The world spun for Robert as he emerged from the GroundBridge. Still dizzy, he frantically looked around to get his bearings.
"Will... William! I... I knew you wouldn't give up on me!" Robert cried out, his voice a mix of snot and tears as he coughed up a mouthful of sand.
While William and Optimus Prime rushed forward to check on Bumblebee and the others, Skygnaw deactivated the GroundBridge and transformed into his assault craft mode. Blue flames erupted from the thrusters beneath his wings, lifting him vertically into the air. "Optimus, the exchange is complete. Farewell," he transmitted as his ship ignited its engines to follow him into the sky. Optimus watched the departing vessels in a daze, lost in thought.
Ratchet and the other Autobots approached to begin the delicate task of removing the stasis locks from the chests of Bumblebee and the three other captives.
"Whoa, that Decepticon looked fierce," Skids remarked, staring at the departing Skygnaw.
"Yeah, Bumblebee and the guys look like they've been through hell," Mudflap added, shaking his head at their battered condition.
"Can you two talk a little less for once?" Arcee snapped, appearing behind them with her arms crossed. She knew Optimus was in a dark mood and refused to let the twins aggravate the situation. The twins shared a look and immediately began blaming each other in perfect synchrony.
Base One, Alaska
As soon as Skygnaw's ship landed, the four Horsemen, who had been waiting outside, directed the intelligent worker robots to begin loading supplies onto the vessel. Standing before them was a new Elite-class Decepticon: Dirge.
Skygnaw had constructed Dirge using Skywarp's chassis, fitted with a fresh memory crystal and a new information chip. As for Skygnaw's own original Elite-class body, he had dismantled it by hand. Though he felt no special connection to what Optimus called a "soul," he found the idea of his previous body parts "living" on as another entity uncomfortable. Most of those parts were integrated into Dirge or recycled as raw materials.
Inside the cockpit, Skygnaw familiarized himself with the ship. It was a pure Decepticon transport vessel, consisting of a forward cockpit and a massive cargo hold, resembling the upper half of a yacht floating on water. Because Cybertronians can naturally travel through the vacuum of space, and the civil war had depleted their resources, their shipbuilding technology was functional rather than sophisticated. There were no standard classes; ships were defined simply by their size and intended use. Even so, compared to Earth's technology, the vessel was a marvel. Pilotage was simple due to high automation; one only needed to learn a few basic operations and command terminology.
"My Lord, everything is ready," Dirge reported, leading the Horsemen into the small cockpit. Skygnaw found the small space slightly cramped with so many large robots present.
"Dirge, go to the back," Skygnaw ordered. While this was his first high-level squad, he was certain it would not be his last. The cargo hold was packed with Energon cubes and pillars; for a Cybertronian, if you have energy, every other problem is minor.
"Dirge, take some Energon pillars to the power room and refuel," Skygnaw added, knowing the Autobots wouldn't have sent the ship with a full tank.
Skygnaw was preparing for interstellar flight to reach the coordinates of the Iacon relic Starscream had once mentioned to Skywarp. He left Onslaught and Brawl behind to watch over Base One and Base Two in Alaska. Although Onslaught remained loyal to Megatron, the leader's absence made him a de facto subordinate to Skygnaw for now. With Alice's cover intact and Clarice's protection, the Alaskan bases remained secure resource hubs.
"Refueling is complete, My Lord," Dirge said, returning to Skygnaw's side. Though built from Skywarp's frame, Dirge's appearance was entirely different, standing 8.8 meters tall—the tallest in the room after Skygnaw.
"Good. One final check, then we depart."
A few moments later, Skygnaw started the engines. The ship rose slowly, carrying Skygnaw and his first elite Decepticon squad away from Earth.
The Briparti System
This was an obscure star system among the hundreds of billions in the Milky Way, featuring a massive central star orbited by twelve planets. Two were terrestrial, and the Iacon relic coordinates pointed to one of them.
Through the viewport, Skygnaw observed the central star, which had already evolved into a red giant—essentially a super-sized sun. After a month of faster-than-light travel via space bridges (jumps), they arrived at the Briparti system. While a jump is instantaneous, anchoring safe coordinates takes considerable time to prevent the ship from being torn apart by spatial storms.
As they approached the target planet, it appeared grey, cloaked in thick, impenetrable clouds. It was at least twice the size of Earth and sat at a moderate distance from its sun. Skygnaw reduced the ship to sub-light speeds and told Dirge and the others to prepare for a planet that likely harbored life.
He knew that even if a civilization existed here, it was likely below Type I on the Kardashev scale. However, influenced by the "Dark Forest" theory, he wouldn't assume the planet's mundane appearance wasn't a disguise.
A Type I civilization controls all resources on its home planet. At its peak, Cybertron was a Type III civilization—a galactic power. Type I operates within a planet; Type II within a star system; Type III across systems. Faster-than-light travel is the hallmark of a Type III civilization. Beyond that lies Type IV, capable of manipulating the laws of the universe itself—shifting water to flow uphill, for instance. Modern, war-torn Cybertron had fallen from the peak of Type III to its very threshold, having lost much of its knowledge and resources to time.
"My Lord, should I lead the Horsemen to descend and scout first?" Dirge volunteered.
"No, Dirge," Skygnaw said, his eyes fixed on the growing grey sphere. "That won't be necessary." Though the Briparti system appeared in Cybertronian records, the specific target planet remained a complete mystery.