The Soul Forge
Written by DBX

Protoforms and sparks, the things that make Maximals and Predacons what they are. Factories where protoforms are created are located in Cybertropolis. These factories are the one source of new life on Cybertron. When a spark comes online it's as joyous an occasion as the birth of a child. The factories bare nicknames such as "The Matrix" where most Maximals are created, and "The Pit" where most Predacons come online. To each Cybertronian, these factories are sacred, as sacred as life itself. But not all view these places in such light.

Megatron. His self-proclaimed destiny is to rule Cybertron and to change it into his own warped idea of perfection. What does he consider perfection? A cold, lifeless machine. Void of any conflicting individuality. Mellinniums of war, three centuries of peace, shattered by the ambitions of one of their own. Whatever scars he bears from the Beast Wars have been brought to Cybertron. To his bizzare logic, the first step to ridding Cybertron of the individual sparks that plague it, is to destroy the very factories where protoforms and sparks are joined. This includes destroying the very place he was born.

Knowing it is Megatron's next target, the Cybertronians reinforce the security around the Pit. They've lost countless battles already against Megatron, there isn't even the slightest chance they will win this one. Four hundred soldiers gather at the pit preparing for the all out assault. Maximal and Predacon, they are united under the threat of their greatest enemy. There isn't a steady nerve in the room during the final weapons check. Some look at each other as if to say goodbye, still others stand alone in quiet contemplation. The silence in these volatile moments says everything that needs to be said as they await the battle. Hearing a noise, they all turn their attention to the door, once built to stop a tank it now glows red hot as it begins to melt. Four hundred weapons cock in unison, and as the door falls and the soldiers see their nemesis. How fitting that the monster takes the form of a dragon, he breathes the fires of death falling one hundred in a matter of seconds. Their fire power does little to even hurt Megatron as he continues his attack.

In less time than it takes to tell, the battle is over, and the Pit is in flames. Within minutes of burning, the building explodes and what's left of the structure crumbles to the ground. Megatron leaves the Pit without celebration. He has won another battle and he is one step closer to his goal, but he knows that this is just one more step in many. He has not won yet. The Pit is gone, the Matrix remains. He wonders how much of Cybertron he must destroy in order to save it

The defense of the Matrix is much different than it was at the Pit. There aren't four hundred soldiers in wait, but only five. Four of them are armed with explosive devices and standard rifles. The fifth carries an experimental prototype weapon. All the power of a fusion cannon in a portable device. A desperate attempt to stop Megatron once and for all.

"Five soldiers and one lousy gun." one of them remarks. The others didn't say anything, "Oh come on! You really think that peashooter is going to do anything to Megatron?"

"The Council thinks that 'peashooter' as you call it, is our best chance at stopping him." another one says. The first one turned to the one holding the weapon,

"Lieutenant, what do you think?"

"We've been given a mission. Whether we agree with it or not, we have to carry out orders. And orders or no orders, it's still our duty to stop Megatron any way we can." the Lieutenant says.

"This is crazy, we're-" he was interrupted by a pounding on the door. They prepared for battle as Megatron burst through the door. The Lieutenant fires the prototype hitting Megatron in the head. Megatron reels back, obviously hurt my the powerful weapon. He reaches his hand up and feels a scar running down his eye. Glaring he angrily swoops in and strikes one of the soldiers, ripping him apart with his bare hands. The remaining four scatter as they take random shots at Megatron. Megatron corners one of them. He nervously lifts his weapon but is too paralyzed with fear to fire.

The Lieutenant hears a scream from acrossed the factory, Megatron has claimed another victem. He runs in the direction of the scream to see one of his fellow soldiers, deactivated. Nearby another one. He realizes there is only him and one other left. As this thought crosses his mind, the fourth body is tossed down from a above. He looks up to see Megatron standing on a catwalk. Angrily he sets the weapon to full power and fires on Megatron. Megatron cries out in pain as he is thrown acrossed the room, finally landing on a tank of chemicals. An explosion rocks factory as the chemicals catch fire and detonate. The Lieutenant looks on with relief. He has won. He walks around the Matrix looking at the equipment used to create the protoforms. Then he sees the bodies of his comrades laying around him.

"All of this death, in a place of life..." he mutters. He looks back to the fire and wonders, has he stopped the death or contributed to it? Life is too precious to take. The beauty, the frailty, THE PAIN! His sensors barely have time to register it before they are melted away as a blast rips through his torso. It only takes an instant for him to die, but in that instant he realizes one thing:

He has failed.

The Lieutenant falls to the ground as Megatron approaches. The giant looks at the fallen soldier without pity. He picks up the weapon the soldier carried and crushes it in his grasp. Then without a thought he begins to set the building ablaze destroying everything inside. The balance has tipped, but the road ahead is long. The cleansing fires that now claim the structure are almost metaphorical to Megatron as he prepares for Cybertron's purification.

"In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare seize the fire?"