, he tapped a couple of commands and the code immediately descrambled into coherent text.
    He removed the second data crystal and held it in his hand.
    “Now, on that matter of payment...”
    Gwen reached into her satchel bag and removed twelve gold credit strips--the color denoting a thousand credit chip. She placed them on the table and slid them over to the decrypter. Lykos picked one up and examined it. Satisfied, he placed it back down on the table and handed her the data crystal with the decryption code on it.
    “Not that I didn’t trust you, but one can never be too careful in my line of work,” he explained, gathering up the credits and placing them into his briefcase, which picked up off the floor. “I have had several occasions where somebody tried to pass off fake credit strips and it is unusual when someone pays me direct currency in such large amounts.”
    Gwen placed the data crystal in the pocket on her jumpsuit and shrugged. “I just didn’t want to have to carry around too many credits--the more one has in hard currency, the easier it is to loose some.”
    “True,” he nodded.
    Gwen exhaled and placed her hands slowly down on the tabletop. “Thank you for your services. You have been invaluable.” She rose and offered her hand.
    Slightly surprised, Lykos finally reacted with a smile and then slowly shook the proffered hand.
     “If I ever may be of service again, you know where to find me.”
    At that, Gwen turned and strode out of the White L’aa-gun’ya for the final time. Once outside, she huddled against a wall and removed a data crystal from her jumpsuit. Removing another such scanner as Lykos had from her satchel bag, she placed it into the data port and downloaded the contents. Fumbling in her pocket for the decryption crystal, she quickly found it and placed it the vacant port. She activated the crystal and used the decryption sequence to read the file that she had stolen from Megatron’s personal log.
    Most of the file spoke of Megatron’s plans and his thoughts on his mysterious alien Benefactors. But, as she’d hoped, one reference gave the exact coordinates of the planet that Megatron had been brought to and been given the first means to begin what had turned into an all new Decepticon Empire.
    A wicked smile crossed Gwen’s face as she memorized the coordinates and then shut off the scanner. Quickly, she tossed it back into her satchel bag and began to set a pace for the station’s large docking bay and Starscream.
    About nine hours distance through Hyperspace, she calculated, to the location of the coordinates from the space station. Soon enough she would know Megatron’s little secret and, one way or the other, exact her vengeance on him!

    Lykos gathered up his equipment and organized it, shuffling some of the less important items back into his briefcase while he waited for his next appointment, which wouldn’t be for another twenty minutes or so. He didn’t like to schedule clients too close together--discretion and anonymity were important in this line of work.
    Satisfied, he closed the case and placed it back on the floor beside him. Exhaling, he picked up the Debian brandy he had in the mug on his table and sipped some, savoring the bittersweet taste.
    “I trust all went as planned?”
    Lykos looked up at the cloaked Humanoid whom had abruptly emerged from the mass of bar clientele.
    “Indeed, Autaras. And why not? This little charade was legitimate enough.”
    The other nodded. “Very well. I will be returning to the Core shortly then. Starscream has what she needs to find us now...and if she wants to seek us out, who am I to disappoint her?”
            *            *            *
    Sunfire sat in the dark room they had placed her in, scant light emanated from an organic window in the makeshift cell, casting a gentle glow about the room. From what little she could see, she had concluded that this area was also on the surface.
    It was ironic--she’d been resurrected by the Syntara to aide the various sides in this conflict against the coming destruction and so far, her second attempt at life had been less than grand... she’d failed to warn the Autobots of the coming Shokoract and now, she had failed to help the Masters from their fate as well! Some Harbinger...
    She knew she had to try harder to get them to understand--if she couldn’t get the Masters on her side, the Decepticons would certainly be doomed against this newest enemy they would all soon face. And then they’d pick off the Masters and any possible Autobots survivors as well--no one could escape from them if they were allowed to crush the Transformers war machine.
    Sunfire had pondered her options for about an hour and a half now and not arrived at any better option than simply revealing the truth to the Masters and hoping they would understand. She didn’t rate that option highly either, but she had to do something--to try and change the course of events before the Enemy succeeded at what it was planning and eradicated them all.
    And if need be, she’d make them understand! She’d have to...
    Rising, she went to the wall that faced the inner corridor of the building she was in and projected outward with her mind.
    ‘Sentinel!’ She contacted the guard outside. ‘Call Avatar Prime...I am ready to speak with him...”
            *            *            *
    Starscream emerged out of Hyperspace to find a dead world beneath her. Startled by the discovery, she checked and then rechecked the coordinates again, only to find out that they did, in fact, match up with the records she had appropriated from Megatron.
    This had been the planet he had mentioned in his personal log--he had even included a planetary report for reference in it--and this did not match the same geological condition that he had observed. Originally, the planet of his Benefactors had resembled Earth in it’s conditions--although it had been more rock and water than vegetation--and had been populated by millions of lifeforms and hundreds of cities and settlements.
    Megatron’s logs had also spoken of how his Benefactors had always communicated with him via robotic lifeforms--Transformers and less advanced mechanical drones--but how he had suspected that they were merely puppets to divert him from discovering their true forms. Irregardless, there was no way anything would have survived the desolation beneath Starscream now.
    The unnamed world at coordinates 96-140-32 was burned and charred, it’s surface completely destroyed. All trace of civilization and life had been eradicated with great power and precision from a force Starscream couldn’t begin to fathom. The surface atmosphere was ruined, toxic gases and emissions were intense and she doubted even Transformers could survive very long on the surface in all that.
    Interestingly, the planet still seemed tectonically stable as she soared over it in orbit. Almost as if someone had wanted it to survive--or survive long enough to remain as a message, at any rate. Certainly no one would be occupying it ever again...
    She couldn’t believe she had come all this way and accomplished all that she had only to be stopped now. But this was clearly a dead end now...whether Megatron’s Benefactors had met with a violent end at some force’s hands or they had moved on and obliterated all trace of their former base, they were not here anymore. And with them was gone any chance she’d had of usurping Megatron’s power for her own.
    Starscream flew in silence for a few moments further over the surface of the dead world. She scanned the world one final time, more for the oppourtunity to absorb the sight before her than for any reason else.
    Resigning herself, she set coordinates for a return to Grand Central Space Station. She had to refuel there for a return trip to the Dark Glory--assuming she was going to return to the Decepticons. And she had been missing for a few days, so it was quite likely someone had noticed by this point. Megatron would no doubt be waiting for some oppourtunity for her to screw up so he could accuse her of mutiny and eliminate her once and for all.
    As her Hyperdrive powered up, a enormous vessel decloaked in front of her, blocking off her escape. Before she could react, she felt her form being broken down in a teleportation beam.
    Immediately, she rematerialized somewhere in a dark corridor. Scant blue lights provided soft illumination on the floor, their light hinted at partially revealed monsters in the shadows.
    Instantly, she transformed into robot mode and drew her particle rifle out of sub space. Her first thought had been that the Dark Glory had somehow followed her here and teleported her aboard. But her view of the ship had been all too brief before she had been taken aboard. And now, she was alone in a darkened corridor that did not match the Decepticon ship’s layout. Also, there was not a plethora of guards awaiting her... no, she did not think this was likely the Decepticon Fortress, so where was it? And why had she been brought aboard?
    Cautiously, she crept along the corridor in front of her for several minutes, following it as it arched to her right slightly and then straightened out. After a few more paces, she came into a broad area that was encircled with the blue floor lights.
    The blue lighting abruptly cut out, leaving her without any way back. As she scrambled to switch frequencies to find a better light spectrum to see out of, a bright white spotlight switched on from somewhere above, blinding her momentairily. In the momentary confusion, a door slid shut somewhere behind her, cutting off access from the corridor she had arrived in this room from.
    Far above her, dim lights came on and illuminated Humanoid figures sitting in a circular alcove above her. The light directly above her dimmed slightly, allowing her to make out the figures better. Some had mechanoid optics and others did not...she could not tell whether they were Transformers such as herself or not.
    “Greetings Starscream,” one spoke from the relative center of the alcove above and in front of her. “We’ve been expecting you...”