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        The crater containing Springer’s wreckage was still smoking by the time the Autobots got to it. Daniel buried his face in his mother’s leg, crying, while Spike and Carly lowered their heads in silent prayer. Goldbug and First Aid were the first Autobots to enter the crater and check to see if any life signs could be restored. First Aid shook his head after checking. Springer’s laser core had been extinguished.

        Ultra Magnus’s powerful shoulders slumped, and he fell to his knees at the edge of the crater. His optics were focused only on Springer, and his hands, palms up, lay in his lap.

        "Springer. . .you’re really dead. . ." He said, quietly, shaking his head, as if alternately disbelieving and, for the first time, accepting the possibility. Rodimus saw his grief and laid his hand on Magnus’ shoulder. One good turn, after all, deserved another.

        Magnus stood up, towering over Rodimus Prime. "Springer would be alive right now, and we would know the location of the Decepticon base, if you had sent the right team. The team with me in command. I’ve taken blows like this before and survived—thanks to the Junkions, I’m living on borrowed time, anyway. You could have sent me, and kept Springer alive. Springer alive, and Arcee here, with us."

        Magnus didn’t care what he said—he knew it was all true, whether Rodimus Prime held the sacred Matrix or not. He hurt, Arcee hurt—he wanted Rodimus to hurt, too. He wanted to put a crack in that Primus-damned stone countenance of his, and he didn’t care who else heard. Rodimus was wrong, and he had to know it. Had to, before he sacrificed any more Autobots just so he could say he was in charge of them.

        Rodimus stared at him. Ultra Magnus didn’t know, couldn’t know, how badly Rodimus already felt about Springer, especially in light of Arcee’s accusation that he had deliberately sent Springer to the Decepticon base to be killed. But Ultra Magnus’s behavior—yelling at him in front of other grieving Autobots—was this the critical moment, the point where Ultra Magnus either won or lost the leadership? Was he calling Rodimus out?

        Rodimus shook his head sadly. "I understand your grief, Ultra Magnus. I feel it myself, a hundred times more strongly than you do yourself. Because it was my order which sent Springer to his death, and the other Autobots to Primus-knows-where. But, I’m afraid, if you feel so strongly about my inability to lead—"

        Magnus stuttered. "No, I—"

        "—then I think it would be best if you returned to Earth, to command our forces there." Rodimus did not miss a beat, and his optics focused on Ultra Magnus said everything for him. There would be no apologies, and no forgiveness. What surprised Rodimus is that Ultra Magnus did not appear as if he cared for either.

        Magnus nodded curtly, turned around, and walked away. Kup, behind Rodimus, spoke quietly. "Ah, lad. . .are you sure?"

        Rodimus glanced down at the wreckage in the crater. He looked up, at all the Autobot faces in and surrounding the crater, all staring at him, and was not surprised to find Optimus Prime standing there as well, his gaze heavy with judgment.

        "As sure as I am of anything, Kup."

        "Galvatron. . ."

        ". . .Galvatron. . ."

        ". . .Galvatron."

        Galvatron heard the voice faintly, at the edge of his consciousness. He was dying, he knew that much. The Autobot anti-ship cannon had been too much for his weakened body to withstand—it had punched a hole straight through him, blew him to who-knows-where in space. Who could know he was here? He didn’t even know where he was. Was it Cyclonus, come to rescue him? Cyclonus. . .

        . . .if Galvatron weren’t dying, he would kill Cyclonus. The treacherous worm could have stood by his side, helped him reconquer the Decepticons. . .but he stood, aloof, watching the show as Galvatron was attacked by his own Decepticons. They owed him everything! And this was how they repaid him?

        "Galvatron!"

        Galvatron’s head snapped back out of his wandering thoughts, and he gasped at the sight before him.

        Unicron had been the largest, most powerful Transformer of them all. Capable of transforming into a world-eating planet, he was the very essence of chaos and destruction embodied in a single being. A single being capable of being destroyed by a single artifact, the Autobot Matrix, small enough to be held in Galvatron’s hand.

        Now, before him, only Unicron’s head remained. Broken, badly damaged, with one mighty horn clipped and both optics shattered, Unicron’s head floated in the darkness of space. But it was not alone—all around was an asteroid belt. But it was unlike any asteroid belt that Galvatron had ever seen before—bands of powerful energy swept through the entire band of rock as far as his optics could detect. Indeed, the entire belt seemed to be alive with the energy, a ring around the star billions upon billions of miles wide. And all of the energy flowed back to one source—Unicron himself.

        Galvatron could hardly believe what he was seeing. "You died! On Cybertron!"

        Unicron’s head and mouth did not move. For all Galvatron could tell, it was simply a dead hunk of metal floating in the asteroid belt. All, that was, except for the bands of energy that stretched from what was left of Unicron, across an entire solar system. Even for all its seeming deadness, however, Galvatron could sense the presence of Unicron. He could feel the greatest of all the Transformers watching him, and knew that it was Unicron who called his name. Now, and before, in his throne room. It was Unicron who sent him that dream, he was sure of it. . .Unicron who wanted him to know the pain of his master.

        "I am not dead, Galvatron," Unicron spoke in ponderous speech that electrified the void around him. "The Matrix is the one thing, the only thing, that can stand in my way. There is nothing that can destroy me. Nothing."

        Galvatron shuddered at the power behind that voice. Unicron was infinite; there were no bounds that could not be broken by his one-time master. And even as he realized that, he realized that Unicron was very much still his master; he always had been. Even when he had claimed that he served no one, even in the past year of Unicron’s seeming death, Unicron ruled him. Unicron was destroyed, yet had not died. Unicron was infinite; he had power over everything he touched. Everything but the Matrix.

        "My pain is your pain, Galvatron. It is the Matrix."

        Even as Unicron spoke, Galvatron understood that what he said was true. Unicron had never lied to him; he had followed through on everything he had ever said to Galvatron and the other Decepticons. And Galvatron had betrayed him—what better could Galvatron have hoped for, than to be swallowed and have his homeworld attacked? Indeed, even after the betrayal, Unicron gave him a second chance—if he had only been able to destroy that damnable Hot Rod! Rodimus Prime! He, and his Matrix, they were responsible for his pain!

        "Yes, Galvatron. Your pain is caused by the Matrix. We are linked, you and I. What pain it causes me, it causes you, as well. It is an unavoidable consequence of the power I have given you."

        The power. . .for all the good it had done him. He had lost control of his Decepticons, had been evicted from his own world. If only he had been able to remain calm, keep his mind. . .but the pain, the ever-present pain! And then, a though occurred to him. Nothing was beyond the power of Unicron. Perhaps Unicron. . .

        "Yes, my son. I can heal your pain. I shall take it into myself, that you will not suffer."

        Galvatron could hardly believe what he was hearing. Unicron, after his betrayal, would still forgive him, would still heal him?

        The thought remained only barely-formed in Galvatron’s mind, though, as Unicron’s enormous power stretched out to Galvatron, knitting his body back together, healing him, strengthening him. Broken circuits reformed, the pain drained away from his head, and the power cyclers in his arm thrummed with the most power they had seen since the destruction of Starscream.

        "Now go, Galvatron. Retake your Decepticons. And remember always: it is the Matrix which is your enemy, not Unicron.

        "The Matrix. . ."

        "You called me, Rodimus?"

        Rodimus looked up at the saurian Autobot looming over him and smiled. He had been helping his fellow Autobots clean up the wreckage outside of Iacon for most of the day, in part because he hoped the work would take his mind off Springer and Arcee. In another way, one that wasn’t quite such a failure, he wanted to impress upon the Autobots that no task was too small for him, that they could always depend on them when they needed help. This would cement his position as leader, especially now with Ultra Magnus gone. But the main reason he was out here was because he had called Sky Lynx back from patrol earlier, and knew the Autobot was simply too big to meet him inside Iacon.

        "I did, Sky Lynx. You’ve been on patrol with Cliffjumper for the last several months, right?" Rodimus had to work hard to appear just friendly enough, but not so affable that he didn’t seem to be grieving over Springer’s death. He settled on leaning casually against a broken wall and smiling faintly, as though tired.

        "Yes, and I must say that, thanks to my keen instincts as to where we could root out trouble, we were able to stop several Decepticon attacks on human freighters before they all disappeared to wherever they’re at now." Sky Lynx’s voice swelled with pride.

        "All the attacks but Darios IX. . ." Rodimus spoke with a depressed sigh, and enjoyed watching Sky Lynx’s expression as his bubble burst.

        "But that’s neither here nor there," Rodimus said, waving his hands as if to dismiss unpleasant thoughts. "You know Cliffjumper. You’ve served with him for quite some time. You know how he thinks, what he feels."

        "Well, I wouldn’t go that far. . ."

        "You wouldn’t?" Rodimus spoke carefully. He wanted, with those two words, to suggest that Sky Lynx could go that far, that he was good enough to go that far. Even in spite of his failure to prevent Darios IX—an attack that occurred outside his patrol area, and not at all his fault. But Rodimus did not want the enormous Autobot to have any arrogance that he himself had not placed there. This, on the other hand, this would be perfect for what we wanted Sky Lynx to do.

        Sky Lynx, very slowly, brightened. "Of course I can go that far! I am, after all, Sky Lynx. And what Autobot has a better reputation for miraculous acts than I?"

        Rodimus smiled. "That’s the spirit, Sky Lynx. Tell me something, then: I know Cliffjumper’s been bugged about something for a while now. What’s wrong?"

        Sky Lynx sighed. "He’s alone."

        Rodimus never expected that answer. "Alone?"

        "Remember how he was one of the Autobots who crashed on the Ark with Optimus Prime four million years ago? Well, for the last twenty years, he’d been with Prime, and the other Autobots from the Ark, fighting side-by-side, day in and day out."

        Rodimus began to understand. "And last year’s attack—"

        Sky Lynx nodded. "Many of his closest friends died at the Battle of Autobot City. Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Brawn, Wheeljack and Windcharger. . .and he could do nothing to help them, because he was stuck at Moon Base One at the time. He’s been very bitter about that ever since Daniel saved him in the belly of Unicron."

        "And Darios IX made him snap."

        Sky Lynx nodded. "I think so, yes."

        Rodimus nodded. It must be so easy for Cliffjumper, to be able to heap all his troubles onto a single entity, and focus so intensely on that entity, to be so determined to kill that entity, that everything else becomes secondary. Rodimus wished he could do that himself, in a way. It would give him a target.

        "Sky Lynx, you know Cliffjumper very well. So well, I’m betting, that you can track him down."

        Sky Lynx raised an eyebrow.

        "Cliffjumper left Cybertron to track down Cyclonus and kill him two days after the Decepticons attacked us here. I understand the ordeal he’s facing, but he cannot face it alone. If we are to stand against the Decepticon threat, we will do far better to stand by each others’ side and face it that way, rather than independently of each other."

        Other Autobots began to gather around, listening to him, as Rodimus knew they would. He increased his volume and turned to them, using the opportunity to orate. "It is our role, as the Autobots, to stand united together against everything that stands in the way of universal peace. Together, we have the power to defeat even the greatest of the forces of evil. Separated, though, apart from the brotherhood which is strong among us, we are vulnerable to those forces.

        "The Decepticons do not have the brotherhood we have. They are all treacherous, self-serving, and spiteful. Because of this, they cannot stand together on anything. Without brotherhood, they are splintered—and in the coming battles, we will take advantage of that nature of the Decepticons. We will pick them apart piece by piece, until there is nothing left. For the memory of Springer, for the memory of all those who sacrificed their lives before him."

        The Autobots began to cheer at this, the promise that the end of the war was in sight. Rodimus knew, deep in his laser core, that he was giving the Autobots a false hope. After all, the War had already seen more than five million years of conflict, not to mention the greatest of the Autobot leaders—Optimus Prime. There was nothing that Optimus could do that he couldn’t—but he didn’t believe for a nanosecond that he could do something that Optimus couldn’t. But that hope was something he gave them, and they wouldn’t forget it. He had sealed their loyalty.

        He turned back to Sky Lynx. "That is why you must bring Cliffjumper back to us, whether he wants to return or not. He is vulnerable out there, alone, hunting the Decepticons. He will be destroyed if he tries to take them all on alone."

        "And Arcee? Should I find her, and bring her back?"

        Rodimus narrowed his optics for a second, wondering if Sky Lynx had brought her up deliberately in order to remind the Autobots of his recent failure. He then looked down, to hide his anger, and also to make the Autobots see the grief heavy on him. He waited to speak, waited in order to compose himself and speak with the tones of anguish, not anger. "No, Sky Lynx, leave her alone. Her sorrow is great, and she wants nothing more than to be alone. The Decepticons will not find her, of that I am confident. She is fleeing from the war, and there are many places she can find to do just that."

        He finally looked up, directly at Sky Lynx. "Now go, and return Cliffjumper to me." He will learn what it means to disobey my commands.
 

        To Chapter Twenty-Six