TFP: Ballad of Dodger (Book 1)

One Shall Rise Pt. 3

The Autobots were walking through the corridors inside Unicron...with Megatron.  As Megatron continued guiding them through the dormant Chaos God, he suddenly stopped and slumped as if he had a headache.

Megatron: Unicron grows ever stronger.

Megatron continued on, Arcee had concerns.  They all did.

Arcee: How do we know Unicron isn't using Megatron to lead use all into a trap!?

Optimus: We do not.

Arcee just brought out her blasters as she continued on with the others.  Little did they know, they weren't alone down there...

(Autobot base)

Back at base, Ratchet was monitoring his equipment while the news continued to show the bizarre weather caused by Unicron.  Well, it did, before the news was cut off.  June tried to lighten everyone up, to no avail.  Agent Fowler didn't like the idea of being cooped up in the silo while the world's weather and geology were going haywire.

Agent Fowler: That tears it!

June: Where are you going?

Agent Fowler: I can't just sit on my hands while the world spins out of control!

Ratchet: And what is it that you intend to do??

Agent Fowler: Anything!  Hook up with my boys at the Pentagon!  Figure out a way to bury that monster for good!

Ratchet: In the event that Optimus can't!?

Agent Fowler: Don't you mean Optimus...and Megatron!?

Ratchet: No one here is thrilled about this arrangement Agent Fowler, myself included.  But with Optimus and Megatron together again...

Jack: Whoa wait...Again??

Thomas: As in... they've worked together before?? 

Raf: Megatron was an Autobot?

Miko: Optimus was a Con'?!

Ratchet: No, on either count.  But there was a time...back on Cybertron...in the twilight hours of the Golden Age, where Optimus and Megatron were not sworn enemies.  Do you recall when I mentioned that Optimus wasn't always a Prime?  Well, he wasn't always Optimus either.  He was once a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records named Orion Pax.  But as he learned more about Cybertron's past, he grew increasingly concerned about the present corruption in high places and inequality among the masses.  Orion became inspired by the words and ideas of the gladiator, one who had named himself after one of the thirteen original Primes: Megatronus.  Megatronus vowed to challenge Cybertron's leadership and demanded that all Cybertronians be treated as equals.  The gladiator turned revolutionary rapidly gained a loyal following.  Soundwave, chief among them.  Orion began corresponding with Megatronus, who came to be something of a mentor to him.  As Megatronus left the gladiatorial ring for the political, he saw fit to shorten his name.  Before long, Megatron appeared before the High Council to propose his vision for a just society.  And it was here that he began to reveal his true colors.  Proclaiming to overthrow the old guard with force and arrogantly demanding to be named the next Prime.  But Orion did not believe in violence as a means of achieving justice.  The sparks and minds of the Council were moved by Orion's words.  Here... for the first time since Cybertron's Golden Age...stood someone worthy of being a Prime.  But that honor could only be achieved by earning the legendary Matrix of Leadership.  His ambitions thwarted, Megatron spitefully severed all ties with Orion and the Council...and came to wage war on all who opposed him through his growing army of followers which he named Decepticons.  He vowed to claim the Matrix for himself wherever it may lie.  In time, warfare consumed Cybertron, poisoning the planet to its core.  Orion journeyed there, hoping to reverse the ill effects and found himself before the very spark of our life giver, Primus himself.  The ailing Primus sensed the innatiability within Orion and bestowed the Matrix upon him.  It was thus that a surprised and humbled Orion Pax came to be Optimus, the last of the Primes.