The transport ship broke through the atmosphere of the unknown planet and began a steady descent.
"This is...?"
As they neared the surface, Skygnaw narrowed his optics. The entire planet appeared to be composed of jagged red rock, with crimson plains nestled between deep, black chasms. As the ship dropped lower, several fortress-like structures spitting fire appeared on one of the plains. Further out, a sprawling landscape of ruins and collapsed buildings stretched toward the horizon.
It looked as though the civilization on this planet was in the midst of a cataclysm—or a total war.
Hiss—
The ship touched down on a relatively intact clearing. Skygnaw stepped onto the ramp, followed by Dirge, Carnage, Famine, and Catastrophe. He had left Pestilence on board with orders to pilot the ship into a near-earth orbit and wait. If something happened to their transport, their return to Earth would be indefinitely delayed. Besides, the transport lacked combat capabilities; beyond hauling cargo, its only use was life-signal detection, something Cybertronians could do internally.
The moment he stepped onto the surface, Skygnaw was hit by the pungent stench of sulfur. The air shimmered with scorching heat. He had expected life on this planet, but the sheer hostility of the environment was a surprise. This was no paradise for carbon-based life—the ambient temperature was a blistering 150°C.
Skygnaw scanned the surroundings. Seeing no immediate movement, he waved a hand. "Move out. Let's see what's ahead."
"Yes, My Lord."
Transforming into his assault ship mode, Skygnaw soared toward the fortresses he'd spotted from the air, with the other four trailing close behind. The coordinates for the Iacon relic weren't far, but Skygnaw wanted to gather intel on the locals before making his move.
"As expected, no energy fluctuations..."
Skygnaw scanned the ground mid-flight before banking toward a different sector. Any form of life required an energy utilization system to function, which invariably leaked a conversion signal. The only variable was the strength of the signal and the sensitivity of the sensors. These locals seemed to exist in a primitive, nomadic state of civilization, though Skygnaw wasn't about to jump to conclusions until he saw them face-to-face.
Suddenly, a transmission from Famine chirped in his audio receptors.
[My Lord, I've found something.]
To speed up the search, Skygnaw had fanned his team out ten minutes prior.
[Understood. I'm on my way.]
Skygnaw diverted his course toward Famine's position. Moments later, his four lieutenants came into view. They were standing in a circle, kicking something back and forth like a ball. As he landed, Skygnaw saw it was a humanoid creature about a meter tall.
Up close, the thing was a localized nightmare. Even with Skygnaw's world-weary perspective from a past life, he found himself at a loss for words.
Its head resembled a hairless octopus—bald, greasy, and devoid of a nose or mouth. Its torso looked like a plucked ostrich with a lion's tail swaying behind it. Its legs ended in eagle-like talons, yet its arms were a pair of three-clawed mechanical servos. It was a chaotic mess of everything that could be considered hideous.
Clack—
Seeing Skygnaw arrive, the four Decepticons stopped their "game." The creature rolled across the dirt and slammed into a rock at Skygnaw's feet. It seemed dazed for a moment before scrambling up. Without a word, its right arm shifted into a rifle-like weapon and opened fire.
Rat-tat-tat!
Bullets splashed against Skygnaw's energy shield, creating faint ripples. Rather than annoyance, Skygnaw felt a spark of interest. Transforming a limb directly into a weapon wasn't a simple feat; it involved spatial and mass-shifting technology far beyond a civilization that hadn't even conquered its own sky.
"Heh, interesting..."
The planet holding an Iacon relic was proving to be unusual. Skygnaw looked at Famine with a questioning gaze.
Famine caught the drift immediately. "My Lord, I caught this little pest scurrying out of that cave over there." He pointed to a small mountain nearby. "I grabbed it and notified you immediately."
Skygnaw looked at the cave entrance, which was shorter than he was, and decided against going inside. It was a shame Nightbird was back on Earth; she would have been perfect for a scouting mission like that.
He reached down, grabbed the creature by its head, and lifted it to eye level. A race that could use weapons and build fortresses was definitely sapient, yet this thing fought like a mindless war machine following a pre-set program.
Skygnaw's hand tightened.
Splat!
A cloud of green blood mist erupted in the air, accompanied by the sound of crunching machinery. Skygnaw shook his hand in disgust. "Tsk. I hope this stuff isn't corrosive."
He wasn't a speciesist, but compared to this thing, humans were a high-tier race in terms of aesthetics. Then again, beauty was in the eye of the beholder.
"My Lord, look," Dirge said, picking up a tiny device from the ground and handing it over.
"A central processing unit instead of a brain?" Skygnaw scanned the tech and frowned. It confirmed his suspicion: the "Cephalon" was essentially a combat drone with an organic shell—a hybrid of biology and machinery.
"Forget it. Let's head to the relic's coordinates."
Since they hadn't found any "real" natives yet, Skygnaw wasn't going to waste time. His goal was the Iacon relic; once he had it, he was off this rock. Whatever happened to this planet or its people was none of his concern.
As Skygnaw resumed his flight, he encountered more Cephalons and more ruined architecture. The closer they got to the coordinates, the higher the density of both. He even saw groups of them moving in organized patrols.
Suddenly, Skygnaw slowed down. Below, a squad of Cephalons was locked in a losing battle against a swarm of metallic, grasshopper-like insects. The mechanical bugs varied in size—some as big as calves, others smaller than the Cephalons—and they looked remarkably Cybertronian.
Skygnaw searched his memory for a match, but found nothing. The mechanical insects seemed to treat the Cephalons as a food source; they would swarm and devour a kill before moving on to the next one, showing a strange lack of urgency. The Cephalons were no match. Within seconds, the squad was wiped out and consumed.
Once the meal was finished, the insects swarmed into a nearby cave like a pack of animals returning to a den. Skygnaw watched, deep in thought. Perhaps the first Cephalon he encountered hadn't been leaving its cave by accident—it might have been fleeing.
Just as the last insect vanished into the shadows, a familiar insignia flashed across its retracting wings. Skygnaw's optics sharpened, but the bug was gone before he could confirm it.
Was that... an illusion?
He stared at the cave for a long time before finally continuing. Soon, a fortress-like spire appeared on the plain below. The tower was forged from an unknown metal, standing in stark contrast to the red rock around it. It stood solitary, with no other buildings for miles—and curiously, not a single Cephalon or mechanical insect in sight.
Skygnaw felt a sense of numbness. He finally realized why the castles he'd seen earlier looked so familiar. This spire was a near-perfect match for the Rhombic Towers common on Cybertron. The local fortresses were just crude imitations.
Has a Cybertronian been here before? Did they leave the relic behind?
As Skygnaw approached the spire, several missiles suddenly surged from the tower's peak, trailing white smoke as they locked onto his team.
"Hmph."
Without a word from Skygnaw, his four lieutenants accelerated, intercepting and destroying the missiles in mid-air.
BOOM!
"Automated defenses?" Skygnaw mused. He was about to descend when his comms module picked up an unknown signal.
"My Lord, someone is hailing us," Dirge noted.
"Follow me." Skygnaw led his team away from the spire, putting some distance between them. Was the owner of this tower currently inside? If so, barging in would be a mistake.
But when Skygnaw accepted the transmission, the image that flickered to life wasn't a Cybertronian. It was a Cephalon.
This one's eyes were full of emotion, its expression solemn. It spoke in fluent Cybertronian:
"Travelers from the stars. Please leave this place. Do not approach our Holy Ground."
"Holy Ground? Interesting."
The sight of a Cephalon speaking his language without a hint of surprise brought a twisted smile to Skygnaw's face. Things were getting much more entertaining.
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