The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 17

"So, where are we going this time?"

I did not look up from the navigation systems but still replied to Windblade's question.

"We are heading towards the edge of the Galaxy. The trail data shows that the Allspark emerged from the Space Bridge portal in that location before traveling deeper into the galaxy."

"Oh! Is there anything interesting over there?"

I smiled at the young femme excited at the prospect of thrilling adventure.

"Unfortunately for you, no. I have been to that part of the galaxy before and the only interesting things over there are a bunch of asteroid fields."

She immediately gave me a sullen look before curiosity replaced it.

"Where else have you traveled before?"

At her questions, many pleasant and unpleasant memories sprang to my mind.

I leaned back into the seat, contemplating what I should and shouldn't say to the youngling.

"…I have been to a lot of places. As you know, I am one of the oldest bots still alive with one of my closest friends, Ratchet, and a few other acquaintances, like Ironhide, being the only ones still alive from my generation by the time of my exile. I traveled to many of Cybertron's colonies during the Golden Age and have spent a lot of time studying many sapient life forms across the galaxy."

"Wait, if you've been to Cybertronian colonies, why did the mistress say that you were unfamiliar with Camian culture when you first arrived?"

I chuckled before I started speaking again, losing myself in fond memories.

"When I was still traveling the Galaxy, before the Nominus Edict, Caminus was still in the process of being settled with your Titan having just arrived on the planet which you now call home. Back then, I was still searching the Galaxy for a dark force that I believed to have existed only to be proven wrong. So I never had the chance to see your planet back then. And Caminus was not the only Cybertronian colony that I did not visit in those times. Eukaris was the same, and I never did get around to seeing Velocitron either. After the Edict, I no longer had the wish to see any more colonies."

As the last words left my mouth, I felt a bitter feeling envelop my mind. While the Edict was a good thing overall, I still regret not making sure that Nominus would not fuck up his work just like he tends to screw up everything he touches, especially after what his corrupt council did after the Edict was announced.

"Why? Did you lose your adventuring spirit? Is that when you became such a grumpy bot that has nothing better to do than tinkering with things I can't understand half the time and complaining when I pull you out to do something really interesting?"

"Oi!"

I tapped her head with my knuckles which caused her to chuckle at her own joke. But then, she suddenly turned serious and spoke softly.

"But, seriously, what happened? And why did you have such a sullen face when I asked that question?"

"….Do you know about Antilla?"

"No. I've never heard of that name."

Should I tell her of such a dark stain, one of countless others, on our race's history?

Should I really tell her of one of the darkest deeds I've been forced to do for the sake of those I cared about?

Will I be able to handle her looking at me as a monster for my actions?

Suddenly, I felt her palm on my shoulder as she gave me a gentle smile.

That gesture spoke more than any words could.

With a powerful intake of air to strengthen my mind, I started speaking, making sure to look at the vastness of outer space surrounding our ship and avoid her gaze.

"When the Nominus Edict was announced abruptly by Nominus prime, many of the corrupt councilors were unprepared to stop the expansion of Cybertron's borders. This was because many of them had personal interests and their personal assets and credits, the currency of that time, invested in finding new worlds to Cyberform, exploit, and profit from. So, as an act of defiance against the Nominus Edict, they pooled together their resources and sent out one final expedition into the stars, to the Planet Antilla."

With a mental command, I used my power to display the beautiful planet that I had personally categorized as a life-bearing and resource-rich planet in Cybertron's Cartography database during my travels. A decision that I regret to this day.

"..it looks beautiful."

"it was beautiful, and its native species, the Antillans, were a peaceful society of organics that respect all life. There were many among their species that I came to see as my equals during my short stay on the planet during my travels."

Once again, I took a deep breath and changed the display, this time to what I saw when I caught wind of the Council's plan and arrived too late to change anything.

The once beautiful and verdant planet was now replaced with a flaming rock, with fires raging across the planet thanks to the actions of those that were once called out Guardian Bots, the Omega Sentinels, and their leader, Omega Supreme.

"Despite being a peaceful society, the Antillans were no pushover when it came to conflict, so it was no surprise that when the Council sent in their forces to overtake the planet, they fought back and soundly defeated the initial forces of the Council. Unfortunately, instead of taking it as a sign and leaving the planet alone, the Council doubled down and resorted to tricking the Omega Sentinels, making them believe that Antilla and its people were a threat to Cybertronian life and that the only way to safeguard our people's future from what they perceived to be an existential threat thanks to the Council, was to eliminate the entirety of the Antillans."

"it was when the entirety of the Omega Sentinels was mobilized that I caught wind of what was happening. I took my personal ship and headed straight for Antilla in hopes of warning the Antillans about the coming threat. Unfortunately, my ship's speed was nowhere near that of the Omega Sentinels who used an ancient form of FTL technology that I don't know anything about even to this day."

I motioned to the burning planet in the image.

"By the time I arrived three days later, this was the sight that greeted me. But, I did not give up. I searched the entire planet for any survivors and sent them off to the nearest garden world with any resource and space-capable ship that I could scavenge from the burning world. A task that was made easier thanks to the fact that they were already in the process of building a few colony ships before the attack."

Windblade stayed silent, making it hard for me to guess what she was thinking. But once I started speaking about this, the words failed to stop coming out of my mouth.

"It was during this that I came upon the chief scientist and leader of the Antillan people. Kitan."

Thinking about that miserable and enraged man still brings sadness to my mind to this day.

"Due to the actions of Omega Supreme and the Omega Sentinels during the three days it took me to arrive on Antilla, Kitan was driven mad with rage and hatred for our species. Specifically, he blamed me for the death of his people. He claimed that I was the one to incite our people into attacking his world for their resources since I was the only Cybertronian to know about their existence in this part of that galaxy."

"What?? That's absurd!"

I felt a self-deprecating smile form on my face, something that I hid from Windblade's optics.

"No. I think he was right. If I had not been so foolish as to record the planet's data in our database, foolishly trusting Iacon's neutrality in those days, Antilla would never have been discovered by the Council, especially with their technological prowess that allowed them to hide from hostile beings in the Galaxy."

"Whatever the case might be, whether it was foolishness on my part or not, I cannot deny that blame now, just like I could not deny that blame back then. Of course, this only further fueled Kitan's rage against me and our race, making him lose control of his rationality and reveal what he was doing on the planet still while I had helped what remained of his people escape the burning world."

Once again, the image changed, this time showing a strange metallic object with a glowing purple core.

"This is something that came to be known as the Talisman. A weapon of mass destruction that Kitan created for the sole purpose of destroying the Cybertronian race. I do not know how it functions or what he used to create it. What I do know is that this thing is basically indestructible and contains enough energy to destroy Cybertron a thousand times over. But, more importantly, its anomalous energy is capable of destroying everything, even causing space and time itself to collapse in its vicinity."

Once again, I was greeted with silence as I continued spilling one of my darkest moments in this life.

"I tried to talk him down. Tried to reason with him, but he was too far gone in his grief after losing his family in the initial attack. Worse yet, he had pointed the Talisman on both Cybertron and programmed it to turn its power on Antilla itself after Cybertron's destruction, hoping to take out everything that had to do with Cybertron. Fortunately, he did not know about the Cybertronian colonies, otherwise, who knows what he would have done with that knowledge?"

"….How did you stop him?"

I finally looked at Windblade's face, watching her face that was full of concern, rage, and many other emotions that I could not identify.

"I did not. During my attempts to talk him down, he took advantage of my attention being on him to launch the Talisman into space, causing me to chase after the device. Unfortunately, in my haste to stop the Talisman, I failed to observe the fact that the facility in which Kitan took refuse was starting to collapse as a result of the Talisman being launched. I found his body a few days later."

"Once the Talisman was launched, its energy began to swell as the delivery vehicle started to activate its warp drives. With no choice left, I used my Shield as a projectile and knocked the delivery vehicle off course, causing it to warp into the home star of Antilla."

Once again, the image shifted to show a massive black hole surrounded by dead Antilla and a massive debris field.

"That Talisman caused the star to collapse into a black hole, followed by a massive energy pulse that killed all organic life and most of the Cybertronian forces, including the majority of the Omega Sentinels, in the star system. It was only thanks to my shield that I survived that day. As for the Talisman, it remains at the core of the Black Hole to this day, occasionally emitting that anomalous energy. It is the reason why that sector of space is considered a forbidden zone for all vessels."

"What about the Antillans that you saved?"

"Dead. When I arrived at the garden world I had left them on a few days later, I found out that they had collectively committed suicide, choosing to die with their world and their beloved leader. Of course, they made sure to leave a message for me, blaming me and cursing me for bringing an end to their people and wishing that I experienced the same kind of pain that they did with the death of their people. A curse that most definitely came true later on."

"….Maximus, it was not your fault. You couldn't have known that the Council would do something like that."

"Be that as it may, I still have to shoulder the sin of exposing their existence to the council in the first place."

I closed my eyes and forced back all the emotions swirling in my emotional matrix while suppressing those memories. I forced a neutral look and started concentrating on the navigation systems of the ship again since we were about to reach our destination.

Soon, the ship dropped out of warp, revealing empty space. However, the area still showed a massive spike in Energon readings that trailed off into the deeper parts of the galaxy. From the navigation systems shown based on the star charts that I obtained from Chela, the trail becomes increasingly frail as it travels deeper but spikes in intensity when passing by certain planets and celestial bodies.

The first planet that has this spike in Energon is none other than Velocitron.

Looks like I know where I am headed next.

"…..Did you try to bring the Council to justice?"

I turned to Windblade and answered her question with no small amount of glee in my voice, something that seemed to have unsettled the young femme.

"I did. I tracked down every single one of them personally before bringing them for a public trial followed by revealing all of their secrets to all of Cybertron. Then, I personally carried out their execution with my own sword. As for the Omega Sentinels, most of them died on Antilla after the Talisman activated following which the rest of them were judged by Metroplex who briefly awakened. Since they were considered Titans in name, Metroplex's authority overshadowed that of the Primes. He sentenced the Omega Sentinels to exile while sealing off Omega Supreme beneath Iacon and tasking him with guarding something of extreme significance to Cybertron."

Silence descended in the cockpit as I charted a course toward Velocitron.

As expected, there is no forgiveness for my act, even from someone as innocent as her.

This means that I was right. Someone like me is not worthy of carrying that shield that my dear friend Leviathan made for me all those eons ago. This means that I did the right thing in burying it at Antilla as a memorial for all the lives lost on that planet.

I have no hope of ever looking her in the eye and telling her about how I caused the death of an entire species when I became one with the Allspark.

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Omega Sentinels:



Omega Supreme:



Destruction of Antilla:



The Talisman: