It is the Mobian year 7029. The Galactic Council Station had expanded to allow the newer member worlds to have their say on the Council. Right now, a trial was being held. Prince Bernard “Burn” Olgilvie Hedgehog, brother to Sicily Olgilvie Hedgehog, Queen of Mobius, and the current Galaxy Convoy, banged his gavel. “I now call to order the Trial of Delmox Prime,” he announced. “Delmox, come forth.” Delmox Prime, a four-armed femme with the alt-mode kibble of a star-fighter and the fourth Decepticon to inherit the Matrix, stepped to the central podium. “Delmox, are you prepared to answer the questions of the Temporal Incursions Committee?” asked Burn.
“I am,” replied Delmox.
“Mr. Ranzo, Ms. Eenar,” called Burn. A Nebulan man and a Femaxian woman stepped forward.
“Are you two sure you want nothing else from me?” Delmox asked the two investigators.
“Just the truth,” said the Nebulan, Ranzo.
“The whole Council will get it. Where do you wish to start?”
“The beginning,” answered Ranzo.
“If there IS such a thing in this matter,” remarked the Femaxian, Eenar.
“Delmox Prime, why did you take the Enterprise back in time?”
“It was an accident,” said Delmox.
“So, you’re not contending a predestination paradox?” asked Ranzo. “A Time loop? That you were meant to go back in time?”
“No, that’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Good, that’s the last thing we want to hear.”
“So, what happened?” asked Eenar as she pulled up a writing pad. Delmox hesitated.
“This…may take some time.” She instantly regretted what she said. Eenar looked up from her pad.
“Was that a joke?”
“No.”
“Good, we heard them all.” Delmox then took in a breath and began.
“About four days ago, Gobotron’s government contacted me about returning a one of Tlalak’s Diamonds.”
“Diamond?” asked Ranzo.
“They’re objects of religious significance to the Tlalakans,” explained Delmox. “There are forty in total, and they had thirty-nine returned to them in the past. We were given Diamond number forty, the Diamond of Time, although we didn’t know it then. When we got it, though, we weren’t sure if it was genuine or one of the fakes that cropped up during the Renegade Gobot Occupation of Tlalak, so I had it secured in the Enterprise’s vault so we could safely have it authenticated. Before we left Gobotron, we picked up a Gobot passenger.”
The Enterprise-E was a Unity-class starship, a small escort ship. The crew consisted of Delmox Prime, her Autobot-aligned Magnus, Mr. Annus, her Autobot-aligned Medic, Ms. Searchlight, a Mobian golden orb weaver Spider, Ms. Sandra, and the Nebulan Twins, Mr. Azzax and Mr. Mazzu. Their passenger was an elderly Gobot woman that called herself Fracture. She had the kibble of an alien Porsche car. The Enterprise was fixed with a cloak and had activated it to avoid detection from any ne’er-do-wells. They were halfway home and Delmox was just starting to breathe easy. Mazzu was talking to Searchlight as she polished her alt-mode tires on her legs. “I’m telling you, next time you go into your spouse’s room, sniff the air and ask, ‘Is that Mobian lilac?’”
“You do it,” giggled Searchlight, “I have my own ways of torturing them.” Mazzu turned to Delmox.
“Don’t look at me!” chuckled Delmox. Just then, Mazzu’s console beeped. He checked the readings.
“I’m picking up a chronon surge!”
“Centered where?”
“Locating! …Got it! Deck 2! Vault!”
“Mr. Azzax, Annus Magnus, report to the Vault!” Delmox ordered over the comms. “I have a feeling someone activated the Diamond! Mr. Mazzu, can you try and flood the Vault with anti-chronons?”
“It’s too much for a maximum sweep!” reported Mazzu. “Temporal vortex ahead! We’re caught in the gravity well!”
“Full reverse! Maximum warp!”
“I’m trying! Warp engines nonresponsive!” Delmox then activated ship-wide comms.
“All hands, brace for turbulence!” The ship rocked as it went through the temporal vortex. After a few seconds, the turbulence died. Mazzu checked his console.
“Chronon readings leveling out,” he reported.
“Ms. Sandra, when you can, use the stars to get a reading,” ordered Delmox. “I want a spatio/temporal fix as soon as possible.”
“Getting the reading now,” reported Sandra. “…Got the spatial fix. We’re 200 lightyears from our intended position. Acquiring temporal fix now.”
“Prime, Fracture used the transporter,” called Annus Magnus over the comms. “Turns out she’s the one who activated the Diamond.”
“Sensors detect another ship below our keel,” reported Mazzu. “Getting further readings…it’s Kaon-class.”
“So, we went to the past, did we?” mused Delmox. “Can the computers read the registry number?”
“It’s in the old Decepticon script, but the translators are able to understand it.” Mazzu waited a few seconds. “Got it.” His eyes then went wide. “…Prime, it’s the Nemesis!”
“The second Nemesis, huh?” asked Eenar.
“Megatron’s flagship, then he passed it over to his son, Galvatron,” recalled Ranzo. “Did you figure out how far back in time you traveled?”
“Two thousand nine hundred seventy-three years back,” replied Delmox. “By the Mobian calendar, our date of arrival was January 10, 4056.” The chambers then went silent as the date marked one of the most embarrassing moments in history.
“That day!” groaned Burn.
“The first day of the Great Infestation!” groaned Ranzo.
“The very same,” said Delmox.
“An entire space station overrun by Poozits, that was a terrifying time for my people. How long did the Nemesis stay under your keel?”
“Only one second. She was travelling at maximum warp carrying Galvatron, King Sonic, Queen Amy, Prince Silver, Prince Daniel, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Nightbird, Blackarachnia, Llyra, Galen, Rev, Kari, Ratchet, Shockwave, Shadow, and Maria after responding to a code seven emergency call, usually reserved for disasters. While they were flying past us, we got the real identity of ‘Fracture’.”
“Her real name is Crasher, a Gobot under Cy-Kill’s command,” Annus Magnus briefed everyone. “We’re assuming that she came aboard the Enterprise to gain access to the Diamond.”
“Why would she want it?” asked Delmox.
“During this time,” explained Azzax, “Crasher was posing as a Cybertronian official called Crash Course. Her mission was to derail colonization efforts of a planet near Gobotron by poisoning a shipment of grain that was…IS stored aboard Deep Space 47, a space station designed as a storage facility.”
“According to history, eighteen hours from now,” continued Annus Magnus, “Galvatron, the current captain of the Nemesis, will expose her and she’ll be arrested. That arrest will end her career and be the first loss the Renegade Gobots suffer before they surrender to the Guardians a year later. For the past thousands of years, she’s been a merchant eking out a meager existence.”
“Until she heard that the Gobotron Government,” realized Delmox, “had the Diamond of Time. Ladies and gentlemen, we must preserve our history. She’s most likely planning to alter events so that the Renegades never lose. We’ll divide into teams. Azzax, Mazzu, Searchlight, I want you to search the station and make sure our Crasher doesn’t contact her past self. Annus, Sandra, you’re with me as we keep a close eye on everyone and make sure Crasher doesn’t try anything funny.”
The two teams were beamed to their respective locations. Delmox led Annus and Sandra through the ship, remembering the layout as, in her time, the Nemesis-A was a museum. Just as they approached the conference room doors, they heard someone yelling. “Summoning us just to guard grain!” roared the person. “I am going to kill Reglarg with my bare hands! I could take him by the throat! I could rip out his esophagus and-!”
“Dad!” barked another voice. Delmox and her team then entered the conference room to see Optimus, Megatron, Galvatron, and Sonic sitting around a table.
“Is…everything all right, Captain Galvatron?” she asked.
“Dad’s just annoyed we came all this way for nothing,” answered Galvatron. “No emergencies here.”
“Captain Galvatron,” called Shockwave’s voice over the comms, “message from Consortia Command. Earthia wants to talk to you.”
“Put it through,” ordered Galvatron. Earthia’s face then filled the screen.
“Captain Galvatron, I don’t wish to remind you of the importance to the Council of Shavok XI,” she explained. “The key to our winning of this planet is the grain, Hyphowheat. The shipment of it MUST be protected. Effective immediately, you render any aid and assistance which Under-Secretary Rozix may require. The safety of the grain and the project is your responsibility. Consortia Command out.” The call ended.
“Well, that’s just lovely!” sighed Optimus.
“But not totally unexpected,” remarked Galvatron.
“So, we’re stuck here for a while, huh?” grumbled Sonic.
“Absurd!” scoffed Megatron.
“Captain Galvatron!” called Shockwave over the comms again. “Sensors picked up a Renegade Gobot Roguestar en route to the station!”
“Red alert! Notify Mr. Teenak! We’ll be right up!” replied Galvatron. He looked to Delmox and her team. “You three, with me!”