Chapter Text
Unexplored Gas Giant Cluster, Cybertronian Commonwealth Limits
At first, there was silence. Then, with a boom and a blinding flash of light, a Cybertronian starfighter rocketed out of the abyss, hurtling through the gas giant. Blasted by quantum energies, the ship hurtled towards the one of the gas giants. Inside, its pilot, Ginrai Convoy of the Primal Vanguard, was desperately trying to regain control.
“I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THE STARFIGHTERS TILL I’VE GIVEN YOU A CRASH COURSE IN PILOTING THEM!” Tailpipe’s voice yelled through the comms, fighting with the static to be the loudest thing coming in.
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I’m on a crash course now!” Ginrai responded, flicking a switch. “Beside, you know I’ve flown shuttles before!”
“Those are different!” Tailpipe retorted. “Just because both can fly doesn’t make their controls anything alike.”
“I know that now!” Ginrai retorted. “It’s not all my fault, by the way. Yharon was the one that destroyed the quantum processing station! I didn’t even know Animatros had entered the war!”
“Some people would beg to differ” Tailpipe sighed. “Hey, no, don’t distract me with questions, where the hell did the quantum explosion dump you? What are your readings saying?”
Ginrai looked at his display, only to find the screen had completely shattered. Ginrai sighed, before flicking another switch.
“My readings say that the screen's broke” Ginrai groaned. “From what I can tell there are a lot of gas giants, but I seem to be flying uncontrollably at a moon. A cyberformed moon, at that.”
Ginrai waited for Tailpipe to respond, but got nothing. He slapped the comms unit, trying to get it back to life, but it had lost the signal.
“Dammit!” Ginrai yelled. “Well, if I survive, I really hope they’ve got some long ranged comms I can borrow.”
Ginrai rocketed into the moon’s atmosphere, quickly passing through the cloud belt. The ground closed in increasingly fast, and with an almighty crash, everything went dark.
---
Ginrai woke up in a metal room. From what he could tell, it looked civilian, filled with furniture, as opposed to the more practical minimalist hab suites Ginrai had gotten used to. The design looked Cybertronian, but Ginrai couldn’t recognise what Colony it originated from. As he turned his head, Ginrai was startled to see a young blue Cybertronian looking at him, making him jump a little.
“Hey! You’re awake!” said the Cybertronian. “Wasn’t sure how long you were gonna be out for.”
“Where… where am I?” Ginrai asked, warily sitting up from his recharge slab.
“Oh, that’d be my house!” the Cybertronian explained. “Well, technically it’s my mah’s house, but I live here too, so… yeah, my house.”
“Right” Ginrai acknowledged, still a little dazed. “You being, and this house being where?”
“Oh, right, you can call me Ignitor!” the blue bot excitedly said, gesturing to herself. “And this is Serepis, one of the towns of Caminus.”
“Caminus” Ginrai repeated. “Isn’t that a Titan?”
“Ki’kal yeah!” Ignitor exclaimed. “I mean, what did you think this colony was named for?”
“Ki… kal?” Ginrai questioned, confused.
“And you’re a Convoy!” Ignitor excitedly said. “A real life Convoy!”
“How… how do you know that?”
“Well, your chest was kinda gaping open when you were found” Ignitor said, pointing at Ginrai's chestplate. “You got patched up, but it was kinda hard to miss. It was all przrk-ed up!”
Ginrai looked down at his chest to see his grill was gone, replaced with several red metal plates. One of the biolights on his chest had been smashed through, and there were several piercings across him. As he looked himself over, he saw the tyres of his alt-mode missing, and his arms had been patched with a flexible plastoid.
“So… were you the one that patched me up?” Ginrai asked, sitting up.
“Nope! I mean, if you were przrk-ed up before, imagine how przrk-ed up you would be now if I was the one who tried to fix you up?” Ignitor said. “Nah, my mah did that. She used to work at the main hospital in the next town over before we moved. She moved here as a physician, but there’s no hospital in Serepis, and it’s a long way to the next one. You got really lucky she was here, basically.”
“I believe you are right in that regard” Ginrai said, attempting to stand up from the bed. “I’ll be sure to thank her when I- nnngh!”
A sharp pain shot through Ginrai’s leg as he put it down. Almost falling over, Ignitor instinctively rushed to grab him, helping to keep him upright.
“Sorry, sorry, I should’ve mentioned” Ignitor panicked. “When we found you, a piece of your ship had gone right through your leg. Mah was able to remove it, but she said it’d probably hurt to walk about for a while.”
“Noted” Ginrai said.
Helping Ginrai back to sitting on the recharge slab, Ignitor then went to the other side of the room and picked a metal tube, leaning against the wall.
“Here, use this” Ignitor said, handing the pipe to him. “It should support you till your leg’s better.”
“Thank you” Ginrai said, standing up again, though this time using the pipe as a cane.
Ginrai paused for a moment as he stood. He felt a faint glow in the matrix, as if it could sense something. As Ginrai considered what it meant, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Ignitor.
“So what’s your name, anyway?” Ignitor asked. “Sorry, my mah has a habit of saying I keep forgetting to ask that.”
“Ginrai” he answered, getting used to makeshift cane.
“Well, pleasure to meet you, Ginrai Convoy!” Ignitor shouted, perhaps a little too loudly.
“Just Ginrai will do” Ginrai corrected.
“Oh, right!” Ignitor replied. “Sorry, Ginrai.”
Ginrai took a few steps forward with the cane, getting used to it. After making sure he could keep his balance on it, Ginrai started walking towards the door. As he passed through, Ignitor quickly followed behind him.
“Where are you going?” Ignitor asked as Ginrai carefully hobbled down the stairs.
“I’m going to see the status on my ship” Ginrai answered ahead of her. “I’d like to know if anything’s can be salvaged from-”
Ginrai bumped into someone as he got to the bottom of the stairs, dropping his cane and falling back. The Cybertronian quickly helped him up, as Ignitor rushed down to help.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” the Cybertronian said, a similarly blue bot to Ignitor, though with faded red medical stripes on her body, and kibble more akin to an ambulance. “Let me help you up.”
“No, no, it was my fault” Ginrai refuted. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“Ignitor, you didn’t say he was up” the Cybertronian said.
“He was asking questions” Ignitor replied. “Figured it’d be polite to get him up to speed rather than confuse him more by yelling to you.”
“So I am to understand that you are Ignitor's mother?” Ginrai asked. “And the one responsible for repairing me after my crash, for which I am incredibly grateful.”
“Yes, that would be me” the Cybertronian responded. “You can call me Solana.”
“Well, thank you, Solana, I really appreciate you going out of your way to help me” Ginrai said. “But I’m afraid I really must check on the state of my craft."
“I really don’t recommend-”
Before Solana could finish her sentence, Ginrai was already out the front door, limping along with his cane.
“He moves fast for someone who came out of a crash” Ignitor said, surprised.
“Can you go after him?” Solana asked. “I think I see Agnus trying to crawl behind the viewscreen.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll try, but I don’t know how much sway I’ll have over a Convoy!” Ignitor replied, running after Ginrai.
Solana sighed as she watched Ignitor run, before heading inside to try and make sure Ignitor’s much younger brother didn’t do anything silly. By the time Ignitor was able to catch up to Ginrai, he had already made it to the outer limits of the town, where a pillar of smoke still drifted ahead. Ignitor ran up next to Ginrai, who was making surprisingly good speed despite having to use a cane.
“Hey, do you even know where you’re going?” Ignitor asked. “You just walked off out of town without even asking which direction your ship was.”
“There’s only one plume of smoke in the sky” Ginrai said. “I figured there weren’t any volcanic craters, so I assumed it would be what’s left of my ship. I might be able to retrieve the comms, or something that could help me get back.”
“Why the rush to leave, anyway?”
“I need to get back to the war. I’m still needed.”
“What war?”
Ginrai stopped dead in his tracks at this question. He slowly turned to look at Ignitor, who stepped back, a little intimidated.
“You mean you don’t know?” Ginrai asked, surprised.
“Noooooo…?” Ignitor replied. “Never heard of any war around here.”
“The Combatron War?” Ginrai said. “Consumed the entire Cybertronian Commonwealth? Between the Primal Vanguard and the Combatrons. The latter being led by Overlord?”
“You’re just saying words” Ignitor shrugged, not getting it.
Ginrai sighed, before turning to continue towards the plume of smoke. Ignitor started following, walking just behind him.
“The war started when the Combatronian Warlord Overlord orchestrated an attack on Cybertron, resulting in the death of the most recent Convoy at the time, Arch Convoy, who had recently relinquished the matrix” Ginrai explained as he walked. “His legions spread out across the commonwealth, conquering whatever planets stood in their way. I took on the matrix and took command of the Primal Vanguard. We pushed the Combatrons away from Cybertron, and it’s been open warfare ever since.”
“So how long has this war been going on for?” Ignitor asked. “A year? Two?”
Ginrai didn’t answer. He simply kept walking.
“So what a decade? Don’t tell me a century.”
“It’s been far longer” Ginrai sighed. “A lot longer. I’ve stopped counting, if I’m honest.”
The rest of the walk was cloaked in silence. Ginrai didn’t want to continue talking about the war, while Ignitor wasn’t sure how to continue. It didn’t take much long for them to arrive at the mangled remains of the ship. What had once been a Mylioba-Class Interceptor was now a mess of metal, with no discernable cockpit or any other features, let alone those that could be salvaged. Ginrai gave a deep sigh as he looked.
“I mean, we can still try and find something” Ignitor said, walking up to the ship. “I can try and cut it open.”
Ignitor walked up to the ship, climbing on top of it. Pointing her arm it, a flame shot out of her wrist mounted cannon, cutting through what she presumed was the cockpit. Using her flame to cut a portion of it out, she then removed the newly made panel and looked inside at a mess of wires covering a pilot’s seat.
“I think I’ve got you a way in, but I’ll be honest, it doesn’t look pretty” Ignitor said, before looking up at Ginrai, who was staring in surprise. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re talented?” he asked.
“I mean, I guess?” Ignitor said, confused. “But you barely know me, and I’ve not really done anything impressive. I mean, I’m not a good juggler.”
“No, your ability to produce flames” Ginrai responded.
“You mean my gift?”
“Different names I guess” Ginrai shrugged. “Some would call them ‘outliers’, though personally I’m not fond of the term. How long you’ve had your talent, erm, gift?”
“Several years now, I think?” Ignitor replied, sticking her arm into the cockpit and trying to shift wires around. “They sorta developed when I was in my mid-teens. My mum thinks I might’ve inherited it from my great grandad, though I’ve never really thought too much about it.”
Ignitor continued sifting about, looking for anything that might be intact. From what she could tell, not a single device had survived the crash, certainly nothing that could be repaired. Ginrai watched Ignitor, before his eye was drawn by something in the distance. It shimmered, but almost looked like a tower.
“Tell me, Ignitor, what’s that?” Ginrai asked.
“What’s what?” Ignitor asked, looking back up.
“That structure, over in the-”
Ginrai was about to point at the building, but couldn’t see it. Perhaps his optics were playing tricks on him? It wouldn’t be unheard of, especially given how bad he could see his crash was.
“Nevermind” Ginrai sighed. “Maybe we should head back into town and see if there’s anything that can help there. Are there any ships, or long range communications.”
“We can try” Ignitor said. “Though I doubt it’ll be yrigz help. Our ships aren’t really for going far out to space, and we’ve only got the tech for receiving long range signals. Nobody’s figured out sending them, since… well, as far as we were aware, who was there to contact.”
“So… what do you use them for?” Ginrai asked.
“Well, I just listen to whatever’s coming in” Ignitor said. “My mah says I’m picking too many swears up from it. I mean, I don’t see the harm, they’re not Cybertronian swears, who’s gonna care?”
“Are those the words you’ve been sprinkling into your sentences?”
“Heh, yeah. You see, you didn’t notice at all- oh krlesz, I’ve just told the Convoy I’ve been swearing in front of him.”
“It’s quite alright” Ginrai chuckled. “In a war, people are little less focused on watching their tongue. Probably best just not to make a big deal with it. Shall we make our way back?”
“Sure thing, cia- chief” Ignitor quickly corrected herself, climbing down from the crashed ship. “I’ll try and cut down on the swearing around you.”
The pair began to turn back towards Serepis, leaving the ship behind. Ginrai gave a quick glance back, hoping to see the mysterious building again, yet still there was nothing there.
As they made their way back towards the town, Ginrai’s attention was caused by several fields, each one surrounded by metal fencing. Looking at them, Ginrai could see several large creatures, similar to Ankylosaurian Dinobots with large, glittering spines on their back.
“Is that… farmland?” Ginrai asked, looking closely.
“Hmm?” Ignitor replied. “Yeah? Why, that weird?”
“It’s been a very long time since there was any sort of farming on Cybertron” Ginrai said. “I doubt it’s been practiced since the time of the Firstforged. What are those creatures?”
“Anklorroids. Their metal crystals on their back are incredibly popular materials for artists, especially in sculptures. Although… they seem to be very still. Hang on.”
Ignitor ran towards the nearest fence, where a distressed Cybertronian was looking over his livestock. Ignitor hopped over the fence and saw the Anklorroids lying on their sides, all of them inert and greying. Taking a moment to take in the scene, she slowly approaches the Cybertronian.
“Ennyn, are you alright?” Ignitor asked. “What happened?”
“I… I don’t know” said Ennyn, a silver flier wearing traditional camien facepaints. “They were perfectly fine last night, then when I was doing my rounds I found them offline. All of them. It’s just so… so horrible.”
“I’m so sorry, Ennyn” Ignitor tried to comfort him. “If there’s anything I can do to-”
“I would recommend keeping the area clear” came Ginrai’s voice as he hobbled towards the fence of the field.
“Excuse me?” Ennyn asked.
“Ginrai, that might not be the best manner” Ignitor said.
“My apologies for the loss of your herd” Ginrai said, standing behind the fence. “Though I fear what offlined them might be transferable. I would recommend keeping your distance for now, just to be on the safe side.”
“I-” Ennyn started, before pausing. “No, you’re right. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Ennyn and Ignitor walked towards Ginrai, carefully climbing over the fence. Ennyn looked back at his herd, giving a long, sad sigh.
“Maybe get yourself home, Ennyn” Ignitor said. “Try to process this and take your time.”
“I- yes, you’re right” Ennyn sighed, before heading back towards town.
Watching Ennyn leave, Ignitor then turned to look at Ginrai, who was still at the field. He was leaning on the fence, looking at the ground, rather than at the inert Anklorroids.
“It’s rather dusty” Ginrai said to himself.
“I really don’t think that’s the big thing here” Ignitor said. “Anyway, we can’t do anything more here. Do you want to see if there’s anything in town you can use? The scrapyard may have some ship parts or radio pieces that you could use to get back to your war.”
“Yes, right” Ginrai said. “Hopefully I can remember some of the things Crumble tried to teach me.”
Ginrai turned away from the fence, and he and Ignitor began making their way back into town. Unbeknownst to them, hovering above the crest of a nearby hill, a drone recorded their movements, tracking their movements as they left.
---
Having spent the remainder of the day looking for anything that could help him, Ginrai had little luck. Trying several ship sellers, a parts shop and even a scrapyard, they had still found nothing. As he stood near a mountain of scrap, Ignitor burst out, holding a rusted device.
“I think most ships have one of these” Ignitor asked. “Is this something that can help?”
Ignitor slid down the scrap, before hopping to a stop in front of Ginrai. She held out the device, and Ginrai took a look at it.
“Hmm” Ginrai frowned. “Sadly a part from a hoversled. Won’t do anything to get more than few inches off the ground, I’m afraid.”
“Bwchi!” Ignitor swore as she chucked the device back into scrap behind him. “Sorry, not the most tech knowledgeable.”
“It’s okay” Ginrai replied. “Most of my knowledge is second hand.”
“Perhaps we should call it a day” Ignitor said, looking at the setting sun. “It’s getting late. You can crash in the spare room again- oh, sorry, didn’t mean to say crash.”
“It’s quite okay” Ginrai chuckled. “Though you are right. I wouldn’t like to impose, though.”
“No, it’s good” Ignitor said. “My mah said it’d be. Come on, it’s not too far.”
Ignitor lead Ginrai back to her home. Though it was a short walk, by the time they reached her house, the sun had completely set, and the night sky could be seen above.
---
After sharing a meal with Ignitor’s family at their insistence, Ginrai now lay on the recharge slab, the door shut, pondering to himself. As he lay down, he could feel the matrix within him, glowing. He thought about how it glowed when near Ignitor.
“Perhaps she shows an affinity” Ginrai whispered to himself. “It’s not unheard of for one to be found during the time of another Convoy.”
He pondered further. Signs of affinity were incredibly rare, and Ginrai knew that with the Commonwealth at war, if he fell the matrix would need another bearer, quickly. Though of course this would require him to get off of Caminus. Ginrai sat up, turning himself so his legs dangled off the recharge pad.
“Do I have the right to take her away from here?” Ginrai pondered. “I’d ask her for her permission, yes, but should I even consider it. She’s got a life in possibly the one place that the war has yet to touch, away from the fighting.”
Ginrai paused. Perhaps he was thinking too much about it. He might be here for some time, and if that was the case, asking her wouldn’t be important at this stage.
“Perhaps I need to distract myself” Ginrai muttered.
Ginrai reached for his cane, and hobbled out of the room, quietly shutting the door so as not to disturb anyone. It wasn’t more than an hour later that door opened again, as Ignitor entered to check on him.
“Hey, sorry if you were asleep” Ignitor whispered. “I just want to make sure-”
It was then Ignitor noticed the recharge slab was empty. Noticing the cane was gone too, she quickly ran out the room and tiptoed down the stairs. Going out the front door, she saw no sign of him.
“Where on Caminus did he go?” Ignitor said. “Where on Caminus would he know to go?”
With no clues to work off of, Ignitor decided she had to take a guess. Perhaps Ginrai had gone back to his crashed ship to have another look for parts? It was as good a hunch as any. Ignitor transformed into her sports car mode and drove off towards the outskirts of town, hoping she was right.
As Ignitor drove out from the city, she drove past Ennyn’s farmlands, where the offline livestock had been moved. Driving forward, she spotted Ginrai crouching beside the fence. Ignitor quickly returned to robot mode.
“There you are!” she exclaimed. “You know it’s rude to just leave in the middle of the night without a word.”
Ginrai gestured for Ignitor to be quiet. He then pointed over the fence, to the hill ahead of them. Ignitor squinted and saw a faint red light in the distance.
“What is that?” she whispered.
“A drone” Ginrai answered. “From my guess, an FG-1000. Something that really shouldn’t be here.”
“Why? Is it… what’s it called, Combatron?”
“No” Ginrai said. “Galactic Council. Which makes its presence here concerning?”
“Oh, those guys” Ignitor said. “We get some of their broadcasts. They rant a lot.”
“They’re not overly keen on us” Ginrai said. “They once tried to try me for the entire war.”
“They can’t be that bad, they clearly found you innocent.”
“The trial got paused due to a Combatronian attack. Hopefully indefinitely.”
“So… they’re bad news?” Ignitor asked.
“On a Cybertronian colony, yes” Ginrai said. “The council, particularly the leading members, are notoriously mechanophobic. They hate mechanicals, particularly us Cybertronians, with a passion, and this war has given them the stage to spread it.”
“So what are they doing here? I mean, Caminus was unknown to you, so how did they found it?”
“Luck, I guess. But once they found out the colony was isolated, I have a feeling that they decided to use it as a testing ground.”
“A testing ground? For what, exactly?”
“Did you notice that the ground around here is covered in particulates? I have a feeling it's some sort of mechanocide. They must’ve tested on the livestock first, dispersing it on the fields with that drone.”
“Then Serepis could be next!” Ignitor exclaimed. “We’ve gotta destroy that drone.”
As Ignitor was about to stand up, Ginrai grabbed her arm, gesturing her to remain down.
“That drone seems to be observing, not dispersing” Ginrai explained. “If we destroy it there’s every chance that another drone will take its place. We approach this quietly, at least for now. That drone’s likely reporting somewhere to the Council. We follow it, we can find the source of the mechanocide and maybe give the Council a piece of our minds.”
As the pair looked over the fence, watching the drone continue observing, before it turned around, flying down the other side of the field. Ginrai silently gestured for them to slowly follow it over the hill. Ginrai and Ignitor followed the drone over several more hills, using whatever cover was available to stay out of its view. Eventually, after some walking, the pair found the drone’s base. Parked in a pass, a Galactic Council Patrol Ship stood there, surrounded by several drones. These drones were different from the other, armed with multiple laser emitters on their front. Ginrai squinted to get a good look.
“That looks like an Anhur-Class vessel” Ginrai said. “Definitely council property.”
“Surrounded by what look like some heavily armed drones” Ignitor added.
“FG-II’s. From what I hear, they are fairly fragile. They’re just a problem if you let them group on you.”
“So what’s the plan, sneak towards the ship, maybe knock a few out on their own.”
“No, there’s too many to continue with this approach” Ginrai replied. “They’d pick up on us before we got close enough.”
“Then how do we play this?”
“Oh, you know” Ginrai said, standing up. “The old fashioned way.”
Ginrai pointed one of his arms at the closest drone, and fired a single blast from his cannon. The drone was destroyed, exploding as soon as the laser hit it. The rest of the drones immediately turned to the source of the shot. Ginrai simply responded by shooting another drone, then another.
“Wow, did not realise we were ditching the stealth so quickly?” Ignitor said, sliding downhill. “Guess I finally get to use my gift for something other than welding.”
Flames burst from Ignitor’s wrist blasters, burning brightly. With a swing of her arm, she quickly destroyed one of the drones, before turning to face another. The drone charged its laser emitters, only to be bisected by Ignitor with a swing of her flames. Several laser blasts flew past Ignitor as Ginrai fired on the drones, slowly making his way downhill.
“Quite a flashy talent you have there” Ginrai said as he slowly joined Ignitor. “I didn’t think you had combat experience.”
“I don’t” Ignitor replied, projecting a blast of fire through another drone. “This is all improv.”
“Perhaps with some training, we might be able to hone your abilities” Ginrai said.
“Training?” Ignitor asked confused. “Where’d- look out!”
Spotting a drone lining up a shot on Ginrai, Ignitor quickly pointed her wrist at it, firing a shot that grazed Ginrai’s shoulder. Hitting the drone dead on, it exploded in a fireball, metal and circuitry raining to the ground.
“Sorry” Ignitor exclaimed as Ginrai looked back.
“For what?” Ginrai asked. “Saving my life? Don’t worry about it. Let's clear up what’s left of these drones.”
Ginrai continued firing on the drones, dispatching them with ease as Ignitor quickly made short work of them with her flames. Soon, the pair were surrounded by piles of drone parts. Satisfied there were no more drones, the pair went towards the entrance hatch, finding it sealed tightly.
“Allow me” Ignitor said, producing a small flame between her index and middle fingers.
Using the flame as a cutting torch, Ignitor slowly created a hole in the doorway. Once she had cut through, she bashed through it, leading with her shoulder. The door clanged against the floor, and the pair stepped inside.
It didn’t take long for the pair to find the centre of operations in the ship. Entering a room with numerous canisters on all sides, Ginrai presumed they contained the mechanocide solution the council had been testing. In the center of the room was a holotable, with a more skeletal mech standing by it. In its hands, it held the surveillance drone, seeming to draw data from it.
“Alert” said the mech. “Operator KL1 to all security units. Report and defend.”
“Hate to break it to you, but your entourage is now a pile of scrap” Ignitor grinned.
“Commencing self defence procedures” the mech stated.
The mech stood up and reached for a blaster, but before it could grab it Ginrai fired a shot from his arm cannon, flinging the drone into the far doorway. Ginrai walked up to the console and started fiddling with it.
“So… do we set this thing to self-destruct?” Ignitor asked. “Destroy what they have of this poison?”
“No” Ginrai said, looking at one of the canisters. “We can burn it with a controlled fire. Once I’ve bypassed the security systems, I can use it to get back to the Vanguard. Besides, I’d like to take steps to ensure the Council don’t try something this abhorrent again.”
Ginrai picked up a canister with his arm, and gestured for Ignitor to do the same. Ignitor picked up a pair of canisters, carrying them under her arms. The pair went outside and started laying them into a pile. Ginrai and Ignitor made several trips in and out of the ship until they had all the canisters piled up. Ginrai nodded at Ignitor, and with a powerful stream of flames, she ignited the pile, burning at the mechanocide until nothing remained. Satisfied it was destroyed, Ginrai turned around and made his way back towards the ship.
“Where are you going?” Ignitor asked, her hands on her hips. “Not leaving immediately now that you have a ship, are you?”
“No, it’ll take me a while to hotwire the ship” Ginrai said. “Probably a few days. No, I’ve just got to make a call.”
“Your people?”
“No, they’re liable to block any calls from the Council after the last time” Ginrai answered. “No, I’m going to call the council directly. I’m going to make sure they don’t do such a thing again.”
With that, Ginrai re-entered the ship, as Ignitor looked back at the smouldering pile of canisters. Oncenside, Ginrai fiddled about with the holoprojector, bringing up the last contacted commline. Ginrai suspected it was likely whoever was in charge of the drones here. Calling the commline, the image of skinny, four armed organic wearing a rebreather appeared on the holotable.
“What the-” the organic said. “Cybertronian? This is Galactic Council property! We could have you for trespassing!”
“Ah, Captain N’rok” Ginrai said, folding his arms. “Why am I not surprised you are in charge of this operation? Now as for the matter of trespassing, would you care to explain what one of your ships is doing on a Cybertronian colony?”
“Cybertronian colony?” exclaimed N’rok, flustered. “Well, we believed this to be an uninhabited-”
“Oh can the scrap” Ginrai snapped. “We’ve already destroyed your stores of mechanocide. You know what your actions can be construed of?”
N’rok remained silent, not sure what he could say.
“An act of aggression serving as your admission of entering this war” Ginrai said. “Do you want to be the one responsible for dragging the people you were charged with protecting into this brutal conflict? Do you want to have all the potential lives lost weighing on you.”
Still N’rok said nothing. He awkwardly looked to his sides, likely to other Galactic Council personnel at his location.
“No?” Ginrai asked. “Then I say this only once. Tell your fellows officers, your superiors, your underlings. Tell them that if you set foot on this colony, or any of the colonies in the Cybertronian Commonwealth, whether or not they’re controlled by us or the Combatrons, we will see it as an act of aggression. So take a hint. If you won’t help us end this war and defeat the Combatronians, then stay the pit away.”
With that, Ginrai closed the communication, letting out a sigh. He turned to hear clapping from the door. Ignitor was clapping at the doorway.
“Now that was impressive” Ignitor said. “Never seen anyone say klaroj to someone so dramatically.”
“I’ll assume that ‘klaroj’ is being used as a compliment” Ginrai said.
“Yeah it is” Ignitor replied. “I mean, I’d like to learn how to do that.”
“Perhaps-” Ginrai started, before stopping himself.
Ginrai paused to think about asking Ignitor. Ignitor, meanwhile, already had her attention elsewhere, looking around at the ship. Ginrai decided to not ask just yet, mulling it further.
The Following Day
After getting some sleep after their skirmish with the drones, Ignitor found Ginrai working on the council’s patrol ship, attempting to hotwire its controls. Ignitor watched him work. She stood behind him for a few minutes, before he turned around to face her.
“What’s it like out there?” Ignitor asked. “Out there, beyond Caminus.”
“Well… right now it’s a battleground” Ginrai answered. “Though I suppose that’s not really what you mean. It’s quite varied. Sometimes it can be scary, sometimes it can be beautiful. Most planets have their own charms, though it’s something you’d have to see for yourself.”
“Yeah… I suppose it is” Ignitor sighed.
“Look, I’ve been mulling this over…” Ginrai said. “I don’t think coming to Caminus was just by chance. I think the matrix guided me here.”
“Why?” Ignitor asked. “Did it sense the Galactic Council doing bad stuff?”
“No” Ginrai answered. “I think it sensed you.”
“Me?” Ignitor splutted. “Why me?”
“Since I’ve been here, the Matrix has shown an affinity to you” Ginrai said. “I think it finds you worthy of it. And from what I’ve seen you’re strong, you’re compassionate, you have great skill, and I don’t think it takes swearing into account. With the war going on, there’s no guarantee I’ll see it through, and the Vanguard will need a Convoy to lead them. I would like to offer the opportunity for you to come with me, so that I can train you, should the need arise, you can carry the matrix.”
“I… wow” Ignitor mumbled. “It’s a lot. I mean, yeah, I want to. I’d love to. But my family…”
“I understand if you don’t wish to” Ginrai said. “Caminus has managed to remain hidden from the war, and I hope to keep its existence a secret till war is over, regardless. I won’t squander a chance to keep some of our kind safe.”
“I’d have to tell my family” Ignitor said. “I don’t know how my mah’ll take it. But… this is a chance to do something bigger than myself. I can’t just pass it up.”
“Take as long as you need” Ginrai said. “I’ll wait for your answer.”
Ignitor slowly turned around, walking out of the ship. She made her way over the hilltops, and as she reached the crest of the last hill, she looked over the city of Serepis. The only home she’d ever known. It would be hard leaving. She turned her gaze to the sky. But perhaps there was something greater than herself worth fighting for out there.
One Week Later
Ignitor approached the edge of Serepis, where the Galactic Council ship sat. Standing by the patrol ship, Ginrai stood by the ramp, now no longer needing his cane. A crowd of Ignitor’s friends stood around, ready to see her off on her new journey. Ignitor approached her mother.
“Mah…” Ignitor started.
Solana took hold of her daughter, hugging her tightly. Ignitor hugged back, neither saying anything for a few seconds.
“It’ll be hard without you” Solana said. “But this is something you believe in.”
“I’ll be back mah” Ignitor said. “I promise.”
As the two let go of each, Solana turned to Ginrai in order to address him.
“You’d better keep her safe” she said, sternly.
“You have my word” Ginrai replied. “I will do all in my power to protect her.”
Solana turned back to her daughter, taking a long look at her.
“Take care, Ignitor” Solana said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Wherever you go, my love will follow.”
“And mine will always return home” Ignitor replied, before turning and kneeling towards her little brother, Agnus. “Take care mah while I’m gone, okay?”
After hugging Agnus, Ignitor stood up and turned. Ginrai boarded the ship as Ignitor walked towards it. As she reached the ramp, she turned to take one last look at her home. Giving a final wave, she turned and boarded the ship. After a few seconds and a mighty roar, the ship took to the skies, flying out upwards as those around watched. Looking out the viewport as Caminus became visible, backed against the colossal gas giant, Ignitor held her memories tightly, before looking to the future, and what lay ahead...