Candarvis was a small, dim star far from the well-travelled
routes. It was orbited by three small worlds, long past their useful
life.
	The innermost world had once held a thriving ecosystem, which
was now represented by exactly twenty-one species of lichen. But the
eons in which life had thrived had left the planet rich in
petrochemicals, which could be easily converted into Energon...the
lifeblood of a race of beings known as Transformers.
	Years before, the Autobot Sky Lynx had discovered this world,
and Optimus Prime was pleased.  During a lull in the perennial civil
war, he had dispatched a handful of his followers to establish a
colony/refinery on this world. In order to disguise their prescence,
the colonists communicated only rarely with the main body of the
Autobot army. Every few years, cargo shuttles would come by to haul
off the accumulated Energon.  It was a dull life...but after six
million years of war, a little boredom was more than welcome!
	This was all about to change.

	The Autobots, like all Transformers, had senses and
perceptions that extended far beyond the human norm. As sentient
machines, their consciousness extended into the dimension of
Cyberspace, the electronic equivalent of such human notions as the
"astral pl ane". Foolish humans thought they were creating Cyberspace
with their computers;in reality, they were merely opening doors into
that which had always existed.
	In an instant, therefore, the two dozen or so colonists were
aware of the intruder. It's Cyberspace manifestation was
overwhelming. Every data fortress, every secure barrier, in the
cyberspace of this world was instantly breached, the information
sucked out in nanoseconds.
	Chorale, the colony's Communication expert, had been wandering
through the small park at the far edge of the colony, a minor
concession to civilization and art amid the hard functionality of the
isolated outpost.  She had been sitting by a slowly flowing stream of
light lubricants, observing the play of light on the gold and silver
foil leaves of the sun-feeding 'plants'...in actuality, a form of
Cybertronian techno-wildlife. Now, she was curled on the ground, half
shifted to her Omnisynth mode, frozen in mid-transform, as small arcs
of lightning crackled up and down her bronze mettallic skin.
	As Chief Communicator, her senses were continually tuned to
their maximum sensitivity, always looking for the slightest
disturbance that could indicate any potential danger. The sudden
appearence of the Intruder had smashed into her with nearly physical
force. Many of her receptors simply burned out from the strain; fuses
designed to handle nearly any stress snapped like brittle ore. Slowly,
backups and safety switches came on-line, damping down input and
permitting her higher consciousness to function. Sh e shifted fully to
her Omnisynth mode and began broadcasting on all the major Autobot
emergency and military channels.
	"Chorale of Candarvis I colony to all. We are under
assault...intruder of incredible power. Not the Enemy, but equivalent
in might. Do not attempt rescue. Repeating...."
	She had blocked out all sensory input;she would continue
broadcasting as long as she could. But certain functions were below
conscious control;damage sensors reported rapidly rising temperatures
behind her;her outer coloration was beginning to peel, and the metal
surface underneath was warping. Still she continued to broadcast.
	Then it stopped. Instantly. Even though she had locked out all
input, she felt a sudden relief on her sensors...there was no longer
input to be locked out. Confused, curious, she slowly began to open
channels.
	Nothing on audio but the wind blowing through the thin
air. Cyberspace was a barren wasteland, nothing but static. Finally,
she transformed, activating optics.She was standing in the same place
she had been when it began, facing the worn rocks that surrounded the
colony. The carefully ordered garden was a ruin of molten metal and
puddles of lubricant.
	The silence was terrifying. She needed to turn around, to see
what was behind her, but her servos seemed frozen. Focusing herself,
she regained her composure and turned, knowing what she would see but
still wishing she did not have to see it.
	Behind her was a vast pit gouged in the ground, hundreds of
meters deep and perfectly circular. The edge of the pit was roughly
one meter from where she stood.
	The entire colony was gone.

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