eugenesis-text

‘I think this meeting is at an end,’ said Prowl. ‘I’ll make an official announcement about
Thunderclash’s abduction later today. I’d like you to stay behind, Nightbeat. We have some things to
discuss.’
Perceptor closed the door behind Sideswipe and returned to the table. The three of them sat in a
post-argument triangle, as if clustered around a kitchen table at three in the morning. When Prowl spoke
he sounded more relaxed than he looked.
‘Nightbeat, I want you to know that you’ve been a great help to us recently, investigating
Thunderclash’s disappearance and uncovering a Quintesson threat.’
‘Yes, well. That’s what I’m here for.’
‘Hm. Yes and no,’ said Perceptor, rubbing invisible dirt off the table. ‘Rodimus Prime did not call
you up from Delphi for your investigative skills. He had a far more specific reason.’
Prowl leant forward. ‘It’s time we told you why you’re here.’
General Rodern should have been happy. Standing in front of flickering screens, with a handicam
view of the entire Autobot City battle, he should have been over the moon.
Not so.
He’d watched Autobots being brought to their knees in loose and urgent gunfire; he’d watched a
black-bubbled moat became congealed with scum and crust and tingling threads of mixed-up, gobbed-up
fuel; he’d watched an evening sky grow as raw and formless as a burst lung, mute with pollutants; he’d
watched Tridents race across clouds smeared with arterial glue; he’d watched streets fill with fingers and
cut-up faces, with jigsaw jaws and eyes as bright as ten watt bulbs.
He should have been happy, but he wasn’t.
‘What’s it take’ he cried to the mass of monitors. ‘We’re decimating you! When are you going to
release the titan’ He swivelled on his heels and stepped into the comms pit. ‘You! Contact half the
Tridents and order them ram-raid the city! I want it in ruins!’
Confronted by crowds of advancing Sharkticons, Ultra Magnus backed down a side street, pathblaster
hoisted to hip-height. Death’s Head and Wheeljack were either side of him, squeezing off shots to
cover Blaster, who was heading their way.
‘I couldn’t contact Cybertron,’ said the communications officer. ‘And now the hall’s up in smoke.’
‘Dammit! Is there any way we can reach Prowl’
‘What if I generate the Space Bridge’ said Wheeljack. ‘I can have half of it materialise here and the
other half in Iacon.’
‘But you’ve erased the program!’ said Ultra Magnus.
‘Says who’
‘I don’t know about this. Is it safe’
‘What have we got to loose’
Wheeljack held Magnus’s gaze for a moment, making sure he had permission, and then climbed
through a hatchway.
Deep underground, Mindwipe’s world skipped a beat.
The latest in a series of earthquakes had pulled the floor from under his feet, echoed through miles of
empty corridor, bounced off the Ark and dislodged the first rocks from the caverns.
He spat into his communicator while the trauma was still fresh. ‘Magnus It’s me. I don’t know who
did what to whom, but I’m still feeling the aftershocks. Any more and the city will collapse.
‘Ultra Magnus Can you hear me’
‘Of course, Rodimus should have been the one telling you this, but he kept putting it off. He wanted
to wait until he had enough information.’