Beast Wars: After Effect
Chapter 1—Discovery
A Fan Fiction by Triceratron
….Megatron’s ship fired on the Maximals and then turned and flew away at high speed. The Axalon was beginning to gain ground on them, but it was fast becoming too late. The Predacon vessel activated its Transwarp drive and plunged into the wormhole that appeared ahead of it. The Axalon followed suit and disappeared into the void of space…
With that, everything changed. What once was a time of peace on Cybertron quickly fell to chaos as the Predacons began taking matters into their own hands. No one knew Megatron’s real plans, but they knew his ultimate goal: to bring the Maximal empire to its knees and return control of Cybertron to the descendents of those that once had it in their grasp. Of course, that was a much different age. Things had changed so much that control of Cybertron alone would never be enough for the Predacons… the entire galaxy would suffer the same fate as these Maximals. It was only a matter of time…
* * * *
"Maximals please come to order," the Chief Elder of the Maximal high council said, banging a gavel on his table. The noise in the huge chamber gradually subsided to the clang of metal on metal. "I hereby call to order this meeting of the Maximal High council. I have been briefed on a very urgent matter, one that calls for immediate review. This matter involves planetary and temporal security, thus from here on, all information in this matter is strictly confidential and all record of what will be spoken here today will be of complete secrecy."
The Chief Elder waited for everyone’s full attention before continuing. "As you know, the Axalon left space-dock less than a megacycle ago in pursuit of six renegade Predacons. It left with a full complement of protoforms. Its original mission, to rid Cybertron of Protoform X, was put aside until the Predacons could be countered. Because of secret tests with temporal detection technology, we had been able to place a recently developed temporal homing beacon on board to locate its whereabouts in case of an emergency. It has now been brought to my attention that the Axalon has crashed on another planet in the past, along with the Predacon ship it was chasing." There was some small level of chatter amongst the council members. "I will now call on an agent of the Maximal Intelligence Committee for a full briefing of the circumstances surrounding these events."
The Maximal intelligence agent approached a podium in the center of the chamber, and addressed the Council of Elders with grave concern. "We have been able to track the homing beacon on board the Axalon to its exact location in time and space," he started. He then paused and awaited the Chief Elder’s response. The Chief Elder motioned for him to continue. "They’re on earth," he said, then hesitated at the sudden gasps of his audience. "Four million earth years in the past." The overwhelming reaction from inside the chamber made it hard for him to continue. The Chief Elder raised his hand to silence the crowd.
"Continue. What were your findings?"
"As you all know, we have been carrying out experiments on the effects of time travel. Whenever the time-space continuum is interfered with, it creates temporal disturbances, which we have been able to detect. If a time traveler were to change something that would detriment the existing universe and change the resultant future, we’d be able to detect it." He stopped and went back over his report pad. He looked up again to deliver the next bit of news. "The Axalon’s appearance has not registered a disturbance yet."
There were a few confused remarks passed around when one Council member asked, "What does that mean?"
"That, quite frankly, the Axalon’s journey was meant to occur. It is a part of our past that, because of its occurrence, has resulted in this present. If we were to interfere with it, we may experience a temporal paradox that would change our history and with it, the universe."
The sudden uproar was even larger than before. Shouts were heard, but most were drowned out over the rest of the sounds. Fragments made it to the agent’s ears, many saying the same things. "This is too dangerous to ignore…" "The Predacons threaten our very existence…" "How can we do nothing?" "What of the Maximals trapped in the past?" Once again, the Chief Elder had to quiet the brewing storm of voices.
"It is my grave duty to point out that nothing is exactly what we must do. Certainly, to have any hostile Predacons in the position to alter our past while we stand helpless to do anything about it may seem like an injustice to Maximals and Autobots alike, but it appears that the past has yet to be altered. The effects of these Predacon renegades obviously did more good to our present than harm since it resulted in our current situation. To go and stop them now would be more dangerous to us than leaving them alone. For now, we must make the earth zone completely forbidden to all travelers to any time."
"Thank you sir. We must leave the Maximals and Predacons in their current time and place. Careful scanning of the sector of time and space should give clues to when we should rescue them. When they gradually begin to register a disturbance, they will have reached an impasse, a point in time where the reality surrounding their situation can have more than one outcome. In that case, we will have found the time in the past where they are meant to return, but not until then," said the Maximal Intelligence agent.
One Elder remarked over the speakers in the chamber, "News of the Axalon’s disappearance has already been released. To do nothing about it may raise suspicions." The Chief Elder looked up and addressed the Council. "We must do something to keep this news from leaking out, else we may be faced with an interplanetary temporal incident. Are there any suggestions?"
One Elder raised his hand. "The chair recognizes Elder Cog," he said.
"I believe the most obvious solution is to act as if we know nothing about where the Axalon is. No one in the public knows of the temporal detection tests or of the temporal disturbance detection devices; we must treat this simply as the disappearance of an exploration vessel."
"We must vote on Cog’s proposal. Enter your votes on the electronic voting pads on your desks," said the Chief Elder. The votes were soon made and counted; many of the Maximals were somewhat stunned and angry about the situation, but almost all had come the same conclusion that the public should not know and that they had no choice but to avoid endangering the past. "Resolved: the disappearance of the Axalon will be investigated to the fullest extent of Maximal law. Is there any other business?" asked the Chief Elder. No one responded. "This meeting of the Maximal High Council is adjourned."
To be continued…