LONAC Web - Historical Database - Key Code: F-ERA SOLO (Solo)


Historical Database

Arillius Minor. A planet known not for its rolling plains or mineral deposits. Arillius Minor was also called 'The Outlaw Planet" for obvious reasons. The planet was literally infested with mercenaries, pirates, and vigilantes; much like an old house is infested with mice. Anyone needing a bodyguard, assassin, or otherwise went there. Once, a small government had tried to set up residence on the planet, but the occupation didn't last more than four months. These days, the government's primary building was the site of a huge complex best described as a mall. At the very top of the building, nearly 300 stories up, was a tiny bar, occupied by two transformers.

"Hey, are you gonna ever pay for that drink?" the bartender called out to the tan form in the corner.

"I'll pay when I'm done." The tan transformer said quietly. He slouched over his drink and took another long, slow sip.

"All right, but I think you've had -" the bartender stopped mid-sentence as a rather imposing transformer stopped in the doorway. Slowly, he walked over to the corner, where the tan transformer sat.

"Excuse me pal, you're in my seat." He said firmly.

"What's it to you?" The tan transformer looked up, light glinting off a metallic eye patch covering his right optic. When he saw this, the second bot took pause.

"Ma-Magnum..." he stuttered. "I... didn't know it was you." The second bot quickly regained his composure. The bartender watched, carefully placing his hand on an energy rifle under the bar.

"Now listen, you." The second transformer began to draw a cutlass from subspace as he stared down the tan colored one, "Get out of my seat or I'll-" in an instant, he found himself starring down the barrel of a triple enhanced photon pistol. The weapon of choice of Maximum Magnum.

"Or you'll do what?" The tan transformer firmly asked.

By Andrew Laye

"Or you'll do what?" Magnum firmly asked.

"I..." was all the second transformer managed to say before Magnum pulled the trigger and sent a bolt of white hot energy through his head, and much of the wall behind him. The transformers head was instantly melted away and his body collapsed under him. The wall behind him was blackened with a large scorch mark. Slowly, Maximum Magnum stood, finished his drink, and returned his pistol to subspace.

"What was the bounty on his head?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" the bartender said, even though it was obvious he was in a state of shock.

"Everyone on this planet has someone after them. Who was after this one?" was Magnum's reply.

"I don't even know who he was." Magnum turned his back to the bartender and started to walk out the door.

"He was a regular here. You're not very good at lying," He said "I'll be back tomorrow, and I expect an answer".

Suddenly, a shot rang out and Magnum stumbled, his thick armor hardly scratched. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw the bartender shaking, terror in his optics. He held a rifle, smoke leaking out of its barrel. Magnum narrowed his optic. "You were a good one. Too bad you just sealed your fate…!" Magnum turned back twards the door, and raised his pistol over his shoulder.

"What... what are you doing?" The bartender panicked. A flash of light, and a bolt of energy struck his chest. And then he was nothing more than a smoldering pile of wreckage shaped vaguely like a humanoid.

Night on Arillius Minor is a dangerous time. A wrong turn down the wrong ally could leave one looking down the wrong end of a weapon, or worse. Currently, a small transformer was on the wrong end of things.

"Well well, Pitstop," one of the two thugs began. "What should we do first?"

"I say we rip his arms off, that would work." Pitstop replied. The small transformer, caught in a corner, was helpless to do anything to the two larger bots.

"Listen, can't we work things out?" He pleaded. "I don't have much on me, I'm just passing through this system!"

"Give it up, Credit. We know who you are." At this, the small transformer was given pause.

"Ok, I see your not here for money. What do you need?" Credit asked sternly.

"Maximum Magnum. Where is he?" Pitstop demanded.

"Magnum?" Credit relaxed. "If you're thinking of taking out Magnum, you've got another thing coming to you." Pitstop's friend lurched forwards and picked Credit up by the collar.

"Listen, slag heap." He said angrily. "Do you have any idea who we are?"

"Of course I know who you are, Tollshock." Credit nonchalantly replied. "Now if you and your oafish brother would relax I would tell you the information you require." This said, Tollshock released Credit.

"Start talk'n" Pitstop stated as Credit brushed a bit of dust from his arm.

"Very well," he stopped, thinking for a moment. "Last I heard, Magnum was staying at Grand Star Arms, that's twenty kilo-" "I know where that is, moron. Now get out of my sight before I blow you out of my sight." Tollshock growled.

"I'll deduct the payment from you account," Credit stated as he transformed and drove off. Once he was out of sight, Tollshock turned to Pitstop.

"Well, we should get moving. Magnum has the annoying tendency to change living space fast."

"I'll pound him into the mantle for what he did to Ricochet." Pitstop added darkly.

From the moment it rolls of the assembly line, a transformer has the right to dream. To dream about anything it wants, adventure, fame, power, being the hero of the Autobots- anything. But there comes a time when the transformer reaches a point where it has a decision. A time when it must decide if it's dreams are worth living out. A time when one wrong decision could result in a life of torment and anguish.

Maximum Magnum had made the wrong choice. One fatal mistake and his life was over. Magnum sat in his single room apartment inside the Grand Star Arms. One too many energon drinks had plunged him into a cycle of depression and reflection. As much as he tried, his mind kept wandering back to the past. He thought back to the training camp, to the moment everything had gone wrong...

"Lighten up soldier, and lower those shoulders!" Pleiade barked. The drill sergeant walked past the rows of trainees in position at the firing range. "Stand by, FIRE!"

Farther down the line, a young Magnum took aim and fired, missing the bull's eye by several millimeters. He reloaded and fired again, hitting the target dead center. Grinning, he did not notice the large shadow falling over him. He reloaded a second time, and again hit the bull's eye. He stood up, and took out a larger, less accurate rifle. Oh man, I'd love to see Pleiade's face when I score perfect with this baby, he thought.

"Don't get so cocky, soldier," Magnum turned and saw Pleiade's imposing form behind him. He swallowed. "One day you're not going to have time to aim with that, and you'll be dead before you know it."

"Yes sir," Magnum replied. "I'll make sure to keep my head on straight." Pleiade nodded in reply.

"Back to work, soldier." With a quick salute from Magnum, Pleiade departed. Magnum sighed and returned to his firing position. He fired five more times, hitting the mark three times. He was about to take a sixth shot, when suddenly air raid sirens erupted over the firing range, causing him to radically miss the shot.

"What the slag?" Magnum stood up again, and was nearly toppled over by another transformer. "What's going on?" He grabbed the bots shoulder and turned him to face Magnum.

"We're under attack!" the bot franticly shouted. "Unless you've got a death wish, get to the shelter!" The bot broke free of Magnum's grip and ran off. Hide like a coward? Magnum thought. Not likely, I need to see some action! Magnum grabbed one of the rifles and headed in the opposite direction the majority of the trainees were heading. "Magnum? Magnum! Get back here!" Pleiade's powerful voice rang out over the siren. A hand reached out and grabbed him from behind, pulling him into one of the firing wells. Magnum stood up, his head hardly up to Pleiade's chest plate. "What the slag is a private like you doing? You shouldn't be going into battle!"

"I'll do what I want!" Magnum shouted back as he shoved his way past Pleiade. "Out of the way..." he growled.

"I'm not going to stop you, just don't get killed!" Pleiade replied, stepping out of the way. Once he had sufficient room, Magnum shifted into tank mode and rolled off twards the battle. I'll show him what I'm capable of... Pleiade will reward me for this!

Pleiade's optics narrowed as Magnum drove off towards the battle. To him, Magnum was a soldier with potential, and he couldn’t let someone like that die off. After all, if the Autobots didn’t win the war…. That was something he didn’t like to think about. With a sigh, Pleiade transformed into a massive cybertronian truck and moved out.

Magnum found himself surrounded by the fury of battle. He was in heaven. Never in his life had he experienced something so exciting- so intense. Using the rifle he stole, he gunned down several enemy transformers, but it didn't seem to be slowing them down the least bit. Suddenly, the ground beneath Magnum exploded and sent him flying. "What the scrap was that?" He turned around and saw. Looming over him, a gestalt at least three times his size was preparing to fire again. "How could I not have seen this coming?" He said to himself as he dove out of the way, the cannon blast leaving a crater the size of his tank mode. Magnum stood again and fired at the massive form. Unfortunately, his weapons blasts did little to faze the giant.

"Prepare to meet your creator!" it bellowed.

"Prepare to meet hot slag, Tear-A-Part!" a huge beam of energy slashed through the gestalt's torso, toppling him. Magnum turned to see his savior and was met with what he considered the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Standing atop a hill, fully combined with his trailer and carrying his massive bazooka, Terminal Pleiade was preparing another shot against Tear-A-Part.

"Your end is nigh, gestalt. I will tear your spark from your smoldering carcass and crush it with my bare hands!" He shouted, his voice seemed to shake the very planet.

"All talk, Pleiade, all talk!" Tear-A-Part responded. "Your power is nothing compared to mine!" And as if to demonstrate, a massive blade of energy erupted from his fist. Tear-a-Part leapt forwards and brought his blade-arm down against Terminal Pleiade. Terminal Pleiade blocked Tear-a-Part's blade with his shoulder-shields and fired a barrage of mini-missiles from his arms. The missiles scattered across the gestalt and he smashed into the ground. It appeared as if Terminal Pleiade had won. But it only appeared that way. Magnum stood, unable to believe what he had just seen.

"Amazing..." he whispered. He had never witnessed a gestalt battle, let alone be so close to one. He watched as Terminal Pleiade's form expanded and reconfigured into two forms- his robot form and trailer.

"Ever seen something like that, private?" Pleiade asked. Magnum could only nod. And suddenly, both the bots were sent flying by a massive explosion. Pleiade and Magnum turned to see Pleiade's trailer a smoldering wreck, Tear-A-Part standing triumphantly above it.

"Lets see you fight me now, little one!" He roared before unleashing a torrent of laser fire. Both Magnum and Pleiade suffered only minor wounds, but without his trailer Pleiade was virtually useless against the gestalt's might.

"Well, now what do we do?" Magnum asked.

"Transform, use your heavy weapons against him. I'll do the rest!"

"Roger!" as ordered Magnum transformed to his tank form and began firing plasma shells into the giant. Meanwhile, Pleiade brought his rifle to bear and started running twards Tear-a-Part, firing twards his head. Neither attacks seemed to be doing much good against the gestalt.

"This isn't working!" Magnum cried out. Pleiade reached Tear-a-Parts feet and leapt up twards his head. Tear-a-Part simply swatted him away like an annoying insect. Pleiade smashed against the ground with a loud crunch, and went limp. Oh no... Magnum thought. It's all up to me now... Magnum raised his cannon up to the damaged Tear-a-Part. If I can't do it, no one can.... And with that, Magnum fired.

The ball of energy blazed twards Tear-a-Part's form with enough power to destroy him for good. Unfortunatly, it would never reach its target. Just seconds before it struck Tear-a-Part, a damaged but familiar robot form rose up from the ground, and was instantly vaporized by the energy blast. Magnum's scream could be heard for miles.

The time passed quickly for Magnum after he killed Pleiade. Facing his comrades and a dishonorable discharge were the least of his worries. He ended up stranded on Arillius Minor, and had to began up his reputation so that he could survive. Eventually, he gained enough respect that the locals started to call him "Maximum" Magnum, and he was on the road to a mercenary's success. But had hit snags in the road, and it wasn't even a road he wanted to be on. He needed a serious drink.

From the moment it rolls of the assembly line, a transformer has the right to dream. To dream about anything it wants, adventure, fame, power, being the hero of the Autobots- anything. But there comes a time when the transformer has a chance to regain its lost dreams. A chance to dream again, a chance to start all over. A chance for happiness.

Maximum Magnum slowly and carefully stepped into the bar located on the Grand Star's lower floor. Several of the patrons noticed him and tensed up, but he didn’t care. All he wanted right now was to drown his thoughts in overcharged energon. He hardly noticed the rather rude comment he received when he shoved his way past a smaller transformer attaching notices to the bar's wall. He sat down at the bar counter and ordered the strongest drink available.

"There he is," a bot whispered. "Should I handle this?"

"No," the bot opposite him replied "I'll take care of him. Just leave it to me." The bot stood up and walked over to Magnum, taking a seat next to him and ordering.

Magnum narrowed his optic, he knew that bot. He could see the bot tensing up, preparing to move. The bot finished his drink and casually stood up. Abruptly, his foot jerked upwards and slammed into Magnum's face. He was flung from his stool and the rest of the patrons scattered. Magnum quickly rolled to the side, avoiding Pitstop's fist. He rolled into a crouching position several meters away from Pitstop and brought out both his pistols.

"What do you want?" He demanded. Pitstop stood and took out a large rifle.

"You killed Ricochet," he stated.

"And now we're gonna kill you." Tollshock joined his brother's side.

"Revenge, is that it?" Magnum said darkly. "You won't lay a finger on me." Magnum fired a quick blast at the brothers and dodged behind the bar counter. Tollshock and Pitstop quickly returned fire, the blasts tearing though the counter.

"So much for protection," he mumbled as part of the counter exploded on his left. "And I just wanted a drink." He quickly set his pistols to maximum power. They would only be good for one more shot, and he had to make it count.

"Come on out, Magnum!" Tollshock yelled. "You can't hide in there forever." And with that, Magnum jumped out of the counter, flipped in midair, and landed with a pistol at each of their heads.

"Your right," he grinned.

Loader transformed and started walking twards the entrance of the Grand Star Arms' pub. He smelled a little smoke in the air, but dismissed it. After all, after a long days work he deserved some rest and relaxation. As he approached the door, something in the back of his head told him to turn around. He ignored it and was about to open the door when a loud whine filled the air, giving him pause. A deafening explosion replaced the whine, and a shock wave shattered the windows and blew the door off its hinges.

"What the slag?!?" was his reply.

The headless remains of Tollshock and Pitstop fell to the floor as Magnum returned his pistols to subspace. He looked around the smoke-filled bar as several of the remaining bar patrons came out of hiding. He stepped over the two bodies and was about to return to his room when something caught his eye. A small flyer had somehow survived the chaos. He walked over to it and picked it up. The word "LONAC" was printed on it in dark blue. As his optic skimmed over the flyer, thoughts came to him. He remembered the dreams he had as a young transformer. Dreams of being a hero. Peace and protection. And for the first time in centuries, Maximum Magnum smiled.