Book III
     "Into the Darkness"

     Chapter XII
     "By the Matrix"


     Optimus Prime sat in the
shuttle's command chair.  Rodimus's
quick report was enough to tell him
he had better get to Cybertron, or at
least to Unicron's head as soon as
possible.  What could it mean?  Could
it have anything to do with Unicron,
or was someone just using his head
for a repair bay.  Either way, this
was very unsettling news.
     Optimus Prime arrived at
Unicron's head, and was met by
Rodimus immediately.
     "What have you found", said
Optimus to Rodimus.
     "Well, as near as we can tell,
Unicron is dead, completely.  He may
have survived the explosion, but
someone completely destroyed all of
his brain circuits, so if there was
anything left of him, it's destroyed
now.  We found the bodies of four of
the Predators, but the bodies of
Skyquake and Stalker are missing.  It
looks like they were able to repair
themselves and escape.  I think that
their leaving was the energy reading
that brought us here."
     "Any evidence as to where they
might have gone", asked Optimus.
     "None, but I would guess they
went to Charr.  We found that the
Predators bodies had been used for
spare parts.  The parts missing
suggest that Stalker and Skyquake
repaired themselves.  We also found
something else", said Rodimus.
     "What else", asked Optimus.
     "We found what appear to be the
plans for a device capable of turning
rock into energeon", said Rodimus.
     "What", said Optimus.  "How is
that possible?"
     "Percepter looked at the plans. 
He says that the machine breaks down
the molecular bonds in rocks, and
collects the energy from it.  He said
it would not be useful to make
energeon full time.  It would be
prone to breakdowns, and not very
efficient.   However, Percepter said
it would probably be sufficient to
arm an army for a full scale attack,
and if they were lucky, it wouldn't
take them too long."
     "I want round the clock reports
from our team observing Charr", said
Optimus.
     "I've already ordered it", said
Rodimus.
     "Tell Kup I want to speak to him
about Cybertron's defenses
immediately", said Optimus.  "We
could be looking at a major move by
the Decepticons.  Without a leader,
they aren't able to stay together,
but if Skyquake is alive, then he
will certainly be planning an attack
against us.  This is the first major
attack we will have had to defend
both Cybertron and Earth against
since we regained Cybertron.  We can
not fail."
     Optimus Prime left Rodimus, and
went back to the shuttle.  In all the
millions of years that the War had
gone on, at no time did the Autobots
so fully control Cybertron.  They
could not afford to step back now. 
If they repelled the Decepticon
attack, it would be their greatest
triumph.  If they did not, it would
be their most bitter defeat.  Optimus
swore by the Matrix that that would
not happen.  Not while he still
functioned.


     Optimus Prime and Kup discussed
the situation, and decided that
Cybertron's defenses should be enough
to hold out against an attack.  Over
the past few months, Optimus had had
many new defense systems built on and
around Cybertron.  Cybertron was
practically impenetrable, and Optimus
knew that Cybertron belonged to the
Autobots permanently.  Optimus
decided against a first strike.  As
it stood now, with the exception of
Megatron on earth, the Decepticons
were not a threat, and he did not
want to provoke them.  He thought it
was possible that the Decepticons
were not going to attack, but the
odds were not running that way.  He
had to give them the benefit of the
doubt though.
     Earth was another matter.  The
Autobots had a large force on Earth. 
In addition to Autobot City, and the
Volcano base, the Autobots had six
bases around the world.  They were
located in England, Saudi Arabia,
China, Russia, Australia, and Brazil. 
Coupled with the Earth's own defense
forces, he thought it would be
enough, to defend the Earth from a
Decepticon attack..  Earth was no
where near as well defended as
Cybertron, and this worried Optimus
immensely.  Optimus decided to leave
Rodimus Prime in command on
Cybertron.  Optimus, Ultra Magnus,
Percepter, and Springer returned to
earth aboard Sky Lynx.  The
Decepticons could be coming back in
force.  Optimus was confident that
they could hold both Earth and
Cybertron, even against a full scale
attack by the entire Decepticon army,
but Optimus still felt uneasy. 
Optimus still had one nagging worry,
Megatron.  He was probably still on
Earth.  He was the wild card.  This
worried Optimus more than the entire
Decepticons army.  What Optimus did
not know, was that when they arrived,
they would already be too late.