Megatron watched as the Autobots began bombardment of the fortress, pummeling the outer wall and main gates with grenades and cannon blasts. He turned to Soundwave, Starscream and Onslaught as they joined him outside the Central Tower.
"All our teams are fully armed and in position," Onslaught reported. "We're ready for them."
"They're wasting all their time and resources trying to break through our barriers. Wouldn't they be better off simply to wait for us to run dry, so that we are forced to surrender?" Starscream asked, pondering the Autobots' strategy based upon the opposing faction's likely assumptions of the Decepticons' energy-starved situation.
"It seems that they believe we don't have the power to keep our force field up," Megatron replied.
"So, they'll expend whatever energy they have left to try to draw us out? I'd have thought Sentinel Prime had a little more sense than that," the Combaticon leader commented, amid the noise of explosions and an energized battering ram. "Besides, you'd think the Autobots have more important things to worry about right now, like – oh, I dunno – say, the energy crisis?"
Megatron smirked at his sarcasm. "Indeed. However, I suspect that Sentinel Prime has no choice in the matter; either he has been issued with a directive, or…" He trailed off in thought.
"Or what?" Starscream prompted.
"Or they have renegotiated the agreement for that shipment of crystals – only this time, with an added condition," Megatron explained.
"What added condition?" Onslaught asked warily, though he already suspected the answer.
Starscream confirmed his suspicions. "Provided that they take us out of the equation first."
Just outside the fortress, the Autobots were relentless, but despite their efforts, their offensive was beginning to drain their limited energy reserves.
"How much longer before we've broken through their force field?" Sentinel Prime demanded in irritation. This entire stand-off against Megatron and the Decepticons had greatly bothered him from the start.
No matter how much Prowl tried to conceal his worry, his expression gave it away. "I don't understand it, Prime, but their energy shield is still at full capacity. We should have at least put a dent in it by now."
The Prime considered the situation, until eventually he was forced to face the possibility that what Megatron had told him was true. "This is futile. Power down your weapons!" he called out suddenly in frustration.
"Sir?" Prowl queried.
"Sentinel Prime, if I may make a suggestion–" Xaaron interrupted in a frustrated tone, displeased with the results of their attempts to secure the Decepticon fortress thus far.
"Yes, yes – I said power down!" Sentinel repeated for Prowl's benefit, whilst ignoring the states-mech standing beside him.
Prowl did as he had been ordered and passed on the new instructions to the ground troops. The sound of energy weapons being discharged suddenly ceased, and quietness fell around them once again. There was a long, awkward pause as Sentinel paced back and forth in contemplation.
"Sir, what's going on?" his advisor asked.
Sentinel released a sigh of frustration, stopping to face Prowl. "They must have replenished their energon supply somehow – our own resources will run out long before we have managed to bring down their automated defenses."
Prowl had a perplexed look on his face. "Sentinel, sir… that's not possible. We've detected no new sources of crystals for several weeks. If they'd managed to import some, somehow – the scanners at our space port's entry points would have picked up the crystals' energy signature."
"Don't you think I know that?!" Sentinel fought the urge to take his frustrations out on Prowl, and then glanced back up at the fortress that loomed in front of them. He could see the Decepticons' aerial teams standing in robot mode atop each of the three towers, watching and waiting for any sign of break in. Even if the Autobots did manage to sufficiently weaken the fortress' invisible force field, Sentinel realized, their own aerial warriors would be no match against the Decepticon seekers.
If they could not defeat the Decepticons on their home turf, he decided, then he was just going to have to find a way to lure them away from Kolkular.
"Enough of this. We return to Iacon immediately. There's been a change of plans," Sentinel Prime told Prowl tersely.
As the Prime began to stride away, he was intercepted by Xaaron, who spoke to him in a lowered voice. "Need I remind you that the Elders are not pleased. If you are incapable of dealing with these pests, then they will just have to replace you with someone who is!"
Sentinel grimaced at his words, but then brushed the smaller mech aside before continuing on his way. "Well, good luck to them!" he said derisively, without turning back.
As soon as the bombardment upon their fortress ceased, Soundwave informed the others of the latest turn of events. "The Autobots are retreating," he said.
It was a small victory for them, albeit a temporary one; if their disagreement with Autobot Command over planetary resources wasn't resolved, they could eventually find themselves trapped inside their own fortress whilst the Autobots engaged in a siege against them, until they were all apprehended.
"Send Laserbeak to track them," Megatron told the communications specialist, who immediately deployed the requested Cassetticon by ejecting him from his chest compartment.
"Laserbeak: follow the Autobots," Soundwave commanded, as the compact form of the spy transformed into a condor in mid-air. Then Laserbeak took off into the sky without a sound, passing through the fortress' force field with ease as his Decepticon signature was instantly recognized by their automated security protocols.
Later that day, the Jarrian delegate, Jala, awaited Sentinel Prime's arrival at the Council Pavilions in Central Iacon, along with the two Cybertronian High Council representatives, Xaaron and Proteus. Also present for the impromptu meeting was Arkelaos of Athenia, whose presence had been requested by the Elders at short notice in order to help stem the resistance by the Decepticons and thereby ensure the Jarrians' full endorsement and co-operation. The Darosians had preferred to take a passive role, awaiting the outcome of events before returning to the titanium mine as per the original agreement; thus, Uhnta was notably absent from this meeting.
"Commander Jala, your visit affords me much pleasure in welcoming you to Cybertron. Unfortunately, I wish it were under better circumstances," Sentinel greeted him, speaking even as he entered through the arch doors to the majestic central chamber that lay beyond, where the others awaited him. The two high-ranking officers who had accompanied him, Prowl and Trailbreaker, waited just outside.
The Jarrian, a tall and spindly, well-armed mechanoid covered in black, reflective armoring, watched the Prime as he ascended the small run of steps towards them. "Xaaron tells me that you have been made aware of our current position regarding our future relations with your world, Commander Prime?" he asked simply.
"Ah, yes, of course," Sentinel replied, pausing to acknowledge the other attendees.
"Have the rebels been apprehended?" Arkelaos queried him, getting to the point before the Prime could say anything more.
"Rebels?" Sentinel looked at him in puzzlement for a quick astro-second. "Oh, you mean the Decepticons. Well, you see, not entirely, however–" he conceded.
"Sentinel Prime, you have been granted full authority to arrest them all. Why the delay? Surely it isn't a problem for our armed forces to deal with a single rogue group?" Proteus demanded, cutting him short.
"Normally it wouldn't be, but considering the minor problem of our energy crisis, it's not so simple!" Sentinel retorted with derision, raising his voice impatiently.
The red and blue Council representative considered his words for a moment. "Still, they cannot possibly have an unlimited supply. I'm sure that, with the Jarrians' help, we'll make certain that these Decepticons don't interfere with official business again," he advised, tilting his head briefly at Jala.
However, Jala was not happy. He gave the Cybertronians a cold glare. "We would like to begin installing our cybertonium extractors in Kalis tomorrow. If those rebels have not already been dealt with by the time we arrive, your shipment of crystals will be withheld indefinitely." And with that, Jala's word was final. He left the meeting, swiftly descended the steps, and disappeared out of sight.
Silently, Sentinel looked back at Arkelaos and the two councilors, shaking his head in disparagement before he, too, made his way out of the chambers in a hurry. None of them noticed the avian spy, who had been perched atop one of the balconies that overlooked the central chamber, observing them.
Once Laserbeak had returned to Kolkular to relay the latest information he'd picked up during his reconnaissance, the Decepticons began to make preparations, coming up with a plan to prevent the Jarrians from establishing a permanent mining outpost tomorrow in Kalis which, if permitted, would essentially hand over all control of the planet's cybertonium to them. Regardless of whether or not Proteus' agreement was sanctioned by the Cybertronian High Council – the highest law-making body on Cybertron – the Decepticons were willing to do everything in their power to try to put a stop to it.
While the other high-ranking Decepticons discussed tomorrow's plans, Scrapper had taken the opportunity to spend a little more time in the lab, in order to complete the final tests on their newly produced energon.
It did not take long for him to confirm the results, and less than an hour later, he had found himself eager to share the good news. "Not only does this energon have a far higher energy potential than ordinary energon, but it's very stable, which means that we can store it indefinitely without the need for keeping it in sealed containers or precision-controlled environments," Scrapper said, barely waiting to get everyone's attention as he rushed into the common room holding a canister of the prized fuel. He paused as the other Decepticons stopped to acknowledge him, then cleared his vocal processor when he realized he had interrupted them mid-conversation. However, no one seemed to mind – they were all very interested to hear what he had to say.
"So, the plasma converters – they won't be needed anymore?" Starscream said, breaking the momentary silence.
Scrapper shook his head assuredly, approaching the table where Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, Bombshell, Kickback, Mixmaster and Starscream were gathered. "No. They're already offline. As a matter of fact, this entire base has been running on nothing but our energon since we restored it to full power," he said excitedly.
"Do we have enough for tomorrow?" the Air Commander asked.
"Plenty – and if not, we can easily produce more."
"That's great news," Starscream answered. That simple statement, nevertheless, echoed the profundity of their monumental achievement. Certainly, it would make tomorrow's mission much easier, let alone help them avoid another energy crisis in future.
Scrapper nodded, and then continued. "Not only is it easy to collect and store, but it's easily compressed as well. Plus, its unique matrix allows it to respond to certain cymatic frequencies. I've only conducted some preliminary tests in this area so far, but I'll demonstrate." He placed the clear container he'd been holding down on the table in front of him and pointed a spectral wave modulator – a hand-held tool that resembled a light pen – at its contents. Upon activating the modulator, the pink energon suddenly changed into a swirling iridescence of rainbow colors, its total volume diminishing and becoming compact until it took up less than a third of the space it had originally occupied inside the container. Then Scrapper reversed the setting on the modulator, and immediately, the plasma-like fuel reverted to its normal density and volume again, its color returning to pink.
All previous known forms of energon that existed in the galaxy could not be manipulated in this fashion, and even though the superior form they'd recently created was nothing short of a breakthrough, they had only just begun to explore its remarkable properties.
Of course, while cymatics and all things related to the sound spectrum were not Scrapper's usual area of expertise, they certainly were Soundwave's. He was a master in this field, possessing unique capabilities that far exceeded those of any other mech.
Without saying a word, Soundwave took the container of energon still on the table, and drank its contents. He was able to do so without retracting his face mask, thanks to its superconductive, phase-fluid matrix – something that was impossible to do with previous forms. Once he'd emptied the container of its contents, he rose from his seat and a few moments later, the entire area of his chest compartment glowed brightly for a few seconds. Then, as the light began to diminish, a transparent cube, constructed entirely of this new energon, materialized out of his chest compartment and dropped lightly onto the table. It continued to retain its solid shape, even as Scrapper reached out to pick it up and examine it.
"Energon cube," Soundwave explained simply, "for storage."