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Chapter Text

(In Central Egypt)

Two huge greatswords clashed as the two equally large faction leaders battled each other. Optimus Prime was clutching a gaping wound in his side where his opponent had caught him off guard, though Megatron did not have the upper hand.

The Decepticon warlord was blinded by the Dark Energon that he had been using to strengthen himself, not considering the downside to using the blood of Unicron. The silver ex-gladiator just swung his sword around wildly, not caring who he hit in his rage.

The two leaders were given a wide berth by the others, who were busy fighting amongst themselves. Optimus distantly heard Smokescreen and his twin brother, the sniper Bluestreak, swerving around Starscream, who was shrieking loudly at the Vehicons about one thing and trying to keep his shots aimed at any Autobot he saw.

Keeping his mind on his own fight, the blue and red Prime saw Megatron faltering, his energy draining from his wild, erratic movements. Optimus saw his chance and charged, knocking his brother off his pedes and making his way to the strange machine that the two factions were fighting over.

He saw the Decepticons’ cycloptic scientist, Shockwave, trying to work on the device while also fending off Ratchet. The two mechs struggled to gain the upper hand on the other, while Optimus approached from the other direction. Shockwave’s back was to the Prime, so only Ratchet could see his friend attempt to destroy the machine. Unfortunately, not everyone was unaware of the Prime’s motives.

Predaking, from his spot above the battleground, saw the Prime run towards the device and towards Shockwave. Protective anger flared in Predaking’s spark at the thought of harm coming to his Creator from being stabbed in the back, so he transformed into his draconic beast mode and dove. Optimus heard the cry of the Predacon as the beast reached for him, so the Autobot raised his sword and was about to thrust it into the machine.

But just as Prime’s sword hit the machine, three mere seconds, three nanoklicks before Predaking reached him, a gold and cyan Spacebridge opened and engulfed those nearest to it. The light blinded every Cybertronian on the battlefield, but when the light died down, everyone had the same expression of shock and horror on their faceplates (this list excluded Shockwave and Soundwave, although it was obvious from their body language that they were feeling the same thing).

Two irregular burn marks on the floor were all that remained of Optimus and Megatron. The machine itself was also destroyed, but both factions were too numb-minded to remember it or why they were fighting over it. Starscream, for the first time in his lifecycle, spoke so softly, almost no one heard him.

“Decepticons, retreat.”

The effect was slow, but instantaneous once it started. The Vehicons and all other Decepticons turned and fled back to the awaiting Nemesis, leaving the shocked Autobots to stand limply and gaze at the spot where they last saw their leader.

Finally, in a voice as soft as Starscream’s had been, Ultra Magnus said, “Autobots, retreat.” Everyone, even Wheeljack, obeyed and Ratchet called for Raf to send a Groundbridge. Both factions withdrew to their bases, pondering where their leaders could have gone.

Chapter Text

(In the Ocean Somewhere)

Optimus could barely feel a thing as his processors tried to catch up with the warnings that flashed across his HUD (Heads Up Display). His senses of touch and hearing had already come online, albeit barely.

The Prime knew that he was floating in what felt like saltwater, but he wondered how he wound up in the ocean after the battle in Central Egypt. Optimus forced his other systems online, but as he did, he felt a pair of thin, but strong, metal arms catch hold of him and lift him to the surface. When they broke the surface, Optimus flashed his optics online and saw a handsome white face, framed by black and dark blue. His savior’s optics were a pale, crystalline orange, and when the bot reached the shore, he dragged the Prime up the beach with little difficulty.

As he was laid down, Optimus felt a gentle sting on the left side of his neck, where his primary Energon line was. After the stinging obstruction was removed, Optimus began to feel sleepy, even though his energy levels were above 65 percent. The other bot looked down at the Prime and spoke softly.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Just give in and leave the rest to me.” Though Optimus was confused by the slightly feminine sounding voice, he had little desire to refuse and slowly began to fall offline again. Before he did, however, Optimus caught sight of a strange insignia on the bot’s collar.

The Predacon insignia.

Chapter Text

(Location:Unknown)

“Who do you think he is?”

‘Why is it so dark?’

“No idea. But he hass a war-frame, sso he musst be a ssoldier of ssome ssort.”

‘Who’s talking?’

“I hope you’re not bothering my new patient. And Ripjaw, do you need another dent in your helm, or do I need to have Hun-Garr sit on you to make you rest?” The sound of shuffling and a hurried apology followed the question when the stern, but soothing voice spoke again.

“How is your charge, Sinnertwin?” Before whoever Sinnertwin was could respond, Optimus onlined with a groan.

“He’ss waking up,” came the hissy voice from before. The Prime’s blue optics flashed online to the sight of a pair of mechs bending over him.

“Easy, easy. You’re still recovering from your wounds,” said an orange-eyed mech who was bending over Optimus’ abdomen wound, holding a roll of gauze-mesh in one servo and a small welder in the other. The other mech held the Prime by his shoulders, pressing down firmly to keep him in place while his companion tended to the numbing wound.

“Where… where am I?” Optimus asked, his voice slurring slightly and his optics struggling to adjust to the room around him.

“How do you feel? Dizzy, painful?” asked the orange-eyed mech with the soothing voice, who had set the welder down and finished wrapping the gauze around the Prime’s wound. He groaned and tried to lift his head, but to no avail.

“Lay still, trying to move won’t help you.” the smaller mech advised, Optimus assumed he was a medic of some sort. While he kept one wary cyan optic on the medic, Optimus studied the other mech.

The one that he guessed was Sinnertwin had dark purple and lime-green armor, similar to the Constructicons, only this mech's optics were dark blue. His helm had a pair of sinister-looking horns that curled backwards and his arms and shoulders were broad, indicating a bulky alternate mode.

The medic, on the other servo, was a slim, delicate-looking mech whose armor was colored with several different shades of green ranging from dark pine to teal. His faceplates were light silver, set with burnt-orange optics and thin dermas. When he was finished, Optimus tried to sit up again, but to no avail due to Sinnertwin holding his shoulders down.

"Calm yourself, we won't hurt you," the medic soothed as he set his tools nearby, wiping Energon and other fluids from his thin servos.

“Can you feel this?” he then asked, holding up a light and shining it in the Prime’s faceplates, causing him to shutter his optics. Satisfied with his results, the green mech waved off Sinnertwin, rumbling something in their native language, causing the bulky mech to nod and walk out of the small room they were in. This left Optimus in the presence of the green-shaded medic, who now had his back to the blue and red mech as he cleaned his tools.

The Prime just lay there, not moving again unless the medic asked. For some reason, this mech reminded him of Ratchet, though he was far younger than the Autobot CMO, he still had that same calming presence. Optimus was snapped from his thoughts by a small chuckle.

“Think any harder and you’ll have a complete mental breakdown, which is not my favorite thing to fix, outside of the Red Rust Plague.” the medic commented, turning back to the Prime with an amused look on his slim face-plates. Optimus just stayed still, having had enough experience with medics, namely Ratchet and his endless supply of wrenches, to know what to do and what not to do unless asked. The medic chuckled again, much to Optimus’s confusion.

He shook his green helm and said, “My apologies if I remind you of your friend, he seems scary.”

Optimus jerked up in surprise and confusion before the other mech continued, “In case you were wondering, because I know you are, my name is Nagu. I am the head Healer of our colony.”

The Prime blinked, slightly confused, and said, “My name is Orion. Orion Pax.”

The medic, Nagu, gave him a knowing look, but instead, said, “Well then, Orion, I will stay with you for a little while longer to make sure you suffer no ill side-effects from your injuries, then I will leave you in Sinnertwin’s care.” Optimus nodded, and allowed Nagu to access the medical port in the back of his helm. Once the medic was done, Optimus allowed himself to shut down again, slowly falling back into recharge.

But before he could shut down completely, the Predacon insignia on Nagu’s right shoulder glared out at him.

Chapter Text

(Healing Center)

The next few solar-cycles passed by uneventfully, each followed by the same routine. Every morning, Optimus would wake up to an empty room, and four mega-cycles after that, Nagu would enter the room through the door to the right, which was the only entrance to the small, misty-colored room. The thin medic would examine him for half a mega-cycle, then leave again, and some time after that (for it changed every solar-cycle), Sinnertwin would come in with some trinket or another, keeping the Prime company.

They usually kept conversation to a minimum, though Sinnertwin would sometimes ask something about Optimus, only for the Prime to not answer. He wasn’t sure about these mechs’ intentions, though he had no reason to come off as rude to the ones who had cared for him, he just didn’t know if he could trust them.

This routine continued for four solar-cycles, until one day, five solar-cycles after he had first awoken to the strange mechs, Optimus remembered the face of the bot who had saved him, and wondered who he was.

So the Prime waited for Nagu to arrive, and once the medic was finished with his repairs and maintenance, Optimus waited for a chance to ask his question. Nagu beat him to it.

“You’re wondering who it was that saved you.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Do you know him?” asked the Prime, sitting up carefully and watching the medic. Nagu nodded with a soft smile on his faceplates.

“That I do. In fact, you can meet that very bot right now.” As he spoke, Nagu moved over to Optimus and gestured for him to get off the medical berth.

The Prime slid his legs over first and stood carefully, holding Sinnertwin’s thick arm (when had Sinnertwin entered?) as he waited for his balance to restore itself. Once he was certain that he could walk, Optimus fell in step beside Sinnertwin as Nagu led them out of the small room for the first time.

They entered into a far larger room with many other bots. Optimus stopped in his stride for a moment to gaze at the sight of so many other Cybertronians, a sight he had not seen since Cybertron went dark. There were mechs and femmes of all shapes, sizes and colors, many of them painted in soft and soothing shades of blue and green, while others still were painted in various different hues of every color imaginable.

The room itself was large and circular in shape, with several different doors in the walls, while the roof was dome-shaped with large, curved and vertical slits that let in sunlight and soft breezes. Everything was made of metal, though it was a metal the Prime didn’t recognize. There was a lot of what looked to be medical equipment all around the room too, with a few of the soft-shaded bots working them.

Optimus noticed that every piece of their armor was scalloped with a slightly darker color, like Nagu’s was, so he guessed that they were all healers. Nagu chuckled again, catching the Prime’s attention again.

“Haven’t seen this many bots in a while, huh?” he asked, sounding as if he knew the answer. Optimus nodded, and the three continued on their way.

They exited the large, circular room and entered a large corridor, with a pair of dark armored guards standing on either side of the doors to the medical chamber. The two guards, their gray faceplates etched with gold lines, snapped at attention when Nagu passed them, and they didn’t relax even after the three entered the next corridor.

Optimus walked with the other two mechs as they entered corridor after corridor until he was certain that he could never find the medical room again, as every hall and doorway they passed looked the same. The hallway walls were just tall, straight columns with a short space in between them that allowed sunlight and wind to blow through, and the spaces between the columns showed several trees and other plants, revealing it to be a sort of tropical jungle climate.

The three mechs came to a group of other Cybertronians who were talking urgently amongst themselves, but when they spotted Nagu, they immediately clammed up.

Nagu frowned slightly and said, “Sinnertwin, can you take Orion to the next corridor and wait for me there? I wish to have a word with Lavera.” As he walked up to a tall femme with light lavender armor and bold purple swirls around her horns and optics, Sinnertwin gently took Optimus by the shoulder and the pair continued into the next hallway to the left, stopping once they were out of earshot.

Optimus sat on a bench while his companion stood nearby, allowing the Prime to get a closer look at the plant life outside. To his shock, the plants he had seen were actually different varieties of fire lilies, sky daisies, silver tulips and crystal ivy. Such metallic flora that had only been found on Cybertron before the planet had been drained of its Energon by eons of war. The trees were revealed to be ironwood, copper sycamore and he swore he saw a few adaminium willows.

A piercing shriek startled Optimus and caused him to snap his helm skyward, just in time to see a slim black shape dive towards the treeline. As it came to rest on the silvery branch of an ironwood, Optimus’s cyan optics brightened. A slim, graceful, black and brass cyberhawk cleaned its metallic feathers before turning its head to gaze at the Prime with one white optic. A confused grunt brought Optimus’s attention back to Sinnertwin, who looked as confused as he sounded.

“Have you never sseen a cyberhawk before?” he asked, his voice rumbling. The Prime shook his head.

“Not in a long time,” he replied, somewhat saddened. Sinnertwin looked sympathetic, and to the Prime's surprise, brought out a small metal whistle and blew it. The shrill sound caught the cyberhawk’s attention, causing it to lift its head and gaze at the green-and-purple mech, who held out an arm. The creature flapped its wings and gracefully glided over to rest on Sinnertwin’s arm. The bigger mech chuckled and carefully walked over to where Optimus sat, kneeling down to his level and holding out his arm.

“The cyberhawkss around the palace are ussed to uss, sso they’re very tame. You can pet him, if you’d like.” Sinnertwin offered, noticing Optimus’s look of longing. The Prime gently stroked the avian, the soft metal bringing back bittersweet memories from his time as Orion Pax, before he became a Prime. He had had a pet cyberhawk as a youngling. The two stayed like this for a while until Nagu had finished talking, the healer walking up to them as they discussed cyberhawk care.

“Showing Orion the wildlife, Sinnertwin?” the green mech asked, causing the pair to stand and the hawk to take off back to the trees. They continued towards a large doorway with huge double doors and, when the four gold-etched guards opened the doors, Nagu, Optimus and Sinnertwin entered.

Chapter Text

(The Royal Throneroom)

The sight before them was magnificent.

Optimus had never seen such art in his life, nor had he ever seen the murals that resided on the walls. The room was huge, able to contain several bots of Predaking’s size, with a tall ceiling and domed roof that had the same thick, vertical slits. The walls were painted in bright colors, depicting scenes of what looked to be daily life, bots painting, dancing, singing, racing, playing. There was only one mural that seemed to be of war, with several creatures swarming a deep canyon, fighting each other. That mural almost looked familiar, but Optimus couldn’t think of where he had seen anything like it.

He didn’t think long before the three climbed a few short steps, and once they reached the top, Optimus saw a large mech standing in front of the war mural, eerily silent.

This mech was easily a head and a half taller than Predaking, and he was magnificent. His armor was red with delicate gold detailing on his shoulder pauldrons and down the edges of the long red cape that looked like it was a part of his body, and his arms, legs and helm were orange.

“Your mind is positively racing, dear brother. You should slow your thoughts before you combust!” chuckled Nagu as they approached the magnificent mech, whose helm perked up at the healer’s voice. He turned and smiled at the group.

“You’re correct, as per usual, Nagu.” The big red mech had a handsome, gentle, pearly-white face and his optics were like orbs of blue fire, and when he caught sight of the Prime, his smile widened.

“Ah, is this Orion?” he asked, stepping forward and bowing slightly.

Optimus bowed back and said, “Yes, I am Orion Pax.”

The red mech stood tall and replied, “I am Three Blaze, the leader of Predatron. Welcome.” Optimus looked at Nagu, who had gone to stand beside Three Blaze, a look of confusion on his faceplates.

“Predatron? I don’t know of a planet with that name.” he said, his cyan optics flickering between Three Blaze and Nagu, who had gone strangely quiet.

The big red mech just smiled softly and said, “So you are from another planet? We thought as much, from your frame and that strange insignia. And by “we”, I mean Seirina. Speaking of whom,” Three Blaze turned to Nagu, “where is Seirina? She was supposed to meet us here.”

The green healer then smiled, saying, “She says, hold your equinoids, she’s at the Ocean Entrance.” Three Blaze nodded.

“Excellent.” As Optimus pondered who Seirina was, which was quite unnecessary, considering that he would meet her soon, Nagu said, “Seirina is our sister, Orion. She’s our Head of Science and one of our best hunters, so she’s often out in the ocean with her packmates. She can explain how you got here and why you were found in the Sulphate Sea.” The Prime nodded, unsure of a lot of what Nagu said, but he went with it anyway.

The green healer went quiet again, before suddenly saying, “She’s here.”

Chapter Text

(In the Sky)

Back at the Decepticon warship Nemesis, Soundwave stood on the command deck, watching a slow replay of the previous battle, specifically, of the moment when Megatron disappeared.

The Prime was making his way towards the machine after he’d knocked Megatron off of his peds, his servo now a sword. Soundwave’s brother, Shockwave, and the Autobot medic were going at it when Optimus got close enough to the machine, but at the same moment, Predaking swooped down, presumably to protect Shockwave.

Just as Prime was about to hit the machine, the strange Groundbridge opened out of nowhere and engulfed Prime, Megatron (who had gotten up to chase after his rival), and strangely enough, Predaking was also missing. Shockwave was frantic about finding his creation, but only those who could read his body language could tell.

“Soundwave, have you found anything yet?” What was it that humans say? Speak of the devil and he shall appear? The lanky mech shook his head in negative, seeing his brother’s antenne droop.

As Shockwave dragged his peds back to his lab, Soundwave returned to his work, replaying the video again. There had to be something.

Chapter Text

(Jasper, Nevada)

Another red alert popped up on the computer screen, causing Ratchet to curse. He kept his displeasure quiet, so as to not wake the children, who were staying close to their guardians after the news of Optimus’ disappearance. Poor Raphael was so worried that the only way he could sleep was curled up with Bumblebee in the scout’s room, while Jack and Miko stayed on the loft, sleeping on the couch.

Continuing his work, Ratchet tried to locate Optimus’ signal again, only for the red warnings to pop up again. The old medic was getting frustrated. He couldn’t stop seeing his old friend disappear before his optics, couldn’t unsee the spiral scorch mark on the ground.

A gentle hand on his forearm grounded him before his imagination took off with him.

“Ratty, you need to rest. Blaster can take over for a while.” the white mech told him gently, guiding the other mech with a gentle, but firm hold. Ratchet’s place was immediately taken by the red Cassetticon, who smiled at him gently.

A recent increase in numbers, thanks to Optimus’ Priority Prime message, was a relief to everyone, especially when the bots were good friends. The newcomers were Ironhide, the Autobots’ Weapons’ Specialist, and Ratchet’s good friend; the sniper Bluestreak, who was Smokescreen’s twin brother; Blaster, the Autobots’ Communications’ Chief and all of his Cassettes; Hot Rod, a hot-headed young Autobot who was Optimus’ nephew; and best of all (at least to Ratchet), was the arrival of Drift, who was Hot Rod’s best friend, and Ratchet’s Conjunx.

While the new members were a blessing, Ratchet couldn’t help but worry. Drift must have felt his worry because the white swordsmech wrapped an arm around the medic’s shoulders.

“He’ll be alright, Ratty. He’s Prime, he’ll be fine.” Ratchet nodded, unhappy, but unable to argue as his Conjunx led him to his room.

Chapter Text

(The Royal Throneroom)

The surface of the large pool of water in a chamber to the right side of the throne room bubbled and rippled as a bot rose from the depths. Optimus’s cyan optics brightened as the bot slid into view.

The newcomer was a femme with a slender frame that was built for aquatic life, her armor black with wavy, lazy stripes of blue, green and violet so dark, they almost matched the black. Orange swirl markings that ran down the outer metal of her shoulders, arms, sides and legs, with a few more markings dotted around her optics, gave her a glowing appearance. She had two fins on her forearms that dripped water from her swim, and her shoulders and kneeplates curved upwards to a sharp point, she also had a long, swaying tail that ran down her spine and widened at the tip.

When her pale orange optics landed on Optimus, they brightened with excitement that did not show in the rest of her frame. The water dried quickly as she walked over to stand beside Three Blaze, who smiled teasingly.

“Took you long enough, Seirina.”

The femme snorted quietly and said, “Your fault for putting the new guards on duty. They didn’t know what I looked like, so they wouldn’t let me through until their captain told them who I was.” Seirina shook her helm. “I’d never seen guards so scared as those two had been when they let me through. Thankfully, I have no intention to punish them, they were only doing their job. However,” she looked at Three Blaze, “it’s still your fault.”

The bigger mech chuckled. “Fair enough, sister. Fair enough.”

The teasing came to an end when Nagu said, “I believe we should address the matter of our guest now, shall we?”

Three Blaze and Seirina nodded their agreement, and Sinnertwin brought Optimus over to a large pedestal that stood in the center of the room, where the three royals already stood. Once the Prime was close enough, Seirina activated the holographic projector on the pedestal, the hologram lighting up into a map of an aquatic planet.

“This is Predatron, our home world. I found you in the Sulphate Sea, though there was nothing to suggest as to how you arrived there, much less being so near the Sulphetic Trench.” she informed the Prime, the map zeroing in on an ocean to the left of a large chunk of land. Optimus hesitated, unsure of how much he should share. Nagu put a hand on his shoulder pauldron.

“He came here after a fight with an enemy, over a device that must have teleported him to the Sulphate Sea.”

Optimus froze and stared at the green-shaded medic, unsure if he should admit it or deny it. Nagu had hit the nail on the head, so to speak. Sinnertwin looked surprised, but he kept his intake shut.

Seirina face-palmed and mumbled, “I wanted him to be comfortable enough to tell us about that himself, Nagu. Once again, you have no restraint over your telepathy.”

‘Telepathy?’ Optimus stared at the medic, who gazed at him with a soft, apologetic look.

“I’ve known the truth the entire time, ever since you awoke. But I will allow you the honor of introducing yourself,” said Nagu.

Optimus had a stricken look on his face when he said, “I’m sorry to deceive you, but I didn’t know if you were friend or foe. My real name is Optimus Prime.” To his surprise, however, none of them (barring Sinnertwin) looked all that upset. Instead, Three Blaze, with his dropped jaw, looked disbelieving, while Seirina gave a triumphant smirk.

“Told you.” she said to Three Blaze, reaching over to close her brother’s dropped jaw. He growled quietly, sounding annoyed.

“Yes, yes you did.” he admitted huffingly.

“Do I know my history or what?” Seirina boasted, her arms crossed.

Once again, their words left the Prime confused, when he asked, “I’m sorry? History?” Seirina nodded.

“Yes, all of us here on Predatron came from the ancient Predacons that the Decepticons sent to distant planets to guard their resources.” Optimus tilted his head, looking thoughtful.

“Megatron’s Predacon clones,” he said in grim realization. Three Blaze nodded this time.

“Yes, but most of them abandoned their posts when they realized that there was no one who could control them. After countless years following their desertion, the original Predacons came and settled here, a techno-organic planet with enough Energon to support them and the rest of the planet.”

The Prime was quite thoughtful now. That explained the Predacon fossils that he and the others had found, and why there were so few of them. But what he didn’t understand was that Shockwave had microchipped his original creations, so that they could be found should they perish. Nagu answered before Optimus could speak.

“The heavy outer atmosphere of Predatron blocks all outside signals, so no one can track the signals of the original Predacons unless they were on the planet.” Seirina groaned again.

“Nagu, let the poor mech speak for himself.” the healer nodded, his expression going distant for a moment before clearing up again. Three Blaze glanced between his siblings before fixing his gaze on Optimus.

“Now, Optimus, could you explain what happened before you were found? It could very well be that the machine Nagu mentioned is one that we know of.” the Prime dipped his head, and began to explain.

Chapter Text

Once Optimus had finished his story, Nagu left them to consult his datapads to see if he could find the device the Prime had described. This left Optimus with Three Blaze and Seirina, as Sinnertwin had been dismissed.

Not wishing to make things awkward, Optimus approached Seirina and asked, “You said that the Predacons leaving the Decepticons was history, but what is the full story? Megatron leaving the Predacons on Earth happened three millennia ago, and yet you have such an advanced culture already?”

The black femme looked at him and replied, “The smartest of the clones that Megatron sent to Earth brought with them designs of Cybertronian cities and technology. From what we know, our ancestors created their own culture from what they remembered of their home on Cybertron. As we have already told you, Predatron was originally populated by the original Predacon clones created by the Decepticons during the Cybertronian War, but what no one knew was that the clones had wanted to create their own city on Earth. Unfortunately, the Autobots there hindered their efforts tremendously. When the leader at the time discovered that there was no one who could command them, they fled the planet because they knew that Megatron would go looking for them. So they traveled.” Optimus hummed, as that made sense, in a way.

“But the AllSpark was sent away before Cybertron went dark, how is it that there are so many Predacons here?”

“Hot spots, of course.” Three Blaze stepped forward, smiling gently. “We have one giant hot spot here at the capital, with several smaller ones dotting around the other islands.” The red mech walked towards a set of doors, and pushed them open to reveal what appeared to be the town square.

“Our cities were built around the hot spots, so as to protect the newsparks from harm.” Optimus followed him, and stared in amazement.

The buildings in the square were arranged around a circular patch of metal ground in the very center, but all around that were shops, vendor stalls, and various other places. Outside of the square, there were several tall, curved beams of metal that joined together in the center, high above the bare patch in the center of the square. And in the circular patch of metal ground, around which many of the bots were talking, were several glowing sparks buried within it.

There were sparks that were blue, red, purple, magenta, and even a few where the colors changed softly. The Prime had not seen a hot spot in a long time. Even before the War broke out, hot spots were rare and only popped up occasionally.

“Hot spots were rare on Cybertron even before I became a Prime. How do yours remain lit?”

Optimus looked at Seirina, who answered, “The secret of a sustainable hot spot is that when a bot dies, a portion of their Innermost Energon is poured into the hot spot, so that the sentio metallico in the ground can absorb it. The new sparks feed off of the energy it produces until they emerge. Before we die, however, we all have the choice of whether or not we wish to have that process done, for not everyone is comfortable with it.” Optimus was again amazed, for he had never heard of that being done before.

Innermost Energon was the Energon around a Cybertronian’s spark, it was light pink in color and, unlike normal Energon, Innermost Energon never got used up, and it remained in the body until death. It was considered sacred to many bots, and some couples he’d known had even kept vials of their partner’s Innermost Energon in their subspace in a similar manner to humans wearing wedding rings to show their union. The Prime watched as several bots gathered around the hot spot, as a few sparks glowed more brightly.

“Ah, it seems that some of the newsparks are ready to join us.” Three Blaze said, turning around towards the doors to the throneroom as Seirina followed.

The huge mech turned to the Prime with a smile and said, “You may join us if you wish, Optimus.” He didn’t need to think twice and followed the siblings as they made their way down to the town square.

Chapter Text

Nagu joined the three halfway down the hall, speaking with a soft red mech who wrote down what the healer was saying on a datapad. Once the group was outside, Nagu and his companion hurried towards the hot spot, the crowd easily parting for the pair.

“That’s Klaxon, Nagu’s apprentice. He’s new at this job, but hopefully he does well. This will be his first emergence.” Three Blaze explained as they followed the healers to the outer ring of the hotspot.

It was there that they stopped, watching as the sparks formed blobs of sentio metallico, the living metal that all Cybertronians were made from, around them that seemed to grow in size but not shape, taking on no form and remaining shapeless. Optimus watched, amazed, as a dark purple mech came forward from the crowd, transforming into his beast form, a hippogriff, as he did. He came to a spark that glowed pink, crouching beside it as Nagu joined him.

The healer gathered the shifting blob of metal in his hands and began to mold it, watching as a shape was made obvious. The metal soon hardened into a tiny bot, hardly bigger than Optimus’s palm, its armor white and silver, and the bot itself in the shape of a hippogriff, like the purple Predacon. The new being twitched and then shrieked loudly, startling Optimus, causing Three Blaze and Seirina to chuckle.

“They do that a lot.” the black femme informed him, her optics swiftly returning to the newspark, whom Nagu had set on its feet in front of the hippogriff Predacon.

The healer backed away as the purple mech sniffed at the newspark, whose optics, a bare, colorless white, flickered online and looked at him for the first time. The little one cooed and then nuzzled the bigger bot, earning a purr from both. The purple hippogriff then carefully transformed and picked up the newspark, who squeaked and immediately cuddled into the bigger mech’s arms. When the mech exited the ring surrounding the hot spots, the others that surrounded the hot spot squealed in excitement, but not too loudly.

Seeing that Optimus was confused, Three Blaze explained, “When a Predacon reaches a certain age, they decide whether or not they wish to mentor a newspark, and if they do, they come to the city’s hot spot many times over the next several lunar-cycles, growing a bond with the newspark that they are assigned to. When that newspark is ready to emerge, the new mentor will feel a tug on their spark that lets them know that the spark they bonded to is ready to join them. Newsparks typically choose a form based off of their mentors, but there are some exceptions.”

As Three Blaze spoke, Optimus noticed that Seirina was no longer with them. Instead, he saw her approach a dark green spark near the edge of the ring, kneeling next to it. She remained there for a while, as other bots came and went.

The Prime saw bots come forward to claim the newsparks, all of them extremely eager. He saw many bots, both mechs and femmes, and not all of them Predacons, but regular Cybertronians too, come forward, some alone and some in pairs, the Predacons transforming into their beast forms as they came near and letting the healers shape the new beings. Sometimes it was Nagu, and sometimes it was Klaxon, but eventually all of the sparklings had emerged and had gone off with their caretakers.

All, that is, except for the one spark that Seirina remained close to. The spark seemed to be struggling, and Optimus saw the black femme’s face contort with fear and worry.

“She looks like she’s about to blow a gasket.” someone behind the Prime whispered, causing him to turn slightly to see who’s spoken. A group of four bots, all of them looking at Seirina, were whispering very quietly, each looking just a bit worried.

“This is the third one she’s bonded to. If it goes out, I don’t think her spark will be able to handle it.” a pale blue and silver femme murmured, her green eyes darting over to where the black femme was kneeling. Optimus was confused until he heard Seirina gasp, his helm whipping around to see Nagu shaping the newspark in his servos, his sister watching anxiously.

Glancing at the mech beside him revealed that Three Blaze appeared nervous as well, and that didn’t make Optimus feel too good about this situation. The newspark seemed to be struggling to hold its shape, reshaping itself whenever Nagu tried to get it to stay. Seirina watched on until the newspark finally maintained its shape, the liquid metal body twisting until it resembled some kind of serpent.

The Prime saw spikes and fins grow from the newling’s back, a head shape with long jaws, extended frills and tiny spikes emerging from its cheeks. The body became snake-like, and an arrowhead shaped tail tip finished it, the newling’s colors fading to the colorless white and silver that all newsparks had until they were a few weeks old.

Nagu set the sparkling in Seirina’s servos as it flickered its optics online, the colorless orbs finding its caretaker easily. Seirina cooed and stroked its soft metal cheek with the back of one claw, murmuring in a language Optimus didn’t understand. Soon, the two siblings exited the hot spot with the newling in tow, safely nestled in Seirina’s arms.

“Awwww! So cute!” the pale blue and silver femme squealed softly, the small group coming to surround the black femme as she came near.

“Ha, I knew that it would be a sea serpent! Merrow, you owe me 12 credits!” a pale green-silver and white mech said excitedly, causing the dark orange and green mech he was talking with to reply, “Shut up, Kampoi.”

“Adorable, and congratulations, Seirina. Hopefully, this little one will be joining us once their body is hardened.” One of the other members of the group, a drab brown and grey mech with black spots, said as he tickled the newling’s snake-like neck, earning a gurgle from the sparkling.

“I hope so, Sylkie.” Seirina replied, her orange eyes never leaving the newling’s face. From what Optimus could see, the sparkling was indeed a sea serpent, with a long, narrow body and no limbs in sight.

“The little one is gorgeous, Seirina, but I think we should all retire to our rooms for the night. We can regroup in the morning.” Three Blaze stated, his sister nodded and bid them good night-cycle before heading off towards the palace, the four strangers following her. On the way there, Optimus saw the dark orange and green mech, Merrow, hand the pale silver-green and white mech a credit slug, causing him to grin.

“You two betted on what the sparkling would be?” the pale blue femme up front asked, the one called Kampoi shrugged.

“Well, we’re not stupid enough to bet on whether or not it would live, Myriad.” he replied, though Seirina appeared to not have heard their exchange. Three Blaze motioned for Optimus to follow him, while Nagu and Klaxon made their way in a different direction.

The red mech led the Prime down several hallways until they reached the royal chambers, where, Three Blaze explained, Optimus would be staying until they figured out what happened to him. As Optimus entered his room, he saw that it was sparingly decorated with uncut glowstone crystals embedded in the walls, a high ceiling, and a balcony that faced the ocean. The berth was big enough for his frame type, something he was thankful for, and there were datapads on the shelves on the opposite wall.

Curious and with nothing else to do, the Prime grabbed one of the pads, sat on the berth and flicked it on, delighted that the text was in standard Cybertronian. It was a mystery called “Dataslug’s Demise”, and it was one of oldest Cybertronian mystery novels.

Seirina wasn’t kidding when she said that the original Predacons were intelligent. It said on the front that it was a reproduction of the original story, meaning that someone had memorized it, and then rewritten it. Having not read this particular favorite in a very long time, Optimus sat back and read through the datapad, finding himself delighted that he was becoming just as enthralled by the mystery as he had when he was young. But, he was not the only one that had arrived on Predatron....

{_-_}

In a crater on an island not far from the place where his rival had been found, Megatron clawed his way to the top of the crater he’d awoken in, angry and agitated. The warlord had assumed that he’d fallen into the hole after that strange Groundbridge had exploded, but he also knew that this wasn’t the place where he’d fought Prime before his impromptu stasis nap.

Finally reaching the top, Megatron was amazed by the tropical place he’d awoken to, but more importantly, by the lack of Autobots. He knew that Prime was there, but the question was where? And even more importantly, where was he?