The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 48

“Commander Silverbolt, we are close. Lord Tarn wishes to speak with you in the meantime.”

Silverbolt simply nodded at the communication screen that showed the Vehicon from the Decepticon warship that he and his new companions had appropriated during their travel back to Cybertron.

After the debriefing that he had given the young bot known as Tarn and his crew, something so shocking for the young bot and his crew that a lot of them fell unconscious at the news, while the others barely held themselves together, they had decided to follow Silverbolt with their ship so that they could meet with Maximus.

While Silverbolt had raised questions about what they would do about their current mission, they simply dismissed his concerns, saying that their mission and directives could wait for later and that nothing was more important than confirming the survival of their mentor and leader.

It was during this travel that the Unitex-1 and the Peace Seeker stumbled upon an ancient Decepticon warship drifting aimlessly near the star system that once housed the planet Aquatron.

A former colony of Cybertron that was later on conquered by the Quintessons, turning it into their personal factory to churn out their uniquely synthesized Oxygenated Energon.

When the Ark, housing the fleeing Autobots led by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticon fleet led by the Nemesis, housing the pursuing Decepticons, stumbled upon this world, they reached a temporary accord to tackle this problem.

Given that all the Cybertronian life on this planet had been reduced to mere robots, with their sparks snuffed out and their bodies turned into mere drones for their Quintesson masters, Optimus Prime had no qualms with Megatron’s proposed plan of orbital bombardment with his fleet.

And since Aquatron did not have a functional space bridge and the Quintesson fleet in orbit being decimated by the overwhelming might of the Decepticon forces, the Quintessons and the former Aquatronian life stood no chance against the bombardment of the Decepticon fleet.

With the planet reduced to rubble, the Ark and the Decepticon fleet resumed their fight and continued their journey, leaving behind the wreckage of the few Decepticon ships and forces that were either damaged or destroyed.

The warship that Unitex-1 and The Peace Seeker stumbled upon was one such discarded warship.

A Decepticon Worldsweeper, filled with stasis-locked Vehicons and other Decepticon technology, along with other information stolen from various other encounters that the Ark and the Decepticons stumbled upon during their exodus.

It was Tarn who took pity upon the stasis-locked Vehicons and took the time to have his crew awaken them, along with fixing their Worldsweeper, taking them under the wing of his Ascenticons.

Honestly, Silverbolt could see very clearly why Maximus had taken the young bot under his wing and taught him as a student.

The kindness buried within Tarn’s weary and broken spark was something inspiring.

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, Silverbolt reactivated the communication systems and connected with Tarn.

Near instantly, the Outlier appeared on the screen of the Beastformer, nodding in respect.

“Commander Silverbolt.”

“Tarn. What did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I don’t know if it is of any significance, but we have been picking up some anomalous readings in the nearby space as we approach Cybertron.”

Silverbolt gave a surprised look at those words as Tarn silently forwarded the data that they had collected, showing the gravitational anomalies that were moving at constant speed towards Cybertron.

“Given the consistency-“

“They must be ships.”

Tarn nodded at Silverbolt’s pensive words.

Silverbolt continued scanning the data before his optics slowly widened in alarm.

“By Primus! Look at the intensity of the gravitational field! Those are no regular ships. They have to be warships in the class if the Worldsweeper at minimum, and given that we are not picking up on any IFF readings, they cannot be the Deception warships.”

“My thoughts exactly. That is why I wanted to consult with you. To see if you could identify them.”

Silverbolt gave a wry smile to Tarn at those words.

“Child, I have been missing from Cybertron and then held captive for thousands of cycles by the time of the Civil War, and it has been thousands of cycles since that pointless war began, so do not depend on my extremely outdated memory and information for such things.”

“While your words are true, there is no harm in trying all avenues available to us.”

“Hm, logical. Still, I don’t think we have any way to identify these ships before we arrive at Cybertron. How long till we drop out of Warp?”

“Five minutes.”

“Alright. I suggest we go to red alert and keep our weapons armed and ready, just in case.”

“Affirmative. Relaying orders.”

With those words, the crews of all three ships got to work and prepared for a fight.

However, what they found when they dropped out of warp near Cybertron was something that they would not have imagined in a thousand years.

“…By Primus! look at this!”

“Titans. Those signals were all Titans!?”

Silverbolt ignored the commotion that rang out from the comms originating from both the Worldsweeper and the Peace Seeker as he was too entranced by the sight in front of him.

More than a dozen Titans emerged from Warp, some of them being second-generation Titans, one of whom he recognized as Croaton, an old ally of Chela from the days of Eukaris’s initial colonization.

Others were third-generation titans, floating in space behind their older brethren. He even spotted a few Omega Sentinels mixed in with the pack, something that should not have been possible because of their exile from Cybertron at the judgment of Metroplex.

But the one that truly caught Silverbolt’s attention was the bird-like form leading the large pack of Titans.

Chela, one of the first-generation titans alongside her mate and brother, and the Guardian Titan of Eukaris.

Without thinking, Silverbolt immediately tried to establish connection with his patron Titan, and surprisingly, it was accepted immediately.

“What a surprise today is turning out to be! I had assumed you had perished long ago, my child.”

Silverbolt fell to his knees as the projection on the screen stared at him with amusement.

“Lady Chela! It is an honor to see you again-“

“None of that, my child. It makes me glad to see that you are still alive. I admit, I felt great worry when you left Eukaris and went to Cybertron all those eons ago. Later on, I felt glad to know that you rose in the ranks of the standard-formers and became a Commander.”

“Then, the news came through that you had been presumed KIA after your ship went missing.”

Silverbolt swallowed his emotions, feeling overwhelmed that his patron Titan would remember him, a simple bot, one bot of thousands across Eukaris in his time with nothing worth talking about.

“Blackarachnia has not been the same ever since.”

“….Does she still remember me? After all this time?”

“Child, like I told you all those cycles ago. You need to fix that stupid black and white mentality of yours. It has cost you and your loved ones far too much already. And yes, she still mourns you. She has changed a lot after you left and has become something completely unrecognizable after your presumed death. I think you might not even recognize her after you meet her.”

“But, how can I face her after-“

“Silverbolt of Eukaris. I order you to return home and meet your mate.”

The stern words immediately made the high-ranking Commander of the Cybertronian Navy and the captain of Unitex-1 bow like a sparkling would when he is caught by his carrier.

Chela’s eyes softened considerably as she saw her long-lost child contemplate.

“Give her a chance, child. And, give yourself one as well. I know that the things you both said to each other that day are not things that can be taken back that easily. But, in the end, she is your mate and you are hers. If you two are not willing to forgive yourselves and each other, how do you hope to proceed from here?”

With a hesitant nod, Silverbolt slowly got up from the ground, making Chela look at him curiously.

“Anyways, what are you doing here? Child? And who are the others?”

“I was sent on the quest for a certain artifact by Lord Maximus and am just returning after successfully completing it.”

“As for the others, some of them are Lord Maximus’s students and followers, while the others are former Decepticons from the Cybertronian Civil War.”

“Ah, the war, huh?”

The distaste in her voice was quite apparent as she remembered the pointless war that was the source of a lot of Maximus’s problems.

Shaking her head, the Titan continued looking at the Eukarian curiously.

“What quest did that bot send you on?”

“…I suppose you should see for yourself.”

Without waiting for any other words, Silverbolt reached for a hidden switch on the console and flipped it, causing the floor behind him to fold open and reveal a pedestal carrying a deceptively simple-looking cube of pure energy that illuminated his entire ship the moment it was brought out of its containment.

If Chela had been on the surface of a planet, she would have fallen down in shock at the sight that greeted her. However, since she was in outer space, she simply floated in place as she stared at the cube with a dumbfounded look.

Then, she burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha! Of course, it would be Maximus of all bots that would find the life-giving artifact of Primus himself-“

Before they could continue conversing, Chela suddenly stiffened, along with every other Titan nearby, as they stared as one towards a singular location on Cybertron.

With awe and joy clear in her voice, Chela whispered words that rang out across every communication system nearby.

“It is done. It really is done! WE HAVE A NEW AND PROBABLY THE LAST KNIGHT OF CYBERTRON! TILL ALL ARE ONE!”

“”””TILL ALL ARE ONE””””

With the ancient Cybertronian oath spoken, Chela shot forward, heading straight for the planet, as the rest of the Titans followed her.

With confusion still dominating his mind at the sudden actions of his patron Titan, Silverbolt communicated with the other ships and decided to follow the Titans.

Their previous scans picked up Maximus’s signature in the same direction anyway, so they might as well follow the Titan and see what all the commotion is about.

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Decepticon Worldsweeper ship:

Croaton:

Optimus Prime v Old Maximus v Fortress Maximus size comparison:

Comparison with Metroplex: