The Exsver Story

The rabbit raced across the field with such speed, yet with such fear in his face. Every now and then casting a look back behind him, his ears would prick up and his hind legs bounded faster. The two scorpions, they were easily out distanced. The three wasps in the sky behind him, not so much.

He ran further and further, pushing his legs to his limits. He made a rapid 90 degree turn around a tree, missing to see the giant robot standing behind it.

With some ease, due to their relative sizes, a metallic hand grabbed him by the ears, raising him into the air until he was staring into a robotic face with red glass panes for eyes. The evil behind the panels clearly visible too. To the rabbit, anyway.

“Caught you!” mocked the giant robot. The rabbit squirmed and in doing so his body parts started to shift in an unnatural way and metallic elements started to appear from within the rabbit’s form. In addition, the minuscule rabbit started to grow, with body parts becoming a similar size to the robot holding his ears. Or rather, one ear, as his growing form made it difficult for the machine to keep grasp of both, but that remaining ear was gripped with some strength.

“Oh please do transform,” remarked the evil mechanoid and as he spoke he thrust a large yellow metallic claw onto the back of the changing rabbit-robot. “Here’s an Inhibitor Claw for your troubles, Stampy! Megatron will be so pleased to make your acquaintance, I’ve told him an awful lot about you,” he added with a sinister tone to his voice and a sneer to his metallic mouth. The three wasps changed shape and landed as bipedal robots behind the other. In the distance, amongst the grass, the two scorpions similarly changed shape and grew to the size of the other robots.

The rabbit Transformer, Stampy, said nothing. He lowered his head and resigned himself to his fate. Unable to transform due to the claw on his back, low on energon, due to his constant running of the past few days, he was tired and defeated. He would need to accept what was coming. A visit before Megatron, leader of the evil Transformer faction the Predacons, was a risk he had taken. This day would not be pleasant. In his spark, Stampy feared the punishment to come. But he would face it as a brave warrior. As a heroic Maximal.

—————

Stampy was marched up the stairs to a large and ornate amphitheater. His claw had been removed to be replaced by an energon reduction chain around his hands, a chain woven from cables that sapped the energon from his core being. The energon fuelling his spark was sapping away and he got weaker with each step. On his way into the amphitheater he passed a figure largely gunmetal grey in colour, covered in armaments but with the head of a lion adorning his right shoulder. Nemesis Leo Prime. If it wasn’t for his predicament, Prime’s presence here and now would give Stampy some concern. One of the Predacon’s most notorious and powerful warriors, if not a leader in his own right. What was he doing here in league with Megatron?

Stampy pushed the thought from his mind as he regarded the amphitheater. Constructed from rare metals, it shined in the sunlight with intricate details in its structure to reflect the history of the Predacons. Megatron’s pride and joy, and catering to his super-sized ego.

Within the amphitheater Stampy noticed some of the Predacons that had been sent to hunt him. The three wasp-themed Predacons, Waspinater, Buzzsaw and Skywasp. The two scorpion-themed, Scorponok he knew of, though the other was new to him. He also noticed the sly form of Tarantulas, another notorious Predacon whose reputation preceded him. And there, located high in the amphitheater’s seated area was the being himself, the notorious Predacon leader Megatron perched on his own ornate throne.

Megatron, the Transformer that had chosen to take his name in recognition of the infamous Decepticon leader from the historic Autobot and Decepticon war. That Megatron being known for his tyranny throughout the galaxy, this new Megatron wanted to give a message for his own leadership values and brand of tyranny he aimed to apply to all those in his path. Ruthless he would be, thought Stampy, if not for his strange yet somewhat comical habit of punctuating most of his sentences with an emphatic and prolonged “yes” or “no”.

“Ah, at last the mighty Stampy, yessss,” commented Megatron whilst Stampy tried to hide his smirk. “You’ve been somewhat of a thorn in my side for some time Stampy, leading your merry little band of pitiful Maximals with your terror raids on my Predacons. Happily, not overly successful, nooo. And what did you expect to achieve?”

Stampy remained silent and impassive. He stared around the higher levels of the amphitheater and briefly noticed a small dash of colour- orange and yellow in amongst the dark metallic surfaces, shining from a small object in the sunlight. He wondered what it could be. He noticed another on the opposite side, though his attention was diverted with a sudden feeling within his spark, as if someone or something had reached in and tried to pull his very spark from his form. He stumbled forward, before the sensation passed to be replaced by the pain from the chains around his hands. He took a moment to compose himself again before turning his attention back to Megatron and his monologue.

“And so to this petty group of Maximals you now claim to lead…”

“I never claimed to be their leader,” Stampy interjected, “I’m a mere surveillance bot, I am no leader. Optimus Primal is still leader”.

“Noooo, I rather think not,” mused Megatron, “and where is my delightful companion Primal nowadays? I do rather miss his presence, yes. He does seem to have mysteriously vanished, no?”

Stampy again kept silent but the truth being he couldn’t speak to Primal’s absence, whatever had become of him. He’d tried to lead the Maximals and keep up some form of pretence that Primal was still around. Though he was no leader and despite many solar cycles on the run, he’d clearly failed to make a convincing ruse. But his last act would have to be to keep the secret of the remaining Maximals. That he would take with him to his spark termination.

“Do please tell me where your fellow Maximals are,” Megatron spoke politely but Stampy could hear the beginnings of a subtle change in tone of voice as Megatron’s frustrations started to come through. Then Megatron changed tone completely and spat, “or I will rip the information from you!”

Stampy made effort again not to smirk, but this time noticing the well known behaviours of Megatron, typical of a bully, making threatening claims of violence when it was known he would rarely get his own limbs dirtied. His right arm, ending with the head of one of the local beasts- a dinosaur as it became known in time, specifically a Tyrannosaurs Rex. A head form remaining in Megatron’s robot mode that could spit jets of flame as needed, but rarely would Megatron use the head to touch his foes. He had other Predacons to do his work and when they failed, he was known for other methods.

“Sling!” Megatron shouted to the Predacon that had captured and shackled Stampy. “Take him to the hill,” Megatron pointed to a window of the amphitheater through which a nearby hill could be seen. On it three metallic crosses were visible each with intricate metallic structures and wires within their frames. “Strap him to the XVH. Let him be seen by all and especially his fellow Maximals, yesss. Let them observe as he suffers on the XVH! They will learn the lesson not to toy with Megatron, nooo.”

Sling grabbed Stampy’s arm to pull him away.

“Oh and Sling, maximum power. Until he talks or his spark expires, yes. I don’t care which. No.”

Stampy remained impassive accepting his fate. The XVH, the Extreme Voltage Harness, Megatron’s self-designed successor to the VVH, the Variable Voltage Harness used prominently during the Autobot and Decepticon war. Megatron could allude to him surviving if he talked but he knew it would not be true. Even those that caved-in to his demands progressed to spark termination just for being weak in Megatron’s impression. With what energon he had left, he attempted to hold his head higher. He would meet his fate, his destiny with his own personal pride. With bravery.

Stampy began to regret his decision to keep his composure, as strapped to the XVH the pain from thousands of Watts of voltage passed through his form, creating unbearable pain. He was alone though he knew the other Maximals would be seeing his fate. Such was known about the XVHs on the hill and those that perished upon them, they would often look from a distance horrified by their inability to help. He could feel his spark slowly diminishing. With what energon he had left he quietly pleaded, “Optimus Primal!” then resented his own personal weakness. He could only hope that his passing would spur the Maximal’s to fight. Maybe even one day tearing down these XVHs and destroying Megatron’s pride and joys that he had built. He let that be his final thought and smirked or rather smiled one final time.

—————

Somewhere outside of time and space, 3 bipedal robotic forms convened. They each had no idea how they had become to be in this mysterious featureless place, nor even where it was located. What they did soon realise was that the three of them were in fact the same. Optimus Primal. Or rather 3 different Optimus Primal’s from across the multiverse. Staring incredulously at each other, the first Optimus Primal with a metallic blue face-plate cautiously spoke. “I heard a voice, summoning me”.

The second Primal, with a more elaborate and complex theme for his frame and with an elegant black and silver colour scheme added, “I think we all heard it. Stampy. He is suffering, in pain. We need to aid him.”

The third Primal, whom preferred to go with the name Optimal Optimus and wearing a rather striking orange and blue colour scheme, nodded in agreement. “I may have an idea”. He touched some buttons on panels upon his arms and before the three of them the air shimmered and a small bright coloured metallic form appeared. It was primarily oval, with small feet and little curved wings at its side. Its front section sported a face that could best be described as cute. A metallic orange nose and strangely two red eyes in the shape that humans would recognise as love-hearts.

“Incog-Eggo, my brightly coloured friend,” commented Optimal Optimus, “we have need of you. We have a friend that is in a dire predicament. You have the skills to hide in plain sight. We need you to use those skills. Go to him, go to his location in time and space and please aid him”.

—————

After a further briefing, Incog-Eggo was transported through the multiverse and landed in the time and location of Stampy. He formulated his plan and executed. Now he was here at the cemetery, to look for Stampy’s sparkless form.

It was dark at the cemetery, night was starting to fall with a light blue glow on the horizon and a full moon rising. The cemetery had two enormous metallic gates at the entrance. Surrounding the gates, numerous cables that Incog-Eggo recognised as energon reduction cables, dangerous to touch. But they were not the only obstacle. On either side of the gate were two stone pillars. Some form of defence mechanism he guessed, though couldn’t understand what. Then he looked closely and noticed the pillars were in fact bipedal form in nature, but made purely out of stone. And they moved. The movement was so slow it was almost imperceptible, though he could see that their heads were slowly moving side to side as if scanning the area.

Incog-Eggo looked around him. There was a nearby power-station that was powering the cables of the gate. He sent an electro-magnetic pulse to it that caused it to shudder and rattle loudly. The noise was enough to awake the curiosity in the stone beings. Then, with a speed that belied their slow moving rock forms, the beings changed shape. From within their mineral sections, complex metallic components appeared. Soon, they had changed to two vehicle modes, one a four-wheeled mineral and metal combination, the other a similar two-wheeled version. They sped off away from the gate towards the direction of the noise.

Incog-Eggo approached the gates, sending another pulse to open them and entered.

Inside was a horrorific sight. The “cemetery” was more like a scrapyard for dead and destroyed Transformers of all types. There were sparkless forms of purely metallic beings, remnants of the Autobot and Deception era. Scattered around were semi-organic skeletal elements, the remains of the Beast Era beings of the Maximals and Predacons. All were here, victims to Megatron’s XVHs. Incog-Eggo searched meticulously for Stampy’s form, but he could not find

After some time, with the moon rising higher bathing him and the remains with bright moonlight, plus the risk of the two rock Transformers returning, he left the cemetery.

Heading back down the road away from the cemetery, he noticed earth by the side of the road being dislodged, pushed outwards and suddenly a small white if dirty rabbit appeared.

“Stampy!”

Stampy was somewhat disoriented, he slowly transformed but had to steady himself on his feet.

“Rest my friend, you’ve been through a dreadful experience,” Incog-Eggo commented.

“Wha- What happened?” Stampy struggled to say. Then he looked puzzled at his small oval companion. “Wait. I saw you! In the amphitheater. There- there were two of you?”

He’s clearly still disoriented, thought Incog-Eggo.

“I am Incog-Eggo. I was sent to help you. Yes I was there in the amphitheater. I was able to save you.”

Stampy was shocked and confused, “But, how?” he added.

“I used a Spark Capacitor. I shunted part of your spark into the multiverse, outside of time and space, to keep it safe. Then, when the remains of the spark expired here, I was coming to find you and pull back the spark into you. Somehow it managed to do it itself. I guess whenever there’s a slight element of a spark, there’s a connection. A hope. Your full spark will grow again over time, you just need to rest a while”.

Stampy nodded in understanding, he remembered the sensation of his spark being pulled. “But what about the Maximals?”

“They will know of your return, but you cannot go to them. You have a new role, a new destiny. You must come with me.” Stampy took a long look around him. Back towards the cemetery he had escaped from. Over to the distance where he could see the XVHs on the hill and the amphitheater nearby. He had already resided to leaving the Maximals to continue the fight without him. Now they would have to, but with new hope and new vigour. He smiled and walked along the road with Incog-Eggo to whatever future awaited him.

—————

Across time and space the Transformers race would come to know the story of the warrior that survived the extreme tyranny of Megatron. For Predacons and ironically Decepticons before them, there would be the mythical story about the robot rabbit that they all vehemently denounced as a fake story.

For the Heroic Maximals and the Autobots before them, they would treat as legend the story of Stampy the hero that transformed into a rabbit with his bravery and his compassion for others, plus his companion that transformed into a brightly coloured oval object that could hide anywhere in time and space.

Once a solar cycle they would remember and celebrate, with Stampy and Incog-Eggo visiting leaving gifts of oval shaped energon to celebrate their story. The story of the Extreme Voltage Harness survivor. Or the “Exsver” as many colloquially would call him.

Happy Exsver Day everyone!

An Easter story! (Originally posted Easter 2024) Yes a somewhat darker tone if with a tongue-in-cheek allusion to two Easter stories; the traditional and the commercial! No offence intended to anyone’s faith. Plus, yes there’s a transforming rabbit and an Easter Egg in the Transformers franchise.

As another prologue to my planned “The Alternates” storyline (which I really must work on) this one without any irony whatsoever has plenty of Easter Eggs- little plot threads that will pay off in the larger storyline. Some that I’m sowing that I don’t even know quite what I will do with! It includes one that’s literally an Easter Egg - of an Easter Egg (The text alludes to and you can look closely in one image).

Plus for anyone that may be recognising a certain Autobot leader in the cemetery remains, just to say that I calculate four if not five (with a twist) potential characters that could be. Just saying.

The VVH was invented by writer Bob Budiansky, though fans of the Marvel U.K. comics would recognise its frequent references in the weekly letters page (written by editor and writer Simon Furman). I thought it was quite “Star Wars” to have an X-class new variant. …and speaking of Star Wars, be back here May the Fourth for (hopefully) the next prequel. Surely there can’t be a Star Wars / Transformers connection?

As always, the stories are based on characters from the Transformers franchise of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Background to images are created by AI photo technology with photo manipulation of my models pasted in. All text is my own.

Until next time, Happy Easter!

Postscript. All efforts today have created a new story idea. So be back here next Easter for the follow-up;

“The Exsver Revelation!”