Aurora Serial

10.Feb.08

Updated: 5.Nov.08

Aurora Serial

Chapter One

Maximus watched the silvery blue mech stood within a pool of light amidst the darkened room, alone, but afraid.

She was young for a transformer, barely two stellar cycles since she had first come online, and Maximus could see that she had the youthful hope and vibrancy within her that he had had at the same age a century before when he had first stepped into that same light.

“Who Are You?” He asked from the darkness.

She jumped at his voice, not expecting it for one, and not expecting the authority that voice seemed to possess.

The surprise faded quickly however, and she soon regained composure. Whether it was bravado or the wish to hide what fear she might have would have to remain to be seen.

“I Am Aurora,” she said, “And who are you?”

“You are not here to ask questions!” he snapped.

Part of him marveled at the audacity she showed. The Inquisition usually sent fear into any bot that was brought forth to face it. To be able to face fear at such a young age as her showed that he had chosen well.

“And your answer,” he continued in a more terse tone, “Is insufficient. I did not ask your name. I asked who it is that you are.”

At this she frowned in thought. The young so seldom understood the difference between a name and an identity.

“I am a Maxima-“

“No!”

“I was created by –“

“No!”

“I am from –“

“No! No! No!” he shouted loudly enough for his voice to echo several times around the darkened chamber.

Maximus did not enjoy the harshness but understood its necessity. This was no test of knowledge or wit but one of character a test of spark, a test of soul.

“Perhaps an easier question would be in order,” He said with just a hint of snide in his voice.

“I’m not stupid or mis-programmed; your question is just unfair!”

“Unfair!” he cried, “Life is not fair Aurora! And unless I’m not mistaken you are just three short Decacycle out of basic programming! That’s certifiably stupid by any count!”

He paced about in the darkness, practically walking circles around her as she stood in the only pool of illumination in a pitch black room. She could hear him of course and the pacing served to heighten her tension while giving him time to formulate every word of his next sentence.

Though she hardly suspected as such, his every last syllable was carefully modulated and intoned specifically for her benefit. The more scathing and ruthless he seemed the more of her true character would become apparent.

Wisely on her part, she remained silent until he addressed her again.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Because I was summoned.” She said irritably.

Maximus didn’t need to say a word. Aurora could feel his glare despite the darkness and softened instantly.

“I am here to be tested.” She said.

“That is why you are in this room, perhaps,” said Maximus, “But you miss the more important part of the question. Why are you here?”

He paused waiting for an answer with baited breath as she simply looked into the darkness, not understanding.

Sighing, he continued.

“Why are you here? In this life? At this time? Why do you exist?”

“I…. I-“ she struggled to answer.

Maximus watched her carefully, observing her body language, her facial expression, even the brightness of her optics he noted with all the fine detail of a botanist whom had found a rare and exotic flower. He could practically see into the depths of her mind as the faint beginnings of wisdom and intelligence grappled within her all too empty yet young mind until…

“I don’t know.” She said and hung her head in shame.

“You don’t know?” he said almost mockingly, “You don’t even know the reason for your existence?” he said with growing incredulity.

She looked embarrassed, shamed and defeated as she hung her head and clenched her fists, no doubt rebuking herself as what she saw as the stupidest mistake of her life.

“That, Aurora, is the very foundation of all wisdom,” said Maximus with a gentleness he had never used once before in their encounter thus far.

“What?” she blurted out in surprise.

She’d no doubt expected another rebuke, a string of mockery and disgrace. Instead…

“Anyone that proclaims they know why they came into being, that claims that they have a purpose in this existence above all others is the highest order of fool. Wise is the one who says ‘I do not know’, for in them lie our greatest hope”

Aurora was floored. She hadn’t expected this at all. She hadn’t expected any of it and the only semi-intelligent thought capable of asserting itself within her mind told her to lift her jaw up and stop gaping like a fool.

“There shall be a small recess. You may wait in the outer corridor until you are called for, I suggest you partake of energon and counsel during this time.” Said Maximus and shuffled out.

To be continued...

The Rise of Aurora

Chapter 2

Aurora sat against a wall deep within the Maximal chambers of government hooked up to energon feeders to recharge. Her thoughts were racing, processing everything that had occurred to her only just before in a darkened chamber where she had stood in a pool of light and had been berated and put down for what she could see was no reason at all.

So deep was her thinking that she did not notice the silver and gold bot that stood a few feet away from her regarding her with paternal concern. His glowing golden optics bespoke of a certain level of fondness for her, and his patience spoke of an age old enough to appreciate a time to wait and a time to rush forward.

Eventually, she looked up at him, and sighed.

“Is there any particular reason you recommended me for this, Moxim?” she said with a tinge of bitterness.

“To all things there is a reason,” he stated cryptically.

“You sound just like my inquisitor.” She said Sharply.

Moxim just smiled amiably.

“I recommended you for this because I see in you great potential, Aurora. You have a compassionate soul, a sacrificing nature, a will to see this world to become a better place then the one you left it.”

“And that justifies making me feel bad... how exactly?”

Again, that paternalistic smile crossed his features. Sometimes it made her feel warm inside, other times it infuriated her to no end.

Moxim had been there since she had first begun basic programming. He had been her lecturer on the higher principles of philosophy, politics, and the upper echelons of finer thought.

Although she had only been one student out of hundreds in the classes he taught, she had soon found herself in the core group of students that would stay after classes and engage their teacher in esoteric philosophical meanderings that would challenge student and teacher alike and feed fuel to the fire of their enterprising minds.

Eventually he had noticed her staunch compassionate stances, her impassioned debating style, and most importantly, the conviction she held when putting forth her views.

It hadn’t taken them long to develop a more personal relationship that surpassed the mere student-teacher relationship preceding it to become one of mutual admiration and respect.

Breaking out of his thoughts, he turned to her to answer her question.

“Consider a bridge,” said Moxim, “Each component supports the other, each part as necessary as the next or the last. Imagine if none of the parts were tested to see if they could hold.”

“The bridge would fall,” said Aurora.

“Exactly. The problem with most leaders is that they govern from the comforts of home, with advisors and friends to back them up. The true test, the crunch, as it were, comes when you have nothing left, where you can attempt to save what you have and lose it all or take a chance and hope to the pit that it works out. Great leaders are forged in such fires or adversity.”

“And the test seeks to replicate that?”

“We have no wars to fight, no great adversity to bring to bear upon the shoulders of a potential leaders. The lack of adversity ensures that no one claims the mantle of leadership. Those for whom there are no difficulties in life never amount to anything, coasting through life like a useless piece of slag.”

“It seems… callous somehow, cold. It sounds like something I’d expect of a Predacon.”

“Sometimes the ends justify the means,” Said Moxim with a twinge of bitterness, “Aurora, you must know. This isn’t the first time I’ve sent one of my students in there. They’ve all failed, so far. I… I’m hoping that you could be the one I’ve been told to look out for.”

“What? I don’t understand I-“

A chiming sound emanated throughout the building, signaling for Aurora to return to the inquisition.

“I can only offer you these three pieces of advice,” he said as she unhooked her energon feeders, “First; don’t step out of the light. If you do, you admit failure.”

By now, security bots had arrived to escort her to the inquisitor’s chamber.

“Second,” he continued as they walked down the hall, “Trust no one that speaks to you in there. They are all out to confuse you, to mislead you into a position where you can forced into failure, broken, if you will.”

They had reached the door to the inquisitors chamber, a dark imposing affair that struck the fear of judgement into the optic of the beholder.

“Lastly,” he said as they ushered her through, “You must-“

The door slammed shut, cutting off his last sentence, cutting off that last piece of advice he had for her. Aurora felt in her very spark that the advice he had given had been sound, though she was shocked to find that she had not been the first bot that Moxim had grown to see the same way he saw her. It disturbed her greatly.

But foremost on her mind was the coming storm before her. The last piece of advice had sounded critical if she could judge from the tone of his voice, now she was going to have to take on her inquisitor without that vital piece of aid.

Aurora strode through the darkness, a look of impassive calm sculpted on her face. No matter what, she had to see this through.

As she took up her position within the sole pool of light in the middle of the darkened chamber, she squared her shoulders, her head held high.

“I am ready.” She said

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Rise of Aurora

Chapter 3

The chamber was all but darkened with only a pool of silvery light illuminating its center.

Within that pool of light stood Aurora, shoulders squared, ready for whatever it was her inquisitors would choose to dish out at her.

"Aurora," spoke a voice from the darkness, "A strange name, where did you get it?"

"I borrowed it from the human records brought to us from our Autobot ancestors; it means 'The Dawn'" replied Aurora with an even voice.

"Yes, I've looked into it," said the same voice, "It also refers to an archaic goddess of the same phenomenon, do you see yourself as a god?"

"No!" she yelped, "No, I chose it because…"

"Because…" prompted the voice

"Because it felt… right."

"It felt 'right'?"

"Yes. When the time came to choose a name for myself, Aurora felt right. I can't really explain it in any other terms,"

"So you admit to being stupid then?" said a female voice from a different direction.

"What? No!" cried Aurora

"You said it yourself," continued the female voice, "You cannot explain the reasons for your decision beyond a vague feeling of correctness. If you can't justify your decision with rational explainable reasons, then what use are you?"

The feminine voice had finished her sentence venomously and spitefully. Had Aurora not been prepared for such comments, they would likely have stung far more then they did.

"Not all things are quantifiable," she countered, "Not all things can be known. I chose the name for what it is and the feeling it evoked, a sense of correctness and acceptability, a feeling of being right."

"So we're simply to take your word for it?" asked a gravelly voice to her right, "I hardly consider your word to be of worth"

A quiet murmur of agreement thrummed through the darkened room.

"You consider my word worthless when it is you that come here to belittle degrade me?"

"Then let us see what your word is worth," said the feminine voice again, "Would you die to save the lives of a thousand others?"

"Absolutely" said Aurora without hesitation.

"And would you die to save just one of us here in this room?"

She hesitated at that. Would she be willing to sacrifice herself for these people whom had done nothing but degrade and deride her from the very start?

"…I don't know" she finally answered.

"Aha!" shouted several voices, as if they'd been maneuvering her into just such a corner by design.

"What if those thousand others were the darkest and most evil of all Predacons? Would you sacrifice yourself then? Would you give up your life so cavalierly?"

"I… That's not fair!" cried Aurora

"You just said that you would sacrifice yourself because you assumed those thousand others would be lives you would deem worthy of saving. By choosing not to save those that you dislike should the opportunity arise you admit that you value some lives over others!"

"Proving that you are prejudiced," said one,

"Bigoted," said another

"Petty," said the gravelly voice

"Naïve," said the feminine voice

"Stupid!" shouted one

"Incompetent!" shouted another

"An Embarrassment to Maximals everywhere!"

The epithets whirled in, one after another, each one more cutting and wounding then the last, a veritable storm of insults.

Finally it was too much for her. She clutched the sides of her head and doubled over to drown out the sound of her failure, though she dared not admit it openly by setting a single foot outside the pool of light.

Just as the storm of insults reached a crescendo, a deafening shout pierced the veil.

"ENOUGH!" boomed a voice of authority and power, "Let us end this farce once and for all!"

The deafening silence that flooded the chamber after this one outburst was enough to knock Aurora out of her stupor.

"What in Unicrons name is the meaning of this? Maximus! You forget yourself!" shouted the gravelly voice

"And you forget yourself Enforcer," replied the voice of Maximus, "Deactivate the device! Let there be light!"

Light flooded the darkened chamber, allowing Aurora to finally see her tormentors for the first time.

Twelve Bots of every size shape and description surrounded her, most prominent to the young Maximal was a red bot seemingly painted with flames in the shape of a bird and a gold bot that bore an astonishing resemblance to Moxim.

"I forget myself?" cried a squat gray bot that looked several decades beyond its retirement date in the gravelly voice of Enforcer, "You called for this test! And now you stand there demanding we cease! You know the importance of what we do here today as much as anyone!"

"Yes, I called for this," said the bot that looked like Moxim that spoke in the voice of Maximus, "and do you not see yourselves?"

In the poignant silence of consideration, Aurora finally clicked as to just with whom she was dealing.

This was the Council Of Elders, Maximals older and wiser then any living in mainstream society, so much so that their views and recommendations were taken with such weight as to make them the effective leaders of the Maximal republic. Maximals that were, for the most part, the oldest living transformers for the Maximal era, some if which, if rumor was to be believed, were even reprogrammed Autobots.

"Have I taught you no better then this?" asked Maximus of the other elders, a look of pleading and near desperation on his face, "Have I taught you no better then this!?" he cried with greater anger, frustration, and sorrow as he pointed directly at Aurora.

"You stand there and hurl insults and derision upon an innocent to see how well they can withstand the pressure! You knowingly harm another, a fellow Maximal, to arbitrarily ensure the survival of our kind?"

"The Ends justify the means!" shouted Enforcer.

Aurora could see several bots nod their heads in assent; several others shook their heads as though in disbelief, whilst the rest held a deeply pensive look as the two obvious rivals squared off against one another.

"Perhaps at one time it did Enforcer, but we are more now than what we once were. We have outgrown this primitive and barbaric test of character. We are Maximals, and it is high time we began to truly explore what that is!

Does a Maximal harm a fellow Maximal? Does a Maximal allow harm to come to a fellow Maximal without doing everything in his or her power to stop it? I know in my spark that no Maximal does these things! If we are ever to lead our people then let us lead in the same fashion as Optimus Prime himself did! By Example!

It is we that must become living examples of who and what it is to be Maximal! We must Endeavour to move forward and shed relics of a bygone era to truly move into a new age! We are Maximals! It is high time we acted like it!"

Maximus' speech didn't seem to have a refined edge to Aurora's audio receptors; it carried instead a fiery passion that bespoke a mind long troubled by its contents.

"Fine words coming from a Maximal who put another in harms way to achieve his ends," spat Enforcer bitterly.

Though Enforcer had certainly lost some of his supporters, he had raised a valid point.

"Yes," replied Maximus, "it is true, I have used another Maximal, put them in harms way, made them suffer to further my agenda,"

For a brief moment, a look of incalculable pain and chagrin contorted the Elder Maximals face, and in just a brief a moment it was buried beneath an emotional mask.

"That is my burden, my pain. It is something for which I shall suffer and never forgive myself. Can you, Enforcer, claim to have felt such sorrow, such regret at causing such harm to another?"

The churning silence was all that Maximus needed to know that he had won the argument, though Aurora suspected from a few lingering glances that Maximus had made his fair share of enemies today.

"Maximus is right," said the red fembot with the firebird emblazoned on her chest, back and shoulders, "When he left us ten stellar cycles ago for his hiatus, he asked that we end the practice. What did we do in all that time? We bickered and did nothing, too concerned with what thought was more important in our lives.

It is not simply enough that bring our wisdom to our people but also seek to enlighten each other. We must also be worthy of doing so. Look at us. We all underwent the test and passed it, deeming us worthy. Look at us now! Do we still consider ourselves worthy of passing on our knowledge and wisdom? Do we show the compassion needed to lead our people into a new age?"

Maximus nodded as the red bot spoke, approval written on his face. From the way the red bot and Maximus met each others gaze, Aurora could see they were political allies at the very least, and quite likely a good deal more then that.

"My brethren, I ask that we now disperse and consider what we have discussed here today in solitude. When next we convene, we shall discuss at length what it truly is to be Maximal."

As the others moved to leave, Aurora took that as her cue to leave the antechamber herself. She had been lucky, or unfortunate, depending on ones definition, to bear witness to what seemed to be a history making moment amongst the very elders of Maximal Republic, she also felt emotionally drained from her experiences during the testing.

"Not you; stay" said the voice of Maximus.

Aurora was nervous. What exactly had she done to Maximus in her remarkably short life thus far to warrant this treatment? It was now obvious to her that he had lied to her from the very moment she had met him as her tutor, Moxim. The resemblance had been uncanny because the two were one and the same, and only one question burned in Aurora's mind; Why?

Finally, the two were alone in the antechamber, staring one another down in the churning silence. Aurora was prepared for anything, anything at all.

She Hoped.

The Rise of Aurora

Chapter 4

Maximus stood in front of Aurora, guilt, self loathing, and the desire to make amends fighting a fierce three way war in his spark.

He had used her as a pawn, lied to her, concealed his true self and befriended her under false pretenses. And for what - Simply to prove that he was right and his rivals were wrong.

Although he could have found a hundred ways to rationalise what he did, the only consolation could come from the one he had wronged, from Aurora herself.

“Why?” said Aurora

Maximus took a deep breath.

“It was the only way to make them see… I’m Sorry.”

“N-no, not that,” she said, her voice cracking, “Why did you lie to me?”

“I…” and quite suddenly he couldn’t bear to look directly at her as the guilt welled up within him - and he did the only thing he could – he looked away.

“I am an Elder,” he said flatly, “If I go out amongst the people wearing the face of Maximus, then I am recognised, accosted, petitioned, and heckled, as would any of the other elders. We wear masks to achieve anonymity and walk amongst the people not as elders or superiors but as one of them.”

“That’s no excuse to lie to me!” hissed Aurora, a frothing anger rising to the surface for the first time. “I thought we were colleagues, friends even!”

“We were teacher and student!” he snapped suddenly enough for Aurora to wince. Turning to face her once more, he added more softly, “But yes; We were friends. But above that, and beyond that, I am a patriot.”

He lapsed into a steady silence, gathering his thoughts. Aurora waited patiently; although she was starving for knowledge, Maximus had taught her that patience was as valuable as acting on instinct.

“Yes, I am a patriot above all else. I love my people, the Maximals, and for that I would do what I did to you again and again and again if it were necessary.”

“But what is a Maximal then, Moxi-… Maximus if you go about acting like…”

“A predacon?” finished Maximus.

Aurora nodded, now more curious then angry, yet the anger hadn’t in the least subsided.

Maximus silently conceded her point. He was well and truly in a bind.

“I hope to learn what it is to be Maximal. I hope to define it, to set the record straight so that the next generation of Maximals will know who and what they are. We are so young, have lived for such a small measure of time that I find that even I am still discovering just who and what a maximal is. And… I think you can help me.”

“Help you?!” asked Aurora incredulously.

“Yes!” exclaimed Maximus, “I need a fresh perspective; one not jaded by decades of life spent in spurious pursuits. I need… a blank slate, still finding its way; an empty cup that fills itself over time. You could help more people then you can imagine, Aurora, if you help me.”

“You know what I think?” asked aurora, a bitter taste in her mouth, “I think you’re a fool. You’ve betrayed the trust and the friendship we had today.”

She turned and walked towards the exit of the room, stopping briefly before crossing the threshold and looking back over her shoulder.

“Whatever you may think, Maximus, I will not be your little ‘social experiment’. Goodbye.” Her final word was laced with contempt.

Maximus stood there, alone in a darkened room and could only wonder at the labors he had lost.

Aurora had lapsed into a brief vacillating silence as though lost in her past.

“And then?” queried the Delta Scion

Aurora was knocked out of her reverie by the interruption.

“What?”

“And then? It doesn’t sound like the story is finished.”

“Ah, that’s because it isn’t. It took me months to forgive him. And even then the circumstances that lead to-“

A wailing klaxon broke Aurora’s sentence. Red emergency lighting instantly filled the makeshift cell.

“Code One Emergency, Aurora to the command center” blared out through the base intercom.

“We’ll have to finish this later” said Aurora as she hurried out of the room.

She tore down the corridors and doorways of Theta at breakneck speed. Her life, indeed, all the lives of those under her command, could well depend on her being in the right place at the right time as she was needed there. She couldn’t hope to delay even for a moment.

She burst into the control room and practically sprawled into the mountainside that was her second in command, Cryo.

“Sitrep!” she blurted out faster then she gave even herself credit for. Though she was loathe to use military abbreviations, time was of the essence.

“Callisto’s forces approach, three from the north, one from the east and one from the west,” Cryo Responded in the deep emotionless baritone that had earned him his name.

“That doesn’t track. Callisto only has five soldiers, we have one locked up in the basement, where’d that extra come from?”

“Perhaps Callisto procured additional reinforcements?”

“But from where?” Aurora huffed in frustration. She had to get a grip. “Look, never mind that. Mobilise everyone into defensive positions we have to knock them back.”

“At once.” Said Cryo and steeled himself to do her bidding.

Aurora tracked down the intercom system and activated it.

“This is Aurora, Code One Emergency Confirmed, the base is under attack, I repeat, the base is under attack!”

Delta lay bound and chained in her cell, unmoving save for the odd shift and shuffle to make her wait for Aurora’s return more comfortable. The assault on the base didn’t concern her in the slightest. She had, until recently, lead such assaults in Callisto’s name and knew the Maximal base to be nigh impregnable if properly defended. She would simply have to wait.

The door to her cell cracked open. Through it stepped a bot painted black and white, wiry and tall, he had small aerodynamic fins built into his legs and arms indicative of a flight alt mode yet his body was bulky enough to indicate ground combat armor. Unusually for a transformer, he had the stylized picture of an Eagle emblazoned across his chest.

Delta knew her enemies well, and this one was unmistakable.

“Razor One.” Said Delta

“You and I have unfinished business,” said Razor with barely constrained contempt, “Are you ready to die today?”

Delta didn’t even hesitate.

“Yes.”