Chapter Text
Prologue:
Cybertron is at peace. The war is over—the Autobots and their Elite Guard reign supreme as the planet's leaders. In contrast, the Decepticons are scattered or imprisoned. Ultra Magnus, the fifth Magnus to lead the Autobot Elite Guard since the Golden Age, leads the Autobots with an iron fist, unafraid to bring his hammer down upon any Decepticon he deems worthy of punishment. Unbeknownst to the populace of Cybertron, the Allspark has vanished from the core of the planet, leading to a corruption that is slowly spreading from the core and inching its way toward the surface, slowly killing the planet. Megatron, the leader and founder of the Decepticon Army, is in hiding with some of his most trusted Lieutenants still close at hand. They search for the Allspark that the Autobots so foolishly lost. A story that’s been written since the dawn of the Transformers is about to unfold. These events have been and always will be inevitable.
Chapter 1 - Ark-82
Imagine, if you could, that you could hear the noises that never manifest in the vacuum of space. Then you would be overcome by the overbearing sounds of hissing. Engines roaring. Large pieces of steel aching and groaning as this vessel floats along, agonizingly slow, through space. The Ark. Well, not THE Ark, but one of them. Ark-82, to be specific. Its passengers, a crew of misfits, unwanted anywhere else, all shoved into a Vanguard-class freighter tasked with the repair of Space Bridges. A complex network of artificial wormholes used by the Autobots to allow instantaneous travel from one point in the cosmos to another. A noble task, of course. After all, it was this very system that allowed the Autobots to secure absolute victory over the Decepticons. Very noble indeed, until you realise you’ve been sent to the furthest possible point from anything that could be deemed civilisation.
Ark-82 and its crew were en route to Space Bridge Q-137, one of the furthest away from Cybertron. One that was positioned on the complete opposite end of the galaxy. This Space Bridge was the last in their rotation. After they complete routine maintenance on it, they will activate it and travel through it so that they can restart, with the ones in orbit around Cybertron.
The captain of this vessel is one Optimus Prime. An Elite Guard flunky and veteran of the Second Cybertronian Civil War. He was, quite clearly, physically capable due to his size. Optimus had the look of a leader, that was for sure, but it remained to be seen if he could function as one.
“We’re coming up on the Space Bridge. Wheeljack, I want updates on the Energon readings every fifteen clicks.” Optimus said.
“You got it, Optimus. They’re dormant but holding steady.” Wheeljack shot back enthusiastically. Wheeljack was the crew's scientist. An inventor and expert on energon. His inventions blew up about as often as they worked.
“Bringing the ship to a halt… now. We’re good to touch down on the asteroid.” Said Bumblebee, the crew's scout and youngest member. He, like his Captain, flunked out of the Elite Guard because the war was coming to an end.
Optimus stands up from his seat at the helm of the ship. He walks over to the window in front of Bumblebee and looks down at the asteroid. Something doesn’t sit right. All of the other Space Bridges they’ve felt so mundane and pointless… but not this one. Optimus just couldn’t place why.
“Bumblebee and I will go down first. Wheeljack, I want you to continue monitoring the Energon levels from here. If I need you hands on down there, I’ll let you know. Ratchet! Give me an update on our icicles.”
Some static, then some crackling, and then the visage of an older and more grizzled bot would appear on a screen that was mounted on the ceiling of the ship's bridge. It was Ratchet, the crew's medic. An older bot in white and red who was a veteran of the war. He had fought the good fight since day one. Nearly ten million years of fighting. That takes a toll on a bot.
“Whatterya calling me for, Prime? They haven’t changed nun since you last asked! I woulda told ya if they had! Now go do yer job before I blow a gasket.”
The screen turns to static and then eventually turns off.
“I told you not to call m–” Huff. Optimus sighs and shakes his head before turning to Bumblebee. “You know the drill. I clear debris, you handle the electronics.”
Optimus gestured to the hallway for them to exit out to the asteroid and the Space Bridge at large. Bumblebee went first, and Optimus would follow behind. After crossing the threshold of the exit bay doors, he would glance back before the doors slid shut and sealed.
The Space Bridge rested on the top of a large, dusty asteroid floating through space. The surface had a thick layer of dust resting on it because it had gone undisturbed for thousands of mega-cycles. Optimus is the first to step foot on the asteroid, kicking up a large cloud of dust with each subsequent step he makes. Bumblebee followed behind rather quickly. These repair missions always made the young bot nervous. Optimus and the others had tried so, so many times to reassure him that there wasn’t some strange tentacle monster or army of Decepticons waiting around every corner. His speed and apparent hesitance would display how fruitless these efforts truly were.
The two approach the lower section of the Space Bridge, a bunker-like building built into the base. Without looking away from the Space Bridge, Optimus speaks to Bumblebee.
“Head inside, Bumblebee. I’ll get to work on the debris in the bridge itself. Radio channels are open, so if you need anything, we can hear you.”
A few crackles could be heard over the comm after Optimus’ statement.
“Op- crackles -ee, energo- crackles exer- crackles -me caution.”
“I can’t make out what he’s saying,” Bumblebee said. “Do you think it’s okay? M-Maybe we should go back.”
“It’s okay to be nervous, Bumblebee. But we don’t need to go back. You know that if it’s a true emergency, Wheeljack or Ratchet would come to get us. Now come on, let’s get to work.”
Optimus turns to Bumblebee after his last statement, placing his hand on the young bot's shoulder. Here was that famous leadership of his coming through. Optimus smiled to try and instill some confidence in Bumblebee. Though, admittedly, he also didn’t want to risk something going wrong on this mission. They were this close to making it back to Cybertron. They had been away from home for so long. Just one more repair and they get to go home. Even if it was for only a little while. Everyone missed their friends and loved ones, some more than others.
“Y-You got it, Optimus. And if you need help, I can hear YOU. Heh.” Bumblebee said, hesitation riddling his voice. He was trying to compensate for his nerves, which were jumping up and down.
“Sure, Bumblebee.” Optimus said, still smiling.
After that awkward interaction, nothing was left to be said. So, Bumblebee headed into the base of the Space Bridge, and Optimus started to climb up the ladder adjacent to the door.
When Optimus reached the top of the Space Bridge, he reached up over his shoulder and behind him, grabbing hold of his Energon axe, which was attached to his back, and pulling it forward. Optimus extends the handle to a length that would allow for adequate swinging and activates the Energon blade. At the same time, he engages his battle mask to protect his face from any debris that would shoot off during his work. With nothing left to prepare, Optimus begins to hack away at the large boulders blocking and filling the Space Bridge.
When Bumblebee entered the room, the lights were off, and the air was at a standstill. Anyone could tell this Space Bridge had been abandoned for mega-cycles. He fumbles around for a bit before finding the power switch. After throwing the switch, he starts to look around for the power station.
“Why did the engineers design all these places completely different? It makes it almost impossible to find the power stations! And it’s never in the place you expect it to be… UGH!!!” Bumblebee groaned as he searched the building.
Bumblebee had worked with Wheeljack on all of the Space Bridge power stations when they had first started, but after enough practice and experience, he knew enough to handle it by himself so that Wheeljack could monitor the Energon levels. He was basically an expert on all things Space Bridge related, even though nine times out of ten, the issue came down to just zapping the power station a lot until it started working again. A humorous solution, of course, but hey, the shorter their visit, the closer they were to returning home. With a final few zaps, the power would flicker back on throughout the bridge, and a low electronic hum would start to permeate from all parts of the room, indicating that all systems were up and running once again.
“Alright, Optimus, the power is back on and everything is operational. How’s it going with the debris?”
“I’ve cleared most of it. Just a few large boulders left, and then we’ll run the tests. Stand by in the control room until I give the signal. I’d really prefer NOT to get sucked through a wormhole again.” Optimus says with a stifled chuckle. He was trying to joke, but really, Optimus feared that. Being sucked into a wormhole and let out in a random point in space, floating aimlessly, lost and forgotten until his spark fizzles out.
“You got it, Optimus.” Bumblebee said, trying to hide the concern in his voice. Everyone on the ship could tell that Optimus really hadn’t been doing well mentally, Bumblebee least of all.
Whooshing energy screeched through space before crashing into dense asteroid rocks that had piled up in and around the Space Bridge. They crumble with ease as Optimus chops away. Ever-tiring, monotonous chopping. He had done this thousands of times at this point in his oh-so glorious position as lead Space Bridge Repair Officer. Was this how he was going to spend the rest of his life? Drifting through space from rock to rock, repairing a system that their race doesn’t even need anymore? No, it was not. Optimus couldn’t see how or know why, but his entire existence was about to change fundamentally, and it would send ripple effects throughout the whole universe. That fear within himself, that fear that his spark was going to come into existence and disappear without ever having any major effect on the world and people around him, was swiftly going to be snuffed out.
A crackling noise would come over the comm network that the team used during their repairs. A few words could be made out in Wheeljack’s voice, but nothing that formed a full sentence.
“Optim- crackle -arge shi- crackle incomi- crackle grab bumbl- crackle -un!” A few half words were all Optimus made out.
“Wheeljack? Come in. Wheeljack, do you read me?” Optimus said, then huffed as he tapped his communication device on the side of his head. “These devices never work properly out here. We need to improve the radio antenna on the ship when we return to Cybertron.”
Without any second thought, Optimus went back to his work. He would rear back his axe as he was about to lay into the biggest boulder yet and needed the leverage. With a swift motion, Optimus would bring his energon axe crashing down into the boulder, and the instant the bladed edge of the axe made contact with the boulder, the entire asteroid would begin to shake violently.
What was going on? There was no way that Optimus caused such a quake by himself; he was no Magnus after all. He would bring his hand up to his communication device on his head to call back up to the Ark.
“Wheeljack, can you read me? It’s Optimus. There was a massive quake down here. Can you see what’s going on fro-”
Optimus cuts himself off as a shadow swiftly envelops the asteroid. He turns and looks up for the source. He couldn’t believe his eyes. A Decepticon warship.