Enjoy! 
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, everything belongs to Hasbro/Takara. Also, this story does not recognize the events of Rebirth or the Japanese series directly, nor the unseen spark restoration of Megatron at the end of Beast Wars, and speculates at occurances in the unfinished Wreckers and Universe stories, as well as taking some ideas from the unfinished Macromasters fan series.
‘Til All Are One….
I thought I knew what those words meant, once upon a time. I first heard those words in the human year 2005, in the medical bay of Autobot City, as Optimus Prime was dying. Dying because I got in the way. He uttered those 4 words as his last, as he was passing the Matrix to Ultra Magnus. After Optimus’s passing, our group took it as our battle cry, as we faced a resurrected Megatron in the form of Galvatron, and ultimately Unicron in what we then thought was our darkest hour. Whether I was chosen then, or whether I was chosen long before these events took place (I may never know), I came into contact with the Matrix, defeated Galvatron, and destroyed Unicron from the inside out. We returned to Cybertron to find the Decepticons routed. They saw me emerge as the one who defeated their leader and Unicron, and they retreated from Cybertron without even raising a weapon. I proclaimed Cybertron ours again with the pretense of peace and happiness, crying out those same 4 words to unite the Autobots together again. Over the next few years, Galvatron returned, albeit insane, and Optimus returned twice, due to the Quintessons, and my final act of solo leadership. Optimus then reclaimed the Matrix from my hate plague infected self, and saved the galaxy as only he could do. Unfortunately, in doing so, the Matrix was drained. In what I then thought was more of a symbolic gesture at the time, he handed the Matrix back to me, stating it was “our” responsibility to refill it with knowledge.
After these events took place and Optimus was restored to leadership, I tried to go back to the way things were before, before I became the hero prophesied millions of years before I was even created. But I could never go back, as hard as I tried… No longer was I the carefree Hot Rod, but no longer was I Rodimus Prime either. The Matrix changed me permanently, physically and mentally. Although I appeared physically to be Hot Rod again, I retained most of my strength I gained as Rodimus Prime. I was actually a slight bit stronger than Optimus with neither of us being augmented by the power of the Matrix. But Optimus had better endurance, which usually left me being the loser in our early sparring matches. Mentally I never changed from being Rodimus Prime, but philosophically, the Matrix never changed me mentally, just forced me to become what I had been repressing (or so Skids told me in one of Optimus’s mandatory ‘shrink’ sessions with the theoretician after the Matrix was drained…. It’s been millions of years and I still think it’s hooey). I ended up just becoming Rodimus, co-commander of the Autobot forces alongside Optimus, Protector of all life, granted the title of Major (thanks to Springer for that one…) In the first meeting of the sub-commanders and Optimus after he was resurrected, Optimus outright demanded that I be co-leader of the Autobots, stating all that divine intervention hooey, and stating he would mentor me into becoming the leader of ALL Transformers (thanks Optimus, no pressure or anything) because I’m the “Chosen One.” In trying to come up with a title of rank to replace “Prime” and since our race has never really had a rank system outside of Commander/Lt. Commander and Lieutenant, they held a brainstorming session that was going nowhere until Springer jokingly blurted out “Why do we even have to give the kid a title anyway, he’s just a major pain in the skidplate.” I remember shooting Springer a dirty look as he smirked back at me in his special way. Much to everyone’s surprise though, Optimus’s optics brightened up and said “Springer, that is an excellent title. The humans use Major as a high title of rank in their military. From this point forward, Rodimus will now be known as Rodimus Major!” I remember retorting back “Don’t I get a say in this?” when Springer and Grimlock fell out of their chairs laughing, even Kup and Magnus couldn’t hold back their chuckling. Optimus slumped back in his chair dejected, muttering how he thought it was a good idea. Fortunately for me though, the name never stuck.
In the time after the hate plague, things started to heat back up in the war, Scourge and Cyclonus had been appointed commanders of their own autonomous units in one of Galvatron’s first sane ideas since his defeat in Unicron. But after Unicron’s head was blasted out of orbit of Cybertron into deep space, Galvatron started to slowly regain his sanity. Perceptor theorized that because Unicron still lived, even in his incapacitated stated, he held a level of control over Galvatron, shunting the pain of his body’s destruction to his herald who failed him in that final moment, and that the further Unicron’s head went into space, the weaker his link over Galvatron became. We never did get to find out if that theory was true or not, but it made the most sense out of all the ideas. There was also a persistant rumor among the Decepticon ranks that Megatron lost half of his spark while in stasis in the Ark for 4 million years, as he was never the same after re-awakening. But regardless of why, Galvatron was still unstable, and whenever he became angry, would go completely insane. After a brief period of a Earthen/Nebulon/Cybertronian alliance on both sides, Optimus, augmented by bonding to his trailer module to increase his strength back to Matrix powered levels, and myself, met Galvatron in the field of battle in Earth’s arctic. We managed to bury Galvatron deep in an icy tomb, much as Skyfire was found. In less than an earthen year, Scourge and Cyclonus’s forces were defeated, and the Pax Cybertronia was signed. Those Decepticons who refused to acknowledge peace, such as Cyclonus, were tried as war criminals and sentenced to stasis, many including Cyclonus having their sparks & personality components seperated from their bodies, at which time we were surprised to learn Cyclonus contained a dual-spark, the 2nd spark after testing matched that of the fallen warrior Skywarp. Most of the bestial mode Decepticons chose to rejoin Cybertronian society, following Razorclaw, Rampage, and Divebomb’s original triumvirate council, and called themselves all Predacons in honor of Tantrum and Headstrong who fell in the war. Many of the Decepticon warriors under Scourge agreed to exile on Charr, where they could rebuild the dead world as they saw fit, and live in peace. With the assistance of the United Cybertronians, Charr was rebuilt in an image of Cybertron in less than 20 vorns, but the Decepticons could never leave Charr unless by a United Cybertron escort or unless they were elected to their political delegation for the Galactic Conferences. Optimus and I argued vehemently against this restriction, as it was too much like what the original United States did against the Native American peoples, but the new Maximal and the Predacon councils passed the resolution, outweighing the Autobot vote. In an ironic similarity, Scourge’s Decepticons turned Charr into the gambling capital of the universe. It wasn’t too long after this that the United Earth government passed their resolution stating that with the 3rd Great Cybertronian War over, that an Autobot presence was no longer welcome on Earth. At the same time the majority of the Autobot army was becoming less welcome on Cybertron, as it was argued a military presence was no longer required in this time of peace. Optimus and I agreed that neither planet should go undefended, as Galvatron could one day be freed, or the Quintessons would return from exile with another force, or another unknown enemy could arise. We then went to Earth under the guise of dismantling the war machine of Autobot City, instead we hid Metroplex under the newly human occupied Autobot City. Optimus, Elita-1, Ultra Magnus, and the majority of the Autobot forces placed themselves in stasis at the core of the city, to be reawakened by myself or a descendant of the Witwicky family, and Fortress Maximus was also buried in Canada near Galvatron to guard the icy prison. As agreed with Optimus, I returned to Cybertron with a new team of Wreckers under my command, Autobots and Maximals who would stand and fight, but could hide themselves in Cybertronian society as to be a hidden military presence to defend Cybertron. Unfortunately, I was still too high profile myself, and I had to hide away on Cybertron, still the role of protector, but unable to intervene unless there was no other choice. I appointed Apelinq as the figurehead for the Wrecker’s public image when it became known we were still present on Cybertron, the Maximal council appointed the team as Cybertron’s elite police unit to keep the team from being dissolved. Working with Vector Sigma and Alpha Trion within, we were able to reprogram the Matrix shell to be linked to chosen Maximal templars to download knowledge as in times past, as the Maximal’s bodies were all too small to house the Matrix anyway. The Matrix however stayed in my possession, and I was appointed protector of the Matrix as well as everything else in the known universe, it would reside within me and continue to regain knowledge as I myself continued to learn… I still had 9 million Earth years to try and catch up with Optimus, minus his 4 million years in stasis. With the help of Alpha Trion within Vector Sigma, we were able to download all the data from Vector Sigma and all of Alpha Trion’s knowledge back to the Matrix, and in the process I learned a lot about Optimus’s early years…. Quite enlightening. I also found out a lot about Cybertron’s recorded history, Alpha Trion as A-3 starting the First Great Cybertronian War against the Quintessons, through the Second Great Cybertronian War, when our race first learned how to transform. Alpha Trion chuckled when he told me how Kup was first activated during this conflict and was a young hot-rodding punk himself, one of the fastest and cockiest Autobots built yet at that time. Since then I’d been half tempted to sneak down to Earth and reactivate the old-timer, as those are some stories I’d actually LIKE to hear, but I would never get that chance for awhile. I also learned much of Cybertron’s ancient lore from Alpha Trion, how at the dawn of time Primus and Unicron fought their epic battle, destroying world after world until Primus trapped his and Unicron’s essences into dead planetary bodies to stop the destruction, how Primus reformed his dead prison into Cybertron, and created our race, and how the Quintessons came and enslaved the early Cybertronians, and discovered how to manufacture us themselves. Unfortunately by downloading his knowledge to the Matrix, Alpha Trion seemed lost from Vector Sigma, and although his memories resided in the Matrix within me, I felt like I had lost another mentor in my life. But even after Optimus, Magnus, Elita, and Alpha Trion downloaded their memories and knowledge to the Matrix, I still never re-arose to become Rodimus Prime.
For over 500 Earth years, Cybertron remained in peace, and no contact from Earth was ever made. Three templars had been granted the link to the Matrix by Vector Sigma, who by this time apparently underwent an identity crisis, as the supercomputer started calling itself the “Oracle” and started sounding like a femme. The latest templar I chose myself, a young Maximal captain named Optimus Primal. The name and the facial likeness was far too similar for me not to appoint him, and he tried to live up to the legend of Optimus Prime better than I did. Then one day, Megatron’s unfinished clone Megaplex broke out of prison, stole Megatron’s golden disc from the Cybertronian Archive Library, proclaimed himself to be Megatron, gathered a crew, and stole a transwarp shuttle. Primal was the closest captain at the time of the break-in, as he was gathering a crew and preparing for an exploration mission in the newly christened Axalon. They intercepted Megaplex and then both ships vanished in a transwarp tunnel. Within unexplainable hours, a virus spread through Cybertron like wildfire, immobilizing every tranformer who became infected. Then Megaplex showed himself, reformatted as a red dragon from ancient Earth legends, still calling himself Megatron, and leading a new mindless drone army he called Vehicons. With the Cybertronian population paralyzed by fear, partly from the virus, partly from the Vehicon army, everyone fell. I called together the remaining Wreckers, and charged into battle, leaving Apelinq at base to strategize our counterattack. Within astroseconds into battle, the entire Wrecker team was immobilized by the virus, only I was not infected. I fought my way through the initial onslaught and into the catacombs of Cybertron, and made my way back to Apelinq at headquarters. I filled him in on the events of the battle, and why I halted all radio communications as not to give away his position to Megaplex’s army. We immediately set to find out why I was uninfected by the virus, which ended up not being too difficult, I was the last Autobot on Cybertron, the rest were in stasis on Earth or guarding other vulnerable worlds. Apelinq was able to synthesize a cure. Through vehicon communication channels we discovered Optimus Primal and his crew had returned in one of the Ark’s old shuttles (where they got it I have no clue), but were shot down immediately upon reentering Cybertronian space. Before Apelinq and I could get to the crash site to inoculate Optimus Primal and his crew, a timewarp hole was opened, and a new Maximal who called himself Primal Prime and a number of missing crewmembers from Optimus Primal’s expedition appeared, and Apelinq was knocked in the hole by a vehicon attack before it sealed. I immediately inoculated Primal Prime’s crew from the virus, and within a day Apelinq reappeared through another timewarp with quite the story. Feeling a link within the Matrix to Primal Prime, I allowed him to take charge of the new Wreckers, as he was sent for a specific mission to our time, given birth by the Matrix in time past. I silently cursed myself for starting to believe Optimus’s divine intervention hooey, but I knew better than to argue this point. Within short order we were striking back at Megaplex’s Vehicon army, retrieving Cyclonus’s and Skywarp’s dual-spark and Rotorbolt from the prison banks. Apelinq was able to separate the dual spark and place Cyclonus and Skywarp into some aerial drone bodies, and Rotorbolt to a new vehicon helicopter drone. I didn’t like having to make that choice, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and we needed the best of the best aerial support. Skywarp and Rotorbolt were ecstatic to join in the fight, Cyclonus I could tell was seething, but he accepted the terms of his freedom when he realized he had no other choice, Megaplex was a false Megatron and Cyclonus would only follow Galvatron, and would accept no other usurper. During this time we found out that Optimus Primal and a majority of his returning crew had survived their crash, and had managed to find a way to reformat themselves as to be immune from the virus, becoming true bio-mechanical forms instead of the nanites the Maximals and Predacons had chosen before for their biological world expeditions. At this time Vector Sigma as the Oracle made a call for our team, and started spouting out divine this and that, and sent Primal Prime and our team on a mission to deep space. I retrieved Arcee with the help of Primal Prime and a young Predacon, and we left Cybertron on our mysterious mission. Within hours after launch, Devcon showed back up after having disappeared when the virus struck, and started laying waste to the crew, thinking they were enemies, Cyclonus turned on the crew and took off on his own after stealing a sacred object from our first planetfall, and we re-united with Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker, Roulette, Shadow Striker, Rook, Tap-Out, and Glyph from two of the early exploration teams I sent out 500 or so years back. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker got reformatted, boy was Sunstreaker pissed when he saw his new robot form. I then felt Optimus Primal’s passing through the Matrix, but through the link found that he had taken Megaplex with him. Soon after we met back up with Cyclonus and Cryotek, one of the Predacon’s underworld criminal lords, as they were amassing a new army for Unicron, who’s head had come to rest on a distant planet, and he had set the native population into rebuilding himself. Although Unicron wasn’t rebuilt or even mobile, his mind was back to full capacity, and he somehow trapped us in another plane of existence. Unicron separated me from everyone else in another plane, as I was the one who destroyed him before, and set everyone else to do battle for him to give him power from the warriors sparks and the survivors to become his new elite army. Somehow Optimus Primal arrived resurrected with a resurrected Alpha Trion on this new plane of existence, and began uniting the forces to retaliate against Unicron (I knew there was a reason I chose him as a templar!) With the assistance of another Optimus Prime from another timeline (disguised as a yellow earthen fire-truck of all things), they began a counter-offensive against Unicron, but they still could not defeat him. Optimus Primal and Alpha Trion in desperation sacrificed themselves to bring me to the same plane as them to battle Unicron. Primal Prime (now reformatted as Sentinal Maximus) then allowed me to use the portion of the Matrix that was his spark, I became Rodimus Prime again, and with the help of the new templar Snarl and the combined Omega Prime, we defeated Unicron on this new plane, sending everyone back to their own planes of existence. But we still could not destroy him. I sent a team to Earth to reactivate Optimus and the rest of the Autobots and call them to Unicron’s current location. We then set out and methodically began dismantling Unicron’s new body to keep him from returning to power again. But his severed head still functioned, and we knew it would only be a matter of time before he came into power again. Optimus and I formulated a new plan to trap Unicron’s spark out of his body. We had First Aid, Fixit, Perceptor, and Apelinq (now Hyperlinq) construct a new empty matrix shell, and they created some "laser" armor for Optimus for the task at hand. I had the un-envious job of distracting Unicron while Optimus snuck inside him to trap his spark. So I taunted him as only I could do, and he attacked me every way he could, with eye-beams, corrosive breath, mental attacks. But I kept attacking him back, using the augmented power of the Matrix through my arm blasters, which seemed to be the only thing that would hurt him. While I was able to distract Unicron, Optimus snuck inside of him, fought his way through Unicron’s inner immune defense systems to his spark chamber. Optimus told me afterwards that as he reached the chamber and pierced it with his lasersword, a dark shadow washed over him, like a scan, and then he had trapped Unicron’s spark in the new "Dark Matrix," and it was over. Unfortunately I had also drained the restored portion of the Matrix from Primal Prime in the battle with Unicron, and was back to being just Rodimus.
We returned to a new Cybertron, overrun with biomechanical everything, oblivious to our victory in our recent conflict. But we were happily accepted with open arms by a restored population, apparently being defeated by one individual in a matter of days, the newly reformatted council voted to never be defenseless again. A ceremony was held in honor of Optimus Primal and his sacrifice to defeat Megaplex and save Cybertron, but a majority of the population were unhappy with their new biomechanical forms and reformatted world. It was chosen to restore many of the original City-States, and Cybertronians who wished to live in the “Old World style” and be placed back in mechanical bodies could do so, but many chose to keep their new forms and live in the New Cybertronian world. Optimus and I hid Unicron’s dark Matrix deep within Cybertron, where we hoped it would never be found again. The Quintessons decided to attack during this time, as they thought Cybertron and it’s population were now in a weakened state and could be retaken, as we later found out the “Oracle” was a Quintesson virus planted in Vector Sigma. But they were not prepared to find the reactivated Autobot army. Soon after this new conflict started we received an urgent report from Fortress Maximus on Earth, Galvatron had reawoken. Starscream’s disembodied spark had woke up Fort Max, and had told how he was on Cybertron during Optimus Primal and Megaplex’s final battle, trying to insert himself into a vehicon drone body without any success. Starscream then told how he watched Optimus Primal and Megaplex in Primal’s old body fought and fell into Cybertron’s liquid core, and as the planet was being reformatted, saw what appeared to be a partial spark rise from the core and begin to float away. The scientist instinct in Starscream decided to follow it, especially after all the vehicon drone bodies had been reformatted into plants, and he followed the spark to Earth’s arctic, to Galvatron’s frozen tomb. Max reported Galvatron was slowly nearing the surface, and requested our assistance, while Starscream begged for a body so he could “help.” We told Max that we were currently embroiled in full blown conflict with the Quints, and to hold off Galvatron as long as he could. We then sent out a broadcast to any available Transformers to assist in the apprehension of Galvatron on Earth, which may have been our gravest mistake, as we found out later Scourge answered the call, and had gone to Earth with Trypticon, Scorpinok, and his Decepticon forces, incapacitated Max, and freed Galvatron. The Decepticons immediately set out for Cybertron under Galvatron. They immediately began laying waste to the New Cybertron wilderness and attacked us and the Quintessons. Scorpinok and Trypticon faced down the Quintesson warships, and Scorpinok was defeated when 3 of the warships collided into him in their effort to retreat. Fort Max had just arrived in disrepair to take on Trypticon when Galvatron called Optimus out, and it was then we realized that Galvatron wasn’t quite insane any more, the organized attack, the battlefield strategy, the VOICE, belonged to Megatron, a Megatron who knew how to use his power in the form of Galvatron. This time however, I didn’t interfere. By the end of the battle, Galvatron lay broken, but functional, Optimus stood, his laser armor destroyed, along with the majority of the right half of his body, but HE STOOD, victorious. As Galvatron was being taken into custody, Scourge emerged far from the battle. He called the Decepticons to retreat, giving some atypical speech about how we had won the day, captured their leader, and they would return home to Charr in shame for breaking their treaty. But something about him seemed very odd indeed. The Decepticons loaded into Trypticon, who grabbed Scorpinok’s hulk and they retreated back to Charr, leaving Galvatron in our custody.
Within a few weeks, we were contacted by Punch, whom we were able to reinsert to Scourge’s forces in their retreat as Counterpunch. Punch reported that Scourge had apparently stolen an artifact during the conflict from one of Cybertron’s inner chambers, using the battle as his cover, and that upon inserting the artifact to himself, he was reformatted into a dark version of Optimus’s now defunct laser armor, and began building a new Decepticon war machine from the years of amassed wealth and resources from their gambling operation, turning Charr into the juggernaut Megatron had originally envisioned for Cybertron. Optimus and I immediately went to the chamber where we hid the Dark Matrix, and found it was missing. We both knew that Scourge would be almost invincible being augmented by Unicron’s spark in the Dark Matrix if he allowed it to open, and that we must intervene to try and stop this before it was too late, as our Matrix was virtually empty once again. As Optimus underwent further reconstructive surgery from his battle with Galvatron, I set about amassing an armed force to invade Charr to apprehend Scourge, as Punch was directed to instill dissention among the Decepticon ranks and gather a force against Scourge, while Starscream’s disembodied spark would hop between Scourge’s supporters in an attempt to cause further disruption and dissention, in hopes we would grant him a new body. In the end, only the Combaticons, Dreadwind, and Darkwing stood with Scourge. Unfortunately they were extremely formidable, with Bruticus’s weak spot now protected, Dreadwing’s stealth capabilities from his rebuilt form, and Scourge’s new powers, utilizing every one of the laser armor enhancements that was scanned by Unicron’s spark chamber, as well as the enhanced strength, endurance, and speed of possessing such a powerful Matrix. Scourge himself by far took the most to bring down, as he was able to wipe out entire platoons with a swipe of his sword, even slicing his way out of Omega Supreme’s claw and through Defensor’s force shield before he was overpowered by the sheer numbers against him. After Scourge was secured and placed in temporary stasis, Optimus went to forcibly remove the Dark Matrix from Scourge’s form, and as the Dark Matrix was pulled, Scourge returned to his normal form, but the Dark Matrix was empty. When Scourge was reactivated under restraint, the first thing we noticed was his optics were now an eerie green, but he appeared to be back to normal otherwise, stating he had no recollection of any of the recent events since Galvatron’s resurrection. Brainwave scans from Perceptor and Soundwave revealed Scourge was telling the truth, and physiological scans showed no sign of Unicron’s spark from the possession by the Dark Matrix, the scientists present speculated the energies were spent during the battle, describing it as a comet passing by a star, burning brighter and brighter until it dissipated. Scourge was released from his restraints to a monitored cell for observation while a tribunal was arranged to decide Scourge’s fate. Over a period of months the tribunal deliberated, being unable to reach a consensus, while the observations of Scourge returned nothing out of the ordinary, except that Scourge had taken to chewing on metal, which the psychologists attributed to a nervous habit born of stress, which appeared to cause his armor to begin taking on a golden sheen from the alloy he was eating, but physical diagnoses showed no structural or metaphysical change, the Maximal doctors compared it to an earthen human eating nothing but carrots, causing the skin to take on the orange-ish hue, and would not be permanent. After much deliberation however, the tribunal ruled that even if Scourge had no recollection of his actions, he was still held accountable for endangering the entire universe by stealing and possessing Unicron’s spark, but because he had no recollection of his actions, he would not be sentenced to stasis or deactivation, but to exile. Scourge accepted his fate graciously, sincerely apologizing for his actions and deemed his punishment as far less than he deserved as a sentient being. A specialized transport shuttle was built with a Transwarp drive designed to enter a wormhole to the furthest known fringes of the galaxy, and once it reached it’s destination, it was to eject Scourge’s cell and self-destruct, leaving Scourge stranded. Calculated estimates stated it would take Scourge well over 20 million earth years to travel the distance back, and that there would not be enough energon to be able to make the trip if he did decide to return, the worlds along the path chosen were mostly dead and devoid of life or resources. Scourge then understood that his punishment did mean eventual death by energon deprivation, even though he could still potentially survive for millions of years yet, but still insisted his fate was far more lenient than he would have asked for. The tribunal stated it’s verdict was final, and Scourge was sent on his one-way trip towards virtual oblivion, marooned on a lifeless world for the rest of his eternity.
Peace reigned through the galaxy for the next 30 million years, with only a minor skirmish here and there between worlds, and great advances in technology were made, methods were found to keep an existing star replenished and young, so that galaxies where life existed, like where Earth resided, could continue to live and thrive instead of being consumed by their own stars as they aged and expanded and eventually would supernova or implode into black holes. And countless other galaxies and lifeforms were born and grew from supernovas in once dead galaxies, allowing our race to continue taking on indigenous forms and observing these new races as they grew, stepping in silently and quietly where needed to assure the growth of the races, and protection of the life therein, until the races were progressed enough to join the Galactic Federation, as other races eventually passed on. Even Earth’s eco system eventually collapsed over time, while the human race inhabited other planets, but even after millions of years, the Earth’s eco-system rebuilt itself again, an observation found on many similar worlds throughout the universe. To be exact, in the last 30 million years the Earth suffered 4 collapses and ice-ages before replenishing itself, just a natural cycle of the planet. Optimus retired with Elita about 20 million years ago, and constructed some child-bots to raise like many other lifeforms do. I made sure to teach them as many bad habits as I could to drive “Uncle Mags” crazy, but they stayed quite respectful over the years. And Optimus would visit Galvatron every day to visit, hoping to find redemption in his old adversary. I myself would even visit when time allowed between my duties. I ended up being elected Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Federation 7 times, and probably would have been elected even more, if it wasn’t for the 3 million year minimum between re-elections imposed for virtually immortal races, to keep it fairer for the races with shorter lifespans to run and rule the galaxy. I even competed in the Galactic Olympics under the similar statutes, earning Cybertron the most medals of any other galactic competitor over time, with Jazz, Blurr, Springer, and I earning the most, even though we could each compete only after every 3 million years each. Springer and I would always tease Arcee incessantly that she could never catch up to us in medals, and she’d usually retaliate with some kind of crystalocution maneuver, but all 3 of us remained steadfast friends, like Optimus, Elita, and Magnus did. Arcee never did choose between Springer and myself, which helped us remain friends through the vorns. The Decepticons were eventually welcomed back into Cybertronian society, and the Quintessons were eventually tracked down and tried by the various planetary governments throughout the galaxy, tried for crimes against individual planets and the Galactic Federation for their actions over time, and unlike the Quintessons trials, the trials held against them were all fair, and even some of them were found truly innocent.
But even galactic peace could not last forever. Eventually we began hearing rumors of a large beast laying waste to worlds on the fringes of known space, but for a long time they stayed that, just rumors. But then official reports began coming in another few years later, that travelers to the outer fringes were finding dead worlds that used to exist just gone, stars disappeared, and beyond the rim, emptiness, no sign of any stars. Eventually enough reports filtered in that we were able to track the known universe was arrayed in a giant circle, and was slowly being spiraled in from the outside. Expeditions sent to investigate where never heard from again. Many of us Cybertronians who remembered of course thought of Unicron, but he was gone, dead… wasn’t he? The theorists theorized that it was likely another being or creature, such as Unicron from beyond the known reaches of space that was never discovered before. Further tracking of the disappearing stars and worlds showed whatever it was, it was picking up speed, methodically circling the universe working its way in. An armada was brought together of the Galactic Federation and positioned itself in the projected path, with an open communication channel to report everything they found, and when the estimated encounter was to occur, the communications stopped, no reports were made of seeing anything at all, the communication channels recorded everyday conversations and then silence, no trace of signal jamming or disruption, no screams over the channels, just nothing. A scout team was dispatched to search for the armada, and found nothing but empty blackness. Evacuations were called for the outer worlds in the projected path, and scout missions that were sent out either found nothing or never returned. Homing beacons placed in the path also would disappear without a trace. Soon enough Cybertron was in the projected path with less than a year estimated before the arrival of the "darkness" as it was being called. All of the Cybertronian forces were gathered to prepare for this threat, we assigned Fortress Maximus, Metroplex, Omega Supreme, Trypticon, Scorponok, as well as the Aerialbots, Protectobots, Technobots, Constructicons, Combaticons, and Terrorcons to stay back on Earth for it's defense in case we failed. United as one force the Autobots, Decepticons, Maximals, and Predacons began the largest military buildup known in Cybertronian history. Cybertrons engines were retrofitted and activated, large weapon emplacements were built throughout the superstructure, the remaining moons were turned into kamikaze style missles, packed with enough explosives to cause a star to go supernova, and a large battlefleet was built. All remaining Cybertronians were reformatted for combat, as we had no idea what was coming towards us, we prepared the best we could. We were still unprepared when it appeared. We gathered our armada in front of Cybertron at the projected path, Optimus and I on the flagship, Elita and Magnus commanding the second ship, and so on and so forth. Against a starless blackness, there appeared to be a slight ripple of reflected light, and then the blackness opened, and Unicron appeared in the ripple. UNICRON!!! And then he began to laugh, a cold evil laugh that could be felt more than it could be heard. But I recognized something else in the laugh, something I didn't think was possible... the laugh, as much as it was Unicron's, was Scourge's. Optimus took the comm and directed Unicron to stand down or be destroyed, at which Unicron began to laugh even more evilly if it was possible. I took the comm from Optimus and demanded Unicron to tell us what he did with Scourge. He just kept laughing and exclaimed "I AM Scourge, you imbeciles. I merged with my herald when he took my spark, and instead of trapping me when you had the chance, you exiled me where I could consume without any impediment for millions of years, growing and rebuilding my body until I was more powerful than I have ever been. Oh how I have longed for this moment, to destroy you all and your precious Cybertron, and wipe the last vestiges of Primus from this universe. I will consume everything and there is nothing you can do to stop me!!!" At this exclamation Unicron began his own transformation to his goliathan robot mode. Optimus immediately ordered the assault before the transformation could be completed. All weapons opened fire, the ships strafing Unicron while Cybertron's defenses kept a constant barrage. The engines in the moons activated and completed their kamikaze run, impacting against Unicron with the force of a supernova, obliterating Unicron's lower half. Unicron cried out in agony as he completed his transformation. "Pathetic fools, you should have struck at my body instead of my legs. I do not need legs in space, and I will still destroy you!" He immediately began lashing out, crushing our ships with his hands, destroying others with his acid breath and eye-beams, and pelting the rest of the fleet with various other defenses. He then opened the center of his chest and launched a large missle at Cybertron, destroying almost all of the defenses on that side of the planet attacking him. Optimus ordered our next strafing run against Unicron. As we began our approach Unicron turned towards our ship and said "Optimus and Rodimus... You shall have the greatest honor of all. I will allow you to live long enough to watch me consume all of which you have tried to protect, before I consume you last!" At this he struck our ship, disabling us dead in space facing Cybertron. Upon seeing this Elita and Magnus turned their ship towards ours. Magnus came over the comm "Hold tight Optimus, we'll be right there to pull you out." "Belay that order Magnus." Optimus said, "Everyone fall back and regroup, begin evacuation of Cybertron." "No can do Optimus," retorted Elita, "We won't leave you to die by him... I won't leave you!" "Fall back now Elita!!! Save yourselves and prepare a counterattack!" Optimus exclaimed. But it was too late, their ship was nearly upon us, and then Unicron struck, crushing the ship in his hands and placing it in his mouth, consuming them as we watched helpless. "Elita!!!!" was the lone cry of agony from Optimus as he stumbled from his chair reaching out towards the viewport. We all watched helpless as Unicron decimated our fleet with his bare hands. A few transformers left their ships as they were crushed by Unicron and attempted to attack themselves, but it was all for naught, as none of their weapons could even cause Unicron to flinch. A flight of reactivated Guardians launched from Cybertron were wiped out in one single blast from Unicron's mouth. Perceptor radioed up from engineering stating it would take him hours at best to get the reactor back online, and he didn't even know about the engines yet, and requested a status update on the battle. I told him what had happened, and Perceptor only had one thing to say... "Why hasn't Optimus ordered the retreat?" I looked to Optimus as did everyone else on the bridge, but Optimus only stood sunken with one hand on the viewport and his head cradled in his other hand. Kup was the first to speak up "What are our orders Prime?" Optimus didn't even move. I took the comm and ordered the retreat, all remaining able forces were to rendevous at Earth's moon base. Nobody responded. We looked out the viewport to see Unicron feasting on Cybertron, there was no one left. I ordered Kup to scan for survivors, the scan only found two Transformers left in the wreckages nearby, away from Unicron's attention. I ordered Springer out for retrieval, he came back with the two survivors, Grimlock, and a barely functional Sixshot. We met them at the airlock, and the medical team immediately went to the two survivors. Grimlock pushed the team way from him and began to march towards the door. I ordered him to stand down. He turned and looked at me and said only "Dinobots gone, me failed them, failed Cybertron." He then left the airlock and into the cargo bay. I looked towards the medics for Sixshot, but they looked up and shook their heads, he wasn't going to make it. I ordered them to keep me posted and I returned to the bridge. Optimus was now sitting on the deck with his head between his knees, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Everyone looked at me for guidance. I looked out the viewport at Unicron, Cybertron was over half consumed, his legs were slowly being rebuilt as he consumed the resources of Cybertron, and his other wounds were being regenerated. We failed Cybertron, our people all but wiped out. All that was left was those on our flagship and those assigned for Earth defense, and as soon as Unicron was finished with Cybertron he was going to come for us here on the ship. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight, we were gonna give him the worst indigestion he ever had... I called out for a status report of all systems, everything was down except for the emergency backups for the main computer and life support systems. I called for an inventory status then for anything we could use as a weapon. The list was not promising at all until we got to the last item in the inventory, a class VIII Autobot shuttle. Enough room for the crew and necessary supplies, a class II Transwarp drive, but minimal defensive armaments. It wasn't anything we could fight with, but it was our salvation for the moment. If we couldn't fight we could at least flee to fight again. I ordered an immedate evacuation of all crew to the shuttlebay, and directed Perceptor to set the reactor to go critical when Unicron approached close enough in range. I turned to Optimus but he still hadn't moved. I tried to get him up, but he stayed slouched and finally spoke to me "Leave me alone Rodimus, let me die here with them." "I can't do that Optimus," I said, "I need you, I can't do this alone." I called Kup & Springer back up to the bridge and together we dragged Optimus to the shuttle. The medics radioed in from the cargo bay to tell me Sixshot expired, his spark core extinguished. I called them to gather up all available medical equipment and evacuate to the shuttle. They soon radioed back stating they found Grimlock hiding behind some crates with his energo-sword in hand, threatening to cut anyone that came near him, and he wasn't leaving. Arcee said she'd handle it and went to the cargo bay. Soon after she came back flickering one of her optics as a wink with the medical crew dragging an unconcious Grimlock behind them. Perceptor was the last to join us in the shuttle after rigging the reactor with a proximity sensor, and with Unicron still distracted devouring the remnants of Cybertron, we launched the shuttle and engaged the transwarp for Earth.
Upon arrival in the Sol system we sent the report of the battle to the Galactic Federation council, warning them of Unicron's return and our failure to stop him. We also sent out a distress beacon for all possible remaining Transformers in the universe to converge on the Earth's moonbase. A few lone crews reported from fledgling worlds where they were assigned to monitor, declining our request and vowing to try and protect those which they were assigned to protect. Only the Junkions heeded our call. We arrived to the moonbase and began to plan for a counterattack. Scrapper stated they evacuated all of the humans, mined the asteroid belt and Mars base, built a cannon to harness the power of Jupiter's ‘eye’, and wired every moon with engines and explosives to try and throw at Unicron. The citybots were resting conserving energon for the battle ahead. Optimus never came out of his quarters on the shuttle, his door remained locked, but scans showed he was still functional. Grimlock took to wondering aimlessly about the base, occasionally lashing out at the nearest bulkhead but not harming anyone. Kup's internal systems were slowly failing, the medics even with Hook's expertise could not diagnose the problem. Nearest Kup figured was it was about time to enter the great shutdown due to his age, he was over 50 million years old and only so many parts could be replaced over time. The only other Transformer to live as long as Kup was Alpha Trion, who sacrificed himself into Vector Sigma over 30 million years before. But Kup vowed to fight on until the last. We didn't have much going up against Unicron this time, there were less than 50 of us left, even if among us were the most powerful warriors in the galaxy. The Junkions finally arrived with their haphazard ships, and at least tripled our ranks, but after the defeat at Cybertron the situation was very bleak. The Galactic Council sent their fleets to join us, all in the galaxy who were willing and able to fight came, as they held us as their last best hope and salvation. I put my best face forward as I planned the counterattack and strategies with my advisors. Everyone knew that they were being sent to their deaths against Unicron, but not a single volunteer backed down, no one was willing to give up without trying. Scrapper and Perceptor managed to create a device that would cause the sun to go supernova if we failed as a last ditch effort to stop Unicron. We were prepared as much as we could be, we had only to await Unicron's arrival, which was estimated around 2 months. Grimlock eventually came around, asking what he could do to help. I asked him to help train everyone for hand-to-hand combat, if the opportunity arose to fight Unicron and his immune system from within. For months we waited, but we never let down our guard waiting for Unicron, every minute was tense. Unfortunately for us, Unicron apparently had expected a trap, and managed to sneak in past the asteroid belt before we saw the ripple in the blackness and Unicron appeared. Immediately the order was given to attack, but Unicron was ready. Swarm after swarm of sweeps poured out of his body and intercepted every missile, mine, or blast fired. The sweeps tore through all of our defenses by sheer number alone, destroying our superweapons before they could be utilized against Unicron, who just floated there laughing the entire time. The citybots & combiner teams never even got close to Unicron, they were all intercepted by the horde of sweeps and although they destroyed thousands, were still being overwhelmed. Reluctantly I called for the retreat of all remaining forces, only the Aerialbots were quick enough to outrun the horde of sweeps. We could only watch as the rest of the teams & citybots were overwhelmed & torn asunder. I ordered Perceptor to engage the supernova weapon as we warped out of the system. Even if the blast couldn’t destroy Unicron, we could at least destroy his armada of sweeps & the resources available in the Sol system.
The remaining united forces met at the designated rendezvous point, morale couldn’t have been any lower. Soon we heard received a transmission from the advance scout who stayed behind, Unicron survived the supernova scorched but otherwise unscathed, and then we heard a scream and then static over the channel. Our last chance at defeating Unicron failed. The remaining ships from the united forces began to disperse to their homeworlds, to ready their homes for the coming of Unicron, all knowing they were going home to prepare to die. We were lost without the power of the Matrix and the guidance of Optimus, who was still locked in his quarters. Grimlock, Springer & I finally went to break into Optimus’s quarters, only to find him in stasis lock, all of the energon served to him sitting in a pile behind the door. We pulled him into sickbay where the medics began reinfusing him with energon to bring him back online. Upon reawakening we heard the most mournful moan, as he asked us why we couldn’t just let him die. As we continued tending to Optimus, Kup collapsed. The medics and I immediately rushed to his side, the medics frantically scanning, while Kup just looked up at me knowingly and said “It’s time, lad.” I held his hand as the light from his optics faded and his body shuttered & shut down, his grip going slack in mine. Lubricant leaked from my optics as I lost my friend and greatest mentor. A light caught my eye as it appeared from his chest and began floating through the air, a testament to the legend of a hero’s spark trying to return to the allspark. I followed it as far as I could before it disappeared through the bulkhead into deep space. I was immediately filled with a glimmer of hope and a sense of purpose, and ordered the ship to turn and follow Kup’s spark. As long as the well of allsparks existed, our duty was not yet fulfilled. Years still passed as we were slowly guided by Kup’s spark, as we listened to the transmissions of those worlds making their final stand against Unicron. Soon there were no more transmissions. We continued following Kup’s spark, through the dead worlds lying at the core of the known universe, where no one had ever ventured before, no one able to navigate as the unknown forces around the core disrupted all instruments, and invisible dangers lied everywhere. But Kup’s spark guided us through, until we came to the calculated center of the universe, a bright star, surrounded by two dead planets. Kup’s spark disappeared into the star, the brightness of which increased as it found it’s way home. We saw out the viewport other sparks floating in space towards the star, each time they merged the star continued to grow even brighter. We all just looked in awe as we saw the few remaining sparks, the souls of fallen heroes find their way home. We landed on one of the barren planets, setting the ships reactor to produce enough energon to top everyone off, the junkions landing their ships next to ours and doing the same. Optimus came out of the ship and just stared into the star, the allspark. The weak glow of his optics began to grow brighter, as his slouch slowly retreated, his shoulders broadening with a sense of purpose. As he turned to us I asked him what his orders were. He asked me for the shell of the Matrix, which I was only glad to give to him, the hope growing brighter within us all. He looked over all gathered around and settled his gaze upon me. He looked at me for a long moment before he spoke, and said “Lead them well, Rodimus Prime.” His chest reopened and the Matrix shone brightly, as Optimus’s optics faded to darkness and his body collapsed. Grimlock was the first to react, uttering a primal scream that shook us all to the core. Springer looked at me and asked if I was going to retrieve the Matrix or not. I just stared at him in shock before he asked me again, and I regained my senses enough to comply with Optimus’s final order. Upon touching the Matrix, I once again became Rodimus Prime. I turned to look over the others, when behind them I saw the familiar ripple in space and Unicron appeared. Soon the horde of sweeps began pouring from him, as we heard the scream of Galvatron “Die Autobots!” Everyone gathered readied themselves for our final battle, the Aerialbots combining to Superion, Grimlock & Springer drawing their swords & rifles, Wreck-Gar & the junkions their axes, Arcee and the rest their guns, and they all opened fire. Almost imperceptibly a small light shone from in front of the horde, as if being chased. As it neared we could hear the voice of Starscream, shrieking in terror. I looked at the corpse of Optimus lying behind me, and made a choice. I called out to Starscream, asking him whether he still wanted a body, and if he would stand and fight. Starscream slowed and came towards me, wimpering how he didn’t want to die. I pointed at Optimus’s inert body, and told him to join us. Still wimpering, without saying an answer, he floated over to the body and entered the chest. Within moments Starscream in Optimus’s body stood, readying his rifle, but still wimpering. Soon the sweeps were upon us, as I continued firing at the sweeps, I could see my warriors falling one by one. But the horde of sweeps was also becoming noticeably thinner. Soon we were all out of ammo, and those that had melee weapons continued to fight, as those without continued to fall. The sweeps never even fired any weapons, they just flew in en masse and tore our comrades to pieces with their bare hands. We continued to fight, and continued to fall. Not even the Junkions were able to put themselves back together, the sweeps tearing into their spark chambers, the sparks floating towards the star as the warriors fell. Soon it was down to just Grimlock, Springer, Starscream, and I. I could see we were all tired, fighting past the point of exhaustion, our swords slashing furiously, the sweeps becoming fewer and fewer in number. I tried to keep some breathing room for the others, firing my arm lasers when I could to keep the sweeps off of them. I could see there were only a dozen or so sweeps left of the horde that Unicron set upon us. I stole a glance towards the sky where Unicron was, seeing him slowly approaching the allspark. My attention was diverted back to the battle as I saw Springer explode nearby. I turned to look where the blast came from and there was Galvatron floating down. Grimlock turned and roared, charging Galvatron with his sword held high. Galvatron met his charge, and punched clean through his chest. Grimlock dropped his sword and gasped, and his optic flickered red as he transformed and bit into Galvatron’s arm with his teeth, before Galvatron tore his spark from his chest. Starscream in Optimus’s body charged him with his energon axe raised, screaming “DIE MEGATRON!” Galvatron turned and laughed, exclaiming “How many times must I kill you Starscream?” The remaining sweeps had set upon me, keeping me from seeing what was happening. As I finished off the last sweep, the energon in my lasersword depleted, I turned to see Galvatron ripping apart the body of Optimus, Starscream’s spark retreating away. It was down to only the two of us left. I threw away my shield, and picked up Grimlock & Springer’s swords. I swung Grimlock’s sword in my right hand, catching Galvatron in his forearm, as I twisted around and stabbed Springer’s sword through Galvatron’s chest. He looked at me and just said “Well played, Autobot.” As his optics flickered and went out. I slowly looked around, everyone was dead, comrade & enemy, I was all that was left. I looked up at Unicron, and screamed with all I had “It’s down to you and me, Unicron!” I opened my chest and pulled out the Matrix, as Unicron bellowed in anger. I raised the Matrix above my head, interlacing my fingers through the ring, pulling the shell apart to release the energy, yelling out to light our darkest hour. As I opened the Matrix, I felt a surge of energy fill my form, the light from the allspark began to pull and began funneling towards me, as a voice called out “Now, Arise, RODIMUS PRIMUS!” As the light from the allspark reached me, I could see the light was made up of innumerable sparks, as they entered the Matrix I could feel the energy bathing over me, my body began to grow, slowly at first and then faster and faster as all of the sparks entered the Matrix. Unicron roared again furiously, as he began to transform into his robot form. Soon we stood floating in space, facing one another. One would stand, one would fall, there was no reason to say it, there was no other possibility, no other outcome. I felt a final surge of energy as the last of the allspark entered the Matrix, in turn washing over me, the light coming off of me the only light in the darkness. The combined voice from the allspark called out “’TIL ALL ARE ONE!” “DIE!” was the cry from Unicron as he flew towards me. We battled for what seemed an eternity, neither of us able to gain the upper hand upon the other, every punch was matched, every kick & jab met with another, no advantage being gained over the other. Finally Unicron landed a cheap blow against me, tearing open my chest with the spikes on his arm, my spark shining through the darkness. As I turned back I fired my arm cannons and struck Unicron right back in his chest, exposing his spark as well. The voice of the allspark still rang in my head… ‘til all are one, ‘til all are one… At that moment the realization of those words struck me. This could never be over until only one remained. I turned to see one of the dead planetoids near me. I pulled myself to it, gaining a foothold, and then launched myself at Unicron. As I collided with him I began raining down punches, pressing my advantage. “This is the end of the road, Unicron!” I proclaimed as I tore open Unicron’s chest even further, “’Til all are ONE!” I opened what remained of my chest, and pulled Unicron in, the sound of his scream the last thing that was heard as his spark was pulled into mine.
Epilogue:
Darkness. I don’t know if I’m even alive, I don’t even know how long I’ve been here, or if there even is a here at all. I gradually get the sensation of limbs, I move my fingers and feel nothing, I bring them close and feel my skin, but I cannot see. Sudden fear overtakes. Where is Unicron? I can’t see, I cannot fight what I cannot see! I’m defenseless. I swing wildly, my fists finding only empty space. I remember I have lights, and turn them on. I can see my limbs, but everything else is dark. I fire my arm blasters, the shots disappear into the darkness. I hear a soft chuckle. “Who’s there?!?” I turn around, shining my light in all directions, but I see nothing but blackness. I hear the chuckle again, a warm sensation envelopes me. “Where are you?!” I yell. “I’m right here” the voice says, as it chuckles once more. “Who are you?” I ask. “I’m your creator” it says. “Primus?” I ask in disbelief. “No, my son, YOU, are Primus.” As it laughs once more. “How?” is all I can stammer. “I am the creator of all things, I am the universe, and the universe is me. You are my child, created at the same time as your brother. You cannot exist without one another, and I cannot exist without you. You both are the balance of all things, you the protector, the bringer of light and order, your brother the destroyer, the bringer of darkness and chaos. From the beginning you two have been destined to fight one another, you protecting all that I create, your brother destroying all I create, keeping the balance. Untold times have you two met, sometimes you win, sometimes he wins, but the result is always the same, the universe is given a clean slate, and we start everything all over again.” Slowly I begin to realize, remembering all of the mythology of our race, the epic battle between Primus & Unicron. But I’m Primus? That thought swirls through my head, the impact of it bringing realization. Unicron is my brother? But Unicron is dead, I merged his spark with my own… “Your brother currently lives inside of you” the voice reads my thoughts. “This time you won. Endless times have you two fought, and everytime we start anew. Sometimes you battle quickly, other times not. Sometimes you win, other times you do not, but the end result is always the same. A long time did you two spread your battle this time, longer than any other time. But all things must end, and all things must begin. Are you ready to begin again my child?” “But…” I start to say. “Balance must be restored my child, or we shall cease to exist. It is time to begin anew.” I feel my physical body begin to dissolve, my form becoming pure energy. I feel myself being pulled apart, and I see Unicron, my brother, separating from me. I see the allspark pulling away, it’s brightness a shining beacon in the blackness. I see the two dead planets that orbited the allspark when I arrived here, I feel myself being pulled towards the nearest, as I see my brother pulled towards the other. The allspark shines brighter and brighter, until it supernovas, it’s energy pouring out into the depths of space, and I see the pinpricks of light becoming a myriad of stars in the night sky. I continue to drift towards the planet, my energy seeping into it’s core, and I feel the planet become alive with my presence, and I realize I can manipulate it to my will. The memory of our mythology rings out as I realize what I must do. I am Primus, the God of Light and Order, and I must protect the universe from Darkness & Chaos until all become one again. I reshape my new home into a metal shell. I begin to construct buildings, roads, and factories on my skin. I begin to create life, I instill my essence into a new being, I designate him Alpha, the first of many to come. I reveal to him who I am, and give him his purpose. I create his brethren, twelve warriors to defend this new universe. I then instill my wisdom & power into a matrix and give it to Alpha, designating him my Prime to lead these new defenders. I cannot stay awake much longer, I’ve given too much of myself to my new children to stay with them. As I begin to slumber I begin to dream of how I’ll continue to shape myself in my sleep. I remember Optimus, my hero and the embodiment of good, justice, and righteousness. I remember my old nebulan partner Firebolt, of the other headmaster, targetmaster, and powermaster alliances we made, and the micromasters, the smallest of our race. The memories blur together and become one. “Minicons” I think as I drift into sleep…