Salvation: Part II

[Chromeharpoon]

Flyby shakes his hand- a “so-so” gesture.

“Ehhh, depends,” he says. “Starscream didn’t so much invite me to join the Decepticon navy as much as he shot down my freighter and yanked me out of the wreckage.”

“It was a heck of a first impression, I’ll give him that.”

[meepinater]

Sidestep chuckled.
“He’s a bit of a nutjob sometimes.”

[Chromeharpoon]

@meepinater

“He’s a bit of a nutjob sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Flyby laughs. “Are we talking about the same Starscream?”

[meepinater]

@Chromeharpoon

“Sometimes?” Flyby laughs. “Are we talking about the same Starscream?”

“Oh, great, now there’s more than one?” Joked Sidestep, chuckling.

[Chromeharpoon]

“Fortunately not,” Flyby says.

“Try as he might…”

[meepinater]

@Chromeharpoon

“Fortunately not,” Flyby says.

“Try as he might…”

Sidestep nods.
“If cloning were ever to be a thing, you can bet your T-cog that Starscream would be all over it.”

[Chromeharpoon]

“Oh, he tried,” Flyby says.

“Back when Megatron was having Shockwave experiment with the technology, Starscream tried making a few clones of himself. That was before we found out about the spark problem. Starscream didn’t get an armada, as much as he got a pack of feral beasts with jet modes and null rays. It didn’t turn out well.”

[meepinater]

@Chromeharpoon

“Oh, he tried,” Flyby says.

“Back when Megatron was having Shockwave experiment with the technology, Starscream tried making a few clones of himself. That was before we found out about the spark problem. Starscream didn’t get an armada, as much as he got a pack of feral beasts with jet modes and null rays. It didn’t turn out well.”

“Oh yikes. That’s nightmare fuel.” Sidestep replied, taking another gulp of his drink.

[Toa_Vladin]

@Chromeharpoon

The claw scrapes against her left wing, before the Driller dives back down into the depths.

This damages the engine, as the only other one starts propelling her wildly through the water. She turns it off, as she resumes swimming towards the other two, on the small island.
“So… Uhm… Bad news…” she said as she got back on the shore.

[MichaelBT-7474]

@Chromeharpoon

The information the console was over a hundred million years out of date, but it stated that the planet’s landmasses were mostly covered in dense forests. There was no intelligent life to speak of, but many species of both flora and fauna. The planet was particularly rich in energon in its eastern hemisphere, but the Knights of Cybertron had deemed the planet unsuitable for colonization as a whole.

“That was certainly uninteresting.” King-Quan would look around for something else that my catch his eye, something about the Thirteen Primes maybe?

[Chromeharpoon]

@meepinater

“Oh yikes. That’s nightmare fuel.” Sidestep replied, taking another gulp of his drink.

Flyby nods.

“I’ll bet. I wasn’t there, myself.”

---

@MichaelBT-7474

“That was certainly uninteresting.” King-Quan would look around for something else that my catch his eye, something about the Thirteen Primes maybe?

If King-Quan kept searching, he’d find the security recordings from Planet Omega’s forge.

---

@Toa_Vladin

“So… Uhm… Bad news…” she said as she got back on the shore.

“Yeah, we saw,” Headlong coughs.

[MichaelBT-7474]

@Chromeharpoon

If King-Quan kept searching, he’d find the security recordings from Planet Omega’s forge.

King-Quan would eventually find security recordings. “Hmm, what is this?” He asked himself, as he played these recordings.

[Toa_Vladin]

“And I also lost an engine, so I can’t fly.”

[meepinater]

@Chromeharpoon

Flyby nods.

“I’ll bet. I wasn’t there, myself.”

“Good for that.” Sidestep said, swirling his drink a little.

[Chromeharpoon]

@MichaelBT-7474

King-Quan would eventually find security recordings. “Hmm, what is this?” He asked himself, as he played these recordings.

@MichaelBT-7474

@Chromeharpoon

epar was now standing in a cavernous round chamber, spherical in shape, with a platform wrapping around a yawning pit teeming with massive crystal formations of red, green, purple, and blue. Each crystal glowed brightly, and wisps of energy emanated from the formations and coalesced around a circular platform positioned above the pit, connected to the platform by a short bridge. Something on the platform shone with an intense blue-white aura.
The figure of a cybertronian knight- lanky, bronze-armored, and of average height- materializes to Zepar’s right.
“Solus just hit a new record,” the Knight softly chuckles in Ancient. "A week straight hammering away at that thing, without so much as taking a second to catch her breath. Megatronus had to carry her out of the room this morning, she was so exhausted. I guess even demigods need to recharge every now and then…

@Chromeharpoon

With one last swing of her hammer, Solus backs away from her work, walking down the bridge to set the Forge against an inert terminal. She appeared tired- perhaps she’d spent another week laboring over this mysterious project.
“I love watching you work,” Megatronus comments, his voice like the rolling of thunder. Solus seemed put off by this, and raised a metal eyebrow at him.
“…That… sounded more romantic in my head,” Megatronus says apologetically.
“It’s the growl,” Solus informs him, chuckling. “If you’d raise your voice an octave, maybe it would sound only midly unnerving.”
Now it was Megatronus’ turn to laugh, before turning to look at the device on the center platform.
“It seems to be coming along… well?,” he hesitantly observes. He wasn’t sure.
“Well enough,” Solus agrees. “Keeping the Dark Energon from corrupting the rest of the cybermatter is proving to be difficult. Even Unicron’s blood seeks to cause chaos, it seems.”

@Chromeharpoon

The two Primes fade away, and scene changes. Zepar was still in the same chamber as before, but it was evident that some time had passed- the crystal formations in the pit had grown larger.
The four cylinders were retracting into the walls, each one emitting a low hum as they powered down. The veil of light that had persistently surrounded the central platform fades to reveal the Omega Lock, plugged into the dais as the glyphs and designs Zepar had seen in the image earlier etched themselves into the machine’s surface.
All of the Thirteen could be seen could be seen marveling at the machine. Solus and Alchemist Prime both looked extremely fatigued as they held onto one another, presumably to keep each other standing. Both of them bore scorch marks that blackened their armor all over their bodies, and the Forge of Solus Prime could be seen strewn about on the floor, looking a little worse for wear.
“It’s… done,” Solus manages to wheeze.
Megatronus is the first to react, letting out a joyous laugh and scooping the Prime of Creation into his arms, lifting her off the floor. Alchemist staggers back, before being caught by the clawed hand of Onyx Prime.
“I suppose congratulations are in order, then,” drawls Liege Maximo, the Prime of Lies.

@Chromeharpoon

“Of course,” affirms Prima, the firstborn, who turns his head to look at the the hovering form of Quintus Prime.
“Quintus, get them on the mend, why don’t you?” Prima suggests, indicating Solus and Alchemist. With a nod, the Prime of Life drifts over to the wounded, a glowing yellow gemstone floating above the palm of his upper right hand.
“I have of course made sure to record the past five hours, thirty-nine minutes and twenty-one seconds for historical documentation, before any of you ask,” Beta Maxx, the minicon companion of Alpha Trion, states in a pleasant voice with a sophisticated accent.

@Chromeharpoon

“‘Beta, record this; Beta, write that down,’” the minicon sardonically remarks. “What am I, your scribe? That’s his job.”
Beta Maxx points up at Alpha Trion, and the rest of the Thirteen burst into laughter.
BlackBeltGamer98:

@Chromeharpoon

Quintus Prime hovered near Solus and Alchemist, manipulating the Emberstone’s energies to heal the burns they had presumably sustained in the Omega Lock’s creation.
“A machine with the power of a god…” he misses in a soft, quiet voice. Despite it’s lack of weight, the rest of the Thirteen quiet themselves and give Quintus their attention.
“You deserve the highest praise, no doubt,” he continues, congratulating the Prime of Creation and the master of the elements. “But I must point out that, in many cultures, such a thing is considered vain, and an affront to their deities. How will we reconcile this moral dilemma?”
Quintus made his point more as if he was prompting a simple discussion, rather than levelling an accusation at any of his fellows. Still, it put the room into an uncomfortable silence. Then Optimus speaks:
“If Primus opposed our endeavors here, I would have felt it through the Matrix,” he says.
Onyx Prime nods his masked head.
“I have not felt any disapproval or anger in his thoughts,” the Lord of Beasts comments.
The rest seem relieved. Amalgamous Prime transforms himself into the visage of the Creator:

@Chromeharpoon

“Put that cosmic power back where it came from or so help me!” the First Transformer bellows in a powerful, rumbling voice. This didn’t elicit the laughter that Amalgamous was likely expecting; the rest of the Thirteen now looked nervous.
“…Too far?” he guesses, transforming into a smaller, hunch-backed form.
“Man,” says Nexus, smiling, “If Primus don’t lay you low for that, he is a benevolent god…”
The Thirteen fade away as the scenery begins to change again. Cracks, dents, and burns from blasterfire begin to appear on the walls, and the crystal formations around the Omega Lock- the only object in the scene to appear unchanged- crumble away.

@Chromeharpoon

Solus Prime and Megatronus were once again alone together, save for a scant number of cybertronians who watched them from afar, each one bearing a weapon and the crest of the Prime of Creation on their armor.

Chromeharpoon:

@Chromeharpoon

The two lovers faced each other before the bridge leading to the Omega Lock, though there was no hint of romance between them now. Megatronus was pacing back and forth, with a scowl on his face.
“I’ve underestimated the tenacity of Onyx’s vermin,” he spits, clenching his right hand into a fist.
“Please don’t call them that,” Solus Prime says sadly, her Forge stowed across her back. “You two were friends once- we all were.”
“‘Were’,” Megatronus repeats urgently. “You cannot remain neutral in this war forever, my beloved-”
“I will,” Solus defiantly declares. “This is a mistake, Megatronus- a terrible mistake! I know it, and so does Optimus!”
“Optimus is a wise man,” Megatronus says, abruptly stopping in his pacing to look directly at Solus, “but war has never been his domain. He doesn’t know what’s at stake here, but I do.”
The Dark Warrior takes a step closer to Solus, who looks up at him sternly.
“That is why I need the Omega Lock,” he pleads. “With it, I can-”
“What?” Solus challenges him, a cold fury in her tone “You can what? Kill millions with the turn of a key? Turn cities to dust?”
Megatronus is silent as he casts his eyes downward, towards the blasted floor. There was nothing he could say. Solus, as always, knew him well.
“I built the Omega Lock so that our people thrive on new worlds, heal the sick and injured, and build wondrous new things,” she continues. "I built it to uplift our race; not destroy it.
“The Omega Lock is not a weapon, Megatronus,” she asserts firmly. “And as long as my spark burns, I will not have anyone turn it into such a thing. Not even you.”
Megatronus said nothing, for there was nothing he could say. Nothing that could change Solus’ mind or make anything she had just said untrue. Looking up at her, his expression one of sorrow and shame, he bids Solus a wordless farewell as he turns and walks away, his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the room as he leaves down a dark corridor.
Solus Prime turns away as she and her followers disappear, and the chamber takes on an even more ruined appearance. Now, columns had been smashed, sections of the catwalk had been blown away, and a thin diagonal gash had been carved into the wall, wrapping around the circumference of the spherical room. The rhythmic pounding of metal footsteps continued, though now they belonged to Optimus Prime, who was now briskly striding toward the still-pristine Omega Lock.
From seemingly out of nowhere, Optimus draws a sword with a long, slender blade and an ornate hilt.

@Chromeharpoon

There is a sound like the tolling of a great bell as the grey metal of the hilt blossoms into a dazzling gold, and the blade and crystal are enveloped in a spectral white aura. Gripping the sword with both hands, Optimus raises the weapon above his shoulder as he stops before the Omega Lock. He holds for a moment, shutting his blue eyes… before he swiftly brings down the sword upon the machine. The moment the blade connects, there is a terrible explosion of sound, like a thousand bursts of thunder going off at once, as a bright blue-white light engulfs the scene…
…When it fades, Zepar would find himself standing within a field of stars, before an ocean planet marbled with chains of tropical islands. From a continent in the southwest, a brilliant burst of light blooms and washes over the world. Long, jagged fissures carve themselves into the land below the sea, glowing with the same reds, blues, greens, and purples of the Omega Lock.

@Chromeharpoon

The final clip depicts five knight ships rising from over Planet Omega’s horizon, each one disappearing into transwarp, bound for parts unknown.

---

@meepinater

“Good for that.” Sidestep said, swirling his drink a little.

Flyby nods again.

“I bet it was,” he agrees.

---

@Toa_Vladin

“And I also lost an engine, so I can’t fly.”

The water around the rocks churns.

“Well, that’s unfortunate…” Headlong groans.

Water and stone are tossed high into the air as the Driller bursts into view, looming above Wildsong and her two allies. The blades on its five tendrils shriek as they chop through the air, and the snapping claws rush downward at their prey.

[meepinater]

SideStep gulped down some more of his drink.

“So… What do you wanna bet we actually save the universe?”

[Chromeharpoon]

Flyby looks SideStep dead in the eye.

“Tell you what,” he says. “We find all the Omega Lock’s bits and pieces, stop Bludgeon, and save our people, I’ll give you two million.”

[meepinater]

SideStep runs his chin.
“Deal.” He said, extending his hand for a shake.

[Toa_Vladin]

@Chromeharpoon

Water and stone are tossed high into the air as the Driller bursts into view, looming above Wildsong and her two allies. The blades on its five tendrils shriek as they chop through the air, and the snapping claws rush downward at their prey.

“Run!!!” she said, as she jumped into the water.

[Chromeharpoon]

@meepinater

SideStep runs his chin.
“Deal.” He said, extending his hand for a shake.

Flyby clasps SideStep’s hand and shakes it.

---

@Toa_Vladin

“Run!!!” she said, as she jumped into the water.

Headlong and his friend follow, jumping into the sea after Wildsong as the Driller twists its body and dives down after them.