Category: Transformers: Mobian Chronicles

On the Harbinger, Megatronus watched Starscream bicker with another veteran, Soundwave. Soundwave had a red visor over his optics, a helmet looking like a snapback hat put on backwards, and a big six barreled rotating gun on his right shoulder. He sounded like the 90’s Kid from Atop the Fourth Wall. “Dude, I’m telling you, the readings just seem weird!” he yelled at Starscream.

“Your equipment is faulty!” declared Starscream in his Spoony voice. “Energon does not grow that fast!”

“I triple checked every bit of circuitry and code!” snapped Soundwave. “Earth’s Energon reserves have gone from too little to too much!”

“That’s impossible!” shrieked Starscream. “What could make it grow that fast?!”

“I don’t know, but I won’t know until we get there,” replied Soundwave. “In any case, Knock-out wants to see the second of the Pax kids.”

“Ah, yes,” remarked Starscream, “the silver, stuttering simpleton. I recall that he used that fist laser on me when my back was turned and blew up an Energon mine Jhiaxus had ordered to be used. Open his cell. He can’t do much in those stasis cuffs.”

“No!” whimpered Megatronus. “No, you can’t!”

“Can and will, little dude,” snickered Soundwave. He opened the cell and Starscream grabbed Megatronus’ head.

“The doctor will see you now,” he chuckled as he dragged Megatronus to the medical facility. Megatronus screamed in terror until he entered the room where three Decepticons stood. Soundwave closed the door and Starscream dumped Megatronus on the doctor’s table.

“Keys,” ordered one of the mechs, a red one with long slender fingers, headlights on the chest, and driving wheels on the back and a wheel on each foot.

“Sorry?” asked Starscream, taken aback.

“Doctor’s orders,” replied the red mech.

“Knock-out, you can’t be serious,” protested Starscream.

“Give Knock-out the keys or I start causing damage to your armor!” snarled Megatronus. Starscream noticed the sudden change in his voice.

“Shouldn’t you be stuttering?” he asked. Megatronus rolled his optics and snapped the stasis cuffs. It startled Starscream and made him gasp in terror.

“When I give a command,” snarled Megatronus, “I expect it to be obeyed!”

“He IS our new Lord,” remarked a blue robot built like Starscream, sounding like Linkara.

“This fool?” snapped Starscream. “Thundercracker, you can’t be serious!”

“I will thank you to keep that to yourself,” hissed Megatronus as the tube around his arm split in half and put itself on the top of his lower arm. He leveled the new arm mounted fusion cannon at Starscream.

“Although, in light of this situation,” said Starscream quickly, “we do need a strong, alert leader to refuel our campaign against the Autobots!” Megatronus lowered his arm.

“An intelligent idea,” he hissed.

“Now, my liege,” interjected Knock-out, “about that armor mishap of yours, I don’t understand how this could have happened.”

“And yet,” snarled Megatronus, “it DID! Can you imagine the setback? There I was, breaking the Seekers over there out of the Stockade with an EMP bomb, when the energy shorted out my armor’s systems! I only just escaped with my internal workings intact! Clearly the shielding was faultier than you realized, doctor!”

“Er…well,” stammered Knock-out, “on the bright side, this provides an excellent opportunity for a total armor overhaul!” A display screen flashed on, showing different Cybertronian armor. “Now let’s see, you could go with Cyclatron’s Model Px-15. It’s reliable, low maintenance, although it lacks a certain flair. Personally, I prefer Miss Silver Wing’s RK-5. It has just the right mix of strength and style!”

“Yeah,” replied a third bot looking like a black and purple Starscream, sounding like the Nostalgia Critic, “correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t a total armor overhaul require scanning a new vehicle mode?”

“Skywarp’s right,” confirmed Starscream.

“Never thought I’d hear you say that,” chuckled Thundercracker.

“A small price to pay,” assured Knock-out.

“I DON’T WANT A NEW MODEL OF ARMOR!” roared Megatronus. “I want the same armor I had before!”

“My Lord, I’m going to be brutally honest here,” commented Thundercracker, “your equipment is obsolete! I doubt Knock-out has any of it lying around. That fusion cannon is a fuel gobbler. I doubt your current vehicle mode is being built anymore. What do you transform into?”

“A Honda 2016 Acura NSX,” replied Megatronus.

“Thundercracker’s right,” sighed Knock-out, “I doubt those lovely vehicles are being made any more. I doubt Honda is even in business. It’s 4016 by the Earth calendar. If you really are that attached to your vehicle mode sir, we could try to salvage the armor’s code. You kept the core code, didn’t you?”

“It was…beyond recovery,” replied Megatronus. He then changed gears. “Very well, while I choose new armor, the Seekers shall assist Soundwave in quadruple checking the Energon counters.”

“Yes, sir!” confirmed Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Soundwave. They left the medical wing while Knock-out gave his new Lord a catalog of armor to look over.

“What about the tri-scan maneuver?” asked Shadow to Agus Atmadja, the Komodo dragon.

“Initiating scan,” reported Agus. A buzzing filled the air. “Negative.”

“Damn it!” snarled Shadow.

“Maybe we should abandon this project, sobat,” remarked Agus.

“I’m not going to call it quits yet, Agus,” growled Shadow. “We’re going to find out what’s inside the meteors. Speaking of, have you found out where they landed?”

“I’m afraid not,” replied Agus. “I can get one of the new Tech Beetles to look for them.”

“Don’t bother,” dismissed Shadow, “we need them focused on those crystals. I’m assuming that there are no conclusive results on them?”

“None, aside from the fact that the insane radiation they put out doesn’t affect us in any way, shape, or form,” answered Agus. Shadow was about to drill the Komodo dragon when the mobilization alarm started blaring. Shadow switched gears and brought up the mission statement. Eggman’s army had started attacking the western outskirts of Station Square and was met with three giant robots of non Mobian design. A firefight had started and Team Dark, along with the new Shade Platoon, was to go and beat back Eggman and take the robots in for questioning.

“We’ll talk at a later time,” growled Shadow. He sped towards the hangar and met up with Rouge and Omega.

“Two factions of robots fighting each other,” droned Omega, “it is a good day for destruction!”

“Keep the property damage to a minimum,” ordered Shadow.

“Aww!” groaned Omega. “I never get to have any fun!”

“All troops ready, sir!” reported Commander Hanson.

“Let’s move people!” ordered Shadow as he boarded the drop ship. “We’ve got a robot battle going on, and I want to find out about the unknown robots!”

---

Things had gone from bad to worse for the Autobots. Once Optimus, Jazz, Sonic and Amy arrived at Ironhide’s position, Eggman’s army was laughing at Ironhide. He had taken the form of a red van with hover generators where wheels should be and his cannons on the roof and had a red echidna in cowboy getup as a holo form. Optimus and Jazz just looked at each other and wondered what the hell was going on. Jazz’s vehicle mode looked like a saucer with the left and right sides of it cut off and the whole thing was smoothed out and rounded down. The hover generators were located in the same manner as Ironhide and the rear had tail-fins. Optimus tried to reason with the army, but they didn’t listen and started to open fire. It took quick transformations to robot mode and a quick setup of defensive barriers to hold off the volley of laser fire. Jazz’s transformation consisted of the rear extending away from the car on legs and the new component swung down and split down the middle to make legs. The front swung down to become the chest, making the doors turn into wings and the top of the car become his back. His arms swung down from underneath the front of the car as it moved to be the chest and the hover generators rotated to the sides of his shoulders. His head popped out, with a helmet design that made it have short horns and had a black color to it. He had a blue visor over his optics. Ironhide’s transformation was simplistic in form. The front extended, allowing for the middle and back to extend and split into four limbs. The doors swung up to become shoulder pads and the top two limbs swung to the sides of the torso and hands popped out from each end. The bottom limbs swung down to become legs with feet coming out of the bottom. His head popped up once the main body was complete. That’s when the firefight began. “This is getting out of hand!” hissed Optimus.

“Optimus,” called Sonic, “mind giving me and Amy some cover fire?”

“What for?” asked Optimus.

“Let’s just say that Sonic and I have a talent for splitting those kinds of robots open,” replied Amy. Optimus was dubious but agreed.

“Autobots, give the Mobians covering fire!” he ordered. Sonic and Amy charged at the robot army and started smashing them.

“Priority one Hedgehog!” shouted a robot. Sonic spin dashed it and it fell apart in an instant. This was repeated for 20 more times. The Autobots were amazed.

“You bots seeing this?!” quizzed Optimus.

“How can we not?” asked Jazz.

“Can we keep our minds on the fight?!” snapped Ironhide. Optimus opened his mouth to retort when a trio of civilian vehicles followed by a full G.U.N. squadron approached. This squadron was Shade Platoon, Shadow’s elite squadron. The civilian vehicles were an ambulance built like Ironhide being driven by a white echidna in full medical gear and a pair of smoothed out Volkswagens driven by a red hornet and a yellow bumblebee.

“By the Allspark,” sighed Optimus. “I thought we covered our tracks!”

“Bee, Cliff, and Ratch might have some explaining to do,” snarled Ironhide.

“Save it,” replied Jazz. As they were talking, the drivers of the civilian vehicles disappeared and the vehicles changed into robot mode. Ratchet was the ambulance. His transformation was like Ironhide’s. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper’s transformations were the same as well. The rear split and tilted to become shoulder pads for the arms that swung from the undercarriage to the shoulder connections. The fronts of the vehicles extended on leg like limbs and they swung up and separated to become feet. The top of the cars and the doors rotated 180 degrees and rotated to the back of the robots so the doors looked like wings. Once their heads popped out, the Stinger brothers were ready for battle. They set up defensive barriers as well and allowed their weapons to reveal themselves from their arms. The Stinger brothers started blazing away at Eggman’s army. As the Autobots kept up the fire, Shadow ordered Shade Platoon to observe. Optimus noticed this and turned towards Shade Platoon.

“Well?” he asked. “Are you going to help us? There are some civilians that’ll get caught in the crossfire. Just saying.”

“At the moment,” replied Shadow, “I think observation is key.”

“Conversion units,” came an order from the head of Eggman’s army, “convert into bipedal mode.” That’s when the computer controlled tanks surprised the Autobots. These tanks had four treads and a rotating barrel. Bracers clamped around the sides of the tank treads and had three fingered hands on the front treads and feet on the back treads. The treads extended and formed arms and legs while the body was the main rotating gun barrel. A small head popped up from the middle. What once were robot tanks were tank like, bipedal robots. They swatted Sonic and Amy over to the Autobots.

“Ratchet!” called Optimus. Ratchet transformed and drove to where Sonic and Amy landed. He got them inside his ambulance mode while Sonic was protesting.

“Come on!” he argued. “I’m still kicking!”

“Not in the mood to argue, sir,” hissed Ratchet. He finally shoved Sonic into the ambulance and bathed Sonic and Amy in a blue light. “That should get basic Mobian Biology out of the way,” he mused. “We’ll have you back on your feet soon enough.” While that was going on, Shade Platoon had decided to join in the firefight. The bipedal tanks, however, had crossed their arms in front and started generating shields. Laser fire just bounced off. Optimus and Jazz started planning.

“What do you say,” grinned Optimus, “make our sensei proud?”

“You know it!” cheered Jazz with a smirk. Optimus nodded with the same smirk.

“Autobots, give Jazz and I covering fire!” he ordered as they leapt over their barriers.

“Prime, get back here!” shouted Ironhide. Too late, Optimus and Jazz were charging into the enemy’s ranks. They intended to use hand to hand combat on the enemy. Stupid, yes, but it caught the robots off guard when their fists managed to get past the defense shields. Their sensei was an ancient Cybertronian martial artist from a time long before the war started. He always passed down his teachings to his students to keep the martial arts alive. Optimus and Jazz demonstrated three of the disciplines that day. They first used Crystalocution to disable the tank robots. This discipline is one of the deadliest as it focuses on striking a robot at its metal’s fracture points. This, in turn, causes the robot to fall apart in pieces. Optimus and Jazz had plenty of qualms about using it against sentient robots but used it against the robots of Eggman. Once the tank bots were down, Jazz swapped over to his usual style of Metallikato, a martial art that focuses heavily on spirituality and encourages having a wide range of attack strategies. It was perfect for a bot that goes with the flow, like Jazz. Optimus preferred Circuit-Su. It was a martial art that focuses on the willpower of the practitioner. Optimus had a lot of willpower to succeed and live life and so he put that energy into his attacks. Shadow added to the cover fire with his usual Chaos Spear.

“We’re losing too many soldiers!” called a robot from Eggman’s army. “Retreat!” As they left, a robot turned to face the Autobots.

“Here’s a welcome gift, robots!” he taunted. “Compliments of Doctor Eggman!” He fired off a shot from his tank’s barrel towards Optimus. Optimus leaned to his right to dodge and fired a shot from his own pistol at the tank. The tank exploded, but, amazingly, didn’t cause property damage.

“OH YEAH!” cheered Optimus. “Victory Dance!” Optimus and Jazz started dancing like loons while Ratchet got Sonic and Amy out and transformed. Ironhide meanwhile was talking to Shadow. He explained the whole situation and said that the Autobots need a base of operations.

“Well,” hissed Shadow, “until that day, you bots are coming with us to answer some questions.”

“All right. Now, if y’all will excuse me,” Ironhide replied to Shade Platoon. He stood up and grabbed a staff with a wrench head on one end and whacked Optimus and Jazz while they danced with their backs to Ironhide. The blow knocked them out and they fell flat on their faces in a comedic fashion. The wrench head of the staff broke off, but Ironhide didn’t know until a few seconds later. He then turned to Ratchet, who looked like he was holding something. A sheepish grin and wave from Ironhide made Ratchet utter a phrase that would be repeated during the Autobots’ time on Mobius.

“IRONHIDE, I NEEDED THAT!”

Mobius at night can be very beautiful when two lovers are walking under the stars. If you’re trying to go for a solitary run and a girl who’s obsessed with you is chasing you, then the beauty is less observed. That’s what was happening to Sonic, our favorite blue, speed demon hedgehog, as he ran from Amy Rose, the aforementioned obsessive fangirl. “Just one nighttime run,” thought Sonic, “that’s all I ask.”

“SONIC!” shouted Amy in her shrill voice. “COME BACK HERE!” The Blue Blur ran into the forest on the outskirts of Station Square. Amy followed close behind but lost him in the woods. “SONIC!” she called. “WHERE ARE YOU?!” Amy noticed a red sports car in the forest. It was shaped like a rocket with four anti-grav guiders replacing the wheels on each end. A blue hedgehog with blue eyes and a white hexagon on his forehead was looking on a data pad while leaning against it. His quill style was like Shadow’s and he wore a red sports jacket with blue jeans, black boots, white, fingerless gloves, and a medallion around his neck. “Sonic,” sighed Amy, “that’s the lamest disguise I’ve ever seen. Will you get out of that thing and help me investigate Club Dancitron?” The hedgehog blinked at Amy, then shrugged and disappeared in a flash of bluish light and pixels. The car started shaking as well. The nose cone end extended to make three separate mobile parts connected by joints. It split in half and each half swung down to the ground while the halves of the tip of the car nose extended into five long slender fingers. The rear of the car split in half down the middle, and then each half split down the middle again and made legs. The feet popped out from the insides of the legs and swung down to the ends. The front anti-grav generators swiveled 180 degrees so they were upside down. The rear anti-grav generators attached themselves to the outsides of the feet. The steel like glass canopy moved to the back of the new robot while a head popped out from the upper torso. Amy didn’t know the robot, but judging by the way the helmet on the head was blue and had antennae, I think we know who it is, don’t you?

“Well,” thought Optimus, “this isn’t awkward.” His face said otherwise. He didn’t use the universal greeting on Amy as he figured that most people would have the same reaction as Knuckles on this planet. “Erm…hi,” he began. Amy stared for a while.

“AAAHHH! WHAT THE HECK!!” she shrieked.

“Whoa! Whoa!” yelped Optimus as he raised his hands in a defensive manner, as well as trying to calm Amy. “It’s okay! It’s okay,” he assured. Amy wasn’t listening and pulled her hammer out of hammer-space. “WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Lady! Put the hammer down!” shouted Optimus.

“Are you one of Robotnik’s?!” hissed Amy.

“What?!” asked Optimus in disbelief.

“Are you one of Robotnik’s robots?!” snarled Amy.

“Whoa, okay!” gulped Optimus. “I have several robotniks, yes.”

“You have several?” quizzed Amy.

“Well, lady, how do you think I operate?” asked Optimus

“Operate?!” yelped Amy. “What kind of operation do you belong to that needs several Robotniks?! Did he clone himself?!” Optimus blinked, confused at Amy’s line of questioning.

“Okay,” he remarked as he sat down cross legged. “I think there’s been a breakdown in communication. When I say ‘robotnik’, what leaps to mind with you?”

“A fat, scientific dictator that calls himself Eggman,” replied Amy.

“…Yeeaah,” sighed Optimus as he rubbed his face with his hand.

“But when I say ‘Robotnik’,” asked Amy, “what leaps to mind with you?”

“Tiny radios in my body that are connected to my central processor to keep my motions fluid like yours,” replied Optimus.

“Oh,” replied Amy as her cheeks went red and she put her hammer away.

“Yeah,” commented Optimus. “Look, we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots from the planet Cybertron.”

“I’m Amy Rose,” introduced Amy. “What are you doing here on Mobius?”

“One of my men has come to your planet without my permission,” explained Optimus. “I’m trying to keep a court-martial of his chassis and bring him back to Cybertron.”

“Why does he need your permission to come here?” asked Amy.

“Because this planet was once part of a war that all Cybertronians were part of,” answered Optimus. “The Cybertronian government imposed sanctions to keep us from visiting planets that our war touched in case there was still animosity towards us.”

“So, you’re trying to get this bot out of trouble,” guessed Amy. She started thinking about something. “Maybe I can help you.”

“Huh?” asked Optimus.

“You don’t know your way around Station Square,” replied Amy. “I live here. Maybe I can help find this bot you’re looking for. If he’s as tall as you, we can spot him easily.”

“Not that easily,” countered Optimus. “That changing-from-car-to-robot thing I did, that’s something all Cybertronians can do. On top of that, we can make a synthetic form to look like we’re from your planet. That hedgehog you saw, that was me. My mind transferred to that artificial body once the atoms in the air were rearranged. I don’t know what form Jazz took.” Amy perked up.

“Did you say Jazz?” she asked.

“Yep, that’s the bot’s name,” confirmed Optimus.

“Does Jazz make light shows from things on his shoulders whenever he’s scratching at a DJ table?” asked Amy.

“…Yes,” ventured Optimus. Then it hit him. “You know where he is.”

“I know where he is,” confirmed Amy. “He’s the owner and DJ at Club Dancitron. I went there last night and felt that there was something unusual about the DJ. I just didn’t know that he was a robot in disguise. I wanted to investigate with my darling Sonic, but he just ran off.”

“I think we can work something out,” grinned Optimus. “Let me just change and we’ll be on our way.” Optimus changed back into vehicle mode and activated his synthetic body. “Let’s rock ‘em out!” cheered Optimus. Amy arched an eyebrow. “Er, I was trying to make a cool ‘move out’ phrase,” mumbled Optimus.

“Needs work,” remarked Amy. Optimus shrugged. The canopy opened. The car could seat six people. The driver sat in the middle while the passengers sat behind or to either side of him or her. Optimus got into the driver’s seat while Amy took the front right passenger seat. The canopy closed and Optimus moved onto the street. Amy told him where to turn until they came to a problem that still wasn’t solved.

“Traffic!” hissed Optimus. “I hate traffic! Cybertron has the worst traffic record in the universe! I swear I see at least 200 accidents a day whenever I’m on the speedway!”

“And I thought having living cars would be better,” remarked Amy. “Guess a lack of common sense is everywhere in the galaxy.”

“In the universe,” corrected Optimus.

“Wow,” commented Amy.

“Yeah, my mom always says common sense isn’t common, and there are moments when I agree with her,” sighed Optimus.

“I meant to ask,” interjected Amy, “how old are you?”

“Let’s see, in Cybertronian years, or stellar cycles,” replied Optimus, “I’m about 125.57. In Mobian years, I’m 150.”

“150?!” yelped Amy.

“Yep,” chuckled Optimus, “you’re looking at the youngest Prime in Cybertronian history.” Amy was about to register more surprise when a hologram of an angry wolf’s head popped up inside the car.

“WOULD YOU MOVE!!” he roared.

“DO YOU NOT SEE THE WALL OF NON MOVING CARS IN FRONT OF US?!” Optimus roared back. He terminated communications.

“I don’t understand,” quizzed Amy, “why don’t you engage flight mode?”

“If I did that,” replied Optimus, “you would have to get out, I would have to change, then I’d have to pick you up in my hand, then it would take 10 of your minutes to warm up the thrusters and get any lift while standing still, and that would take up a lot of my power reserves. We’ll have to suffer through traffic.”

“No, I mean activate your vehicle mode’s flight mode,” elaborated Amy.

“I don’t HAVE a vehicle mode flight mode,” argued Optimus.

“Look in the sky,” instructed Amy. Now Optimus was even more confused. He looked up as she asked and saw things flying in the air. He looked a little closer and saw flying cars. Some of them were like his vehicle mode and some were like semi-trucks. “All vehicles come with a standard issue flight mode,” explained Amy. “They don’t have the necessary power to go higher than 200 stories in the air. If road traffic is too awful, just say ‘Engage flight mode’ and it’ll take you to the skyways.”

“That’s so cool!” cheered Optimus. “I gotta try it out! Engage flight mode!” Optimus twisted his driving joysticks a full 180 degrees.

“Optimus!” cried Amy. “Not that much!” The car shot straight up and almost knocked a couple of cars out of the sky.

“FRACK!” swore Optimus. He gained control of the car, but his flying was very shaky.

“I was going to tell you about the auto-drive on the thing,” sighed Amy.

“Wait, this thing can drive itself?” asked Optimus.

“Yeah, but only on the…” began Amy.

“Auto-drive!” interrupted Optimus. Nothing happened. “Activate auto-pilot!” ordered Optimus. Still nothing. “Auto-flyer, engage!” Optimus was still on manual. “How do I turn on the auto-drive?”

“It doesn’t work in flight mode!” replied Amy.

“I could really use a steering wheel!” snarled Optimus.

“We don’t have steering wheels!” shouted Amy. “We have driver sticks!” They argued for a few seconds until Amy pointed out the rooftop landing for the night club Dancitron. Amy and Optimus hopped out of the car and walked toward the main door when two beefy warthogs stopped them. “Don’t worry, you two,” assured Amy, “he’s with me.”

“Sorry, Miss Rose,” replied one of the guards in a Brooklyn accent, “but da kid ain’t on da list.”

“Well,” asked Optimus, “how do I get on the list?”

“You’ll need to speak with the DJ,” answered a voice. Optimus and Amy turned and saw Sonic walking towards them.

“And you are?” asked Optimus.

“I’m Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!” Sonic gave his usual cocky smirk.

“Oh, so you’re the Sonic that Amy was talking about,” realized Optimus.

“That’s me!” chuckled Sonic. He then saw Amy next to Optimus and remembered running from her an hour ago. Amy looked very red in the face. “Uh oh,” he gulped.

“SONIC!” screamed Amy. “HOW COME YOU MADE ME LOSE YOU IN THE WOODS?!”

“Wait,” yelped Sonic, “I can explain!”

“Stow it, both of you,” sighed Optimus. Amy just glared, and then turned around huffing in annoyance. “Now then,” called Optimus to the bouncers, “what do I have to do to get on the list?”

“Like Sonic said,” answered the first bouncer, “you’ll need to talk to da boss, but he’s scratchin’ away. He’ll be doin’ it ‘til closing, and then he hits the sack. You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”

“I don’t think you realize that I need to see him now,” insisted Optimus as he flashed his wallet. The badge had an Autobot symbol on it. The bouncers blinked in surprise, then raised their pistols. Sonic, Amy, and Optimus stepped back.

“Hey, whoa!” called Sonic.

“Guido, Melvin,” protested Amy, “put the guns away!”

“Look, pal,” said Guido to Optimus, “it’s nothing personal. The boss just doesn’t want to go back.”

“Dude,” gulped Optimus, “there are some things you don’t know about your boss.”

“We know what planet he’s from,” replied Melvin, “we saw him change.”

“Oh, you know about Cybertronians,” sighed Optimus, “that sparks.”

“Look, you’re nice and all,” continued Melvin, “but we can’t let our boss see you. We don’t want you to arrest him.”

“Look, I’m trying to keep a court-martial off his chassis,” assured Optimus. “Let me see him, and we can all walk away from this unharmed.”

“Sorry, dude,” sighed Guido, “Nothing personal.” The bouncers opened fire. Sonic, Amy, and Optimus scattered and hid behind separate cars. Optimus hid behind his vehicle mode and drew his own pistol. He deliberately missed Guido and Melvin. He didn’t want to hurt them.

“You realize that you have no cover, right?” he called out. “This place is pretty open.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” called a voice. “Weapons down!” A male porcupine with his quills in dreadlocks stepped out of the club. He had a muscle shirt with blue vertical stripes running down the front and white baggy cargo pants. He had a blue visor over his eyes and fingerless gloves. “Dudes, let’s not harsh the party here.” directed the porcupine. “Lower your guns and we can talk like the civilized dudes I know we are. Now, what’s the problem here?”

“Dat hedgehog over dere is part of your people,” replied Guido. “We’re not letting him take you.”

“Jazz,” called Optimus, “I’m not here to arrest you. I just want to talk.”

“Guido, Melvin,” ordered Jazz, “put the guns down. That’s Optimus Prime, my boss and the boss of all the Autobots. We’re friends. He’s a little brash, but he is reasonable.”

“Brash?” protested Optimus. He popped out of hiding and holstered his gun. “Excuse me!”

“It’s okay, dude,” assured Jazz. “What can I do for you?”

“Boss,” called Guido, “what about da partiers here?”

“The firefight just killed the mood,” hissed Jazz. “Thanks for that!”

“Sorry,” said Guido, sheepishly.

“Anyway,” replied Jazz, “Optimus, that whole thing about sneaking to Earth, Mobius now, I can explain. You see, someone is digging up Cybertronian corpses and disturbing their place of rest.” Optimus raised an eye ridge.

“When did this happen?” he asked.

“It was a few Earth months ago,” reported Jazz. “I made several requests to you through Tarkana-5, but apparently they didn’t get through.” Optimus scrunched his face and rubbed his chin.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “She’s usually so diligent about telling me about this.”

“Who’s Tarkana-5?” asked Sonic.

“My secretary,” answered Optimus, “as well as my girlfriend’s cousin. Something doesn’t add up here.” Optimus shook his head. “Never mind, we better contact Iacon.”

“What?” asked Amy.

“The capital city on Cybertron,” explained Jazz. He turned to Optimus. “Do you have an intergalactic transmitter?”

“Got one right here,” answered Optimus as he pointed to his trunk.

“Let’s get Iacon on the horn after the clubbers leave,” suggested Jazz.

“Good thinking,” replied Optimus. It took a good half hour, but the clubbers cleared the place and soon the Autobots, the bouncers, Sonic, and Amy were the only ones left. Optimus motioned for Jazz to help him get something out of his trunk. He opened it and Jazz helped him get out a strange machine with a satellite dish on top. They took it inside and hooked it up to the DJ table. Optimus fiddled with a few buttons until the satellite dish pointed up to the ceiling. “Optimus Prime calling Cybertronian Elite Guard, come in.” A human in 1700’s French Noblemen attire appeared in a bluish hologram. “Wheeljack?” asked Optimus.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Prime,” greeted the robot.

“Where’s Ultra Magnus?” quizzed Optimus.

“Something had come up,” replied Wheeljack in his French accent. “The Throttlebots had hijacked the Harbinger and he, Megatronus, Perceptor, and Jhiaxus were on board to try and turn it around. They have not reported in yet.”

“Well, Ultra Magnus can take care of himself,” figured Optimus. “Us Pax brothers are a hardy bunch. In any case, I found Jazz.”

“C’est merveilleux,” replied Wheeljack, “but he’s still facing a court-martial. Have you got anything out of him?”

“Someone is digging up the final resting places of Cybertronians from the war here,” answered Optimus. “Tarkana-5 hadn’t given me the copies of Jazz’s requests to leave for this planet.”

“That explains a few things,” mused Wheeljack. “Tarkana-5 has abandoned her post. She hasn’t reported in for a while since you’ve gone.”

“The mystery deepens,” mumbled Optimus. “In any case, I think that should clear Jazz’s name.”

“Oui, Monsieur,” confirmed Wheeljack. “I will inform the Elite Guard and clear the court martial charges.”

“Good work,” Optimus grinned. Jazz did as well. “We’ll give the dead a proper send-off and leave when we’re done.” Wheeljack grimaced.

“A lot of warriors died there,” he recalled. “Autobots and Decepticons alike died to finish the war quickly. It would take months on Earth to send them all off even with the proper equipment.”

“Which we need right now,” replied Optimus.

“I don’t think the High Council will agree with it,” sighed Wheeljack. “I’ll do what I can, but even if they agree, sending the equipment will take a lot of time.”

“I understand,” replied Optimus. “Do what you can. I’ll tie up loose ends here.

“Oui, Monsieur Prime,” answered Wheeljack. “Wheeljack, out.” The hologram fizzled out.

“Hm,” muttered Jazz, “looks like there’s going to be political grandstanding before a vote.”

“So it seems,” agreed Optimus. “We better get started and start investigating. I’ll call the others.”

“Who came with you?” asked Jazz.

“Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Ratchet, and Ironhide,” replied Optimus.

“Practically a small squadron,” chuckled Jazz. Optimus went out to his vehicle mode and took a small handset in his hand.

“Optimus to Ironhide,” he called, “come in.”

“This is Ironhide,” came the Texan drawl. “Go ahead Prime.”

“I’ve located Jazz and have cleared his name,” reported Optimus. “We have a new mission though.”

“What’s that?” asked Ironhide.

“Someone’s digging up the final resting places of Autobots and Decepticons. I don’t know the reason, but we can’t have that,” affirmed Optimus.

“So once the Elite Guard convinces the council to send the vaporizer, we should be able to give the dead a proper send off,” guessed Ironhide.

“You got it.” Optimus heard something strange over the radio. “What’s that sound?”

“That’s the sound of feet,” replied Ironhide. Optimus noted a rhythm to the footsteps and guessed on how many pairs of feet there were.

“’Hide, is that an army marching?” he asked.

“A robot army’s marching on Station Square,” reported Ironhide. “I’m in their way at the moment.”

“Ironhide,” ordered Optimus, “do not engage! Repeat, do not engage!”

“Too late for that Prime,” replied Ironhide, “they saw me and are leveling guns towards me.”

“At least, wait for backup!” protested Optimus.

“Prime,” answered Ironhide, “remember when you were a little Orion Pax and I would visit? I sat you down on my knee and told you stories about me and my partners, the Wreckers. Do you remember what we always said?”

“Ironhide, no!” pleaded Optimus.

“Wreckers don’t call for backup, they call for cleanup! Ironhide out.” Ironhide ended the communications channel.

“I have a feeling that being in command’s a lot harder than I thought,” sighed Optimus to no one in particular.

Shadow glanced at the monitors. His brain wracked with what those meteors could possibly be. Omega walked towards him. “Something troubles you,” said the robot in his usual stilted, booming monotone.

“Those meteors Tails found,” said Shadow, “they seem to have something inside them, but I can’t find anything alive in them.”

“Perhaps you should scan for non-organic objects,” suggested Omega.

“…Worth a shot,” said Shadow.

---

Cybertron, a world of metal and logic, now recovers after a war that has ravaged the surface for four million years. On the surface, things are going rather smoothly. At least, that’s what the public believe. Unbeknownst to them, a ship took off. The reports to the Cybertronian Elite Guard, the police force of Cybertron, said that a renegade group of Autobots, the Throttlebots, had hijacked a former Decepticon warship that is now in the hands of the Elite Guard. Three Cybertronians were running to the bridge. Dion Pax, now called Ultra Magnus, head of the Elite Guard and second in command to Optimus, his youngest brother, took the middle child of the Pax children, Megatronus, and the former Decepticon leader after the war ended, Jhiaxus. Jhiaxus carried a cane as he had a limp. The three were running (or limping) at top speed. Megatronus had a black tube around his right arm to modify it as a fist laser. Ultra Magnus had a sphere shaped pistol that wrapped around his hand. Jhiaxus stuck with a standard pistol. They soon stopped outside of the bridge doors. “All right,” called Ultra Magnus in his Swahili accent, “on the count of three. One, two, thr…” he was interrupted as the ship lurched. “Perceptor,” he called on his comms unit, “what in the Pit was that?”

“The hyper-drive is coming online!” reported Perceptor. “This ship is warp capable now!”

“Jhiaxus,” snapped Ultra Magnus, “I thought you and Lugnut installed the new safeguards!”

“We did!” protested Jhiaxus as he sounded like Marlon Brando. “I personally triple-encrypted them! There is no way that the Throttlebots could ever get past them!”

“Th-Then how did they d-d-do it?!” stammered Megatronus.

“It doesn’t matter how they got through,” replied Ultra Magnus. “Perceptor, can you find out why the hyper-drive is online?”

“The intruders are laying in a course,” answered Perceptor. “They are going to Earth.” That statement made everyone raise a metallic eyebrow.

“To Earth?” asked Ultra Magnus, making sure he heard correctly.

“That is correct,” confirmed Perceptor.

“B-B-Brother,” interjected Megatronus, “i-i-if I were the Th-Throttlebots, I would m-m-make for the n-nearest D-D-Decepticon city and start s-smashing buildings.”

“You wouldn’t even need the weapons,” said Jhiaxus. “With the shields raised, the Harbinger could steamroll through anything and not even scratch the paint job.”

“Perceptor, see if you can regain control of the ship from Engineering,” ordered Ultra Magnus.

“Yes, Sir!” confirmed Perceptor.

“And if there’s a radiation leak, don’t be a hero!” warned Ultra Magnus.

“Very little risk of that!” assured Perceptor. The comms unit went silent as communications were terminated.

“Ultra M-M-Magnus,” muttered Megatronus, “there’s s-s-something fishy here, b-b-but I can’t p-place my f-f-finger on w-w-what it is.

“Never mind that,” replied Ultra Magnus. “Once more. One, two, three!” The three robots stormed the bridge. There was a cloaked figure sitting at the helm. “Rollbar,” boomed Ultra Magnus, “you are under arrest for stealing Elite Guard property! Surrender now and I can promise you a swift and fair trial!” The figure didn’t move. “Rollbar, I know you can hear me!” hissed Ultra Magnus. The figure still didn’t move. “Rollbar, turn around!” snapped Ultra Magnus.

“That is not my name,” answered the figure. His voice was gravelly and nasal. As he turned and stood, the cloak slid off of him to reveal a slender robot with wings. The three robots stared with wide eyed expressions.

“Jhiaxus,” gulped Megatronus, “the b-b-bot, it looks l-l-like…”

“It is,” confirmed Jhiaxus.

“I am,” chuckled the robot.

“This is impossible!” protested Ultra Magnus. “You were locked up 1,674.31 stellar cycles ago. I saw you during your trial!”

“You honestly thought that I would stay locked up, Son of Arcanus Pax?” asked the robot. “Give me some credit. I have broken out of the stockade before. I’ve even broken out of Kaon Prison before. Did you really think I wouldn’t have a plan? I have been fighting you Autobots longer than you were even thought of. I’ve slain Titan class Cybertronians, Pit spawn, and anything the Wreckers threw at me! I am Air Commander Starscream of the Decepticon battle fleet, supreme leader of the Seekers!”

“Starscream,” ordered Jhiaxus, “release control of the ship to me at once!”

“Negative!” replied Starscream. “If I recall correctly, you gave up being my boss stellar cycles ago. I don’t follow your orders now. You will follow my orders and let this ship continue unimpeded towards Earth.”

“We d-don’t follow orders f-f-from war c-c-criminals!” stammered Megatronus.

“And I will destroy this ship if I have to,” growled Ultra Magnus.

“You’re bluffing,” scoffed Starscream. “I have no respect for those who bluff.”

“Computer,” called Ultra Magnus, “this is Ultra Magnus of the Cybertronian Elite Guard. Destruct sequence 1, code 1, 1 alpha!” Starscream still had his smirk. “Megatronus, do it,” commanded Ultra Magnus. Megatronus gulped.

“C-C-Computer,” he finally got out, “this is M-M-Megatronus Pax of the C-C-Cybertronian Elite G-Guard. Destruct s-sequence 2, code 2, 2 b-beta!”

“Jhiaxus,” directed Ultra Magnus.

“You don’t honestly believe that Jhiaxus would destroy a ship he himself commissioned?” asked Starscream.

“Computer,” called Jhiaxus, “this is Jhiaxus, former lord of the now defunct Decepticons. Destruct sequence 3, code 3, 3 gamma.”

“All initial codes accepted,” reported a feminine voice. “However, the self-destruct sequence cannot be initiated without final codes.”

“Final destruct code, Zero, Zero, Destroy, Zero, Zero, One, Zero,” instructed Ultra Magnus.

“Final code accepted,” replied the computer. “This ship will self-destruct in 30 cycles.”

“Computer,” smirked Starscream, “override Priority Star!”

“Code not recognized,” answered the computer. Starscream’s smirk was replaced with a look of terror.

“You may try whatever tricks you have,” hissed Ultra Magnus, “but this ship belongs to the Elite Guard now! So, I suggest that you surren…!” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as Megatronus crumpled in a heap. “Megatronus!” called Ultra Magnus as he ran to his brother’s side. Ultra Magnus and Jhiaxus then felt something electrical course through their bodies. As they blacked out, Starscream chuckled as he walked to the helm and keyed in a command.

“Warning,” called the computer, “self-destruct overridden!”

A young, male, anthropomorphic, two tailed fox was looking intently at a monitor. He had his best friend and said friend’s self-proclaimed girlfriend record a meteor shower that happened the night before. He was reviewing the footage over a communications channel with a white furred, female, anthropomorphic bat in a black jumpsuit with a pink heart breast plate, a black furred with red highlights, anthropomorphic, male hedgehog, and a giant robot with the Greek letter Omega on its shoulder. “Tails, sweetie,” muttered Rouge the bat, “I don’t exactly understand what the meteor shower has to do with G.U.N.”

“Look at the first five,” urged Tails as he rewound the footage to the moment the first five meteors came into view. He magnified and enhanced the image. “The markings on it seem too smooth to look like natural erosion. It almost looks like writing.”

“It’s not the Black Arms alphabet, I know that much,” growled Shadow the hedgehog.

“Will it prove a hazard to the planet?” asked E123 Omega.

“I’m not sure,” replied Tails, “but I think G.U.N. should be prepared in case the peace we’ve been having goes south.”

“We’ll have our top scientists working on the meteor crash sites,” assured Shadow, “we’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks, Shadow,” bid Tails. He terminated the call. As he did, he noticed his eyes drooping. “Oh, sweet Chaos,” he thought, “I didn’t get enough sleep. I better turn in.” He switched off his equipment.

---

On Angel Island, Knuckles was looking at the five meteors that landed. They were cone shaped with half a sphere at the base. The semi sphere bit was in the ground. He heard voices inside the meteors. “Planet fall achieved, sir,” reported a young sounding voice. “We’ve landed.”

“More of a falling then a landing,” said a gruff grandpa voice, “if you ask me.”

“That’s enough,” moaned another young voice. Knuckles heard someone holding back on throwing up. “Autobots, open the stasis pods,” said the second young voice. The meteors opened to reveal a giant robot inside each one. One of them, wearing a blue helmet with antennae and red outer armor, went to the edge of the island and hurled. When he finished, the robot jumped back startled. “Bumblebee,” directed the robot, “activate your cyber scanner and find out where we are.” The smallest robot, wearing yellow outer armor and a helmet with a tiny pair of horns, let something fly from his right wrist. It bathed the island in blue light, and then went back to the robot’s wrist.

“We seem to be on a floating island sir,” reported the small robot. “Its main source of power seems to be a giant jewel giving off energy. There is one life form on this island. At last scan, it was in the bushes over there.” He pointed to Knuckles’ hiding spot.

“Well, that tears it,” figured Knuckles. He jumped out of the bushes and got into a fighting stance. The robot with the antennae helmet turned to a red robot with black tubes on its forearms.

“Ironhide, what was that universal greeting again?” he asked. The robot with the tubes opened its mouth. “Never mind,” interjected the robot with the antennae, “I got it.” He then faced Knuckles. He put his left arm in front of himself, put his right wrist on top of the left, showed his palm to Knuckles, and spread his fingers out with the middle and ring finger staying together. “Bah-weep-graaaaagnah wheep nini bong!” called the robot. “We come in peace.” Knuckles lowered his fists and arched an eye ridge. “I am Optimus Prime,” the robot with the antennae helmet introduced, “leader of the Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron. You can call us Autobots for short.” He gestured to the robot with the arm tubes. “This is my weapons specialist, Ironhide.” Ironhide pointed the business end of his tubes to Knuckles.

“You feeling lucky?” asked Ironhide in a cowboy drawl.

“Easy, Ironhide,” urged Optimus.

“What?” asked Ironhide as he lowered his weapons. “I just wanted to show him my cannons.” Optimus then gestured to a white robot built like Ironhide with a pair of black horns on the front of his helmet.

“My chief medical officer, Ratchet,” introduced Optimus. Ratchet sniffed the air.

“The creature’s pheromone levels suggest that he’s lonely and wants to mate,” he reported.

“Didn’t need to know that,” groaned Optimus. He then gestured to a red robot with purple optics and was built like the small yellow robot. “My assassin, Cliffjumper.” he introduced.

“Hey,” greeted Cliffjumper.

“And my scout, Bumblebee,” finished Optimus as he gestured towards the small yellow robot.

“Hello,” greeted Bumblebee.

“Are you and Cliffjumper brothers?” asked Knuckles.

“Slag, yeah!” confirmed Cliffjumper.

“How hard is it to take care of Bumblebee?” quizzed Knuckles.

“Wait, what?” yelped Cliffjumper. “N…no! No! I’m Bumblebee’s younger brother!”

“But he’s a pipsqueak compared to you!” protested Knuckles. Bumblebee then put his face up close to Knuckles’.

“YOU HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK, YOU MIDGET MONGREL!” he roared. Knuckles didn’t take to kindly to that.

“YOU’RE SHORTER THAN YOUR TEMPER!” he roared back.

“YOU’RE SO SHORT, YOU’D FIT IN A SCRAPLET HOLE!” shouted Bumblebee.

“MICRO MORON!” insulted Knuckles.

“SUBATOMIC SHRIMP!” snapped Bumblebee.

“SPASTIC SHORTSTACK!” shouted Knuckles. Bumblebee opened his mouth to say something, but Optimus cut him off.

“Bumblebee, stand down!” ordered Optimus.

“Sir, he…” protested Bumblebee.

“That’s an order!” snarled Optimus. Bumblebee hesitated, and then stood up. Optimus turned to Knuckles. “We didn’t come here to cause trouble, Mr.…er…I’m sorry, I don’t believe I know your name.”

“I’m Knuckles,” replied Knuckles, “guardian of this island and the Master Emerald.”

“The what now?” asked Ironhide.

“The jewel that Bumblebee detected,” clarified Knuckles, “it helps keep the Chaos Emeralds in balance.”

“What are Chaos Emeralds?” asked Ratchet.

“Seven jewels that have immense power in them,” replied Knuckles. “When all seven are collected, they give the user unlimited power.”

“Good thing the ‘Cons didn’t know about them.” muttered Ironhide.

“Who?” asked Knuckles.

“Their full name is the Deceptive Constructs,” explained Optimus, “or the Decepticons.”

“Long ago,” continued Ironhide, “The Autobots were in a war against the Decepticons. It started a thousand years before life began on Earth, or Mobius, as it’s called now apparently.”

“In fact, Ironhide and I were on Earth when the war was having its decisive battles,” remarked Ratchet.

“When was this?” asked Knuckles.

“By the old Earth calendar,” mused Ironhide, “I’d say 2007 to 2016.”

“You were there at the start of the century of self-awareness?” asked Knuckles.

“Sorry?” quizzed Ratchet.

“It’s when most of the animals gained sentience,” explained Knuckles.

“How did that happen?” asked Bumblebee.

“An alien species called the Xorda attacked Earth,” recalled Knuckles. “They mutated the animals in hopes that they could use them as slaves to wipe out the humans. They didn’t count on the animals suddenly demanding rights. The animals attacked the Xorda and beat them back. A few years later, after a lot of legal debate, they were given rights as humans. We helped humans improve the planet and now we coexist with humans. Some animals didn’t exactly gain sentience, so we still eat them.” The giant robots arched a metallic eyebrow.

“Okay, that seems awkward,” muttered Optimus.

“Never mind that,” dismissed Bumblebee. “Optimus, our alt-modes are outdated by this planet’s current standards.”

“What?!” wailed Ironhide. “I like this alt-mode of mine!”

“It would get you pulled over nowadays,” insisted Bumblebee. “Gasoline powered vehicles are considered museum pieces and driving them is illegal.”

“All right then,” declared Optimus. “Autobots, have your alt scanners on. We need more up to date alt-modes.”

“First things first, Optimus,” interjected Ratchet, “how do we get down from here?” Ratchet had a point. There weren’t any ways to get down from a floating island.

“Here,” replied Knuckles as he handed a gold ring to Optimus. “It’s a warp ring. It’ll take you wherever you want to go. Just think of the destination’s name and you’ll get there. I’d suggest Station Square. They have all sorts of modern vehicles there.”

“Er, Knuckles,” observed Optimus as he looked at the size of the ring, “I don’t think you can fit through that, much less any of us.” Knuckles grinned. He flicked the ring into the air and it expanded to allow Cybertronians to pass through. “…The frack?” swore Optimus.

“Like I said,” chuckled Knuckles, “think of Station Square and step through.” Optimus blinked, then shrugged and stepped through. As he disappeared, the Autobots looked at the ring nervously. Optimus then poked his head through the ring with a big grin on his face.

“You bots have got to see this!” he urged. He beckoned for the others to step through. They shrugged and followed Optimus. As they stepped through, Knuckles got an odd feeling about the Autobots, as if something dark was in one of them. The feeling was dismissed as Ratchet was the last to step through. Knuckles thought that maybe Tails should hear about this in the morning. Mobius, prepare yourself. Your lives will be transformed.