Twisted Threads 2
Title: Twisted Threads
Rating: Eventual NC-17
Warning: Slash, war, death, mentions of rape
Pairing: Various
Summary: Due to a space-bridge malfunction, universes collide. From bunny 1.
I played all Animated mechs, and Shade played all G1 mechs.
They had been surveying the area for half a day now. The Autobots seemed to be in, at least none had come or gone. Maybe they were still shaken from their latest battle? Entirely possible. Their prisoner was still as unsettled as he had been in the cave. Make that crestfallen. It seemed Megatron had discovered the downside of an information gathering method as easy and painless as Soundwave’s. At least it was painless as long one hadn’t received training to resist it, which was the case with Blurr.
And he was stalling. Had Starscream been present he would already be complaining audibly. As it was, he was alone. No need to startle his nemesis’ counterpart more than necessary. Would at least their perimeter alarms come up to expectations? Their security certainly hadn’t. Well, he would find out.
They knew someone was out there. Knew it was Decepticons, even, or at least that strange breed that had come out of the gate. Optimus was hesitant to go out there, but... it was only one mech. Megatron, almost certainly. He wasn't screaming for someone to come out, and wasn't threatening violence... Optimus finally left the warehouse, axe in full sight. It was something he wouldn't even have thought about doing before waking up here. The show of strength still felt foreign and aggressive. "What do you want?"
A small smile claimed Megatron’s derma plates when the one he had expected stepped out of the building to greet him. Or greet him as much as they ever did. “An axe, huh? I guess some things never change.” Even if he held it a little awkwardly and didn’t move with the warrior’s grace the silver mech was used to. “Relax. If I wanted to harm you and your kin I wouldn’t bother to come here alone.” No, he would just have deployed Devastator to step on the hut they were living in. Yes, a very large step down from what he was used to… Circling the Prime slowly, and as much as the mech allowed, he took a closer look. Smaller, thinner also. Generally… younger. He had known it, but knowing and seeing were two different things.
Well. He kind of knew that. That was the reason he had come out alone... "Then why are you here?" 'Some things never change'... This mech knew him? Or... a him... Since it seemed this was 'a' Megatron... Bulkhead had said something about dimensions. Honestly, Optimus couldn't follow it. That had been something new, Bulkhead explaining things that were too complicated for Optimus to follow... "I'll take it you're named Megatron?" The silver mech almost seemed to... respect him. Optimus wasn't even sure Megatron, the one he knew, so much as knew his name.
“Yes, I am Megatron, though not your Megatron, I would say.” There was something there… Some of the adaptability, the brightness, just less… experience. And probably some differences in personality. All in all, not too disappointing. He could work with that. The thought alone made him laugh lowly. “My, my, who would have thought I would ever encounter Optimus Prime in a setting as this. Then again, you are not my Prime, even if I see much of him in you. For a start-” It was a risk, but what was life without risks? A swift move closed the distance between them and rid Optimus of his axe, the next sending him to his knees, his own weapon hovering over his main energon lines. “-he would have had my aft for this move.”
Optimus gave a very embarrassing squeak as he landed on his knees, and glared at Megatron. There didn't seem to be malice in the action... but neither could Optimus see a way to escape. Megatron, this one, was patient, simply standing there and waiting, and finally Optimus broke the silence. "Fine. How would he take your aft for this?" Just what kind of game was the mech playing, anyway?
“He would have taken advantage of my non-existent defense when I went for you. He also would have expected it. But you have time to learn that.” He took a step back and offered his hand. “When I’m done with you, you’ll be as much an equal to your nemesis as he is to me.” Frankly, that had not been part of the initial plan… but Starscream could bitch about that. No need to question his own feelings when his second would, and right now he needed to do this. Wanted to do this.
It was only logical for Optimus to ignored the offered hand, standing on his own and trying to look as regal as he could. "Done with me? What are you talking about? What are you planning- Give me back my axe!" That, at least, he could do something about, deploying his grapplers and managing to snatch his weapon away from Megatron. Managing, or being allowed... Optimus didn't care too badly, mostly just pleased to have his axe back.
He hadn’t expected that, but could have prevented the loss of the weapon, most likely. He didn’t. It wasn’t his, after all. “I’m planning on teaching you, if you’re willing to learn. It would be beneficial to your time of function, I can tell you…” ‘And a leader needs to be the best fighter of his troops, does he not?’ But saying that would be too much. Who knew what the future would bring for this one? Even if Megatron half expected him to become what his counterpart already was. “But these matters aside, we need to talk. My mechs are stuck here until further notice and after what we got out of that messenger of yours, I am not inclined to waste my time with what passes for Decepticon in this realm.”
"Messenger... Blurr? What did you do to him‽ If you hurt him..." Well, what then? As much as Optimus disliked it, he couldn't beat this Megatron. But when had that stopped him, when it really mattered? "Teach me? Why would you do that? You're Decepticons, you should stay with your own kind!" Optimus continued to glare at Megatron, considering pinging the rest of his team to back him up.
Megatron clicked his glossa disapprovingly. “I would watch my vocaliser if I was you. It’s prejudice like that that started the war. At least ours.” Crossing his arms over his chest plating he drew himself up to full height. “Blurr is quite alright, though he would apologize for giving away your coordinates if he was here. Not that he could have done anything to prevent it. Soundwave is very thorough.”
Optimus bristled again, only to deflate a moment later. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure what had started the war, this war... Well, the Great War. "Wait, Soundwave? The toy? Bulkhead smas- Oh. your Soundwave. ...What did he do to Blurr? And you still haven't said what's wrong with staying with the side that, I don't know, isn't you enemy?" Optimus was aware that he wasn't making very much sense...
Megatron groaned at the word that was sure to send his second into giggle fits. Or would have if his vocaliser had been capable of such sounds. “Primus, why does everybot we come across call him a toy?” Oh, the jokes his poor TIC was going to be the target of… “He’s a technopath. He accessed his processor. Which is how I know that ‘our’ side is not one I would be on in this universe. There is no honor in their ways.”
"He, um... was a toy. A little dancing radio. Unfortunately he decided his purpose in life was to lead a robot revolution..." Optimus answered. Well, pit, he didn't need to think, did he? Slowly, he put the axe away. "Okay... What do you mean by no honor? You're the ones accessing a mech's processor... And what does that have to do with me?" This Megatron seemed... almost nice...? Reminded him, in an odd way, of Ratchet...
The Decepticon leader decided he had never heard the words ‘little’ and ‘dancing’. Radio was fine, the rest would have his third cringing the next time he entered his thoughts. He also squished the indignation rising at being accused of not following the warrior code. “The code says I have to give him a chance and I did. He wasn’t capable of answering us in a way that made sense and we needed answers. So he was screened. It’s not as if I had him tortured.” Though he could have done that, too, had push come to shove. But only then and that was much more than he could say about his counterpart, for all he knew. Exactly then did the rest of Optimus words impact.
“Did you just say he wanted to lead a revolution?” Megatron could almost hear his logic processor crack as it tried to link his communications officer with anything rebellious. Apart from the Decepticon cause, of course… Then he remembered the Skywarp his Skywarp had dragged in and booted logic to the waste bin. “Whatever. Before we start into the last part I need you to agree to at least let my officers join this. If I’m making anymore eccentric decisions on a whim Starscream will finally make good on all those promises to offline me...”
"You still went looking in his processor..." Optimus grumbled. He refused to touch the torture comment, nuh-uh, not going there. "Yes. Revolution. Sure. Join away. Oh, your Starscream does that too? Only that's how I survived my Megatron's first attack. The bomb Starscream planted on him went off. Crashed my ship, too... You know what? Come on in, why the pit not..." Neither of them seemed quite sensible right now, and Optimus was... well, he was tired of standing out where everyone could see them, and with the sun beating on them...
“Well, I must say my Starscream has yet to plant a bomb on me, even if he does try to shoot me rather often.” ‘So very trusting…’ A comm. call later the Autobots would have their backyard full of his troops, after that comment, but no need to unnerve the youngling. He would wait for them before discussing the rest, and maybe see a few of Optimus' teammates… Some energon would have been nice too, but he had no idea whether these mechs were on the same consumables as the ones he was used to.
"So why do you keep him around? That's what I don't get..." Optimus jumped as mechs began to fall from the sky, all of them bulky, more angular than any mech from here... The axe was back in his hand, and his own teammates were coming out now, though he told them to stand down. They weren't fighting now... yet? Finding Soundwave was surprisingly easy, and Optimus wondered if he was reading thoughts even now. The Prime made sure to remember how cute the toy had been, just in case.
It was gratifying, watching his mechs, it always was. So much strength and grace… He spotted Soundwave and beckoned him closer. The dark blue mech froze after a step, gaze snapping onto Optimus, a cringe racing across his servos. Megatron frowned momentarily, before he winced sympathetically. ‘On the upside, he is already learning. Good mech.’ Starscream landed and almost toppled the radio over as he rushed towards his leader completely uninvited. The communications officer seemed to shake off his shock and started after him. The silver mech smirked. “Starscream is useful in his own way, I’m sure you’ll see it eventually. If he wasn’t I wouldn’t have made him second in command, would I?” Absentmindedly he opened his subspace and pulled out a ration. No need to intrude on the Autobots supplies. If he did it his troops would follow his example, and that was not something he needed.
Optimus took several steps back as Starscream hurried up to Megatron. For spark's sake, they were all so big... His optics snapped back to Megatron, and he couldn't keep back the mewl of want. "Energon...!" The last time he had really seen any was... when they lost Elita-one... "How... much of that do you have...?"
Megatron was, on some level, aware of more of the small Autobots of this dimension rushing out of the building, as he was of all other mechs present, but his attention zoned in on the sheer need the sparkling (To him, at least. Compared to his age, Optimus barely existed. Even his own.) expressed, directed at something as simple, as essential, as a cube of energon. His own, rather small, urge to refuel faded as he lowered the liquid in a silent offer. Starscream’s disbelieving screech was silenced with a glare icy enough to make every Decepticon behind the seeker duck. “Enough.”
Optimus tried to be strong, tried not to just grab the cube and drain as much as his tanks would hold. He mostly managed, grabbing the cube but not tasting it. "Enough for all of us...?" AllSpark... He wasn't even sure if the two youngest had ever seen liquid, potable energon. If, and the thought sounded so wrong to his processor, the Decepticons didn't have enough for everyone, then Bumblebee and Bulkhead deserved this cube. Deserved to at least know once... "Our Cybertron doesn't... have much. We've... been getting along on other substances. Oil's pretty good..."
Megatron smiled sadly. “At least your Cybertron isn’t a dead shell floating through space. Enough for all of you, yes. Drink up-” He managed to swallow the ‘sweetspark’. Barely. Soundwave definitely noticed it, but the Decepticon leader doubted he would say anything. If any of his soldiers had a soft spot for young ones, it was him.
Even still, he managed to wait until he saw all of his team get a cube. Even Ratchet accepted one, grumbling the whole time. Oddly enough, the construction mechs seemed to like him. Optimus couldn't stop the moan that came as he drank the energon. It was even better than he remembered... Three quarters of the cube were gone before he remembered his manners. "I- I'm sorry about your Cybertron..." He would have to ask for the full story later. "Our history, um... I found a..." He couldn't. 'Sorry Cybertron is gone. Can you really make energon like I've heard?'. No... he couldn't ask that. ...Slaggit. He hadn't worked out if the technopath could hear him or not. "Blurr! Where is he?"
Monitoring his enemy’s counterpart’s intake as if he was his own youngling was not something he had ever expected to do. It was a peculiar feeling… “Soundwave?” No use asking his second to keep an optic on a prisoner. Chances were the poor spark would end at the bottom of a cliff.
“Blurr: functioning on optimal levels. Location: in Thundercracker’s company. Landing imminent.” His visor glinted for a moment. “Affirmative. Energon refinery systems in working condition.”
"Thundercracker...?" Okay... Well, assuming Soundwave could be trusted... Which was also trusting Megatron, wasn't it...? Well. So he could read his processor. Optimus pulled up the memory of 'his' Soundwave dancing again, just for a moment... it really was a pity about the whole 'revolution' thing... "What, um... do you need to, er..." Slag it. He hadn't even acted this unsure when Ultra Magnus was here! He sipped at the remains of the cube, relaxing almost against his will.
Soundwave fell silent, for whatever reason (and Megatron assumed it had something to do with little, dancing radios) so he answered in his stead. “An energy source. Any does it, really. Electricity, radioactive elements, oil and the refinery products of the same… The list goes on.” The rest of the seekers took this moment to land. It was petty, really, but he couldn’t resist. “Took you long enough. Air Commander, care to tell me why your subordinates are so late?” His only answer was an angry hiss.
"We got lots of those. We could let you at them... But you have to be friendly to the natives!" Ratchet said, almost lost among the construction mechs. They knew his counterpart, and were eager to talk to another medic.
Abruptly, Optimus imagined Starscream as an angry Earth cat. ...Okay then. It had to be the hissing. "Come to think of it, you might know us, and we might know you, but I still think introductions would be a wise move...?"
Subspacing the now empty cube Megatron nodded. “As you wish. And you might want to lend us a hand with the… ‘natives’. We don’t get along well with organics. Or anything sentient that is non-Cybertronian, for that matter. Never have.” He let his optics stray over his mechs, trying to find a way not to start at the top of the command chain… not many choices. Damn it. “Well, I’m sure you have recognized Starscream, my second in command and air commander,” and pit, if the jet wasn’t sucking it up to come first, “as well as Soundwave, my communications officer and third. Apart from them, who you see here are the other two members of the command trine, Thundercracker and Skywarp, as well as the Coneheads, Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet. And last but not least the Constructicons, Scrapper, their gestalt-leader, Hook, our medic, Mixmaster, our chemist, Longhaul, Scavenger, and Bonecrusher. And I do hope there is no need to introduce myself.” The last part was said with a wry smile.
So many of them... "No... I think we know who you are, Megatron..." Optimus answered slowly. "And you know me... Your 'Constructicons' seem to have found our medic, Ratchet. Bulkhead is our muscle, and we recently learned he's the spacebridge expert. Bumblebee, he's a little fond of speed... Our Cyberninja, Prowl. And Sari is in the warehouse." Poor femme... Dang telepath! Optimus risked a glance at Soundwave. "Why don't you get along with organics? ... You're not going to scream in horror like Sentinel Prime does when you see one, are you?"
Starscream beat him to any examination he could have come up with. “Prowl? As in ‘tactician and second in command of the Autobots’ Prowl? This is getting better and better…”
Megatron huffed. “Oh, shut up, will you?”
The seeker threw his hands up, wings flaring. “But of course, Lord Megatron. Your judgment is flawless as always, your highness, and will, as usual, bring us to ruins!”
The Decepticon leader seriously debated clocking him one, at least for the last bit. No need to get insulting, really… In the end he settled for a quick show of his fangs. “How thoughtful of you to volunteer for the first patrol round, my most loyal soldier! Off you go.”
He did, as thrusters roaring as loud as he could get them to, but he did. Thank Primus. Back to the potentially disastrous topic at hand. “Organics… running away screaming is not the source of our problems with them, no. I suppose it’s more the ‘shoot first and ask no questions’ part.”
"Tactician and second in command?" Prowl echoed, watching the Seeker fly away. "Why would I want to do that...?" It seemed Seekers in any case made no sense... He looked up (and up, and up) to find the blue Seeker looking at him. "I believe I shall go inform Sari about recent events," the black and gold mech announced, leaving.
"Okay, well... the shooting wasn't much fun, but they did listen when we tried to talk to them. Surely it's not like their weapons can hurt you. They don't even hurt us!" Optimus said. Any further words were cut of by a familiar blue blur actually running into his arms and wailing something Optimus couldn't catch.
This Optimus was really adorable, in an innocent, a little too trusting kind of way. Was that a trait he had in common with his other version? Or would have had, had the other one not known exactly what to expect from his Decepticons… “I didn’t mean them shooting-” a blue stripe of color zoomed past him. “-I meant us. I see you have found your faction mate.”
"Well... then why do you shoot them...? Blurr, you need to calm down, I have trouble understanding you at the best of times..." Glancing around at his teammates provided little help. Bumblebee and Bulkhead were chatting up two even smaller mechs, Ratchet was discussing something with the Constructicons, and Prowl had left- wait. What? "Where the Pit did they come from?" Optimus asked Megatron accusingly, pointing at the two human-sized mechs.
“That… is a very long story. We can get to it but right now I’d like to postpone it-” The Prime’s indignation made him pause. “Rumble and Frenzy? Do you have no cassette holders in this world?” Probably not. He should have expected as much… With a low sigh, the silver mech glanced at Soundwave. “We’d better get this over in one go.”
Cassette holders...? If a cassette was what he thought, that sounded uncannily like how Sari said the humans reproduced. And the smaller mechs were about the relative size of children... Optimus looked at Soundwave, utterly unable to keep his thoughts under control. He tried, he really did, even if he was annoyed at Soundwave for what he did to Blurr. Not that Blurr seemed too shook up, mostly, from what he could make out, worried about the other Decepticons' spy...
A nod later the rest of their tape decks cassettes were out and about. If their track record was anything to go by this whole thing would end in chaos… “Maybe we could go inside for our discussion. It might also serve to get your messenger into a state where he can actually deliver his message, if he is no longer surrounded by Decepticons.” And Starscream would be back soon, which meant he should get over certain parts of the story before he acquired a sneering echo.
Watching the 'cassettes' come out did not really help Optimus' thoughts. "...Yeah. Inside. I hope you fit..." Optimus turned, keeping Blurr tucked under his arm, and led Megatron into the warehouse. "I'd offer you hospitality, but I doubt you'd want any oil... Have you offered Blurr any energon?" Would Blurr have even accepted it... He should be a lot more worried about leaving his crew outside with so may Decepticons... and it didn't matter. If they turned hostile, that was the end, on guard or not.
“Not yet.” He just hadn’t thought of it. Even with all the information they had gotten from the messenger Megatron hadn’t expected the Autobots situation to be quite this bad. Taking another of the glowing cubes out of his subspace carefully he handed it over. “Don’t shake it, youngling, go easy. It’s quite volatile, handled the wrong way, and this batch is fresh.”
He just knew that Blurr was goggling at Megatron... The leader of the Decepticons, in any universe, just should not sound so... gentle and sweet. "Go on, Blurr. It's safe, and it will make you feel really good..."
"But- But·I·need·to·tell·the·council·about- about·all·of·this!" Blurr wailed, marginally slower than before. After a moment, he sipped the energon, gasping as it filled him in a way he hadn't known he had been empty.
"Our ship needs to be repaired before anyone can go anywhere. And Megatron apparently has a story to tell us..." Optimus looked at the silver mech expectantly.
“Between your crew and the Constructicons, a ship should pose no problem, not if your Ratchet is half the mech I know him as.” Sorting through his memory files (Damn were that many… The thought, ‘Frag, I’m old.’ was followed immediately by ‘And not getting overcharged often enough.') the Decepticon leader frowned in thought. “Where to start… It’s hard to tell how big the differences between our histories are, so much here makes no sense to me. You’ll need the basics of my culture, most likely.” A quick look around showed him that there was no furniture here that would hold his weight. Shrugging mentally, he settled on the floor.
“The Legends say Primus created the first Cybertronians and gave them Cybertron to live on. Ever since then, our Cybertron was ruled by a council of elected mechs and femmes, under the guidance of a Prime, a leader selected by the matrix. The matrix is an object that would mean death and rebirth for the spark in question, reformatting it into someone more powerful, more knowledgeable, but also responsible for his whole race. It’s said that it was given to our race by Primus himself, handed down and worshiped by every generation. There have not been many Primes. Prime Nova, the first matrix bearer and founder of Cybertronian law. Alpha Prime, conqueror of worlds and the reason why most species have an irrational aversion to giant robotic beings… Guardian Prime, who focused on Cybertron itself and is known to be the one whose actions provided the fundamentals for what we call the ‘Golden Age’. His successor was Sentinel Prime. Contrary to his predecessors the only thing widely known about him is that under his rule the Golden Age ended and the Great War began, though I can and will tell you more about who he was and what he did. And of course,” Megatron smiled, “the current Prime, chosen in and thus born into the war, a remarkable leader and honorable opponent, if I may say so. Optimus Prime.”
Optimus just kind of looked at Megatron. That was, um... okay, wow. And... he might as well explain as much as he could... "Primes are the leaders? Okay, no, wait. My turn." He and Blurr were sitting on the couch. "We don't have Primus. We have the AllSpark, both an energy source and the source of all new sparks. I... think the Great War got started over it, somehow. It ended up getting sent away, which scattered the remaining Decepticons and lead to the peace that Ultra Magnus is trying to convince everyone just ended. My crew found it... that comes later. We have a council too, with the Magnus at the top. Primes are just leaders, like... Longarm Prime is Blurr's head, head of intelligence. Rodimus Prime, he'll probably be the next Magnus, he's the leader of a... why is there a kill team in peace...? ...Anyway! Sentinel Prime is, um... he works with Ultra Magnus. He's not the easiest mech to be around... and then of course me..." Wow... compared to the mechs Megatron knew, he was... "I wasn't allowed to join the Elite Guard because... I visited an organic world knowing they're off-limits, which led to the loss of... a good friend. Ultra Magnus liked me, thought I had some potential, so gave me this crew. We were as surprised as anyone to find the AllSpark. ...and the 'Cons..."
It was obvious that the incident Optimus had mentioned was weighing on him heavily. Megatron refrained from commenting on it. Such memories were best discussed with someone whom you felt comfortable crying your spark out onto. “Funny, our Ultra Magnus is one of your counterpart's officers. An Allspark? You could say we have something similar. It is called Vector Sigma and has the power to give newsparks to frames brought before it… but the part it played and still plays in our war comes later.” Stroking his fusion cannon absentmindedly he sought for the right point to continue his tale. “I think I will continue with Guardian Prime’s time of leadership. He was a very gentle mech, as protective as his name indicates, and his heritage was not easy for him. He was more or less Alpha Prime’s opposite.” The Decepticon leader’s expression softened. “Well, among other things, Guardian wanted to prevent a repetition of the previous era. Under his influence, public combat training became a thing of the past. But he was not short sighted, despite his love for peace he created an army of defenders, should Cybertron ever be attacked.” He paused for a moment. “He named them ‘Decepticons’ and saw to it that his medics found a way to give them red optics, as a sign of the sacrifices they brought for their race. The leader of this army became his right hand, Lord High Protector Nemesis, a seasoned warrior who implemented the warrior code of honor over his troops. It later became more a way of life than anything else.” Now it was his turn to dim his optics with pain so old it was almost a welcome companion. “Unfortunately the first Lord didn’t survive long. One megavorn into his position he was killed in combat. His place was taken by a young soldier, who had only been with him for a few vorns and had never expected to be named his successor. Unlike Nemesis, he survived anything that was thrown at him.”
"You... were·meant·to·be·defenders?" Blurr asked, taking his attention away from the energon just long enough to speak.
Once again, Optimus was struck with the fact that... he had no idea where or why the Decepticons existed in his world. Optimus had... nothing to say. About all he felt was a brush of kinship, since he was quite sure who the successor was. How they came to be at war... Megatron seemed to be working his way there, and Optimus could wait.
“We were defenders. For much longer than any of you can imagine. We served Guardian for megavorns, and after his passing we served Sentinel. But the times changed, the ones we were protecting changed. The Golden Age might now be known as a time of great accomplishments and wealth, but it had its downsides. As in every society, there were those with more and those with less. Soon the council could only be elected from noble families, who had only their own interests in mind… I will not say all of them were like that, but most, far too many. The Decepticons had never been particularly profit oriented, as you can imagine, and in the end all we managed to hold was the Lord High Protector’s right to impose upon the Prime, who was a noble himself and a stuck up fool, and a single seat in the council. One of thirty-six in total. You can imagine how much political power that gave us.” Even now he could not relate to that time without bitterness. “After all the things we had done to protect our planet… the friends we had lost, the blood we had spilled... we were good enough to come when they called, and disappear when we were no longer needed.
"Still, that insult in itself would have been bearable. A true Decepticon knows that one's worth, one’s honor, lies in one’s own spark and the decisions we make, the way we act. But Sentinel Prime’s rule went on… and things became worse. As it had to be expected, he was soon dealing with increasing crime rates and minor riots. He wanted us to take care of it. Of course we refused. It was not our function to fight our own and we were not tame turbofoxes one could send to whack a thief’s servos. A Decepticon is a fighter by spark, will kill where he can and do what he must. After Sentinel's temper tantrum was over, his reaction was harmless enough, or so it seemed. He created the enforcers, in the beginning an institution similar to the human police. They would later be the ones we would have to deal with, alongside the guardians of the noble districts and their lot.
"Why did we start our war? There were many reasons, apart from our relations with the leaders of our society... Over the vorns, the Cybertronians had divided into two kinds of people. Decepticons and those who were not... By divided, I mean whole cities of 'us' and 'them'. You told me to stay among my own kind earlier, Optimus… I can’t tell you how often I have heard that particular line. Those who had never encountered violence outside their rather domestic setting didn’t understand our ways. Protested against our treatment of alien races, when we were only protecting them, to the point of violence...”
Megatron shook his helmet. “In the end it became too much. While they were living in a cozy bubble, pointing their fingers at us as a cause for all of their problems, we were giving our sparks for them, couldn’t afford bonding for the risk of taking our mate with us should we die, had to rely on Vector Sigma for offspring, something they were about to restrict our access to by law…” A wry smirk took over his face plates. “And I’m sounding as if we launched an overnight attack. We petitioned. We protested. We brought issues to the council. But the day the Vector-Sigma-statute was set in stone, it was over. I don’t know what Sentinel expected. That we would give the right to spark without risking a loved one in battle up like everything else, namely without a battle? And fight we did, for the first time against our own kin. The whole thing snowballed unbelievably fast. I will not lie, horrible crimes were committed in my name, even if I didn’t command them. Have you ever heard of the human term ‘tasting blood?’ There were those among mine who did just that. Our world no longer has any sparklings, they are all either dead or reformatted into cassettes for their own protection. Neither are there many femmes left. The number of Cybertronians in existence is laughably small compared to the population at the beginning of the war… and we are still fighting.”
Whatever response Megatron might be expecting from them, Optimus mused in a distracted corner of his processor, they probably weren't giving. They were a little to busy imitating Earth fish. Finally, rather quietly, Optimus said, "Blurr. Please go and tell Ratchet and the Constructicons that they need to see about our ship at some point. And would you mind asking Soundwave if he can spare a moment?" Optimus glance at Megatron when he said that, but didn't explain until the blue mech had left. "I'm sorry... there's too much in my processor for me to articulate right now, and... um, I'm not sure what you'd find important and... stuff..."
Not much of a reaction, apart from astonishment. Then again, the story wouldn’t mean as much to them as it did to him… “So you’re volunteering for a screening? Brave. Brave and careless, not for the first time. That’s a habit I’ll have to break you from.”
"I think... You still want to protect Cybertron. I think you did even when you started fighting... I think that's why you're doing this. ... I don't think you'll like what my world is..." Optimus could see parallels... but worst was what he felt. Ideas that he couldn't grasp, things that hovered just out of his reach... He rather hoped Soundwave could make sense of them. "Anyway," Optimus added as the dark blue Decepticon entered the warehouse, "It's not like I'm important. I'm just a minor repair mech who's been lucky." He managed something like a smile, and wondered if Soundwave would need to be told why he was wanted...
His third knew what had been discussed the moment he entered. Not all too surprising. Soundwave also picked up on Optimus' request, which the silver mech granted with a short nod. He would tell the Prime that the procedure wasn’t the most comfortable for the tape deck later. Much later, if at all.
Optimus' processor was almost as unguarded as the youngli- the other youngling's had been. Primus Below, were they all this young? The answer came swiftly, no, not all. Ratchet was of decent age. That didn't entirely help things... It took Soundwave a few moments to go through the more-foreign-than-normal processor. Then he went through again to work out why the other had even wanted this. Optimus was, in a manner of speaking, able to help for this step, his emotions guiding the technopath's search. And it did, slowly, make sense... the order was different from his own history. The names had changed, which was disorientating, but... Optimus was afraid that his world was as... corrupt as theirs. Setting aside the uncertainty of this dimension's Decepticons, the 'Elite Guard' was not the most sanitary of organizations. Without the Decepticons to oppress... Optimus wasn't sure. He could barely manage to formulate half these thoughts, let alone speak them. That did explain why he'd been called. Carefully easing out of the horribly unguarded processor, Soundwave then started to 'explain' his findings to his Lord.
At first the flood of information made no sense. Then his logic processor kicked in, separating this from the past his spark was still more than half lost in. As soon as that part of him caught up, Megatron had to reign in familiar anger tinged with old disappointment, the parallels far too obvious not to rile him. And there he had thought that the idealist in him, who had always wanted to believe that his leader knew what was best for Cybertron, had died long ago… He hadn’t even noticed Starscream coming in to join them when he repeated words he hadn’t spoken in a long time, venom still as fresh as it had been then. “If they can’t learn then they will bleed.”
The jet came to a halt only steps from the door, the complaint on the tip of his tongue dying as the sentence, the tone sent a shiver over his wings. There was no sneer in his voice when he answered to their leader's call alongside Soundwave. “Yes, Lord Megatron.”
Optimus shivered a little, barely even noticing as the technopath rested a hand against his shoulder. Megatron sounded dangerous, sounded like everything Optimus had ever been told the Decepticon leader was, and he could almost forget that this was the 'wrong' leader... except for the odd sense of comfort he took from the words. Starscream, too, sounded different than the few other sentences Optimus had so far heard from the white and red jet. At least he knew he wasn't wasting anyone's time... Soundwave’s hand on his shoulder grew tighter for a moment, comforting.
Shaking off the need to act now, the Decepticon leader fully returned to the present. “Thank you, Soundwave.” His half questioning gaze landed on his second. “You can’t possibly be done with your patrol already, can you?”
That was all it took to send Starscream back to standard behavior, wings twitching with irritation and the screech in his voice even more noticeable than normally. “There’s nothing out there to see! Pathetic flashings crawling about everywhere, you can’t seriously expect me to watch that!”
Optimus always wondered if she had been waiting for something like that. Either way, Sari came running out, ignoring Prowl's hiss, and managed to clamber right up Starscream's more angular leg. "Neeto! Prowl told me all about what's going on, and you're, like, Decepticons that aren't going to be all mean, are you? I think you're better looking than the stupid Starscream that we have." Peering around Starscream's side at Soundwave, Sari added, "I don't know, I think I liked my Soundwave toy better, unless you play rockin' tunes too?" Optimus groaned, deciding there was no reason not to hide his face in his hands.
While still trying to control his own reflexive reaction, which would have been engaging his fusion cannon upon the organic, no matter that it would cost his air commander a ped until further notice, Megatron marveled at how a being so small had managed to render his command staff useless within moments. Starscream was staring at it in faint horror, as was Soundwave, but for different reasons. The Decepticon leader was quite positive his third would not live this episode down. Ever. Yet at least he seemed to remember that they were supposed to make nice with the natives. The seeker’s stance, on the other hand, changed to something the silver mech related to plasma fire and destruction. Now he did power his cannon up, the familiar whine freezing his second’s joints once more. That reaction could have had something to do with the fact that it was aimed at his helmet. Megatron growled lowly. “You’re not even going to contemplate that.”
"Sari," Optimus said into his hand, "please get off the just-as-untrustworthy-as-ever Starscream..." He should be upset that Megatron was threatening to shoot a mech who was supposedly on their side. All the Prime felt was gratitude. It seemed they would play nice with the humans...
"Aww... I wanted to go flying..." Sari grumbled a little. She did seem to realize what she had gotten into, though, and jumped off the frozen Seeker, going over to climb onto Optimus' lap. "Um... you'd actually shoot him? You shouldn't shoot your friends, either of you! Where's Bee?"
“So this is Sari.” This was… weird. Not that he was aiming at Starscream, he did that regularly… “I don’t know if I would call him my friend, little femme.” At least she looked like what he thought was to be expected from a female unit of her species. The seeker bared his fangs in a silent hiss. “Don’t tempt me, Starscream. Behave if you don’t want to undergo a wing-reattachment.”
"Yeah, I'm Sari. And, um... I guess I'm pleased to meet you...? You still shouldn't shoot the people you work with! It makes fighting your enemies harder." Sari nodded, offering Megatron a far-too-bright smile.
Decepticons, it seemed, were still Decepticons... Optimus found he didn't really want to think about that too much right now. And... he shouldn't lump them together like that... "Bumblebee is outside with Bulkhead. And last I knew, had a couple, er, new friends too. You should be able to find him..." Lowering Sari to the ground, he watched her go. She seemed okay for now...
A bright little mind, it seemed, and blunt as well. Maybe a little young to answer, ‘Well, that depends on whether they’re trying to shoot you in the back,’ so Megatron kept it to himself. Sending her out of his second’s sight range was a wise move, not so much when Rumble and Frenzy were involved, however. It was really a shame he had to do this to his communications officer… “Why don’t you show her the way, Soundwave? I’m sure you’ll find them much faster.” ‘And will prevent any accidents on the way.’ “I can make do with Starscream, for the time being.” Whom he would hold on gunpoint until their new acquaintance was out of sight, just to be sure.
He was sure that if Megatron knew about the almost frantic despair that 'Sari' was hiding with cheer, he wouldn't have asked this. That didn't really change the fact that Megatron had asked it. Soundwave wasn't quite as put out as might have been expected... Megatron would make it up to him. After the news Optimus had given, Megatron would need it almost as much as Soundwave did... "As you command." Huh... interesting. Sari perked up when he spoke.
Optimus shifted uncertainly while Sari and Soundwave left. Once they were gone... "Okay. So. Um... plans, I guess?"
“Yes. Plans. Though I must say there is not much to plan at this point…” Starscream snorted next to him. One really had to marvel at his recovery time concerning death threats. “Yes, my second? What do you think we should plan? All we can do is repair the ship right now. The situation may have changed once we are done and basing a plot on dead information is a waste of time.”
Another noise of contempt broke from the seekers vocaliser. “A waste of time? Preparation is never a waste of time! How can you be so short-sighted? If-”
For the first time in vorns, Megatron cut him off at this particular rant. Normally he just didn’t bother… He knew it by spark anyway, as did his troops and most of their regular enemies. Yet, no need to start this in front of these Autobots. “Thank you for your opinion, Starscream. The plan for now is to wait and shoot anything pissing me off.” ‘Including you.’ “Anything else will have to wait.”
“Wait for what?” The flier was seething now, red optics blazing angrily.
Megatron only smirked. “For me to get these younglings at least half-way presentable in a fight.” The dumbfound expression that caused was worth any hissy fits he would have to endure later. Ah, yes, simple joys…