Fire in the Dark

Beast Armada?

Synopsis

At an archeological dig at theLabná ruinsinMexico,an accident causesJessica TheistandRansackto plunge into a cavern where they discover remnants of a strange extinct civilization. Inscriptions carved onto a cave wall appear to depict strange creatures—half-humanoid, half-animal—and the crash of ameteor-like objectinto avolcano.The scientific researchers are excited to see some artistic motifs that are apparently shared by ancient human societies from all corners of the globe. Then they getreallyexcited when they activate a recorded message fromRhinox,who, 3,000 years in the past, had conducted his own anthropological study of theNatiltectribe, translating and recording their oral mythology in order to preserve some aspect of their culture.

The history of the Natiltec revolved around terrifying encounters with these transforming animalistic gods, half of whom—evil reptiles and arthropods—had enslaved the Natiltec and forced them to harvest undergroundpink crystals,while the other half—valiant mammals and birds—fought to free the slaves. The Natiltec particularly venerated awolf-god with feathered swordsfor having struck the final blow that released them from slavery, and in gratitude they bestowed upon him the honorific title "Fire in the Dark."

As the recording ends, the scientists are all but giddy at their good fortune, their fame and careers now assured. Exiting the cave, one of them has a vivid hallucination of these ancient transforming animalistic warriors. As she recovers from her vision, Theist pays closer attention to her attendant Mini-Cons Ransack andDune Runnerand reasons that if they had been seen by a primitive human society they too would have been imagined into gods. Suddenly struck by the similarity of many ancient human legends, from Egypt to China, Theist begins to wonder whetherallof human history has been manipulated by theTransformers.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Errors

• On page 265: "I was only a young boy at the time, but the spider-god took every male with him with him."
• On page 269, Ransack is spelled "Ransank".
• Kelly is referred to as beingAlexis'snephew,despite being female.

Continuity notes

• Even by the standards of some of the other, ahh,highly creativevisions withinTransformers Legends,this is a bizarre story. TheBeast Warsare re-set to occur a mere 3,000 years ago in Mexico, as part of the same timeline that would eventually lead toArmada.Which.... yeah. Not long after, a randomCybertronJetfiretoy would refer to a Beast Wars.Eleven yearslater,because fansbide their time, the Facebook version ofAsk Vector Primeofficially clarified that there was indeed anArmadaBeast Wars and this story is part of it.
• Furthermore, fully one-quarter of this story's length consists of a flashback sequence in which Rhinox's recording retells the stories of the now-dead Natiltec people. The Natiltec believed the sun to be the goddessChinatlitni,who each night was devoured by the earth-mawKundalxit.The Natiltec story asserts that this culture had lived on the shores of the riverIlchixtil.Another location mentioned isUxurulati,a volcanic area.
• Ransack identifies himself as an Autobot. Though eventually Mini-Cons would end up being reimagined as belonging to one of the two main factions, this story precedes that brand change by several years.

Trivia

• The story describes Waspinator using his eye beams, which he used infrequently and only in season 1 of theBeast Warscartoon.
• Quetzalcoatl,mentioned in the story, was a deity worshiped in real-life.