Beyond the Light Episode III (S:AAB/Babylon 5/X-files/Transformers) by Weiwen

It was a motley convoy of vehicles - family cars, luxury cars, even a yellow Volkswagen Beetle and an ambulance. And leading this convey was a mighty rig, moving with surprising speed for it's huge size. They rode purposefully towards their target, a looming monstrosity of iron and steel, built right into one of the towering rock formations that surrounded them. In front of it, seemingly out of place, was a large circular structure of polished metal, a donut-like construction that must have measured at least half a kilometer in diameter. Figures could been seen in activity at the circular structure... figures, that though were humanoid, were too large to be human - way too large. As the convoy closed in on the target, a loud clear voice could be heard. A voice that was deep and powerful, a voice that resonated with authority. Even above the roar of a dozen engines, it could boomed clearly - "Autobots, Transform, and prepare for Battle!" In the blink of an eye, where there were once vehicles now stood towering humanoid robots, each powerfully constructed and carrying impressive weapons in hand. Four million years ago, they had crash-landed on Earth, an alien race that had been trying to save their planet. They laid deactivated for millennia, until they were awoken in 1984 to a vastly different Earth. Since then, they have been protecting Earth from those who would ravage its beauty. They are Transformers. They are the Autobots. And they were in a trap. Huge batteries of weapons sprang out from the desert floor, surrounding the Autobots in a ring of death. "Move it!" shouted their leader, Optimus Prime, and the Autobots scattered. The batteries started spewing lasers and missiles, tracking the robots that were trying to evade them. The battle had begun in earnest. * * * "Jazz, report!" "Prime, we're pinned down, and these things are going to smash to protons if we don't stop them. And the Decepti-creeps aren't helping matters!" The moment the trap had been sprung, the seemingly oblivious Decepticons had sprung to attack the Autobots, diverting their attention away from the donut-shaped dimensional spacebridge. This space bridge had been the Autobots target - if fully-functional, the Decepticons would have been able to travel unhindered back and forth to their home planet of Cybertron, transferring energy cubes back, while calling forth reinforcements to take over the Earth. It was a prospect that could not be allowed. "Well Jazz, it looks like I'll just have to throw a spanner in the works!" "Huh... Prime?" But Optimus Prime was already running towards the spacebridge, covering the distance at top speed, and seemingly unscathed by the weapons' fire that stood between him and the structure. Suddenly, all the firing stopped, leaving Prime in the clear. Which meant that all he had to do was to... "PRIME!" Prime spun around at the sound of his name. He knew that voice, had heard it far more times than he cared to remember. "Megatron..." he hissed. The Decepticon leader stood there, his fusion cannon raised and pointed directly at Prime's chest. He was grinning maniacally. "Looks like our little ambush worked, Prime. We will have the space bridge completed, AND destroy all you puny Autobots." "Guess again, Megatron! Look at your so-called trap!" Puzzled, Megatron turned to the battling robots... and realized that something was terribly wrong. "The weapon emplacements! They've stopped firing!" "Courtesy of Ironhide, Mirage and Bumblebee! While your troops were so busy trying to take us on, our second team was infiltrating your base! And looks like they found the Off switch for your whole defense grid!" The fury on Megatron's face was terrible to behold, as he saw certain victory once again slip from his grasp. And he reacted in typical Megatron fashion. "DIE PRIME!" Megatron pounced on Prime, and soon the two were locked in mortal combat. In an insane rage, Megatron soon had Prime pinned onto the desert floor, his hands around Prime's neck. "I've waited a long time for this, Prime... I'm going to crush the very energon out of you! Die!" "Not today, Megatron!" With a heroic effort, Prime managed to pull off Megatron's hands, and kicked off Decepticon leader. Free, he made a dash for the spacebridge. With a roar of anger, Megatron leapt at him, and the two robots toppled over the ring of the structure, into the central clearing. Prime knocked off Megatron with a mighty blow, and materialized his rifle in his hand. "Face it Megatron, you're old, ready for the junk heap!" Prime fired, but in his rage, Megatron didn't even bother to evade. He strode towards Prime and swung his arm, knocking the rifle away. "NOOOO!" But Prime was unperturbed, even triumphant. "Look Megatron... your Decepticon are beaten! You are the only one standing! And even you cannot take on the might of all my Autobots!" And Megatron knew it was true. He could see that his troops were being subdued, and even now, Prime's accursed Autobots were heading for the spacebridge, running to their leader's aid. Megatron spun back towards Prime, and screamed in insane rage, "If I cannot have the bridge, then NO-ONE CAN!" Megatron eyes unfocussed and dimmed, as he began his terrible task. Using his internal circuitry, he transdimensionally linked his weapons systems to a black-hole light years away, drawing on the antimatter swirling within the space anomaly, channeling it to his fusion cannon and then releasing it in a dangerous mist. Dangerous, because when matter and anti-matter mix, the results are best described as EXPLOSIVE. The first blast threw Prime against the sides of the spacebridge, stunning him. He shook his head to clear his ringing auditory receptors, and stood up shakily. He knew what Megatron was doing, had seen the terrible destruction that could be wrought by this awesome ability. "Give it up, Megatron! You know you can't control this! You'll get us ALL killed!" But all Megatron could do was laugh and laugh, caught up in power and insanity. Prime knew that there was no other choice. He jumped for the control panel inside the ring, and slammed his hand down on it. With the spacebridge only partially completed, with no co-ordinates entered in, and nothing to receive them on the other side, he knew that this was going to be... Suddenly, the area was filled with a bright flash. The Autobots that were approaching the spacebridge found their visual receptors overloaded momentarily by the brilliance. And when they finally regained function, they saw that the spacebridge still remained, seemingly untouched. But Prime and Megatron were gone. The Autobots gathered around, confused and suddenly afraid. Bumblebee turned to Jazz, and spoke the question they all had in their minds. "Where... where did they go?" And all Jazz could do was stare at the charred center of the space bride, and whisper - "I don't know."

...to be continued... Copyright Weiwen 1998 * * * previous episode