** Possession ** Part 2
by Ivy Bohnlein



     I chuckled.  "My story is a long one, Soundwave.  It is true that I
am no longer Megatron.  I was, and I will continue to be the same 
leader that I once was.  But now, there is only Galvatron."
     His face was impossible to read, but he inclined his head respectfully.
"Thank you, Galvatron."
     "I expect.. demand... the same respect I received as Megatron. Especially
after what my 'loyal troops' did to me the last time I was weakened." I
told Soundwave.
     No expression flickered in his optics.  "A wise request."
     I flicked on my radio, silently cursing that mask of his which makes his 
face impossible to read. "Cyclonus, send Armada in."
     A crackle of static was followed by Cyclonus' response.  "Yes, my lord."
     I looked up at Soundwave.  "You will witness the kind of loyalty I 
demand from my new troops.  I expect you to spread the information among 
your comrades."
     "As you command, Galvatron."
     The door slid open and Armada entered to stand at attention before me.
He was silent, and his optics hardly seemed to be alight.
     "Armada, what would you do if you displeased me?" I demanded, while
silently hoping he did not choose this time to develop some form of
independent thought.
     "I would destroy myself," he responded in a dead, toneless voice.
     This was the important part.  Firmly, I told him, "That answer dis-
pleases me."
     He hesitated less than a minute before raising his proton rifle and
brought it to his chin, aiming up into his head.  "My apologies," he
said, then fired.  His head exploded into a shower of purple shrapnel 
and charred components, while the rest of the body slumped silently to 
the ground.  All as I expected.
     Soundwave remained impassive.  Also as expected.
     "Cyclonus," I radioed, "Come in and remove your twin."
     Cyclonus entered immediately and looked dispassionately at Armada's
remains.  "Sir, did he dissapoint you?"
     "Yes," I replied.  I was very interested in watching Cyclonus' reaction
to what had happened, mostly to gauge the amount of independent thought
left in him. It was heartening that he asked what had happened, but he
had so much more potential...  
     "I hope I do not make the same mistake, my lord," Cyclonus intoned
gravely, gathering up the headless corpse.
     I stifled a sigh.  Cyclonus had a lot of learning to do.  Starscream
may have been a dangerous second-in-command, but in some ways Cyclonus'
unquestioning loyalty could be more dangerous.  He would not be able
to sense unrest among the other troops, or to approach me with valuable
criticism.  Not that I missed Starscream's incessant whining and often
useless contributions, of course.  
     "I am sure you will not.  Send in a drone to clean up the rest of this
debris.  You are dismissed," I told Cyclonus.
     "Sir," Cyclonus said briskly, and carried his burden away.
     Once he was gone, the room went quiet.  I was determined to make Sound-
wave speak first, so I waited.  Finally, he broke the silence. 
     "An impressive display.  Impractical, however.  Calculations show that
you will exhaust present supply of Decepticons in approximately five
months," he informed me.
     "Agreed. Two deaths in one day is unacceptable.  But I will depend on 
my officers, you included, to keep the Decepticons in line.  If they
follow orders, they will live.  And you will live.  My authority must be 
absolute, and you will be an instrument of that authority.  Do you 
understand me?"  I was being deliberately harsh.  I had never used brute 
force to keep my troops organized, but unfortunately, my cicumstances were
forcing me to do so.  Once they had accepted me as their leader and as the
reincarnation of Megatron, I would be able to leave this pattern of violence
behind me.
     "Of course, Galvatron," Soundwave responded.
     "Excellent."  I had no desire to go around blasting anyone who disagreed
with me, and I hoped that a show of force now would keep anyone from calling
my bluff in the future.  
     I looked around in distaste, wishing Armada had chosen a better method
of self-destruction.  Still, his absent head would be a good reminder to
the Decepticons of what might happen to mutineers.
     "Well Soundwave, unless you have further enquiries for me, you are
dismissed."  I had just finished the sentence when Cyclonus radioed me.
     "Sir, you should come to the Observation Room immediately," he told
me urgently.
     I leapt from my chair and headed for the Observation Room, with Soundwave
following close behind.  What had happened?  Was it Autobots?  How could
they have put together a strike force so soon?
     As I entered the room, one image was showing on each of the dozens of
video screens.  It was Unicron -- and he was devouring one of the Autobot
Moonbases!
     Rage rose in me as I watched one of my prizes disappear into Unicron's
maw.  "How dare Unicron?" I demanded furiously, "Cybertron and all its 
moons belong to me!"
     Suddenly my vision clouded and red light filled my optics.  Pain, 
excruciating pain, flooded my body like an all-consuming flame.  I groaned,
clutching my head in a futile attempt to block out the sensory overload.
     "Remember," Scourge hissed, "We belong to him."
     "I... belong... to nobody!" I gasped.  The pain intensified, clouding my
mind with fear and doubt.  I groaned and gasped, falling to my knees, trying
to fight Unicron's will.  Oblivion loomed as my systems threatened to fail
under the onslaught.  No, he wouldn't kill me, he won't destroy me, no,
I refuse to die, I cannot die...
     "I will obey!" I cried, the words strangling in my throat as I begged
for my life.  "Unicron..."  Mercifully, the pain ended before I could
embarrass myself further, but I was still utterly disgusted.  I had sold
myself back into slavery.  Again.
     I rose to my feet, trying to force control and mastery into my voice.
"Decepticons, to Earth!" I ordered.
     The Matrix had to be destroyed.  Ultra Magnus would pay for my pain.
And then, once I had accomplished my tasks, Unicron would release me.
Once the Matrix was gone, my life would be mine again.  It had to be.

     On the trip to Earth, I seethed inside with resentment and shame.  I
had to watch the monitors silently as Unicron, unsated by the first
Moonbase, proceeded to consumer the second.  I felt a slight tingling
sensation in the back of my mind, as if Unicron were just waiting for
me to say something so he could demonstrate his mastery once more.  I 
said nothing.  But my thoughts were my own.
     That was Unicron's mistake.  He had left me that link to who I'd been,
for whatever reason, and then he had tried to humiliate me.  But as long
as I retained that link -- and as long as my thoughts were my own -- I
would find a way to regain my freedom.
     "Entering Earth orbit, my lord," Cyclonus reported, breaking me from
my reverie.
     "Target Autobot City.  I want an image on screen as soon as we 
approach visual range," I ordered, and my troops leapt to obey.  but I 
ground my jaw in anger as I recongnized that my authority stretched only
to the place where Unicron's began.
     We roared into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, then swooped
down toward the North American coastline.  The large monitor screen flashed
into life as we neared Autobot City and I smiled coldy at the still-smoking 
ruin that fortress had become.  I clenched my fist and snarled to myself, 
"History repeats itself today, Ultra Magnus.  Now it is your time to die!"
     "Decepticons," I roared, "Prepare for the attack!  Select your prey, 
run it down, and destroy anything in your path!  Cyclonus, you and I will
track down Ultra Magnus.  The honor of his death is ours alone!"
     "Yes, Galvatron!" the Decepticons chorused.
     Energon pounded through my systems, infusing me with power.  We ran 
to the launching area, I took my place in Cyclonus' cockpit, and the
assault began.
     To my surprise, the Autobots were already loading into their shuttles
when we began to open fire.  They hardly even stopped to look back at us,
so intent were they upon leaving Earth.  What could they be doing?
     The moonbases.  The Autobots on Earth must have learned what happened
to the first base, at least, and were on their way to investigate when
we arrived.  Deeming us the lesser threat, they dodged our strafing runs 
and prepared their shuttles to escape.
     I'll show you a threat, Ultra Magnus.  My lip curled in a snarl.
     I spotted Magnus trying to cover his troops' retreat.  I guided
Cyclonus along the big Autobot's path, forcing him to stop and try
to drive us off with some futile blasts of his weapon.
     I roared my defiance.  "I, Galvatron, will crush you just as Megatron
crushed Optimus Prime!"
     His face set in rigid determination.  "And you'll die trying, just
like Megatron."  He took aim and fired a lucky shot that hit Cyclonus
in the side.
     Cyclonus was forced to veer off to avoid the rest of the Autobot's
blasts.  I growled in frustration, "Autobot scrap!"
     A Sweep sailed up beside us with a misguided offer of assistance. 
"You want me to gut Ultra Magnus?"
     "There are plenty of Autobots for you!" I barked.  "Ultra Magnus
is mine!"
     Cyclonus wheeled back around toward the shuttles, knowing that Magnus
would retrun there.  That infernal Autobot motormouth Blurr was making
a rather pathetic attempt make the clumsy Dinobots enter a shuttle against
their will.  Unable to pass up the opportunity, Cyclonus and I soared 
down to strafe the big, balking targets.  The arrogant tyrannosaurus
Grimlock sent a tongue of flame after us, singing Cyclonus' wing.  As we
banked around to search for Ultra Magnus, I shook an angry fist at the
beast, allowing a Decepticon curse to escape my lips.
     "Galvatron -- the Autobot shuttles are launching," Scourge reported
via radio.  Cyclonus wheeled around and I saw the shuttles' engines flare
into life as they launched into the air.
     I snarled angrily, then snapped on the radio.  "All Decepticons, 
return to the ship immediately!  We must give chase!"  I slammed my
fist down on the control panel angrily, but Cyclonus took the blow
stoically and swept back to our waiting vessel.
     By the time I'd gathered my loot-bedazzled troops back in the ship, 
we had a long chase ahead of us.  "Full engines!  Track them down!  The
Matrix must be found!"
     By this time, the thunder of energon in my brain was receding and I
was able to take a calm moment to collect my thoughts.  They were spinning
in all directions, but centered primarily on Unicron and his directives.
I had to analyze them if I was going to control my situation.  I decided
that the best way to put them together was to put them into sequence.
What was happening to me?  What had made it happen?
     I defeated Optimus Prime.  But the vicotry had a price: I was dying.
Starscream abandoned me, sealing his own doom.  Unicron found me, showed
me oblivion yawning in front of my optics, and recreated me.  He made 
troops loyal only to me -- and to him.  I returned to destroy Starscream,
and in the process, rediscovered my identity.  I was supposed to serve
Unicron with unquestioning loyalty.  We all were --  it was the price
of our rebirth.  But while Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps had minds
like blank slates, I knew myself.  Unicron didn't need to produce his
weapons of pain and intimidation for them.  Only for me.
     Only I had access to old memories and old patterns of thinking.  Part
of that had to be intentional.  As leader, I had to make tactical decisions
and match wits with Ultra Magnus.  Unicron chose me to lead because of
my experience.  If he were just going to wipe out my skills and memories
entierely, he could have simply destroyed me and negotiated with someone
more willing to be entirely subject to his authority.  My mind couldn't
be subjugated without sabotaging my effectiveness.
     And yet, with time and distance from Unicron, I was regaining more
memories and confidence.  I was growing into my new body and my new mind,
while fitting old pieces of myself into a new puzzle.  That couldn't
be intentional.
     I was too strong for him.  Unicron was losing his grip on me and he
knew it.  He'd resorted to threats and humiliation to retain control, but
instead he'd alienated whatever loyalty I once felt.  I could accept many
things, but I'd reached my limits.
     I had to sever my ties to Unicron somehow.  He'd never reliquish
control of me unless I made him.  My spirit and life would slowly be
crushed and smothered, and I would die with the horrible knowledge that
I had let my spirit linger in captivity instead of reclaiming my own
destiny.  I could not remain a slave for the rest of my life, or my
new body would become a curse --  a weight that dragged me under into
blackness.  A blackness worse than oblivion.
     I had to be rid of Unicron, even if it meant destroying him.  But 
how?  What could stop him?
     The Matrix.
     I knew it with a sudden conviction.  That must be it, I thought with
quickening excitement.  It's the one thing he fears.  I felt the pieces
slip into place and become resolve.  Instead of destroying the Matrix 
along with Ultra Magnus, I would take it, arm myself with it, and use it
to take back my independence.  That glowing ball of the Autobots would
finally fulfill its lofty purpose of defending freedom.
     My freedom.

[cont.]





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