Optimus entered an airlock and strapped on a harness that would allow him to fly through space without a spacecraft. He then activated a mic. \u201cDeactivate artificial gravity in Bow Airlock One,\u201d he called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDeactivating artificial gravity in Bow Airlock One,\u201d replied Teletraan. Optimus then felt his feet leave the floor. He made his way to the wall opposite the airlock door and grabbed something on it, stopping his momentum and facing the airlock door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOpen external door of Bow Airlock One.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOpening external door of Bow Airlock One.\u201d The door slid open, letting a force-field take its place and do the job of keeping the air in. Optimus put his hands and feet onto the wall and took in a breath to prepare himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Depressurize Bow Airlock One.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDepressurizing Bow Airlock One.\u201d The airlock then deactivated the forcefield and let all the air out. Optimus nudged himself off the wall and went through the airlock, activating the harness and making his way towards the meeting point between the two battlefleets. Ultra Magnus was at his right wearing the same harness and Vector Sigma was at Ultra Magnus\u2019 right, simply flying with no aid at all. On Optimus\u2019 left was Megatron in vehicle mode and on Megatron\u2019s left was Gaia. They all flew through space and saw Starscream, Skywarp, Sunstorm, and a fourth Seeker arriving. This Seeker was purple with cyan highlights. Both sides stopped. The Seekers transformed, as did Megatron, and the mystery Seeker was revealed to be a femme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho\u2019s she?\u201d asked Optimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSLIPSTREAM?!\u201d snarled Megatron. He prepared one of his fusion cannons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou fire that thing,\u201d warned Starscream, \u201cand this parlay is over!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou really wanna lose me now?\u201d asked Slipstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou gave Starscream a reason to conquer Cybertron so he could hide the truth about our race, didn\u2019t you?!\u201d growled Ultra Magnus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t blame Slipstream,\u201d remarked Skywarp. \u201cShe was merely the tool of your betrayal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you wish to see its grand architect,\u201d chuckled Sunstorm, \u201clook to your right.\u201d Gaia turned her head to look at Megatron, Megatron then looked at Optimus, then Optimus looked to Ultra Magnus, then Ultra Magnus looked to Vector Sigma, then Vector Sigma looked to his right before realizing everyone was looking at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh no, you don\u2019t! My hands are clean of this!\u201d he yelped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe we have business to discuss,\u201d remarked Starscream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d asked Optimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAn exchange. Slipstream has withheld valuable data from me. She won\u2019t say what it is, even under Cortical Psychic Patch, so it\u2019s her for the Chaos Emeralds.\u201d Megatron noticed a wry grin on her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDone!\u201d he called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot done!\u201d replied Optimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGive us a cycle,\u201d Ultra Magnus said to Starscream. Starscream nodded as the heroes huddled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMegatron, have you lost it?!\u201d hissed Optimus. \u201cThey\u2019ve got Tornedron!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSlipstream, evidently,\u201d replied Megatron, \u201chas data concerning how to best him. Perhaps the notes on how Primacron made them in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just read her mind,\u201d supplied Gaia. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly what she has.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWould we really have time to make a new set of Emeralds?\u201d asked Ultra Magnus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we follow Primacron\u2019s formula, then yes!\u201d urged Vector Sigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026We\u2019re outvoted, Ultra Magnus,\u201d sighed Optimus. Ultra Magnus gave his own sigh. Everyone then turned to Starscream and his group. \u201cAll right, Starscream. We agree to your terms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSplendid,\u201d replied Starscream. \u201cNow, the Emeralds?\u201d Optimus made a call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGather the Chaos Emeralds and beam them to my position,\u201d he ordered. After a minute, a pouch containing the Emeralds appeared in front of Optimus. He then pushed the bag away from him and it floated to Starscream. Starscream then pushed Slipstream away from him. Megatron caught her. \u201cNow, advise your fleet,\u201d warned Starscream. \u201cYou can fight and all of you will die, or you can run and only MOST of you will die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou manipulated us into remaining ignorant of our origins,\u201d hissed Optimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA necessary sacrifice. It was for the greater good to keep you to your fate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat statement alone seals yours. We will fight and you will die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026So be it.\u201d Optimus then turned to Gaia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGet us back.\u201d Gaia nodded and the group, with Slipstream, vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Optimus was back on the Ark<\/em>\u2019s bridge. He sat in the Captain\u2019s chair as Goldbug rushed to him. \u201cPlease tell me I didn\u2019t see that!\u201d he hissed. \u201cYou didn\u2019t just give our only weapon away to the enemy!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSlipstream found Primacron\u2019s notes on how he successfully made the original Chaos Emeralds,\u201d explained Optimus. \u201cWe have a way to make our own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOptimus, we don\u2019t have time to make new ones!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMore time than you think, actually,\u201d called Prowl. \u201cSensors detect no energy build-up from the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026Really?\u201d asked Optimus. \u201c\u2026That\u2019s weird.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is our chance!\u201d urged Goldbug. \u201cWe can open fire and-!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo.\u201d Optimus\u2019 declaration made everyone blink in surprise. \u201cOpen a channel to the fleet.\u201d Prowl obeyed and Optimus stood up. \u201cAll ships, this is Optimus. If there are those of you that feel I made a poor decision in giving the Chaos Emeralds to the enemy, do not panic. They surrendered someone that, unbeknownst to them, had Primacron\u2019s data on their creation. They\u2019ll be asking us for materials to make backups so we can still defeat Tornedron. They\u2019re waiting for us to make the first move. Until the new Emeralds are created, no one is to fire unless I give the order.\u201d The fleet acknowledged Optimus\u2019 order. Prowl then examined something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSir, I\u2019ve noticed a discrepancy on the call,\u201d he reported. \u201cThe bot who responded for the Nemesis<\/em> didn\u2019t sound like Megatron.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHail the Nemesis<\/em>.\u201d Prowl keyed in a command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNemesis<\/em> is responding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn screen.\u201d The bot that came on screen wasn\u2019t Megatron. \u201cThundercracker?! Where\u2019s Megatron?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYOUR brother,\u201d replied Thundercracker, \u201cstayed on the Nemesis<\/em> long enough to give me command of the vessel while he, Vector Sigma, and Gaia headed to Voksphere.\u201d Optimus groaned in frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause, of COURSE, he\u2019d go behind my back! Do you have a lock on him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have radio capability with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGive me his frequency. I need to chew him out!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Optimus entered an airlock and strapped on a harness that would allow him to fly through space without a spacecraft. He then activated a mic. \u201cDeactivate artificial gravity in Bow Airlock One,\u201d he called. \u201cDeactivating artificial gravity in Bow Airlock One,\u201d replied Teletraan. Optimus then felt his feet leave the floor. He made his way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,685],"tags":[146,337],"class_list":["post-5052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles-arc-24-the-gathering","tag-sonic","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5053,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5052\/revisions\/5053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}