Transformers
Robots in Disguise

101 - In The Beginning

by Mike Watson

	"Is it ready?"
	"Just about."
	"Address me properly when you speak, pest."
	"Yes, Megatron..." Dark Scream paused, Megatron looked at him angrily.  "Sir."
	"That's better."  Megatron said as he walked out of the room.
	Dark Scream, slightly hurt, but more angered by Megatron, mimicked him after he was out 
of sight, "Meh, that's better, bleh.  Lousy tyrant."  He looked back at his work.  He had 
been working on repairing the mainframe of the Vertigo's computer.  It had been sabotaged 
by Autobot rebels a few mega-cycles ago, and only now was he getting it back on-line.
	The Vertigo.  The most powerful warship created since the end of the revolution.  In 
fact, it was created during the revolution.  I was the reason for the downfall of the 
Maximals and the rise of the Predacons and Decepticons.  Though indeed, the alliance between 
the two groups was a shaky one, it had been enough to destroy the Maximals in power.  As far 
the alliance was concerned, there were no more Maximals left.  Indeed this might be true.
	You see, after Cybertron's state was converted from completely technological to what came 
to be called 'techno-organic matter' there was a great civil war among the Maximals.  What 
Optimus Primal had thought would be the ultimate goal of Cybertron, and what he had given his 
life for, had actually caused greater turmoil than expected.  Some Maximals liked the new state 
of Cybertron, and it was those who were reformatted.  However, many did not like the changes, 
and there was no way to bring the original state back.  The non-formatted group of Maximals 
split off from the reformatted Maximals and renamed themselves the Autobots, further stating 
that they wished not to be organic, but completely inorganic like their ancient ancestors whose 
name they now bared.
	It became Maximal against Autobot, a war which raged on for many, many years.  What 
Predacons remained just watched in amazement and allowed their numbers to slowly grow.  Of 
course the same problem the Maximals had happened among the Predacons.  Some saw reformatting 
as good, others wanted no part of it, thus the Decepticons were reborn.  However, they did not 
make the same mistakes as the Maximals.
	An alliance was formed, and when it seemed that the Autobots had triumphed, the alliance 
struck.  They wiped out the remaining Maximals, and destroyed what Autobots they could find.  
Many went into hiding, only coming out to perform random, but calculated, attacks on various 
Predacon and Decepticon utilities.  The virus programmed into Vertigo's mainframe was one 
of those attacks.
	"There, done!  Finally."  Dark Scream sat back and admired his work.
	Gas Skunk, who had been repairing a computer panel peered around some equipment.  
"Fixed it?"
	Dark Scream looked over at Gas Skunk, "Yep!  Now this rig'll fly again.  Blow up some 
Autobots.  Do what it was meant to do."
	Gas Skunk just looked at Dark Scream for a second and went back to work.  From behind his 
panel he simply said, "Better tell Megatron."
	Dark Scream stood up, and glared at Gas Skunk, who didn't see him.  As he walked out he 
mumbled to himself sarcastically, "Good job, Dark Scream, keep it up.  Way to fix the mainframe, 
not like it's COMPLICATED or anything.  Sheesh."
	Dark Scream walked through the immense halls of the Vertigo.  The halls many a battle had 
taken place in.  The place Megatron had destroyed the Autobot general, the great Silverbolt, 
who had been a hero in the Beast Wars and the Spark Wars.  The only reformatted Autobot.  
Yes, if these halls could talk.  Dark Scream's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Megatron's 
voice over his communicator.
	"Dark Scream!"  Dark Scream rolled his eyes and clicked on the communicator.
	"Yes, Megatron, sir?"
	"Is the mainframe repaired yet?!"
	"I was just coming to tell you that I finished it."
	Megatron's tone got friendly all at once, "Ahh, excellent.  For we have some business to 
take care of with the Vertigo.  Megatron out!"
	Dark Scream shook his head and turned around to come face to face with Sky Byte, Megatron's 
lieutenant.  Sky Byte glared at Dark Scream for a second.
	"We require your knowledge, Dark Scream." He said in his low, growling voice.  Sky Byte 
never was one for conversation.
	Dark Scream simply replied, "Lead the way."
	
										* * * * * *
										
	"Are you sure this'll work, Sideburn?" X-Brawn asked, still not convinced.
	"X-Brawn, have I ever let you down before?" Sideburn said, cool as always.  "Just as long 
as no Preds or Decepts show up, we'll be okay."  He flipped down his visor and went back to 
work.  "Just keep me covered."
	Sideburn was working on overriding the Vertigo's main flight controls so they could fly 
it themselves without having to be in the control room.  One of the major flaws of the Vertigo 
was that you could access the majority of its data from nearly anywhere within the ship.  Just 
as long as you had the right tools and the knowhow.
	"Uh, Sideburn, I hear something," X-Brawn said nervously, tapping Sideburn on the shoulder.
	"Well, you'll have to slag them, I'm not done yet."  Sideburn said without looking up.
	"Where's Prowl?" X-Brawn asked nervously.
	"With Optimus."
	"Great."
	
										* * * * * *
										
	"Optimus!  Look out!!" Prowl screamed.  Optimus looked up from the unconscious Predacon in 
time to see another charging towards him.  He quickly dodged the punch and smashed the Predacon 
over the head with his gun.  The Predacon fell to the ground, limp.
	"That's the last of them," he said, looking at the eight Predacons laying on the ground.
	"Way too much security in this place," Prowl said.
	"Oh yeah," Optimus rubbed an injury on his arm, then clicked his communicator.  "X-Brawn, 
you there?"
	Over the comm-link X-Brawn's voice, along with weapon fire, was heard.  "Prime!  We got 
some problems here!  A few Preds and Decepts, I can't hold them off and Sideburn isn't done 
yet!"
	"Hang on X-Brawn, we're on our way!  Optimus out!"
	
										* * * * * *
										
	"Sure, I'll hang on," X-Brawn grimaced.  He quickly fired a few shots over his cover, which 
was the equipment Sideburn was working on.  Sideburn, meanwhile, continued to sodder away at a 
computer chip in the ground.
	"Almost done, buddy," Sideburn yelled to X-Brawn above the sound of gunshots.  Just then a 
shot connects with X-Brawn in the chest and he falls next to Sideburn.  "Ah, slag!"  Sideburn 
stops soddering, stands up, draws his gun, and angrily fires a few shots at the four attackers, 
hitting two of them.  The other two return his fire, but he ducks out of the way.  He quickly 
stands up again, but is face to face with the gun of both the Predacons.  He sadly puts his 
hands above his head, but suddenly smiles.
	The two Preds look at each other when Sideburn smiles, and suddenly two huge hands appear 
opposite sides of their heads and smash them together.  They fall, and Optimus nods at Sideburn 
from behind the two unconscious Predacons.
	"What took you so long, Ops?" Sideburn grins.
	"Trouble in the security sector," he looks at the floor panel Sideburn was working at 
before.  "Finish yet?"
	"Yeah, just about to," Sideburn looks over at X-Brawn.  "How's XB?"
	"Prowl," Optimus says, pointing to X-Brawn.
	
										* * * * * *
										
	"Vile Autobots, I'll destroy them and their stupid rebellion," Megatron yelled, walking 
down a hallway to where the Autobots had been located.  They had crossed him for the last time.  
Ever since he had been general of the Predacon army there had been trouble with Autobots.  First 
in the beginning of the war and the alliance, and after that with the rebels led by that 
scrap-heap Optimus Prime.
	Talk about unworthy of a name.  The first Optimus Prime had been a legend.  He was a great 
warrior and a great leader.  You had to admire those qualities, even if he had been an Autobot.  
Though of course he was destroyed by the first Megatron, and later by the second Megatron, 
as the story goes.
	"Megatron, this is where they are," Sky Byte interrupted his thoughts.  Sky Byte, a worthy 
lieutenant, but Megatron had his suspicions about him.  He had his suspicions about everyone.  
It's something that comes with leadership and great power.  Everyone wants it.
	"Where are Dark Scream, Gas Skunk and Slapper?" Megatron inquired.
	"They are on their way, sir," Sky Byte replied.  At this point the three came running from 
the opposite direction, armed and ready for battle.
	Megatron looked at them, then back at Sky Byte.  "The ship has been evacuated?"
	"Yes sir.  We are the last ones left on it.  Us and the Autobots," Sky Byte said.
	"Excellent," Megatron said in a pleased tone.  "Kill them all if you have to," he instructed 
his troops.  "But leave Prime for me.  I want him alive."
	All four nod in agreement and Sky Byte draws his weapon.  He fires a single shot into the 
door, which is blown in.  The four Autobots inside look at the door and those who have replaced 
it with shock.
	"Ahh, Optimus Prime, we meet again," Megatron said, pointing his weapon at Optimus.
	"The pleasure's all mine," Optimus says, aiming at Megatron.
	At this time Slapper jumps over Megatron and lands on Prowl, still tending to an out cold 
X-Brawn.  Gas Skunk and Dark Scream fire shots at Sideburn, who ducks out of the way quickly.  
Megatron and Optimus fire their weapons, but miss each other, and engage in hand to hand 
combat.
	Megatron appears to be overpowering Optimus, but he is shot in the side by a stray shot from 
Sideburn.  The shot causes Megatron to fall and push Optimus who falls on his knees.  He catches 
himself, but one of his hands smashes into the panel Sideburn was working on before, and shorts 
out something in the panel.  The battle between the others continues for a second when suddenly 
the ship's emergency lights come on.  Everyone stops fighting and the computer makes an 
announcement.
	"Launch sequence activated.  Thrusters on-line.  Launching."
	Megatron's eyes open wide when he hears what has happened.  "What?!  NO!  This can't be!"
	Optimus looks at Sideburn, who shrugs at Optimus.  "Well, at least you got it to work."
	From the outside of the ship many Predacons and Decepticons are fleeing the launch site, 
since the Vertigo was undergoing repairs.  The rockets go to full thrust and the ship launches 
itself, slowly at first, but then gaining speed.  A far away shot from Cybertron shows the 
ship flying into space.
	From inside Optimus looks at Sideburn.  "Where are we going?!"
	Sideburn looks out a small port, watching Cybertron get smaller and smaller.  "I have no 
idea.  None at all."
	Megatron, angered by this, grabs Sideburn by the neck, lifts him up and slams him into the 
wall of the room.  "Idiot!  How can you not know, you set the coordinates!"
	Sideburn pulls Megatron's fingers apart so he can speak.  "I didn't set them, Optimus 
did, when his hand smashed into the control panel."  Megatron looks at Sideburn with anger at 
first, but then a helpless look comes over his face and he drops Sideburn.
	Then a second message blares over the ships intercom.  "Warning, warp space will be 
reached in fifteen clicks.  Please report to a stasis chamber, or you will go off-line due 
to the immense speed."
	Everyone looks at the intercom, then at each other.  Just then the entire ship begins to 
shake violently, causing a few to fall down, others to stumble.  The computer blares another 
announcement, which most didn't hear because they go into stasis lock.
	"Warp space reached."
	
										* * * * * *

	"Internal system repair complete.  All systems on-line."  Optimus opened his eyes.  Blackness.  
Did they even work anymore?  Where am I?  What happened?  There was a fight.  And the ship...the 
Vertigo...launched...oh no.
	"Prime, that you?" a voice whispered.  It was X-Brawn.
	"Over here." was all Optimus could think to say.
	"Hold on, I'll get some light."  X-Brawn whispered.  Just then a small light came from 
X-Brawn's arm.  But it looked different.  "What happened to you, Prime?"
	Optimus was surprised because that was what he was about to say to X-Brawn.  "What do you 
mean what happened?"
	"You look different."  X-Brawn whispered.
	"So do you."
	X-Brawn looked down at his arm.  "What's going on here?"
	"I don't know.  Where are the others?  We need to get out of here."  Optimus said as he 
stood.  He looked down at his arms and hands.  Indeed they had changed.  They had become more 
blocky looking.  He couldn't understand it.
	"Sideburn is over there, Prowl too." X-Brawn reported.
	"Get them on-line, we need to figure some things out."
	
										* * * * * *
										
	"Megatron!  Wake up!"  What?  Who was calling him.  Who was commanding him?!  Megatron 
sat up abruptly, out of stasis lock.  They were still in the Vertigo.  He looked up at Sky 
Byte.
	"What has happened to you?"  Megatron asked.  Sky Byte did, indeed look different.  His 
body had the same shape it always had, but there were various things hanging off his shoulders 
and sides which hadn't been there before.
	"I'm...we're not sure yet," Sky Byte corrected himself.
	"We?" Megatron asked suspiciously.
	"The other three have been altered as well."
	"Hmmm.  Interesting.  And the Autobots?" Megatron inquired.
	Sky Byte looked down for a second, then back at Megatron.  "We do not know.  They seem to 
have vacated the ship, sir."
	Megatron looked out the port in the room they were in.  The same room they had battled the 
Autobots in before.  Outside it was dawn, but not on any planet Megatron had seen before.  "Where 
are we, Sky Byte?"
	"As far as the Vertigo's scanners can tell, we're on Earth."  Sky Byte replied.
	"Earth?" Megatron said distantly.  Just then he remembered something.  "When are we?"
	Sky Byte looked puzzled.  "Sir?"
	"What time is it, imbecile!" Megatron yelled, angered.  He did not like to be questioned.
	"I'm not sure...there's no way of knowing, sir." Sky Byte said with a slight hint of fear.
"But, it is rich in energon, and populated with humans."
	"Then it is Earth."  Megatron said.  Suddenly it all made sense.  He looked down at his arm, 
which had changed since he went into stasis lock.  "We've adapted."
	"Adapted, Megatron?"  Sky Byte spoke carefully, not wanting to be yelled at again.
	"Yes, lieutenant," Megatron replied, finally looking at Sky Byte.  "Earth," he continued.  
"Is a strange planet.  Legend has it that many millions of stellar cycles ago it was seeded 
with raw energon by an alien race.  The massive amounts of energon do not sit well with the 
internal systems of any Transformer, so upon landing here our scanners kicked in and scanned 
all suitable forms we could possibly take on as alternative forms.  It is the art of transformation, 
it is where our race gets its name."
	"So, we have alternative forms now?" Sky Byte inquired.
	"As is evident by the changes in out super structure."  Megatron replied.
	"Then do the Autobots also have new forms?"  Sky Byte asked.
	"Yes, but in all likelihood they have adapted forms of mechanical things on this planet, 
since they are more mechanical than organic, whereas we, as Predacons, we're a mixture of the two."  
Megatron paused for a second, thinking.  "Come with me, Sky Byte, we have much to do."

										* * * * * *
										
	"Okay, so you're telling me that we've adapted to take on alternative forms that are better 
suited for this planet?"  Prowl couldn't believe what he was saying.  It was so ludicrous.  It 
was insane.
	"I don't make up the rules, Prowl.  That's what happened."  Optimus said in a rather flat 
tone.
	"Um, so how do we transform anyway?" Sideburn asked.
	Optimus looked up at Sideburn from his computer console.  "That's what I'm trying to figure 
out now."  He looked back down.
	The four had found an information room in the Vertigo.  It was a place one could go to relax 
and learn about pretty much anything from Transformers history.  It wasn't an overly large 
room though, probably because Predacons and Decepticons tended to enjoy warfare rather than 
information as a way to relax.  Information chambers had been an Autobot invention, the ancient 
Autobots, and it was actually amazing that the Predacons had even built one into this ship.
	"Ah!  Here it is." Optimus had found it.  "It's done via a spoken activation code.  To 
convert to your alternative mode you say 'transform' and to convert back to robot mode you 
say 'maximize'."
	"Hrm, voice commands, eh?  Archaic," Sideburn quipped.
	"Well, that part of our programming became overlooked when transforming was no longer 
needed.  Be happy we still have it in there, otherwise we wouldn't survive long on this planet 
without an alternative mode."
	"Okay, well, that's enough talk, let's see what we are!"  Sideburn said.  "Transform!"  
With that he transformed into his vehicle mode, that of a Dodge Viper.  "Wow!  Hey, cool, I'm 
an antique!"
	"Nice, Sideburn," Prowl said, looking over Sideburn's vehicle mode.  "My turn.  Transform!"  
Prowl transformed into his vehicle mode, a Lamborgini Diablo police car.  "Hey, sweet."
	"Transform!" X-Brawn quickly said, not wanting to be left out.  He transformed into a 
SUV van.  "Hm, I think I got swindled here.  You guys get to be fast cars and I'm a big ol' 
truck."
	"Well, it suits you, buddy," Sideburn remarked.  "Hey, now you go, Ops!" He said to Optimus.
	Optimus looked over the three cars, somewhat puzzled.  "How come you guys are all really 
old models?"
	"What d'ya mean, Prime?"  X-Brawn asked.
	"Well, I've scanned the old history data tracks, and these forms are all quite ancient in 
terms of Earth.  I mean, as of now they don't use internal combustion in cars anymore, and the 
majority of them have a hover function as well."
	"I dunno, maybe we crashed near an antique shop," Prowl said.
	"Well, that's an excellent way to not draw attention to ourselves," Sideburn said sarcastically.
	Optimus stared straight ahead for a few seconds, thinking, then finally addressed Sideburn.
"Sideburn, is there any way you can access some outside data sources from here?"
	"I think so.  Why?"
	"I have a weird feeling about something," Optimus said.
	"Maximize!"  Sideburn quickly said, transforming back into his robot mode.  He then ran 
over to the console Optimus had been working at before and began typing away.  Behind him 
Prowl and X-Brawn both transformed back into robot mode and walked over to Optimus.
	"What's your hunch, Optimus?" Prowl asked.
	"You've heard the story of the Beast Wars, right?" Optimus asked, looking at screen Sideburn 
was working at the whole time.  Prowl nodded.  "Well, as the story goes, Optimus Primal and his 
crew followed the second Megatron's crew into transwarp space.  They went back in time."
	"So you think that-" Prowl stopped when he saw what was on Sideburn's screen.
	"Is that date correct, Sideburn?" Optimus asked.
	"Yep," Sideburn said.  "What do you make of that?"
	"Looks like Prime was right," X-Brawn said.
	They all just stared at the screen for a while, the words seemingly taunting them: 
'May 29th, 2011'.

THE END