Chapter 225: Coincidence Upon Coincidence

The layout of Cyclonus's subterranean laboratory mirrored the typical Cybertronian design architecture Skygnaw had encountered elsewhere.

It followed a standard structural template.

Having explored several ancient facilities over the past few years, Skygnaw found navigating the space straightforward.

Cybertronian construction built to last over millennia had preserved the core databanks intact. Despite the damaged hardware scattered across the floor, the primary digital archives remained readable.

After a brief search through the console terminals, Skygnaw extracted a darkened flight recorder module.

The unit contained Cyclonus's primary research logs, detailing the genesis of the experimental Haina species and his structural analysis of Dark Energon.

However, the archives held no records regarding other Iacon relics.

Locating the remaining Iacon relics will require a systematic search, Skygnaw thought.

Neither Megatron nor Shockwave held a relic in their possession. Finding the Aperture Staff here was already a rare stroke of fortune.

Setting minor disappointments aside, Skygnaw linked his systems to the storage module and downloaded the archived files directly into his processor.

The logs confirmed Cyclonus's dual role as both an elite military commander and a senior researcher.

Still, one detail nagged at Skygnaw. According to Blackarachnia, a single bite from an infected target was supposed to spread the corruption.

Yet the remains recovered earlier from Iray's hidden shelter contradicted that claim.

The four Cybertronian frames he had examined there showed no signs of transformation—they were simply drained dead.

Did the mutation require specific environmental factors to take hold? Or did complete fuel drainage prevent the corruptive process from initializing?

I can test the mechanics under controlled conditions once we return to Cybertron, Skygnaw decided.

He cleared his mind and focused on the decoded glyphs appearing across his optics, passing over the records regarding the failed Haina experiments to review the data on Dark Energon.

Meanwhile, outside the Three-Prism Tower.

"Rampage, tell the men to prepare for containment," Razorclaw directed, signaling the Predacons and the ground units.

Reaching into his chest compartment, Razorclaw withdrew a small black metal sphere and initiated the activation sequence.

Click.

The sphere drifted into the air, vibrating as its outer panels expanded and shifted, reconfiguring into a horn-shaped sonic transmitter.

Utilizing spatial compression and mass conversion tech, Cybertronian engineering routinely packed heavy equipment into compact carry modules.

Below the hovering transmitter, the ground force stood ready. Heavy infantry and native Mindborn squads maintained a wide perimeter around the site.

In the airspace above, several heavy cruisers raised their ventral batteries, locking their main cannon arrays on the open plains.

Razorclaw's operational plan was straightforward: use the reinforced troop bays aboard the transports as ready-made containment cells.

He did not realize that deploying an entire armada to gather wild Insecticons was a massive tactical overkill.

Had the wild specimens beneath the surface possessed higher cognitive functions, they might have questioned the excessive firepower deployed to collect them.

Hum...

The transmitter hummed to life. Moments later, a faint buzzing echoed across the horizon as dark clusters appeared in the sky, accompanied by vibrations along the scorched earth.

Drawn by the sub-audible pulse, hundreds of Insecticons surged out from their subterranean hives, converging on the plain surrounding the tower.

Though designed as bio-mechanical weapons, wild Insecticons retained erratic and aggressive instincts.

Left unguided, the feral swarm should have viewed the landed troops and hovering starships as prime sources of raw metal to devour.

Yet the approaching swarm remained strangely docile, showing no aggressive intent.

Moving in orderly lines across the dust, the creatures filed forward like disciplined units.

"Bring the transport ships down!" Razorclaw commanded, adjusting his tactical display.

The Insecticons marched up the boarding ramps in steady lines. Once the final unit stepped inside the lower bay, Razorclaw ordered the blast doors sealed tight.

Hiss...

"That easy?" Razorclaw muttered, surprised by how smoothly the operation had gone. Looking toward the spire, he gestured to his officers.

"All squads, return to your ships. Rampage, Headstrong, stay here and await Lord Skygnaw. The rest of the fleet moves to the next sector."

"Move out!"

In truth, Blackarachnia had withheld a small detail regarding the transmitter. Beyond attracting the swarm, the sub-audible frequency neutralized their aggressive drives, placing the creatures into a passive, calm state for a limited duration.

Viewing the feature as a minor detail, she had not bothered mentioning it to Skygnaw.

Inside the subterranean laboratory, silence returned, broken only by the quiet hum of active consoles.

The facility had remained unchanged for thousands of years, save for its new master.

After a long pause, Skygnaw let out a slow vent.

"Fascinating..."

Opening his optics, a subtle expression crossed his face.

The research logs revealed an unexpected piece of historical data: the earliest recorded discovery of Dark Energon had occurred within the Solar System.

More specifically, on Earth.

During the War of the Primes millions of years ago, few of the original Thirteen had survived, but their follower factions had remained active across deep space.

Before that conflict ended, Solus Prime and Liege Maximo had already fallen.

Following the war's conclusion, only four Primes remained active: Alpha Trion, Quintus Prime, Micronus Prime, and Alchemist Prime.

To preserve Cybertron's failing energy grid, Alchemist Prime and Micronus Prime eventually sacrificed their physical forms, merging into the Well of All Sparks.

Though the Well of All Sparks now sat neglected in the ruined sectors of Kaon, during the golden age of antiquity, the site had been a heavily fortified sanctuary, as vital as Iacon itself.

Eons after the sacrifice of his peers, Quintus Prime departed Cybertron on a solo journey, leaving Alpha Trion as the sole guardian of the homeworld.

Throughout those ancient transitions, the surviving follower factions from the remaining Primes frequently mounted deep-space expeditions to Earth—the primary battlefield of the Primes' final clash.

Their missions had two main objectives: salvage ancient technology left behind by the Primes, and search for signs of the Fallen.

Had they confirmed the Fallen's survival, a secondary campaign would likely have followed.

It was during these ancient sweeps across Earth's surface that operational units had first uncovered deposits of Dark Energon.

The exact details of who first extracted the material—or why it received its specific designation—had been lost to time.

However, Cyclonus had included his own theoretical notes alongside the raw research data.

He posited that Dark Energon shared a common origin with standard Synthetic Energon, possessing complementary yet diametrically opposed properties.

Cyclonus went further, speculating that somewhere in the vast cosmos, an opposing mechanical species powered by Dark Energon must exist, naturally hostile to Cybertronians.

Whether Cyclonus's theory held true was secondary. The historical records alone clarified a major strategic puzzle for Skygnaw:

Why both Sentinel Prime and Quintessa had consistently targeted Earth to restore Cybertron in various historical records.

Quintessa's true origins remained shrouded in ambiguity, her motives unclear in ancient texts.

Sentinel Prime, however, as the former leader of the Autobots, had been entirely dedicated to Cybertron's survival.

He had compromised his own code and allied with Megatron solely to rebuild their dying homeworld.

With countless uninhabited worlds across the galaxy, spending immense time and resources targeting Earth specifically was not a random choice.

In deep-space strategic planning, major leaders rarely acted on coincidence. For two independent entities to target the same sector pointed to a deeper underlying factor.

Sentinel Prime knew Optimus Prime was stationed on Earth, fully aware his former pupil would oppose any plan that sacrificed an inhabited world.

Yet Sentinel had pressed forward regardless.

Clearly, Earth was far more than a simple organic world—it held a fundamental connection to Cybertron's ancient past.

To Skygnaw, the distant world he thought he understood so well had suddenly acquired a much deeper, more complex layer of mystery.

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