The Living Spark (TF movieverse)

[ImJessieTR]

Chapter One: Definition
(This story is based loosely on the Transformers movie by Bay & Spielberg. Some characters as of this posting haven’t been shown yet so I’m going to make their characteristics up. Also, there are plenty of backstories and characterizations that weren’t addressed in the movie so I’m making that up too. No, I haven’t read the prequel stuff and I don’t intend to.)

Having drifted to a small planet far from Cybertron, a cube-shaped planet filled with inorganic beings (they weren’t “robots” in the sense that they were not man-made; their forms and disguises were later interpreted by humans as robot-like, but the idea they were created by organic beings at all would be the highest insult) who could rearrange their forms in cringe-inducing ways, one particular entity from this planet found “himself” (it is debatable whether or not these beings have what organics would consider “sexes”) lodged deep within the terra firma of the planet Earth (although this planet was not called this at the time he landed).

He had been sent from Cybertron to look for the Allspark, the heart and soul of their world. The Allspark drove the life processes of that world by radiating energy that tended to create inorganic life. It was this Creator aspect of the Allspark that lead this inorganic being to a logical conclusion: searching only the planets with confirmed lifeforms, no matter what their form, would be the most efficient plan of action. Searching everywhere would be a waste of energy and resources. The universe was a very large place, after all.

However, he had an advantage the others of his kind did not have: he could hear it. It was like a smell for him – and he traced it to Earth. Even the leaders of Cyberton, Megatron and Optimus Prime, could not hear it. The symbols they had carved on their faces with energy arcs from the Allspark allowed them certain privileges, but only because he had been the arbiter. It was HIS skill with communicating with the Allspark that allowed him to create limited bonds between the leaders and the Allspark. The bonds were only detectable within a couple million miles, though, unless he could find it and send word to his leaders and narrow the search.

However, just as he had left the galaxy, he got word that Optimus Prime had abandoned Cybertron with his paltry troop of idealist “Autobots” to search for the Allspark.

That knowledge irritated him, if he could be irritated. The Autobots sudden departure confirmed what he had suspected: Optimus had exiled the Allspark or at least had it done. Quite possibly Bumblebee was the one responsible, since, like himself, Bumblebee had also been a “priest” of the Allspark for quite some time before the Autobots turned against the Decepticons. He had been one of the very few capable of communicating with the Allspark, in a way envied by Megatron in particular, just as Megatron envied his own skills.

That was why Megatron kept him alive, of that he was certain. It was the most logical reason. Without a priest of the Allspark, a “Transformer” could not access anything but the most limited capabilities of the Allspark. Optimus Prime retained a priest, and Megatron did the same.

But the shock of the harsh landing on this world damaged some components of his transmitters, as well as fusing his outer casing he had used to travel through the cold vacuum of space. No matter, he thought to himself. His form would cool sufficiently in time. He could detect dying lifeforms around him on the surface, large and small creatures, from the sounds they made. The blast had incinerated most of them, and the ones left would not last the day. His radar systems still seemed to work, detecting massive clouds of dirt and ash filling the skies northward. He also sensed increased geological activity. Apparently, his entrance had disrupted solid plates of land floating above a molten interior.

As he lay there, he noted to himself just how short the days seemed to be on this planet. Even though thick layers of debris littered the skies, he could still detect the general day/year pattern of the planet. It seemed so short, in comparison to Cybertron. What would constitute several years or so (it was difficult to get a precise reckoning) on this world roughly equalled an hour on Cybertron. Peculiar. As he began to cool, he found that he could move small sections of his rather large body, breaking the seamless ovoid form he had used for space travel. Although he himself could not yet move from his embedded location, he could send out a remote.

Several sections of his interior could be reformatted to produce “offspring” or remotes: smaller surveillance devices that would achieve semi-autonomy yet still remain connected to him. Although he could reacquire these remotes, it was not necessary. After all, he had left a few on Cybertron so data could be transmitted more easily, for the “parent” and the “offspring” do not require conventional transmission between themselves….

Fortunately, his aerial remote was able to locate an adequately-sized aerial organic organism (even though it was dead) after it reached the surface. By scanning it, the remote was able to reconfigure, “transform” itself into a shiny metal being with triangular wings and a light frame into which its new narrow head with pointed “beak” could fold into if need be. Since there did not appear to be any inorganic beings on this world, a very thin layer of display material like liquid crystal displays, activated by energy and protected by a clear layer from the elements, changed its coloration to a mottled brown with green tips on the wings and beak.

The progenitor of this remote, Soundwave, sent its scout, named Laserbeak, northward to confirm the presence of the Allspark…

Millions of years later, after humans had explored and colonized all but the smallest sections of the globe’s surface, geologists noted a huge crater at the Yucatan Peninsula. Given the size and the chemical composition of the site, plus the layers of sediment it affected, it was touted to be the place where a large asteroid, flying in from deep space, had crash-landed and killed the dinosaurs and permitted new forms of life to proliferate.

In fact, it seemed to define a new era in Earth’s history…

 

[ImJessieTR]

Chapter Two: Resurrection
(If you haven’t seen the movie, some scenes will be referenced. Just a warning.)

It was very uncomfortable, being mutilated like that. What hurt worse, of course, was his pride. Although Frenzy was shorter than most of the humans he had met, it was obvious who was superior. Why, they could barely touch him! They shot him, but he had the perfect solution. He had shruiken the size of compact discs, which were not round (although they appeared so as they spun from his hand) but consisted of broad curving blades from the center. Humans appeared to be rather vulnerable to sharp objects and it entertained Frenzy to see how much flair he could work in throwing blades of death at his weaker opponents. It wasn’t enough just to kill them – their soft organic bodies were just too damn easy to penetrate. If Frenzy wanted to feel at all like he was doing anything skilful, he’d have to show off.

“Oh shit,” was the last thing he managed to say before the humans ran off from a dusty computer room. One simple blade had boomeranged and sliced his head in half. The humans left, certain of their victory.

He lay in the computer room, hearing the deep vibrations that signalled the arrival of the big Transformers. Knowing Starscream, the de facto leader of the Decepticons since Megatron got himself frozen, he’d be the first to welcome the resurrected leader.

Starscream had almost blown a circuit when Megatron left him in charge of Cybertron as he himself left the dying world to reach the Allspark before the Autobots. Starscream had idolized Megatron during the latter’s rise to power. Here was a being with style, ruthlessly eliminating his enemies with a quick taunt and an even quicker trigger-finger. For what this world would consider millennia, Megatron could do no wrong in Starscream’s eyes as they together overtook all of Cybertron.

However, being allowed such close contact with Megatron and being allowed to live were not rewarding enough for Starscream. Combine that with the Autobot Ironhide’s snide remarks….

For the moment, however, all that mattered was getting up off the floor. Like all remotes formed from Soundwave, his spark (living essence) was distributed along a web of chambers, unlike the big Transformers (with the notable exception of Soundwave), whose sparks were limited to one compartment in their chest. This allowed Soundwave and his remotes to survive even the most excruciating treatment. Furthermore, there was the connection to the Allspark itself.

Yet, he could tell that the Allspark was no longer underneath the landmark the humans called the Hoover Dam. Irked, he realized that he was alone. He had already derived energy from the Allspark to regenerate himself once before. It could rearrange inorganic molecules to form living entities, but only if certain conditions were met. For starters, there had to be sufficient “starter” molecules available in the inorganic mass. Certain metals for the skeleton and certain polymers for extraneous features had to be present in sufficient proportions. It also helped to already be an inorganic lifeform. He thought the humans creating their own Transformers was blasphemy, though. It seemed strange to him that they would seal off a chamber to create life, saying it was to shield against the Allspark’s radiation. That was stupid. If that were true the Allspark would have created life from all the machines surrounding it, since much of human technology was reverse engineered from Lord Megatron and would most likely contain the necessary ingredients. No, what the humans didn’t understand was that organics would never know the true power of the Allspark. Hell, even most Transformers weren’t fully aware of its grace and beauty. Lords Megatron and Optimus Prime had come close, having been marked as chosen leaders, but only priests of the Allspark could inherently sense the true nature of the thing.

Later that day, being thoroughly ignored, he felt a surge of energy emanating from a point far from the dam. So, somehow the Allspark has been activated. The thick layers surrounding the government labs prevented him from sensing the Allspark with complete clarity, but it was enough to seal the cracks in his head, and for the first time that day, he felt … good.

When his head was restored, he sensed an incoming message. He acknowledged it silently as he regained his frenzied habits, jerking his head to search for humans (they had all been evacuated or killed) and running off, glad to enter the desert once more and free himself of human stench.

He stood at the base of a mountain near the dam, glancing up at the sky intermittently, focusing more on the damage the dam had incurred. Judging from the blast patterns and the scarring reaching around the underside of a bridge, it had to be the work of Starscream.

Frenzy was not fond of Starscream’s attitude, a feeling he shared with Soundwave. In fact, many Decepticons didn’t like the “King of the Skies” because he tended to place form over function sometimes. And yet, this was a feature Frenzy actually liked. He, too, had a certain flair for the dramatic and shared Starscream’s rarely uttered dislike of what became a team of brooding and simple-minded Lords. Both Megatron and Optimus Prime, though they claimed vital ideological differences, were more alike than either cared to admit. They both had a type of Prime Directive, one for destruction and one for protection, that they seemingly could not adapt to changing situations. Yet if anyone should know the necessity to adapt, it would be a Decepticon, particularly a priest of the Allspark or their assistants. To Frenzy, and Soundwave as well, their connection to the Allspark permitted them to see truths that others would never fathom.

A hum started to build in the sky high above the chrome Frenzy. He looked up with his multiple blue eyes and spotted a small pilotless plane begin its descent. A Predator, as the humans called it – a remote with surveillance capabilities but very few offensive ones. This one, however, was his ticket back to the Decepticons.

As Laserbeak in remote plane form climbed ever higher with Frenzy attached, they both seemed rather disappointed. Not that the Decepticons never rescued them – indeed, it would be an insult to rescue a Decepticon for they shouldn’t need to be … EVER. No, it was the internal knowledge that something bad had happened to the Allspark.

And there was one less Lord capable of wielding it.