Tales of the Intermezzo - Face A Transformers Universe Story copyright 1999 by Dave Van Domelen based on properties owned by Hasbro =========================================================================== "intermezzo - n. A brief entertainment between two acts of a play." - American Heritage Dictionary It began and ended with Nucleon. * * * * Cyclonus flew low over the icy wastes of a world he should never have been required to "sneak" around on. In the proper timeline, this ball of rock and water was just a backwater in the Decepticon Empire, for all the pathetic sabre-rattling of the organic inhabitants. But this wasn't the proper timeline. Far from it. For some reason, Unicron had seen fit to seize Galvatron from the moment of his triumph and throw him into a world where even the mighty Galvatron's power would do no good against the Autobots. Desperation on the part of a god is always hard on mortals. It had taken time, but Cyclonus had managed to follow his lord by use of a modified space bridge. His place was at Galvatron's side, and no act of the dark god would put asunder what had been joined. But he had arrived too late. Unicron was dead in this forsaken reality, Galvatron tossed aside like so much scrap. Cyclonus, an anomaly from another reality, had been forced to skulk about the edges of events, gathering what scraps of information he could. He had finally found hints that Galvatron was here, somewhere in the ice on Earth, apparently killed by Fortress Maximus. He did NOT like the tales he heard regarding his lord's sanity...but it was the habit of lesser beings to impugn the sanity of their betters, was it not? His body would definitely be shattered, however, which made the small energon-style cube Cyclonus carried vitally important. There! He could feel a presence he'd been separated from for ages! He didn't need any sensor sweeps to know when he was near Galvatron. When he was created, he had been bound to his leader by ties both physical and emotional. His loyalty had a very real expression. Cyclonus transformed and landed. Now was the time to use sensors, and they indicated a large metallic mass just below the surface of the ice. Hardly enough covered Galvatron to require exertion to be free...so his lord's condition must have been grave indeed. He defocused his lasers and flash-melted the top layer of ice. As the steam cleared away, the horribly cracked and battered form of Galvatron became visible. There was only the barest spark of light in his optics. "Cy-cyclonus?" Galvatron croaked, his vocalization circuits buzzing harshly and falling out of tone. "Yes, my lord Galvatron," Cyclonus bowed. "Was it...then a dream?" Galvatron asked. "My former self, my madness...." Cyclonus was pained to hear his commander so full of doubt and regret. But the comfortable lie was never something he'd been very good at. "No, not a dream. But I have come to restore you to health and serve you loyally." "Ah, how I missed you by my side," Galvatron gasped, then fell silent as his vocalization circuits finally shorted out. Cyclonus removed a small, glowing cube from a compartment in his arm. "This is called Nucleon. It is an energy source of such power that it can restore you to full health. I was warned that it comes with a price, however." Galvatron nodded. Cyclonus knew his lord well enough that this carried as much meaning as any words could. Galvatron would take the risk, and if necessary, pay the price. Only cowards took no risks, and only fools thought they could avoid the consequences of their actions. Wordlessly, Cyclonus opened a fuel port on Galvatron's shattered chest and poured in the glowing fluid. There was enough here to repair any ten Transformers, but Galvatron's injuries were so great that he used it all. Galvatron's optics flared purple with energy, and suddenly the injuries seemed to be mere scratches, nothing of importance. Cyclonus's commander stood with renewed vigor and held out his arms, starting to turn towards Cyclonus. Then he stopped. A lesser being might have had a look of panic in his optics as he found himself unable to move. Galvatron's expression was more of puzzlement and mild indignation. "It is part of the process," Cyclonus explained. "Although it seems to be progressing much more quickly than I had observed previously. Rather than try to repair all the external damage, the Nucleon is re-routing resources to rebuild your body from the inside out. Once it has completed its work, you will cast off the old husk and be able to move." But would he be able to transform? Cyclonus had seen that the Autobot Grimlock had lost that ability after his metamorphosis, but not all the Dinobots had suffered that fate. Yet. There was a rending sound, and Galvatron's battered body fell apart like a Pretender shell. Revealing the face of Megatron. * * * * "Here are the surveillance reports," Cyclonus handed a data crystal to Megatron. Intelligence was harder to gather now that Soundwave's minions were trapped in their robotic modes...except for poor Overkill, who was doomed to life as a cassette tape. The Nucleon gave great power, but stole from them their ability to transform...some slowly, some quickly, but all eventually. Megatron plugged in the crystal and scanned the computer screen. "Very good...the Autobots have lagged behind in their development of exosuits and vehicles. The hidden war goes well for us...the Autobots are stretched over half the spiral arm looking for us, leaving Cybertron under-defended." He smiled a thin smile as he fast-forwarded through the visual records of "defeats" which were only meant to convince the Autobots they needed to garrison yet another planet. Then he frowned and paused the record. "What is this?" he pointed at an imposing figure on the battlefield. "The Autobot Grimlock," Soundwave replied. "It can't be!" Megatron spat. "He's in his transformed state!" Shockwave turned from his console and spoke in that eternally tired- sounding voice of his. "It would seem that Autobot research into reversing the negative effects of Nucleon has not been a waste of time after all." Megatron snarled. "Then we must strike now, before they implement this cure throughout their forces!" "Negative," Soundwave warbled. "Any victory will be transitory unless we can counter this new advantage." Megatron paused, seething with the desire to take decisive action. "Very well," he finally hissed. "Shockwave, you begin readying the troops for a full assault on Cybertron. Soundwave, you work on a cure...we know it's possible, so it shouldn't take too much time to figure it out." "I will need an un-tainted test subject," Soundwave hummed. Megatron spun around and pointed a finger at Cyclonus. "Use him." Cyclonus reeled in shock, but there was no denying the burning resentment in his commander's optics. But...Galvatron/Megatron had accepted the risk of losing his transformation abilities, why would he bear a grudge against his loyal right hand for that? Then it hit Cyclonus like Devastator's fist. Megatron did not resent being stripped of his ability to transform. He resented that he needed to be saved in the first place, resented that anyone had seen him in such a weakened and pathetic state. And perhaps there was a bit of the old madness in that glare as well.... * * * * Oddly, there was no pain, or even major discomfort. Cyclonus knew he shouldn't have been surprised...Soundwave was no butcher. Not like the Constructicons. Of course, since they were trapped together as the slow-witted Devastator, the only experiments they were good for performing now were stress tests of enemy wall material. What it was, however, was *slow*. Freed from the need to quickly repair a fallen comrade, Soundwave was administering the Nucleon in almost imperceptible drips, measuring the effect of each microliter on Cyclonus's body. The only break in the unending tedium of careful scientific inquiry came when Soundwave experimented with direct application of Nucleon to Cyclonus's faceplate, to determine the effect of the substance on the densely clustered sensors there. Cyclonus no longer had a face, for it had shattered during the rapid rearrangement of components brought on by the Nucleon. Yet, his sensors now worked ten times better than ever before. Finally, it was over. "My experiments are complete, Cyclonus," Soundwave announced flatly. "I believe I have learned enough to effect a partial cure. Transform," he added, although it sounded almost like a request instead of the order that it was. Cyclonus strained, and felt components start to rearrange themselves internally, but slowly. Within seconds, the change had stopped, and it was obvious that he had not truly transformed...at least, not the way he used to. But he was still a spacecraft of sorts...the hypercritical wings were there, the canards and needle nose. But he didn't need to look in the monitors to know he only vaguely resembled a vehicle now. He looked more like a robot pretending to be a jet. Still, he could fly. Maybe he could even still reach space unaided. Cyclonus reverted to robot mode and inspected himself. Where elements of his vehicle mode had once been cleverly hidden away in this mode, now they remained in plain sight...a bit ungainly and ugly. But it had not killed him. "I will begin fabrication of a replacement faceplate," Soundwave's modulated voice said flatly. Was there a tiny hint of apology in there? Cyclonus decided he was imagining it. He shook his head. "Just give me a standard battlefield replacement, that will do." "Why?" Soundwave asked, the question surprising Cyclonus. Soundwave never asked about motives...he always knew your intentions as soon as you did. So why ask? Perhaps he knew Cyclonus needed to verbalize it. "The humans have a phrase, to 'lose face.' I think I lost face with Megatron long before your experiments. Until I regain his trust, until I symbolically regain face, I don't think I want my old face back." Soundwave nodded and set about preparing the faceplate. He understood how a life can end without death. * * * * It began and ended with Nucleon. ============================================================================= Author's Notes: This is set more or less in the comic continuity, between the end of G1 and the beginning of G2. At the end of G1, we theoretically had both Megatron (yeah, like he'd stay dead) and Galvatron (ditto) around, both heavily damaged. Only Bludgeon's little band of outlaws remained to carry the Decepticon banner, however...so why would the Autobots be all spread out at the beginning of G2, with a secret Autobase off Cybertron? Hence a "hidden" war between the Actionmasters of both sides, during the time between the introduction of Nucleon in the comic and the implied cure for it before G2 #1. Of course, this raises a new question...was the Megatron who stumbled into Cobra headquarters for repairs the one last seen mentally linked to Ratchet, or was it the Actionmaster version, retreating after losing the grand battle for Cybertron? After all, a total rebuild could cure one of Nucleon's effects....