CITY: IACON
Realizing that he was alone in his large library, Alpha Trion decided to go to his office, which had several shelves of files that needed to be filled. He approached his desk and pushed a button hidden underneath it, which opened a secret passage behind the desk, revealing a somewhat old elevator.
The elevator went down the equivalent of three floors until it finally stopped at a heavily armored golden door. The golden door had a very transparent blue circle symbol with the Autobot symbol in the center, Alpha Trion placed his hand directly in the center of the circle, allowing the door to open to reveal a white room, well maintained and preserved.
The room itself was not very large, but what was inside was one of the most important things in Cybertronian culture, for it was the infamous and secret vault of IACON, the secret arsenal of the Primes, where some of their mystical relics were kept.
As absurd as it may seem, the largest military arsenal is literally underneath a public library, and that was the intention, no one would imagine that such powerful weapons would be stored in such an unlikely place, because as far as the public knew, the library was only of value for its historical records, nothing more.
Alpha Trion sighed tiredly as he looked at the various relics, overflowing with nostalgia and stories of his own past. He approached one of the tables and picked up a sturdy disk that was simply lying on the table, his fingers delicately tracing the shape of the object, even though this simple object was the most powerful armor that existed, the Apex Armor. Solus Prime's last creation before her death, a power capable of giving even the weakest bot the ability to rival the physical strength, defense, and basic resilience of the Thirteen Primes.
Every creation of Solus Prime was worthy of respect, of course, but this artifact was the most special, for it was the last legacy she had created. Alpha Trion looked at the wall and saw Solus Prime's forge, a giant hammer hanging horizontally on the wall.
The old Prime took a few steps around the room, running his fingers for a moment over the blade of the Star Saber, which was always sharpened to the point where it could cut down an entire city with a single blow. Prima's primary weapon, as well as the mold of Solus Prime, hung on the wall, its gigantic and mystical powers waiting to be unleashed against the forces of evil. But the most precious thing in this room to this legendary warrior was not his brothers' weapons or the relics of his past adventures, but rather an archaic photograph printed in metal.
Alpha Trion took the photo in his hands, wiping the dust from it with his fingers, with a kindness unusual for someone as large as he was. His gaze reflected the desire to have changed the past, to have done things differently while there was still time. The photo was a simple image, but it represented the original thirteen Primes, after the battle against Unicron, at the time when all were one.
Unexpectedly, however, his eyes lit up for a few seconds, leaving his mind unconscious for a brief moment until he regained his composure, his face filled with horror as he saw a chaotic future ahead. He looked down and saw that he had dropped the photo, causing his mind to revert to a chaotic past, when everything had caught fire because of that battle, making him realize that the chaos that had once fallen upon Cybertron was about to happen again.
***
CITY: IACON
[Portal Network]
"Elita! We won't be able to get through the portals!" Orion whispered, watching as Elita-1 walked carelessly toward one of the most protected places of the Old Guard, or Royal Guard, the army responsible for protecting Cybertron, who had inherited the posts of the ancient and legendary Knights of Cybertron.
Elita-1 turned to Orion Pax with hidden anger, a small twitch in her eye. "If you hadn't forgotten the big day, I wouldn't have come all the way from Kaon to get you!" She shouted, stamping her feet on the ground.
"Sorry, it wasn't my fault." Orion took a few steps back in fear of her.
"If we miss even one minute of the arena performance, I'll kick your ass myself and send you to the Allspark in first class." Elita-1 threatened, making Orion instinctively recoil in fear and wondering why women were so complicated.
Elita-1 walked until she reached a guard who was watching them curiously, he had a spear in his hand and slammed it into the ground to intimidate. "Civilians are not allowed here!"
"Stop pretending with that voice, Hot Shot! You suck at it." Elita-1 crossed her arms, making the Autobot in front of her shyly lose his composure. "You sound like a child pretending to be an adult."
"Stay out of my way, Elita! I started working with the Royal Guard a few weeks ago, I'm still learning!" Hot Shot complained, careful not to be seen by his superior and leader of the Royal Guard, Ultra Magnus. A very strict leader with high standards.
Elita smiled at the reaction of her friend, who seemed incapable of maturing, but she missed another person who always accompanied Hot Shot, who was someone very excited. "Where's Smokescreen? That hothead."
"That idiot is a runaway train, he didn't earn the same fees as me! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hot Shot laughed, enjoying the misfortune of his rival and friend. "I heard he's going to be assigned to some old rusty bot to learn respect for authority, but I don't care."
Elita rolled her blue eyes, knowing that Smokescreen was someone very driven, very much so, but that was a reflection of how good and talented he is, always wanting to do good and prove his worth. The fact that Smokescreen was eager to fight, but would never endanger his companions and friends with his recklessness.
"So who's that blue and red guy? Is he your boyfriend by any chance?" Hot Shot teased, not noticing that Elita was a little embarrassed by the assumption.
"He's just my friend! Damn, why does everyone think I'm his girlfriend?" Elita whispered the last part to herself, although a part of her hid the fact that she liked Orion, a feeling beyond friendship.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Orion Pax!" Orion introduced himself shyly, not used to talking to bots his age or close to it, except for Elita and D-16.
"Nice to meet you, now tell me, what is your profession?" Hot Shot wrapped his arms around Orion Pax's neck, curious as to why Elita was following him. "So how did you manage to get her attention? Are you rich by any chance?" Hot Shot whispered, not wanting to get beaten up by Elita.
"I work in Iacon's library as an archivist..." Orion whispered, but that made Hot Shot look at him in disgust.
"A librarian? Seriously?" Hot Shot released Orion from his grip, disappointed by Elita's taste. He returned to his military stance, spear in hand, ready to protect the portal network with his life. "So, Elita, why are you here?"
"In short, this idiot forgot that today is Megatronus' great duel against the undefeated champion in the arena." Elita explained, still irritated by Orion's carelessness. "I want you to allow me and my friend to enter the arena through the portals."
"The duel is today! How amazing, and... what the hell, I'll be here all day today." Hot Shot lowered his head in disappointment. "But it won't happen, if Ultra Magnus finds out that the portal network was used for this, he'll turn me into a simple tire!"
"Megatronus is my best friend! I can get you an autograph." Orion showed a holographic photo of himself and Megatronus, or D-16, both together, with one of their arms draped over the other's shoulder.
"Deal!" Hot Shot accepted without a second thought, even if it meant facing the current leader of the Autobots, because for a die-hard fan like him, none of that matters when he gets an autograph from his greatest idol.