Chương 18: LOG-018.

The meeting chamber was fairly packed, all things considered. Dreadwing and Soundwave stood to one side of a large table, myself and Indomina on another. Knockout had elected to lean against a wall, crossing his arms, and of course my Zakus filled the rest of the space. They were the closest thing we had to sub-officers at this point after all. Inclining my helm slightly, I stepped forward, resting a servo against the surface of the angular table.

"Let us begin. You all have questions. I will answer them." Dreadwing nodded, mouth twisted into a frown.

"I for one, would appreciate some elaboration on just what you meant about Unicron awakening. Do you mean to say that firing the Omega Lock and reviving Cybertron will inadvertently awaken the Chaos Bringer?" I nodded, sweeping a hand across the table. The holo-emitter embedded inside it activated, displaying the planet below us.

"Correct. I have done... extensive... research on the subject. Primus and Unicron are inherently linked. Reviving one will also revive the other. Obviously not to the same degree as firing the Lock directly at Unicron, but..." Bullshit of course. My 'research' consisted of my memories of the original plot. But they didn't need to know that. Murmuring around the table. With the exception of Soundwave of course. The silent mech was as inscrutable as ever. Knockout elected to speak up from his corner of the room.

"So... what? We can't fix our homeworld? Not without bringing a new form of ruin to it anyway?" The medic seemed none too pleased about the idea. And I couldn't blame him. There were very few who didn't wish to see cybertron restored to it's former glory. Leaning forward, I glanced Indomina's way, the femme staring back at me, before turning back to look at Dreadwing and Soundwave. Knockout would follow. They were the ones I needed to convince.

"It is my current hypothesis that the Destroyer remains weakened, as such he can not simply move to annihilate cybertron directly. This is where Megatron was supposed to come in. By slowly corrupting our Lord, Unicron would have used him as a puppet. A tool that would settle the matter for him." At the severe frowns around the room, I continued.

"Thanks to our efforts however, that will not happen anytime soon. We have bought ourselves much needed time. But we must remain wary. Knockout." The red Grounder stood slightly straighter at being directly addressed, brushing some imaginary dust off his shoulder.

"Yes?" I gave the medic a nod.

"It is my hope that we may use your medical expertise to successfully render Megatron a non-issue in the immediate future. Namely by temporarily removing his remaining limbs-" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I was forced to pause as a thin servo clacked against the table. Soundwave's visor staring into my own optic. Indomina snarled.

"Do not question the creator's will-" The predacon paused at my upraised servo, yellow optics still narrowed dangerously.

"No. Soundwave is correct to have concerns. However I still believe it the most logical course of action. Until the dark energon is excised from his system, and the shard removed from his spark chamber, Megatron remains under threat of potential possession by Unicron." I stared into her optics for a moment, the femme eventually backing down with a huff, then made sure to put emphasis in my next words, as I looked at my own reflection, caught in the spymaster's blank mask.

"It is up to us to ensure that he remains under our care. In a safe, familiar environment. If he were to become fully compromised and escape the Nemesis..." A tense moment passed, before Soundwave finally nodded, stepping back. Indomina chuffed slightly, mouth quirking upwards in a smirk. Honestly, she was far too smug looking for someone technically less than a decade old. Knockout piped up, glancing between the two of us.

"So... I'm cleared to perform the operation then?" Dreadwing glanced at Soundwave, then sighed, nodding.

"Yes, Knockout. Alongside your current duties, ensure that Lord Megatron remains in a... harmless state. Kept in stasis of course, it would not do to humiliate our Lord needlessly. As much as it pains me to... mutilate him. It is for his own good." Good Dreadwing. I knew you'd see the logic in it. After the Medic bowed his helm, I resumed my speech.

"Aside from that, I have several projects that I wish to complete, with the eventual goal being the neutralisation of Unicron and the revival of Primus." There was a brief, disbelieving silence at my words. Dreadwing slowly bit out a question.

"You... intend to offline the Destroyer? Slag, do you even believe we can do so?" I ignored Indomina's quiet "Of course he does, fool" and responded.

"Correct. Though termination is a preferable option, I will also settle for merely preventing Unicron's activation as a whole." The mechs in the chamber glanced at each other. The officers that is. Indomina and the Zakus seemed perfectly sure that I would work it out. They were loyal like that. Finally, Dreadwing finished glancing at Soundwave and shifted, stretching an arm.

"Very well. But such an... enormous task is far easier said than done. How do you intend to accomplish this goal?" I spread my arms for effect.

"The first thing that must be done is the revival of the predacons. Indomina has already proven the concept, and a larger force would certainly assist with the rest of our goals. However, we will require remnants of my former creations in order to successfully harvest the CNA required for their conception." At their blank looks, I sighed.

"There are predacon remains on earth. We must retrieve said remains so I can make additional predacons." At that, they all nodded, understanding my dumbed down explanation.

"In the meantime, I will continue work on attempting to decipher the IFF element of the Forge of Solus Prime. I fully believe that, given enough time, I will be able to uncover a method of controlling the device without having to resort to utilizing a dead Prime's limb." At that, Dreadwing smiled, the large blue Seeker placing both servos on the table.

"Yes, having the Forge available should prove an excellent boon. Meanwhile-" The mech paused as a vehicon Grounder rushed into the chamber, fans whirring.

"Soldier? What is the meaning of this?" The trooper bowed his helm in Dreadwing's direction, then spoke.

"Sir, perimeter patrol have detected two unknown vessels! Preliminary analysis suggests Autobot origin!" I stiffened, even as the rest of the meeting erupted into chaos. An Autobot ship? How?! That was... impossible... unless.

"Scramble Seekers to intercept! Soundwave, attend the bridge! I will sortie to meet these transgressors myself!" Thinking about it, and assuming it wasn't a third party of some sort, there were two ships team Prime could have made it to Cybertron with, especially if they had managed to commandeer the spacebridge behind the moon. We'd been here far longer than in canon after all. Assuming that our complete lack of presence on Earth had allowed the Autobots to regroup... Wheeljack.

And possibly Ultra Magnus, if the old general had made it to Earth like he had previously. And due to our absence, his far larger ship should still be largely functional-"Creator!" I shook my helm, torn away from my thoughts by Indomina's worried yell.

"I'm fine. Accompany me. If the contacts are who I believe they are, my presence will likely prove beneficial." The predacon nodded, taking her place at my side. Behind us, the Zakus assembled into a two by two formation, following our lead. I sighed, even as alarms began to blare throughout the Nemesis. It was just one thing after another, wasn't it?