“Because of COURSE the situation wasn’t dire enough without the Borg!” grunted Megatron.
“Megatron, please!” snapped Nightbird.
“How did the Borg even get into that universe?!” asked Elphaba.
“It doesn’t matter,” replied Goldbug. “The only way we can save them is if we make a strike now!”
“I’m not about to send Autobots over to be assimilated!” replied Optimus.
“Neither will I send any Decepticons,” agreed Galvatron.
“But Galvatron,” argued Goldbug, “our friends might be assimilated! We gotta reverse the process now!”
“The Decepticons have a long history of going into situations half-cocked, my own father’s schemes being the more recent examples that YOU, of all bots, should know, and I refuse to repeat those mistakes unless there’s no other alternative. If we attack now, without any knowledge of their weaknesses, the Borg will adapt and assimilate us. I won’t help on that kind of suicide run.”
“What about the Chizarans or the Tarlaxians?” asked Arsha. “They have ships.”
“And the Borg ships have a vinculum at the hearts of their vessels that suppress all individual thoughts and keep each drone connected to the Collective,” mused Optimus. “If we can distract the Borg enough to upload that virus into multiple vinculums, it could create enough damage to the Collective.”
“That still depends on what the virus will do,” remarked Goldbug.
“A feedback loop,” said Optimus. “The virus should tell the drones of each ship that it’s time for their regeneration cycle. They’ll beam aboard and begin the regeneration process, disabling their electromagnetic field and put them at minimal power. With every drone regenerating, it will cause the power net to feedback on itself and trigger a self-destruct sequence.”
“That kind of virus won’t last a long time,” remarked Megatron.
“It should be enough for our ships and allies to swoop in and save them,” replied Arsha.
“I’ll have Shockwave work with other technically minded individuals to help construct the virus,” offered Galvatron. “Now that we have an actual plan, you’ll have the Decepticons’ help.”
“I’ll contact Tarlax 14 Alpha and Chizara Prime,” offered the Brigadier.
“We’re on the clock now,” called Arsha. “Let’s get moving.” Everyone headed off. Galvatron stopped Megatron.
“Listen, Dad, about what I said-” he began.
“You spoke the truth,” interrupted Megatron. “I DID go half-cocked back in the day. You’ve learned from the mistakes of others very well. Though, if I might critique one thing, you should be a smidge more…diplomatic in your approach.”
“Yes, Father.”
“That’s my boy!” Megatron patted Galvatron’s shoulder with pride.
“It’s amazing,” muttered Arsha as she saw the whole thing.
“What is?” asked Optimus.
“How Cold, Distant Megatron became a dad.”
“Arsha, Megatron has changed over the years. He DOES regret what he did. That’s why he joined us when we visited you, to make amends.”
“From what I heard, Autobots died because of him!”
“Ah ah! You misheard. Autobots died when he was in charge of the Decepticons, but he didn’t cause their deaths.”
“He’s responsible for his men.”
“Ironhide died because of an acolyte of our destroyer and Chromia died of metal fatigue. Neither death was the result of Megatron or his men.”
“…I guess I’m still bitter about what his men did when they first visited the Realms.” Optimus winced at that. There wasn’t anything he could say. “I’ll work with him to free Beyond City from the Borg, but I’m not sure I can forgive or forget.” Arsha left to assist in the preparations. Optimus sighed. He had a feeling that Megumi would have similar feelings for Megatron.
Optimus, Arsha, and Megatron were standing by the Gateway as the Brigadier began calling an ally. “This is Vorton on the Emergency Channel, calling Castle Spectrum on Chizara Prime. Chizara Prime, do you read?”
“This is Rosadera, reading you loud and clear, Brigadier,” replied a woman’s voice that they all recognized. “Does this trouble concern the loss of communications between us and Beyond City?”
“It does, Rosadera,” confirmed the Brigadier. “And we have allies that helped us find out what happened. Arsha and Optimus are back.”
“Are they there?”
“Right here, Rosadera,” replied Optimus. “The Borg have invaded Beyond City.”
“The Borg?! How did that happen?!”
“It doesn’t matter,” answered Arsha. “What matters is that we have a plan to get them out of there, but we need your help.”
“Me, my fellow Major Princesses, and a few people from Beyond City that got trapped here will be there the instant this call ends.”
“We’ll see you then,” replied Optimus. The call ended and five different lights flashed. They were pink, purple, red, blue, and green and they all turned into different humanoid shapes. The pink light turned into a woman with pink hair, eyes, and a pink dress, as well as a woman in a red dress with red eyes. The green light turned into a woman with green hair, eyes, and a greed dress as well as a woman in orange with a rodent’s tail. The blue light turned into a woman with the same hair, eyes, and dress color, but possessing hair that touched the floor, and it also turned into a man with Elven features, bright green eyes, and orange-toned skin as well as a woman with white hair, a blue dress, and a white monkey tail. The purple light revealed a woman with the same hair, eyes, and dress and revealed a woman with a yellow dress and lizard tail. The red light became a woman with the same hair, eyes, and dress and became three blue-haired women in cloud dresses as well as a man in a dress. “Good to see you again, My Ladies,” greeted Optimus.
“And it’s nice to meet the new guys,” said Arsha.
“Lovely to see you too, Arsha and Optimus,” returned the woman in pink, Rosadera. “I don’t believe you met everyone, so may I introduce Jason Babineaux…”
“Bonjour and Guten Tag,” greeted the dress-wearing man.
“Fordelam Endri…”
“How’s it going?” asked the Elf-looking man.
“Brittney Dormu…”
“Hello!” said the woman with red eyes. Fangs appeared as she smiled.
“Emma Atmadja…”
“Welcome to Vorton!” greeted the woman with the lizard tail.
“Barbara Zhou…”
“Howdy!” called the woman with the monkey tail.
“Katrina Andrews…”
“Lovely to meet you,” greeted the woman with the rodent tail as the woman in green, Verdutha, hugged her from behind.
“Fitri Damfel…”
“Hi there!” called a blue-haired woman wearing what looked like a doughnut-style cloud on her head.
“Leemii Damfel…”
“Hello!” said a blue-haired woman with a high-collar on her dress.
“And Willmef Damfel.”
“How do you do?” asked the last blue-haired woman as she adjusted the fabric in her cloud hairpiece.
“Are these all the Herald Riders’ kids?” asked Optimus.
“Indeed, they are,” answered the woman in blue, Azuliterii.
“You said something about the Borg,” reminded the woman in red, Rojenthi.
“Are they safe?” asked the woman in purple, Moradelia.
“We don’t know,” replied Arsha. “We’re calling the Tarlaxians for help.”
“This is Vorton on the Emergency Channel,” said the Brigadier as he made the next call, “calling the Imperial Palace on Tarlax 14 Alpha. Tarlax 14 Alpha, do you read?”
“This is Tarlax 14 Alpha, Prince Lobstornias replying,” came a voice. “We’re in the middle of figuring out why we can’t go to After Academy. Our gateway there has shut down.”
“Your Highness, the Borg have invaded Beyond City.”
“Okay, so since this is the Emergency Channel and knowing you, Brigadier, this isn’t a joke. I’ll have Mom and Dad prepare the Imperial Navy. We should be there within the hour, faster if we can.”
“Please hurry.” The Brigadier ended the call and turned to his audience. “Now we wait.”
The Tarlaxians’ arrival took about half an hour. Three different humanoids appeared. One was a woman with scorpion features, another was a man with eel features, and the last was a man with lobster features. They were Scorpainia, Eelinape, and Lobstornias, the ruling family of the Tarlaxians. “Is it true?” asked Scorpainia when she and her family met everyone. “The Borg have invaded Beyond City?”
“I’m afraid so,” replied Liam. “We’ve got an idea on how to get them out, but we need a plan of attack.”
“I understand you have the plans for After Academy?” asked Optimus.
“I do,” confirmed Scorpainia. “Normally, I wouldn’t even consider showing you all, but the Borg’s reputation is well-known among my people. What you’re about to see does not go outside the confines of this room, is that clear?” Everyone nodded. Scorpainia activated a holographic display of the school with its siege protocols enacted. “The shield wall is simply the first line of defense. There are numerous guns ready to pop out of the ground should it fail. With how the Borg can adapt, it’s likely that it will fall quickly. Each gun modulates its energy frequency, but it’s never been tested on how effective it is against Borg vessels, just the drones. There are also mines that can be deployed, both underground and in the air. We need to weaken the Borg’s adaptability.”
“That’s where our plan comes in,” offered Optimus. “If we can get aboard a vessel, we can find its vinculum and introduce a virus that will trigger a self-destruct command on all Borg vessels in the vicinity.”
“Then we need a small strike team,” said the Brigadier as he pulled up another holographic display, this time displaying the Borg Siege in real time. “It looks like there’s a machine on the outskirts of the wall that matches all known descriptions of a Borg vinculum.”
“That will make uploading the virus easier,” mused Optimus. “Once the virus is uploaded and enough Borg vessels are destroyed, our ships swoop in and mop up the rest of the Borg.”
“We leave once the virus is completed,” declared Arsha. “We can’t afford to wait a second longer.” She then sighed. “What a way to reconnect with your friends.”