A/N: And finally the first sequel to The Early Stages of War is here! I'm so sorry for taking so long to post this, but I've been seriously distracted by other plot bunnies. I know the sequels are the main reasons why some of you guys put me on author alert and so far I've only given you slash, poetry, and AUs. For that, I apologize. This story might not even be that funny, but it provides part of the background for the future sequels. I hope you guys like this.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Caught Up
Welcome back my darling readers! Have you missed me as much as I have missed you? Well never mind all that, you have returned to hear another story and receive news about the next story after this, but before we can go through that we must go back and watch a small scene that was, by mistake, left out of the previous story…
Deleted (Tonya: More like forgotten!) TESOW Scene
Starscream and Skywarp were on their way to the control room to start preparations for the upcoming mission to retrieve the Allspark (and Megatron. Maybe.). Why was Skywarp helping the Air Commander and not Thundercracker? Well… Earlier a group of Decepticons - including Thundercracker - in the recreation room met a "new" recruit and told him about their glitch of a Second-In-Command. It turned out that the recruit was Starscream with a new upgrade and he proceeded threw a fit. Everyone in that room was severely injured and was taken to the medbay and it so happened that Skywarp was repaired before Thundercracker, hence why he was helping Starscream.
Anyways, on their way to their destination, a mech accidentally hit Starscream while walking past the Seekers. "Watch where you're going, triangle!" the mech shouted.
Starscream turned and glared at the mech. "What did you call me?" he hissed.
"You heard me, triangle!"
Insolent ground-pounder! First screeched.
Now Starscream, don't do anything rash, Third said.
Shut up, Third, Second said, He deserves what he has coming.
Skywarp snickered when he saw the look of rage on his trine mate's face. "You're so going to get it…"
"Skywarp," Starscream finally said quietly, "take him to the brig and leave him there until I leave. Do you understand?"
"Hey, who do you think you a-" the mech complained.
"Got it Starscream," Skywarp said, interrupting the mech.
The mech's optics widened when he heard the name and before he could apologize to his superior officer, Skywarp grabbed him and teleported to the brig.
"Idiot better not forget to let him out," Starscream muttered.
He's going to forget, First said.
Skywarp may not be bright, but I'm pretty sure he'll remember this or at least tell Thundercracker about it before we leave, Third, the most optimistic of the voices, said.
Doubt it, Second retorted.
Starscream let out an air intake and ignored the comments.
XXX
Now that we have that out of the way, we can begin the story, but I recommend you remember the deleted scene, you never know when this information may be called upon. When we last left off, Starscream had just hung up on his trine in order to deal with the fact that he imagined the voices in his processor with bodies. Unfortunately, it may have been in his best interest to listen to what Skywarp and Thundercracker had to say about the kind of state Cybertron was in…
"Listen, I'll call you guys back," Starscream said distractedly, not even looking at his trine.
"But Star-" was all Thundercracker could say before the frequency was cut.
The two Seekers looked at the blank screen, both at a loss about what to do now.
"TC?" asked Skywarp. "Do you think Screamer will call us back?"
Thundercracker shook his helm. "He doesn't even know our frequency since Soundwave changed all of them."
"Query: Why are you two here and not at the mines?" an all too familiar monotonous voice asked.
The Seekers flinched and turned around.
"We were…uh…" Skywarp started.
"Checking if the communication systems were working," Thundercracker finished.
Soundwave's visor flashed. He didn't believe them. "Query: Skywarp was looking up smut again, wasn't he?"
Thundercracker nodded while Skywarp looked insulted. "Yes, I caught him looking at smut and was trying to get him to stop when you came."
"Very well. Report back to the mines," Soundwave ordered.
The two friends scurried out of the room. Once they were out of the temporary commander's hearing range, Skywarp said angrily, "You didn't have to say that."
His trine mate shrugged. "You do like your smut."
Skywarp didn't know what to say to that, so he just shut his mouth.
They walked in the direction of the mines and un-subspaced their assigned weapons. Skywarp had a sword and, for some odd reason (Soundwave said something about keeping the special needs Seeker from becoming even more special), a helmet. The teleporter was giddy when Soundwave first gave him the sword while Thundercracker had a horrified expression on his face. Seriously, who gives the Seeker with the nickname "Special Needs Mech" a sharp weapon to use whenever he wants? Thundercracker, on the other hand, had a bow and a bunch of arrows. The blue Seeker hated his weapon. What the frag was Soundwave thinking? He didn't know how to use the stupid thing! It was useless to him! To say the least, he was still miffed about it.
They were guards and their job was simple: Make sure everyone worked and protect the mines from any Autobots or other invaders. The mines were attacked often and needed plenty of protection.
BOOM!
Like today.
At the sound, Skywarp grabbed Thundercracker's servo and teleported them to the origin of the explosion. There, in front of the mines were the dreaded swordsmen of the alien Stick Figure people, who've come to kill all the miners!
Unfortunately for the sake of their sanity, it was usually the latter who came to attack. No one knew where the Stick Figure people came from nor why they were attempting (and failing) to invade Cybertron. The fact that no one really cared was part of the reason why their motives remained mysterious.
Skywarp ran to face the threat, yelling like a madmech (the sound scaring off at least half the swordsmen), while Thundercracker stayed behind as he struggled to aim an arrow at the invaders.
"Frag this," the blue Seeker muttered angrily as he took out his blaster and began shooting.
The Stick Figure people, while mastering the concept of space travel, were terrified and mystified by the odd weapon Thundercracker was using. They had never seen a gun of any sort before and quickly retreated.
"Why didn't we try this sooner?" Thundercracker asked himself.
"TC, why'd you scared them off so quickly? I was having fun," Skywarp complained.
The older Seeker let out an air intake and headed back to the mines, with Skywarp following close behind.
Things weren't going well on Cybertron since the Allspark (and Megatron, I guess) retrieval team left: Soundwave had everyone mining for minerals instead of fighting the Autobots. It was a complete waste of time and Cybertron was looking deader by the day. Plus the Stick Figure people were destroying buildings and writing graffiti on the ruins, making the place look even worse.
Slagging glitches.
Skywarp and Thundercracker tried to contact Starscream several more times, but he never answered and life continued on.
One day, the Seekers were supervising the miners (or should I say soldiers?) when they received a private message from a frequency channel that only members of the Elite Trine knew. It could only be from Starscream.
Now they just needed to get away to hear it in peace.
"Alright everyone, Rumble's in charge while we're gone," Thundercracker stated.
"WHAT?" shouted everyone. "Why him?"
"'Cause we said so, that's why," Skywarp said before sticking out his glossa at them.
"Sweet! Rumble's in charge now baby!" the blue Cassetticon shouted, pumping his fist in the air and doing a little victory dance.
The other Decepticons were glowering at him and were contemplating whether or not they can get away with murdering one of Soundwave's creations. Afterall, who wanted to take orders from a mech who was considered to be the Decepticon Army's garbage disposal unit back when he was a sparkling?
XXX
In their quarters, Skywarp and Thundercracker listened to the message, which was full of static, and it went something like this:
/Found *Ksshh* Allspark *Ksshh* Megatron *Ksshhh* Destroyed *Kssshhh* Prime *Kssshhh* Autobots *Kssshhh* Come *Kssshhh* Coordinates *Kssshhh*/
At the end of the message were coordinates to a faraway planet.
A planet called Earth.
The friends looked at each other.
"So…" Skywarp said, "we're going to Earth then?"
Thundercracker was thinking. Should they leave Cybertron? Starscream did say that the Allspark and Megatron were there and the Autobot retrieval team was destroyed, including Prime. Also if they stayed on their home planet, Soundwave was going to force them to keep fighting Stick Figure people.
"Pack your things, we're leaving," Thundercracker said finally.
Soon the Seekers were packed and were about to fly off when the older Seeker asked, "Did you remember to leave a note for Soundwave about the message?"
"Uh…"
Skywarp quickly teleported back to their room, wrote a quick and messy note, and left it on top on the garbage piles in his room. Which, when you think about it, wasn't a smart idea since no one went in Skywarp's room in fear of getting attacked by mutated Energon cubes.
And so the Seekers left, and nobody cared or noticed.
Or at least they wouldn't for several Earth years.
XXX
Meanwhile on Earth, shortly after the battle in Mission City, the Decepticon retrieval team was…well…
"This is perhaps the worst mission I've ever been on," Starscream said miserably, as he and his comrades sat around a little campfire.
The Dorito-shaped Seeker had immediately left Earth the moment Megatron and the Allspark were destroyed and would've kept going without looking back if he hadn't remembered one important fact: Frenzy had his teddy bear, Sprinkles. The anorexic-like youngling found the cuddly teddy when he was hiding from Bonecrusher in Starscream's quarters after the little mech sabotaged the Constructicon's personal computer.
What? Frenzy was bored.
The point is that Sprinkles is very important to the Air Commander, almost as precious as Binky (who was back on Cybertron with Skywarp and Thundercracker after they wrestled Starscream over it), and was a present from Skywarp from when they were sparklings.
"You can say that again," muttered Blackout as he petted Scorponok. The copter was almost killed by a fleshy on a motocycle and poor Scorpy lost part of his tail. Blackout would get even, but later, right now they had other problems to worry about.
"But at least something good came out of this," Starscream continued with a sneer on his face.
"Like what?" Barricade demanded. "The Allspark's been destroyed, Megatron's dead, and we got our afts kicked by Autoslaggers and squishies."
During the freeway battle, Barricade retreated to Hoover Dam after getting a distress signal from Frenzy. It was either retrieve the annoying hacker from a bunch of weakened humans or stay in the fight and possibly get killed by Optimus freaking Prime.
"S-s-spe-e-eak for y-y-yours-s-elf," Frenzy retorted, while he roasted marshmallows. No one was sure why he was doing that, he can't eat human food.
Barricade and Starscream started to wonder if Soundwave's wrath was worth keeping Frenzy around.
"That's true, but I'm the new leader of the Decepticons now!" Starscream declared.
Everyone rolled their optics.
"I hate you all," Bonecrusher stated. It was a miracle that the Constructicon was even still alive after the beating he'd gotten from Optimus. You'd think anyone would die from decapitation, but somehow Bonecrusher held on until Blackout and Barricade found him.
"You can't lead the Decepticons if you can't reach them," Barricade pointed out.
Blackout nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the Nemesis is wrecked and it'll take years before repairs are done, if we find the parts we need."
"And who's fault is it that we crash-landed?" Starscream asked rhetorically, glaring at Frenzy.
"G-g-g-g-got bored," Frenzy said with a shrug, not at all feeling threatened by the much larger Seeker. He knew Starscream wouldn't try anything on him as long as Soundwave was alive and kicking (or raping Autobot communication satellites).
"Did you send a message for help?" Bonecrusher asked.
"Yes. I told my trine about what happened and told them to send the rest of the Constructicons to Earth with parts for the Nemesis and that there are Autobots here," Starscream said. "They'll come soon."
"Unless Skywarp forgets," Blackout said.
"It doesn't matter if he does. I sent the same message to Thundercracker too."
The Decepticons stayed there until the fire gave out and then returned to the crashed ship for the night.
XXX
As Skywarp and Thundercracker flew in Earth's blue skies in their new F-22 Raptor alt-modes, the teleporter had the odd feeling that he forgot something, but wasn't sure what. He pushed the feeling away and tried to locate Starscream's hidden base.
/Getting anything?/ Thundercracker asked.
/Nothing. I'm going to ask the locals./
/Warp, I don't think you should do that./
Skywarp didn't listen and landed in a public square. The humans were shocked at the sight of the black and violet jet. He transformed and the people began to scream.
"Madre de Dios! Vamos a morir!"
"No! Tengo muchas cosas que quiero a hacer en mi vida!"
"Yo dijóles que los ángeles van a destruír nosotros!"
"Callate pendejo!"
Skywarp was confused and didn't understand what everyone was saying so he turned on his heel thrusters and flew away, leaving the people feeling very relieved that it wasn't Judgment Day.
XXX
Starscream was flying lazily along when suddenly there was a purple flash of light and a large weight landed on top of him.
"SCREAMER!" a voice shouted happily.
"Skywarp?"
"We've missed you Starscream," Thundercracker said, watching the scene with amusement in his optics.
"But-"
"We got your message and got here as fast as we can," the blue Seeker continued.
"But-"
"And look who missed you too!" Skywarp cried out as he carefully unstrapped Binky from the pilot's seat in his cockpit and handed the stuffed jet to Starscream.
The dusty brown Seeker forgot what he was going to say as he hugged his old toy. He hadn't held Binky in so long, he'd forgotten what it felt like.
"Humans are weird," Skywarp said, breaking Starscream out of his trance-like state. "They shout a lot when they talk."
"What do you mean?" Starscream asked.
"I mean, whenever I try to talk to them they shout and scream at me," Skywarp explained.
"You…Tried…To…Talk…To…Them?" he asked angrily.
"Yup."
"You idiot! Don't you remember the Autobots are here too?"
"But you said that Megatron destroyed them," Thundercracker said.
"No, I said Megatron was destroyed and there are Autobots here," the eldest Seeker explained.
The newcomers were shocked by the news.
"Stupid message had too much static," Skywarp muttered.
"Anything else you have to tell us?" Thundercracker asked.
"The Allspark's gone and the Nemesis can't fly without parts so we're stuck here until it's fixed."
"Oh slag," cursed both Seekers.
"Welcome to Earth," Starscream sneered.
As their trine mate led them to the Nemesis, Skywarp finally remembered what he forgot: the mech who insulted Starscream was still in the brig!
Oh well, someone probably let him out by now, Skywarp thought nonchalantly.
And now my dears, it seems that things have gotten worse for the Earth-bound Decepticons. At least once the Nemesis is repaired, they won't have anything else keeping them on the organic planet. Right?
AN: No Skywarp, the mech's still in the brig.
The Stick Figure people are from a site my brother likes to go on called stickpage (DOT) com. And the game they're from is Stick Wars.
The next sequel will take place 21 years after this story and 18 years after Honeymoon and at the same time in the past. Sort of. It makes sense. Okay maybe not. It'll have three chapters (I decided to combine the plots for Decepticon Neighbors and Autobot Neighbors) and will be called New Neighbors.
Be warned, next sequel will be when the OCs start showing up more and if you don't like them, well then I don't care because I'm writing the story anyway. :P
Spanish translations (man I suck at Spanish):
"Mother of God! We're going to die!"
"No! I have so many things I want to do in my life!"
"I told you the angels will destroy us!"
"Shut up stupid!"
Please review if you liked and hopefully I'll see you in the next sequel.