TRANSFORMERS: Prelude To War  

                             The sheer serenity of it all suddenly startled him, his brain trying to
         figure out the normality of it all. On approach to Cybertron, he was returning
         from a very uneventful trip on the planet Quar’la examining remains of several
         ancient beings, thought to have been ancestors of Cybertronians. He had been
         gone a few weeks, and left Minirod in charge of things. Suddenly, his vidscreen
         came to life, indicating that the shuttle’s automated hails for landing procedures
         has gone unanswered. Whiterod activated the console’s viewer, and visually
         scanned Cybertron as he started his descent.                                          
                                “What is this?!” he yelled. Cybertron was in rough shape. As he
         got closer and headed towards headquarters, he saw the plumes of smoke, the
         battle damage, and the carnage. Upon a haste landing, he disembarked the ship
         to see the body of the combiner Superion, the damage heavy. Whiterod scanned
         the large robot, but detected no lifesigns.  Futher up the landing strip, he saw
         his headquarters tower in shambles. Minirod’s lifeless hulk lay fallen at the main
         entrance, a large hole right through his armour.
                                    Whiterod shook his head, and continued on. When he reached the
         main control room, he found the computer still functional, despite the heavy 
         damage to the tower. He started working the controls, but was interrupted by a
         large explosion out on the landing strip that collapsed a wall of his tower. He
         ran over to the gaping hole and stared in disbelief at the two huge forms battling
         it out. Defensor was engaged in battle with Predaking. 
                                     Both robots were swinging and firing blasters at the same time,
         causing mass chaos to the surrounding area. Whiterod knew he had to put a stop
         to this before the rest of Polyhex, even Cybertron, were trashed completely. He
         brought his fists together in front of him, and began forming a ball of pure energy.
         He then charged it as much as he could, and threw it between both gestalts. The
         result was an explosion that sent both robots hurtling to the ground in different
         directions, sustaining significant damage.
                                    “ENOUGH!” yelled Whiterod, the two combiners, now confused,
         looking on in astonishment. Whiterod himself was a little awestruck. He has just
         used his new abilities by focussing on a single thought and acting on it. For now,
         there was little time to ponder, and much to be done, so he walked back towards
         the computer, and continued working. By this time, he began a scan of each of the
         two combiners, and found that their logic circuits had been disrupted somehow.
         Upon further scanning, he found a small device attached to their brains that were
         also keeping them in their combined forms.
                                     Whiterod left the controls, and walked back over to the hole in
         the wall, and stared down at the two gestalts. He pointed an arm at each robot, and
         focussed his thoughts on them. Suddenly, a burst of energy shot out from each arm
         and enveloped each combiner’s head for a few seconds before disappearing. “Well?”
         asked Whiterod of the two. “We can think clearly again.” said Predaking, before
         splitting back into his five separate parts. Defensor only nodded before splitting
         back into his five parts. “What happened?” asked Hotspot.
                                      His optics blinking once, Whiterod responded. “You were both
         under the control of an unknown device. A burst of heat energy melted them from
         your minds.” he finished. Hotspot nodded. “We should go fix the others like us.” he
         said. The Predacons agreed hastily, and all ten set out to find the other combiners.
         As soon as they were all gone, Whiterod left the tower, and made his way over to
         where Superion laid. He transformed into his car mode quickly, and attached a towing
         cable to Superion, dragging the gestalt’s body into the mechanical bay at the base.

                                       It was all so clear again. There was no overwhelming urge to
         to fight, no burning desire to destroy. It was then that Superion noticed he was
         lying on the floor of some large facility, it’s walls unfamiliar. He also noticed that
         he was still combined, and the very next moment, split into his five parts. The
         leader of the group, Silverbolt, looked about, only to find a lone figure standing
         off to the far side of the room. “What happened?” he asked the dark figure. “You
         were damaged.” replied the figure. “Your mind was taken over by an unfamiliar
         device, locking you in combat.” he said. “But more importantly, it seems that you
         were brought back to life, and by who, I don’t know.” he finished.
                                       Silverbolt just stood there. “Who are you, and how do you know
         all this?” he asked. The figure stepped forward. “I am Whiterod, leader of the
         Decepticons, and for that matter, leader of all Cybertronians. It was I that repaired you
         and rid you of the device.” Silverbolt was about to draw his weapon and open fire, 
         but let logic intervene. “Indeed.” he began. “You are a Decepticon, but you don’t
         attack me. Why?” he queried. Whiterod grinned. “The war is over. But there is someone
         or something that wishes us to keep fighting.” he said. “You combiners are the
         targets.” explained Whiterod. Silverbolt nodded, then Fireflight spoke up. “And
         what did you mean, we were ‘brought back to life’”? He asked. “Simple.” began
         Whiterod. “Thirteen years ago, you were all killed by the Decepticon Sixshot.”
                                     Air Raid chimed in next. “I remember now! We were fighting
         him hard, an then it all went blank.” he said. Skydive shook his head. “Dead, alive,
         whatever! Just what are we going to do right now?” he queried. “What indeed.”
         said Silverbolt, his optics fixated on Whiterod. “Simple.” Whiterod said. “We
         have to find out who or what is trying to destroy us.” His optics glowed bright
         red with energy for a short few seconds, then went back to normal. Silverbolt
         nodded his agreement, despite his reservations.
                                     It was then something beeped. Whiterod’s comm unit was
         receiving a signal. “This is Hotspot. We have a situation in Telex. We need some
         reinforcements now!” his voice was cut off by the sound of an explosion before
         the signal went dead. Silverbolt and the Aerialbots waited to see what would
         happen next. Whiterod spoke. “We have work to do. Follow me.” he said, before
         walking out the doorway, and leaping into the black Cybertronian sky. The five
         Aerialbots looked at each other briefly, before walking outside, transforming, and
         following the lone Decepticon commander.

                                     With explosions going off everywhere, and Telex turning into
         rubble, Hot Rod knew he couldn’t hold out forever. Himself, Kup, and Soundwave
         Were behind a pile of rubble, firing back at the two intruders when they could,
         trying to avoid the incoming fire. Not only were the two combiners, Devastator and
         Bruticus going at each other, but they had temporarily turned their attention on the
         three of them. It was then that five more robots landed near them, and joined the
         foray. He recognized them, they were the five Protectobots.
                                      “Why aren’t THEY shooting as us?” he asked aloud. “Stay 
         focussed on the battle, Kid.” yelled Kup. The Protectobots were about to advance on
         the combiners, when a few well-placed Devastator rifle blasts forced them to
         retreat behind the rubble. “We’ve got to stop them.” yelled Hot Rod at the five
         Protectobots. “If we can stop them, there’s only two left to worry about.” he said.
         “We can do it,” began Hot Spot. “But we need more backup.” he quickly opened
         a comm channel, and was in the process of talking when an explosion cut him off
         in a hurry. The attack was relentless.

                                       Half a megacycle later, the situation was looking grim. Three
         of the Protectobots were immobilized due to heavy damage, and the others were
         almost out of ammo. Just as it seemed the two insane gestalts would win, there was
         a quick reversal of fortunes. A group of robots landed between the gestalts and
         the combined Autobot/Decepticon group. With a sinister grin on his face, Whiterod
         sent the Aerialbots, armed with a new scrambling technology to disrupt the devices,
         right into the foray. “Aerialbots, form Superion!” yelled Silverbolt.
                                      The legs came first, then the torso, then the arms, and finally
            the head. And with that, Superion was back in a big way for the first time in many
            years. He pointed his hand weapon at Devastator’s head and fired. The beam had
            been reconfigured to disrupt the brain, and when it hit it’s target, Devastator fell
            apart into his six different beings. Bruticus saw this and tried to attack, but it
            was then that an energy ball hit him directly in the chest plate, and sent him into
            the ground. Whiterod grinned. “Finish the job, Superion!” he said. 
                                      The large gestalt nodded, and again discharged his disruptor, this
            time on Bruticus. His brain disrupted, Bruticus split back into the five Combaticons
            and just like that, the battle was over. The other emerged from their hiding spots
            and walked over to Superion. “This reminds me of the battle on......” began Kup,
            who was promptly cutoff by Hot Rod. “Not now Kup.” he muttered. Hot Rod
            looked around. “Is this finally the end?” he queried. 
                                     Whiterod nodded once, then spoke. “I want you all to contact all 
           Autobots and Decepticons alike, and have them all join us at the Great Hall in central                          Iacon in two megacycles.” All the others nodded in agreement, and split off in
           different directions to carry out their directives. Whiterod stood there momentarily,
           then began to walk off. “I have data to review.” he muttered, before transforming
           into his car mode quickly, and speeding off over the horizon.

                                      “It’s all over now, they have stopped our little incursion.” said
           a gruff voice. Just then, a more calmer voice began to echo in the large room. “As
           I had anticipated. They are not to be taken lightly.” it said, responding to the
          gruff voice, which belonged to that of General Panar, who began to speak again.
          “Indeed, but what if they decide to come here and exact some revenge? What
          then?” he queried. Fex’ra chuckled before responding.
                                    “That is YOUR concern, General. I am the council, the power
          that gives you the orders to follow. YOU are the General. YOU handle the defence
          of our world, and look after it’s best interests!” he snapped. General Panar bowed
          his head quickly, then faced Fex’ra. “As you wish, my Lord.” he said before
          turning and walking out the room in a hurry. Fex’ra knew his General was
          under a great deal of pressure, but for good reason. “Soon,” started Fex’ra.
          “The apocalypse will be upon us all....” his soft tone trailed off.

                                       There was a time when Iacon was a great city, bustling with
           activity of all kinds, it’s inhabitants busy and it’s structures ones to marvel at. The
           Great Hall was one of those unique structures, and was the centrepiece of the
           Autobot headquarters. Now uninhabited and empty, the great city is now a large
           scale derelict, with no activity to speak of. Some structures destroyed, some with
           damage from countless battles, and a Great Hall just a shadow of it’s old self.
                                        The sides of the hall damaged with weapons fire, the roof all
           but gone, this place was more like a reminder of dark times. But all was not lost,
           as this all was about to change. Autobots and Decepticons lined the floor, waiting
           for the unknown, called here by others. The wait wasn’t long however, as Whiterod
           strode upon the main platform, and looked down upon the multitude that had
           gathered before him. The hall fell silent as he began to speak.
                                        “My fellow Cybertronians, although the battle is over, there is
           a new war to be fought.” he began. “No longer can we afford to divide ourselves
           into Autobots and Decepticons. We now have a new adversary, and need to unite
           against it. Just like the times before the Cybertronian wars, we need to be a single
           civilization again. We need to speak as one again.” he explained.
                                          As some nodded and agreed, he continued. “After analysing
           the data on the control devices found in the combiners, I have determined that
           the ones responsible wanted to do this to all of us, but failed. We need to stop
           them at all costs, and rid the galaxy of this scourge.” Chants of ‘here, here’ echoed
           throughout the Hall. “Today we act!” he yelled. “Today, we fight back against
           our cowardly enemy, today, we declare war on Atzeria!!!” The Hall exploded into
           cheers. As in the past before the wars, Cybertron was one again, and it’s inhabitants
            now had a new purpose, and a new leader for all.

                                                              THE END