Under Fire

Ultra Magnus waited patiently in front of his shuttle inside hangar gamma-six of the Brave Maximus, surrounded by his ten cadets from the Arctis Academy. He envied their youthful innocence; this was their first time away from their home planet of Cybertron. Warcry and Ox wrestled playfully while Daytonus, Hot Shot, Rev, and Oilslick argued over who could complete a lap of the hangar the fastest. Crosswise was picking at a scratch on his thigh and Chicane was walking the perimeter of the shuttle, capturing every detail with his surveillance equipment. Speedtrap and Sideburn were vying for Ultra Magnus’ attention.

Ultra Magnus ignored them all. Three months ago, he was Autobot Leader on Cybertron, and now he was consigned to Fire Convoy’s “Cybertronian Defence Force” in a new body, already bearing a grudge for a new commander he’d not even met yet. Still, it was preferable to the alternative. Magnus mentally added another item to his regret list: ‘Don’t throttle Autobot Chief Scientist until his memory chips burst out of his optics.’

Three Autobots entered the hangar from a door on the east wall. Wildride, Mach Alert and Speedbreaker – joint second-in-commands of the defence force, and the only Autobots that Fire Convoy trusted. Ultra Magnus watched them carefully as they approached. Speedbreaker and Mach Alert were a little on the spindly side, with parts of their vehicle modes almost forming a shell around them. Wildride was more on the chunky side. But still, all three displayed characteristics of Neogen physiology.

The ten cadets snapped to attention as Mach Alert stepped up to Ultra Magnus. “Welcome aboard, Ultra Magnus. Always a pleasure to welcome a fellow criminal!”

“I’m not a criminal,” replied Ultra Magnus.

“Hey, it was a joke… we’re all criminals in the optics of Star Saber.” Mach Alert nervously reached behind his head. “Anyway, I’m Mach Alert, and this is Wildride. And Speedbreaker.”

“Cool paint job,” Sideburn called from behind Ultra Magnus.

“Thanks, little buddy,” smiled Speedbreaker. “I was going for a retro Hot Rod / Tracks fusion look.”

“I’m sure you can all compare paint jobs later,” interrupted Wildride. He then turned to Ultra Magnus: “I’m afraid Fire Convoy is still on a mission with the Bullet Team. Maybe you’d like a tour while we’re waiting.”

“No thanks,” Magnus replied curtly.

“Listen, buddy. You’ve obviously pissed off Star Saber to be here, and once you’ve arrived, you’re not ever going back to the surface. Trust me on this one.”

“I think I’ll wait till I get to know you a little before we start talking about trust.” Ultra Magnus folded his arms up against his chest.

“Nice attitude,” said Wildride, cocking his head to the left. “You and Fire Convoy are going to get along like a habitation unit on fire.”

There was a moment of resentful silence. Ultra Magnus didn’t want to be there, and it seemed the others didn’t want him there.

Sideburn spoke up: “Um… I’d like a tour.”

“Well, sure thing little buddy!” sang Speedbreaker. “Come on, what say I show you pint-sized bots around while these guys glare at each other some more.”

Speedbreaker led the ten cadets to the door and began the tour of the space station.

“So, you got a new body?” Mach Alert asked Ultra Magnus.

“Yeah. It was all a bit strange,” Magnus replied, visibly relaxing. “After what happened with Perceptor, I was expecting Court Marshall. But instead I was offered this new body if I agreed to join your team.”

“No offence, but I don’t trust Star Saber at all,” said Wildride, “How do you know he hasn’t bugged it or something. We’ll get the techs to give it the once over.”

“No thanks.”

Wildride tapped his helmet. “I’ve got it all up here, buddy. I know you don’t like me, but you need to stop being so pig-headed and start trusting my judgement. Star Saber is bad news and I’m surprised you don’t see that.”

“Oh, I do, Wildride. I’ve got an agent in the field right now, who will hopefully get all the answers I need.”

“Bumblebee?”

Ultra Magnus smiled. “Wow, you do have it all up there!”

A console on Mach Alert’s chest blipped into life. “The Aktirak is approaching. I hope you’re prepared, Ultra Magnus.”

“For what?”

Fire Convoy marched off the boarding ramp towards Ultra Magnus, Mach Alert and Wildride. Without even acknowledging Ultra Magnus, he pushed the Transwarp cell into Wildride’s hands. “Get this down to Heavyload and have him hardwire it into propulsion.”

“Hi, I’m Ultra Magnus.”

Fire Convoy then turned to Mach Alert. “Assemble the crew in the conference room, I have something urgent to discuss.”

“Hi, I’m Ultra Magnus.”

Fire Convoy turned back to the Aktirak. “Bullet Team! Get yourselves to the pilot room!”

“Hi, I’m Ultra—"

Fire Convoy stopped in his tracks and spun round to face Ultra Magnus. His face came to Magnus’ chest. “Yes, that’s three times you’ve told me now. And I said I wanted the crew assembled in the conference room. I don’t have time for any pleasantries.”

Fire Convoy turned to leave, but Ultra Magnus grabbed him by the shoulder. “Then I suggest you make the time.”

“Bah Weep Grahnah whatever,” said a sarcastic Fire Convoy, offering Magnus an Energon Snack. “I am Fire Convoy, Cybertron Defence Commander. You must be Ultra Magnuts, recently busted ex-Autobot Leader. Welcome to the Brave Maximus, I hope you enjoy serving under me.”

Ultra Magnus tightened his grip and lifted Fire Convoy from the ground. “I am not in the best of moods, so don’t try my patience.”

Wildride and Mach Alert levelled their weapons at Magnus. “Put the boss down,” said Wildride.

Ultra Magnus grudgingly complied.

“I hope we don’t have to threaten violence every time we want you to follow an order,” Fire Convoy said coldly. “Now, can we please just assemble in the conference room?”

The six Autobots sat around the large silver table in the centre of the conference room. Fire Convoy sat at the head of the table with Wildride and Mach Alert at either side of him. Next to Wildride sat Tow-Line and Pitstop. Ultra Magnus sat at the foot of the table.

“Autobots, we have been ‘defending’ Cybertron for almost one third of a Vorn. But today something happened to me, and an opportunity to rid ourselves of Star Saber’s curse has presented itself.”

“We cannot go against Star Saber, sir,” said Pitstop.

“Trust me, Pitstop,” said Fire Convoy, as an image of the planet Earth in it’s former state appeared on the viewscreen behind him. (Ultra Magnus winced at the image.) “Today I accepted a mission, offered by a race of extremely powerful aliens, to retrieve something important to them.”

“From Earth?” queried Mach Alert. “But Earth was—“

“An Earth of the past. The year 2002, to be precise.”

“And how are we going to get there?” asked Wildride.

“The Build Team are in the middle of installing a Transwarp cell into our propulsion systems that will allow us to travel back in time.”

Ultra Magnus stood up. “Have you got any idea what will happen if we go around messing with the natural order of things? Trust me, I’ve experienced it all first hand.”

“Are you disagreeing with me, Magnus?” Fire Convoy also stood up. “I have been promised that if we succeed in this mission, all our problems with Star Saber will go away. And yours will too.”

“I still think it’s a bad idea.”

Fire Convoy jumped up onto the table and strode over to Ultra Magnus, removed his fusion pistol from his holster and jabbed it into Magnus’ chest. “Listen to me. It’s not your place to question my judgement or my orders. If you do it again, I will inflict so much pain on you, you’ll be begging for your maternal unit.”

Frustrated, Ultra Magnus sat back down and glared at Fire Convoy.

“Excellent,” said Fire Convoy, returning to his chair. “We will leave for Earth as soon as the Transwarp cell is functional.”

“But sir,” said Mach Alert, “how can we trust these aliens, we don’t even know anything about them! Do they even have a name?”

“They called themselves The Vok.”