The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 31

“We will be entering the Spacebridge range shortly. Once we are in range, I will generate the portal.”

I turned towards Windblade and watched as the Femme practically vibrated in her spot at the prospect of seeing Cybertron for the first time.

An understandable reaction for any bot born on the Cybertronian colonies and raised hearing legends about the planet upon which our race was born.

Unfortunately, I don’t think she will find the barren world as lofty as her imagination makes it out to be, especially if my human memories are anything to go by.

“I can’t wait to see what Cybertron looks like. Granted, the war ravaged the planet and has left it barren, but it must still have something left behind, right?”

At her words, I couldn’t help but give a sad smile.

If only she knew the extent of the violence our race is capable of.

If she had been alive during the Quintesson war, she would have found the actions of the Star Seekers to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Such was the extent of the atrocities we committed in those times.

After all, there is a reason why most of the bots that were born in those times are feared and seen as unstable beings that must be left alone.

“I heard from the Matriarch that Cybertron has seas on it as well? Is it true?”

Her words brought me out of my thoughts and made me look at the hopeful femme.

Hmm, perhaps a little demonstration will take my mind off of the dark thoughts in my brain module.

I used my power to take control of the screens and projected the image of Cybertron as I remember it, showing a world of metal that showed great activity even from outer space.

“The seas on Cybertron are not actual seas as you or the other colonies would know about. The term ‘sea’ on Cybertron is used to describe vast stretches of land on the planet that are either inhospitable or are filled with Cyber-fauna that are highly dangerous to a regular Cybertronian.”

I manipulated the image to highlight three areas on the planet that were so large that multiple cities could be constructed in that much area.

“On Cybertron, there exist three such seas. The Rust Sea, the Argon sea, and the Mithril sea.”

I highlighted one of the seas, a large swath of land that looked impossibly smooth, but would quickly engulf any bot that set foot on it.

“This is the Mithril sea. Supposedly, it was a testing ground for experimental weapons and technology of the Ancients that existed before the Quintesson war. It is said that one of such experiments was what created this sea.”

“The Mithril sea is made up of a material similar to Mercury, but when observed closer on a microscopic level, it shows that it is a literal sea of nanites that devour anything that sets foot on it.”

Windblade watched in awe and fear as I played the recording of a Quintesson warship crash-landing into the Mithril sea and being devoured in its entirety in a matter of seconds.

Back in the day, the Mithril Sea was considered a counterpart of the Rust Sea, given their similar points of origin and how they are extremely hostile to any kind of mechanical life-forms. Although the Mithril sea was considered a step above the Rust Sea, given its hostility to all life forms, instead of just mechanical life.

It was also one of our favorite spots to interrogate POWs during the war since it was the best place for us to get rid of all kinds of things that could prove to be a threat to our species.

I manipulated the image to show another land, this one made completely out of rusting metal, storms so powerful that they obscured all forms of sensors, and a large basin carved out of a strange mix of Cybersteel and organic matter, filled with a brow liquid that showed occasional activity beneath its surface.

“This is the Rust Sea. Home to the Rust worms and another old testing site of the Ancients. Seriously, those guys were either too intelligent or too stupid for their own good. Another place that is theorized to have been created from a disastrous experimentation on the part of the Ancients, this place now serves as the relic of what our species was capable of before the Quintesson invasion and the arrival of the Rust worms.”

At my words, Windblade looked at me with confusion.

“What do you mean by arrival? Aren’t Rust Worms a natural part of the Cybertronian ecosystem?”

I smiled at her question.

As someone who had studied Cybertronian history and biology extensively during and after the Quintesson war, I felt an old desire within me rise to the surface.

The desire to teach what I know about our people to young bots.

Elita always said that I would have made an excellent teacher if things had gone differently.

“No really. Our people conducted extensive studies on the vermin and have long since concluded that the Rust Worms are not native to Cybertron. The leading theory is that the Quintessons brought the Rust Worms with them to Cybertron, whether unintentionally or intentionally is up for debate.”

“What we do know is that their very way of life is a threat to anything that is inorganic in nature. It is the reason why the basin is lined with a mix of Cybersteel and organic matter, lined with a layer of solidified Cybermatter. Since the Rust Worms cannot process organic materials, this basin serves as the best prison for these vermin.”

“Wow! That’s ingenious. Who came up with this method?”

“Primus himself did.”

“WHAT!?”

The shock of the young femme is understandable since I felt the same when I saw the Rust sea with my own optics all those millennia ago.

Back during the Quintesson war, when the Rust Worms first made themselves known and decimated the lines on ether sides of the conflict, we worked around the clock to find a way to contain the worms, lest they devour all of Cybertron and kill us all.

However, Primus beat us to it and dealt with the threat to Cybertron in his own way.

Back in those days, Primus was much more active and actively made his presence known in various ways. It is the reason why it was common knowledge back in the day that Primus was the very core of our planet, unlike later generations, which started to question the existence of Primus and Unicron as a whole.

I smiled at her shocked expression and continued elaborating on the situation, playing my memory from that time on the screen.

“When the Rust Worms proved themselves to be too much of a threat, Primus took action on our behalf and morphed Cybertron, which happens to be his own body, to create that basin in the Rust Sea, containing the Rust Worms for good.”

Before she could ask any further questions, the navigation systems aboard our ship activated, indicating that we had reached the operational range of our Spacebridge so that we could directly go to Cybertron.

As I operated the ship’s inbuilt Spacebridge, Windblade spoke out words that made me feel cold.

“What about the Argon sea? What lives there?”

“Death.”

As the Spacebridge opened, revealing the wormhole that would take us to my home, I turned to give Windblade a serious stare.

“Remember, Windblade. No matter what circumstances, you must never, ever, venture into the Argon sea. At least, without me by your side.”

“…Why?”

“Because that place is a tomb, and a living embodiment that shows that not all Titans and Primes are born good.”

Left unsaid was the fact that it is also the place where one of the most dangerous Titans in all of existence is imprisoned, stripped of his memory and identity, and left with nothing but the monstrous darkness that he was born with.

Soon, the Spacebridge solidified and opened the portal to Cybertron, allowing me to fly through it and to the other side, letting me see my home for the first time in thousands of years.

And all I felt was despair as I beheld the barren wasteland that my home had been reduced to.

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Rust Worms: