The Monster of Kaon (Transformers Si): Chapter 12

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing. There was no way I was going to let you go on an adventure on your own. Don't forget, you don't have an Amica, that means I have to fill in that role for you."

I felt equal parts frustration and found exasperation at the young femme's words before resigning myself.

"Fine, it's not like I can turn back since we don't have enough fuel for another trip."

"Yes!!"

When I received the task of retrieving the Cyber Caliber, I immediately set off so that I could get this task over with.

But, much to my shock, Airazor had helped Windblade sneak into my ship when I was distracted, talking to the leaders of the tribe and finalizing the minor details of the deal.

That is what led to my current situation, where I flew outside my ship to investigate weird noises originating from the cargo bay, only to find a stowaway hiding within it.

"Make no mistake, Windblade. When we arrive at our destination, you will obey my every order, no questions asked. Our destination is a very dangerous place which is probably filled to the brim with traps of all kinds. If you fail to follow even a single order from me, I will put you in stasis and sick the Mistress and the council on you for your stint when we get back."

At my words, genuine worry appeared on Windblade's face. While the Mistress and the Council usually tolerate and deal with Windblade's schemes due to the fact that she and the rest of her generation are considered children thanks to their age, there is still a limit to their tolerance and Windblade is already very close to reaching that limit, a fact that she knew very well.

She frantically nodded and strapped herself to the co-pilot seat, immediately fiddling with the various switches and computers.

This femme, she forgot the words that I spoke literally a few seconds ago. Whatever. I'll just have to keep a close eye on her.

With a shake of my head, I used my power to take control of all the electronics on her side of the ship, rerouting them to my own control systems while disabling everything that was within her reach.

"Hey! What gives??"

"I don't want you to meddle with the navigation systems, or any other systems for that matter. Our task is hard enough as is since we don't even know where Emissary is, I don't need you to make it even harder."

She pouted like a child, an expression that she picked up from the other Femme on Caminus who frequently come in contact with organic races thanks to their adventures.

"If we don't even know where the Titan is, where are we headed?"

"Lady Chela gave me the coordinates to the star system where she was last able to locate Emissary. From there, we will have to track down the Energon trail to find him."

"And how long ago was Emissary spotted in that star system?"

"Over 500 years ago."

"What?? How are we supposed to track down an Energon trail that old??"

"We don't have a choice in the matter."

"We always have a choice. Why are we doing this in the first place??"

"…Because Lady Chela promised me a reward that I cannot turn away."

She immediately fell silent with a downcast expression.

"…Did she promise to send you back to Cybertron?"

Honestly, can you be any more obvious?

I gave a light tap on her head with my knuckles.

"Don't worry, Mistress of Chaos, I am not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Hey!! You promised you would never use that name again!!"

I could not suppress the laugh that erupted as she tried and failed to physically stop me from talking.

That nickname was something that the council on Caminus came up with thanks to Windblade's penchant for causing chaos with every action that she took, a nickname that quickly gained traction before Windblade caught wind of it.

"But, in all seriousness. No, I am not going back to Cybertron just yet. Not before I pay my debt to the Mistress and the Council for everything they have done for me. And when I do leave, I will be extending an invitation to you and Chromia to come with me as official diplomats from Caminus."

"Oh, Solus! Yes! I accept!!"

"…Don't you need to ask Chromia before deciding?"

"Not really, no."

Why can't I ever keep up with her thought process? Were Chromia and Airazor right? Am I really getting too old?

I felt a ping in my systems, originating from the navigation system, which brought me out of my thoughts.

With a mental command, the ship dropped out of warp, revealing a star system with a single planet in the habitable zone.

While Windblade stared in awe at the beautiful view and the zoomed image of the planet that obviously supported life, I felt the type of dread I had not felt ever since the war against the Quintessons.

This was due to the fact that I recognized the planet and the implications that arose from its existence.

"Elonia."

"Is that the name of that planet? Why is marked as undiscovered in the database?"

Shit! I spoke out loud. I need to salvage this.

"I just thought the name suited that planet. A spur-of-the-moment thing, don't worry about it."

"I don't mind! It's a beautiful name. Let me feed it into the system."

She reached for the terminal, only for it to stay silent, causing her to glare at me immediately. I chuckled and relinquished control of that particular terminal, allowing her to feed the new name of the planet.

But, my good mood evaporated immediately when I once again concentrated on the planet.

From what little I remember from my human memories, Elonia is the world where Emissary crashed after a future version of Shockwave, calling himself Onyx Prime, sabotaged the Titan's systems. Thousands of years later, the Indigenous sapient beings of the planet would go on to establish the Solstar Order, an organization made up of hundreds of species with a single goal, the eradication of the Dire Wraiths.

Is it a coincidence, that Emissary would pass through the very system where he ended up dying in a different timeline? Or is this another example of fate, or rather, Alpha Trion's meddling?

Just in case, I activated all the sensory systems of the ship, searching a radius of 20 light years with the star system at the center, searching for any kind of exotic energy.

I know for a fact that Dire Wraiths don't exist in this universe and neither does the Solstar Order. I traveled across the entire galaxy searching for their existence during the Golden Age and yet gained absolutely no evidence of their existence. I even entered the Dark Nebula in search of the Dire Wraiths but returned empty-handed.

And yet, I cannot shake the paranoia ingrained into me over the years and still carry out the scans anyway.

"Hey! Maximus, look!"

I did not look up from the sensory systems, still searching for signs of anything anomalous.

"Not now, Windblade. I am in the middle of something-"

"Maximus! I found Emissary."

That caught my attention, forcing me to look up from the system to look at the femme dubiously.

"And where is he?"

"See for yourself."

She enlarged the main star of the system, zooming in on what would be the equator of the star, revealing a distinctly Cybertronian form orbiting it.

Huh? Now that is a surprise. And awfully convenient.

In fact, it is way too convenient for a task given by Chela.

I carefully navigated the ship closer toward Emissary, hoping to take a better look at it and see if this was some kind of a trap.

That is when things went wrong.

Windblade suddenly seized up as Emissary's dark form lit up with Energon.

I immediately put the ship in reverse but it was for naught as the ship was already caught in the gravity well of the Titan.

Then, a voice that did not belong to Windblade rang out from her mouth as her eyes shone with a bright light.

"Child of The Three, leave this place. This is the tomb of Prima, my closest friend, and I will not allow you to desecrate it."

Immediately, I felt through the ship's sensors as the gravity well reversed, pushing my ship away from Emissary.

Then, something even more surprising happened as Windblade resisted the ancient Titan's will and spoke up, showing why she was chosen to be trained as a City Speaker despite her age.

"Great Titan Emissary, we were sent by your kin, Lady Chela, to retrieve a relic from you for her sake."

I felt the gravity well stall, showing that Emissary had heard her words.

"And how can I know that you are telling the truth?"

"I am a City Speaker from Caminus. If you are willing to give us a chance, I can connect my brain module to your own and show you my memories."

"….Very well."

Once again, the gravity well inversed, pulling the ship closer to the Titan, opening up a path for the ship to travel through.

At my look of shock, Windblade looked at me with a smug look.

"What would you do without me?"

"…..don't spoil the moment, child."

"Hey!!"