Mirage’s optics shot open as soon as he exited stasis. He tried to sit up, only to realize his limbs were tightly bounded to the berth he lay on. He stopped struggling, knowing he’d just be using up his strength. His processor hadn’t yet told him of the previous encounters, for it rather focused on his surroundings. Mirage was in some sort of mad-bot’s lab. Large containers stood around the room, one at the far end was filled with orange liquid; some sort of black figure inside. He couldn’t make out what exactly it was over the distance between the berth and the container. He vented out and hit his helm back against the berth, optics closed. What am I doing here? He questioned himself. If I’d just stay with the Autobots and not go out on my own like that…

“It seems you’re awake.” He opened his optics and looked at the entering form. This mech had a large body, mostly dark purple with black. His chassis consisted of one large screen, his left arm a gun with spiked-like-ammo running from it to his back. He had six purple spikes on his back and one, large red eye. On his right shoulder plate, was as clear as day the Decepticon logo. Mirage stiffened slightly but relaxed himself.

“I am awake, yes.” He told the strange one-eyed con. There was silence as the con examined him. Mirage tensed before speaking once more.

“My designation is Mirage. Can I ask for yours?” He asked, trying to remain calm in this mad-bot’s presence.  

“You are tied up in clearly not-friendly laboratory with me, a Decepticon, standing before you; yet you act as if everything is fine.” He remarked.

“Well, you haven’t done anything to me yet so how would I be certain that everything isn’t fine? Of course, the scenery can tell me otherwise, but if you wanted me dead then you’d done it by now.” Mirage said, silence falling after that. About a klick later, the one-eyed con spoke.

“I am Shockwave.” He introduced himself. Mirage smiled slightly, not expecting him to answer.

“Well, Shockwave, it is an honour to meet you. I would bow my head but in this predicament I am incapable of doing so.”  

“Are you Autobot or Decepticon?” Shockwave questioned quickly, interrupting Mirage at the end.

“Neither. There is a blockage in my mind that allows me no access to my memories. When I came to about two solar cycles ago, I had no insignia. I myself, know nothing about myself.” Mirage said, leaving the part of the Autobots. I can’t see myself in league with Megatron, but I’m to selfish to be an Autobot. Why did I ever go alone?

“How did you come to be on Cybertron then?” Shockwave questioned.

“The Autobots and Decepticons fought over the Omega Lock, and they used quite a few SpaceBridges between Earth and Cybertron. Naturally, I got curious. I snuck through the Decepticon SpaceBridge, only to find myself here.” Mirage lied.

“When was this fight?”

“Well, I’m not sure how much time has passed; but I could guess about a solar cycle ago.”

“And how were you injured?” Mirage blinked in surprise, before looking down at his form. Sure enough, small tubes ran into him; energon as their contents. He could see that most damage was done at his right hip; seeing as the metal looked slightly scrunched up and black from where Shockwave had treated him.

“Your T-Cog was damaged. I managed to repair it but it might take a while before you can use it again.” Mirage nodded.

“Thank you, Shockwave.” He said, genuinely surprised a Decepticon would just help a random bot. Maybe it was because Shockwave wasn’t sure if he was an Autobot or not. Help the random mech if he’s a Decepticon, but keep him bound to kill him If he’s not. There was silence before Mirage remembered his question.

“The Omega Lock was destroyed and I was thrown back from the explosion. I got to close.” He spoke.

“What is this Omega Lock?” He questioned.

“From seeing what it can do, I can only guess it can revive Cybertron.” Mirage said, nodding his head slightly.

“And how was it destroyed exactly?” Wow, he’s persistent. Why’s he so interested anyway?

“Optimus Prime destroyed it because Megatron wanted to cyberform Earth as well.”

“Where was this?” Shockwave asked his final question.

“Somewhere in the Sea of Rust.” Shockwave nodded, finally satisfied. He walked over to controls next to the berth, where he released the bindings. Since the berth was tilted forward, Mirage fell to the flooring. He managed to regain his footing before standing straight, only to see Shockwave exit through a door. Mirage ran after him, why he did not know.

“Why’d you release me?” Mirage questioned as he caught up with Shockwave.

“I have no further business with you.” He said simply.

“But you saved my spark, I need to repay you somehow.” Shockwave stopped abruptly, turning toward the young mech.

“I need no repayment from you. Leave.” He said before turning around and continued to the Sea of Rust. Mirage vented in silent annoyance. He turned around and started walking away. He had no idea where he was headed, just away from the scene. He knew that with the Omega Lock now destroyed, his previous efforts to regain the Omega Keys were for nothing. Shockwave couldn’t possibly find anything useful there, it was all destroyed! Where he was headed now, he didn’t know. But he had to find a way back to Earth…

“What are the odds…” Mirage mumbled to himself, looking at what remained of a large sign. Vos Star Air Command. He knew nothing on the surface would be of use, but he managed to find a broken hatch door to the underground station. As he entered the station, his eyes went wide. An abandoned fleet of ships… They all looked as if they’d never been used before. Especially the last one in the row. It was three times larger than the others, with a black base and sky blue stripes over the wings. As Mirage went to the opening, he noticed a symbol on the back which the others didn’t have. It was three stars, the middle one had streaks behind it. Above each star was a letter, spelling IIT. Mirage suddenly whipped around. On the wall of the underground station, was the same stars, just a lot larger. And instead of IIT, there stood Instant Interstellar Travel. He turned back to the ship and entered through the opening. All of the controls looked foreign, but Mirage knew he had to figure it out. Instead of going to the main console unit, he went to another one against the right wall. Above this console stood IIT. Mirage used his servo to wipe the dust off, the console lighting up in blue as it activated. Illusions of charted star systems appeared above the console. Mirage sighed quietly before starting his search.

By now, the Autobot base had been completely destroyed. All were in unknown places, Smokescreen at Optimus’s side under the destroyed base. Smokescreen had a lot on servos at the moment. Optimus was dying, worrying about a new Prime. Smokescreen went to retrieve the Forge of Solus Prime, leaving Mirage’s cube, which he had been instructed with, at Optimus’s side. Megatron had cyberformed his Decepticon base in Jasper Nevada, right next to where he knew the Autobot base was. They attacked. And they won. An Autobot, Wheeljack, was captured after the blast. Autobots, now scattered to the wind, had lost. All were in hiding, staying clear of the Decepticons who were monitoring everything. The Autobots had lost hope.

CONFIRM YOUR DESTINATION, stood in large, blue Cybertronian words. Underneath it, about 50 numbers that were coordinates. And underneath that, stood the word Mirage had been looking for.

EARTH  

Mirage raised his digit and tapped the word ‘Earth’. Suddenly, the main console lit up in blue. The ship’s visor turned black and the entrance door closed. Then, all was silent. For about a nano-klick. There was slight rustle as the ship lifted off of the ground before growing still. Mirage quickly ran to a seat, not wanting to be thrown around like last time. Red Cybertronian words appeared on the tinted visor of the ship.

PLEASE BE SEATED.

TELEPORTING TO ‘EARTH’ WILL COMMENCE IN TEN NANO-KLICKS.

Mirage held firmly onto the arm rests as a countdown began. If this is anything like last time… He told himself as the numbers ran out. Mirage was prepared for acceleration. What he got what something else. Since this was ‘teleporting’ instead of normal travel, the ship and everything inside of it dispersed into nothing, only to reappear in Earth’s atmosphere ten astro-seconds later. Mirage vented out the breathe he held in. It wasn’t anything like the last encounter he had with a ship. Except there was one thing in common. Both ships got flew into.

“Oh, come on!” Mirage yelled, clearly annoyed, as the ship tumbled in the air, falling to the ground. This time, however, it wasn’t on purpose like the previous time. Last time the Insecticon flew into the escape pod to change its course, for what reason he did not know. This time, the ship just happened to teleport into the path of another. Now both were crashing to Earth. Lovely. Both ships were on the same falling course. Not one klick later, both ships crashed into an orange dessert; the stranger’s ship barely missing the strange orange pyramid in the middle of the dessert. Mirage exited the ship and stared at the two ships. Mirage’s was in a lot worse state than his; probably because he was the one who was flown into and because the ship he acquired can’t be any younger than twenty vorns. Mirage didn’t have to wait long for the stranger to exit his ship. A mech, about the same length and body type as Optimus, stepped out. His shoulders were large and went past his helm. His main colour was a darkish blue and silver, red as detail. Bright turquoise glowed from thin lines around his body. Mirage instantly knew this mech had authority, just from the way he carried himself. But a different kind of authority compared to Optimus. This was more a proper, formal authority with orders. Nothing like Optimus. And luckily, in glowing turquoise on his chassis, was the Autobot insignia. Mirage fell to one knee.

“I apologize for placing my ship in front of yours, sir.” Mirage said, head bowed.

“Rise, soldier.” He heard the strong voice. He rose to both peds and stood firmly. He small gasp left the stranger as his optics fell on Mirage’s form.

“Mirage…” He mumbled quietly. “You are alive.” Mirage blinked in confusion.

“I am sorry, sir, but I do not know you. But it seems the opposite in vice versa. I, however, will inform you then… of my memory blockage.” The stranger’s optics grew.

“Memory blockage… I see…” He said, disappointed. Mirage hesitated before falling to one knee again.

“My designation is Mirage.” He said and stood up again. The stranger bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“I am Ultra Magnus. You and I were once partners.” Mirage’s optics grew.

“Do you know of my past, then?” He questioned.

“Only the time of our partnership. Before and after that, I am afraid I do not know.” Ultra Magnus said, expecting Mirage to grow disappointed. He didn’t.

“I will one day remove the blockage,  but for now, this’ll be my starting point.” He spoke, surprising Ultra Magnus. He’s more mature, Ultra Magnus thought. He then looked over to Mirage’s ship, noticing the three familiar stars.

“Where did you get that ship?” He questioned.

“It was in an abandoned station on Cybertron, under Vos Star Air Command. It was the last IIT.” He said, Ultra Magnus nodding.

“The technology might become useful for later uses. But for now, we have other matters.” Mirage nodded.

“Megatron’s new lair…” He said, Ultra Magnus nodding.

“Yes. I have managed to locate five Autobot singals. We will go investigate.” Mirage nodded.

“And what of the IIT, sir?” He questioned.

“I will note these coordinates into my ship’s data bank, so that we can return later. For now, you will turn it invisible.” Mirage’s optics grew wide, before calming. He did say we had a partnership… After Mirage turned the ship invisible and Ultra Magnus noting the coordinates, they were off. As soon as they flew off, Mirage felt uncomfortable. The ship was vibrating and everything rattled.

“You probably hate this way of flying.” Ultra Magnus said, causing Mirage to snap his helm towards him.

“How…did you know?” He asked, sceptically.

“You always hated this way of travelling. When I was instructed to becoming a pilot for the first time, you insisted you went along. You instantly hated the feeling of a vibrating engine where everything rattled. You hated that the ship wasn’t silent and stealthy, like you. And so, you created a system which fitted you.” Ultra Magnus explained.

“Meaning?”

“You created a ship which had a silent engine. No vibrations and not the slightest rattle. It had cloaking and a device which cancelled all voices from the inside. Any sound inside, no matter how loud, you wouldn’t hear from the outside. Not only that, but as time went on you added modifications. For long distances, it teleported. For short distances, it travelled normally.” Mirage’s eyes grew wide.

“Wait. Are you telling me, I’m the one who created IIT?” He asked in disbelief.

“Of course. Instant Interstellar Travel. I helped you with the designation. You originally wanted to call it The Silent Express.” There was silence as Mirage processed the information.

“Wait, why did you question me earlier where I found it?”

“Because when the war broke out, you destroyed all of the ships so that the Decepticons couldn’t use your technology to their advantage. How that IIT ended up in Vos Star Air Command, I do not know. For you were certain all were destroyed.” He answered.

“So I am an Autobot?” Ultra Magnus frowned.

“Of course, why would you think otherwise?”

“Because I have no insignia.” Ultra Magnus briefly looked at Mirage. True to his words, Ultra Magnus realized this fact.   

“Hm…” Ultra Magnus hummed in though, eyes narrowed. Mirage sighed heavily.

“I still don’t get it. How could I  have created IIT?” He asked, sceptical.

“Your mechanical skills must be more advance than you thought.” Mirage’s optics went wide.

“Mechanic? Me?” Ultra Magnus frowned.

“Of course. You’re one of the best mechanics Cybertron has ever seen.”

“But… I thought I was a soldier.” Ultra Magnus frowned.

“Why would you think that?” He questioned.

“Because I’m armed.” To illustrate, Mirage revealed his canons. Ultra Magnus seemed surprise. There was hesitation before he spoke.

“The last time I saw you was when I was recruited into Optimus Prime’s team when the war broke out. You destroyed the IIT’s and built normal ships and weapons for the war. It’s been stellar cycles since I’ve joined Optimus. Something must have happened in that time that turned you into a soldier. Something bad. You always hated the idea of fighting, and dreaded the fact you had to build weapons. But it was an order from the Council, you couldn’t fight back.” There was silence as mirage took this information in.

“Do you know anything about the cube?” He questioned. Ultra Magnus frowned.   

“Cube?”

“Yeah. A metal cube, has my designation engraved in glowing blue on one side. I have to protect it for some reason.” He explained, using his servos to illustrate the size.

“Doesn’t sound familiar. It must also come from during the war.” Mirage nodded, slightly disappointed. But he had no reason to be. Now he had his starting point, and it was that lonely, broken, impossible IIT.   

_____

Just to clarrify a few things:

astrosecond - 0.498 seconds

nano-klick - 1 second

cycle - 1 minute

klick - 1.2 minutes

breem - 8.3 minutes

mega-cycle -  1 hour

groon - 1 hour

joor - 6.5 hours

solar cycle - 1 day

orn - 13 days

deca-cycle - 1 year

steller cycle - 400 days

metacycle - 13 months

vorn - 83 years

lightyear - a very long time