A creature opened its eyes as it became aware of itself once again. “Oogh! My head!” it groaned. “Feels like I…wait…which head?!” The creature then felt its head. “…No horns! …Not even made of steel!” The creature then took in its surroundings. “V-Voksphere?! But that means-!” The creature then stood up and looked at the mirrored walls of Primacron’s lab…or rather, the CREATURE’S lab! The creature could see his reflection! He was neither Primus of Light nor Unicron of Darkness! He was now their combined whole, Primacron, Scientist of Voksphere! “My experiment!” whispered Primacron. “Those nitwits! They ruined my experiment! THEY RUINED MY EXPERIMENT!” He then activated the comms on his helmet. “Starscream, the project is ruined! Bring your Trine to the lab!”
“I was afraid I’d hear your old voice,” sighed Starscream. “We’re beaming down!”
Primacron had already entered the lab once the Seekers beamed down. When they approached him, he was at work. “And just how, pray tell, are we going to deal with this?!” asked Starscream. “The Goddesses are back! You’re back to being one man! Tornedron’s fighting Chaos-powered creatures! We don’t have much time left on our own Emeralds! What are we gonna do?!”
“Launch the lab, for one thing,” remarked Primacron.
“…Is there even enough power to do that?!
“Looks like it,” remarked Skywarp. “Fuel tank says it’s full. Though, it could have separated due to lack of use.”
“Not likely,” replied Primacron. “The fuel is a pure element.”
“…Fair enough. Let’s launch this puppy.”
“…You’ve interacted with humans for too long,” muttered Starscream.
“Optimus, we’ve only got thirty seconds left!” warned Prowl. “Tornedron’s not showing any signs of slowing down!”
“We break off once the gold fades away!” replied Optimus.
“You can break off, we’re staying behind!” called the Vok Fleet Admiral.
“No, join us as we pull back!”
“We can’t afford to have Tornedron pursue us!”
“Optimus is right, my child!” interjected Lux. “The three of us will deal with Tornedron!”
“You’ll lose your energy as bad as the rest of us!” argued Optimus.
“We’re infinite, we can take it!”
“…Fine, do it!”
“Umbra, Gaia!” called Lux over a mental channel. “Once the fleet’s Chaos forms fade, we move against Tornedron!”
“Got it!” replied Umbra.
“Ready!” confirmed Gaia. A few seconds later, the ships started fading back to their original colors, as well as their respective crews.
“NOW!” called Lux.
The three Goddesses appeared in front of Tornedron. “Tornedron!” called Gaia. “You have been duped into taking part of an experiment that would end the universe as we know it! Surrender and we will grant you clemency!”
“I will take no orders from you!” growled Tornedron.
“We don’t wish to hurt you,” warned Umbra, “but we WILL use force if necessary!”
“You will have to end my life!”
“We don’t want to, but that option IS available,” declared Lux. All three of them then summoned an energy sphere before launching energy streams at Tornedron. Unlike Chaos energy, Tornedron simply opened its mouth and consumed the energies the Goddesses fired. It then changed into a tentacled creature, grabbed the three, and flung them towards the fleet. As they recovered, Gaia noticed something rising from Voksphere. It was asteroid-shaped and had a ring sprouting from its center. She recognized the top of the structure.
“…It can fly?!” she yelped. “Mama Lux! Mama Umbra! Look! Primacron’s lab can fly!” Lux and Umbra goggled at what Gaia saw.
“I don’t believe it!” whispered Umbra.
“Who would have thought,” chuckled Primacron as the Goddesses’ shocked expressions graced the viewscreen, “that I was capable of surprising them!!”
“Look at them!” chuckled Sunstorm. “So scared of what we can do!”
“Speaking of fear,” mused Skywarp, “how about we show ALL our enemies fear?!”
“An excellent suggestion!” replied Starscream.
“Indeed,” agreed Primacron as he sat at a control console, took a joystick, and put his free had to the buttons. “Let’s start with…the Ark!” Primacron moved the joystick in one direction.
“Tornedron’s coming this way!” called Prowl.
“Evasive maneuvers!” ordered Optimus. As the Ark pitched to get out of the way, something got between them and Tornedron.
“Sir, it’s the Quintessons!” called Cliffjumper.
“What’s Brinn doing?!” demanded Optimus. “Hail them!”
“Channel open! Audio only!”
“Brinn, what’s going on here?!”
“Defending your ship, Prime,” replied Brinn’s voice. “The Ark is the fleet’s flagship, is it not?”
“Brinn, there would be no value in your sacrifice! Pull back at once!”
“Sorry, but I must plead guilty to disobeying you.” Brinn then cut the channel.
On the Quintesson ship, the helmsman set a course. “All decks report ready,” he called through his face of Judgement/Doubt.
“…70 trillion Quintessons gone,” waxed Brinn through the same face.
“Pardon, your Honor?”
“That’s the final count of Quintessa’s population. …Well, I suppose congratulations are in order, everyone. Our goal has been accomplished. The Neutral Zone between our people and the Cybertronians is finally dissolved. …Or, at least, the Zone between what’s left of our people and the Cybertronians.”
“…Your Honor, I fail to see-”
“You know, some would say that we’ve gotten just what we deserved, hm? After all, we’re not entirely innocent, are we? And I’m not just talking about letting Cybertron slip through our tendrils. No, our history leading up to that point was one of arrogant aggression. We bombed people that only committed crimes against each other, thus provoking a response. That first bomb was when we inspired the Cybertronians to revolt against us. Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind, we’re guilty as charged!”
“…Your Honor, you and I both know we’ll be remembered for years to come. We will still survive, in a sense! The Quintessons will survive!” Brinn switched to his face of Bitterness/Wisdom.
“In mere history books, yes! But not as the Quintessons we knew! Quintessa had a rich and ancient culture! Our music, literature, and art were second to none! …And now…so much of it is…lost to misinterpretation through history! …So many of our best people…our most gifted minds…” The Helmsman stood up and approached Brinn.
“Sir, I apologize if-”
“Oh, it’s…quite all right.” Brinn then put a shoulder as he adopted his face of Death. “You’ve been such a good Judge. I’m going to miss our trials together.” The helmsman then changed his face to his Death one.
“I’m sure we’ll preside over the Eternal Courtroom.”
“I’d like to think so, but one can never say. We have yet to receive our verdict.”
Tornedron passed over the Quintesson ship and drained its energy. The Ark successfully got away, but all power and life were leeched out of Brinn and his remaining Quintessons and ship. Tornedron released the ship and cackled with glee.
“So, farewell to the Quintessons!” scoffed Starscream. “They really set the experiment back when they enslaved Cybertron.”
“Well, back to business,” sighed Primacron as he pulled the joystick in one direction. Tornedron…didn’t move. “…What the?”