Mars-The red planet. It is Earth's closest neighbor and has been a subject of study for many years. Is there life on its rocky surface? Did water once flow freely? Will humans ever have the opportunity to settle there? All these questions were frequently asked by many different people over a long period of time.
In 2003, during the months of June and July, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched two rovers to Mars in the hopes of gaining some in depth and highly accurate data readings. It was unfortunate that a week after they landed, they were both destroyed. It was entirely unexpected and the obvious answer was that they were short circuited by solar radiation or were crushed by a falling rock. Some people believed that something else happened, however. They believed that the rovers were destroyed by aliens native to Mars which did not wish to be found.
They were somewhat correct. The sudden destruction of the rovers was the responsibility of aliens, but they were not native to Mars.
Mars has been home to a research and development/military rendezvous outpost for thirty nine years. This outpost belonged to a group of mechanical aliens with the strange ability to shift their appearance into a vehicle. This group called themselves the Decepticons. They were responsible for huge amounts of terror and conflict across multiple galaxies. They believe that their race, the Cybertronians, were superior to all organic creatures in the universe and felt that it was their duty to either purge or enslave everything that was made of flesh.
But before they became the universe's strongest and most terrifying power, they were a humble civil rights organisation. There home world, Cybertron, was home to an oppressive cast system which beat down the lower tier while raising those on top higher and higher. From this cast system came D-16. He was a humble mining drone whose whole existence was centered on mining Energon deep beneath Cybertron's surface.
One day, about 16 million years ago, D-16 was sold to the gladiatorial arena in the lower caste city of Kaon. It was here he earned the name Megatronus. In no time at all he gained a reputation for being unbeatable and became something of an idol to the poor sparks stuck at the bottom. He showed how they could rise above what their frames are designed for and become something better.
It was at this time that he began writing political journals and letters. These writings gained him more fans from all across Cybertronian controlled space. Soon enough, these many voices were heard by the council which was at the head of the Autobot Commonwealth. This council began to demonize this new movement by branding them as Decepticons. They hoped that this would cause the citizens of the Commonwealth to turn on the movement. It did not.
These activists took the insult on as their official name and grew even more. Entire cities on Cybertron declared their loyalty and six of the thirteen colonies threw in their support.
Soon, Megatrounus and his close friend and ally, Orion Pax, came before the Autobot high council. Talks between the council and the Decepticons quickly broke down and both Megatronus and Orion Pax were accused of treason despite the fact that Orion was apprenticed to Alpha Trion, the head archivist at the grand archive. They were left with no choice but to fight their way out. This is seen as the start of the Cybertronian civil war. Before long, the entire commonwealth was set ablaze as fighting between Autobot loyalists and Decepticon rebels increased.
Orion himself began to see that Megatronus, now going by Megatron, was becoming stressed beyond belief. He and his elite were progressivly becoming more and more brutal until their ideology went from moderate socialism to complete fascism. They saw themselves as the rightful rulers of Cybertron and grew violent toward the organic nations they shared their home galaxy with.
This combined with the fact that Zeta Prime had abolished the High Council and had reformed the Commonwealth into a more equal and free nation led to Orion's defection to the Autobots.
This outraged Megatron. He and his most loyal saw this as the ultimate betrayal. Many now believe this is what led to the founding of the elite head hunter team known as the Decepticon Justice Division. In response, the Decepticon uprising invaded Iacon, the Autobot capital city. It was here that Zeta Prime met his death at the end of Megatron's sword. While Zeta's commanders attempted to chose which one of them would take up the title of Prime, Orion rallied the Autobots fighting on the front line and was field promoted to the position of battalion commander when the bot in charge was killed by a sniper.
Eventually, Sentinel Prime rose to lead the Autobots and he made Orion, now a decorated war hero, his second in command. For a while it seemed as though the tide was being turned. This changed with the battle of Vos.
The Autobots thought that if they could take the flyer city from the Decepticons then they had a clear shot at Kaon, the Decepticon capital. It was here that Megatron would kill his second Prime and steal the Matrix of Leadership from the Autobots. Now, Orion was left as supreme commander of all Autobot military forces. He did go through the ceremony of being named Prime but without the Matrix many, including Megatron, refused to call Orion by his new name-Optimus Prime.
The Decepticons began putting the pressure on the Autobots, even more than before. Soon, Iacon's inner city area was the final Autobot controlled area. The rest of Cybertron and all of the colonies had fallen and were under Decepticon control. In one final push, the Decepticons forced the Autobots off the planet and scattered them to the stars. Megatron and his personal unit took to hunting Orion's band of fighters across the universe. All other Autobots were slowly being wiped out but every time Megatron found Orion, he and his team were able to escape.
The tides had turned and the roles had been reversed. Now the war was between the Decepticon Imperium and the Autobot resistance.
Eventually, the Decepticons launched invasions into all the organic worlds they could find. Earth was next on the list and from their base on Mars, they plotted.
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Megatron and Onslaught had returned to Decepticon Outpost Omega-1 and made their way towards Shockwave's laboratory. The room was dark and the only light came from the computer terminals on the walls. Two large surgery tables were in the middle of the room and they were both stained with Energon. The two warriors placed the remains of Ironhide on the tables and stood until Shockwave, busy in his work, turned to look at them. Megatron chose to dismiss Onslaught, mainly due to Onslaught's status as a gestalt team leader. His presence in the halls would make sure that anyone who Soundwave didn't catch slacking would know not to do so less they are dragged to the Combaticons' shared quarters and used as a punching bag.
"Shockwave, I have something I need you to do."
The dark lord's voice caused the scientist to address his master with his one glowing red optic still focused on whatever was on his terminal. His voice was deep, not as deep as Megatron's but still intimidating, and completely empty of all emotion.
"You wish for me to use a cortical psychic patch to enter the dead Autobot's mind and find the location of their base on the planet." Shockwave stated, not missing a beat and barley moving at all.
"Indeed. Is it possible?" asked Megatron. Normally, he would not ask such a question but to his knowledge this had never been done before and Shockwave was likely the only bot who knew the answer.
"Yes, though it is incredibly dangerous. I will have Knockout do so soon but for now, with your permission, I would like to show you something I have found. Something incredibly interesting." Responded Shockwave as he turned to look at his liege.
Megatron nodded and stepped forward to look at the terminal the chief scientist was working on. Two things were on the screen. One, a chart showing readings of energy spikes and the other was a picture of seven humans.
"The data on the right shows readings of a previously unknown energy source which appears to be concentrated in and around the settlement you found Autobot captain Ironhide hiding in. As you can see, having control of this energy would give the Decepticons a major advantage over any resistance we may encounter in the future." Shockwave explained.
Megatron raised an optic ridge before asking if the energy could be weaponized in such a way.
"It would be logical to assume so. However, not many of the local population appear to know of this energy's existence. Of the ones that do, these seven are the most knowledgeable on the topic. At least, others seem to believe that, if the posts on the private information sharing network used by the educational institution they attend is any indication," Shockwave continued while pointing toward the picture on the left. He had the computer zoom in on two of the humans before speaking once again. "These two humans, known as Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, appear to know the most from the previous group shown. Many think that the energy follows them around. However, Twilight Sparkle may have a twin with whom she occasionally trades places with as it appears that sometimes she knows all there is to know and at other times she is as unknowing as we are currently. I recommend finding both."
Megatron was thinking. Now, to those who know him this is not a surprise but whenever Megatron begins thinking as deeply as he was in that situation, bad things happen. His mouth slowly formed into an evil smirk as he thanked Shockwave for the information and left the room.
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Barricade was patrolling. Nothing new there as he had been patrolling for the past thirty nine years. Ever since he had come to this mudball of a planet he had been patrolling. The business with Ironhide had been his only break from patrolling in all that time. His communications unit sounded. Maybe he was getting another break.
"Barricade, I have a mission for you." Came the voice of Megatron through the radio. Barricade's holographic disguise of a human police officer smiled before responding.
"How may I be of service, Lord Megatron."
"I'm having Soundwave send you a picture of two humans living in the city you are currently located. These two know of an energy source which, if properly harnessed, could be of great use to the Decepticons. Find them and bring them to me."
Barricade laughed before yelling 'as you command!', turning on his siren and speeding down the road.
What he didn't notice was the red Ford GT slowly lower the small satellite dish back into its rear before driving in the opposite direction. He also didn't hear it say "This is Cliffjumper to base. We may have a problem. A big one."