Through The Rift

Prologue

Roars were heard throughout the Autobot ship, the Hyperion. Everyone inside jumped with every thud, every shake, of its hull. The Autobot scouts had come back from an Energon run empty-handed and the Prime was not happy.

Arcee stood at her post outside of the Control Deck, listening to the room get torn to shreds as Optronix let out his anger on Bumblebee. Her red optics occasionally flicked to the floor of the hallway, where long scars had been made in the metal from when Prime literally dragged the warrior-in-training through the door beside her.

That would take the repair crew a while to get out.

"You have failed me yet again, Bumblebee!" The Prime's rage could be heard through the thick metal, "I should terminate you for that fault alone!"

Another loud clang came from the room. The screech of pain that followed pierced her audio receptors and hurt like the Pit. Primus, why did he have to be so loud?

She doubted that Bee was leaving that room in one piece.

Sure enough, when the doors finally slid open an exhausted, yet still very much alive, scout limped out of the control deck. One of his clawed servos held his own severed arm and displaced wires poked out from beneath his dented armor. His EM field shivered and flinched with evident pain and hot, underlying shame.

"What are you looking at, femme?" He snapped with an accusing whirr.

Arcee raised an optic ridge; "An idiot headed for the scrapheap." came her annoyed reply.

The scout's red optics widened and was about to retort when Prime interrupted him, ordering Bee to go to the Med Bay.

Bumblebee growled, but said nothing as Optronix retreated back into the Bridge. Not wanting to anger Prime any further, the warrior-in-training's stabilizers struggled to support the rest of his frame as he hobbled down the hall and out of sight.

Back in the bridge, Optronix slammed his fist on the console. There had been nothing but bad news for cycles. First, that wretched Deception ship turns out to be fully operable and in the atmosphere! Next, the scouts turn up with not a single scrap of Energon! He has an army to feed, and he can't have a single soldier fall before an accursed 'Con! Too many have perished in battle already and at their current rate, his army will be cut in half in an earth month. The Prime needed more supplies, more weapons, more troops!

More troops...

An idea sparks in Optronix's processor. His claws fly to the computer screen and he opens a few blueprints. The image of a complicated mechanism popped up. This was the only large-scale plan left to give the Autobot faction the upper hand in this War. It was risky, yes, but the rewards would be revolutionary.

However, he needed a heat source strong enough to support the systems. Due to its function, the machine cools down rapidly, but if not kept at the right temperature, it would freeze.

According to the Ancients who created the prototype, Earth's magma wouldn't cut it. It's core temperature wasn't stable enough and would cool down before anything activated. A laser with enough strength couldn't be constructed, for he had limited time and materials, let alone the energon required to fuel the machine.

What he needed was something alive to serve as a heating device.

Optronix weighed his options. There were no furnace-based frames amongst his troops, or the Decepticons. The Predacon would be an excellent candidate, but would sooner perish than allow himself to be captured or used. As far as he knew, Shockwave hadn't created any more of the creatures yet.