Seraphicon gives the mother of all death glares to Nova Prime, but he does have reverence toward the others, especially so towards the Original 13, his gaze settling briefly on Megatronus to see how he was doing.
Firestorm gives a salute to the Original 13 as he spots them.
“With all due respect, Sentinel, were you or even the Thirteen the paragons of maturity when you were young in your tenure as Primes?” Firestorm asks, “again, no thanks offense to anyone.”
“Except for Nova Prime.” Seraphicon mutters under his breath.
“Again, hm?” Overgrowth sighs quietly, recalling a few misadventures from the Fetch Quest to Save the Universe.
“Well met, Ivory,” she says to the detective. “Good to have you with us.”
Sentinel grimaces, and his left hand clenches into a fist beneath his shield.
“I hold no illusions as to my failure, Maximus,” he says bitterly, agitated by the Predacon’s scathing rebuttal but forced to admit to himself that he was not wrong. "And you are right, Firestorm, that I was no paragon of our race. The Great War was my failure. I was indecisive, I lacked confidence, and above all, I was ignorant. Having had considerable time to meditate on my shortcomings, I have come to recognize similar qualities within my successor.
“You devalue the contributions of your companions,” he goes on, speaking directly to Axis again. “Without the other relic hunters, you and Maximus would have never left Eukaris, the Reunification would never have come to pass, and Nemesis Prime would have succeeded in his quest for godhood. You are also reckless: you have been quick to employ violence and you have carelessly endangered the lives of bystanders and your own companions. Why should I help you, when I fear that you would misuse the powers that I labored to hide away, as I feared Megatron would? And have any of you considered that, as you work to unravel my conspiracy, you may be leading your new enemy to their objective as well?”
Prima returns Firestorm’s salute just before the Headmaster speaks to Sentinel Prime, brandishing a spectral copy of the Star Saber. Megatronus’s visage has changed greatly since our heroes saw him last. No longer a wraith cloaked in shadow, his spirit now takes on his proper appearance: a huge warrior with heavy black armor over his frame, marked with red and orange veins that burn like magma. The Requiem Blaster is notably absent from his right arm, and he stands close beside the specter of Solus Prime, appearing content.
Nova Prime turns away from Seraphicon’s harsh glare, seeming to retreat into himself. His figure diminishes slightly.
“Hello,” the spirit of Onyx Prime replies calmly, his expression tranquil behind the Triptych Mask. Looking out over the necropolis, he says, “It is not often that we are summoned to this place. I don’t believe that any of us expected this any more than you must have.”
A few of the ghosts of the old Primes watch Kitai as he walks through them. The Thirteen and Aethus Prime, having fought in the Quintesson Wars, no doubt recognize him as a hybrid, but they make no show of hostility toward him.
Magnus Prime eagerly returns the salute, pleased that someone seems to have remembered him.
Axis took a deep breath in to calm herself. She held it for a moment, then let it out.
"Don’t think for even a moment that I don’t value the contributions of my friends. They were the ones that started the quest for the Primal relics after all. While my beloved does like to bolster my accomplishments, I recognize that we would be just as lost without them as we would have been without myself.
"And I know I’m not a perfect Prime. But I’ve been trying my best. All I want is to see the safety of my people, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get it. There is so much that I don’t know. That I don’t understand. I still don’t understand why I was chosen. A simple gladiator from Eukaris made to lead an entire civilization. There are still days I wonder why Primus made the choice he did. Why he forced this responsibility upon me when I never wanted it to begin with. But despite that I still have done nothing but my best to uphold it.
"And for everything I dont know, there are some things I do know. I know that billions of souls depend on me to keep them safe. I also know that someone wants whatever it is that you’re hiding. I know that they are violent and persistent. And I fear that they will find a way to find it, one way or another. You may be right, that my actions could be leading my unseen enemy to their goal. But inaction is not an option. If everything turns for the worse because of my doing then that will be my burden to bear.
"But I will not be remembered as the Prime who let the galaxy burn because she was too afraid to try. I may not know what I’m up against. I may not know entirely what I’m doing. But I know that I will never. Stop. Trying. As long as I can do something, anything, I have to try.
Axis began her speech with a cool and collected composure. But the longer she went on more and more emotion cracked through.
Maximus gently laid a hand on her shoulder, and was surprised to feel her trembling.
Nova watched from a bit of a distance away. She was speechless as she watched Axis do her best to stand up to her predecessor. Odin above… maybe I should be a bit easier on her.
She thought to herself.
“Definitely! I just stopped by the Tomb to do some light research for a story I’m working on. But I definitely wasn’t expecting to see so many ghosts! And I also really wasn’t expecting to-”
She lowered her voice for a moment.
“To get involved I a secret mission.”
She said, pointing a thumb back to Axis and Sentinel.
“I don’t really know what’s going on or what it’s about. But I’m definitely excited to help! Oh, and I’m Honeycomb by the way! I probably should have mentioned that first.”
“Then I ask the Primes assembled here.” Firestorm asks, raising his arms to gesture he was opening the floor to them, “who would be the enemy that Sentinel is so afraid of?”
LD-L1 smirked, or at least the closest thing to it from his near featureless face. Maybe this young Prime will be truely worthy after all…
“Pleasure is all mine sweetheart, now, how about you, tall and fancy, why are you here, and why shouldn’t we escort you off this ship?” He asked the bot, still very skeptical of his intent still. (@N01InParticular)
Nova Prime steps forward- the other spirits around him all glare daggers at him, and one- a minicon with shovels for hands- groans and rolls his eye.
“Insurgents and insurrectionists!” he suggests. “The leaders of this new age are weak, and the degenerate scum of our race have become emboldened by their stupidity. They will plunge your civilization into anarch-”
“Oh, shut up!” the neon-painted Junkion Prime interjects, snapping at the disgraced Angelicon. “Primus’s rivets, what the slag did the Matrix ever see in you? Personally, my bet would be on a cult of Unicron-worshippers.”
“Those exist?” the spirit of Aethus Prime asks, sounding appropriately horrified.
“Yup,” the Junkion Prime confirms. “Really lowers your faith in our species, doesn’t it?”
“Perhaps a little,” Aethus replies, shaking his head. “I prefer to hope that the enemy’s goals are much less apocalyptic.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Magnus Prime says. “These situations tend to unfold that way. I would speculate that quintessons may have a hand in this.”
“What, you think they didn’t learn their lesson the last four times they tried?” the shovel-handed minicon Prime laughs. “No, I believe that a faction of humans may be responsible. Their species has coveted our technology in the past.”
The rampant speculations and bickering among the ghosts of Primes past quiets as Axis makes her impassioned reply to Sentinel’s accusations. The old guardian’s fist uncurls, and he stands in silence for what feels like a long while. He looks back to his own grave, at the image of himself carved into its surface, and then at the hologram frozen beside it. Sentinel closes his eyes and bows his head.
“Even in death, I have learned nothing,” he says quietly, putting a hand over his face. He looks up again, fixing our heroes with an intense stare. His expression is no longer one of contempt, but of a grim, foreboding urgency.
“Axis, I stand by my judgement of your character,” he says, "you are impulsive and reckless, and if you continue down this path, then the Matrix of Leadership will forsake you just as it closed itself to me. But I am a ghost of a bygone era- it is not my place to deny you the opportunity to better yourself. You say that will at least try to do what is right- that is already more than I ever did.
“And to all of you, I say this,” he continues, speaking now to all of our heroes assembled in the Tomb, “what you seek, the forces at play here, are powerful beyond reckoning. I do not know who or what works against you now, but the devastation they could unleash upon the universe would be catastrophic. And the consequences of abusing this power yourselves, even with the best of this intentions, would be just the same. I will tell you where to look, but when you have found this artifact, my initial hesitation to disclose its location will hopefully seem more reasonable to you.”
“Oh, another band of unlikely heroes is coming together to unravel ancient conspiracies and save the universe, are they?” the spirit of Amalgamous Prime observes, his body rippling and twisting as it always did. “That human writer was right: I suppose history does often rhyme.”
Stopgap kneeled and leaned in to meet the fleshy one’s eyes. “I have already spoken at great lengths about why I am here, frankly you should’ve been listening.” He closed the gap even further until he was inches from ivory. “But if you need the reminder, I Am Here To Reclaim My Godhood.” He returned to a standing position and redirected his attention back to overgrowth, “Now, where do we start?”
Ivory was throughly unimpressed “and why should we help reclaim your godhood? Assuming you aren’t completely batty.”
———-
LD-L1 opted to leave the Prime to her conference, and instead quietly positioned himself near Megtronus. “How are you today Lord?” He asked.
Megtronus, while not seen as divine like his kin by LD-L1’s order, he was in many ways the most revered. He not only discovered the source of divinity, but also sacrificed his own so his brethren may ascend. As such, the lucky few (He wouldn’t be suprised if he was goven some minor honor for witnessing the primes himself) of his order that had bren able to mee the Primes in person, often considered him the most approachable, regardless of his attitude in any given time
“Yes, exactly,” Overgrowth says after Ivory. “We have a mission of our own, which does not concern whatever godhood you may have.”
“If that is what you and your companions come to decide, then so be it,” Sentinel says. “But despite its potential for harm, this artifact is not a weapon. It was made to enrich our civilization, and its destruction would be a great loss, even if it were to become necessary.”
“Oh, yeah, this has happened loads of times.” Amalgamous nods his head. “Let’s see, there’s been…”
The spirit of the First Transformer counts on the fingers of his right hand, with new digits appearing all along his wrist and forearm before he gives up and simply says, “… a lot of them.”
“I am well,” Megatronus replies. His voice is like steel scraping over obsidian. “And who are you? I know you not.”
Axis nodded.
“I understand. Then I suppose I’ll make that judgement when the time comes. But what’s important now is ensuring that we are the first to reach this artifact, before our enemy has the chance to take it for themselves.”
She replied.
“Wow. That’s pretty crazy to think about.”
Honeycomb said.
“So then, statistically speaking, we should fine right? Like if this happens all the time, and it always turns out fine, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about?”
“I would not expect you to Lord, my name is LD-L1. My brethren and i have long been followers of the primes, taking all of your teachings in stride. It is a rare treat for us to have a chance to meet any of you in person.” he responds, attempting to explain the situation.
“Of course,” Sentinel says. “What you seek is buried on the planet Lacuna, in the Theta Scopii star system. The ancient cybertronians left a research outpost in its orbit during the Golden Age- it will help you find the artifact, though you may have to subdue its defenses first.”
“Oh, no, it doesn’t always turn out fine,” Amalgamous says gravely. “I mean, just ask Pathfinder and the Corsairs. You can’t, actually, because they a got swallowed up by a sentient black hole. Nasty way to go.”
“Well met, LD-L1,” Megatronus says, and a faint smile comes over his face. “It is rare that we are able to speak with those of the mortal realm, as well. Who are your brethren? I do not recognize the markings on your body- there is still much that has transpired over the eons that I have missed in my long isolation.”
Axis nodded.
“Thank you Sentinel. Before we depart, I do have one thing to ask. If I seek your guidance again, could you not shut me out again? I don’t think it would kill you to have a simple conversation every now and again.”
Axis paused for a moment as she remembered something else.
“And while we’re at it, what the hell was that stunt back at the space port?! That feeling of a frozen dagger striking into my chest. It was horrible! Why in Primus’ name would you ever do such a thing?!”
“O-oh! Yeah that definitely sounds really bad.”
Honeycomb stammered
“But we’ll probably be fine right? I mean, we’re working with the Prime herself. Well current Prime. You know what I mean. So I doubt anything will go too terribly wrong.”
She said nervously, trying her best not to fall into a panic spiral.
Defender, having saluted many of the Primes, bows before Amalgamous Prime.
“My lord,” he says, “it is an honor to meet you.”
Oreo, meanwhile, has decided that the stranger in the ship is likely not dangerous, just… well, rather crazy. He lets Overgrowth and Ivory continue talking, and goes to sit on the cargo bay’s ramp. As he does, he notices a stream of visitors leaving the Tomb of the Primes. He wonders what has happened that would cause the Knights and the Tomb’s stewards to make everyone leave.
“Such an act is beyond my power,” Sentinel tells Axis. “That pain was not my doing; rather, it was inflicted by the Matrix itself. It did the same thing to me.”
“Primes and their entourages are not infallible, Honeycomb,” Onyx warns Honeycomb. “All of you must be vigilant.”
“Sentient singularities are fortunately rare occurrences, however,” Micronus adds, perched upon the centaur-esque bot’s back. “Though I guess there’s something to be said for expecting the unexpected…”
Amalgamous’s torso rotates around as Defender approaches and bows before him. “Oh, hey!” the First Transformer says. “Nice meeting you, too!”
As the tourists stream out from the Tomb’s entrance hall, the two Knights guarding it peer within, also curious as to what may have inspired this exodus. Many of the cybertronians, humans, and people of other species are talking excitedly among themselves, and words like “empty”, “hologram”, and “ghosts” can be overheard through the rambling.
“These?” He asked, the question rhetorical. He pulled out his arms showing the various symbols on his particularly large fists, even on the knuckles. “Simple lessons told via emblems and pictures. Stories and parables, about you, your siblings and your decendants. Are many apocryphal? Perhaps, but is it not better to take the stories at their face and the lessons locked within them?” He explained “My siblings and I are known by most as the Followers of the Primes ascendant, but we merely call ourselves the followers, and we have many such symbols.” He turned around to show the emblem of the order on his cloak back
“Twelve points, one for each of your siblings, barr the foul Leige Maximo, whom we shun totally.”
Stopgap groaned, this conversation alone had tested every ounce of his patience, clearly, these two were terrible listeners. “Once again, to reclaim my godhood I have been tasked with assisting your little club of…” stopgap was extremely tempted to call them idiots, but decided against it. “with whatever it is that you’re wanting to do. If. I. Complete. My. Task. Then. I. Shall. Have. Reclaimed. My. Godhood. Understood?”
“Oh, I see. My apologies.”
Axis replied, quickly calming down. Her anger immediately switching to worry and concern.
“Do you know what exactly causes is?”
She asked.
“Gahh. You’re right. You’re right.”
Honeycomb closed her eyes and trembled a bit.
“I really need to learn to stop over thinking things.”
“Fascinating,” Megatronus remarks, and he truly is intrigued by what LD-L1 is showing him. “How long has your order been in existence?”
Many of the other Thirteen frown at the cursing of Liege Maximo’s name. In their eyes, he had redeemed himself five thousand years ago with the defeat of the Heralds of Unicron. To them, hearing that many still hate him is disheartening, though rather understandable.
“It is one of the ways the Matrix expresses its displeasure,” Sentinel explains. “It’s methods of communication are often indirect, as I’m sure you’ve observed. When I tell you that the Matrix may soon close itself to you, understand that it is no idle warning.”
“Now you see the curse of the title of Prime,” Nova Prime interjects. “All that power in your possession, and yet you’re expected to abide by the terms of a negligent god under penalty of-”
“I do not recall anyone asking for your input, Nova,” Sentinel snaps, cutting the disgraced Angelicon off. “Though I suppose you would be more familiar with the Matrix’s punishments than anyone else.”
Nova Prime scowls and withdraws again, growling something most assuredly unpleasant under his breath as he retreats.
“Perhaps,” Onyx says placidly, shrugging his great shoulders. "
“Very well,” Overgrowth replies. Though similarly frustrated, continued back-and-forth in this hallway would only get less productive. “If you are so insistent on assisting us, perhaps you should see what exactly we’re doing. Follow me, please.”
The Knight strides down the hall toward the nearest airlock, looking back periodically to see if Stopgap is instead wandering elsewhere.
“Salvage, I’m leaving,” she says into her commlink. “You must watch the prisoners in my absence.”
“You know I have a fear of being left alone on a starship, right?” Salvage replies. “Comes from an overconsumption of sci-fi horror. Seriously, when you get back I’ll probably have locked myself in an escape pod with a plasma cutter.”
“You will have several humans for company,” Overgrowth points out.
“Right. Humans who were just trying to kill us earlier today,” says Salvage. “That makes it so much better.”
