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wyntir_knightTitle: The Devil You Know
Series: G1 universe, focusing on Original characters
Rating: R
Summary: In the early days of the civil war on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime authorized several refugee vessels to take Neutrals away from the planet in hopes that they could start peaceful colonies where they would be safe. Many of these refugees were never heard from again; lost to us through time and distance. But history does record the fate of one of the vessels. The Stormchaser was three orns away from its destination when it was shot down by Decepticons in an act of cowardice and deceit. There were no survivors. That is what history tells us. But in this case, history is wrong.
Author's Note: Day 20, and really, I have nothing to add except that I will be very glad when this is done. I hope to have the rough finished by the end of the month, but seeing as this is only chapter 15 of 30 (well, 17 or 32 with prologue ane epilogue), and each chapter is between 1,500 and 2,000 words long, I think that my actual end date will be early December. Then I will take a break for Christmas before doing a proary edit and revision. After that, I'll start begging for betas ...
35355 / 50000 words. 71% done!
Chapter 15
“Well, I think we could use a good story,” Waverunner said as he sat down near Zenith. “Why don’t you entertain us? With Windsaber’s permission, of course,” he added, nodding magnanimously toward the Decepticon commander.
Windsaber’s optics narrowed slightly, but that was the only sign that he objected to the implied sarcasm.
“Of course,” Windsaber replied. “We have time. Tell us what you know.”
“Well,” Zenith began slowly. “I was only able to find bits and pieces of information and, as a result, I don’t actually know very much. But I was able to make a few logical conjectures and I think I can give an accurate view of what happened to the Colonies. Unfortunatley, much of what would have proved my theories were declared to be too sensitive for me to access, and -”
A green and gold communications femme reached out and touched Zenith’s black hand with her gold fingers gently, cutting off the historian’s rambling speech.
“You’ve started in the middle again, dear,” she said.
“Oh? Oh right. Sorry, Discourse,” Zenith said sheepishly. “I sometimes forget that not everyone is a colleague.”
“So then tell us from the beginning,” Windsaber ordered, sounding bored already.
“I … uhm, yes, of course,” Zenith replied. “I … uhm … I specialized in the Golden Age colonies during my tenure at the University. Actually I wrote my dissertation on them. It was very difficult since the subject has been all but forgotten, but I was very stubborn and tenacious in my youth and I-”
Again, Discourse cut him off before Windsaber could become too irritated with his ramblings.
“That’s too early. Why don’t you tell us about the Colony Program,” Discourse prompted with a smile.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Zenith said as he looked around and seemed to notice the bored looks of his listeners for the first time. “Allow me to start again.”
“Of course,” Windsaber sighed.
“According to my research …,” he cut himself off at Discourse’s warning look.
He shuttered his optics for a moment and when he opened them, he seemed like a new mech.
“Back in the days following the First Great War all the residents of Cybertron were in a state of Joy and Rapture,” Zenith said, his voice filled with passion and conviction. “We were finally free. Free to live our lives. Free to do what we wanted. And most importantly, we were free to go where we wanted. Many bots chose to stay on Cybertron, to explore and exploit the world that was ours by Primus given right. We spread out across the face of Cybertron, changing it and ourselves until we were no longer the slaves that we once were.
“Others, however, were not happy with what was available to them on the home world. And thus, the Colony Program was devised. With the blessing of the Council and the Prime, several ships were commissioned and a mass exodus was begun. Its like was not to be seen again until we Neutrals fled in our Exodus Program. Cybertronians flew out from the home world to colonize the far reaches of the galaxy. Many were outright failures, either because the planets were unsuitable or the Colonists did not have the ability or will to make the program work. Others succeeded with some … nominal success. None managed to rival Cybertron in terms of grace and beauty. None save for Wanlorque Ceti.”
“That’s the world we’re on now, correct?” Windsaber asked.
“Judging by the stars and the maps, I believe that that is the case,” Syzygy replied.
“So, why was this colony so special?” Arclight asked.
“Wanlorque Ceti, unlike the others, was a combined effort of both the Consumer Goods and the Military Hardware,” Zenith said.
“Imagine it,” Updraft said quietly. “Decepticon and Autobot working side by side.”
“I didn’t say Autobot and Decepticon,” Zenith said. “This was long before the factions came to the fore. Back then there was only Consumer and Military. Everyone was one or the other, and everyone was Cybertronian.”
When no one else interrupted he continued.
“It was a glorious time and the Wanlorque Ceti Colony was a prime example of what we can do, as a people, when we put our minds to it. According to the Cybertronian records, according to the Archives in Iacon, Wanlorque Ceti was quickly becoming one of the true wonders of the galaxy. It was a beautiful green world, lush with exotic organic life. And, unlike the other colonies, the residents here chose to work with the organic life, rather than terraform it into something more suitable to our purposes. They worked with the trees and the rock and the water to create something completely new and unusual.
“And not only was it physically beautiful, but it boasted some of the finest intellects ever seen. The colony came to be a center of art, literature, music, and science, and, just as much, it boasted a fine military with some of the most impressive warriors the galaxy had ever seen. There were rumours that all of the Wanlorque soldiers were masters of ancient and mysterious martial arts.
Both Windsaber and Updraft seemed impressed by this last piece of information.
“This knowledge,” Waverunner asked, “did the Archives say anything about there being libraries or learning centers on this Colony?”
“Oh, yes,” Zenith replied, excitedly. “It was said that the colony boasted incredible library. That the scientists recorded all of their knowledge in these libraries, that there were thousands of data crystals that held the mysteries of the universe.”
“Wow …,” Updraft breathed.
“Continue,” Windsaber ordered when it became obvious that Zenith was about to go off on a tangent again.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Zenith stammered apologetically. “The colony lasted for many vorns, but as time passed it became more insular. It got to the point that … well, one diplomat accused them of xenophobia. It was like they left everything that was Cybertron behind when they left. Not only did they want nothing to do with outside, non robotic life, they also wanted nothing to do with Cybertron itself. Eventually the Governor was sent back and the Wanlorquians declared themselves a free and independent world, no longer a colony of Cybertron. I believe that the High Council contemplated actions against them, there were mentions of the anger and perceived insult to this in several missives that I found. But in the end, no action was taken, except to send an Ambassador.
“From what I found, Stutterstep lasted a long time, but then, suddenly, and without any warning, the Wanlorqians closed their borders and sent the Ambassador home. After that, there was a long period where I couldn’t find anything about the Colony. It was as if it had ceased to exist,” Zenith finished.
“So that’s it?” Windsaber asked. “It was a colony that cut off communications. I imagine that happened all the time. After all, all the colonies failed eventually.”
“Not all of them,” Updraft protested. “There are still one or two out there. They’re not much, but they exist.”
“Fine. Let me rephrase,” Windsaber snorted. “All the colonies will fail eventually. Obviously Wanlorque Ceti was no different.”
“I think that’s one of the few things you and I can agree on,” Cobalt said from his place at the back of the crowd.
“That’s hardly a point in your favour, Autobot,” Windsaber replied. “A drunken idiot could see that this story has no point.”
“Oh, then are you-,” Cobalt began, but he was cut off by Zenith before he could further pursue his intended insult.
“Actually, the closing of the borders was not the last we heard of the Colony,” Zenith said quickly. “It took a lot of research on my part. It was as if someone had deliberately tried to wipe the story out, but had only gotten the middle part.”
“Not very efficient,” Waverunner muttered.
“No, but it proved a fortuitous mistake for us,” Zenith replied. “You see, I was able to find the beginning of the Colony and the ending as well. Or, at least I was able to find a missive and several journalistic reports on the matter. It seems that the story didn’t end with the closing of the borders as someone wanted us to believe.”
“Yes, you said that,” Windsaber said. “Get to the point.”
“Well, uhm, … where was I?” Zenith asked, confused.
“The true ending of the story,” Discourse replied politely.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Zenith said, brightening. “A cargo ship came into port on Cybertron many vorns after the closing of the border. It seems that they had suffered a malfunction and had been forced to land on Wanlorque Ceti to initiate emergency replairs. When they got back to Cybertron they were short their cargo, all but ten crew mechs, and they had a missive from the new Governor of Wanlorque. The Captain refused to say what had happened. Actually, he refused to speak except to announce that he had a message for the Council and would deliver it to no one else. He was able to see them, and then after that, he and the remainder of his crew … well, it was like they were wiped out of existence. It was like they just fell off the map.”
“People don’t just disappear,” Waverunner said.
“No. but they can be made to disappear,” Updraft replied.
“I doubt that it was anything so sinister,” Zenith dismissed. “I think they simply fell out of history. What did remain was a record of the missive and the reaction to it. I was never able to find out what exactly the original missive said, but the point of it was that it requested that no further contact be made with the Colony. This was more than a simple enforcement of the xenophobic policies, this was something possibly far more sinister. I was never able to find out what, as I said, but I was able to learn that the Council declared Wanlorque Ceti fully off limits after the missive arrive. There was to be no one on or off the world, and there were to be strict confinement and anti-viral protocols run on anyone who somehow ended up on the colony and returned.”
“Anti-viral protocols?” Arclight asked.
“Yes, and that led to troubling rumours. There were those who said that the colony had been attacked and taken over, that the new residents were not fully robotic. That they were … tainted by something organic. Others claimed that a rapid infection had spread throughout the colony, driving everyone mad. According to that rumour, they turned on each other and that everyone was killed,” Zenith said.
He looked around at the wide and frightened optics of his fellow mechs and suddenly realized what he said.
“But, uhm, I don’t take any stock in that story. I think that if there had been a virus, the Council would have taken more drastic actions. No, I think that the xenophobic policies of the colonists led to their own demise. After all, we’ve all eaten the energon that comes from these plants. It’s hardly nutritious. My guess would be that they simply stretched outside their reach and the Council, embarrassed by the results, tried to wipe the blemish away. After all, Wanlorque Ceti, or the Lost Colony, as it came to be called, was a prime example of the failures of the old regime.”
The other Neutrals nodded in agreement at this suggestion, but the fear was still there, hiding in the depths of their optics.
Series: G1 universe, focusing on Original characters
Rating: R
Summary: In the early days of the civil war on Cybertron, Sentinel Prime authorized several refugee vessels to take Neutrals away from the planet in hopes that they could start peaceful colonies where they would be safe. Many of these refugees were never heard from again; lost to us through time and distance. But history does record the fate of one of the vessels. The Stormchaser was three orns away from its destination when it was shot down by Decepticons in an act of cowardice and deceit. There were no survivors. That is what history tells us. But in this case, history is wrong.
Author's Note: Day 20, and really, I have nothing to add except that I will be very glad when this is done. I hope to have the rough finished by the end of the month, but seeing as this is only chapter 15 of 30 (well, 17 or 32 with prologue ane epilogue), and each chapter is between 1,500 and 2,000 words long, I think that my actual end date will be early December. Then I will take a break for Christmas before doing a proary edit and revision. After that, I'll start begging for betas ...
“Well, I think we could use a good story,” Waverunner said as he sat down near Zenith. “Why don’t you entertain us? With Windsaber’s permission, of course,” he added, nodding magnanimously toward the Decepticon commander.
Windsaber’s optics narrowed slightly, but that was the only sign that he objected to the implied sarcasm.
“Of course,” Windsaber replied. “We have time. Tell us what you know.”
“Well,” Zenith began slowly. “I was only able to find bits and pieces of information and, as a result, I don’t actually know very much. But I was able to make a few logical conjectures and I think I can give an accurate view of what happened to the Colonies. Unfortunatley, much of what would have proved my theories were declared to be too sensitive for me to access, and -”
A green and gold communications femme reached out and touched Zenith’s black hand with her gold fingers gently, cutting off the historian’s rambling speech.
“You’ve started in the middle again, dear,” she said.
“Oh? Oh right. Sorry, Discourse,” Zenith said sheepishly. “I sometimes forget that not everyone is a colleague.”
“So then tell us from the beginning,” Windsaber ordered, sounding bored already.
“I … uhm, yes, of course,” Zenith replied. “I … uhm … I specialized in the Golden Age colonies during my tenure at the University. Actually I wrote my dissertation on them. It was very difficult since the subject has been all but forgotten, but I was very stubborn and tenacious in my youth and I-”
Again, Discourse cut him off before Windsaber could become too irritated with his ramblings.
“That’s too early. Why don’t you tell us about the Colony Program,” Discourse prompted with a smile.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Zenith said as he looked around and seemed to notice the bored looks of his listeners for the first time. “Allow me to start again.”
“Of course,” Windsaber sighed.
“According to my research …,” he cut himself off at Discourse’s warning look.
He shuttered his optics for a moment and when he opened them, he seemed like a new mech.
“Back in the days following the First Great War all the residents of Cybertron were in a state of Joy and Rapture,” Zenith said, his voice filled with passion and conviction. “We were finally free. Free to live our lives. Free to do what we wanted. And most importantly, we were free to go where we wanted. Many bots chose to stay on Cybertron, to explore and exploit the world that was ours by Primus given right. We spread out across the face of Cybertron, changing it and ourselves until we were no longer the slaves that we once were.
“Others, however, were not happy with what was available to them on the home world. And thus, the Colony Program was devised. With the blessing of the Council and the Prime, several ships were commissioned and a mass exodus was begun. Its like was not to be seen again until we Neutrals fled in our Exodus Program. Cybertronians flew out from the home world to colonize the far reaches of the galaxy. Many were outright failures, either because the planets were unsuitable or the Colonists did not have the ability or will to make the program work. Others succeeded with some … nominal success. None managed to rival Cybertron in terms of grace and beauty. None save for Wanlorque Ceti.”
“That’s the world we’re on now, correct?” Windsaber asked.
“Judging by the stars and the maps, I believe that that is the case,” Syzygy replied.
“So, why was this colony so special?” Arclight asked.
“Wanlorque Ceti, unlike the others, was a combined effort of both the Consumer Goods and the Military Hardware,” Zenith said.
“Imagine it,” Updraft said quietly. “Decepticon and Autobot working side by side.”
“I didn’t say Autobot and Decepticon,” Zenith said. “This was long before the factions came to the fore. Back then there was only Consumer and Military. Everyone was one or the other, and everyone was Cybertronian.”
When no one else interrupted he continued.
“It was a glorious time and the Wanlorque Ceti Colony was a prime example of what we can do, as a people, when we put our minds to it. According to the Cybertronian records, according to the Archives in Iacon, Wanlorque Ceti was quickly becoming one of the true wonders of the galaxy. It was a beautiful green world, lush with exotic organic life. And, unlike the other colonies, the residents here chose to work with the organic life, rather than terraform it into something more suitable to our purposes. They worked with the trees and the rock and the water to create something completely new and unusual.
“And not only was it physically beautiful, but it boasted some of the finest intellects ever seen. The colony came to be a center of art, literature, music, and science, and, just as much, it boasted a fine military with some of the most impressive warriors the galaxy had ever seen. There were rumours that all of the Wanlorque soldiers were masters of ancient and mysterious martial arts.
Both Windsaber and Updraft seemed impressed by this last piece of information.
“This knowledge,” Waverunner asked, “did the Archives say anything about there being libraries or learning centers on this Colony?”
“Oh, yes,” Zenith replied, excitedly. “It was said that the colony boasted incredible library. That the scientists recorded all of their knowledge in these libraries, that there were thousands of data crystals that held the mysteries of the universe.”
“Wow …,” Updraft breathed.
“Continue,” Windsaber ordered when it became obvious that Zenith was about to go off on a tangent again.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Zenith stammered apologetically. “The colony lasted for many vorns, but as time passed it became more insular. It got to the point that … well, one diplomat accused them of xenophobia. It was like they left everything that was Cybertron behind when they left. Not only did they want nothing to do with outside, non robotic life, they also wanted nothing to do with Cybertron itself. Eventually the Governor was sent back and the Wanlorquians declared themselves a free and independent world, no longer a colony of Cybertron. I believe that the High Council contemplated actions against them, there were mentions of the anger and perceived insult to this in several missives that I found. But in the end, no action was taken, except to send an Ambassador.
“From what I found, Stutterstep lasted a long time, but then, suddenly, and without any warning, the Wanlorqians closed their borders and sent the Ambassador home. After that, there was a long period where I couldn’t find anything about the Colony. It was as if it had ceased to exist,” Zenith finished.
“So that’s it?” Windsaber asked. “It was a colony that cut off communications. I imagine that happened all the time. After all, all the colonies failed eventually.”
“Not all of them,” Updraft protested. “There are still one or two out there. They’re not much, but they exist.”
“Fine. Let me rephrase,” Windsaber snorted. “All the colonies will fail eventually. Obviously Wanlorque Ceti was no different.”
“I think that’s one of the few things you and I can agree on,” Cobalt said from his place at the back of the crowd.
“That’s hardly a point in your favour, Autobot,” Windsaber replied. “A drunken idiot could see that this story has no point.”
“Oh, then are you-,” Cobalt began, but he was cut off by Zenith before he could further pursue his intended insult.
“Actually, the closing of the borders was not the last we heard of the Colony,” Zenith said quickly. “It took a lot of research on my part. It was as if someone had deliberately tried to wipe the story out, but had only gotten the middle part.”
“Not very efficient,” Waverunner muttered.
“No, but it proved a fortuitous mistake for us,” Zenith replied. “You see, I was able to find the beginning of the Colony and the ending as well. Or, at least I was able to find a missive and several journalistic reports on the matter. It seems that the story didn’t end with the closing of the borders as someone wanted us to believe.”
“Yes, you said that,” Windsaber said. “Get to the point.”
“Well, uhm, … where was I?” Zenith asked, confused.
“The true ending of the story,” Discourse replied politely.
“Oh, yes, of course,” Zenith said, brightening. “A cargo ship came into port on Cybertron many vorns after the closing of the border. It seems that they had suffered a malfunction and had been forced to land on Wanlorque Ceti to initiate emergency replairs. When they got back to Cybertron they were short their cargo, all but ten crew mechs, and they had a missive from the new Governor of Wanlorque. The Captain refused to say what had happened. Actually, he refused to speak except to announce that he had a message for the Council and would deliver it to no one else. He was able to see them, and then after that, he and the remainder of his crew … well, it was like they were wiped out of existence. It was like they just fell off the map.”
“People don’t just disappear,” Waverunner said.
“No. but they can be made to disappear,” Updraft replied.
“I doubt that it was anything so sinister,” Zenith dismissed. “I think they simply fell out of history. What did remain was a record of the missive and the reaction to it. I was never able to find out what exactly the original missive said, but the point of it was that it requested that no further contact be made with the Colony. This was more than a simple enforcement of the xenophobic policies, this was something possibly far more sinister. I was never able to find out what, as I said, but I was able to learn that the Council declared Wanlorque Ceti fully off limits after the missive arrive. There was to be no one on or off the world, and there were to be strict confinement and anti-viral protocols run on anyone who somehow ended up on the colony and returned.”
“Anti-viral protocols?” Arclight asked.
“Yes, and that led to troubling rumours. There were those who said that the colony had been attacked and taken over, that the new residents were not fully robotic. That they were … tainted by something organic. Others claimed that a rapid infection had spread throughout the colony, driving everyone mad. According to that rumour, they turned on each other and that everyone was killed,” Zenith said.
He looked around at the wide and frightened optics of his fellow mechs and suddenly realized what he said.
“But, uhm, I don’t take any stock in that story. I think that if there had been a virus, the Council would have taken more drastic actions. No, I think that the xenophobic policies of the colonists led to their own demise. After all, we’ve all eaten the energon that comes from these plants. It’s hardly nutritious. My guess would be that they simply stretched outside their reach and the Council, embarrassed by the results, tried to wipe the blemish away. After all, Wanlorque Ceti, or the Lost Colony, as it came to be called, was a prime example of the failures of the old regime.”
The other Neutrals nodded in agreement at this suggestion, but the fear was still there, hiding in the depths of their optics.
