Written by DBX
Iacon. For years it was both a landmark and a home to many Cybertronians. We had escaped the Citadel and now we were walking through history. Iacon had been nearly buried two hundred years before. When Autobots and Decepticons became Maximals and Predacons, it was necessary to build new cities. Not wanting to disturb the history of Iacon, Cybertropolis was built over top of it. The knowledge held by the Matrix was vast, I felt as if I knew this place. My ancestors had walked this ground, they fought and died here and now I had the chance to see it for myself. I was created to be the next generation Maximal but I was given a new purpose as leader of the Autobots, a new Prime for a new age. Even with all of that ahead of me, I've felt as though I had no individual identity. I knew of Iacon, I have a map of it, I have images of it in my mind but I had never seen it, I had never experienced it for myself. Now I had the chance to learn not only about my ancestors but also myself.We weren't sure if the Maximals would follow us, I had been fighting Destron when the Guard entered the cavern, I almost didn't get away. If they were going to follow us they wouldn't waste a lot of time. Iacon was large though, they would have a hard time locating us.
"Hey Prime, was Destron as strong as he looked?" Nightwolf asked.
"Stronger." I replied, "He had me matched."
"The Oracle must have granted him more power." Rhinox said, "Increased his strength. He had a weakness though."
"His transformation. During battle when he got agitated or distracted he looked like he was having trouble holding his form in robot mode." I said.
"What's the point of transforming if it takes that much focus just to stay in robot mode?" Ballistic asked.
"It's techno-organic, it's not supposed to make sense." Nightwolf answered. I looked over at DinobotX,
"You've been really quiet since we escaped." I said, "Is something on your mind?"
"I know this place." he said, his tone indicated that he couldn't understand why Iacon was familiar to him,
"Iacon played a major role in the first three Cybertronian Wars. The first war was between Cybertron and the Quintisons it was some time before the Second Cybertronian War was a civil war. That war is the reason Cybertronians were split into two different factions, Autobots and Decepticons."
"But peace was achieved." DinobotX said.
"That's right. Iacon saw the last battle of the Fourth Cybertronian War." I said.
"We're not far from the memorial." Rhinox said.
"Alright, let's go."
The center of Iacon was a large, circular, open area with a monolith in the middle made out of a semi-transparent black crystal. It was a memorial to all of the Cybertronians who died in the Great War. The site it was built on was the spot where the last two victims of the war fought their final battle and died at the end. We now stood on the ground where Optimus Prime fought Galvatron for the last time.
"It's hard to believe isn't it?" Ballistic said, "Over three hundred years ago Optimus Prime and Galvatron fought the last battle of the Great War."
"Kind of odd that it came down to those two isn't it?" Nightwolf asked.
"Almost an hour before, the Autobots had forced the Decepticons into a surrender. Galvatron had been separated from his men, not wanting to share their defeat. Optimus Prime wanted to take Galvatron into custody. They met here, both of them knew the war was over, they knew the Decepticons had been defeated but neither of them were going to back down. Galvatron would rather die than surrender and wouldn't rest until Galvatron was stopped." Rhinox said.
"The battle....I remember it." DinobotX said, "I remember seeing this battle."
"X, I know you're trying to figure out your past and everything but that can't be right. There was only three people here that day. Optimus Prime, Galvatron and the guy that saw the last part of the battle." Nightwolf said.
"Who was he?" DinobotX asked.
"I never heard his name but they called him 'the Witness'. He was the last one to see either leader alive. But you couldn't possibly be him, he died off-planet over two hundred years ago." Ballistic said.
"But I can see the battle so vividly....they had been fighting for two hours, Galvatron and Optimus Prime were badly damaged. They didn't say anything to each other in the final moments, they just raised their guns at the same time and fired in unison. Both of them fell, deactivated. But how could I remember it? I don't remember being there, but I remember the battle."
"Maybe someone described it to you and you just visualized it. Because of your damaged memory circuits you may be interpreting that visualization as a real memory." I told him. I didn't have myself convinced though, none of us knew who or what DinobotX really was. Strange though that one of his memories was of the most epic battle in history. Were these memories real or was he just programmed to remember them? Once Cybertron was restored, I would do everything I could to help him recover his memories but there was a lot to be done, we couldn't focus on something like that right now and DBX knew that.
We weren't on a sight seeing tour so we kept moving hoping to find another way back to the surface. The city was large, it had been built for Autobots and Decepticons, robots that dwarfed even the largest Maximals and Predacons. It was obvious why Iacon was now nothing more than a tourist attraction.
"It's amazing, this place went through the Reformatting completely untouched." Ballistic said.
"Well this just confirms my previous theory about the Reformatting only affecting the surface and a few meters underground." Nightwolf said.
"Makes it nice for us. There's enough tech here to build weapons, and anything else we might need."
"If we decide to make use of it. Our first priority is to find a way out of here. If we're going to salvage anything we'll come back later." I said.
"I know this place has been relatively untouched for a hundred years or more but it isn't still inhabited is it?" Nightwolf asked.
"What Autobots and Decepticons still remained were rebuilt as Maximals and Predacons. Iacon was abandoned." Rhinox said, "I doubt will see even a maintenance drone."
"Do maintenance drones watch you from the shadows?" DinobotX said quietly.
"We're being followed?" I asked.
"Six of them, they aren't giving off any technological readings. They're Techno-Organics."
"Keep moving, don't let them know we've spotted them." I said, "As long as we have to confront them we may as well level the playing field."
"What do you mean?" Ballistic asked.
"I have a plan, but I'm going to need some help."
Part of my programming is tactical, the odds were six to five against us and the Maximals were faster than we were. While they don't overpower us very easily, we would have a hard time keeping up in battle and could eventually lose. I started formulating a plan, but it would only work if the Maximals were going to follow us a little while longer. Once we were close to our destination, I gave everyone the signal,
"Well stop here and get our bearings. DinobotX, Nightwolf, I want you to search the area, try to locate anything that might be of use to us."
The rest of us stood ready, waiting for the Maximals' approach. As if on cue the six Maximals made their way into the clearing, slowly at first. I recognized Razor, Shadowclaw and Nightscream from before. The other three were a mystery. A plant-like creature, a lion and a scorpion,
"Nightscream and Botanica." Rhinox said, I assumed he meant the plant.
"I always knew you were a traitor Tankor!" Nightscream said to Rhinox. Rhinox was obviously hurt by the remark but said nothing.
"You have ten seconds to surrender." Razor said. Those of them who had weapons had them targeted on us, Rhinox quickly briefed me,
"You've fought Razor and Shadowclaw before so you know about them. Nightscream has sonic blasts that can affect sensors, watch out for his fangs, they can drain energon. Botanica will be at a disadvantage without any plants around but she does have an energy beam that can do some serious damage if we're hit full force."
"That's why we planned ahead." I said.
"Your time is up." Razor said. Just then a large hologram appeared behind them, it was of Optimus Prime. It reached down towards them like it was going to attack. Panicking, the Maximals ran in all directions,
"NOW!" on my command, DinobotX and Nightwolf emerged from the hologram controls and opened fire on the Maximals while we did the same from the other side. Not only had we caught them off guard, but we had surrounded them.
The Maximals recovered from their confusion quickly but the damage was done, for the rest of the battle they would be playing catch up. Botanica attempted to send an energy surge across the ground at us, Rhinox used his own power to deflect the energy and send most of it right back to her causing her to revert to her alternate mode. We were now even. Nightscream took to the air and reared his head back. He fired some kind of tethered projectile at Ballistic that latched onto his chest plate. Ballistic was being drained of energy rather quickly.
"A little hint you flying rat, don't bite off more than you can chew!" Ballistic quipped. He grabbed the cable the fangs were attached to and used it to pull Nightscream out of the air, "Time to fly!!" Ballistic shouted swinging Nightscream around. Once he had picked up enough speed, Ballistic released the cable hurling Nightscream through the air and ripping the fangs out of his chest plate. I couldn't see where Nightscream had landed but it was far enough away. I used my gattling guns to keep Razor occupied, then I fired a concussion missile that sent him and the lion to the ground. Razor slowly got up,
"RETREAT!" he yelled. Botanica got up and burrowed into the ground, disappearing. The scorpion and Shadowclaw ran to Razor's side and helped him escape leaving their unconscious comrade behind, we had won.
"Anyone else getting really tired of those guys?" Nightwolf said.
"I know I am." Ballistic said collapsing to one knee, "That slagging bat really drained me."
"Then I'll finish what he started traitor!!" the lion yelled getting up. He ran towards ballistic with an energon sword drawn. Suddenly DinobotX jumped between the attacker and Ballistic, two blades appeared on the back of his hand and he stabbed the Maximal in stomach. The Maximal gasped in pain and then collapsed to the ground, badly wounded.
DinobotX looked down at the Maximal, horrified at what he had done. The rest of us walked up to him,
"I killed him..." he said in shock.
"You did what you had to. He would have seriously damaged or even killed Ballistic if you hadn't stepped in." I said.
"Thank you." Ballistic said to DBX.
"Skip the remorse, this one's still breathing." Nightwolf said examining the Maximal. Sure enough, the Maximal's chest was rising and falling slowly. He lifted his head up and looked directly at Ballistic,
"What's this Major? Don't you know...never show pity.........kill your enemy before they kill you." he said. Then he lost consciousness. Ballistic just stared at him without saying a word.
"Somebody want to help me out here? Do we help him or not?" Nightwolf asked.
"Yes." Ballistic said.
"Is there something wrong Ballistic?" I asked.
"I know him, or rather I knew him once. He's an old friend."
"Oh man, I don't want to know." Nightwolf said.
"Alright, pick him up. Let's find some shelter and see what we can do to help him." I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but we couldn't leave him there to die.
The past is important to me, although I don't have much of a past myself. Rhinox is ashamed of his past and wants to make amends for it. DinobotX has lost his past and seeks to reclaim it. Ballistic's past has come back to him. That's something he has to deal with now. I now know a little more about Iacon and more about what it meant to my ancestors. I was born into a world far different than the one they were from, that is my past. And while I can't do anything to change that, I can control my future, and maybe I can do something to restore the home world my ancestors knew and live up to the legacy that the name Prime carries.
