by Blitz krieg » Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:19 am
The Matrix is pulsing for a new bearer, it knows. An odd phrase comes to mind.thought Optimus "My time...in the light...is short." I feel my vocorder filling with energon. It won't last much longer. But it doesn't matter, because I won't either. As the humans say,What a long, strange trip it's been.'
I'm young again. Once more, I stand before Alpha Trion, about to make the biggest decision of my life. His chest compartment stands open, revealing the Matrix of Leadership. "One day, you, too, will pass the power on, until it reaches the Chosen One." "I don't understand. You said I was chosen." The old one hedges a bit. "Yes and no. The Matrix will find the one to light our darkest hour." I see an out.
"Then why not give it to him?" "I haven't been able to find the Chosen in thousands of vorn of searching. You are the first to whom the Matrix has reacted." A prophetic gleam comes into his optics. "You must be the next bearer." I am more than a little scared. "But what do I do?" "Keep our people safe. This new war threatens the very existence of Cybertron." The existence of Cybertron! Now I'm really scared. "Alpha Trion, I can't. I'm no warrior, just a dockworker. I only want to take Arial and get to someplace safe." He grasps my shoulder. An old 'bot shouldn't be this strong. "Listen to me! The Matrix bearer is always called out of our ranks. He also ALWAYS rises to the occasion. Seek out experienced warriors to aid you. Remember the names of Kup and Ironhide. Find them and follow their advice." Within his chest, the Matrix pulses at these words. "I suppose I have no choice."
"You would not have been chosen if you were not capable." I open up my new chest plating. It feels strange to have plates of glass there, but then, this whole body is new and strange. "I am ready." He places the Matrix in my chest, and I feel myself grow stronger still, while he seems to weaken. "Lead well ... Optimus Prime. Until all are one." An explosion shakes the lab. "Hurry! Our forces are at the walls. You can join them there." I turn to leave, but am still uncertain. But...you said it spoke to you. How can I lead an army if it won't talk to me?!" "It only speaks when it has something important to say. Find Kup and Ironhide. They'll tell you what to do." The ancient robot practically shoved me out the door. If I hadn't known better, I'd say he was guilty about something.
When I met up with Ironhide at the wall around Iacon, he didn't know what to do with me. Primes were almost a legend then, and he hadn't heard of one since Sentinel. The Matrix didn't speak to me until after Alpha Trion became one with Vector Sigma, barely ten Earth years ago. Daniel, who had grown up in Prime's shadow and looked up to the heroic Autobot since he was old enough to remember, slipped his small arms around Prime's mammoth one and held on tightly. Daniel's teary eyes widened in fear and grief. "Prime," he said, "you can't die!" the boy sobbed, and Arcee put her hand around Daniel's shoulders in a vain attempt to comfort him.
A shout of anguish breaks my chain of thought...Prime's optics narrowed, Daniel's touch and voice bringing him back from floating in a twilight state filled with memories. Daniel shouldn't be here. He's too young to deal with death. The Matrix speaks. Prime looked at them grouped around him, taking in their familiar forms for what he knew would be the last time, then resigned himself to his final task. The Chosen is here. But who is it? I glance around my bed. Perceptor? He's brave, the bravest scientist I've ever known. But there's just something missing. Blurr is a good soldier, but he's a follower, not a leader. Better to leave him where he's happiest, as courier. Kup was alive when I received the Matrix. If he were the Chosen, Alpha Trion would have known. Arcee? She has enough power of her own. With Aleta and the others gone, she would lead the Femmes, if there were any left. She could be co-leader, if she wanted to. My Aleta.
An image came to mind. Of himself, long before the war, a carefree young mechanoid called Orion. Of Elita-1, then named Ariel, graceful and lithe, a seemingly endless spring of happiness. He had been so proud of himself then --Cybertronian females were relatively rare, and to have one for a companion was a good reason to boast. But his initial, selfish feelings soon disappeared, as he discovered that beneath Ariel's jaunty exterior lurked a sharp mind and an empathic soul. Pride turned to surprise, then to awe, and then to respect; she was no longer a mere trophy, but a devoted friend through good times and bad. And his feelings for her were mutual. Each saw reflections of themselves in the other, and out of that came understanding and caring and closeness. It was, of course, the war that finally separated them.
The event was Operation Deadbolt, a massive Autobot attack on a secret munitions plant. Nine strike teams were involved, all coordinated by Elita-1 and her squad back at the command center. But the Decepticons struck first with a decapitating blow -- a missile barrage leveled the base as the mission started, and those within were presumed dead. Prime did not learn otherwise until five million years later. In reality, the females were saved by Alpha Trion, the enigmatic Autobot inventor. He rebuilt them, trained them, and equipped them with new powers. Then, using their abilities and the inherent agility of their female forms, they became an elite commando team, a secret kept from enemies and allies, fighting the Decepticons from the shadows. Elita and Optimus were finally reunited a few years ago, when a crisis forced Alpha Trion to reveal his gambit to the Autobots.
elita and her team , in a desperate attempt to replenish their dangerously low energon supply had attacked shockwave's command citadel, shockwave had allowed them to escape in order to track them to their hidden base, he then used reinforcements from earth and captured alita one. megatron playing true to form used her as a bargaining chip to force prime into surrenderring. prime called his bluff and megatron was only too pleased to show him the truth. prime did a double take as his facial features went from shock to relief at seeing her alive to out right horror at seeing his beloved held prisoner by shockwave. in a fit of rage prime went on a solo mission to save her but was captured himself by shockwave. To save her lover from death alita one had used her special power to freeze time temporarily but doing so had put her in death's doorway in prime's place.
To save her life prime searched for alpha trion as he was the only one who could possibly save her now. But their reunion was far too brief. And afterwards, Alpha Trion, for his own reasons, continued to keep the females isolated from the Autobots. Unable to reach her, Prime had bided his time, patiently waiting for a better moment to rebuild their former relationship. This realization burned him with a flood of questions. Why had I decided to wait? Why did I let the females remain hidden? Why didn't I question or challenge Alpha Trion's actions? Why did I so easily accept the status quo? Why, with the resources and authority at my command, didn't I do more? Perhaps, Prime considered ruefully, I was too used to believing she was dead.
He had grieved for Elita in the wake of Operation Deadbolt, and for a long time, was not certain if he would ever accept her death nor did he know if he could truly go on without her in life. she had been his stregth in life,his reason for being and existing. she had given him the strength to go on fighting for his beliefs when the war would rage at its darkest and bloodiest of times. But the burdens of war refused to relent, and they had finally forced him to lay her memories to rest.
He realized then that she must have had a similar experience. In ironic parallel, the crash of the Ark and the disappearance of its crew must have convinced Elita-1 that Prime was dead. And her response must have mirrored his own: driven by duty, she would have had to accept his death and continued with her own life. Thus their mutual silence. After an absence of four million years, neither one was truly ready for the other. Instead, they both decided to wait -- for a better time, a quieter time -- before trying to find each other again. But that day would never be a reality. Roughly ten years ago something happened to Optimus that hit him so hard in such a way that he would never be able to forget this event which would be burned into his mind, into his very soul forever.
this was something that would change him over the years Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, was alone in his private quarters, receiving a personal transmission from Cybertron. The message was delivered without any preamble.
"Elita-1 is dead." Prime gaped. Hesitantly, he echoed, "...dead?" there was barely any breath for him to form the words. It was as if someone had just took a full swing of the baseball bat and swung it right into his gut. The image on the display, a frail-looking robot in red and violet, soberly nodded. "But ... how?" Alpha Trion glanced away before answering. "She was leading a team on a mission to raid the Decepticon citadel in Effore. The Decepticons there have invented a new magnetic plasma cannon, and we needed the plans, both to discover its weaknesses and to build our own. "They were spotted on the way out. Elita ordered the others to escape while she stayed to distract the Decepticons. But Megatron had greater numbers, and they finally had her injured and cornered. Rather than risk being captured and ... 'interrogated,' she threw herself into a smelting pool." Prime's optics widened.
"A smel-- ...so there's ... there is no body?" "No. We learned all of this by intercepting Megatron's final report. I see no reason not to believe it." A stifling silence filled the room. Eventually, in a husky whisper, Prime said, "Thank you." "There's one more thing," Alpha Trion quickly added. "We found a sealed box among Elita's personal possessions. It had a note attached to it, instructing us to deliver it to you upon her death." Prime hissed softly. "I see." A pause. "I shall send someone to retrieve it." "Good. Tell your courier to go to the ruins of my first shop. I'll meet him there." With a nod, Prime said again, "Thank you." Alpha Trion hesitated then, as if searching for more to say. But he did not find it, and an instant later, the screen blinked to black.Prime slumped into his chair, unable and unwilling to do anything but absorb the news. He remained still for several minutes, making neither sound nor movement, a hauntingly immobile golem of red and blue.
then for the first time in 4 million years optimus grieved for the death of his beloved , the tears came and he could do nothing but cover his face and cry, though the fluid his optics secreted existed primarily for cleansing purposes it made his emotions no less real. he cried till he could grieve no more. and then he rose to his feet, clenched his fists, spread his muscular arms, raised his anguished face to the ceiling and screamed a deafening soul shattering scream that came from the very grief ridden depths of his spark.
It was a primal agony, torn from that bit of life Spark that imbued the Autobot Leader with the breath of life. it was the most horrible sound a living being capable of experiencign love could ever hear. The autobot leader recognized it for what it was, for it was the sound of his soul dieing. then it escalated up the scale to a war cry of undiluted fury as he screamed, he kept on and he couldn't stop as his scream became a shreik and then it continued to become louder courser and deeper still as it became a ferociouse greif ridden howl of dispair as it became even more feral in its existance his vocorder straining, the thick armored plates arond his neck bulging and warping like knotted leather
his entire body froze up on him in midscream as every muscle cable throughout his entire body suddenly convulsed and spasmed as his muscles locked up on him making his arms, legs and back grow taught , he arched his back outward his hands clawed and raked the air as he pulled his arms in towards his chest as though he were trying to pull the very heavens themself down to him through sheer force of will as his scream shook the very room itself to its foundations. this time their was no way for him to come to terms with her death. prime gave in to his anger at himself for failing to protect her, at megatron for being so underhanded and low and at him self again for believing that megatron could have ever had any sense of honor in life after all they hade been through over the years working together time and again when circumstances made it neccesary for them to work as a team to preserve their mutual coexistence in life. they had learned to trust each other's actions. they had trusted each other with their very lives even.
for megatron to have gone that low right now. he might as well have cut prime off at the knees and ripped out his spark while doing so. prime wanted nothing more then to end his own life with a well placed laser blast to his very spark. he kneeled on the floor as he reached for his rifle with his left hand.
he willed his chest cavity open. his armored chest assembly split cleanly down the middle folding out to the sides exposing the matrix annex that covered his lasercore. he willed that to fold out as well. then steadying his hands he aimed his rifle at his spark his hands tensed around the trigger trembling as he attempted to kill himself , and he could not. his honor and his beliefs would not allow such a thing. he had saw himself as a gaurdian in life. a peacekeeper, a man who would give his life for his friends and family in a heart beat without a second thought if need be. an autobot at heart in the truest sense of the word. as such it was his sworn duty in life to defend the beliefs of honor, life and freedom . over time on earth he had come to see that as being all to similer to the honor bound knight of old. to die by ones own hand would be a damning act indeed by his or the nights code of honor. one great enough to damn him to an eternity in the inferno. it would end his suffering in life but it would not reunite him with his beloved though. he forced his chest to close up seamlessly.
Gone was his tacticle savvy , gone was his attitude , he was nothing but unbounded incoherent rage and many a decepticon would have been helpless to withstand such a burzurker opponent. he swung his rifle at the computer banks, the radar, the radio, all the other consoles, he pulled the trigger , shuddered from the recoil, and blew it all to pieces consoles exploded, computers disintigrated, radar screens erupted. in rage he threw his weapon to the ground with such force the casing cracked in 2. instead he took out his anger on the walls. he started pounding them relentlessly with his fists. as he poured out his rage, his hate, his anger into pummeling the walls with his fists until they bled energon through the variouse wounds prime had inflicted on himself. then feeling all numb inside he fell to his knees as he placed his hands flat against the wall to support his upper body while his body attempted to initiate repairs and heal itself of the self inflicted wounds.
prime in his grieving did not notice as the door to his chamber chimed open. "optimus." said ironhide "i've completed my rounds of the base sir" spoke primes right hand man as he walked in to report to his leader. "were secure so far as the base and outlying defense perimeter are- prime what happened? asked the large grey and red transformer as he ran over to his commander placeing his right hand on primes shoulder, " optimus talk to me" said ironhide as he took in the cracks and holes and dents in the walls. "how bad is it? a look of dread on his face said it all. "she's..... gone ironhide" prime chocked out as the tears and the shakes began all over for him. "she's gone, and there was nothing i could do to save her. i.."i should have been there to protect her, to keep her safe i should have taken her and her team back to earth where they would have had a better chance in this war.
"oh primus" said iron hide realising that his friend had tried to replace his emotional pain with physical pain instead. He already knew what happened last time this had come to pass. when he had lost Alita to death that first time he simply was not able to come to terms with her death. Then, late one night in a moment of severe depression and desperation he had reflexively severed the main arterieal veins in each of his wrists that trailed through his arms into his chest and to his energon pump. if it had not been for ironhide making his rounds at the time and his calling rachet every name in the book as he screamed for the medic to get his skidplate over to the main command chamber prime would have been a goner for sure
"prime are you going to be okay?, should i call in rachet and first aid? "no my friend this pain goes far deeper then anything physically possible, this terible pain is in my spark as well as my mind and body. "please ironhide just... give me some time alone. send cosmos to cybertron. alpah trion has a package from her, have him deliver it to me my friend.
ironhide looked into his friends soft blue fluid stained optics scared of what he might do to himself. i cant talk him out of it theres just no way i could thought ironhide to himself but with teletran 1 monitoring him he should be safe for the time being."All right prime i'll leave you be for now but im taking your laser cannon with me just in case" said ironhide as he picked up primes weapon and walked out throught the door way. "Primus help us all if he cant shake this man" thought ironhide to himself. In a way megatron had won, the death of Alita 1 would do the one thing to pime he never could do to him. it destroyed him as a man. only time would tell if prime would ever recover from this incident.
life went on as usual in the base. wheeljack making the new discovery in his lab, the lambo twins taking verbal potshots at eachother and rachet checking over his comrades for repairs through out the day. time passed and surprisingly there was no news of a decepticon attack at all perhaps it was coincidense or perhaps the decepticon commander had a heart in a way who's to say? evening came and with it the coming night as wellCosmos had returned from Cybertron just fifteen minutes ago. He had not asked any embarrassing questions about the package or its contents, for which Prime was grateful. Leadership left almost no room for privacy, and he had learned to cherish what little he had. He had made sure he would not be disturbed tonight. Metal fingers ran slowly over the box, delicately tracing the edges of the caldonite seal, still intact. The half moon gave a ruddy amber glow to the woods, which seemed appropriate somehow.
Prime studied the box with a false indifference, examining it haphazardly as he memorized every detail. There was little to note -- aside from a coat of red paint, the box was featureless -- but he took his time. Finally, he stopped. Prime pressed his thumb firmly on the seal. It dissolved almost immediately, leaving only a thin crust around the border to indicate where it had been. The lid popped with an almost-inaudible click.With a steadiness that surprised himself, Prime opened the box and gingerly reached inside. The tiara glittered innocently in the darkness. Small and unassertive, its beauty came not from overloaded gaudiness, but from the subtle whispering of its arrangement, a confident ordering of crystals and diamonds. It drew the dull moonlight into its multifaceted beauty, then released it in a purifying glimmer.
Prime recognized it immediately. It was his first gift to Elita, her favorite piece of jewelry, from a time now long gone. Reluctantly, he placed it on the ground, then looked inside the box again. A small, dull sheet of foil was all that remained. He took it gently, surprised when it proved stronger than it looked. On it was a message: Optimus, If you're reading this, I must be gone. I cannot describe how much I missed you, but I had wanted so much for a chance to try. Even so, I believe that you already know how I feel, and I will take that joy with me to whatever lies beyond. Remember me, Elita The note and the tiara were tenderly returned to the box. Holding it in one hand, Optimus Prime, warrior and veteran, protector and sage, Leader of the Autobots, turned his gaze to the stars above... ...and remembered.
[ Click to attempt signal recovery... ]
