This story is based on a strange idea that wouldn't leave my head and was mainly born out of watching too much 'KYTV' lately (some of the scenes are taken from the series and done to fit Transformers....:) ). I guess most of you don't know 'KYTV', so just a short explanation here. 'KYTV' is a British comedy series about a rather incompetent, extremely funny and wacky TV station -- KYTV. The four 'regular' reporters are Martin Brown (a bit on the slow side and more than a bit on the braindead one as well), Mike Channel (mostly the guy who gets the assignments no one wants -- like interviewing people out in the rain and the cold), Mike Flex (the Mr. Handsome of the team and someone who is as tactful as a rock on your foot) and Anna Daptor (mainly interested in the other sex and, like all of them, slightly bonkers). In the show, five actors cover most of the roles, starting from the four reporters (mentioned above) to the interviewed people or others appearing.
Just be glad I left out the studio's own Agony Aunt Anna Rabies :)

PLEASE: Don't take this story seriously!

The TF universe displayed in here covers my own version (which some of you might know) so some characters mentioned briefly might be unknown to those who never read one of my stories. I don't think it is of any consequences though. Oh, and just for those who never read one of my stories: at the time of the TV coverage, the Autobots and Decepticons are allies against a much larger threat. :)

Copyrights: copyrights for the Transformers belong to Hasbro, Kenner and everyone else who claims some. Copyrights for Midnight, Silhouette, Sparks and Shanygn belong to me. Copyrights for KYTV belong to BBC. And last but not least, copyrights for the Spring Clean Day and the Soap Master belong to the OptiMoose/Firebird Collaboration Team (OFCT) :)
 

A cloud of dust rose in the evening sky, enveloping two tall mechanical life-forms known as Autobots and obscuring the sight. One of the Autobots was rather tall and colored in red, silver and blue, the other a head smaller with rather bright colors. The dust settled on their paint job.
"Are you sure this was such a good idea?"
Optimus Prime watched the departing trucks of the KYTV crew. "Not, really, Rodimus, no...."
Rodimus sighed. "Thought as much. Well, it went better than I thought. Just a few catastrophes. Nothing major."
He thought back to the last week when this small and rather weird team of KYTV had whirled into their midst and put everything upside down. How could a few humans get everyone into so much trouble and disrupt not only day-to-day routine but also any mission they had wanted to launch? Megatron had nearly blasted one of those reporters on sight after the KYTV crew had wrecked his quarters throughout an interview.
KYTV was a British based channel that had also acquired some air time in the United States and ran its own little program. Rodimus had to confess he had never heard about them before, but that was nothing special. Many small local stations had sprung up lately. KYTV had approached them about a coverage concerning the Cybertronians and the Third Cybertronian War, mainly since the war had finally come to an
end and a peace agreement had been reached. Optimus had been doubtful at first, but had nevertheless given his okay. Maybe it had been a mistake.
Right now he smiled humorlessly, giving Rodimus the 'That's your opinion' look. Then he turned and walked back into Autobot City. Rodimus sighed and decided to wait until the coverage was on the air. KYTV was a rather small channel and how much more catastrophes could they come up with?
A lot, as he would find out one week later.
 

Exactly six days after the TV crew had departed from Autobot city, KYTV launched its 30 minutes coverage of the Third Cybertronian War. Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime with his Interface partner Shanygn, Midnight and Silhouette had chosen to watch it in Optimus' office. Several Autobots, mostly those who had been interviewed, sat in a conference center, expectantly watching the commercials, waiting for the 'show' to begin. Nicholas, Spike and his family, as well as most of the Interfaces and their partners had chosen another room with a TV screen as well.
KYTV, as a small local station, was sharing channel space with CBS in this area and right now, CBS was running the end credits of one of its soap operas. Then the channel was split and the area around Autobot City was now receiving KYTV.
" ---- well, here at KYTV there is a brand new look. Out go the old presenters and the old set of sofas, and in come the old presenters and the completely new set of sofas...... But first it's time to welcome CBS viewers because today is a historic day," the reporter on the screen said, smiling into the camera. It was obvious that the cut had not worked properly. "Exactly nine million years ago, last September the 29th, we saw the outbreak of the Third Cybertronian War. Well, we didn't actually see it, because it was a rather long time ago, but nevertheless..... Ahem .... So come with us now as we skip down memory lane and salute those wonderful war years!"
Shanygn raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. They watched the KYTV logo flash on the screen, accompanied by the station's musical theme.
"Hello and welcome to 'Those Wonderful War Years!" Mike Channel greeted the viewers, sitting on the couch in the studio. "Today we will be looking at the events of the Third Cybertronian War."
"Yes, and of course a lot of TV stations are jumping on the bandwaggon and doing a special about this war simply because it began nine million years ago," his colleague Mike Flex added.
"What other stations?" Jazz wondered out aloud. "Those guys were the only ones buggin' us about it."
"And that seems to be as good as any reason for us to do the same," Channel went on, unpertubed. "We'll be looking at war romances, war stories and war fashion."
Shanygn grinned at Rodimus and her partner was glad he couldn't blush, recalling those pestering questions from Anna Daptor. Sil simply smirked. She had heard about that particular interview and had not been able to decide whether to laugh or feel sorry for him.
"Fashion?" Jazz echoed again. "They didn't ask me about fashion!"
"Maybe not you," Tracks told him with a rather snobistic touch to his voice.
Raoul giggled.
"And there is the chance to win a souvenir piece of special KYTV shrapnel by seeing how many words you can make out of 'The Ark'!" Flex now announced. "....which actually is a piece of the Decepticon Shrapnel, we understand, who sadly blew up throughout the war."
Optimus stared at the TV screen. He shrugged at Rodimus' inquiring look.
"So that's what they wanted it for," Smokescreen muttered, which earned him odd looks from Kup, Jazz and Bluestreak. He flashed them a smile.
The camera was on Mike Channel again. "The Third Cybertronian War wasn't all fun and games. There was a serious side to it as well. Some people, for instance, remember fighting going on between the Autobots and the Decepticons."
Nicholas bit his lip not to start giggling again at the expression now flashing over the Autobots' faces. Tornado sent him a mental elbow in the ribs.
<Sorry> Nick wheezed, trying valiantly not to laugh.
<Do I have to remind you of Anna?> Tornado asked evily.
Nick choked, clearly remembering the blonde reporter who had pursued him -- quite openly.
"But we won't be bothering with that a lot," Flex added smoothly. "Anna?"
Anna Daptor, standing at a weather chart, smiled at her colleague, then gave a rather professional weather forecast where, strangely, nothing went awry -- except that the date was wrong. It was actually a fore-forecast of the weather the next month...... and the map looked suspiciously like one of Cybertron.....
"Let's now go to Martin Brown, who will give his portrait of the two outstanding figures in this war," Mike Channel announced. "The Autobot leader Optimus Prime and his counter-part, the Decepticon leader Megatron."
The camera fixed on Brown, who smiled stupidly, then held up a large piece of cardboard. On it were two sketches, roughly looking like Optimus and Megatron, colored and signed. Martin Brown grinned proudly.
Channel cleared his throat as the picture was rapidly changed back to him. "Brilliant. IQ of a doorknob.....," he muttered.
Rodimus suppressed a snicker, though it still earned him a glare from Optimus. Martin Brown had interviewed first Optimus, then Megatron, and Optimus was glad he had managed to go through this session without accidentally stepping on the reporter. His opinion of Martin Brown was that this man was missing a few chips and the remaining ones had been fried at birth.....
In the meantime, Anna Daptor had taken over. "During the next thirty minutes we'll be referring to a lot of things that happened throughout the Third Cybertronian War and to many viewers they might seem to be a bit confusing. Who exactly was Primus? And how important was the battle at the Mills? So Perceptor, who we specially invited into our studio, will explain to us in simple words, what exactly happened."
Perceptor was shown standing in front of a large, detailed map of Cybertron. He was holding an electronic pencil to enable him to mark the places he was talking about
"Yes, well....." he started
"In just a moment," Anna Daptor added and the picture was cut to be replaced by a commercial break.
"So, Perceptor you were saying?" Anna smiled at the scientist when the break was over, her smile all professional.
Perceptor was a bit confused, but who wouldn't be -- and who wasn't still?
"Eh, yes. Well, the events of the Third Cybertronian War are not quite as complicated as they are sometimes made out. First the Decepticon armada occupied Timor," he started marking the spots with his pen, "then invaded Shiban, then Dry Spot and then destroyed Crystal City." More marks. "The Autobots declared war and the Decepticons occupied Angelpoint, Northern Wall and Portfree." Even more marks. "They destroyed Mills but their attack was repelled and they were beaten back to Mills' End." A few lines and triangles. "In the meantime a second army invaded Arrohed and the Autobots there fought back." A large circle and a few 'xs'. "I might have to go into detail concerning the state of affair in Arrohead and the suburbs because the political situation on this part of Cybertron was rather unstable to begin with so that the declaration of war against the Decepticons had the devastating effect of stopping the sale of energon from that region and toppling several smaller cities into energon shortage, so that ....."
The picture was rapidly cut to a brilliantly smiling Anna Daptor while Perceptor looked around in confusion. "Ehem, well, yes, thank you, Perceptor, for this incredible insight into the events of the Third Cybertronian War!"
"Yes, hardly any need to carry on with the program," Mike Flex added, "but since we have 25 minutes left, let's battle on! Mike....?"
"Yes, it was nine million years ago on this day exactly, give or take a month or two, when the Third Cybertronian War was declared," Mike Channel went on. "What few people know, there was actually a declaration of war. We of KYTV went through extensive archives to find this elusive piece of important footage. You, the viewers, are now the first to see this unedited version of the Declaration of War."
Optimus gave a groan. "Who let them into the archives?!"
Rodimus shrugged. "I think Hound mentioned something like this," he then said slowly. "They wanted some footage for this special coverage ...?"
Shanygn grinned. "Well, looks like they found it."
The camera showed a news speaker, looking seriously into the camera. "Good morning," he said. "This morning, the Autobot Ambassador from Cybertron --"
" -- in Iaacon!" someone hissed off-camera.
".... the Autobot ambassador in Iaacon," the bot corrected smoothly, "handed the Decepticon military leadership their troops --"
" -- their final note!"
" ... handed them their final note, telling them that if they didn't hear from Cybertron --"
" -- the Decepticons!"
" -- the Decepticons until noon that they were prepared to withdraw their troops from noon --"
" -- from Iaacon!"
"... from Iaacon, a state of wood --"
" -- war..." the voice off-camera groaned.
"... state of war would be declared. And now for a song."
"And I have to tell you!" the voice hissed again.
The newsreader never faltered. "And now I have to tell you that no such event has taken place and consequently the Autobot faction is now at war with Cybertron --"
"... the Decepticons!" came the moan.
"... the Decepticons. And now, a song."
Optimus slapped his hand in front of his optics and shook his head. Midnight was valiantly trying not to laugh, while Shanygn bit on her index finger to prevent the same from happening. Rodimus glared at her, but he couldn't deny that he was close to bursting as well. He wasn't old enough to remember this news report, but he had heard stories about it. The Autobot news reader in question had been on an energon rush at the time and the recording had been dropped for a shorter version by another reporter.
"And, of course," Flex added, holding up a CD, "this speech and others are on this fabulous album 'Twenty Great Declarations of War', which you can only buy from KYTV's own Sofa Shop for only $10.99."
The screen flashed the KYTV logo again, then changed to Anna Daptor. She sat together with the Constructicons, who all looked a bit apprehensive and as if they had no idea why they were here.
"I'm here with the Decepticon group known as 'Constructicons' who had a vital role in the construction of the Decepticon leader Megatron." She flashed a smile at Hook. "What did Megatron say to you when he first awakened."
Hook cleared his throat. "Uhm, he was very thoughtful and pensive right after his awakening, then beckoned one of us over and said: get me some Energon you fool and not the one that gives you air bubbles in the exhaust pipe!'"
Up on Cybertron where Megatron was watching the report with only half an optic until this specific interview had come along, a loud blast could be heard. Sparks sighed. There went another TV screen. Glass shrapnel littered the floor and scrunched under Megatron's feet as he left the office. Minutes later a second blast could be heard, followed by an exclamation of pain, very closely followed by six pairs of feet scrambling to get away from one very irate Decepticon leader. Sparks hopped onto the desk and activated the terminal, plugging it into the TV channel. She wanted to know how this continued. This was fun!
"Of course, the first peace talks in Iaacon were not a major success as they plunged Cybertron and later Earth in one the worst wars ever seen," Anna Daptor said cheerily. "For those unlucky enough to miss it, KYTV can now bring you this news bulletin as it would have been, had we made the report."
Optimus gave a soft groan. "What peace talks?! There were no peace talks!"
The picture changed and presented Mike Channel in front of a large screen which showed the Autobot symbol.
"I don't believe it!" Optimus sighed.
"Good evening. The latest news. This morning, the Autobot leader Optimus Prime had an historic meeting with the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, on the planet of Cybertron."
Suddenly a picture, intended as footage for the report, of two giant cargo transports having an accident while docking was shown, quickly replaced by Channel, who looked a bit embarrassed.
Midnight had to sit down on the window sill before he lost his balance, fighting waves of laughter.
"Oh, wrong picture there, I see," Channel said, "but we'll bring you these pictures a little later." He shuffled his papers. "In the meantime ..... Optimus Prime returned from the conference with a piece of paper --" someone handed the reporter a piece of paper from off-camera which he took and read, " -- saying, 'the film's come out of its sprocket hole, so keep waffling'."
Mike Channel blinked, looked at the paper in confusion, then tried to save the moment. "Over to our appeasement correspondent, Anna Daptor."
Anna started her own report, though the camera was still on Mike Channel. He gestured for it to move, but it wouldn't.
He glared at it.
No success.
He leaned toward the right, his head making nodding movements toward Anna, who was still chattering happily away.
The camera-man didn't get it.
"....over to Mike," Anna finished.
Channel gave the camera another glare. "Erm, thank you Anna. In the meantime on MoonBase One...."
And then the camera finally moved -- now on Anna, talking to someone off-camera. Channel walked over and leaned into the picture.
"As I was saying, on MoonBase One a far more sinister picture was painted..."
Again picture footage was shown. And again it was not exactly what had been intended. A  metal press on a scrap yard dominated the screen, mutilating some cars.
"Oh, well, yes, that is a sinister picture but not what I had in mind," Channel muttered who was by now back in his own chair, managing a slightly embarrassed smile.
That was the moment the phone rang. Channel picked it up.
"Yes .... I understand ... yes .... yes ... but I'm sorry, we're not Dial-a-Pizza." He hung up, looked at his papers, then shot a desperate eye around. "Ahm, Anna..."
Anna, still gesturing still off-camera, turned. "Mike?"
The camera panned over to Mike Flex, sitting in the dark on his chair. He shrugged. "Martin?"
Martin Brown, now the center of attention, missed the chair as he hectically tried to take his place and sit down. "Mike?" he groaned from halfway under the table.
Mike Channel grinned desperately as the camera was on him again. "Welcome back!"
And then the logo of KYTV and the line 'The TV of the future' beneath it appeared, making an end of this disaster.
In Autobot City, Carly was wiping away tears while Melissa had long since given up on pretending that she took this seriously. Jazz was a lost case and Raoul wondered if he could ever find back to normality again.
The logo disappeared, making way for another commercial, then the KYTV studio was back again, the reporter smiling an apology.
"Ah, well, we're very sorry, we seem to have lost the Third Cybertronian War. Errr... not in the historical sense of the word, no.... I don't want you to think this was any part of the re-creation of the bulletin. I think we were even involved ...errr... were we?"
The camera panned back to Flex, who tried to save the day. "As we all know, the Autobots have their own city on Earth, aptly called Autobot City. Mike Channel had a look around...."
"Twenty-five years ago, this was just a field," Channel reported, standing in the middle of a field. "Such is the inexorable march of progress. Today it, of course .... still a field." He frowned, looked around and coughed, walking to the left until he stood in front of Autobot City. "Errr ... yes. Behind me you can see the giant complex called Autobot City. The Autobots have kindly allowed us to take a look around and film inside the structure."
"Big mistake," Optimus muttered.
The next picture showed Mike Channel standing in the giant engineering section, Nicholas at his side. The noise was incredible because people were working in the background.
"I'm standing here with Nicholas Cavanaugh, the chief engineer of Autobot City," Channel yelled into the micro. "Mr. Cavanaugh, could you describe us your job a bit?"
Nicholas began to talk -- well, everyone suspected he was talking because his mouth moved, but no sound could be heard. The background noise had tripled as part of the wall-section was moved noisily in a part-transformation.
Channel cleared his throat. "Uhm, yeah, well, thank you, Mr. Cavanaugh. Let's find someone else...." He beat a hasty retreat.
In Prime's office, Shanygn fell against Rodimus' leg, laughing so hard.
"Little bit of a sound problem there," Mike Flex explained cheerily as the camera was switched back to the studio. "There were many who lived through the war who will never forget their experiences," he now said as if nothing had happened. "One of them is Kup, who we interviewed exclusively for KYTV."
Kup groaned. "They wouldn't....."
The picture changed to a room inside Autobot City. Kup looked aghast.
"They told me they wouldn't use that!" he exclaimed.
"Use what?" Tracks wanted to know.
Kup only shook his head, looking like he wanted to be somewhere else completely now. "Isn't there a soap opera on FOX you want to see now?" he growled.
"No," Raoul answered brightly.
The old Autobot sighed. "Thought as much."
Mike Flex appeared again, this time as the interviewer, sitting opposite Kup. "Kup, what was it like during the war?" the human asked.
"It was rather like a waterfall," the Autobot answered. "One minute everything went well, the next things would suddenly turn against you."
Jazz looked at Tracks, who in turn shot Raoul a glance. Waterfall? Raoul shrugged.
Mike Flex, looking confused, then coughed. "Not very like a waterfall, is it?"
Kup blinked. "No. No, I'd probably should have chosen a better analogy."
"The point you're making is, things were always changing," Flex clarified.
"Exactly. Rather like a bicycle."
"A Bicycle?"
"Yes."
"In what way?"
Kup looked slightly annoyed. "Well, hrm, not like a bicycle then, but things were always changing."
Flex decided to skip this and went on with his interview. "So, what's your strongest memory of the War?"
"Well, I remember one day while I was traveling back to Iaacon when this damn Decepticon fighter swooped out of the sky like an enormous tractor and opened fire. Caught me right in the leg. I still walk with a slight limp, actually."
"He swooped out of the sky like an enormous tractor....?" Flex echoed.
Kup leaned forward. "I do wish you wouldn't keep on picking me up on these things," he hissed in a low voice. "I'm not a literary bot, but your producer asked me to spice things up a bit with some appropriate metaphors."
Flex made a silent 'Ah' and nodded. He sat back in his chair, looking around for a way to continue the interview and then nodded at some refreshments.
"Like an energon cube?"
"Yes, he was looking rather like an energon cube. Square with this flushed look ...."
Raoul couldn't hold on any longer. He laughed out loud and promptly fell off the chair. Tracks chuckled as well, trying to suppress it, but with little success. Jazz sat on the floor, completely hysterical now. Kup shot them an indignant look.
"I was due for an overhaul," Kup grumbled.
That did it for Jazz. The Specialist howled with laughter and Kup decided to ignore them all.
In the meantime the interview went on.
"Kup, do you remember the outbreak of the war?" Flex asked.
"Yes, it was rather like a sleepy Summer day in Autobot City."
"Absolutely terrifying," Flex translated.
"Exactly."
"I'm beginning to see how your mind works," Flex remarked.
The Kup on the screen shot the human a strange look.
Jazz giggled "Or not", then he had another attack of hysteria.
Kup gave him an acid look.
On TV, the footage had been stopped and Mike Flex was there in person again. "Well, throughout this commemorative week we'll be bringing you personal reminiscences of people personally involved in some way in  the war in a series we are calling 'Personal Reminiscences Of People Personally Involved In Some Way In The War'. Catchy little title I thought of." He smiled. "But now, let's go to Martin Brown who interviewed one of the leaders of the now allied forces of the Cybertronians, the former enemy leader Megatron."
Martin Brown smiled stupidly into the camera for a moment, then muttered, "Oh, yes. Well, I'm here with Megatron, the Decepticon leader. Mr. Megatron," he addressed the towering silver robot, looking at his cards, squinting at the hastily scribbled and now totally unreadable notes, "not many Decepticons like you as a leader."
Megatron, who looked hard pressed not to step on the reporter, stared at Brown. Brown grinned an apology.
"Uhm, there are not many Decepticons like you as a leader," he then brought his notes in order.
"Thank you," Megatron said through clenched teeth.
"How was your childhood?" Martin then asked.
"Robots don't have a childhood. We are born ready."
"Born ready?"
Megatron caught the deeper meaning and his icy stare could have frozen hell. "Ready to fight."
Martin Brown blinked. "Uhm, yeah, yes ... right." He grinned since he couldn't think of anything else to do. "Now ...errr.... the war. With the shortage of things all sorts of things were used to makes things out of all sorts of things." He gave another stupid grin. "Oh, I think I already said that. Never mind. For instance, there this is. Could you tell our viewers what it is?"
The camera showed a pile of old body armors. The Autobots and Sentinels in Optimus' office wondered where the KYTV crew had gotten them from.
"It's a pile of junk," Megatron growled.
"Uh, yes, but those were body armors for the Cybertronians in the war, weren't they? And they were used to make fighters out of them."
"It is the other way around," the Decepticon leader told him coldly.
"Oh, sorry." Martin Brown grinned desperately, then looked around. "Could someone please turn those armors around?"
When no one made any attempts, Brown cleared his throat, searching over his unruly notes. "Mr. Megatron," he tried to continue his disastrous interview, "we of KYTV dug deep into the archives of Cybertronian history and came up with a kind of Cybertronian holiday," he gave the tall Decepticon a nervous smile, "based on an event in the past when you were still enemies of the Autobots."
Megatron's eyes flashed deep red.
"I think it's called Spring Clean Day," Martin Brown said, "and has something to do with the Autobot Soap of ......"
The interview was quickly replaced by the studio where Mike Channel was smiling desperately. But just before the picture had been faded out, they had seen Megatron's fusion cannon pointing at the hapless Martin Brown.
In the office, the Autobot leader stared at the screen. How had the humans heard about that?!
"Now, Anna, I understand you interviewed one of the Cybertronians as well," Mike Flex said, calling their attention back to the events on the screen.
"Oh, yes."
Rodimus hid his face in one hand. "Not that," he moaned.
"His name is Rodimus Prime," Anna went on with one of her cheery smiles, "and we had a lovely time."
"No, we hadn't," Rodimus groaned.
Shanygn comfortingly patted his leg.
"So let's see the interview," Channel announced.
"Someone turn off the TV!" the young Autobot commander pleaded.
Optimus gave him an amused look while Sil chuckled.
"Oh, I'd like to see it," the female Dinobot said.
"Me too," Shanygn chimed.
Rodimus shot both of them acid daggers.
On the TV they saw Anna and Rodimus, Anna smiling brilliantly at her interview partner.
"Now, Rodimus Prime," she began, "I understand you are the second-in-command of the Autobots." Rodimus nodded. "As such you surely have a lot of duties to fulfill."
"There is always something to occupy your time," Rodimus answered.
Anna smiled more. "How about your personal life then?"
"Well, it sometimes gets a bit neglected, but I find personal space here or there."
"Ah, so, Rodimus Prime, tell me: what is the connection between you and the Dinobot Silhouette."
Rodimus looked surprised, but he caught himself quickly. "She is a fellow Autobot."
In Optimus Prime's office, Sil gave Rodimus a look. "Fellow Autobot," she echoed ominously.
Rodimus shrugged, embarrassed. "You see..."
"So there is no relationship between you two?" Anna prodded.
"A working relationship," Rodimus coughed.
"So, what are you working on?"
Rodimus opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again. Finally he said, "Silhouette is a friend and colleague."
Shanygn chuckled and gave him an idea what she thought of this by mind link. Rodimus was really glad he couldn't blush now.
"A very close colleague I believe," Anna went on. "Setting aside the difference between her being a dinosaur and you being a car, what will your future be like?"
Judging from Roddy's facial expression he thought that Anna's future would be very short if she kept on asking those question.
"I think we shouldn't plan on the future and see what happens," he answered in a tone of voice that told even the densest person that this was not a path he wanted to pursue.
Apparently Anna Daptor was not only quite dense but also deaf. The woman smiled suggestively. "Yes, a lot can happen and hopefully it won't be an unfortunate 'accident'."
Rodimus gave her a stunned look, apparently catching what she meant.
In the office, Shanygn giggled and Optimus hid his growing amusement behind a cough.
"Rodimus Prime, isn't it difficult to maintain a relationship in war times? Always the danger of losing the one you grow close to...."
"Uhm, yes, that's true."
"So, how do you spend those few moments with Silhouette when you are alone?"
Rodimus stared at her. "I think this is my private business."
"Of course." Anna smiled the smile of 'Those Who Know'.
The young Autobot looked caught again. "No, I mean...."
"I'm sure we understand," the reporter told him with a grin. "Have you ever thought about the possibility of children?"
"I think I hear my com link. Urgent call. Excuse me," Rodimus muttered and quickly left the interview.
Anna, left with no one else to talk to, turned to the camera. "And that concludes my interview with Rodimus Prime. "
The picture changed back into the studio.
"Thank you, Anna, for this delightful interview," Mike Channel now said.
In the office, Rodimus wished the ground beneath him would open and swallow him. Shanygn's laughter didn't help and Sil's smirk was even worse.
Flex grinned irrepressibly. "And speaking of interviews, Mike Channel talked to one of the Aerialbots."
The studio camera briefly panned on Channel's face and he looked decidedly sick all of a sudden. The next interview footage was shown. The film showed Channel sitting in a fighter airplane, the camera man on the seat behind him.
"I'm here with one of the Aerialbots," Channel began. "AirRaid, I understand that the Aerialbots are a sub-group of the Autobots and had a special purpose at the time of their construction?"
"That's right, Mike. We were constructed on Cybertron to give the Autobots aerial support in their fight against the Decepticons."
"And you have a special ability....?"
"We are combiners," AirRaid explained. "The five of us can form a larger robot we call Superion."
"Ah." Channel nodded. "Could you explain the process to our viewers?"
"Sure." AirRaid was just about to start when something fast shot by them, shaking not only the Aerialbot but also the two humans inside him.
Channel looked around, slightly panicky. "What was that?"
The camera panned to the right and the picture showed a red and silver streak that soon transformed into a Decepticon plane.
"Windrazor!" AirRaid could be heard, sounding slightly miffed.
The Decepticon, Windrazor, flew by him again, and again much too close.
"Cut it out!" AirRaid snarled.
Laughter answered him.
"I'll get you for this!" AirRaid hissed.
"Yeah, sure -- Airhead!" Windrazor teased.
The Aerialbot growled. "Soap-Master."
That did it. Windrazor made another close pass and AirRaid, disregarding the fact that he had both humans aboard, went into a dive, chasing the Decepticon.
Mike Channel gave a strangled gasp while the camera suddenly gave a good impression of the roof of the cockpit canopy as the camera-man tried valiantly not to tumble all over the place. The last thing the camera caught was Windrazor transforming and laughing giddily, then crashing into a mountain side.
In the TV room AirRaid sighed and shook his head, hiding his face behind one hand. He only too clearly remembered that and how the reporter had lost most of his lunch somewhere throughout the chase. And how Windrazor had teased him about maybe getting his innards cleaned with the Autobot Soap of Cleaning..... He could have strangled the Decepticon then and there -- if it hadn't been for the expectant cameras turned on them by the KYTV team. Of course, Anna Daptor had immediately jumped for the new topic and pestered him about the Soap until he had voted for a retreat, transforming and taking off. Windrazor had been not too far behind him, equally terrified by the nosy reporters.
"And this concludes our special coverage of the Third Cybertronian War. We thank the Autobots and Decepticons for their time as we conclude 'Those wonderful war years'," Mike Flex now said.
"Thank Cybertron," Optimus muttered.
 In the other TV room Trax stared at the screen. "They cut me out!" he exclaimed. "They cut out my interview about how I achieve this beautiful wax and paint job!"
Raoul, who had just gotten back to normal, lost it again completely, tears streaming down his face.
"And don't forget that you can buy the CD with '20 Great Declarations of War' from KYTV's Sofa Shop!" Flex added.
"If you are enjoying our free KYTV movie channel," another KYTV reporter went on, "you might be interested to know that as of next week, you won't be able to see it -- unless you buy a special KYTV decoder. And you can buy one of those for only $259,99 plus VAT, and then you can watch it absolutely free.
CBS viewers now leave us for their own ..... reasons ... while on KYTV we give away $5.000 to the first ten viewers who ring this number...."
And then the channel switched back to the CBS.
Autobot City was ringing with laughter.
 

Two weeks later, Optimus Prime's com console hummed softly. There was a call coming in.
"Yes, Optimus Prime," he answered it.
"Mr. Prime, this is Damien Dixon from KYTV. I'm calling you about a production proposition ... a TV movie.....Transformers: the Movie, part two."
Optimus stared at the terminal, his optics frozen, his whole body rigid. Two things registered: KYTV and the fact about a movie production by them.
"I think you have the wrong Optimus Prime," he heard himself say and then hung up.
A second later he got in contact with the communications center.
"Blaster, is there any way to change my phone number?