Out of Phase

by Kyle Williamson

Chapter One

The engines of the shuttle roared to life... Megatron gritted his teeth as the sound threatened to overload his audio receptors. He quickly cycled his audio range control to make the sound diminish, just as the shuttle began to taxi.

That's not me! That's not me! Megatron was startled... a voice seemed to be shouting at him. But it disappeared as the shuttle left the ground and clawed its way upward. He shook his head. Probably an audio glitch. Soon all sounds disappeared as the atmosphere gave way to the vacuum of space....

* * *

"That's... not me."

He watched the shuttle fly away until it was lost to sight, and then remained staring after it as if he could will it's return. It was on it's way to Cybertron, leaving him stranded on a Prehistoric Earth. He turned and walked back into the cavern that held the mighty Ark and the stasis locked bodies of his ancestors.

He examined his hands, perfectly visible to him, but somehow invisible to his comrades. And that... masquerader. He had wandered for months since his body, now intangible, had floated back to the ground. He could now move by thought alone... though he went through the motions of walking, there was no traction from the ground. His feet could touch no surface. He could only watch as the battles raged around him, as the being who claimed his name also claimed victory in the Beast Wars.

"Is this my doom? The price of my sacrifice?" He shook his head. "Never to be one with the Matrix, just a ghost doomed to walk the Earth?" He sighed and looked around the cavern that would probably be his home for all existance. The final home of Optimus Primal.

* * *

He remembered Megatron's taunting in the final moments before the statis pod exploded. Oh, how you Optimus's love to sacrifice yourselves... and then the pain... just for a split second, before he seemed to be tumbling back towards the planet below. Wreckage from the pod came straight at him and he covered his face as... the wreckage passed right through him.

He didn't understand then, as the ground came closer and closer... until he willed himself to stop right before smashing into the rocky face of a cliff. And he'd stopped. Right away. No inertia. No sensation. He was a ghost now.

He'd made his way back to the base just in time to see a blazing light come down from the sky. His friends were facing Megatron in a strange new form with his Predacon warriors, some he recognized, some he did not. Then the pretender appeared. With a strange new form, this being, claiming to be Optimus Primal, surprised and defeated the Predacons. And his friends, his comrades... they believed it.

He tried in vain to communicate with them. He remembered how Starscream's ghost had possessed Waspinator for a time, and despite his distaste at the thought of it, tried to possess one of the Predacons so he could communicate (he shuddered at the thought of possessing a fellow Maximal). But he passed right through each of his foes, never able to affect them in the least. He learned of the Ark's location before Silverbolt and Blackarachnia journeyed to it. He discovered the Nemesis alongside Tarantulas. He learned much about his enemies, but remained unable to communicate with the Maximals.

And then the war was over. He watched as the original Megatron's spark was returned. The statis pods that had fallen but hadn't been activated were gathered and those in orbit retrieved. And he watched his friends, with the Pretender, leave for Cybertron.

* * *

"I wonder if I can shut myself down in this state?" he muttered aloud. "Of course, as a ghost, I'm already dead."

"Only you are not a ghost, my friend," a voice said.

He spun around. Standing before him was a blue and red robot of ancient design. "Who are you?"

"I have had many names over the years," the robot replied. "My original designation was A 3... but my name as a free being is Alpha Trion."

"Alpha Trion... but I thought you had perished, centuries ago, during the Great War." Optimus was stunned.

"Actually, my essence had merged with that of Vector Sigma," Alpha Trion explained. "But due to recent developments, I have managed to separate myself and join you in this state of Quantum phase."

"Quantum phase?"

"Yes, Optimus Primal. When the explosion destroyed your statis pod, I managed to focus some quantum energy to save you, bringing you into a state that is slightly out of phase with reality." Alpha Trion gestured skyward. "It was necessary to preserve your life and to conceal you from Vector Sigma."

"Conceal me? Why?" Optimus asked.

Alpha Trion "sat" on a nearby rock. Optimus joined him. "I concealed you because I fear for the future of Cybertron," the ancient Autobot explained. "Vector Sigma has decided on a new destiny for Cybertron, one which I fear spells the end of Cybertronian life as we know it."

"Wait, before you go on... who was that being who pretended to be me?" Optimus wanted to know.

"Vector Sigma sensed your friend Rhinox attempting to recall your Spark from the Matrix. Had you actually been destroyed in that explosion, it would have worked, but since you hadn't, Vector Sigma substituted a new spark, nearly identical to yours, but with hidden programming that would enable it's plans to come to fruition." Alpha Trion sighed. "Vector Sigma plans to force every Transformer to become a blending of organic materials and technology."

"Why? And why don't you believe this is a good thing? If Vector Sigma believes it to be a proper course...."

"Ever since the creation of those known as Headmasters, Vector Sigma has been interested in finding a way to incorporate organic life into technological life," the Autobot said. "Vector Sigma is dedicated to order and believes it can united the galaxy in peace by merging all technological life and organic life. Then it intends to guide the galaxy into one unified mind."

"Nice theory, but does the rest of the galaxy have a choice in this?" Optimus asked.

"That's why I left Vector Sigma," Alpha Trion answered. "Vector Sigma believes this agenda must be pursued despite objections. The concept of freedom no longer applies in Vector Sigma's equations."

"So what can we do?"

"We must stop Vector Sigma from inflicting this unified techno-organic plan upon the galaxy," Alpha Trion. "Do you accept this mission?"

Optimus Primal looked the ancient Autobot directly in his optical sensors. "As someone once said, 'freedom is the right of all sentient beings.' Count me in."

Chapter Two - Coming Soon