Ironhide was one of the first ones to return to the Ark, along with Powerglide, Cliffjumper, and the Wreckers – glad to have Inferno among their ranks again. And they were more than a bit confused to see the SpaceBridge open. “Whoa. Okay, who left the GroundBridge open?” asked Ironhide. “It’s just burnin’ Energon we ain’t got.”
“Let’s see where it’s pointing before we turn it off.” Powerglide suggested as he moved to the console… surprised by the coordinates. “By Primus… the modifications worked. This thing’s a full-blown SpaceBridge now.”
“You kiddin’, kid?” asked Inferno.
“No joke, Inferno; the coordinates are set for Cybertron, just outside Kaon.” Powerglide assured.
“Kaon? Why would any Autobots wanna go there?” asked Inferno. “And why without calling the cavalry?”
“Only one way to find out,” Ironhide noted. “Cliff, Powerglide, Inferno; you’re with me. We’re goin’ to the homeworld.” With that, all four red ‘bots transformed ready to roll. “Springer, if anyone comes askin’ for us, tell ‘em the good news and send ‘em through to back us up.”
“You got it, chief.” Springer nodded.
“Alright then. Autobots, Roll Out.” Ironhide ordered as his team rumbled through the vortex to Cybertron, which Springer watched, hoping they would still have enough Energon to bring the team back when they were done on the homeworld.
The first thing Chromia felt when she woke up was a splitting pain in her head. “Ugh. Ow. What the-?” she groaned as she sat up… and found herself in a cell with the other Virago. “Ugh. Solus’ Solvent Heater; the Cons got us, didn’t they?”
“What was your first clue?” asked Firestar.
“Save the sarcasm, Firestar; we’ve gotta get the heck outta here and warn Iacon,” Chromia remarked, moving to the energy bars… which singed her hands when she grabbed them. “OW!”
“Don’t bother; those things could hold a horde of Insecticons at bay,” Lancer assured. “We’ve gotta do something more powerful.”
Moonracer’s optics popped and she snapped her fingers. “I’ve got an idea,” she noted. “All this power must be coming from somewhere, right?”
“Yeah, so?” asked Greenlight.
“So, if we disrupt the power…”
Greenlight understood now and nodded along. “It might be enough to cause some sort of destructive feedback into the system and let us escape.” she nodded. “Good call, Moonie. But where would the power be coming from?”
“Up here; fuel conduit,” Lancer noted at the small pipe at the side of the bars. “Must be linked directly into the central Energon grid.”
“Well, this is easy. All we have to do is cut off the Energon flow, and…” Greenlight smiled as she muscled her arm out to the pipe, gripping it as tightly as she could, but it barely even budged. “Gah, slag it. Darn you, scientist’s hands.”
“One side, ladies; let the old junker with the hardcore actuators handle this one.” Chromia smiled as she stepped forward, slipping her arm out in Greenlight’s place, grabbing the pipe which she crushed closed with a single clench of her fist, halting the flow of Energon immediately and prompting the bars to deactivate. “And that is how ya do it.” With that, she stepped out of the cell… prompting a loud alarm to blare throughout the complex. “Ah scrap.”
“Why didn’t you account for the alarms?” Firestar asked Greenlight indignantly.
“I thought cutting the power to the bars would knock it out,” Greenlight assured. “You know how bad the Cons are at wiring junk like this!”
“We can point digits later; right now we’ve gotta motor,” Chromia ordered as Vehicon guards thundered in.
“Freeze!” one of them ordered as they all leveled their blasters.
“Lancer, you still armed?” Chromia asked.
“Cmon, you know how hard it is to disarm an alt-mode,” Lancer smirked as she started to transform… but only a few plates shifted. “What the-?” She looked around and eventually realized something. “Ugh. Figures. Inhibitor claw under my turret; can someone get that?”
“Yeah, I gotcha.” Moonracer nodded as she reached in and pulled the small claw off of Lancer’s back.
“Ah, that’s better.” Lancer stretched with a smile. “Alright, let’s try this again.” With that, she swiftly transformed into her tank mode and started firing on the Vehicons with her turret, blasting them apart with high-energy bolts.
“Nice work, Lancer. Now let’s grab our gear and get the frag outta this dump.” Chromia smiled as the team followed the tank-bot out, her cannon covering everyone as they moved to prisoner’s storage.
It was a long and hazardous drive through Decepticon territory before finally, Rainbow locked her eyes onto a large glittering building. “Tell me that’s where we’re going,” she asked seriously.
“Yes. The Iacon Hall of Records.” Optimus assured. “Last great Autobot bastion left on Cybertron. And now, the last hope for Elita-1’s life.”
“Speakin’ of which, does anyone have any idea what’s wrong with her?” asked Applejack.
“No time for an analysis while we’re driving, Applejack.” Rarity shrugged. “Our best hope is that someone will be at Iacon when we arrive and can help us figure that out.”
“Speaking of which, I got movement up top,” Rainbow noted, seeing someone at the large double door.
Someone aiming a heavy Energon crossbow out the large door. “Who goes there?!” a female voice roared with an almost Scottish-sounding accent.
Quickly the team stopped and all transformed to bot-mode, Applejack holding Elita as she fell from Optimus’s back-end. “Stand down, Beta. I seek only aide.”
The wielder of the crossbow was surprised as she stepped out of the massive building, showing the girls that she was a large lime-green femme. “Optimus Prime. I believed you were dead,” she remarked.
“Well, unless we get her some help, Elita might be saying the same,” Sunset remarked as she stepped forward.
Beta looked and saw Elita, hanging weakly from Applejack’s arms. “Of course. Bring her inside. And be quick; the others are waitin’.”
“Others?” Twilight asked as they dragged Elita in and closed the door.
Once they were inside and the door was closed, Beta was right back to being suspicious as she pointed her crossbow at the girls. “My questions first. Who are you?”
The girls were a bit worried, but Rainbow just stepped forward with a scowl on her faceplate. “As far as I see it, we’re the only ones in the universe who can help you win your war.” She flicked her wrist and revealed the data drive on her wrist from the armor. “Recognize this?”
“The Spark-Shift Armor…” Beta remarked in awe. “We have the map to the AllSpark?”
“It’s a bit of a long story.” Twilight shrugged.
Beta holstered her crossbow and rolled her optics as she heard that. “Written by my husband, no doubt,” she remarked.
Sunset did a double-take when she heard that. “Whoa-whoa-whoa, husband? You’re Alpha Trion’s wife?!” she asked.
“Widow, unfortunately.” Beta corrected. “But aye, the old Prime was mine. And now, I am the lone stewardess of Iacon Hall. And now, as it seems, the only one with the knowledge needed to save Elita-1.” She quickly indicated down the hall to a small laboratory, which the others all followed her to.
“What’s wrong with her anyway?” asked Applejack.
“After Megatron first tried to kill her all those hundreds of stellar cycles ago, Alpha Trion rebuilt Elita-1 from what was left.” Beta explained, indicating to the small operating table. “In the process, he inadvertently activated her own Outlier ability.”
“‘Outlier’?” asked Twilight.
“A small percentage of Cybertron’s population with special abilities that have no connection to their alternate modes,” Optimus explained simply.
“Like mutating superpowers?” asked Twilight; she’d read the X-Men comics, so she knew this sounded just like the mutants’ abilities.
“I suppose so, in a sense.” Beta shrugged.
“Wait, so… does that mean Trailbreaker’s an Outlier?” Rainbow asked in confusion, remembering perfectly that the pick-up truck could generate forcefields; a power that never really made sense until now.
“Indeed.” Optimus nodded, turning back to Beta as Applejack placed Elita on the operating table. “But what about Elita? She never told me she was an Outlier.”
“Most likely because she didn’t want you thinking any different of her. You remember the Functionist pogroms from before the war; Outliers were feared and hated.” Beta remarked. “As for her ability, that should be obvious; she can stop time around her at the cost of expending her own inner Energon.”
“Wait, so… she risked draining her own power to save Optimus?” asked Sunset in awe. “Wow.”
“Alpha Trion warned her to only use this ability as a last resort,” Beta assured. “Obviously she found it necessary to do so. The only way to save her would be a transfusion. And the only one compatible…”
“Lemme guess; it’s Optimus, isn’t it?” Rainbow smirked.
Beta simply nodded, turning to Fluttershy. “You’re your team’s medic?” she asked, earning a surprised nod from Fluttershy. “I’ll need your help to set up.”
“Of course.” Fluttershy nodded and stepped forward, quickly getting Elita and Optimus set for the transfusion, Optimus’ own Energon bleeding through a tube into Elita’s body.
As the Prime worked to keep his lover alive, the girls wandered around the complex and found a small control room where Glyph and Flareup were waiting, examining the computers. “You must be others from the Virago.” Twilight surmised.
Glyph was a bit surprised to see the girls but nodded. “Y-Yeah. I’m Glyph, this is Flareup. All that’s left of the Virago from the sounds of things.”
“Elita isn’t dead yet. And she said there were others in the Decepticons’ hands.” Rainbow assured. “Soon as she’s back to full strength, we’ll find them.”
“I just wish we could see your planet under better circumstances.” Twilight shrugged.
“It wasn’t always like this,” Beta assured as she walked in. “This world only came about in the dying days of the war on Cybertron.” She looked out the window to the red clouds and sighed. “Time was you could see the Roche Nebula on a clear night from anywhere in Iacon. Brilliant colors streaked across the sky like Primus himself had painted the heavens with enormous brushstrokes. Now… we haven’t even seen our own sun in millennia.”
“It sounds magnificent.” Rarity remarked.
“Yeah, it does.” Glyph smiled.
“Come again?” asked Spike.
“This is the only sky we’ve ever known.” Flareup remarked. “Glyph and I were one of the last ones forged from the AllSpark before Alpha Trion ejected it into space.”
“We have a term for young ones like them; those who were born after war was declared.” Beta remarked. “We call ‘em Warborn; ne’er known a Cybertron that hasn’t been touched by conflict. Some never will.” She looked back out the window and sighed as she saw the red clouds. “Things were plenty rough before, but when we lost the AllSpark, we lost Cybertron’s natural detoxifying ecosystem along with it, and with that came these acid storms and the oil and Energon spilled in the war finally started to rise up around our auditories.”
“We’ll fix it, Beta. I can promise you that.” Sunset assured… before she saw something in the distance. “Whoa, what’s that?”
“Probably just EM lightning from the acid storm.” Beta shrugged, not looking where Sunset was seeing.
“No, that explosion.” This drew the girls’ attention as they looked out the window and saw a large blast cloud in the distance… followed by another, and another, and another.
“Must be a skirmish.” Twilight theorized.
“How can that be? The only Autobots on Cybertron right now are right here in this hall.” Beta reminded.
“Must’ve miscounted,” Rainbow remarked, stepping toward the door. “I’ll fly out and see who it is. Might need some help, so you guys are on stand-by.” Before any of the others could object, Rainbow dashed to the roof and leaped into flight, transforming into jet mode as she flew out over the massive city.
“I like this girl. I’m goin’ with her.” Flareup smiled as she raced out of the control room, transforming to bike mode and roaring after the jet.
“We might as well go now and save Rainbow the call.” Twilight suggested.
“Right. Let’s roll.” Sunset ordered as the girls all raced from Iacon Hall, following Flareup on the ground and Rainbow Dash in the air.
The city streets of Iacon were just as much of a war zone now as they were during the war. Ironhide and his team maintained their fire from the corners as Starscream and a large team of Decepticon scouts kept them pinned down with blaster fire. “All those years on Earth keeping the Cons away from human civilizations, I almost forgot how much I missed urban combat.” Ironhide smiled as he stuck his blaster out around the corner, blasting blindly to try and knock the Decepticons away.
“Last time I was in this city before the war was when I was in the rescue service,” Inferno remembered. “Those days may not have been just, but damn if they didn’t net me a good job.”
“Ah, those were the days.” Powerglide smiled, spinning his own guns on his fingers as he fired at the Decepticons.
“Days you will never get to enjoy again, Autobot filth!” Starscream assured, maintaining fire at the team. “Decepticons, stop at nothing until they are destroyed, and then bring me the head of Optimus Prime!”
“Prime?!” asked Ironhide. “What’s he doin’ on Cybertron?”
“You’ll never find out, idiots!” Astrotrain laughed. “You’re scrap metal!”
“Not on my watch, pal!” Rainbow smiled, quickly firing two incendiary missiles from her jet-mode at the Decepticons, driving them back as the rest of the girls transformed next to the Autobots, firing at the Cons to keep pushing them back.
“What’re you girls doin’ here?” asked Inferno.
“Helping Optimus and Elita; what’s your excuse?” asked Sunset.
“We came to see who used the SpaceBridge,” Ironhide remarked. “I’m guessin’ it was you.”
“Yep. Now how about those ‘Cons?” Flareup smiled as she pulled out her blasters and started firing. The Autobots fired back at the Cons as best they could, but their blasts weren’t doing much damage, while the Decepticons were obliterating the Autobots’ cover.
“We’re getting hammered here!” Sunset remarked from behind the shields Rarity was forced to conjure.
“If there were ever a time for Optimus and Elita to arrive, now would be good.” Rarity remarked. And her wish was granted, though not by who she asked for.
Just up the street behind the Autobots, the rest of the Virago had followed the blaster fire and were amazed. “We seein’ the same thing, Moonracer?” Chromia asked.
“Yes, ma’am I am. More Autobots.” Moonracer smiled. “Our favorite ones too, if I’m not mistaken.”
“And from the looks of things, they could use a hand,” Firestar remarked. “Let’s roll!” Quickly they charged in and transformed, firing beyond the Autobots to the Cons.
Ironhide fired the blaster fire and was pleasantly surprised. “Well, if it ain’t Chromia.” he smiled, watching the blue bot charge forward with a large blaster.
“Well, if this isn’t touching…” Starscream smirked. “The ladies have come to watch their beloveds die.”
“Not tonight, Starscream,” Firestar smirked as she rolled forward and let loose a massive torrent of flame from her flamethrower. “How ya doin, hotshot?”
“Cool as nano-frost now that you’re here, Firestar,” Inferno smirked, letting loose a torrent of the freezing agent.
Powerglide smirked as he went back to back with Moonracer. “Hope you’re still the best sharpshooter in the galaxy, doll,” he smirked.
“The universe, babe; remember?” Moonracer smirked, easily blasting down a tower to crush a large group of Vehicons.
“Glad you guys are okay.” Glyph smiled at Greenlight and Lancer as they moved forward. “What happened?”
“Three guesses.” Lancer smiled, firing massive pulses of plasma from the spear that transformed from her turret.
Seeing the tides turning against him, Starscream tried to make a run for it but was stopped by a gun barrel in his face before he could get too far. “Goin’ somewhere?” Ironhide smirked.
“Whoa there, hun,” Chromia smirked as she moved to his side. “Whatever happened to ladies first?”
“Oh, sorry bout that ma’am. Forgot my manners.” Ironhide smirked as he stepped back.
With a smirk, Chromia holstered her blaster in favor of a large shield formed from her van-mode’s roof and a massive pole-ax, which she pointed at Starscream, who immediately recoiled. “Just as cowardly as ever, Starscream,” she smirked.
“‘He who fights and runs away…’” Starscream reminded, quickly backflipping from the ledge he was on, transforming in midair to flee into the air.
“One down, a whole mess more to go,” Ironhide remarked.
“And another mess incomin’,” Applejack added, watching as Obsidian and Strika roared in with fleets of drones that looked just like them.
“Oh, if ever there were a time for the big ‘bots to show up…” Rainbow rolled her eyes.
Pinkie looked behind them and her eyes narrowed with a smile. “Looks like someone’s birthday wish came true.” she smiled.
“What?” asked Rainbow as she looked… seeing Optimus and Elita roaring in at full speed before they both transformed and started firing on the Decepticons, blasting them all back with just a few volleys from their larger weapons.
“Retreat! Retreat!” Starscream ordered in fear as the Decepticons ran, though Obsidian and Strika stood strong.
“Not all Decepticon commanders are as cowardly as Starscream, Optimus Prime!” Obsidian assured.
“Nor are they as foolish, Obsidian. You know Megatron conquered Cybertron and yet you joined him.” Optimus scowled. “Why?”
“Megatron is Cybertron, Prime.” Obsidian assured. “My loyalties are to the world itself; anyone with the power to take it is the one who I will follow.”
“In other words, you saw which way the wind was blowing and switched sides.” Applejack scowled.
“Seemed like a good idea at the time. Still does at that.” Obsidian assured.
“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Sunset assured. “Join up with us and we can bring Cybertron back.”
“Back? To the age of weakness that only fools refer to as golden?” asked Obsidian. “No, I think I prefer it like this; where only the strong survive.”
“Then you are as lost as Megatron. I only hope you may find the path of light soon.” Optimus scowled.
“Hold onto your hopes, Prime. Soon enough, they will be all you have left.” Obsidian assured. “We’re leaving.”
“What?! But we’re winning!” Strika scowled.
“We were. Then he showed up. Now we’re leaving.” Obsidian assured. “If you wish to settle this later, you know what to do.”
Strika smirked, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Very well.” Strika nodded and transformed, roaring away as Obsidian followed her.
“What was that all about?” asked Rainbow.
“Obsidian and Strika are… close,” Lancer said simply.
“Oh,” Rainbow noted… before she slowly realized it. “Oh… Oh!”
“Yeah.” Lancer nodded. “So… who are you anyway?”
“Uh, locals from the planet we crashed on,” Ironhide explained. “They’re helpin’ us track down the AllSpark.”
“And once we have it, our homeworld will know light and life once again,” Optimus assured.
“That is a dream I had long since given up hope on.” Elita nodded.
“In war, Elita, hope is the one thing that can never die,” Optimus assured. “Which is why I ask that you and the Virago join us on Earth so we might end the war with the Decepticons permanently and restore our home.”
The girls were a bit surprised, as was Elita. “Optimus, I… I would love to join you, but… someone must keep some sort of Autobot foothold on Cybertron,” she assured.
“Beta can handle that at Iacon, can’t she?” asked Twilight.
“Face it Elita, our time here is over until we stop the Decepticons.” Chromia reminded, leaning lovingly against Ironhide. “And I think I speak for us all when I say we have some lost time to make up with our spark-mates here.”
Elita rolled her optics; she knew her team wouldn’t let her out of this so she smiled. “Alright then. We would be honored to join you, Optimus.” she smiled.
“Then we better get moving; who knows how much more Energon the SpaceBridge has got left,” Twilight remarked.
“Did someone say SpaceBridge?” Springer’s voice crackled over the coms as the vortex appeared nearby.
“Whoa! Springer? Talk about timing.” Rainbow remarked.
“Purely coincidental, Rainbow; I assure you,” Springer noted. “I was bouncing this thing around Cybertron to avoid the Decepticons taking it back to base and hoping to find you.”
“Well, looks like we all lucked out. Let’s get back to Earth.” Sunset smiled and quickly transformed to vehicle mode, roaring through the portal with the others swiftly following. What they didn’t know was that when they arrived, they would be met with a mission far more dangerous than most before.