//------------------------------// // Chapter 37-Creation // Story: Transformers: The Requiem // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// Cybertron The after war… The Decepticon quickly fell to one knee, every fiber of his being telling him to bow once in the presence of his true leader. He refused to look up, both out of respect and fear. This fear was pure, this fear was ever growing. The guilt he felt in his spark had reached maximum levels. He had caused so much death, so much destruction. The Decepticon had sworn to change his ways and follow the path of the Autobots. He had arrived to his last hope of redemption, the final resting place…of Alpha Trion. Alpha Trion, the name that would soon become legend. The aging Autobot master was reaching his final circuits, every gasp of breath he took was a challenge he could only hope to overcome. The bot sat peacefully on a throne made of solid Energon crystals, the kind he had fought for to be turned into his deathbed. It warmed his spark to know there was still hope. Not for him, but for the Autobots. Never did Alpha Trion expect to find a Decepticon bowing at his feet at this day of age. His rusted hearing processors could barely make out the Decepticon’s words. “Forgive me for all the tragedies I’ve committed, for all the lives I have claimed, for the Energon I have shed, my sensei,” the Decepticon begged, his whole body quivering with the thought of the Autobot’s optics burning into him. “I vow to follow the path of true peace for as long as my spark shall function. I shall renounce my Decepticon ways and join the Autobots to victory. All that I ask…is for your blessings, sensei.” It was silent for the longest time. The Decepticon, curious as to why it was so quiet, slowly began to raise his head. He knew it was a mistake when he saw the great Alpha Trion rise from his throne. The Decepticon gasped and dropped his head almost immediately. His red optics found the reason to shut on their own when he heard the Autobot’s footsteps slowly approach him. He somehow found the reason to open his optics. He saw but two feet in his vision. Looking upwards, the Decepticon nearly went into stasis when Alpha Trion stood in front of him. His stature was unfailing, his build was mind-bending. The Autobot literally glowed in front of the lone Decepticon. Alpha Trion, despite his reaching end, appeared like a true legend. “Stand up,” Alpha Trion stated, his voice amplified by the thousands. Instantly, the Decepticon stood up, straight in posture with no signs of slouching. The elder Autobot gave him a once over, stopping at the glowing symbol on his chest. “Tell me… What is that symbol you represent, young warrior?” the child of Primus asked. The lone Transformer sadly looked down at his chest. Decepticon insignia, burning purple. The Decepticon did his best to find a voice. “It…it is the symbol I bore during the early years of the war, sensei. Back then…all I knew was that I would be fighting for a cause I hoped to believe in. That cause is long gone…along with Megatron.” “That isn’t the question I asked,” Alpha Trion stated firmly, frightening the Decepticon in front of him. “I asked what it represented.” The Decepticon looked at the ground, suddenly feeling very small compared to the great giant glaring him down. He tried to speak, but his voice seemed distant and broken. “It…it represents…it repre…” Alpha Trion interrupted by saying, “It represents the true nature of the Transformer race. We are capable of even the greatest advancements in technology. We were gifted by Primus himself to control our own destinies once we broke the chains of our hated rulers and banished them from whence they came. We were meant for much greater things than…this.” The Decepticon followed Alpha Trion’s sad stare across the throne room. Large sculptures of past Primes now sat in rubble at the feet of Alpha Trion’s throne. It was sad, yet comforting at the same time knowing that Alpha Trion would be buried with his fellow Primes. The Decepticon turned back to the massive Autobot, his stare expectant. “That symbol represents the true evil that the Transformers are capable of. The deaths of billions can only be known through that symbol. The fall of our great civilization can only be known through that symbol. The universe knows that symbol. Decepticon,” Alpha Trion finished, his only voice now low and broken. He closed his red optics. The Decepticon knew his faults. He knew the cause he was once fighting for was not worth dying for anymore. Megatron was gone, that was a fact, but the evil still lived. The Decepticons were still rampaging. “Young warrior…” Alpha Trion began anew, bringing up the Decepticon’s head with his pointing finger. “Or should I call by your name…Deadlock?” Deadlock nodded. “Very well,” the elder Prime spoke, stepping away from the small Decepticon. “You’ve seen the error of your ways. The lives you have taken, the lives of my brothers, your brothers, are on your hands and will forever be indebted in your soul. Your past crimes can only be forgiven one way…and you know what it is, don’t you?” “I do, sensei,” Deadlock replied with a firm nod. Alpha Trion then pulled out an item out of thin air into his palm. Deadlock couldn’t believe his optics. He was actually in the presence of the reality-bending Quill, an artifact from the Thirteen. It was still in perfect condition. Alpha Trion levitated the Quill into his right hand, pointing the glowing white end towards the Decepticon’s chest. He spoke in the voice of a thousand sparks he was known for. “Decepticon Deadlock, do you solemnly vow to give your life to the Autobot cause, to empower peace and tranquility throughout the galaxy and protect the innocent from all forms of evil as long as your spark gives you strength?” Deadlock didn’t waste a second to answer. “With all that I am.” He felt a pinch of pain in his chest, and then everlasting bliss flow through him. Alpha Trion slowly reached forward and pushed the Quill gently against Deadlock’s chest. The light was so intense that the Decepticon had to look away. Alpha Trion stared straight into the light, he had gotten used to it so many times before. The descendant of Primus slowly traced the symbol of his people onto the warrior’s chest. It was precise, accurate, and filled with the light of hope itself. Alpha Trion made sure of this. For some reason…he felt this would be the last time he ever did this. The Autobot pulled the Quill away, a gentle smile tugging at his face. Deadlock opened his glowing blue optics for the first time, taking in a large breath. He watched as Alpha Trion backed away slowly, his eyes locked onto his handiwork. Doing so prompted Deadlock to look down as well. The Decepticon insignia was gone forever, and in its travesty…the Autobot was born. “Welcome to our ranks…young warrior,” Alpha Trion congratulated, placing his mighty palm on Deadlock’s shoulder. Instead of answering back, Deadlock bowed. Alpha Trion smiled in a way he hadn’t felt in years. The potential of this young Autobot was strong. Knowing his past from pure memory, Alpha Trion knew he had millions of years of training, his skills were perfected, and he had the heart and soul of a true warrior of the sword. Yes, the Autobots have truly gained a worthy fighter. The war was over…but Alpha Trion knew there would be a new fight brewing. Not of this world. An old student of his, Orion Pax, after leaving Cybertron found refuge in a very peculiar little world. That world was in danger, Alpha Trion could feel it. A dark essence had entered its inhabitants. It was a presence Alpha Trion knew personally. Perhaps this was their only chance, and an excellent first mission for their newest warrior. He would definitely inform him of this mission soon. “Oh, I nearly forgot,” Alpha Trion admitted, walking back to his throne and taking a seat. His gears crunched with a satisfying pop once he sat down. He watched as the newest Autobot took a step forward. Alpha Trion smiled and eyed the Autobot, having the Quill disappear from his right palm. “What have you forgotten, sensei?” the warrior asked. Alpha Trion sat back into his throne, his aging optics slowly closing. “Have you decided on a new name, young warrior? It is not required, but most newborn Autobots find their new name to be a part of them…just like the life they’ve chosen to follow,” Alpha Trion responded, his voice sounding distant. The Autobot below smiled. “I believe I know which name I have chosen for myself…” _______________ “I take it that you understand the mission?” the beast growled, a strange type of liquid dripping from its maw whenever words would dribble outwards. The massive face on the hologram grimaced in disgust, but nodded nonetheless. The beast sat back into its throne. “We hold great trust with you, bounty hunter. Do not let us down,” it threatened in a tone far more cold than anything the bounty hunter had ever heard before. The creature received several nods in agreement from the others sitting to its side. In the glowing green hologram, the bounty hunter gave a small nod, his glare never breaking with any of the foul beasts that sat on their thrones. His green eyes were forced to stare at them, and he hated every second of them feeling so much more powerful than he was. “This is one hefty hunt,” the dark hunter mentioned. “It’d be a true shame if the target showed up dead to your throne room.” Saying that caused an uproar amongst the band of creatures. The hunter chuckled in delight from hearing their continued bickering. Like children. Sadly, the fun ended all too soon. One of the creatures slammed a tentacle down on its armrest. “Unless you want to see a morsel of the reward we promised you, then I’d suggest you bring the target to us alive!" The hunter almost shut off his hologram just to annoy them. That didn’t mean he wasn’t annoyed himself. Honestly, he’d rather bring a target back dead than alive. Yes, the payment was lower, but at least he wouldn’t have to deal with the screams of pain and terror from the bottom of the ship when he transported said target. Instead of shutting off his hologram projector, the hunter nodded bitterly and growled, “This payment better be worth the useless words that I’ve heard today.” Another one of the creatures grinned madly, his fingers slithering upwards to caress its own cheek. “Oh, don’t worry, bounty hunter,” the creature hissed. “You’ll have all the Energon you desire once you bring us the prey.” They all could’ve sworn they heard the hunter mutter something under his breath, though they ignored it when he offered another nod. “Consider it done,” the hunter told them, no designation of emotion located in his chilling tone. The massive green hologram in front of the creatures fizzled out until nothing but darkness began to creep into the throne room. A low chuckle emerged out of the thickening shadows. All the other creatures turned their heads to their fellow brother. He was practically losing all sense of matter and practicality with his wicked laughs. They didn’t care. They all joined in. With the hologram’s lights dying down for good, the creatures all stopped laughing, their attention brought to the eldest sibling. “The fool,” the eldest announced loudly, his facial expression adopting a look of pure determination. His wrinkles writhed about like a serpent, his multitude of fingers tapping against each other in delight. “Once the Autobot is eliminated, we’ll have all the assurance we need to take back Cybertron. Prepare yourselves, my brothers…we’re going home very soon.” The Creators all cheered. _______________ Several days later… He gripped the edges of his chair, his green eyes completely locked on with the targeted ship trying so desperately to escape. The chase had lasted hours. Since he first found the target escaping Cybertron, he knew right away that it was a prize worth all the effort he put into the chase. He guided his ship through asteroid fields, planetary surfaces, and even close to stars. The target was fast, agile, something he never experienced before in the prey. He loved every second of it. By now, he’d gotten several excellent shots on the target. The ship was badly damaged, flames and pieces of the exterior armor wavering off into the darkness of space like alien creatures being blown away by an orbital strike, just like the good ol’ days. Even with the chase continuing past a small moon in the far reaches of the solar system, he knew the target ship wasn’t going to last much longer. It tumbled in space, its booster rockets shut down every few seconds, and it even managed to slow down enough for him to get a clear shot. It was as if it was giving up. Pity. It was a pretty exhilarating chase while it lasted. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end at some point. The hunter, while enjoying the view of the shattered spacecraft a few hundred feet in front of him waver in zero gravity, brought up his pointing finger and tapped the nearest button on the armrest of his seat. Heat seekers? Too bland. Multi-rockets? He didn’t want to destroy the target within the ship. He still had a price over his head, more so if he was alive. The hunter continued to skim. He stopped, grinning. Cruise missile. Perfect. He tapped the image twice, watching as a little animation on the green-lighted screen displayed the projectile of his choice being loaded in, locked inside safely, and ready for launch. The hunter brought his green eyes forward on the target. Small crosshairs appeared on his ship’s front, locking on with the damaged piece in front of him. The hunter brought his finger down. Doing so caused the fires of Cybertron to be unleashed. The missile shot outwards from below his own ship, connecting to the rockets of the prey. The ship erupted into blossoms of red and yellow, a massive wave of heat and death to connect to the hunter’s own ship. He didn’t hear the explosion, but he felt it. He felt the vibrations coursing through his chair and into his arms. It was invigorating. His eyes shut from the brightness of the explosion. The hunter could still feel pieces of the target connecting to the front of his spaceship. Sighing happily, the hunter opened his eyes, shades of light green being one of the many lights glowing within the darkness of the bridge. In fact, mostly everything that had a light source inside of his ship shined light green. But when he opened his eyes…his smile faded away. Out of the wreckage of the target ship, he spotted a blue light, a blue light that flew away. The hunter quickly reached his hand forward and brought up the heat seeker missiles. He tapped the image twice, watching as it loaded into the ship. The hunter brought his green eyes back to the light. It was gone. He watched it disappear in a matter of milliseconds. The hunter stared at open space for a good amount of time, wondering if that really just happened. It did. His mind wasn’t playing tricks with him today. He sighed, sitting back into his chair. His eyes closed. How unfortunate. His tracker had completely gone blind. The target had escaped, that was for certain, but the hunter still couldn’t understand how it escaped…so easily. He was the best of the best, no hunt was too difficult for him to finish. He was handpicked by the Creators themselves to eradicate every last presence of the enemies in their path. Keeping them alive and delivering the prey to the Creators themselves equaled even more pay. How was he going to get out of this predicament? Would it be just as easy as weaseling away from Earth and the Dark Spark? He was lucky to have escaped with his life after that event. Since then, he’s stayed far away from that wretched planet and the Autobots that reside there. That still didn’t solve the current situation he was in now. An Autobot was on the loose and the Creators needed them all destroyed. He just let one of them get away. He internally asked himself that same question over and over again. Is the hunt worth the effort? Lockdown opened his glowing green optics. "The hunt is always worth the effort," the bounty hunter growled, basically telling his own thoughts to stuff it. He reached towards the computer screen in front of his armrest. His razor-sharp finger tapped the screen back to life. Just as he expected. His ship’s locaters tracked the target without faults or glitches. It was always important to have a fully functioning ship in these dire times. Lockdown made sure he was equipped with the best. Lockdown noticed that the target was still moving, but it began to approach an area on his map that appeared to be…lost. Excellent. An unknown region, a challenge. Lockdown smiled wickedly. “The hunt is far from over.” _______________ Lightning broke across the sky, thunder cackling in vicious delight. Rain poured down from the heavens with no remorse. With every drop impacting the grass, another would follow its path until all of Unicorn Range was practically flooded. Thankfully, the grasslands needed the moisture and absorbed all the rainwater it could get. It was a fairly hot morning and the grasslands needed the refreshment. Not a soul remained in the abandoned range. Even the neighboring metropolis known as Cloudsdale that hung several miles to the north of Unicorn Range was practically silent. The night sky held no stars, only massively dark clouds with rain that poured for hours. The darkness in the wild lit up when lightning showed its power aside the black clouds. Across the plains, several large footprints could be seen. While the rain continued to ruin the indication of visitors in the land, the footprints appeared to be all headed in one direction: out of Unicorn Range. Despite the pounding of the powerful rain drops, the explosion of thunder, and the howling of the night wind, Unicorn Range was peaceful, not a life form to be seen for miles. That is until the fire broke out in the skies. Raging like a torpedo and with the speeds of a bullet, a massive piece of space debris entered the planet’s atmosphere and dive-bombed the grasslands of Unicorn Range. The presumed meteorite lit up the night sky the same time a flash of lightning did. It was never seen by any suspecting pony eyes. The meteorite crashed in the middle of the plains, sending grass, dirt, mud, and water in every possible direction. For many yards the space debris pushed forward deeper into the earth, leaving behind a massive skid mark that ripped apart the ground. As it came to skidding halt, the metal it was made out of screeched in protest while the fire still burning furiously on the outside was doused out by the rainwater. Steam resonated off the metal object from space. The heat acquired during when it was entering the planet’s atmosphere was being cooled down. For several moments on end the space object just laid there, rainwater dripping down the sides of the object while heat continued to escape from it into thin air. A massive lightning bolt struck across the clouds, lighting up the area including the space debris. It wasn’t debris. From the light of the electricity coursing throughout the sky, the object appeared to have a dark sheet of glass covering the front portion while dangling pieces of metal and wires stuck out on odd angles, obviously from the impact of the landing. A loud hiss accompanied the entire front of the object as it separated. As half of the space machine broke off and landed in the mud and grass, a being whose arm had pushed the front of the capsule off suddenly shrunk back inside the darkness that accumulated the inner workings of the space object. It sat upright, a flash of lightning appearing behind the visitor. The rain continued to pound heavily on the visitor’s neck and back. Its head slowly tilted upwards, two glowing blue orbs appearing in the darkness. Those two orbs looked around, taking in a full scan of the area. Although it was invisible to any wandering eyes, the visitor let a blue wave overcome the entire area in a light for a brief moment. It saw everything. The darkness faded for a few seconds as the blue wave detailed everything around the visitor in small pixels. The visitor knew it was alone. Only for now, that is. Swinging its legs over the side of the space capsule, the visitor was fully emerged out in the open with rain pelting its metal skin relentlessly. It opened its palm, five fingers falling outwards to catch the soft pellets of liquid falling onto him. Odd. It felt just like the rain back home. Maybe it wouldn’t be so different on this world. The visitor took what little time it had to fully sweep the area once more. It sent another blue wave to cascade across the endless plains as well as the forest fauna nearby. Thousands of pixels appeared in its vision. Each one was analyzed, studied, and acknowledged in less than ten seconds. The visitor was completely alone. Not a soul for miles. That left the visitor to observe the area again. Not just in pixels, but with its eyes. Rain droplets pelted the soft substance it felt under its feet. Each drop it could hear, each drop it could feel, and each drop was telling the visitor that it was welcome to this world. The visitor turned its head towards the dark skies. Lightning clashed ferociously against the thunder, howling winds pushing the storm away from where it stood. Not at all like the freak storms back home. Those consisted of death and ash from its fallen comrades in the wrath of warfare. This world was alive, healthy. It could feel it. “Beautiful.” The first words he muttered while on foreign soil. Even though the visitor wanted to admire the beauty and grace of this world’s nature, he knew he had a mission to complete. He was sent to this world for a reason, a reason as clear as his mind and soul. He knew he was alone…for now. The hunter was gone. The visitor managed to escape from his wrath during the fight through space. His eyes were trapped in-between the clouds, even farther past those to witness the stars and the cosmos above him. He could only count down the days until he was discovered by the hunter. “Finally lost him…though I fear he’ll be back.” The visitor brought up his wrist, pressing down on a small button with his pointing finger. “Autobot signals have been lost, but their presence emanates throughout the area. Will continue search.” A quiet beep followed after he removed his finger from the button. It was a sign that his audio log had recorded the personal message without trouble. He had a feeling he would be pressing that button a lot more frequently. With nothing left to observe, not even nature’s lovely presence, the visitor took off at a slow jog into the heavy forest nearby. It would prove to be a good vantage point to stay hidden from the locals, and even help as to searching for the Autobots he was meant to find on this world. As he passed the first few trees jutted upwards from the wet soil, the visitor stopped. He looked back and remembered his space capsule. “Leave no evidence,” the visitor muttered, pressing one button he thought he’d never have to press on his forearm. He could hear the distant explosion of the space capsule he arrived in, followed by the shockwave hitting the tree branches as well pieces of metal shrapnel. With small bits of metal hitting his shoulders, the visitor jumped upwards into the branches, catching himself and even continuing onwards to where his scans showed. The visitor was quite nimble, having acquired the skills from the teachings of his old mentors back home. Back then he learned that true warriors do not need brute strength and a foul attitude to find the ones he was desperately searching for. Turns out, all one needs is a peaceful mind and the patience to last years on end. This, plus many more lessons, was all that the visitor needed to keep him focused on the mission at hand. Even with his scans clearing the area of darkness, the visitor felt was not only darkness around him, but inside of him. It was a darkness he felt once before, on his world with the treachery of tyrants he turned away from years ago. It was a darkness…he had once forgotten. If the darkness were to try and consume him, the visitor knew he was protected from it. The Autobot insignia on his chest would guide him on his journey to find Optimus Prime.