eugenesis-text

Mainframe and Centurion followed the direction of the laser to see a disoriented Quintesson pilot
stumbling from the surf, weapon raised. The first shot missed him completely. The second clipped his head
and left a question mark of smoke above his shoulders.
High above their heads, three Decepticon jets thundered towards the horizon.
Lonium, a suburb of Yuss, is not a good place to spend the night.
Like so many Acid Waste settlements, like so many ex-mining towns, it is utterly deserted. Frail as
tinsel, grim as concrete, it is another web of scabbing over Cybertron’s blood-blistered surface. No neon,
no streetlight, no trans-mat depots or downtown Neut hostels, no monorails or hab-blocks, no overpasses
connecting the nuke-pits and empty engen-vats. The Ampodrome is empty. Fort Scyk is levelled. Blast
patterns are everywhere, and the download theatres bear crude anti-Autobot graffiti.
It is a corpse of a city, unclaimed and un-mourned, locked in permanent seizure. No one comes here;
even the Scud Run veers wide, dodging the perimeter, avoiding its leprous touch.
Nightbeat drove into the precinct, closely followed by Sunstreaker, Hoist and Grapple, and looked
around. There was no life here; he could feel its absence. ‘The less time we’re here the better,’ he said. ‘The
Celestial Temple is a few miles north, just outside the city limits.’
‘I’ve heard some weird stories about this quadrant,’ said Grapple. ‘People going missing. The ghost of
Thunderwing. Viroids with syringes for fingers… Makes me shudder just thinking
about it.’
‘Then don’t,’ said Sunstreaker, who was preoccupied with memories of Stampede and the
Magnificent Six. Why had he agreed to this Was he really that eager to stare down his past
‘I heard that an entire squadron of Micromasters lost it out here,’ continued Grapple. ‘Only a handful
made it back, and those that did were never the same. Some of them still have flashbacks. One was caught
trying to rip out his CPU; Dai-Atlas found him with his hands stuffed into his chest, screaming about the
Antiprimus. They say this place breeds madness. It’s the Underbase, you know; ruinous Matrix energy can
trigger all manner of hallucinations. Apparitions, visitations, retinal imprints, you name it.’
‘Perhaps that’s why the surrounding area is so popular with the religious community,’ said Nightbeat.
‘Nothing like a few holy visions to cement your faith.’
‘You’re turning into a cynic in your old age.’
‘Age has got nothing to do with it, Hoist.’
‘Speaking of religious nutters,’ said Grapple, ‘I’m sure the Celestial Temple is home to some circuit
sect or other. Nightbeat’
‘The First Church of the Primal Trinity. They think the Second Coming is imminent. God knows
what they made of the wormhole. They probably thought it was a sign. They won’t take kindly to four
Autobots bursting in and defiling their “miracle”.’
‘I can’t wait to see their temple,’ said Grapple. ‘The last celestial shrine on the planet – amazing.’
‘I’m glad someone’s enjoying this,’ muttered Sunstreaker. ‘What’s the plan, Nightbeat Do we try to
convince them it’s a wormhole’
‘Perceptor wants us back in two days, not two years.’
‘You hold a very dim view of religion, don’t you’
‘There are more important things to worry about than life after death.’
There was no more talk. They drove across a desert of rippled chrome, tarmac-black under a starless
sky. Up ahead, the Celestial Temple stood on a raised plateau, like a piece of Cybertron offered up to the
heavens. It looked like an upturned table, with tall gold pillars at each corner. The front face sloped down
gently from the transparent carapace and split to accommodate heavy double doors. Stained plexiglass circles
were set into the walls like diamond studs.
As they approached, the illusion of grandeur began to fade. The walls were pockmarked and the
windows heavy with turbid fallout. A weak, flickering light was trapped inside; it threw itself against the
sectioned panes as if trying to escape.
‘We’ll play this one safe,’ said Nightbeat, transforming. He ran a torch beam over the temple and
tried the doors. ‘They’re locked from the inside.’
Hoist tapped but got no response. ‘You think they went through the wormhole’
Nightbeat admonished him with a pointed finger. ‘Don’t even say that.’