Cybertron. A planet that has been embroiled in war seemingly since its creation. This is the stage on which our story is set.
We open on a gladiator named “Powered Convoy” getting whaled on Strong-Bot. While he manages to get the upper hand and wins the match, as he leaves, we can tell that he doesn’t enjoy what he does for a living. He drives back to the docks where he lives, which are in pretty bad shape, but his face lights up when he sees Ratchet and she tells him about her new job.
The next day, Ratchet asks Optronix what paint job she should have on her first day working at Iacon City’s science guild (Oppy's got his arm covering his eyes, he is polite) and Magnum comes in asking Optronix how his last match went. Typical wholesome, slice of life robots. When Ratchet drives up to the citadel, Optronix takes a sharp left to talk to his... correspondent. It's not Megatron, but Sentinel Prime who was a like-minded 'Bot who believed in his words.
Sentinel explains that while he can’t directly bring petitions to Alpha Trion, he has gained an audience with Megatron, who’s most certainly the closest and most powerful they’ve got to someone who approves of off-planet exploration. While Optronix is nothing but firm in his beliefs, he’s unable to articulate what he wants in front of a crowd (in his words: “I’m bad with speeches”), so he asks Sentinel to speak for him.
Sentinel agrees, and then we hard cut to Megatron in a testing facility, currently watching Doubledealer and Shatter show off the destructive capabilities of a massive fusion cannon. A little on the nose, but I think it’s good.
Ratchet’s first day doesn't go as well as she’d hoped. She gets mocked for being lower-class by the elite guard, ignored and pushed around by the more experienced medics and scientists, and by lunch she’s wishing she never left home. And then she meets Ariel Pax, a cadet in the Elite Guard. Ariel treats her with kindness that she’s endlessly grateful to finally get from these city-bots, and she spends the rest of the day with her.
The summit is treated more like a daytrip for Megatron. Megatron only talks to Sentinel, period, and he spends most of the time talking about his own opinions wherever Sentinel tries to discuss the content of Optronix's words. Optronix still doesn't talk much due to his fear of speaking in public, but he does his best to keep up.
Anyways, they have lunch at a typical fancy place with 56 forks and Megatron is still only talking to Sentinel. Sentinel's trying to recall Op's words as best as he can, but Optronix has had enough and finally speaks his mind, shocking them both.
Megatron and Sentinel both leave for the train, but Optronix realizes that Megatron... "forgot" to tip, so he sticks behind. On the train, Sentinel admits that it was Optronix who had a solid plan on societal reform, but Megatron has his own opinions on Optimus... namely that he's "too naive" to be a leader and that it'll take a miracle to convince him otherwise.
The train suddenly lurches forward without Optronix on it. Poor guy has to cling to the caboose just in the nick of time as Sentinel and Megatron inside try to figure out what's going on. A masked individual suddenly jumps the two, and while they outclass him physically, he's able to use magnetic fields and well-placed knockout gas to take them out.
Optronix pries his way into the train and finds it full of explosives that he has no idea how to defuse... so he calls out for Sentinel and Megatron, and gets no response. They're a little tied up at the moment (HA).
Megatron isn't amused and dryly asks how much the intruder plans on ransoming them for. The response he gets is that they're not getting ransomed at all; they're going to be blown to smithereens from the dozens of EMP bombs he's planted all over the train.
Significantly more freaked out, Sentinel tries to reason with him. But the intruder says that there's nothing that Sentinel or Megatron or any of those hoity-toity bluebloods can do to stop this, and that they've had it coming for a while. Megatron laughs and tears into the bot.
“My fault? You think this is my fault? Oh, that is rich!
You’re one of those bots, aren’t you? Let me explain something. I’ve worked my way to the top with everything going against me, with everyone I’d known being sent offline or segfaulting their RAMS to the point of inoperability, and I’m still standing. I struggled for my position in life, and you have the audacity to accuse me of being undeserving?
Think about it. Real hard. What have you done to deserve your lot in life? That’s what I thought. You’ve done nothing. Nothing at all! You’ve lazed away in your rusting husk of a chassis and decided to punch up for the fun of it. That's why you blame me, you blame everyone that’s actively tried to be an operating member of society out of your own jealousy and guilt. You sat as you were, a worthless lay-about, and you take it out on people you deem your 'oppressors'.
It isn’t my fault that you’ve gone nowhere, it’s the fault of an ill-mannered, ill-tempered, functionless, underdeveloped cog with nothing better to do than to beg for scrap metal instead of-!”
The stranger tapes his mouth shut and is like “lol figures” while Sentinel tries to be all “you’re never gonna get away with this, Optronix is gonna getcha” and the guy noticeably freezes up. Optronix is about halfway to where they are when he’s ambushed.
Thankfully, he manages to knock the guy out of the emergency door, and they have your typical battle atop a train. Optronix notices something familiar about the magnetic attacks he uses and breaks the mask he'd been wearing. It’s his old friend Windcharger, who’s quite unhappy about Optronix "becoming Megatron’s new bodyguard."
Optronix explains that it’s a misunderstanding, and Windcharger goes on about how people like Megatron are the reasons that Optronix was forced into fighting in the first place; Optronix’s spark is in the right place but he aims too high. Understanding Windcharger’s frustrations, he at least tries to talk him down from destroying the train as it’ll not only kill him, but it’ll kill all the innocent bots waiting at the station. Just as Windcharger seems like he’s about to relent… Megatron blasts him in the chest.
Sentinel’s sentries aided in their escape and defused all the bombs. Optronix soberly brings Windcharger’s shell back inside as Megatron thanks him for the rescue. As they pull into the station, Megatron spins his tale about Optronix’s genius and his defeat of a dangerous terrorist, all the while he’s really in the back, stabilizing Windcharger.
He asks why Optronix didn’t leave him to die, to which Optronix tells him that it’s his second chance to make a change that involves less mayhem. He can tell that Windcharger is passionate about his cause and he hopes he’ll make the right choice. Windcharger flees through a trap door and Optronix steps outside to face the reporters.
Megatron’s busy talking about how his life was saved by Optronix and Sentinel Prime and how whomever was responsible for this is in custody (HA). Except this bit's on a screen that Magnum is watching, and he asks Optronix how much of it's true. Sentinel answers for Optronix that Megatron greatly exaggerated a lot of it, but the basic gist is true.
Optronix says that he feels uncomfortable at the amount of "deception" that's being used to fill in the gaps, even with Sentinel reassuring him that " it doesn't matter if he agrees with us or not, just as long as our message has a platform".
Evidently Optimus isn't too jazzed about that. He mumbles something under his breath about how blunt honesty is more effective than convincing lies. Magnum, Optronix, and Sentinel get off the shuttle and arrive at the Dancitron. Sentinel insists that "Primes don't party" but he's dragged in by a delighted Ratchet, who's celebrating her first week as a proper doctor.
At the Dancitron, Ariel Pax and Ratchet dance together while Optronix talks more about his beliefs with Magnum and wonders if he's aiming too high. Yes, he wants Cybetronian culture to branch out and share with the universe, but Sentinel's words have made him worry if he should be trying to fix their society first and focus on other planets later. Optronix tells Magnum "I never wanted this vision of mine to be a transaction".
The next day, Optronix meets Jetfire and his envoy of Protectobot Elite guardsmen for the first time. He was Ariel Pax's commanding officer in the Elite Guard and a brash, overconfident jerk that didn't really mesh too well with 'civilians' and was very blunt and vocal about his opinions. Optronix could NOT stand him at first and their first meeting ended with Optronix calling him a "brute".
Megatron talks to Flipsides and Shockwave about what really happened in his massive garden. He admits that while he is impressed with Optronix, he'd "prefer to keep my business partners at arms' length" and that gives him an idea.
Megatron calls Sentinel and requests a meeting with him. When he arrives, he offers him a job at Tarn Industries and tells him he'll upgrade all his sentries free of charge. Sentinel refuses because he already has his job as a Station Master and he doesn't want his sentries tampered with. Megatron's pissed but concedes.
Ratchet learns to fight from Ariel and confides in her that she’s always hated violence from first hand seeing Optronix’s injuries from the gladiator matches and patching up her fellow dock workers.
Magnum is in Metroplex, trying to get their leader Gravitas to back Optronix's words. He never really trusted Megatron or his company and he just wants the best for his best friend. But Gravitas won't listen; he's clearly preoccupied with something else. Whatever Magnum tries to say, he's shut down or blocked off with xenophobic statements that he knows'll only drag them offtopic if he tries to contest them.
Gravitas at least has the decency to tell Magnum that he clearly has a good head on his shoulders... which is why he's been chosen to be the next leader of Metroplex. Turns out Gravitas has a week to live because of the noncommunicable rust plague inside his body, yaaaaaaaaay.
Magnum takes this poorly and panics to Optronix that he doesn't think he'll be ready for all the power that comes with this position. Optronix, equally stressed, proceeds to become even more stressed.
Optronix and Sentinel finally get Alpha Trion and the rest of the Cybertronic Alliance to hear them out. Sentinel hasn't told Optronix anything about Megatron offering him a job nor what he heard when he was tied to him (remember Chapter 1 where Megatron was a jackass to Windcharger?) and Optronix is incredibly nervous about speaking in front of a crowd. Megatron has made it clear through pretty much everything he's done that he's got something else planned for Optronix's idea, but they've no idea how he's going to spin it.
Megatron opens with the basic gist of Optronix's ideals; their culture is stagnating and their world needs a cultural reset. All's good so far until Megatron unveils his idea: to colonize and conquer other planets. Using their resources and spreading the name of Cybertron far and wide, establishing trade centers for partners, becoming stronger and stronger through political allies and bringing Cybertron into a new Golden Age.
Optronix's worst fears have come to light. Megatron's made it all about himself and is treating the entire thing as a business proposition. Worse yet, the members of the council and even some bots in the crowd are agreeing with him.
So he puts his foot down and tells Megatron that this wasn't what he'd intended, that he's spinning this concept wildly into something that benefits only him and not the whole of society.
Megatron responds thusly. "You came to me and asked if I could help you speak. I strongly suggest you recall why you couldn't do it yourself."
Optronix is silent.
Megatron asks "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"
"Yes."
With that, Megatron takes a right hook to the face and goes sailing into the wall. Now that he's been sufficiently silenced, Optronix tells the council his ideas.
Cybertron should branch out with peace and support, not with ideas of conquering and monetary gain from these people. They can share their cultures and learn new things from alien lifeforms without forcing their ways of life onto them. How every sapient being in the universe deserves freedom and the right to education.
"Don't you see? There's no need for senseless violence-"
He's cut off when Megatron tackles him to the ground.
As the two of them begin to fight, the entire house devolves into chaos, with verbal and physical blows flying left and right. Everything has gone to hell, and it's not made any better when Alpha Trion calls order in the court with his "equalizing staff". Alpha Trion declares the two mentally unfit on the spot and orders them both to have "system purges" in order to “calm their circuitry.”
Megatron is royally pissed at having his name dragged through the mud, and as the two are taken away by Elite Guardsmen, loudly blames Optronix for the whole thing. Jetfire outright refuses to perform a system purge on them despite what Alpha Trion says, taking Optronix by surprise. While the alternative treatment (a nanite bath) isn't exactly enjoyable itself, it's far less invasive than the former.
A month passes. Optronix feels horrid. All his intentions blew up in his face and this, if any, is a good time for Sentinel to tell Optronix the truth. Optronix isn't shocked at all, but he asks why Sentinel didn't tell him sooner. Sentinel tells him that he didn't want to discourage him because Megatron was the closest thing they had to a foot in the door. This leads to an argument where Optronix asks Sentinel if it was worth siding with a xenophobe just for the sake of popularity.
After quite a bit of nasty insults are lobbed back and forth, Sentinel leaves and Optronix folds in on himself.
Megatron visits one of his own subsidiary factories in Velocitron. He's eerily serene as he speaks with the head engineer of the building, Dirt Boss. Once Dirt Boss tells him everything he needs to know and asks him why he's in such a good mood, Megatron smiles and tells him he's got a new lease on life.
He proceeds to shoot Dirt Boss point blank and rigs the building to explode, knowing fully well that the radius will decimate the nearby train station and send one hell of a message. As Ratchet and Magnum lead Optronix outside to try and cheer him up, they see a massive billowing black smoke cloud in the distance…
Optronix and Magnum aid in the horrible aftermath of the meltdown on Velocitron. Megatron is being shady and keeps making references to an “ ideological terrorist attack” with roughly zero proof. Magnus and Override have a sweet little moment of romantic tension as they knock into each other. Optronix remains cautious about the attack as Ratchet snarks about how Megatron is still bitter about having his brain waves scrambled… which never actually happened since you know, Jetfire’s gayness saved Optimus and also Megatron by proxy.
Optronix and Ratchet enter Iacon’s Hall of records and read up on Cybertronian history to try and figure out how to get their own movement off the ground. Optronix discovers information about some of the primes and realizes that a lot of them share the same morals and views that he does. He's beside himself as he keeps scampering back to grab more and more datapads about all the primes as Ratchet watches. Optronix is overwhelmed with joy that he's not alone... and then he sees a symbol emblazoned across one of their chests.
An ancient symbol, one that means "quick-thinker”. Autobot. And this gives Optronix an idea. Optronix throws a match for the first time in his career, and everyone can tell. He uses the assembled crowd to better discuss his beliefs and explain the future he wants for Cybertron. And surprisingly enough... he gets someone that listens to him. Namely, his OPPONENT, Impactor. This little spark of hope is enough to convince him that he's still got a fighting chance.
A few days later, Magnum is getting ready for the official announcement that he’ll become the next leader of Metroplex, following Gravitas’ death. He’s distracted from these proceedings when an episode of Andromeda Explains It All airs with Megatron as its special guest, a mere half-hour before he’s scheduled to appear. Magnum immediately tells the guards to cancel the announcement out of fear for the pro-Autobot civilians in the crowd.
Optronix is having his own problems with being an Autobot as he has to help an Autobot supporter being hounded by two punks calling themselves Decepticons, one of which accuses Optronix of being “pro-invasion”. They quickly shut up and book it when Jetfire and Sentinel appear. Still burned by Sentinel’s betrayal, Optronix is cold towards the both of them, but Sentinel begs Optimus to hear them out. Namely, Jetfire thinks that Megatron intentionally sabotaged his own factory to incite violence towards them and their supporters. So Optronix and Sentinel put aside their annoyances towards each other and focus on the true villain, Megatron.
The Decepticons proceed to cause more chaos across multiple cities as the Autobots clash with them. Ariel and Ratchet argue about the rising tensions, with Ariel refusing to spur the wrath and endanger more people by outwardly supporting the Autobots as an Elite Guard member, and Ratchet contesting that Ariel knows that standing up for what she believes in is more important.
Jetfire and Sentinel (who is entirely unwilling) burst into Megatron’s private airship with all their evidence. Jetfire threatens to arrest Megatron right there on the spot. The two Autobots are promptly dragged out of the ship by reactionary Decepticons. The Decepticons take Sentinel hostage and attempt to execute him where he stands, but The Elite Guard is there to stop them.
Iacon is set ablaze by the Decepticons and the heroes rush to the citadel. Alpha Trion's all like "oh okay huh looks like the incredibly invasive mental reprogramming backfired, who'da thunk". We and Optronix of course know that they never were reprogrammed because Jetfire saved them, but being that Jetfire is unconscious, he can't exactly explain that to him.
Alpha Trion then begs Optronix to protect the Matrix, thinking Megatron's going to steal it and use it's power against him out of vengeance. Optronix agrees, on the condition that Alpha Trion doesn't hold himself up in the citadel and helps his friends get innocents inside.
So Megatron shows up a little later on, Alpha Trion begs for mercy and apologizes for what he did to them both, but guess what! Megs doesn't care! He's just here to kill Alpha Trion and leave because he can blame it on the riots exploding across the city. He doesn't give two damns about the Matrix.
"I'm not going to kill you. Gravity should do most of the work."
But Optronix shows up to save the day, the Matrix around his neck on a chain. Megatron weighs his options on who he wants to kill more and Optronix quite literally has a target painted on his chest, so he takes the bait and chases him away from the citadel, in turn protecting everyone that was packed within.
The Elite Guard and Ratchet successfully get a barrier around the citadel, only for Inferno to suddenly reveal his true colors as a Decepticon double-agent. He stabs Ariel’s optic out and tries to off her while she’s wounded. Ratchet snaps. She not only tackles him to the ground, but she successfully tears his arm out of its socket and beats him with it. Windblade is barely able to get her off him, but the damage is done in more ways than one.
Once they're well and far away from the center of town, Optronix tries to open the Matrix and blast Megatron into next Tuesday. This fails and Megatron mocks him before blasting him (and the ground beneath his feet), and Optronix falls through an entire building, seemingly offlining him. Jetfire's second wind comes in and he starts whaling on Megatron as Optronix lies in the basement of the building quietly pleading for the Matrix to open.
His grip falters, he slumps over, and in true LIGHT OUR DARKEST HOUR fashion, the Matrix transes Optronix's gender and boosts his lightning powers, giving him the strength to soundly body Megatron. Megatron falls in front of the Decepticons and has to be carried away by Strikha, who orders a full retreat.
Optronix returns to the citadel with both Jetfire and the Matrix in his possession. Alpha Trion is shocked, but his friends are nothing but overjoyed. It's Jetfire who comes up with the name Optimus by way of calling his transformation "an optimal solution".
Ariel awakens missing her optic and berates Sentinel for not knowing what he was doing, only to change her tune when she hears Ratchet's the one that saved her life. Ratchet weakly smiles as Ariel thanks her.
Alpha Trion is all set to set up a grand ceremony, but Optimus tells him to read the room and says there will be no celebrations until the city is rebuilt. He wonders to himself if he's deserving of this power and if he's just as culpable of starting this mess as Megatron is. He looks around and sees the company he's kept... and reassures himself that there's still goodness in the world, and the best they can do right now is pick up the pieces.
