So bury fear, while fate draws near
And hide the signs of pain.
With noble acts
The bravest souls endure,
the heart's remains.
Discard regret,
That in this debt
A better world is made
And children of a newer day might remember
And avoid our fate.
--Cruxshadows– "Winter Born"
Sentient species share common traits: culture, language, the ability to learn and understand abstract concepts– the free will to wage war upon itself.
One of the sentient races in the universe is that of the Cybertronian. Some would say that they are not truly a race, so much as a collective of robots. Some would say that these creatures are just not an organic race, and instead of flesh and bone, they are beings made of steel and circuits.
Humanoid beings of steel and circuits, each with the ability to transform into another form, the old-young race made war upon itself time and time again. Their home world, Cybertron, went through the cycle of destruction and renewal again and again, until it seemed the planet itself would explode.
And at last it began to show the signs of death. Energy was being used at an alarming rate, and became harder and harder to find, a scarce commodity, needed by all life on the dying world. Both factions began to look for new sources of power, and to this end, both factions built ships that would take them to the potential sources so that they might live a little longer.
The leaders of both the peace-loving Autobots, and the treacherous Decepticons left with these ships, and, a few days after the difficult launches, contact was lost. Nothing was heard from either of these ships– all were presumed dead.
Beyond the asteroid belt, and far from dying Cybertron, a blue-white planet rotated slowly on its axis, as it orbited the golden yellow star, barely acknowledging the passage of time. For countless ages, the living world danced between sun and moon. For countless ages, the secret of the lost ships remained within her warm embrace.
Echoes of deeds long past continued to echo in her bones, the mountains. The very rocks sung of the history of those who had slumbered within their tomb of mountain and fire.
The planet's children emerged. They listened to the stories in her bones, and passed them to their children, and their children's children. With each retelling, the stories continued to live. With each retelling the story changed.
The children begin to change, to stop listening. Stop telling the stories.
And the legends became myth, fading, until only the rocks remembered what the children have forgotten.
No one expected to hear from the missing Cybertronians again– but after four million years, the two forces awakened on the far distant planet called simply 'Earth'.
And the war began anew.
A world that never knew the ferocity of the Cybertronian wars, was now scarred from the battles between the two factions. The beings of the planet were thrown into danger of annihilation time and time again by the giants. Mankind was wholly unprepared for the sheer power of the beings that now walked among them.
The time of myth had returned to Earth.
Earth Orbit: 2000 CE
Earth rotated below the shuttle, white clouds swirling in the endless patterns of an active atmosphere. Between the clouds, the blues and greens and browns of the planet peeked out at the travelers, revealing the splendor of the living breathing world they had come so far to see.
Not just see, since most of those aboard were to remain on the planet to help protect the human population from what was termed by their own media as 'The Decepticon Menace'. A majority of the Autobots were defensive, or scientific types. Most would be useful in the building of the new city-fortress that had been planned.
Most of them, anyhow.
"All right, gents, let's get those seats back into th' upright position, an' stow yer tray tables. It's time ta start our descent." The Jazz's words echoed through Rewind's musings, as he, like a few others, made their way back from the viewing port.
Rewind was the exception to the scientific and defensive contingent. In fact, at times, he thought that the only reason that he was chosen to go along with this particular group was because it included Blaster. He knew that after four million years the Autobot communications specialist was loathe to be separated from his creations. All the tapes reciprocated the feeling. Either way, apart from most of the other Autobots, Rewind's specialty had nothing to do with science, or weapons, or anything to do with the actual fighting.
Rewind, the youngest of Blaster's creations, was an archivist.
The shuttle banked as Jazz started the final circle to descend to the landing strip in the desert near Mount Hillary. The low mutter of the Autobots and humans alike on the ground was barely audible over the soft roar of the engines, coming online to nudge the craft to the correct flight path.
"C'mon, Rewind–" Blaster called, "Time to hop in." The big red communications mech had his chest compartment open, and waiting. The safest place to be during a landing.
Rewind transformed as he jumped towards the space that he and the other tapes called 'home'. There would be plenty of time later to explore, and record. And for right now, he was content to stay out of the way.
In Parallel Orbit
"Shuttle within range, Megatron." The harmonic monotone opened a secured channel to the Decepticon leader with a thought. "What is your command?"
"Commence the operation." The command came immediately, "Send Laserbeak. Get the data on their defenses at all costs."
"Immediately." Soundwave acknowledged, and pressed the button on his shoulder, opening the chest compartment where his own cassettes rested. "Laserbeak: eject. Operation: data assimilation."
A tape ejected from the compartment, transforming as it sailed through the tiny chamber, and towards the airlock. Laserbeak's bird-like form knew what to do– and he did it well. The Decepticon communicator toggled the proper switches to allow the flight of the tape to remain uninhibited, as it sailed away from the illusory orbiting junk field, and towards the aft section of the shuttle as it passed.
Soundwave watched the monitors as the spy transformed, and slipped into a section of the wing, where he would be safe, attached by magnetic grapples, until the shuttle landed.
No alarm from the ship. No transmissions.
They hadn't seen the flight.
"Operation in progress." Soundwave announced over the radio link. "No detection. Retrieval will commence in one week, unless he is discovered."
"Very good, Soundwave." The voice did indeed sound pleased. "Report to me when the operation is over."
"Yes, mighty Megatron." The communication was cut off, and Soundwave was left alone again to monitor the planet below.
The Ark: Two Days Later
Boredom was the last thing that Rewind had expected to find when he arrived on Earth.
It wasn't as though the planet had nothing to keep him entertained, or for him to learn about– on the contrary, what he'd seen on the brief journey from the landing field to the volcano where the tail end of the ancient Autobot ark was sticking out of Mount Hillary was intriguing. Earth was a living, breathing active world.
The problem, Rewind found, was getting away from the seemingly endless briefings that the Autobot leader had insisted that all those new to the planet sit in on. Optimus Prime had the best of intentions– but while current events were mildly interesting, and necessary, should any of the Autobots need to be anywhere on the planet– Rewind was finding himself more interested in what the history was behind some of these decisions. Some even appeared to be arbitrary, and to him made no sense whatsoever.
Sneaking a glance at Blaster, Rewind realized that the communications guru was deep in conversation with someone about how best to solve the problems of keeping the delicate radio equipment in a place of relative safety, while keeping the lines of communication open. A tower outside, would probably work. But Rewind wasn't about to enter the conversation. For the first time in the two days since he'd arrived, he had the chance to slip away, and do what he'd been longing to do since he realized that Teletran One was still operational.
The black and silver humanoid mech peeked up and down the corridor before starting the long trek towards what was once the bridge of the ship. Rewind's blue optics glinted excitedly in his red face. All he needed to do was find the main interface, and he'd have access to all the data that Teletran One had accumulated on this planet.
Carefully Laserbeak made his way through the wide orange lit corridors of the ark, ever heading in the labyrinth towards his goal. The main bridge of the crashed Autobot ship– where Teletran One's main console was housed.
So far he'd managed to evade detection by the Autobots– narrowly avoiding a surprise rampage through the hallways by the red and yellow Lamborghini twins, followed closely by the Dinobots. Only a few well placed cracks in the ship's hull had allowed Laserbeak to escape notice. He'd been fortunate.
It hadn't actually taken him two days to get from the cargo hold where he'd managed to get himself smuggled in the cracks of a cargo crate. It had taken him two days to make an inventory of the supplies, and get the code for the door. All while escaping detection. Of course, Laserbeak had also heard plenty about the new 'city' that was being built a few hours away. Not the technical information that he was looking for, but it would be worth reporting when he got back.
If he got back.
Voices from a conference room not far away grew louder for the space of time it would take for a door to open and slowly close.
Immediately the Decepticon spy transformed, attaching himself to the edge of one of the ceiling tiles, as a small black and silver Autobot snuck into the corridor, and carefully looked up and down the length of the hallway. The mech paused for a moment, tapping a finger against the mask that covered the lower part of his face, thoughtfully looking towards the end of the room where Laserbeak clung.
For a moment, Laserbeak thought he'd been discovered as the Autobot that his databanks now identified as Rewind, started to walk his way– but then realized that Rewind was heading for the same door that he had been aiming for. The bridge, and Teletran One.
This might prove a little more difficult than he had expected.
As the tape passed through the doorway, Laserbeak transformed, and followed on silent wings.
"I dunno, Prowl," Jazz said for what seemed like the tenth time in as many minutes. "I jus' don't know the answer right now. Ever since th' communications post went boom, I ain't been able t'get anythin' from the underground." He shook his head. The normally easygoing mech was obviously frustrated.
"If we're going to successfully implement the warning system for the moons, we need to know the security system specifications for the polar regions" Prowl said quietly,
"This was th'last information that Dice gave me 'fore she disappeared." Jazz returned, gesturing towards the screen. "I know it's accurate– an' she did have a backup from 'Lita's group."
"And you are going to train Cliffjumper as your second? The codes themselves..."
"It'd take too long fer me ta 'splain 'em all, an' teach 'em t'Cliffjumper b'fore he gets ta the moon base. I'll have t'handle the data streams m'self, until he can catch on."
"It's a risk– "
"Sometimes ya gotta take a risk, Prowl."
"Does the backup know the correct frequencies and codes? And what if Dice has been captured– the Decepticons could have the information right now."
"Dice ain't like that, Prowl." Jazz said firmly, an unusually serious look on his face. "Dice would die 'fore she'd let the 'Cons get a hold of her." Prowl watched Jazz as the special ops commander turned back to the screen.
"How long has she been missing?" He inquired after a moment.
"Few weeks now." Jazz told him, without looking up, "She'll turn up. M'not too worried. After all, we were missin' for a few million, an'–"
"That was different, Jazz–" Prowl heard the door open and close, but didn't turn around just yet.
"Don't." There was no playfulness to Jazz's tone now. "She waited fer us for four million years. I ain't givin' up on her so quickly."
The door opened. The door closed.
Laserbeak was barely able to slip in undetected– however the two white mechs in the room seemed preoccupied with something else, and none looked towards the ceiling– yet. He glided silently to the closest hidden perch in the room. Which appeared to be atop Teletran One's main screen.
The Decepticon spy landed, settling in to watch for the opportunity to use the ports that connected directly with the ship's main computer. Patience was one of his virtues. Laserbeak could wait.
Rewind found the bridge occupied. Not necessarily what he'd hoped for, however, the pair of white and black Autobots were not likely to give him too much grief for slipping away from Blaster.
From the snipit of conversation he'd caught, he was walking into another serious discussion that he didn't want to interrupt– so he headed straight for the auxiliary ops console.
"What can I do for ya, Rewind?" Jazz called, redirecting him towards the pair. For some reason neither he nor Prowl seemed to be upset about an interruption to the conversation. In fact, Jazz seemed rather glad to see someone else.
"Nothing, really, I was just curious about a few things, and was hoping to see if Teletran One could enlighten me." Rewind gestured towards the enormous console. "If it was not too much trouble."
"Like what?"
"The humans have named their new interstellar spaceship the 'Argo'. I was wondering about the origin of that name– who or what 'Argo' was."
"Ah, that's th' name o' a ship from a long time ago in onna the Mediterranean countries." Jazz said with a grin, and a glint from behind the visor.
"A part of the ancient mythology of the country known as Greece, actually." Prowl said, flipping through some of the data that he and Jazz had been looking at when Rewind had entered.
"A myth? So did it exist or not?"
"Well," said Jazz, "That depends on who yer askin'. Earth's got a lot o' good stories 'round that may or may not be true– an' some o' them might have a seed o' truth, an' a lot of exaggeration.." He gave Prowl a wry smile, and headed for the exit corridor. "An' sometimes ya just gotta clear yer head. I'll be back in a li'l while t'go over the rest o' that data."
Prowl watched him go, then gestured towards the console.
"I believe you will find the story of the Argo under the story called 'Jason and the Argonauts'. Country of origin is Greece."
"Thank you, sir." Rewind said, taking up a spot next to the monitor, and starting the search for information.
Who among the brave dares the adventure of the golden fleece?
Jason, the rightful king of Iolcus was given the task of finding the legendary Golden Fleece, so that peace and prosperity might return to his kingdom. For such an heroic task, he culled upon the princes of men; the heros of Greece.
Men in whom flowed the noble blood of royalty, and in some cases, the blood of the gods themselves. Many came, and many gathered to hew the mighty trees of Pelion, to follow Argus's instructions on the building of a ship the likes of which had never been seen before, and many thought would never be seen again.
Jason himself went to find the last of the noble princes, while the ship was being crafted upon the beaches of Iolcus. His childhood friend Orpheus, the son of a muse, and the greatest musician who had ever lived, had not come with the rest, being laid low in a cave with his grief.
"I beg thee to come with us, and tame the beasts we shall meet, as only thou canst." Jason was reported to have said, meeting the arguments of the musician with words of sweet truth. Finally Orpheus agreed to accompany the throneless king, and the two traveled to Dodona to seek the blessings of the gods on the adventure. After the appropriate sacrifices, Jason was sent to the sacred oak grove, to retrieve the branch which spoke and prophesied.
And Argus put the branch into the bow of the ship, and thus the Argo was completed. Then the heros boarded the vessel, and headed out to sea, Orpheus at the helm, and Jason at the bow.
So began the adventure of Jason and the Argonauts.
"...Argonauts of old, that they, too, were noble men, who planned and did a noble deed; and that therefore their fame has lived and been told in story and in song, mixed up, no doubt, with dreams and fables, yet true and right at heart...i"
Rewind paused in the middle of the text, and smiled behind his facemask at the simplified version of what appeared to be a complex and contradictory story.
"I wonder what the real story was." He mused aloud, "Had their own Teletran One, with that oak branch. And I wonder why a musician would be given a place of such importance that needed skill beyond that of a bard."
"This is a myth." Prowl's voice carried from beside the operations console that he was monitoring. "Perhaps there was something more to the 'real' Orpheus than is remembered– if there ever was such a person."
"Origins of the myth are unknown." Teletran One put in, "There is little evidence of a real ship of that nature. There is a city that is now called Iolcos."
"Iolcos, huh?" The similarity to the familiar name of the Autobot's city was a little odd, but Rewind was used to coincidences. "The Ark was built in Iacon, though you're not an oak branch, and were with the ship from the start."
"That statement is incorrect." Teletran One obviously didn't feel the need explain itself further.
"You're... an oak branch then?"
"Incorrect. I was programmed in DataNode 3, in the southwest quadrant of Helihex." Teletran One explained in its usual monotone. "And was later installed into the Ark shortly before launch."
"But I thought Wheeljack created Teletran One–"
"I was programmed by Xaus of DataNode 3. It is in my memory banks."
"Wheeljack installed Teletran's program into the ark, but he did not create it." Prowl offered from his post.
"How did it get from ... DataNode 3 to Iacon?"
Teletran One obediently brought forwards a written report after a few moments wait. It was an old mission report– and by human terms, it was positively ancient.
AI Retrieval Mission Report, 12 Helix Second Vertex
Special Operative Meister accompanied Director Prowl to the city of DataNode 3, in search of the programmer Xaus. Mission was a success, though Xaus elected to remain behind in DN3. AI will be installed in the Ark on 18 Helix by Technician/Engineer Wheeljack.
"Are there any more details than that?"
"I have no more details on that mission parameter. Suggestion: Ask Prowl, or Agent Meister."
"Who is Meister?" Asked Rewind cautiously.
"That data is classified."
"Meister is the codename for someone in special ops. It keeps the Decepticons from identifying and knowing who to look for, or who to exact revenge upon." Prowl told the tape, finally moving away from the monitors. "Meister is just one of the aliases that the particular agent uses."
"Agent Meister is still active then?"
"Very much so."
"And you know who it is."
"I do."
"And," said Rewind with something of a sigh, "You're not going to tell me."
"Of course not." Prowl said in that calm and reasonable tone, "That would be unsafe."
"Will you tell me about the trip to DN3?"
i1. Myths Every Child Should Know; Mabie, Hamilton Wright