- OPTIMAL DAWN -

 

My name is Optimus Prime. I once co-ruled Cybertron alongside my brother, Lord High Protector Megatron. For thousands of years, he supported my fair judgement with his just hand, and I lent my compassion to his righteousness. We came from the same Spark, the same father. We were two sides of the same coin. We were more intimate than lovers, we knew each other better than our own circuit structure. Or so I thought.
When exactly he changed, I do not know. It has been so long. His betrayal was sudden and devastating. I thought I knew my brother. Clearly, I was mistaken. I could not save the lives of many peace-loving Autobots, who died at the hands of the more military-oriented Decepticon separatists. So in memory of that fateful war, I have built, assimilated, and modified my body into an unstoppable war machine, a mobile battle and ordnance platform, and a hardy transport system. Since Megatron’s body now has at least ninety percent of the Allspark in his body now, if he awakens, he will be invincible. And he will come hunting for the final piece, which I pulled from his once lifeless body. I have been forced to play my last card.
I have absorbed the last fragment of the Cube into my chest. Now, at the very least, Megatron will never obtain the omnipotence he craved.
It isn’t a futile endeavour, because now I am stronger than before and my friends will benefit from the life-giving Cube as well. I am now upgraded with a new Cybertronian structural armour that I call ‘Dragon Convoy.’ The shining chrome and radiant golden plates left on me must be from the Allspark itself – so I think. I have also obtained enhanced regenerative abilities in the event that any attack can penetrate my armour. Since the Decepticons possess an aerial advantage, my exhaust pipes now transform into a Cybertronian jetpack which I called Elita Lumiere, allowing me to fly in my robot mode. Aside from my ‘Dragon Convoy’ structural system, My primary long-range weapons are my Antimatter Fusion Tactical Field Dominance Helix Blaster, or Rhisling 2, and the AC11-OP02 Xiphias 4 Railgun. Both weapons are built for instant field dominance.
With these new weapons, it is my hope that I can take the fight to the Decepticons and save the Earth from their evil. I don’t wish for anymore humans – or Autobots – to lose their lives in this war.
But in this early morning, I am hoping that I may just enjoy some quiet time with a human whom I care deeply about.
I only met her a few weeks before. I am looking forward to seeing her again.

*

In her pajamas, fourteen-year old Michiko had been waiting all night. Beside her open window in her bedroom, in her two-storey house, listening to the chirping crickets and looking up at the beautiful moon, she waited. She looked at her clock. Two twenty-two in the morning. My eyes are red, and I still cannot lie down.
He had told her to sleep, to go to bed and get some rest. She had school the next day. It was Tuesday. But she refused. She wouldn’t sleep, she couldn’t sleep. Too exciting. Too happy to see him.
Her new friend. Her best friend.
The rustling of the trees. Their unnatural movement, as if they were being pushed back by a kami.
Oh, she certainly looked upon him as a deity. Her superstitious mother might have mistaken him for one. Then again, many from her generation would have.
Clumps of leaves fell to the ground as a metallic hand brushed the branches beside her window aside. ‘Michiko-chan,’ whispered Prime, as he configured his linguistics program to the Earth-language Japanese. ‘I thought I told you I’d wake you up when I came.’
‘Convoy!’ she cried happily. ‘Oh, I knew you would come.’ She shook her head as she remembered. ‘I couldn’t sleep. I haven’t been able to keep still since you said last week you would visit. I have been waiting since dinner.’
‘Oh, Michiko. You are low on energy. All the other kids are in lockdown mode by now. You should be too.’
‘It’s called dreamland for us,’ corrected Michiko, giggling and brushing her ebony black hair aside in delight. She reached for him. ‘Take me out and up!’ Prime obeyed, letting her cross over and sit in his palm. ‘Convoy, where are your other friends? Where’s Bumblebee?’ she asked, as he lifted her and put her on the roof.
‘Bumblebee is on his own personal mission. The rest are waiting for me. To return. We have some unfinished business to take care of.’
‘You’re not going already, are you?’ she asked anxiously. ‘You just came.’
‘I’ll stay as long as you want,’ assured Prime. ‘That’s why I came.’
‘But then again, you are protecting us. You are protecting all of us,’ protested Michiko. ‘You have every right to be worried.’
Prime’s metallic mouthplate twitched as signals of recognition flowed through his robotic being. ‘You’re very understanding.’
‘I was a lonely student with no one to talk to until I met you,’ shrugged Michiko. ‘I treasure you more than anything else. As simple as that.’
‘What did you think when you first met me?’ asked Prime, his voice a low mumble.
‘Well, I’ve written all that in my diary,’ she giggled. ‘But you can’t read it.’
‘Hmmmm. And your mother? Oh – parents!’ Prime suddenly remembered, ducking as quickly as his bulk would allow. Trees rustled and an owl hooted. ‘If your mother – ‘
She laughed sadly. ‘Mum’s asleep. And even if she were awake… ever since Dad left us, she wouldn’t care.’ She looked upwards at the sky. ‘Beautiful, isn’t it? I won’t get this view if I lived in Mission City.’
‘No,’ agreed Prime, blinking up at the stars. His dead planet was up there, far away. ‘Look, there’s a shooting star,’ he said, pointing at a brilliant celestial body. It was moving extremely quickly, shooting downwards. Prime could measure its descent – it was coming towards Earth.
‘That’s a funny looking comet,’ she mumbled. ‘It’s not even flying in a normal direction. It’s flying like… it’s headed – ’
It came nearer, nearer, nearer. Until it was setting the midnight sky on fire, and its strange humming grew louder and louder –
‘No…’ said Prime.
The comet was flying towards her.
‘Oh, please don’t let this be so…’ murmured Prime.
It emitted a bizarre light and a horrible sound, like an animal screeching. It seemed like a Protoform, but it was steering its own direction, as if it was exercising some measure of control over its flight. It could not be a Protoform – it could only be an upgraded mode of some sort –
‘Straight for us! It’s coming right on us! Michiko, hold tight now!’ Frightened by the concern in his voice, Michiko obeyed, and Prime rolled out of the way as the comet smashed into her house. The structure instantly imploded, bursting into flames. The wood, concrete, and glass came crashing down. There was no way they could have –
‘MOTHER! NOOOO!’ Michiko screamed helplessly as the ball of fire grew. It utterly incinerated the final remnants of the house. She couldn’t even hear a scream. Unable to help, she wailed her grief. ‘NOOOOOOO!’
There was no time. No reprieve.
He recognized him. Even as the vehicle was engulfed in flames.
‘It’s you,’ snarled Prime, gently laying the sobbing Michiko down behind him on the soft grass. ‘You murderer!’
‘Yes, Prime. Happy to see me again? I couldn’t kill you the last time we met.’ The comet began to grow… no – it began to transform. But it was something bizarre. It looked familiar… yet different.
Once a giant helicopter, now also a helicopter… or some kind of aircraft; some sort of spacecraft. He had once fought on Earth, being defeated by mere humans…
‘Blackout!’ Prime lunged, tackling the Decepticon, and they rolled along the avenue, smashing into another residential block. Screams of the awakened began to filter in the street. ‘You should have remained with your leader in the depths of the Atlantic!’
‘You think I can stay drowned for long, Autobot?!’ Blackout smashed his fist into Prime’s face and fired a round of saber rounds into him. ‘Don’t make me laugh!’
Prime blocked the hail of firepower with his arms. They sizzled as the energy dissipated into the dark sky. ‘You murdered this child’s mother!’ roared Prime, rage building in his conduits. He drew his Rhisling 2 and aimed it at Blackout. ‘You will never learn. This is your last warning.’
Blackout fired his EMP discharge at Prime. The wave-like proton ordnance exploded several houses in the vicinity, and the electric powerlines toppled, severed. But the beam of power bounced off Prime, golden plates reflecting light.
Blackout wavered. Underneath his mouthpiece, Prime smirked, allowing himself one moment of savouring the power of Dragon Convoy. ‘You are out of your league here. I almost wish you had been on Earth to catch up with what I’ve been up to!’ Prime activated Rhisling 2, the golden shards glimmering in the night. A proton beam fired from Prime’s new weapon and screamed towards Blackout. The blast enveloped the Decepticon in a bright implosion of light and sent him flying ten, twenty, thirty-two metres, smashing him into a distant hill. ‘Don’t get up again!’ Prime fired another shot at the smouldering metal. But Blackout seemed stronger too, scrambling up, aiming his gattling guns at Prime. Prime turned to the wailing Michiko on the ground. Blackout roared and began to transform, into his massive vehicle mode. He flew past Prime, nearly bowling him to the ground. Prime shielded Michiko from the barrage of bullets and proton beams until Blackout had passed by them. It seemed that he was retreating. That could only mean –
He looked upwards, and what he saw filled him with great fear. For the sky was flashing with many other comets… unnatural comets that were flying towards the Earth’s stratosphere. They were targeting the Earth’s surface, like Blackout had done. Protoforms? But they glided across the stratosphere with mechanical precision – had they upgraded their Cybertronian modes? ‘So many of them…’ They were coming here. Dozens of them. Dozens of instruments of destruction. ‘Reinforcements.’
What is going on?
Prime hurried to Michiko, scooping her up. ‘We must go. We must get to Ironhide and Ratchet.’
Her face wet with salty tears, she nodded in silence. His steps heavy, Prime retreated, leaving the smouldering house and devastated neighbourhood behind.
The dawn was coming. But it had been ruined. Everything had been ruined.
The horizon was blood red.

*

There are no Transformers who can survive a battle against the me. None! There are, in fact, hardly any armies who can take on me. Not when I get serious. My time on Cybertron has proven that undeniable fact. I will fill the sky with fire and brimstone, crushing anyone who opposes me like the insects that this planet’s inhabitants are. My devotion to Lord Megatron is unbreakable. Not even that traitor Starscream, who defeated me and left me for dead, could touch my will. I, Blackout, swear by the ruins of Cybertron that I will root out every lurking Autobot in the galaxy and crush them into scrap metal, reduce them to dust, and erase them from the the history of our planet forever.
Especially after this humiliation at Optimus Prime’s hands. He will pay for this.
It feels numb, these snapped wires. These severed circuits. This burnt, charred, deformed metal that is my chest. What was that he hit me with? That was a powerful blast. Why was my EMP deflected? The Autobots have improved, that I must acknowledge.
No matter. The power of the Allspark has regenerated me enough to the point that I can leave my watery abyss. Lord Megatron came before me. It will be only a matter of time before the others follow.
I live.
I am here on Earth, and for now I am willing to retreat. Perhaps Scorponok should track my prey down for me while I recuperate from these new toys of the Autobots.
The smoke from that human girl’s burning wooden shack smells good.

*

‘I am sorry, Michiko. I am so sorry.’ Prime could say little more as Michiko wept on his hand, warm tears running down cold metal. She held his finger like her life depended on it, her grip so tight he could feel it even through his Dragon Convoy armour. He had rarely seen humans in tears. But to see this small girl weeping –
I cannot do anything. Nothing that might comfort her. ‘You must go to the police now. I will go and report to the Autobots – ’
She raised her face to look at him. ‘Convoy… please don’t leave. I have nowhere to go. I don’t… I don’t want to be alone. With mother gone, there is only you,’ she whispered hoarsely. ‘Convoy, I’m begging you.’
Prime spoke, partly to himself, to reorganize the frenzied jumble of neurons in his circuitry processing system. ‘Your life is at stake, Michiko. I don’t know why Blackout chose to attack your house, of all places, but it’s almost certain it is no longer safe alone. You need protection.’
Michiko put her hands on Prime’s, as if she knew the best protection could come only from him. He nodded almost immediately. It was true. He couldn’t refuse her. Not after what Blackout had done. ‘Alright.’
He began to transform, slowly shifting his Dragon Convoy structure into a red and blue truck disguise. ‘Hop on. It will only be a short ride.’ The truck honked, and the rising sun reflected the window’s lights onto her face.
Through all her tears, Michiko squinted and allowed herself a small smile. ‘It’s still amazing every time I see it.’

*

The transmitter could not reach the star system. It was too distant, the signal was too garbled. ‘Where is Signal Flare when you need him?’ grumbled Ironhide, resetting the comlink and reactivating it. ‘Ratchet’s communications aren’t helping Fleet V so far.’
His shoulders heaved, and he adjusted his plates uneasily.
The voice filtered through. It had been a long time. Its bright melody was just as Ironhide had remembered. ‘Arcee here! First Class Autobot warrior, infiltrator and infantry ambush division reporting! Is it Optimus? Optimus! I’ve jammed several Decepticon neuron frequencies so they won’t hear us on this wavelength. I’ve wiped out all traces of their Planet Destroyer. The Charii star system is safe – ’
‘It’s not Optimus. It’s Ironhide.’
Arcee’s happy report cut short, suddenly silent. All that could be heard was the crackling from the transmitter.
Several seconds passed.
‘Oh.’ Her reply was blunt. ‘Um. Well, uh – I’ve jammed some Decepticon neuron frequencies so they won’t – ’
‘So you’ve already said.’
Almost instantly he regretted saying that.
Quiet again. The silence was awkward, no doubt, but it was strangely pleasant too. Finally she broke it. Her voice was quiet, but the same gentle melody remained. He could not deny it: it was beautiful. ‘Hey, coach.’
‘Arcee – ’
‘Autobot elite infantry, Class I, reporting for duty, sir.’ Again came her voice, the delightful refrain, filtering even through the hopeless transmitter. Ironhide almost felt an image in his processors of her refuelling herself while resting on the back of his truck mode during the old centuries on Cybertron. When war meant little more than a game of turbofox hunting and peace meant so much more than a reprieve from battle…
His vocal neurons struggled to remain curt and to the point. Part of him desperately wanted to ask her how many Decepticons she had decomissioned, tell her how proud she had made him, but – ‘I need you to come to Earth. Optimus needs reinforcements, and Jazz was killed. Megatron’s return is imminent, and we need all available forces.’
‘There’s still a few Decepticons over here to hunt down. If I don’t get rid of them, they’ll escape to another star system – ’
‘This is an order. Direct from Optimus. Can you get here, or do you need to stop and refuel at Cybertron first?’
‘My cruiser can last the journey. It won’t be a problem.’
‘Alright. With all due haste. The Decepticons could be regrouping anytime. Optimus has ordered full mobilization of all available Autobot forces. I have relayed the coordinates to your position. Follow them and get here ASAP.’
‘No worries, Ironhead.’
‘This is no joke,’ cut in the veteran.
‘Aw.’ Arcee’s voice was still quiet. ‘Hey, coach… thanks for calling.’
‘Just hurry.’ And he cut the connection.