Prelude To Home

By Tony “Thunder” Klepack

Sonimus Prime gazed about the large cavern she stood in, noting the cabling that ran along the wall. It had been six weeks since the attack on Oberon had decimated their base here but in that time many things had happened. First, Hot Rod and several other Autobots had abandoned them to go fight the war on their own. Then, she’d been given what she wanted and been made the official leader of the Autobots.

She’d worked hard, making sure they could scrounge whatever they could together to make the base functional once more. When they’d exhausted all the resources at their disposal they’d started sending teams out to obtain what was necessary from other worlds and space stations. In so little time, the base was once again functional although forty percent of the original facility was still buried beneath solid rock and she doubted they’d be able to clear it out any further. An additional thirty percent of the space they had was still only partially functional but good enough for their needs for the moment.

She’d given them everything she had at her disposal, except the one thing that didn’t come so easily.

Hope.

It had been months of tough times for the Autobots and it didn’t seem like it would ever come to an end. Grid Iron thought she didn’t understand why Hot Rod and the others had left, but she did. She understood all too well... they lacked hope that things would ever get better. They believed they could only affect change if they struck out and did whatever they needed to make things better.

She’d given a wonderful speech when she’d taken command of the Autobots, giving all those assembled to hear it cause for celebration. But that had been days ago and in that time they’d concentrated on repairing the base and marshaling their forces. It was time now to direct their focus toward something new. They needed to strike out against the Decepticons in a meaningful way while still playing by the edicts the Autobots had always guided themselves by.

The question was, how?

They had information on several targets but she was unsure which would achieve the maximum effect among her peers. They needed hope, reason to believe and to continue. Whatever she chose, it had to be the right choice or her people would lose their faith totally and she couldn’t–wouldn’t allow that.

“Sonimus?”

She turned to see Grid Iron behind her.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said.

“Just checking out this rewiring job,” she explained. “I guess I got lost in thought...”

He nodded at that, seeming to understand all too well about the thoughts that occupied her mind–indeed, all their minds–in recent months.

“Thunderclash has made an important discovery,” he told her. “Can you come with me down to the detention area?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I think it’s best if you see this for yourself,” he continued. “We have another spy.”

* * *

Auto Forse sat quietly in his chair, energo-chains binding his arms and preventing him from taking any offensive actions, although Sonimus doubted he planned any action based off his casual posture. He was beaten, finished–and he knew it. There was nowhere to hide or run to–he had accepted that and he knew he’d have to face the consequences of his actions.

“I have to say this comes as a surprise to me,” she admitted. “Of all the Autobots I’ve known in my time, I didn’t think you of all people would be a spy!”

The other shrugged. “I guess you never know what others are capable of,” he replied.

She glared at him a moment, hoping to unnerve him. “I guess not,” she agreed finally.

After all that happened of late, Thunderclash had enacted several new security protocols among his ranks, attempting to ensure no further security breaches occurred. It had literally become a matter of life and death now. If the Decepticons--or Disciples, for that matter, knew they were still here and active then a new leak would’ve risked all their lives. Certainly a new round of attacks would wipe out the Autobots entirely.

He’d explained that he’d detected a comm anomaly in two weeks after the Oberon attack had happened and he’d set things to catch the next one, should there be more. Just this morning, the anomaly had occurred again and this time his warriors had apprehended the perpetrator.

It had been one of their own command staff. One of the most loyal among the crew stationed here. A warrior hand-picked by Optimus Prime himself.

Auto Forse.

He’d come along quietly when they’d arrested him. At first, he’d tried to convince them of his innocence but when Thunderclash had confronted him with evidence of his guilt, he’d given in and admitted to his complicity.

“I want to know how many more of you there are here,” she said. “You’ve already sold out Doubledealer–assuming he really was a Decepticon spy.”

“He was,” the other replied. “I didn’t want to have to do it but Thunderclash was getting too close and Doubledealer was the weakest link in the chain so it made sense to expose him. I’d hoped providing you with a tangible spy would’ve been enough to turn you all off the scent.”

“Are there others still here?” Sonimus demanded.

“There were three others,” Auto Forse confessed. “Lockchop and Wild Digger were killed in the attack on Oberon though. I’ve seen their remains and so has Thunderclash, so I can vouch for them.”

“You said there were three. Who’s the other one and where is he?”

“Dive Scope. I think he’s assigned to the maintenance team at the moment. I’m not sure...”

“I’ll send someone to pick him up,” Thunderclash spoke up behind her.

“Try to keep this discreet,” she reminded him. “We don’t want him putting on a big scene and spooking the legitimate Autobots.”

Thunderclash nodded and turned, speaking into his comlink as he exited the chamber.

“Now what?” Auto Forse asked.

“Indeed,” Grid Iron said nearby, speaking up for the first time. He glanced at Sonimus then turned to the spy. “Tell me, Auto Forse, do you know who it was that initiated the attack on Oberon?”

The other shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I didn’t at first,” he started. “I assumed the Decepticons would never openly attack the base with several of their spies stationed here but it looks like I was only partially right.”

“What does that mean?” Sonimus asked.

“A rogue battalion of Decepticons did strike Oberon, likely using the tactical information I’d helped provide and did all this...” He gestured about. “But it wasn’t Megatron who ordered the attack–he’s distracted by trying to liberate Cybertron from the Disciples right now.”

“What happened to these rogues?” Grid Iron asked. “How do you know all this?”

“The officer I report to told me what happened. The rogue commander, a Lieutenant Commander Terron, thought he was going to impress Megatron by wiping the Autobots out once and for all,” he explained. “It turns out the attack actually brought down his wrath instead. He had Terron and most of his officers executed as an example.”

Sonimus and Grid Iron exchanged looks.

“What else do you know?” Grid Iron asked. “How powerful are the Decepticons forces? Where is Megatron’s base? What do these Disciples want?”

Auto Forse shrugged. “I don’t have detailed files on everything but I can tell you that Megatron’s Empire controls several planets–possibly a dozen. Maybe more... his base is a vast starship called the Dark Glory. I presume it’s somewhere near Cybertron right now planning to wipe out the Disciples there...“

”And these Disciples?” Sonimus asked. “Who are they? What do they ultimately want?”

Auto Forse shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine. I know they’re a legion of clones but beyond that... I really don’t know.”

Sonimus regarded him a moment then turned to Grid Iron. “I want to have a talk with you,” she said. She turned to the guards on the door. “Watch him,” she commanded, motioning at the prisoner.

Grid Iron followed her out into the corridor and waited as the large metal door slid shut behind them before speaking.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“He’s certainly given up the information easily,” she commented. “Can we be certain this is genuine?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It doesn’t seem like he’s deceiving us. Perhaps he feels abandoned by the other Decepticons?”

“It could all be an act,” she replied. “Or, as you’ve said, perhaps this is legitimate... there’s no way to be certain.”

“Once we get Dive Scope, we can question him too and see what he has to say. If there’s glaring discrepancies, we’ll know pretty quick.”

“Assuming he’ll talk,” Sonimus said. “If not, we’ll have to persuade him...”

Grid Iron was silent a beat. “Understood. We’ll get the information out of him one way or the other...”

Sonimus glanced through the one-way window beside them and at their prisoner. “As for him... follow my lead.”

She turned and marched back into the chamber with Grid Iron rushing to keep step behind her.

Moving up beside Auto Forse, she produced a laser rifle from sub-space and trained it on him.

“What’s going on?!” he demanded.

“I’m asking the questions here,” she snapped, jamming the butt of the gun against his head module. “Tell us everything you know–the truth, right now or I swear I’ll blow your cerebral circuitry out!”

“Wha–?” he began, panicked. “I did tell you everything! It’s all true–I swear it!”

“If we question Dive Scope is he going to verify what you told us–or prove you as a liar?”

“He’ll verify it!” the other gasped. “I don’t know what he knows but I’m sure he’ll verify what I said. It’s the truth! Honestly!”

She gazed into his optics a moment, letting him see the burning fury in her own. Finally, she relaxed, lowering her weapon and moving off.

“I believe you,” she said quietly. “Thank you...”

Sonimus turned back to face Grid Iron.

“I think we can–“

She started to speak when she heard movement behind her. She turned in time to see Auto Forse lunging at her. She moved back but his hands closed around her weapon before she could get far enough away.

They struggled for a moment. Auto Forse had one hand on the barrel and the other on the trigger. He wrenched the gun toward him finally with brute force but in doing so, his finger pressed too deep, discharging the laser rifle as he did.

The energy blast tore through his head module, killing him. His body slammed onto the table top, oozing fluid from his ruined head.

“No...” she gasped. “I never wanted this!”

“That fool!” Grid Iron exclaimed. “We wouldn’t have hurt him. He had nor reason to go for your weapon.”

She lowered her weapon and de-materialized it to sub-space once more.

“Wouldn’t we have, though?” she asked. “We would’ve had to hold him accountable for his actions by Autobot standards. What’s the way we dispense justice?”

Grid Iron tried to find his voice. “He... would’ve been brought before a trial of his peers who would’ve judged him accordingly.”

Sonimus nodded. “And how would they have found, given the severity of his actions?”

He was silent a moment. “Likely execution...” he said finally. “But–“

”The way I see it, he probably figured his odds were about the same either way,” she explained. “At least this way, he might have lucked out and gotten us before we got him.”

Grid Iron regarded the dead Transformer. “I suppose...”

She followed his gaze, noting the lifeless form beyond.

“If it’s any consolation, at least he was a spy not a true Autobot,” she said. “Primus knows we’ve lost enough of our brethren over these past months.”

“I suppose,” he conceded. “I just wish it didn’t have to end like this for him. He was a good warrior... maybe it was all an act, maybe not, but he deserved better.”

He gazed at the body a moment longer then turned and summoned the guards from outside the cell.

“Remove the prisoner’s body. Toss it in the reactor and be rid of it...”

The guard nodded then moved to gather up Auto Forse’s remains from the table. They stood a moment, watching the morbid yet necessary act, transfixed by the simplicity of it all. The body before them had gone from a vibrant being one instant to being transformed to lifeless scrap the next.

Yet, she wasn’t revolted–merely fascinated by the process she had witnessed firsthand. Did that make her any less alive, she wondered. Deep down, did she have no regard for the lives she had sworn to protect? Or was it simply that she had witnessed so much death by this point that one more made little difference in the grand scheme of things.

As the guards departed the room, Grid Iron turned to her.

“Now what?” he wondered.

Sonimus glanced at him. “Auto Forse told us Megatron is at Cybertron planning to assault the Disciples. We have to assume that’s coming soon... if we plan things out right, we could slip a small team on to Cybertron while the Decepticons and Disciples are engaged with one another.”

“To what end?” Grid Iron asked.

“For one thing, we could find out what the Disciples are up to. We still don’t know why they’re here or what their ultimate goal is. In the heart of their set-up on Cybertron, we’d be bound to find some answers.”

He nodded. “Good point,” he said. “The intel we gather from the mission could prove invaluable.”

“Assuming we can get in there and out safely,” she added. “But I’m betting we can. Besides, there’s another potential target on Cybertron that’s worth our attention...”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“The Last Autobot,” she replied. “He was left behind when we abandoned the planet... but he’s still down there somewhere, dormant. If we could reach his chamber and reactivate him, well, maybe we could use him to retake the planet. At the very least, reclaiming him could go a long way to lifting our forces spirits–and we desperately need that, Grid Iron. Now more then ever!”

“It makes sense to me,” he agreed. “Certainly, it’s worth a shot to send a team there and try to do this.”

“I’m glad we’re on the same page then.” She smiled. “I want you to get to the computer and start pulling data on the best operatives for our team. We need to get started on this immediately–we have no idea how much time we have left before the Decepticons make their move.”

He nodded and turned to leave.

She watched him leave and smiled. They’d gone through some rough patches to this point, but the Autobots weren’t out of the fight yet.