All Fade Away - ...And They All Fade Away

Marvel Universe Transformed Presents: "...And They All Fade Away"

The history of Earth has been a sordid one. Since its beginning, Earth has been visited by extraterrestrial beings. Beings that wielded great power, great courage, and infinite greed. This is one of those tales.

Issue #3: "Restoration"

Written By: Wes A.

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

The world of darkness was broken with a flash of light. All at once, the memories came flooding back. The arrival on Earth, the battle, the imprisonment, and the explosions. Explosions so great that it was impossible to escape from them. Almost impossible.

[Is he awake?] asked the first voice.

[He should be. All the readouts say so,] replied the second.

[Good. *ahem* Can you hear me?]

He saw a human face. Another human face. His torture was not yet over. As long as these fleshlings lived, his torture would never be over.

[I know you can see me. Can you hear me?] the fleshling asked.

It was time to answer him, otherwise he would continue to ask him questions that undermined his intelligence. With a quick scan, his databanks, which seemed hard to access, confirmed that the human was speaking Russian. He called up the language program.

[Affirmative, I can hear and understand you perfectly.]

The human smiled at hearing that. [Excellent. I took quite a while to get you back on-line. It's nice to know that all that hard work has paid off.]

The human male looked to be about of about forty human years old. He wore a uniform that was unknown. It was thick, made to last through harsh weather. It some ways, it reminded him of the Nazi uniforms.

[Where am I?]

[Moscow.]

[How did I get here?]

The human chuckled. [You do not waste time, I like that. We brought you here to bring you back to life, Shockwave.]

Shockwave looked around. He was in a room with much machinery. There were several others in the room, scientists by Shockwave's guess. He tried to access his motor functions, but found that he couldn't. Not even a diagnostic would come up, He could only access his head and upper torso. That meant one scenario.

[Where is the rest of my body?]

The human still had a smile on his face. [Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, most likely. It may interest you to know that you've been off-line for quite some time.]

[How long?]

[Over thirty years. It is the year 1976, and you are in the heart of the U.S.S.R., or Russia if you prefer. My name is Piotr Burkharin, I work the Soviet defense force.]

Shockwave began to call up all available data on the U.S.S.R.. They fancied themselves to be an empire, much like every other group of humans on this tiny world. Records showed that they were involved in the war against the Nazi's, having sided with the Allies. Shockwave needed more information from this fleshling.

[The war is over?] he asked.

[Long over. The Axis was defeated. Hitler is dead and the remnants of the Nazi's are either imprisoned or in deep hiding. The allies of the Axis have abandoned them, the Americans have made sure that they will attempt no such action in the future. Needless to say, Germany will not pose any sort of threat to Russia in the near future.

We found your remains two years ago in the Arctic Ocean near the North Pole. At first we weren't sure what we found. Early reports called you nothing more than wreckage from a U-boat. But upon closer inspection, we found out what you really are. I remember hearing rumors of a secret Nazi base with a great machine that German scientists used for experiments, but I never believed it. Until we found you.]

Shockwave was growing impatient. [What do you intend to do with me?]

[Our empire is strong, yet we are not the most dominant. You are a being of logic and tactical information. We intend to employ your services to make our empire stronger.]

[You want to use me,] stated Shockwave, [use me to make you powerful.]

[In so many words, yes.]

More fleshlings that wanted to use him. To strip away everything that made him Decepticon and turn him into their personal drone. These pathetic beings were a virus, a parasite to be wiped away. He would be their extinction.

[I do not have much choice, I suppose.]

Piotr smiled. [Excellent.]

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

1985

It had been an uneventful day. He made his daily walk to the park and newsstand. President Regan was reelected a few months ago and the country was buzzing over the Soviets. He couldn't help but sigh in frustration. It seemed like yesterday that the world was cowering in fear over him and his allies. How the times had changed.

They came for him in the middle of the night. He was dragged out of his bed, taken to a car outside his apartment. From there it was to an airfield. He doesn�t know how long he was in the air. It had seemed like days, which it could very well had been for all he knew. When they landed, it was snowing outside, snowing hard.

They herded him into a bunker of some kind, down an elevator that was very well guarded. His heart seized when he saw the Soviet uniform. This was it. They had found him. After all these years, they had found him and were going to take their revenge. He said his prayers to god, waiting for his execution. They took him to a room and threw him in a chair. All around him was machinery of various sorts. His eyes went wide when he saw the glowing eye in middle of the giant purple head.

"Hello Franklin, so nice to see you again."

The old man gasped in horror. "Shockwave! I-I thought you were-"

"Dead?"

Franklin nodded.

"As you can see, that is not the case. I'm very much living, if you could call a machine living at all. I see the past few decades have been very kind to you. Your medical records from the United States, or rather Joseph Olson's records, indicate that you are in excellent health for a Nazi war criminal at the age of 72."         

Franklin's face was still etched in shock. "How did you survive?"     

"How I survived isn't important. What is important is the future." said Shockwave in his cool voice.

"The future?"

"Yes. Particularly, my future. You see Franklin, I have plans for this planet. Plans that require your assistance. You will help me, won't you Franklin?"

Shockwave's voice was low, almost menacing. During their time together, Franklin knew of the hate that Shockwave bore for him. He took advantage of that, torturing Shockwave whenever he could. Now, the story was quite different.

"Y-yes. Of course I'll help you Shockwave, in any way that I can."

"Good."

Shockwave was silent. Franklin began to fidget, he didn't like this silence.

"So, ah, what do you need from me?"

"When you found me Franklin, you studied my body a great deal. My completed body. During my time here in Russia, I've done much to aid the Soviets. At least, from the surface. I never had any intention of aiding these fleshlings. Instead, I've put certain events into place that will lead to this empire's downfall within the coming decade. Through access to certain documents, I've blackmailed many high-ranking officials to guarantee a base here, in Siberia. This underground compound holds many nuclear devices. The majority of the government doesn't even know that they've been manufactured, let alone that they're in my custody. I need more Franklin, I need a body. Back in the 1940's, you dug my body up in Antarctica. My contacts have dug up the shuttle that I used to get to this planet, it's on its way here even as we speak. In the shuttle are materials to build a new body for myself. I need you to spearhead this operation, Franklin. I need you to build me a body. Will you help me Franklin?"

Shockwave sounded so much different than he did all those decades ago. This Shockwave was colder, harder, more vengeful sounding. And this scared Franklin, scared him more than anything else in his life.

"Yes.  Yes, of course I'll help you," said Franklin with a nervous smile, "I'd do anything for an old friend."

Shockwave's eye glowed a pale shade of yellow. "I knew you would."

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

Franklin was amazed at the shuttle. When he studied Shockwave, he was fascinated, but this was much greater of a study. From what he saw, the technology was centuries ahead of anything made on Earth. Shockwave's people, the Decepticons he called them, had faster than light space flight, energy projectile weapons, more durable alloys, and engines that weren't dependent on fossil fuels. He sorely wanted to have the time to fully study it, but that was not to be.

As Shockwave had instructed, there were materials and schematics for building Shockwave a new body. It took months of non-stop work. Shockwave wanted his new body to be vastly superior to his old one. The process required so much that some parts of the shuttle needed to be cannibalized to make the new form. Eventually though, the task was complete.

Franklin also oversaw the process off transferring Shockwave's neural core, which was about all that was left of Shockwave, into the new body. The entire process had taken place inside the massive bunker that served as Shockwaves base of operations. The transfer process had taken several hours. When the process was over, Shockwave arouse. For the first time in decades, the Decepticon had feet to stand.

Shockwave looked his new body over. It was taller than his old squat form. His shoulders were broader, his waist thinner, his armor thicker with a darker shade of purple, and his right hand had been replaced with a gun barrel. He could feel the power coursing through him. In this new body, even the mighty Megatron would be hard-pressed to defeat him in battle.

"Yes, much better." he said with a satisfied voice.

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

Franklin accompanied Shockwave to the massive bay that held the shuttle. The two entered the space vessel. Shockwave walked over to one of the shuttles computers.

"So, what are you plans now?" asked Franklin.

"I will contact the Decepticon Empire on Cybertron," stated Shockwave simply.

"For a rescue vessel?"

"No, far from it."

A monitor on the computer that Shockwave worked on came to life. On the screen was a Transformer bearing the Decepticon insignia.

"This is Polyhex communication central, what is it that-Shockwave? Is that you?!" exclaimed the Decepticon.

"Affirmative. I wish to speak with Straxus. I assume he is still the ruling emperor?"

"Y-yes, he is. I'll patch you in right away."

After another few moments, another Decepticon was shown on the screen. His armor was a dark shade of blue. It was Straxus, the leader of the Decepticons. Despite a cool outer appearance, it was obvious that he was less than thrilled to see Shockwave.

"Shockwave. It's been a long time. We pronounced you dead a long time ago. Where, may I ask, have you been all this time?"

Franklin could see that Shockwave wasn't happy to see Straxus either. There was clear tension between the two.  "I've been conducting business to ensure the growth of the Empire, as always."

"I'm sure," said Straxus in a condescending tone, "And what exactly have your duties entailed?"

"I've claimed a planet rich in energon for the Empire. A planet called Earth."

In his wheelchair, the old man named Franklin Heid felt a chill run through his body. He began to wonder what his price in hell would be for unleashing this fate on his world.

To be continued