The Return
by Birgit Staebler ([email protected])

Generally, they had no name, at least no real individual ones. They were born and they knew each other, so names were superficial. Some of them had taken on names after the fashion of most intelligent life and it had become a game for them to have a name. Their race was known as Veneran among others old enough to remember them, otherwise they were anonymous. Not many could say that they really remembered them at all, remembered their looks and civilization. The Veneran had been gone a long time, but they had left behind a large heritage that had influenced numerous worlds.
Over millions of millions of years, the Veneran had split into separate faction, still of the same race, but no longer of the same mind. A lot of them had traveled on, had found new worlds far away from what was generally thought of as the 'known universe', but a few had stayed, lying dormant and trying to find ways to reclaim what had once been their own. One of those no longer satisfied with what had passed as rule in the past was now slowly reaching a stage where he was strong enough for what he had planned the last millennia of his dormant existence. He looked around and called to the others.
It was time to act.
It was time to finish a failed experiment.

* * *

The woman in the expensive dress leaned back and regarded the computer screen with a faint smile on her lips.
"Perfect," she said.
She activated another program and watched as the screen showed him various displays.
Yes, perfect.
Not much longer and it would be complete. And then they would bow to her power. Her superior power. She turned to the man in slightly scruffy looking overall.
"The test results are perfect," she told him and the man in the overall smiled proudly.
"We are already constructing a first real life test model," he said.
"Good. Very good. Proceed."
The man in the overall turned and left.
"Soon," the lonely female figure whispered. "And this time I won't fail."

* * *

Thomas Maine was a man of the street. You could say he had his fingers in everything that smelled of money and there was nothing
he hadn't tried to get the wealth he always
talked about. He hadn't had success, though, but it was rumored that he was really a disgustingly rich guy, who just couldn't leave the streets -- which was, in effect, true. Maine was rich, not yet disgustingly rich, but on his best way. It was also true that he just couldn't get off the streets. The streets were his life and home, and no marble floor mansion could get him away from here.
Maine had spent his whole life in Vancouver and he knew every gang and every would-be crook and crime boss there was. He did some 'jobs' now and then, when it got too boring for him to sit and watch his money multiply on dozens of bank accounts. Now he was dozing on a park bench, his ever-present baseball cap drawn deep into his face. It was early in the evening, but the small park was already deserted, except for a few street people, who plundered the waste bins.
Suddenly he heard a noise. It sounded like muffled engine noises and he peeked out from under his cap, discovering a rather large, metallic bird. The bird hovered in front of him for a second, then settled on the bench opposite the one he was occupying. It gave a squawk.
"It's in the waste," he said softly, knowing that the robot bird could hear him just perfectly.
The bird, which looked like an odd cross between a vulture and a hawk, looked into the waste basket, then took out a disk wrapped in a metal container. It squawked again and took off.
Maine had no trouble dealing with Decepticons. He had no trouble dealing with anyone at all as long as he controlled events and wasn't in the line of fire. That the Decepticons had struck a deal with him had been a small surprise, but seeing who they were looking for ..... well, let's just say, Maine thought, those large guys would never have found her. He had.
With a satisfied smile he leaned back.

* * *

Nearly a year had passed since the Autobots had begun working seriously on the doorway deep inside Cybertron and had found help in the form of a former Decepticon called Nightmare. Nightmare's knowledge of the system, as well as Raven's abilities to align these doorways, though she had no idea how to do it, were invaluable to Perceptor and his team. Both worked patiently with the Autobots and one of them was always around.
Ambassador 'Spike' Witwicky had watched Nightmare since coming back to Cybertron and had decided that even though he was marked as a Decepticon, he sure as hell wasn't one, even if Optimus was still wary toward him. Spike smiled. The Autobot leader trusted Nightmare enough to work on the doorway and to move around on Cybertron on his own, and that told him enough about the relationship between the two. Optimus might not explicitly trust Nightmare, but he was starting to.
And then there was Nightmare's fascination with Melissa. The Witwickys had arrived on Cybertron about a week ago and had brought along their young daughter, Spike's pride and Carly's little trouble-maker, as she always put it. Melissa was two years old now and would soon turn three, and she was very, very active. Even Daniel hadn't been that bad, Spike had to confess. The little girl was fascinated by the Cybertronians, though she showed no such intimate fascination like Daniel had developed at that age. Spike was glad about it, though Mel gave him new things to worry about, like her endless interest in everything she could take apart and then reassemble. And she was good at it!
Spike had gone down into the doorway chamber to see how the work on the doorway was going, to talk to the guys down there, and generally to satisfy his curiosity about the doorway as such. And then he had met Nightmare. The Gatekeeper was a gentle personality, he had to confess, unlike everything he might have expected from the combination of 'Decepticon' and the name the Gatekeeper had chosen. He had been very fascinated by the little girl, who had stared back at him with similar fascination. Carly, who had accompanied the two, was a bit doubtful and maybe even afraid of the situation.
"Remember how Daniel reacted to Hot Rod?" Spike reminded his wife gently as they went back to the South Port complex.
"Yes, but he was an Autobot. Okay, he was a hot headed young teenager at the time, but he was still an Autobot!" she protested.
"Nightmare is an ally, Optimus told me, not a Decepticon. He might carry the sign, but he isn't one of them. You saw how he reacted to Mel."
Carly sighed. "Sure, right....."
He put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a little hug. "Hey, none of those big guys would ever hurt a child."
"I know that, Spike. Melissa isn't the first child I'm raising among giant robots. It's just, did you see how fascinated Mel was by him?"
Spike smiled again. "He is a horse. Little girls love horses. I bet she'd react the same to Knight."
That was true to a degree. Nightmare mainly stayed in his transformed mode when he was down in the chamber since he was, as he had told Spike upon his inquiry, more used to it. He had spent nearly all his life on Crea and had always been in his alternate mode. Spike thought back to the meeting with a smile, when Mel had made a happy noise and run over to Nightmare, immediately falling love with the big 'horsey', as she had put it. Nightmare had been very surprised at first, but Spike had seen how careful he had been not to make any moves that could hurt the child.
Carly shrugged, still a bit worried, but, so she had to confess, it was mainly because Nightmare still carried the Decepticon symbol. They entered the complex and walked to their quarters, Spike still carrying the sleeping Melissa, who was tired after such a long and exciting day. They would go on to Nebulos in a few days, at least he would. Carly wanted to go back to Earth first, to pay her parents a visit, then join him. Rodimus and Optimus were both on Earth right now.
"I'll see through my mails," Spike told his wife and gave her a quick kiss, "then I'll be back."
Carly nodded and took Melissa, who muttered something, but didn't really wake. "See you later, darling," she said.

* * *

"We found the woman."
The single sentence managed to evict a cruel smile on Galvatron's face. "Where is she?" he asked coldly.
Soundwave accessed the data Laserbeak had brought back. "She is still on Earth. Her current location is in Vancouver, Canada."
Galvatron smiled even more. "Keep an eye on her, Soundwave. Cyclonus, you and Soundwave will come with me. I want to take care of this matter personally."
"Yes, mighty Galvatron," Cyclonus acknowledged the command.
Galvatron rose from his throne. Finally they had the woman who had been responsible for the deadly virus unleashed onto his kind. She had eluded their grasp for years, but no longer. She might be cunning and a worthy opponent, but soon she would be dead. He strode from the room toward the shuttle that would get him to the battle ship hidden in the near asteroid belt. Cyclonus followed him, his face a mask, his optics glowing a soft red as always.

* * *

Rodimus Prime had returned to Earth with Optimus Prime, as well as Shanygn, his Interface partner, who was rarely seen without him, at least when there were no important meetings he had to attend. Shanygn hated 'stuffy meetings' as she put it and Rodimus understood her only too well. He felt the same, but he was the second-in-command and held the same position Optimus had. It meant a lot of meetings! Getting out of the shuttle, Shanygn smiled. It was spring and she loved spring on Earth. Sadly enough, Carly was on Cybertron. The two women were best friends and Shanygn would have liked to see Melissa again. Well, now she had to go to the mall with someone else. Mel's birthday was coming up and she wanted to find something appropriate for the little girl.
For Optimus, this was just a stop-over on his way to Nebulos. Spike was going there as well and the two of them wanted to discuss planetary security with the Nebulans. A lot had happened on Nebulos, starting with the discovery of very important files in the old city of The Hive. The planet had started to develop and bloom and was a trading partner with Cybertron and, through Cybertron, with Earth.
As they walked toward the command center of Metroplex, Jazz came to meet them. His optics darted from Optimus to Rodimus and the second-in-command thought he saw a bit of worry there, worry directed at him.
"Optimus, Rodimus, you won't believe what we got in over the channel!" Jazz called.
"Hello, Jazz," Optimus greeted the other Autobot with a smile reflecting in his optics. "What's up?"
"We got a message comin' in from Vancouver! I think we found the lady who's been messin' around with chemicals!"
Rodimus felt an icy feeling spread inside of him. "Diana MacKenzie?" he asked tonelessly.
"You got it, man! The lady showed her face in Vancouver and it looks like the Cons also found her! We picked up some encoded signals and think it's them."
Optimus Prime glanced at his second and saw a cold fire in his eyes and the dramatic change of expressions. One more word from Jazz and Rodimus would be over the top and driving to Vancouver.
"Give me a report in my office, Jazz," Optimus decided calmly.
Jazz nodded. "You get it in a sec, big guy." Then he beat a hasty retreat, inspired by the dark look on Rodimus' face.
Optimus gave his second-in-command a little shove and guided him into his office, which was thankfully close by. Shanygn followed unobtrusively.
"I'll go to Vancouver," Rodimus said nearly immediately when the doors had closed.
"No," Optimus contradicted.
Rodimus glared at him, his optics flashing. "If she is in Vancouver, I'll be there as well!"
"I know how you feel about the subject," Optimus said calmly. "I feel the same...."
"You don't know how I feel, Optimus! She never turned you human and tried to kill you!" his second snarled in open anger.
"True, she only tried to kill me," -- Rodimus winced slightly --,"but this also makes you the one person I don't want to have around when we catch her."
"If the Decepticons don't get her first," Shanygn muttered.
Optimus had nearly forgotten about her, which was a common sensation because Rodimus and Shanygn were like one sometimes. And the humanoid woman could be very 'invisible' if she wanted to be. He wondered whether she was in contact with Rodimus right now. Their telepathic link, which wasn't real telepathy as Skywolf had explained, was a mystery and a puzzle, but it also gave Shanygn the edge whenever it came to keeping Rodimus calm and even-tempered. Optimus had seen it often enough, even though he didn't want to know about the negative sides of this connection. Skywolf had explained to him once that Shanygn experienced emotional backwash from Rodimus, like intense emotions of fear, rage and pain, but also more positive ones. But her shields should be able to handle this, at least most of it.
"Then good luck to them!" Rodimus now hissed.
"We will have to find her first," Optimus decided and tried to ignore Rodimus' hatefilled eyes.
He really did understand his younger friend. He felt anger rise inside of him as well every time he thought about Diana MacKenzie. She had infected them with a virus years ago, but they had won. Then she had tried to kill him and Rodimus and had nearly succeeded. Again they had emerged victorious, but an emotional price had been paid. This was taking its toll on all of them, especially the two leaders, but they had survived.
"I'll send Archer and Tracks to Vancouver. Both of them can fit into the city scape perfectly and both have human companions to complete the picture." He looked meaningfully at his second-in-command. "You stay."
The two of them looked at each other and it was a battle of wills. Optimus had had this situation before and sometimes he had given in, sometimes Rodimus, but this time he didn't intend to lose. His optics burned as brightly as Rodimus' as he stared his second-in-command down. They were equals in everything, but not today. Today he was using every inch of authority he had.
Finally Rodimus moved back, anger coloring his face with dark shadows. "Yes, sir!" he snarled, hands clenched into fists.
He turned on his heels and left the office in a cloud of anger. Optimus winced at the tone of voice and wished he could make Rodimus understand. Shanygn sighed and exchanged a knowing look with him. Optimus had no idea how old she was, but looking into her dark blue eyes now he thought she was ancient. He seemed to be looking into a mirror reflecting his own emotions and he realized that the two of them shared a deep understanding.
"I'll go and talk to him," she finally said in resignation.
"Thanks," Optimus said softly.
"No sweat." She shrugged. "It's what I'm here for: talk to him and if he doesn't come around, administer one good, hard kick." The female Interface grinned wickedly. "And he shouldn't get me that far. See you." With that she left.
Optimus sank back into his chair, smiling a bit. Shanygn could kick hard enough to get Rodimus to talk, but he knew that if she did, she'd have to watch out for retaliation. The Autobot leader called up the report Jazz had sent to him through the channels. If he wanted this matter resolved quickly, he needed to act now.

* * *

The Earth's intruder early warning systems were highly sophisticated, but they were no match for Soundwave's manipulations. His cassettes had proven often enough that even though the defenses might pick up on a large fleet of Decepticons approaching, a few cloaked individuals could pass through. Circumventing the Autobots' additional defense perimeters was tricky, but could be managed, though sooner or later they would set off an alarm. But the time window was big enough for their operations, Galvatron had decided, and so they had come to Earth. In his former years, Galvatron would have come screaming and blasting to this little planet, not caring whether he would be detected or not, just fixed on his goal, Cyclonus mused. Now he was really thinking about an approach, trying to minimize discovery and maximize success. Cyclonus had been afraid at first that this stability of the mind might not last long, but he had been proven otherwise. Years had passed since the almost fatal encounter with Starscream and then Braintrust, and the Decepticon leader had only shown improvement. The respect of the Decepticons had grown and Cyclonus knew that they finally followed him because of the person he was, not because there was no one else around to take the job of controlling a bunch of ever-squabbling Decepticons.
The three robots descended toward Vancouver, the large Canadian city on the west coast of the North American continent. Two of Soundwave's cassette's, Ravage and Laserbeak, were already there. The communications expert had sent them ahead to scout and secure the area Galvatron would arrive in. And to keep an eye and ear out for anything Diana MacKenzie might do. This close to their prey, Galvatron had no intention of letting her escape once more.

* * *

Shanygn had found Rodimus in his office. He had not reacted to her entry and so she had stayed silently, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. Her blue eyes were pinned on the brightly colored robot standing in front of the window, drumming his fingers on the window sill. His optics were fixed on nothing specific, even though outside was a beautiful day. He was tense, he was angry -- well, more furious than angry -- and he wanted nothing more than to get out there and drive to Vancouver. But he also respected Optimus' wish, which had not been exactly an order, Shanygn knew. If it had been an order, Rodimus would be out there right now and acting against it. Shanygn sighed softly and shook her head. Her Interface partner was stubborn and reacted in ways that were the complete opposite to what you expected. She felt his mixed emotions swirling just outside the shield she had erected around her mind, knocking against it, trying to swamp over her. She wouldn't let them. Shanygn had learned to block out almost everything from him whenever he started to get ill-tempered, though many things she couldn't shut out. A major drawback was intense pain, like getting seriously shot. That came too sudden to block it out right from the beginning. Rage she could handle though and it was all she picked up right now.
Finally Rodimus turned and looked at her, his optics glowing with suppressed anger. "What?" he demanded sharply.
Shanygn raised an eyebrow. "What what?" she asked.
He sighed explosively. "Why are you here?"
She shrugged. "Nothing special. I had nowhere to go and thought you might want some company....."
"Did Optimus send you after me?" he asked acidly. "Think I need a baby-sitter so I won't just leave and do something foolish?"
Shanygn winced. "Roddy, please," she said in a pained voice. "You should know me better than that."
He looked at her and she saw a set of emotions flicker through his eyes. He shook his head, rubbing his optics. "Sorry," he muttered.
[No harm done, though you are behaving like a spoiled child]
Rodimus glared at her with new fire. [MacKenzie is out there and I want her!] he yelled.
[Just like every other Autobot and myself. And turn down the volume, I'm not deaf]
[None of you went through being humanized a second time, drugged, and then nearly burned alive!] he continued, his voice still loud in her mind, but she felt him force himself not to yell.
[Of course not, Roddy] she calmed him. [But that doesn't give you the right to go out there and shoot her on sight]
He flinched, turning away.
[But I don't think you would] Shanygn added. [Would you?]
[I don't know] he mumbled.
Shanygn smiled, knowing that he might be tempted to, but he wouldn't. He respected life and wouldn't simply destroy it in an act of rash thinking. [You wouldn't] she told him gently. [Now calm down, relax, and maybe drive me to town....]
He looked at her, grimacing. [The mall?]
Shanygn laughed. [Mel's birthday is coming up, Roddy! I need a little gift]
[Sure...] he muttered with an amused glint.
[And Firebolt is coming tomorrow] she added.
Rodimus groaned. Whenever Shanygn and Firebolt, his old Targetmaster partner, got together it meant havoc. And he had never been able to find out what they were always talking about while alone. He knew he was a topic, but he didn't know what stories they were exchanging exactly. And to tell the truth, he really didn't want to know.
"C'mon," Shanygn said out aloud. "Get yourself together and take me to town. You will see that you will be much more relaxed later."
He sighed deeply. "I'm not so sure about that," he muttered.

* * *

The building was a long abandoned theater complex which had housed several cinemas in its time, showing regular box office hits and always one of the first addresses for the theater lovers. Then a larger complex had opened in downtown, offering cheaper entrance fees, more entertainment, more room and better service in the eyes of the younger generation. So the theater had closed down and no one had ever bought the building or torn it down. It was simply there. And now it was Diana MacKenzie's headquarters. MacKenzie had fled from city to city, from country to country, to escape the Earth law enforcement officials, as well as the Cybertronian bloodhounds. They always found her hideouts faster than she was prepared to leave again and most of the times it had been quite close. But she had always escaped.
Vancouver had proven to be a much calmer hideout than most of the others and this theater had been her headquarters for three months now. Most of her contacts had abandoned her, afraid of the wrath of the robots, but some had been drawn to her by the smell of her money and had supplied her with the things she wanted. Diana had never given up on her revenge plans, even if the last two times had failed completely. She wanted to see those meddling machines on their knees before she killed them off for good! The machine that transferred the robot minds into synthoid bodies had been rebuilt and she was planning to use it again, this time to destroy them completely. The synthoid would not shape itself into a human form and the robot body would not remain intact; she simply wanted the energy of the robot transferred into a shapeable blob which she could use for later energy experiments and maybe to sell them. The consciousness would die with the body.
Diana smiled cruelly. She had suffered enough through those Cybertronians. It was time for a change.

* * *

"Cool city," Raoul remarked, smiling.
He sat on the driver's seat of a dark blue Pontiac Firebird with a red airbrush motif on the hood. While his hands were on the steering wheel, he wasn't driving. The last time he had really driven this car was years back and it had been out of necessity. He grinned slightly. Tracks was a very self-assured kind of person -- robot -- and he didn't like it when someone else was in control. But to keep up appearances, Raoul was posing as the driver. Too many police officers would try and give him a ticket, he chuckled.
"It is, Raoul," Tracks agreed, taking another corner, his scanners working. "But please don't be distracted by the scenery. We have a job to do."
Raoul sighed. Tracks had a kind of voice that sometimes, well, most of the times, reminded him of a British aristocrat, but that was just him.
"Of course, man. Relax. I'm a responsible grown-up!" he joked.
Tracks made a noise that sounded like a snort of disbelief. The two of them had met about twenty standard years ago, Raoul being a car thief and trying to steal Tracks to get some quick money. Tracks had been severely damaged at the time and unable to show Raoul who he really was. Both of them had thwarted one of Megatron's plans and won a little victory for the Autobots. Raoul had sworn off stealing and gone straight. After that, he had not thought to really see the Autobot again. But he had. And again he had helped his friend against the Decepticons. Raoul had then taken a job as 'Sparkplug' Witwicky's assistant, repairing stuff, learning about Cybertronian technology and all. It had been interesting enough, even fascinating, and he had learned quickly. Throughout the years and with the construction of Autobot City, Raoul had risen in position, mainly because he was an easy person to be around with, generally very knowledgeable concerning Autobots and something of an successor to Sparkplug's position. Adam, generally called Spike and Sparplug's son, had gone into politics and had become Earth's Ambassador to Cybertron, and Sparkplug had retired. Now Raoul held the position of chief engineer, though he didn't like to be called 'the boss' because he didn't really feel like the commanding type. That was one reason why he had volunteered to accompany Tracks.
"We are near the area Diana MacKenzie was seen in," Tracks reported, "so keep your eyes open."
Raoul nodded. A second team, consisting of the Sentinel Archer and his human Interface Mike de la Croix, had taken another route into this part of Vancouver and were approaching from an opposite direction. The area around them was pretty much dead. There were abandoned shops, closed down buildings, empty office rooms. Every building could be a hideout!
"I'm picking up a faint energy flux from up ahead," Tracks said and Raoul automatically looked at the display. Yes, there was an odd energy flux which should not be in a dead area like this, especially since it was pulsating.
"Any idea?" the engineer asked.
"No. The energy pattern fits nothing I know. You?"
Raoul chuckled. "Me? I know plasma chambers, cable tunnels, generators and transformation circuits, man! Energy patterns is not my department."
Suddenly a shadow passed overhead and Raoul glanced out of the car. "Decepticons!" he breathed. "Damn!"
"Inappropriate language, but right on the target," Tracks agreed.
The radio beeped and Mike's French accented voice could be heard. "Mes amis, we 'ave visitors. Archer and I just picked up Decepticons 'eading our way." He transmitted coordinates.
"Uh-oh," Raoul muttered. "Near the energy flux."
"Hang on, Raoul, we are going for a quick flight!" Tracks called, gaining speed and taking off. He extended his small stabilizer wings and shot down the street, aiming for the coordinates.
Archer affirmed that he and Mike would be there in no time flat.

* * *

Shanygn had returned from the city and dumped the things she had bought for the baby and the mother in her room. Now she was looking through Metroplex on the search for Firebolt. She knew the Nebulan was already here, arriving a day too early, and she thought that Firebolt would be the right person to take her mind off Roddy's constant dark mood now. She found the person she had been looking for in the lower levels of the city. And she found he was not alone.
"I wouldn't eat that if I were you," she said in ways of a greeting and strode into the room.
Firebolt looked up and smiled. "Hello, Shanygn," he greeted her, then pointed at the pancake like thing on his plate. "And it's actually quite good."
"Don't scare away my test eaters," a female voice said, sounding amused.
A tall, clearly female figure stepped around what looked like a counter and which hid a nice little kitchen. The woman was brown-skinned and looked very much like a human, if it weren't for the horns on her head. A pair of ram-horns curled down her cheeks and a pair of corkscrew horns rose on her head. Curly, black hair spilled down over her shoulders and falling almost to her thighs. The black, almond-shaped eyes glittered with amusement and the lips pulled back over white canines. The woman's name was Kayla and she was Spellbinder's Interface partner, a woman Shanygn had come to respect and appreciate her friendship. Kayla was a warrior and she could take apart a robot without hesitation. Her retractable claws cut through titanium steel.
"I just want to spare Firebolt the experience of getting his stomach pumped," Shanygn teased.
Kayla loved cooking, though Steve always called it 'brewing'. Jeff Winters had experienced her 'cuisine' as well, and he had sworn never to try something again. Kayla's taste ran to the fiery and hot.....
"Oh, this is really quite good," Firebolt said.
"If you say so," Shanygn sighed, catching Kayla's raised eyebrow. "But on another note: welcome and why the hell did you arrive today?"
Firebolt grinned. "Because I caught Skylynx before he took off and he didn't mind the company, though I think his ego has grown in size once more."
"Definitely," Kayla mumbled and sat down on one of the chairs. "How's Roddy?"
Shanygn sighed deeply. "A load of trouble."
Firebolt leaned forward. "He always was, believe me. What did he do this time?"

* * *

Galvatron had learned all there was about his intended prey: Diana Michelle MacKenzie. And he had learned to respect her, something not many humans could say of themselves. She was a person who, if she hadn't turned out to be a respected enemy, might have made a very respected ally. She was highly intelligent, cool headed, cunning and resourceful. The incredibly potent virus she had developed had proven that, as had her repeated escapes from near-capture by the cassettes Soundwave had sent out to find her. All other Decepticons might have been too obvious, mainly because of their size, but the cassettes were small. But even now, close to ending the hunt once and for all, Galvatron didn't give in to triumph or glee. He knew that there were enough chances for this to go completely wrong and he needed his full concentration on the matter, not on some distant, though likely victory.
"Target is ahead," Soundwave announced and Galvatron discovered a large, three story building. Around them, everything was empty and abandoned.
As the three Decepticons touched down, Laserbeak appeared, landing on Galvatron's outstretched arm. The airborne spy transmitted a string of data and Galvatron smiled.
"Well done, Laserbeak," he said.
The bird cawed and then transformed, smoothly sliding into Soundwave's open chest compartment, which then closed again.
"The woman is hiding here," Galvatron told his second-in-command. "Ravage is guarding the entrance and no one has left since they arrived." A cruel smile played over his lips. "I think we should knock."

*

Diana MacKenzie looked up when the alarm went off. One of the cameras fixed on the main door showed her how half the wall caved in under the onslaught of powerful fists. Her eyes widened in mild shock as she saw just who it was coming through the artificial opening.
"Decepticons," she whispered.
Three of them stepped in, one of them the leader as she saw, the two others equally high in rank in the Decepticon faction. Curious, she thought, her mind suddenly cool and calculating, that three of the highest Decepticons would simply come here. It made her task even easier. Now she had three guinea pigs on whom she could try out her machine. Well, one would be enough. The other two would have to be neutralized for the time being. If the machine worked to her satisfaction, those other two would be introduced to it as well.
Diana activated the defense systems of the theater complex. It wasn't as if she hadn't expected to be found sooner or later. She had just preferred it to be later.

* * *

Jazz stood in front of Rodimus Prime's office door and hesitated for just one second, then raised his hand to knock. He was spared that announcement because Shanygn rounded the corner.
"Hi, Jazz, what's up?"
Jazz smiled at the humanoid. "We have some reports from Vancouver. Tracks and Raoul saw Decepticons comin' in for a party."
Shanygn frowned. "Oh-oh."
"Exactly."
"Give me the reports, I'll go and talk to Roddy."
Jazz handed her the disk. "Sure?"
She smiled. "Sure. And secure Metroplex in case he knocks me over and tries to make a run for it."
Jazz laughed. "Gotcha."
Shanygn inhaled deeply, then opened the door without knocking. She knew there couldn't be anything happening in there she was disturbing, judging from the emotions she picked up. Rodimus was still agitated, but he suppressed it well.
"Hi, big guy," she called and Rodimus looked up from his work at the computer. "Catching up on the paper work?"
"No, playing cards with Metroplex' main system and losing," he replied dryly, sarcasm in his voice.
"Well, you're not born to be a gambler. Give it up."
"Shuffling papers is more my métier, right?" he replied.
"I translate that as breaking the speed limit every time we go to town."
Rodimus snorted. "As if I heard you complaining....."
Shanygn grimaced and hopped onto the chair. "I met Jazz outside," she said, changing the topic. "They got some reports in from Vancouver."
Rodimus' face changed dramatically. She gave him the disk and he inserted it into his personal computer. When he read the information, his optics suddenly turned a decisive icy blue.
"And before you even think about it," Shanygn spoke up again, "you have to stay here."
"I have to do no such thing," he replied coldly.
"I thought you and Optimus had an agreement....."
"I said I'd stay here for now, but I didn't say I wouldn't change my mind about it. And it was Optimus who said we have to get to her before the Decepticons do."
"Don't try your warped logic on me, Roddy, I know you too well." Shanygn gave him a sharp look. "Archer and Tracks are already there."
"And you think they can handle three Decepticons, maybe more, including Galvatron, and MacKenzie's capture?" Rodimus shook his head. "I'll go."
"Then I'm with you," Shanygn decided.
"No way."
"Way!"
"No!" he nearly shouted.
"And why, pray tell me? We are partners and I'm going! That's final!" She tried to stare him down while Rodimus gave her a nasty look.
[You are worse than Optimus!] he sent.
[Good!] she called. [Because you need someone like Optimus to keep you in line! I thought you had grown out of these childish revenge acts! I see I was wrong!]
[This has nothing to do with revenge....] Rodimus started.
Shanygn's eyes narrowed. [Oh?] she said sarcastically. [Then what do you call going after someone who has repeatedly tried to kill you? You can't think clearly about what to do, Rodimus Prime, and that's why you need someone to look after you!]
[A baby-sitter] he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
[Yes, exactly, because you behave like one]
Rodimus looked into the flashing eyes of the much smaller human. Shanygn was truly angry with him, he could feel that. And he knew it was really dumb what he was trying to achieve, but still.... his stubbornness had kicked in full force and was only gradually declining.
Finally he sighed. "Okay," he muttered. "Just so you won't run around Metroplex and send every other Autobot after me!"
"Oh, thank you for your trust, Rodimus," she snorted.
His expression changed and he seemed to want to say something, but he didn't. He simply rose from his chair and left the office. Shanygn hopped from the chair and followed him.
I wish he'd grow up! she thought sourly. This is as childish as it comes! I know he feels angry, but that is ridiculous! As if the others didn't hate this MacKenzie character as well. Hell, I would like to strangle her on sight! But do you see me running around with an expression like that and trying to get myself killed? No!
She shook her head. Whatever had brought them together in the first place? What had initiated their Interface? She didn't know. She only knew that even though he was sometimes her complete opposite, Rodimus was also very much like her. He just needed a bit more self-control....

* * *

Ravage carefully peered into the dark and his eyes scanned the room beyond the darkness for anything suspicious, any kind of trap. He registered none and proceeded forward, Galvatron, Cyclonus and Soundwave following. He received a signal from Frenzy, who, together with Rumble, had entered the second theater room on the first floor of this building and who hadn't seen any traps either. But this didn't mean that there weren't any.
Galvatron followed the small spy, feeling tense and like he was walking into a trap, even though there were no signs at all that this was more than just an old building. But the file about Diana MacKenzie had told him enough of the woman. He expected traps. Suddenly Soundwave flinched and his visor flashed briefly. Galvatron looked questioningly at him, though he suspected what had happened.
"Rumble and Frenzy encountered a trap," Soundwave reported and for someone who had known him for a long time, the slight wavering of his voice was clearly audible. "They were taken out, but not killed."
Galvatron's optics narrowed. "I see. So we truly have an enemy here."
Ravage had stopped and was listening to something, then walked on, making no sound. They entered the room, which was the smallest of the cinema's in the complex, and the infrared and night vision made the outlines clear to them. Over the years the interior had decayed. Overhead swung a broken chandelier, which must have been the pride of the old theater once, when it had still been used for plays. Later on it had not been removed when the theater had been turned into a movie theater. Now the glass was broken and the golden color of the metal tarnished. The seats had suffered from age and constant use. The pieces of carpet still visible told the same story as the wallpaper and the furniture: this had once been an expensive and exquisite theater in the old days, which had then been used as a movie theater for the masses; now all the splendor was gone and forgotten.
Ravage hopped noiselessly onto the stage and the others followed. The second the last of them was up there, a bright light enveloped them all. Galvatron stiffened and turned around to see where the light was coming from.
"It's a trap!" Cyclonus hissed, drawing his weapon, aiming at the chandelier, which he had identified as the source of the light.
Before he could shoot, something hit them. Cyclonus screamed in pain as the bolt of lightning hit him, stunning him. His gun clattered onto the stage. Beside him Soundwave grabbed his head, equally screaming, though he seemed to be in greater pain. Then the world turned dark.
Galvatron felt the stun bolt taking effect, but his anger took over. With an immense effort he moved out of the circle of light, dragging himself forward by sheer will, stumbling against what had once been a curtain and now was just a bleached and dust covered piece of cloth. The curtain tore under his weight and he fell, but he was out of the lit area. With a groan he turned and saw his three other warriors fall. Ravage already lay on the floor, twitching once, then lying still. Soundwave was just keeling over while Cyclonus was as stunned as Ravage.
Anger colored his world and he stumbled to his feet. She wouldn't escape him! Whatever she threw at him, he'd keep coming. Galvatron stepped into the room adjoining the stage.

* * *

Tracks and Archer had met in the sidestreet near the theater and had watched the Decepticons move into the building. Archer lifted one corner of his mouth in a dry smile.
"Very subtle approach."
"Very Decepticon approach," Tracks agreed.
"Okay, guys, what now?" Raoul asked, leaning against the wall and watching the theater.
"I called in," Tracks said. "Rodimus said he'd come here and that we should wait."
"No action then?" Raoul tried to sound as disappointed as he could possibly be, grinning at his larger friend.
"Exactly."
"What a bore."
Tracks allowed himself a smile. He knew Raoul was just teasing him and that he had really grown up into a responsible person, likely to check something twice before jumping in.
"Uh, guys, we 'ave an energy flux all of a sudden," Archer said, his voice as accented as his Interface's. "And it's spiking!"
Raoul frowned. "We should take a look. If this MacKenzie is really in there and the Cons find her .... they'll kill her!"
Tracks nodded, knowing that this was true. "Rodimus will be here soon ..... but it might be too late then."
Archer had to agree. "Let's go den."
Both materialized their weapons and slowly approached the building. Raoul stayed outside, mainly to inform Rodimus Prime, but also because he and Tracks had an agreement: Raoul was supposed to stay out of danger and he honored that agreement as best as he could. His hot head days were over and he valued his life too much to get hit by a stray shot or squashed underfoot.

* * *

Rodimus was breaking every possible speed limit and Shanygn had given up telling him to slow down or ask why he hadn't taken up the offer to be flown here by Skyfire. Rodimus didn't want anyone else with him and she knew that she was just 'tolerated' because she was his Interface partner. Rodimus was getting worse with his fixation on MacKenzie and she knew that if he didn't get his act together soon, she'd be likely to administer the kick she had told Optimus about. And it wouldn't be pleasant.....

* * *

Ralyk was worried. It's scanners had started to pick up energy fluxes and patterns it had not read in millions of years and which, it had been told, it would never read again. But they had returned and were steadily coming closer. Now and then the flux spiked, then quieted down again. Ralyk was very worried.

* * *

Galvatron stepped into the room behind the stage and stopped. Surprised he noted that this no longer looked like an abandoned building. This was a highly sophisticated lab! There was a long work bench, rows of experimental things, as far as Galvatron could see it, a computer, three monitors and the machine right in the middle of the room. The machine was the most interesting feature of the whole lab. It consisted of two cylinders, one just big enough to accommodate a human, the other several times larger and easily accessed through a door on the left side. Both cylinders were transparent. The smaller one was connected to a row of terminals, as well as to the larger one. Both of them were also once more connected to a control unit. Galvatron walked carefully over to the machine, clearly fascinated by it. He had heard about this from various reports of his spies and he knew that because of this -- and later the virus -- MacKenzie and the Autobots were long-time enemies -- another point why he would have preferred her to be an ally rather than his enemy, too, but she had made her decision. This construction looked suspiciously like the machine the spies had described.
"Welcome, Galvatron," a female voice suddenly said and he whirled around.
A blonde woman in a flowing dress stood in the middle of the lab, smiling. Galvatron knew her from various pictures he had seen and she looked nearly exactly like on those pictures. Maybe the hair was longer and she seemed to have lost some weight, but she was Diana MacKenzie.
"Ms MacKenzie," he said pleasantly, smiling himself and he knew it didn't look pretty. "I was looking for you."
"I see you have found me," she answered and Galvatron had to confess she was extremely cool-headed in such a situation.
He had met many humans or humanoids in his long existence as both Megatron and later Galvatron. Humans showed a natural and healthy respect for everything that was larger than them and could squash them underfoot if it wanted to. Few had shown the nerve to contradict him and those had mainly been either completely deranged or outcasts from their own society. Diana MacKenzie was a normal person, as far as a file could tell you that. She was brilliant in mind and she had had success in the past. Her affiliation with the crime boss Victor Draft had been just a way to sink her claws into more profit.
"You have proven to be a worthy enemy, Ms MacKenzie," the Decepticon leader said calmly and leveled his weapon at her, "and I'm sorry you decided to go up against the Decepticon Empire. You would have been a worthy ally; now you were a worthy foe."
MacKenzie bowed a bit, her eyes never leaving Galvatron for a second. "I thank you for the compliment, Galvatron, but I do not believe that this hunt is over."
"Oh?" There was a bit of mockery in his voice. "But I believe it is."
Diana MacKenzie kept on smiling. "Wrong," she said calmly.
Something struck him in the back and he stumbled slightly. Cursing himself for being so foolish as to turn his back on anything this woman had built, he caught himself and saw that MacKenzie was gone. He whirled around as he heard a hum. Behind him the machine had come to life, but of MacKenzie there was no trace. He carefully approached the humming machine.
He found out it was his second mistake. Again something slammed into his back, this time with much more force and propelling him forward. He slammed hard against the largest of the cylinders, which conveniently opened up and he fell to his knees inside the construction. Galvatron got to his feet, still dazed. Whatever she had hit him with, it was very effective and had the same feel as the stun rays that had felled his troops.
"Welcome again," Diana MacKenzie's voice could be heard. "And say a quick good-bye, because you won't be around much longer. Oh, I wouldn't think of using this big gun of yours either, Galvatron, because the material reflects blaster shots. You might only hurt yourself."
Galvatron lowered his weapon arm and tried to find the woman. "Where are you?" he demanded. "What do you think to accomplish with trapping me here? Don't you think I can't get out sooner or later?" He let his hand wander over the smooth surface of the cylinder.
"You have no sooner or later, Galvatron," MacKenzie said and stepped into view again. "You see, this machine was first constructed to extract a robot's essence and deposit it into a synthetic substance. The experiment went quite wrong and we had more trouble on our hands than we had bargained for. Exterminating your race with a virus was equally ineffective. You are a stubborn kind, you know."
Galvatron clenched his hands into fists, only too clearly remembering his dying warriors, infected with MacKenzie's deadly and highly contagious virus.
"And now I found out that by destroying you I might get even more out of it than mere pleasure and satisfaction. I can have your energy. This machine works like its predecessor, but this time your body is destroyed and with it your consciousness while that part of you that is pure energy gets transferred and can be used later. Think of it like donating blood -- all your blood," she added viciously. "I studied your race, my big friend, and I know all there is to know about your inner workings...."
Galvatron's mind briefly clouded with extreme anger. His fists slammed against the transparent wall encasing him, but couldn't break it.
"Even if you kill me, the Decepticons will hunt you to the end of your life -- an unnatural and painful end!" he hissed.
"If I don't get your precious Decepticons first," she laughed.
With a furious snarl he slammed his fists into the wall again, then raised his weapon, ready to undertake the experiment of whether this wall really reflected the shot back at him or not.
"Don't use up all your energy, darling," Diana MacKenzie smiled evily, "I need it."
And then she flicked a switch.

* * *

The inside of the theater was more impressive than the outside. A large staircase led from a huge entrance hall to the second floor. There were doors leading further into the building on the left and on the right side, some of them clinging to their hinges, others completely shut. Archer believed that those were the doors to the theater rooms on the ground floor. Tracks gestured wordlessly at the left door and the two robots carefully stepped into the room behind it. It was dark in here but like everyone, Tracks had night vision functions, though his were not as good as those of other Autobots, who had been constructed with night operations in mind.
"Look at de stage," Archer suddenly said tonelessly and Tracks' head swiveled to look at the indicated spot.
"Decepticons!" he exclaimed.
"And dey look out cold," Mike commented.
They approached the three motionless figure of Soundwave, Cyclonus and Ravage, but they didn't step on the stage. Archer craned his neck to see what was above them. There was only the chandelier. Mike began scanning it and whistled softly.
"Hidden stun rays," he reported. "Dere's enough charge in dese beauties to take out a whole squad."
"And the trigger must be somewhere in the floor," Tracks said. "But where is Galvatron?"
As if to answer his question, a scream of utter pain and agony tore through the building. Tracks and Archer froze for a second, then looked at each other. This hadn't been a human scream and their logic circuits made a connection between the missing Decepticon leader and the scream.
"Let's go!" Archer decided.
A low hum could be heard.
They circumvented the stage and followed the direction of the hum.

* * *

Sphere walked through one of the deactivated parts of Ralyk, her steps sounding eerily loud in the otherwise quiet station. Suddenly a soft hum penetrated the corridor she was in and the lights went on. It was always a spectacular display when the formerly deep black walls came to life with the flowing runes and shifting patterns. Sphere had started to learn how to read these symbols and writings and was surprised that they didn't reveal mystical knowledge or operation manuals. They were like pictures on a wall in a room. They showed beautiful drawings, some written art, sometimes historical knowledge. None of them had anything to do with the station as such.
The female robot entered a room in the formerly deactivated level and checked on some things she had left here. It was easy for her to be right on the spot when a part activated. Somehow Sphere had a link to Ralyk, though it was a strange link and of no further use when it came to operating the station controls. Ralyk was close-mouthed when it came to that subject. Sphere guessed it wanted them to find out, not to be told. But lately things had changed. She and Starscream had been on this station for over a decade now, counting in Ralyk's time. The time stream outside the station flowed differently and when she had once left Ralyk, she had found that instead of two years, only a few months of standard time had passed. Ralyk was encased in a kind of bubble, where time did not affect it as it would affect other things. It hung in time and space like a Christmas ornament and it was completely inaccessible by convenient methods. You had to use the doorway in the main chamber. But time didn't matter to Sphere. She didn't age physically and she didn't mind the fact that they were living with a different time stream. Starscream had been shocked at first, but had accepted it later on, though she believed he had had to hold on to himself not to bitch about it constantly. Sphere had no idea how they could be in the past, present and future and still age differently, but she had long since stopped thinking about it anyway. It was just the way it was.
The changes in the last few years had been subtle. Parts of the station stayed on-line much longer and some didn't shut down at all for days and then only for a few cycles. Sphere also felt that the activity of Ralyk itself had grown. Sometime she thought that it was doing scans, maybe calculations of things they had no idea about. It was all very subtle, but her connection to the ancient sentient computer told her that much. Something was happening and she didn't like it. Ralyk was mostly a dormant relic in space, now it was turning out to be quite active, preparing for something.
Sphere left the room again and strode to the elevator which would get her to the main level where the doorway was located and where Starscream was working. As she entered the vast, black hall, she saw that he was nowhere in sight. She walked into the adjoining room, some kind of a lab where they stored information about the workings of the doorway in a computer.
Starscream was there, hunched over a display. As she entered, he looked up and she saw her suspicion affirmed.
"You feel it too?" she asked quietly.
He nodded. "Something's going on and I don't like it," he said.
She thought it was a positive streak showing his growth lately that Starscream wasn't running around and demanding from her to get Ralyk to tell them what was going on. He had started to change and take his responsibility as a Gatekeeper seriously, and their fights had continued on a more normal level.
"Me neither," she confessed. "I want to go down to the main computer core and see if I can get Ralyk to talk to me or show me what's going on outside."
"It doesn't talk to you?"
She shook her head. "No. All attempts failed."
"Be careful, sis," he said.
Sphere nodded. Ralyk was sentient and it was dangerous, she knew. It had given both of them life, so it could also take it again, though they had been reawakened to serve a purpose. It wouldn't just kill them, but it could hurt them, make their life even harder.
She left the room and headed for the elevator down to the main computer core.

* * *

Galvatron felt like torn to pieces. Every molecule seemed to be flung in a different direction until bounced back from some kind of soft wall, and then reassembled. He screamed in agony; the pain was overwhelming. And then there was a presence in his mind, scanning, asking, prodding. He tried to escape the searching presence, but was finally caught. It was like being scanned very thoroughly, his every thought revealed and judged, then dumped again. The pain subsided for a second, then launched a full-scale attack one more. Galvatron's mind shut down, unable to keep up under the pressure. He heard a whisper, like an approval, then another voice. Finally he was only encompassed by blackness.

* * *

Optimus Prime's arrival on Nebulos was more or less unofficial. There was no large welcoming committee and, if ever asked, Prime could go very well without it anyway. Spike was present already, but Optimus guessed he couldn't have arrived long before him. The human spent a lot of time on Nebulos, mainly on the request of the Earth governments, who saw great potential in the planet. Optimus knew the trouble Spike had trying to work with both sides. The Nebulans, marked by decades of being nothing but slaves and for the first time experiencing freedom without someone lurking in the shadows and pulling the strings, were cautious as to whom they allowed to come to their planet. Spike and his family were the only humans currently allowed -- if you didn't count the Interfaced Sentinels. No Earth official had received this permission yet and this, understandably, bothered them to no end. So Spike had been approached as a mediator, which he had, grudgingly, agreed to be. Nebulos was very interested in an alliance with Cybertron and the four Headmasters always present in the one major city of the planet were a sure sign that the relationship between the two planets was proceeding to grow better and better each day. Earth regarded this with mixed feelings. Their main interest was a possible settlement on Nebulos, which was a young planet with a lot of potential. Spike's main work these days was trying to help both sides. The Nebulan government didn't tolerate settlements by outworlders and Earth tried to bribe them into doing it. Optimus understood only too well why Spike was thoroughly frustrated most of the time and tried to find a way to get out of politics.
Arcee had volunteered to act as a liaison and Optimus had readily agreed to let her give Spike a hand. Spike had been very thankful for the help and Optimus had to confess that the two of them worked well together. Then there was Daniel, who, upon finally coming to terms with his past and the lost Headmaster partnership with Arcee, had come to Nebulos as well. The boy had grown up in many ways and was valued help when it came to Nebulan matters, giving his father a hand. Optimus had talked to Spike and both considered teaming up Arcee and Daniel, not as Headmasters of course, and let them handle Nebulan affairs as much as possible. This would give Spike more breathing space.
Chromedome, Brainstorm, Hardhead and Highbrow were expecting, as was Cerebros, but that was about it. Arcee would join them later. Cerebros and Arcee were the only non-Headmaster Autobots on the planet and both were former ones. Cerebros and Spike had a unique understanding of each other and this more than anything helped to keep things running smoothly. While Spike battled hardheaded Earth politicians, Cerebros did the same with Nebulan officials. As Optimus was greeted by the Headmasters, he tried to see past the changes they had gone through. It was hard. He had known the old personalities and seeing them changed like that always pained him. For the joined partners it was nothing extraordinary and they didn't really feel any changes, as Brainstorm had once told him, but for the outsider those changes were visible. Even Cerebros had changed subtly through his short time as Spike's Headmaster partner and Optimus was sure that the experience had left its marks on the ambassador as well. He remembered how Daniel had changed, though that was a bit different.
"We already told the ambassador the news," Brainstorm greeted Optimus, "and we are glad you came to Nebulos now to hear personally about it, Optimus."
The way he said this worried Optimus. He hoped it had nothing to do with settlement plans again. "What is wrong?"
"In the last few days we picked up reports about the unexplained disappearance of several Autobots and Decepticons," Chromedome told him.
"What reports?" Optimus asked, slightly confused. "I never heard about it."
"It's more of a rumor," Brainstorm clarified. "But it says quite clearly that Autobots and Decepticons have disappeared and have not yet shown up."
The Autobot leader frowned. He really hadn't heard about this. "Do you have coordinates from the places where they supposedly disappeared from?" he asked.
Chromedome nodded and they led him to one of the many reconstructed buildings on Nebulos, which apparently was something like a command and communications center. Spike and Cerebros followed them.

* * *

From the outside, the display was spectacular and Archer could only stare at it in rapt fascination. His optics were pinned on the familiar structure, which had found another victim, this time the Decepticon leader.
"I'll go after her!" he heard Tracks a call and then the blue Autobot was out of the same door Diana MacKenzie had fled through when the two of them had entered.
"Mon dieu!" Mike whispered. "We 'ave to do something, Archer!"
The Sentinel knew that was true. Maybe this was their enemy, maybe he deserved to die for the crimes he had done, but not like this. He aimed at the main control board, the only thing he could think of now, and blasted it.
Alarm klaxons went off and smoke and sparks erupted from the computer. Galvatron had long since stopped struggling and now collapsed into a heap onto the floor.
"It's not stopping!" Mike cried in shock.
The machine whined loudly and then more sparks erupted, closely followed by an explosion. Galvatron's body seemed to flow, now and then sparking with electricity. The synthoid blob crackled with energy as well and finally dispersed. More energy traveled into the holding cell and Galvatron's body arched, his mouth opening as if he wanted to scream. Then the Decepticon began to dissolve into a shapeless blob, just like the synthoid material.
"Great Cybertron...." Archer muttered.
Galvatron had been an enemy, but not even an enemy deserved such a death.... The Sentinel turned and ran out of the lab, following Tracks -- and ran into the same trap. There was a violent pain, Mike was knocked nearly completely out and Archer's functions shut down immediately. His body fell to the floor not far away from Tracks.

* * *

When Rodimus and Shanygn arrived, Raoul was already expecting them. He waved his arms and the truck stopped. Shanygn got out and Rodimus transformed.
"Where are Tracks and Archer?" the second-in-command asked.
"In there." Raoul jerked a thumb at the demolished building. "The Cons broke into the building and they thought it might be best to follow, in case they find this MacKenzie woman and kill her."
A dark shadow crossed Rodimus' features.
"What now?" Raoul wanted to know. "Frontal approach?"
"Yes," Rodimus said coldly. "But you stay here."
Raoul sighed. "Why did I know you'd say this?"
Shanygn shot Rodimus a clear message. If he ordered her to stay here, she'd come after him nevertheless.
"Let's go," he simply said and she nodded.
The Autobot materialized his weapon and they walked into the theater.

* * *

Cyclonus moaned and his systems went slowly back on line. A self-check told him that his automatic repairs had taken care of the slight damage done by the stun rays and following electric shocks. He staggered to his feet. Around him, Soundwave and Ravage were also coming around and slowly got up. Cyclonus optic's scanned the room and fixed on an open door. Galvatron wasn't with them, so he believed that their leader had made it out of here and had followed the human.
"Soundwave, secure the building," he said, his voice a still bit rough.
Soundwave nodded and sent out Ravage, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to search and secure the former theater. Then he followed the second-in-command.
The next room looked like a nightmare chamber. There were two tubes standing several feet apart, both of them connected with each other and also connected to a smoking heap that had once been probably a control panel. In one of the tubes was nothing but a smoking remnants of what looked like organic matter. The other was occupied by a robot, lying collapsed on the floor. Silvery white metal reflected the artificial light and it was vaguely familiar to Cyclonus. Carefully he approached the cylinder with the robot, ready to defend himself in case the other would attack. He opened the door of the cylinder and froze.
"That .... that is impossible! It must be a mad trick!"
Cyclonus optics ran over the motionless body, then he knelt down and carefully touched the other robot's shoulder.
"Maybe," Soundwave said calmly, hope lacing his voice. He never showed emotions and this little faux-pax told Cyclonus more than he had asked for.
The other's optics suddenly lit up with energy and reflecting a bright, red inner fire. Cyclonus fuel pump missed a beat as the red optics fixed on him and the robot rose slowly. Cyclonus moved back.
"Cyclonus," the silver robot said pleasantly. "I see you recognize my body shell."
"I do," he whispered, trying not to stare in awe. "Where is Galvatron? What happened?"
The new robot turned, still smiling, but his eyes glowed evily. "I am Galvatron." His eyes fixed on Soundwave. "Hello, Soundwave, old friend."
Soundwave didn't say a thing, merely his visor flashed slightly.
"How?" Cyclonus wanted to know, slightly shaken.
"I think I owe this to the human woman. Her machine was supposed to kill my mind and take my energy, also destroying my body, but something went wrong." He chuckled. "She insured my return." He looked around and his optics narrowed. "Where is she?"
"We don't know, mighty one," Cyclonus began.
"Then find her! I want her: dead or alive!"
Cyclonus looked at the newly reborn leader. "Yes," he answered, then gestured at Soundwave to follow him.
The silver robot smiled and looked at his reflection in the cylinder. His design was like he remembered it, down to the gun on his arm. Maybe he was a richer silver than before and the black was deeper, but everything else was down pat. His mind was clear and sharp as it had always been. He touched the deep purple Decepticon symbol on his chest. A perfect rebirth, thanks to faulty human technology. He felt almost like his old self, though there were strange sensations attacking his skin, as if it was more receptive. Well, he would see that Soundwave checked him.
He turned away from the cylinder and decided to follow his warriors. He wanted the satisfaction of being present when Diana MacKenzie was found.

* * *

Rodimus saw the Decepticons and stopped short. He didn't really want to run into an encounter with them; his sole aim was to find MacKenzie before they did.
[Back door] Shanygn said. [I'll check the other room. If she's here and didn't come out the front -- and Raoul said she hasn't -- then she might just try for the back door]
He nodded. [Be careful]
[Same to you. And don't shoot her!]
Their eyes met and he nodded slowly. Then Shanygn moved into the theater, advancing stealthily, while Rodimus went for the back door.

* * *

Sphere descended to the level she had never visited quite as often as any of the others. Down here was the main computer core and it looked nothing like a conventional core. It consisted mainly of a crystal-like structure, now and then glowing softly or changing color. In many aspects it looked like Vector Sigma, but it was also very different. The walls down here had no swirling patterns or decorations. Their were a plain bluish-black. She approached the core and did what she had done when she had still been a Host: she opened her mind, trying to access the part of Ralyk she knew was inside of her.
The effect was breathtaking and it rocked her slightly backwards. She stumbled and felt the smooth surface of a wall behind her. She sank against it, her mind already entwined with that of Ralyk. She had never thought it would be like this!
She couldn't hold her own against the vastness of the entity in this crystal and she surrendered herself, knowing it would be of catastrophic effect if she fought for her control now. Like from far away, Sphere saw her body slide down the all and crumble into a heap, then there was only Ralyk.
And what she saw let her freeze in horror.

* * *

Diana MacKenzie was running. She knew this building better than anyone else and she knew that even if the robots managed to circumvent the first trap, there would always be another one to keep them from following her. She turned another corner and was finally out in the open. The back of the building opened to a lonely parking lot that had once been used by the visitors of the former theater. Now it was littered and except for the occasional street person, no one was here. Diana jogged toward the car hidden behind a large dumpster.
"Stay where you are," a voice said.
She froze and turned slowly. Diana blanched slightly as she saw the red/orange/yellow colored robot. His name, she knew, was Rodimus Prime. He had been the Autobot leader when she had first met him, then the second-in-command later on at their second meeting. Both meetings hadn't been pleasurable and from the cold fire in the blue optics she knew he hadn't fond memories.
"So you caught me," she said, trying to sound non-chalant, but she didn't feel all too cool now. First Galvatron, now him. Would they never give up?
"Yes," he hissed and the hostility was clearly audible.
She licked her lips. "You wouldn't shoot me, would you?" Her mind was reeling. She had a gun, but it wasn't powerful enough to hurt him enough to insure her getaway. "You Autobots don't shoot humans." But it was worth a try. She slowly inched her hand toward the hidden weapon.
"Want to take any bets?" he hissed. His finger curled around the trigger.
There was a noise like thrusters being fired and then braked hard and Diana was suddenly confronted by an about seven or eight feel tall, robotic bipedal figure. Large wings spread out behind the figure and a tail kept it stabilized. She knew that this was only an exo-suit because she had seen it before. This was the woman of whom she, even today, didn't know how she had managed to escape out of the security cell. The woman stepped beside Rodimus Prime.
"No," she said forcefully.
"Give me one good reason, Shanygn!" Rodimus snarled. "She nearly killed us once, then tried it again, this time with a virus, and when that failed, she tried the synthoid machine! She always wanted to kill us, so why not kill her now?"
"Because it isn't you," Shanygn said calmly. "I know you. You are not a killer."
"Well, you can always discover new sides....." he growled.
"Roddy, no. It won't solve a thing. It won't at all, believe me!"
He hesitated and Diana slid the weapon into her hand.
"Put down the weapon," Shanygn said calmly. "Take her to the police, they will handle everything else."
"Maybe we should just wait for the Decepticons to show up and then get rid of her," he suggested with an evil smile.
Diana knew that whatever would happen, she was better off with the Autobots, even if this one should truly kill her in the end. The Decepticons would not be so merciful....
Shanygn sighed. "Not your best idea."
Rodimus glanced at her -- and that was the moment Diana reacted.
Her hand with the gun came up and the targeting mechanism locked on her victim. She pulled the trigger.

Rodimus saw the movement and reacted almost instantly, but it was too late.
Diana MacKenzie fired the gun.
The projectile hit Shanygn's head and seemed to attach itself to her helmet. For a split second nothing happened, except Shanygn rocking back a bit under the impact.
Then she screamed, clutching her head.

Shanygn cried out in agony as her head seemed to explode. Blinding white lights flared up in front of her eyes and she grabbed her head, willing the pain to subside. But the more she fought against it, the stronger it got. With a sob she fell to her knees. Like through layers of thick wool she heard shouts, then even that was gone. There was only pain. She was tumbling deeper and deeper into the pain and it seemed to be all in her head. Her body hit the ground and she curled into a ball, still clutching her head. It was unbearable and she wished she would just fall into the merciful blackness of unconsciousness, but it seemed that something was keeping relief from her.
[Shanygn!]
The scream echoed through her mind and the pain increased.
Go away, she yelled, but it was only a faint whisper.
[Shan!] the voice cried in agony.
She pushed it away, starting to associate it with the pain.
No!
Her wide open eyes were streaming with tears and all she saw was the brilliant white light, which was only now subsiding. Instead of the light came the shadow.
She finally fell unconscious

Shanygn sank to her knees, crying in agony, then collapsed to the floor. Her body was quivering and she was still holding her head, whimpering and moaning. Rodimus world turned white hot.
His finger pressed the trigger.
The blast went toward the spot Diana MacKenzie had just inhabited.
Something exploded and he heard a high-pitched scream of pain.
Rodimus whirled around to where Shanygn lay on the ground. She had stopped moving and looked like ..... Rodimus shoved the thought away. Her helmet showed a deep indenture at the left temple and the projectile she had been hit with lay beside her.
"Shanygn!"" he whispered in dread.
There was no blood and the suit had apparently not been pierced, but still..
[Shanygn?] he called telepathically as she didn't react. [Shan!]
His world seemed to tilt as he couldn't feel her, though his own feelings were like whirlpool and he couldn't feel anything besides white-hot anger glowing deep inside and rising steadily.
The door was thrown open and he looked up, his vision blurred at the edges, turning into a tunnel vision. And through the feverish light all around him he saw a familiar figure.
"Megatron," he mumbled, his mind registering the design and the symbol on the robot's chest, even supplying him with the information that Megatron had died and been reborn into Galvatron long ago, but that piece didn't quite register.
Rodimus took his gun and stepped in front of the helpless, unconscious woman, his Interface partner. He might not be a match to Megatron's fire power, but he'd defend Shanygn as good as he could.

*

Megatron stepped out into the open, his optics registering the young Autobot, his fiery blue eyes and the pain in his face. He knew the expression and he knew that if he moved the wrong way, this new life, this rebirth, would be very quickly at an end. And he wasn't out for an Autobot head. All he wanted was the one woman who had defied him once too often and who had dared to attack him, even if he owed her this return.
He raised his hands.
"Where is she?" he asked.
Rodimus Prime's optics narrowed. "MacKenzie?"
"Of course. Do you think she can escape the Decepticons?" A smile passed over Megatron's lips. "She will always be the hunted."
"She escaped."
Megatron looked around and saw the burned ground not far away, then he looked back at the fallen humanoid in the exo-suit. He also registered that there was no body and no body leftovers around the blaster burn.
"I see," he said slowly. "I propose a truce, Autobot. We will part without a battle and I will bring down the human for you -- finally."
Rodimus hatefilled mind shouted at him to agree and for the first time he really listened to it. "Agreed," he said coldly.
Megatron had to confess he was slightly surprised by the answer, but he also noted the rage in the Autobot's eyes, the cold anger, the fiery hostility directed not at him, a Decepticon, but a human. He smiled again. It looked like this particular Autobot had changed from the rest of the bunch, who was as human-loving as they came.
Behind him he heard Cyclonus and Soundwave exit the building. He didn't turn when he heard them.
"We leave," he told the two warriors.
Cyclonus hesitated a second and his eyes were fixed on the Autobot before him. "Yes, mighty one," he then acknowledged.
Megatron looked at Rodimus Prime, his smile cold and calculating, then lifted off.

* * *

She woke with the mother of all headaches. Everything hurt, her head most of all. She tried to open her eyes, but that brought even more pain, which she had not thought possible. So she simply kept on lying wherever she was, assuming she could take the leisure to do so. Her mind started to supply her with memory fragments and the jigsaw-puzzle that was her memory started to form into a pictures, but it was a weird picture, missing large chunks and constantly evading her conscious grasp. She decided to open her eyes again. This time it was only half as bad and she blinked.
"Shanygn?"
She turned her head and focused on a blond man in his mid-thirties. His brown eyes looked gentle and somehow older than he appeared.
"What....?" she muttered, trying to attach a name to the face, which she thought she knew. "Where am I?"
"Back at Metroplex. How do you feel?" the man asked.
"Metroplex?" She puzzled over the word. "Oh, I.... beside the headache I feel fine."
"You are entitled to a headache. The thing that hit you gave off one hell of a charge." The man pulled out something looking like a medical instrument and then checked her head. "You have a nice bump, Shan, and you should take it easy the next few days."
"There were voices in my head," she muttered as something suddenly came back.
The man frowned. "Voices in your head?"
She nodded. "And then came the pain....."
"What else do you remember?"
"I ...." She frowned. "I'm not sure ....." Her eyes fixed on him. "What is this Metroplex I'm in?" she then wanted to know. "And who are you?"
The man looked slightly shocked. "Oh, no....."

*

"Amnesia?" Rodimus exclaimed. "You mean Shanygn doesn't know anything anymore?"
"She does know things; she remembers voices in her head and the pain. She recalls things that happened to her right after the bullet struck," Dr. Kyle Scott explained. "It looks like it's only temporary. Her mind is already struggling to return what was lost. It's not a bad case of amnesia."
"But she doesn't know who she is!" Rodimus protested. "That's what you call not bad?"
They had brought Shanygn back as quickly as possible, with Tracks breaking not only the speed, but also the flight level limit. The convertible Pontiac had raced through the airspace fast enough to nearly break the mach barrier. Rodimus had done the same on ground level and no one had dared to stop him. Shanygn had immediately been brought to see Kyle, who had only now surfaced from the treatment room.
"She knows how to speak, how to walk, how to count. She knows she's humanoid, though she couldn't tell me her home planet, she knows the difference between male and female. Do you want me to go on?" The medic raised an amused eyebrow.
Rodimus willed himself to smile. "No. I get the picture."
"The best treatment for an amnesia is to confront the patient with things she knows. In her case, that's difficult, because we don't know much about her origin. Shanygn's always been very close-mouthed about it and we all respected it."
"Then we have to try it with recent events, everything we know about her," Jill McKennan decided. "She spent some time with us on Alean until she met Roddy. And the two of you are Interfaced, so you should be able to help her best."
Rodimus nodded slowly, his mind desperately trying to give him the positive sides of this catastrophe: Shanygn was alive, she wasn't hurt and the amnesia was only temporary. But somehow it didn't work. He still felt like he wanted to scream.
"Can I see her?"
Kyle nodded. "Just handle it carefully. I explained a lot to her, especially about giant robot life forms." He smiled.
Rodimus felt a familiar sinking feeling. "Okay," he muttered and then walked past Kyle into the medical ward.
Shanygn sat propped up on a bed and was talking to Jill when he came in. Her face displayed a large frown of concentration, as if she tried to find what Jill told her inside of her empty mind. Kyle had said she hadn't forgotten everything. She was remembering, but something blocked it. As he stepped closer, Jill looked up, smiling.
"Shanygn, may I introduce? This is Rodimus Prime."
Shanygn turned her head and her blue eyes seemed so awfully empty that it hurt Rodimus to look into them. There was no recognition in them, no smile when she saw him. For the first time he experienced what it was like without her. She was still there, on a physical level; he felt her presence. But the mind was no longer there as well and this hurt more than anything else.
"Hi," he said carefully.
"Hi," she answered warily and he saw the surprise rise inside of her. It was an expression he knew from those humans who met Autobots for the first time. "Sorry, but I don't know you."
He nodded, trying to hide his disappointment. Jill rose from her chair and smiled at them.
"I'll leave you two guys alone for now. Go and talk. Maybe something comes back." With that she left the room.
Shanygn continued to stare at Rodimus in deep concentration. "This is so weird," she sighed after some time. "I'm supposed to know every one of you and nothing is in there." She tapped her head.
"What is it you do remember?" Rodimus asked carefully and sat down.
"About myself? Well, Kyle told me my name because that I didn't know either. I remember that I can't take this suit off," she pointed at the exo-skeleton, "and I know that this is somehow normal." Shanygn frowned at him. "But I can't remember you or any giant robots at all. What's our relationship?"
"You are my friend, Shanygn," Rodimus said with forced calm. "And we are .... partners."
Shanygn raised an eyebrow. "Partners ... as in ....what?" she wanted to know.
"As in we are working together. We are best friends and we met several years ago." He hesitated, wondering if he should tell about the Interface. When he looked into her inquiring, puzzled eyes, he decided it would be best. "We are Interfaced, Shanygn."
"Interfaced. What's that?"
He sighed. "Pretty difficult to explain."
"Can you show it to me then?"
Rodimus looked at her. "I don't want to scare you....."
"Why? What you gonna do? Take your armor off?" she joked with a wry smile.
At least she had kept her humor, Rodimus thought, sighing again. "No, not really," he replied with a half-hearted grin. "You see, we are linked and .... we are close. We feel each other."
Shanygn's eyebrows climbed even higher. "You know how that sounds?"
He chuckled. "Yes, but it's not like that." Rodimus gently opened up a shield and prepared to touch her mind. Shanygn's shields were nearly all down because she had no idea how to use them, except for those that were instinctive.
"I see," she said.
Suddenly Shanygn's eyes widened as Rodimus brushed against her mind.

Shanygn had really no idea who the large robot in front of her was, though she knew that she should know him. His blue optics were a bright display of his emotions and she had no difficulty reading them, though he was a completely different life form and should be alien to her. There were many 'should' in her thoughts, but this showed her that there was a memory hidden deep inside of her. She just had to find it. She somehow knew he was young in terms of his race, maybe just out of his teenage years, but he appeared older, as if he had seen more than anyone should have at his age, knowing things he really didn't want to know.
Rodimus Prime.
She tried to come up with more than just a vague feeling of knowing him. Shanygn saw how pained he was that she didn't remember and it hurt her as well. When he told her about the Interfacing, she thought she felt something inside of her trying to rise, but it quickly fell again without enabling her to grasp it.
The jokes came naturally and Shanygn realized that this was normal between them and that he was hoping that it helped her remember, though it didn't. And then she felt something brush against her, like a breeze. She tensed, unable to say why, but she didn't want to remember either. Whatever it was touching her, it came closer.
Agony. Blinding white lights flared up in front of her eyes and she grabbed her head, willing the pain to subside. But the more she fought against it, the stronger it got.
Shanygn flinched back from the piece of returning memory. Her eyes widened and she felt the other presence draw closer.
Like through layers of thick wool he heard shouts, then even that was gone. There was only pain.
Something touched her mind. A scream echoed through her and the pain returned.
'Go away,' she yelled, but it was only a faint whisper.
The presence tried to touch her again. She pushed it away, starting to associate it with the pain.
'No!'

Rodimus was shocked when he heard Shanygn scream and saw her clutch her head, curling into a fetal ball. He touched her shoulder, fear coursing through him like liquid fire. Her shields had flared up like a living wall and she had thrown him out with such a violence and fear, that his mind seemed to ring with it still.
"Shanygn?" he asked.
She whimpered. "No! No!" she cried. "Go away! It hurts!"
Kyle came running into the treatment room and saw first Shanygn curled up on the bed, then Rodimus, his face a display of utter shock. He didn't ask what had happened, he had a good guess.
Rodimus retreated from the crying woman, stumbling against the all, his hands shaking slightly. He had hurt her. Through the Interface link. He shook his head in denial and staggered out of the door, leaving Kyle to treat Shanygn. When he finally stopped walking he was outside the med bay and standing in one of the corridors leading out of Metroplex. He walked on, his feet finding their way automatically while his mind was a blank. He was confused, hurt and completely alone of a sudden.
I hurt her. I hurt her by being with her. I hurt her by trying to help.
Rodimus leaned heavily against the armored outside wall of the Autobot city, trying to shut out the screams of pain and the rejection he had felt upon his touch. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true.
"Rodimus?" a soft voice asked and he turned his head, looking into the gentle, blue optics of Silhouette.
"Leave me alone," he said tonelessly.
She didn't. Silhouette stayed where she was and settled back against the wall as well. Rodimus glared at her and then, when it had no effect, sank down and wrapped his arms around his knees.
"You want to talk about it?" she asked, equally sitting down.
"No," he said coldly.
"I see."
Rodimus glared at her again, but Silhouette simply looked at him, and so he turned his head away again.
"If you don't want to talk, then I have to guess," the female Dinobot went on. "It's Shanygn, right?"
Rodimus didn't move and kept on staring at the armored floor.
"I heard she has lost her memory. Did she remember something?"
"No," he answered, his voice sinking to an icy level.
Silhouette cocked her head. Something was not right here. Shanygn had lost her memory, so much she really knew. Kyle had also said that she remembered some stuff out of her past and her life, and she was showing signs of remembering more. It was a good sign, Skywolf had explained to her when she had asked the Sentinel medic. The amnesia was truly only temporary and she would soon be back to normal. So what was the problem? A thought struck her.
"Has it something to do with your partnership? The Interfacing?"
Rodimus flinched violently. She had hit a nerve. Silhouette carefully touched his arm.
"What is wrong? Please tell me, Roddy. I want to help."
"I hurt her," the Autobot suddenly whispered, his voice wavering and reflecting his pain.
"What?"
"I touched her mind and I hurt her," he repeated, shaking his head.
"But .... how? How can a mind touch hurt her? You are Interfaced! And I know you would never hurt her on purpose!"
He shook his head. "But I did. I wanted to help her and now.... she pushed me away ... I caused her pain." Rodimus rose abruptly and Silhouette followed.
"Where are you going?" she called.
"Out," he replied coldly.
"But Shanygn needs you!" Her clawed hand closed around his forearm.
Silhouette was strong and she knew that if push came to shove, she would be able to hold him down long enough to get him to see reason. But she didn't want to force him into anything.
He shook his head, pulling his arm out of her grasp and she let him. "No. She needs me to be away because my presence hurts her." There was a lot of pain audible now and it hurt Silhouette even more to see him like this.
"No! You are wrong!" she tried to hold him back, but Rodimus didn't want to listen. "You are an idiot if you think that running away solves things!" she called after him.
He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her. They looked at each other, then he turned back again. Rodimus transformed and sped away.
Silhouette hit the armored wall with her fist, her optics glowing with anger. "Stubborn, pig-headed fool!" she whispered.
Then she went back into the City.

* * *

Megatron had returned to Charr. He didn't like the desolate planet, but it served its purpose as a base and it was lonely enough that no one came here voluntarily. The Decepticons had stared at their reborn leader in surprise, confusion and disbelief, but he knew they would follow him. They had followed Galvatron. That was a past he didn't want to remember, especially those years spent in madness and pain, but the last years had been like a slow return. He knew he owed his rebirth partly to the strange robot called Raven, who had repaired his broken body after Braintrust had nearly killed him. That had been the time the madness had stopped and sanity had truly returned, and had not been just a glimpse at the horizon. Now the finishing touches had been applied -- he had his body back. His warriors stared at him, unable to believe what they were seeing, but he knew that soon enough they would accept it.
The Constructicons had examined him and, except for some odd changes on a molecular level, which Hook thought might have been caused by the synthoid material merging with the metal body, everything was just fine. Megatron didn't feel any different. Soundwave had checked the machine to come up with an explanation as to why it had reconstructed Galvatron into Megatron. They knew that the machine's intention had been to kill Galvatron and transfer his energy into the synthoid material, which could then be shaped and used as anything. When the Sentinel Archer had shot the machine, the circuits had gone a bit haywire. Soundwave had found some files displaying that the machine had started to extract energy, but then everything in the synthoid chamber it had flown back into the cylinder Galvatron had been trapped in, including the synthoid material. The machine had become one with Galvatron's mind for a few seconds, searching to fulfill its programming while the synthoid material merged on a molecular level with his body, starting its own program -- reshaping the synthoid, as it always did after a power transfer. Only now the synthoid material had merged with Galvatron's body. The machine found Galvatron's core program, but it also found Megatron. Galvatron was nearly dead and it locked onto Megatron's old core programs shaping what it thought was the synthoid.
Megatron was back and the only difference to his former body was that he was merged on a molecular level with a synthetic mass that could store energon much better than anything he had ever seen.
The Decepticon leader leaned back on his throne, a piece of equipment he wanted to get rid of soon. The throne was Galvatron and Galvatron was dead. A lot would change in the next few months.
Soundwave stepped up to him as he rose from the chair.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Ratbat has reported in," his long time friend said and only his knowledge of him showed Megatron that something was wrong. "Ten of the Decepticons sent out to Ghena have disappeared. We tried to find traces of them, but no one has seen or heard of them since they went to the planet."
Megatron frowned. Galvatron had sent out those ten to gather energon on Ghena, a world far outside the traveled space and rich in natural resources.
"Show me the reports," he ordered and Soundwave activated the near-by terminal, calling up Ratbat's report from inside of him and transmitting it into the terminal. Megatron read what the spy had found and his frowned deepened even more.

* * *

Starscream was worried. Sphere had been gone too long and he didn't like it. Ralyk was mostly benevolent and peaceful, but it was powerful as well, and with Sphere's plan to go down to the computer core it might feel threatened. When the female had not returned after several cycles, Starscream left his research alone and went down to the level of the central core. As he stepped into the room housing the large crystal he discovered Sphere lying on the floor. Her optics were dead.
"Sphere!" he exclaimed. He knelt down beside her and touched her head.
Sphere showed no reaction at all.
"Sis? Can you hear me?" he asked.
Again nothing.
Starscream looked at the softly glowing crystal that was the heart and soul of Ralyk, something normally hidden beneath penetrable doors, but which was now right out in the open. Why had Ralyk opened the doors? Why had it allowed them to come down here?
Suddenly Sphere stirred under his touch. Her optics flickered a bit, then began to glow the usual deep green.
"Starscream?" she asked, sounding a bit confused.
"Are you all right?" he wanted to know, feeling relieved she was alive.
"Yes," she answered slowly.
"What happened?"
"Ralyk contacted me .... really contacted me for the first time .... It was incredible! The entity we know as Ralyk is immense, so vast..... so unbelievably old; older than we could ever guess!" She hesitated. "I know what is going on," she then said after short time.
"Well?" he asked, helping her up.
"Ralyk says we are about to enter a war."
Starscream stared at her, confused. "War? War against whom? Or what?"
Sphere inhaled deeply, a human reflex from out of her past. "Against those calling themselves the Creators."

* * *

Shanygn looked around, her eyes searching for one specific person, but she couldn't find him. She knew she was able to contact him by their Interface link, but she didn't dare to.
"Nothing?" Kayla asked as Shanygn returned to the room the Interfaces usually used as some kind of recreation room.
She shook her head. "He's gone," she said softly and sat down on one of the chairs.
Kayla came over and sat down beside her. Strangely enough, after the touch of Rodimus' mind against hers, Shanygn remembered a lot of her past. Things came back to her by the hour and her life was becoming complete again. She knew about her Interface and she knew about Rodimus.... but she was hesitant to try it out. The memory of the pain was equally strong. Of course, both didn't fit together, she realized and told herself again and again. The pain had been induced by MacKenzie's bullet and Rodimus touch was gentle and comforting, but still.... the memory mixed both into one.
"Spellbinder met Silhouette and she said he wants to give you some room," Kayla explained.
"Nonsense!" Shanygn said forcefully. "He's afraid because of what our first contact did to me!"
"That too," the other woman acknowledged. "Would you touch him again when you meet?"
Shanygn hesitated. Her memories told her nothing would happen. "Yes," she said softly.
"Then do it."
"But ... how?"
Kayla smiled, revealing her canines. "You know how." With that she rose from beside her and walked out of the room.
Shanygn sighed. Yes, she knew how.... She left the room as well and changed into her exo-suit. Testing the systems she expanded the large wings and then ignited her thrusters. She had to find Rodimus.

* * *

Something seemed to vibrate through him and Nightmare's vision briefly blurred. He staggered and shook his head, dislodging not only a few locks of artificial mane, but also nearly Bat, who gave a protesting squawk and dug his claws into the hair. The dizziness was over as fast as it had come, but it left a strange feeling inside of him. He raised his head and looked over at the doorway. The giant rings, attached to the ceiling and the floor, were still and nothing moved or vibrated. He also heard no hum.
"What's wrong?" Bat asked, worried.
"I'm not sure," he muttered and approached the doorway.
"Oi, oi," Bat made and craned his neck to study the upper ring. "Nothing moves."
Nightmare had to agree. The feeling had been brief and almost like an internal balance problem, nothing another robot would connect to the doorway structure. Be he wasn't any other robot. He was a Gatekeeper.
"What happened?" someone asked and he saw Raven flying into the chamber.
"You felt it?" he wanted to know.
"I'm not sure what I felt. Is something wrong with the doorway?"
"No," Nightmare answered slowly. "It didn't activate."
"Then what ...?" she began, transforming.
He sighed. "I'm not sure. I wish I knew more, but nothing like this ever happened before, at least not without the doorway also activating as well."
Their optics met. Something had just happened, somewhere, anywhere, and they had felt it. But what did it mean?

* * *

Shanygn found Rodimus right where Blaster had told her he had picked up his signal from. Everyone leaving Metroplex had to carry a beeper and it gave off a regular signal as to where someone was. Now she touched down not far from his position, which was near the dam at the upper river. She knew he was near, something this strange link they had told her. Even though her memories were nearly all back and working perfectly, the Interfacing was a bit of a mystery to her. She knew there was someone she was missing, someone who was a part of her and of whom she was a part as well, and she had always associated that feeling with the figure of the brightly colored robot. She had met Rodimus only once in the treatment room and the meeting had ended with her screaming in pain at his mind link, but his image had stuck to the feeling of being a part of something. When her memory had returned after the experience, maybe jolted out of the artificial coma it had been in, she had known exactly who everyone was, even Rodimus Prime. But still, things were missing.
Rodimus sat on the dam, staring down into the lake behind it. As she carefully approached him her mind gave her a brief vision of her doing the same thing, only on another planet called Alean. Then he had been Hot Rod, as confused and hurt as he was right now, vulnerable and trying to cut himself off from help he really needed but didn't want. Why she had approached him was a mystery to her, even today. She had just done it and it had been the beginning of a wonderful friendship that had gradually turned into an Interface.
He looked up as he heard her footsteps and his optics widened. It was also a mystery to her why she could read him so well. Looking at him told Shanygn how afraid he was, not of her, but for her. He cared for her, she knew, as she cared for him, and their partnership had shown that their Interface had grown closer and closer throughout the years, giving them almost every ability, and more, every Interfaced Sentinel and his humanoid partner had. They couldn't merge, but Shanygn had never seen that as a drawback.
Rodimus made an attempt to rise, but she held up her hand. "Stay. Please?"
He hesitated, then settled down again. Shanygn sat down as well, looking into the calm waters of the lake. An uneasy silence settled over them and she thought about how to start this conversation when he did it for her.
"I'm ... I'm sorry, Shanygn," he said in a near-whisper.
"What for?" she wanted to know.
"I hurt you. I didn't want ... honestly!"
His honest care gave her a warm feeling. "I know," she said. "I was confused..... I was hurt. Actually, you really helped me."
"I did?"
"If you had been in lately you would have known," she said with a slight note of criticism. "You jolted my memory back to almost normal, Rodimus. I remember my life again, as well as the past days' events. I'm just missing a few pieces."
He looked down at her and sighed.
"Before it happened," she continued, "you told me we are Interfaced. I remember now what it means and I remember how we met." She held his wavering gaze, reading rising dread in there. "And I know it means more than just being partners. We are linked."
He nodded wordlessly.
"But not right now," Shanygn added.
The look of dread increased.
"Because you think I could get hurt again, right?" This was becoming a very one-sided conversation, she thought sourly.
"No," he protested half-heartedly.
"Yes," she contradicted. "You're not good at lying when it comes to those things. You touched my mind a few days ago, why not now if you think it's all right?"
He evaded her eyes and looked back into the lake.
"Roddy," she said softly, "you won't hurt me. Our link never hurt me."
"It did several times in the past," he whispered.
Shanygn sighed. So it had finally come to this, it was out in the open. Of course Interfaced partners were experiencing backlashes from the other side, but it was something you knew would happen when you linked. Steve had had his close encounters and shares of violent backlashes, maybe even more than anyone else. Jeff, their latest addition and Wild Card's partner, had experienced it first hand in the early stages of his partnership with the former Seeker. Everyone was aware of the danger and the existence of these emotional backlashes. Shanygn had had to fight her way past rage, anger and frustration in the past quite often and nowadays she didn't even feel it anymore, at least consciously. Her shields had become an instinct. Only pain was such a sudden experience that it couldn't be easily blocked.
"That's normal, Roddy. That's one side of being Interfaced. We both know that." She shook her head. "It's not too bad and I don't really feel any of it."
"But you do feel it!" he said forcefully and jumped to his feet, pacing the dam up and down a bit. "That's the point! Whatever happens, you get a part of it, if you are present or not!"
Shanygn shook her head. "That's what it means to be Interfaced. All the others have the same problem."
"But you have the problem because of me!" he exclaimed in anger.
"And Steve because of Midnight, Mike because of Archer, Kyle because of Voodoo, you want me to go on? Roddy, get real! This isn't the problem here! The problem is that you are afraid to touch me again because of my flashback when you did it in the med bay! This touch gave me my memory back, you stubborn idiot! It didn't hurt me!"
Shanygn had jumped up as well and now stood in front of him, hands on the armored hips of her exo-suit, blue eyes flashing.
[Face it!] she broadcast forcefully and saw him flinch back. [You can hear me, right? So acknowledge it!]
Rodimus' face twisted in first anger then fear. "No!" he protested. "Don't make me do it!"
Shanygn shook her head. [Sil was right: you're pig-headed! Stubborn to the hilt as well! Will you stop convincing yourself that you were the one hurting me? It wasn't you! It was MacKenzie! She shot me and she did the damage, not you! You tried to help!]
[And through my help I hurt you!] he cried desperately.
There was a brief, shocked silence, then he moved away from her again. "No...."
[It's all right, see?] Shanygn said gently. [It doesn't hurt, it's normal] She approached him. [It's what Interfacing means]
Rodimus trembled slightly. [I.... ]
She touched his mind without speaking a word and smiled as she felt him relax more and more. They were linked and this link still existed. She felt it inside of her and she knew he felt it too. It would take Rodimus some time to accept that this link truly didn't hurt her, but they would get back to normal soon. Shanygn just had to give him the certainty that she was okay.
[How about you get back to Metroplex now before Kup gets another nervous breakdown because you were gone for over two days?]
He smiled wryly and transformed, opening one door. Shanygn got it, feeling like having won a small victory.

* * *

The shuttle had taken the last of her money reserves and Diana MacKenzie could be glad that the guy had sold her the thing for this little amount at all. Everything she had had was gone now, all her wealth, all her money. But she was still here, alive and ready to strike again. The blonde woman steered the shuttle toward a warp gate and keyed in the correct signal to allow her entry to the doorway to another part of space. She had bribed a lot of people with everything she had had at her disposal to get this far. She had made flight plans even before she had built the second machine and it had been an easy task to get off this planet now, though she had never planned to leave in this shuttle and in such a hurry.
A twinge of pain reminded her of the burn she had suffered through the narrow miss of the blaster. A doctor she had visited, one of those who worked illegally and would never even dream of spilling that his customers were mostly criminals, had told her that she would keep the scars for life if she didn't get cosmetic surgery. He had given her painkillers and some medication to apply to the burned areas, but had not been able to do more.
The warp gate loomed up before her and she prepared to send the command to let her enter when something streaked toward her. She saw a flash of purple and silver, followed by beams of laser fire running her way.
Decepticons! she realized in utter horror. What were they doing this close to Earth? She had thought they had disappeared back to their planet!
MacKenzie threw the shuttle into a tight turn and tried to run from the attacker, but then saw her error. A silverish white robot hovered in front of her, effortlessly keeping his position. His right arm featured a large cannon, not unlike the one Galvatron had carried. Diana recognized him from her study of the Cybertronians' history on Earth. His name was Megatron and he had supposedly been destroyed and then reborn as Galvatron. How he could now be here, right in front of her, evaded her grasp. Her mind was suddenly cold with fear. This time she had no escape plans, this time she wasn't superior.
"Hello, Ms MacKenzie," Megatron said pleasantly.
He raised his weapon and Diana looked into the barrel of his gun, feeling cold sweat break out. Then, all of a sudden, an incredible calm settled over her. She was about to die and somehow the fear was gone.
The gun lost one blast and it struck toward her like a fiery ball right out of hell.

An alarm went off in the control room of the Warp Gate Control office on Earth.
"Explosion in sector five of the warp gate quadrant!" the on-duty controller called and set off a call to the emergency stand-by shuttles.
"Cause?" his superior wanted to know.
"Unknown. I had a shuttle asking for entrance to the gate. I think it never made it."
Another controller looked up from his screen. "I detected a built-up of energy shortly before the explosion, sir."
The head controller nodded. "Launch the shuttle and get me a report on what happened exactly. Close the warp gate until we find out if it was a system error!"
"Yes, sir," the two others acknowledged.

* * *

Weeks later Optimus returned from Nebulos, thoughtful and more than just a slightly bit worried. The reports awaiting him gave him even more to worry about.
"Megatron?" he asked quietly.
Rodimus, leaning against the window sill, arms crossed in front of his chest, nodded darkly. "I saw him with my own optics, Optimus. And from what Perceptor read out of the molten heap we found in the old theater, it looks like it's genuinely him."
Optimus read over the report again. Perceptor, in his own unique way of taking a perfectly normal sentence and twisting it into a collection of complicated phrases and words, had written up a report, explaining what had happened. Apparently the machine had been constructed to draw energy out of a Cybertronian and then destroy the body while the energy was stored in the synthoid material until it could be used for other purposes. When Archer had shot the control mechanism, the computer had erased the destruction program and replaced it with a gibberish made up out of a dozen different files. It had still tried to take apart Galvatron's body, but it had also started to shape-change the synthoid blob. Luckily for Galvatron the machine had confused both cylinders, destroying the synthoid and reshaping Galvatron's design. How it had come up with the old design was a mystery and Perceptor suspected it had, also by accident, linked up with Galvatron's systems long enough to see another design there, a design to fit the reborn mind.
"I wonder what this means for us," he muttered.
Optimus knew the old Megatron from millions of years of battle and he had gotten to know Galvatron. But who was this Megatron now? How much of his old foe had been reborn as well and how much had been transferred out of Galvatron's madness? Only time would show.
He took the next report and his frown deepened. "Did anyone of us look into the shuttle accident?" he asked his second-in-command.
Rodimus nodded. "I sent Cosmos to gather data. It wasn't a malfunction of the gate and it wasn't a normal shuttle explosion. The analysis shows it was blaster fire; very intense fire."
"Decepticons."
Rodimus nodded. "Yes."
Optimus scanned over the pages and had to agree with what the others had found out already. A Decepticon had fired the shot. The energy pattern was correct. And from the reports of the control station it had been one power flare. One shot.
"Megatron," he said very softly. "Do we know whose shuttle it was?"
"The registration was false and so was the entry code, as the controllers found out through inquiries made in this case. The explosion killed the pilot," Rodimus said and his voice was very cold all of a sudden. "Pathology thinks it was a human female and the description of the buyer of the shuttle matches Diana MacKenzie."
Optimus looked at his young friend and their optics met. There was no emotion in Rodimus' eyes, no anger, no hatred, no rage that the Decepticons had destroyed a life like that. There was also no satisfaction or triumph. Rodimus' emotions were completely under control or non-existent at all concerning this case. It worried Prime that this left Rodimus so icily cold and that he wasn't even pleased to finally see the end of Diana MacKenzie.
"I see," the Autobot leader said after a moment of silence. He pushed the reports aside. "We leave the investigation of this case to the humans unless we are asked to help," he decided.
Rodimus nodded briefly.
"Because," Optimus went on, "we have problems on our own. Autobots have been disappearing lately and not shown up again. Following rumors, Decepticons have disappeared as well."
"Disappeared? How?"
"No one knows and I've already deployed a search team for them." Optimus sighed. "Everything happened on those planets farthest outside the known trading routes, nearly outside every known route at all. There were no signs of battle or calls for help. They just disappeared."
Rodimus frowned. "No suspicions?"
"The Quintessons are the only ones who come to mind whenever something affects both Autobots and Decepticons, but I don't think it's them. After the battle for the doorway on Cybertron and their heavy losses they kept a low profile." Optimus rose from his chair and paced the room. "We have to keep our eyes open."
"That's all we can do," Rodimus agreed.
"And spend our efforts on other matters." Optimus smiled humorlessly.
"Nebulos again?"
"Yes. I called in a meeting to start in one hour where I'll outline the problems and our official position." He smiled a bit more. "I expect you to be there."
"Hey, did I ever miss a meeting?" Rodimus exclaimed in mock-hurt.
"Physically you were always present," Optimus teased slightly.
His second-in-command laughed. "Aren't we all?" Then he nodded. "I'll be there. See you there."
When he had left the office, Optimus turned to watch the city outside the window. He was more worried about the disappearances than he had let on. Something was happening out there and he had no idea what is was. He only knew that it meant danger, though he couldn't explain this feeling. Something was out there and it wasn't very friendly.

* * *

Spook raised his head. The alarm klaxons he heard didn't come from anywhere out of the natural beauty of this planet. They were coming from the doorway system. Something had set of a major alert and the alert traveled to all the worlds where gateways were located, and it had reached him because he was listening in to the system's reports. The half-serpent raised his body from the sunny spot and closed his wings. His eyes glowed a deep golden-yellow and he snarled softly. This was serious, whatever it was.
Something suddenly disturbed the grass and he whirled around, ready to strike. A small, grey creature appeared, raising its clawed arms in surrender. "No, don't!" it called.
Spook didn't relax for second, but he also didn't strike. Looking at the bipedal, lizard-like robot he frowned a bit. She looked like she had just been through a fight, her orange and brown mane a sad arrangement of torn out or burned hair. Her body showed scratches and bruises.
"What happened to you?" her asked.
"The warriors!" she exclaimed in a fearful voice. "They....they went crazy! Something came to their base and it joined with them and then they went crazy!"
Spook tilted his head. "You are talking gibberish, Whistle."
Whistle shook her head, her eyes glowing in deep fear. She had never been afraid of the warriors even if they only tolerated her in their midst. She wasn't one of them and neither was she one of the First Ones. She was the product of someone's overactive experimental skills and neither able to transform, nor a true member of any of the robot races. That she was now afraid of those who had treated her more or less like a pet was surprising.
"There was energy," Whistle reported, "and lights. A few days ago. Omen went to investigate and he came back changed.... he wasn't himself! And then the other warriors changed. Because I wasn't able to be changed like them they tried to kill me! Spook, you have to leave!"
Spook wasn't able to make a sense of what the small robot was telling him. Lights? Energy? Changing?
Something like an inner warning went off and someone stepped out of the tall grass, moving toward them. Spook's lips instinctively drew back over his lips. Something was wrong here, he knew, though he was unable to explain what it was. Something had changed. He just felt it.
The warrior looked at him, his eyes curiously devoid of life or emotion, then he raised his weapon. But instead of pointing at him, his arm swung sideways and he pulled the trigger. Whistle was hit right in the chest and gave a shrill scream of agony as she was slammed back against a tree. Then she collapsed, her optics dying.
Spook's lips now drew back fully and he extended his wings. The warrior, a robot he had known as Omen and would have known by that name if he hadn't just killed Whistle, still looked at him. Those dead eyes were unnerving and Spook knew that whoever he was facing, it wasn't the warrior he had once known. He made his decision in a split second and, instead of attacking the killer, as might have been expected, he launched himself into the air, firing his thrusters, and Gated right in the atmosphere of the planet. Gating under these conditions, with the few exercise runs he had made lately, being more or less out of shape anyway concerning Gating, it was madness. But Spook preferred this madness to the death he had seen inside Omen's eyes. His own death.

Omen watched the half-serpent disappear. There was no visible emotion on his face. He looked at the body of Whistle, then turned, disappearing in the tall grass once more.

* * *

The feeling came again and this time Nightmare was sure it was an alert. His ears perked up and his red optics fixed on the doorway. He had no idea what it meant, but he knew it would hit them sooner or later. He just hoped it was later.