Disclaimer: Transformers Prime is owned by Hasbro, not by me. If I owned Transformers, I would have tried a little harder on Megatron's redemption. I mean seriously, that was so weak.

Spoilers: Prime back story

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Sci-fi, Spiritual

Warnings: Time travel, graphic violence, sexual harassment, racism, classism, and "gay" relationships

Hello everybody, I am Elder Dragon, and welcome to the Hoard, and to my first M-rated fic.

Okay, those of you who weren't scared off by the word gay are probably wondering about the "gay" relationships. Okay, Number One; I am a lesbian, so I have every right to write gay characters and gay pairings. Number Two; in a society that has a 1:12 gender ratio, and where gender seems to be almost purely aesthetic anyway, it's kind of ridiculous to expect everybody to be in a "straight" relationship. Number Three; I only have one set "gay" pairing, and they are not going to be nymphomaniacs like a lot of gay couples are in fan fiction. They are going to be well rounded characters that actually contribute to the plot. I might have one or two more "gay" pairings, but that depends on how I feel when I get there.

Okay, one more thing before we start; this story is based off of 'Antebellum' by SavvyEnigma, and I would like to thank her for letting me borrow the basic idea of her fic.

Alright, that's all for right now. I'll leave the serious stuff for the bottom, so, on with the story.

A Different Alignment

Preface

When Jack placed the Key of Vector Sigma into its slot, he was engulfed in blinding white light. Images started flowing through his head, some of bots he had never met before, yet he had known all of them for a lifetime.

Megatron growing up underground before being forced into the arena to pay off his parents dept. Orion Pax toiling away over datapads for little to no pay while nobles were constantly molesting him, with Alpha Trion unable to do anything about it for fear that they would punish Orion for his transgressions. Starscream weeping over the lifeless frame of Skyfire, a victim of Enforcer brutality. Knockout, expelled from the Iacon Medical Academy for an offense he didn't commit. Bumblebee, the equivalent of Raf's age, joining the Autobots after the death of his family. Arcee, drinking herself into a stupor over the death of her first partner, Tailgate. Ratchet, unable to repair Bumblebee's voice box.

They all flew by, showing all the lives ruined by the war, faster and faster before stopping on one solitary memory; Megatron being framed for the disappearance of Sentinel Prime.

The images started again, showing him the future. The ruins of Jasper lying in the shadow of Darkmount. Optimus dieing in a cavern under what used to be Omega Outpost One. Smokescreen using the Forge to revive him. Darkmount's destruction. Raf becoming the worlds leading software designer. Miko, wait, MIKO becoming a world class engineer?! Sierra... Sierra excepting his wedding proposal. Himself holding their giggling daughter up in the air as Sierra is smiling at them both.

The vision ended and the light faded, revealing a group of three mechs standing around Jack in a mist covered canyon, and amazingly, Jack knew all of them, despite having never met them. Vector Prime was kneeling next to him with a servo held over him, as if he was the one showing him the vision.

"Why did you show me all of this?", Jack asked as Vector Prime backed off.

"To show you what you could lose...", Alpha Trion started.

"And what you could save.", Prima finished.

"This war did not need to happen," Vector Prime said, "and we believe that you can stop it from doing so."

"Whoa, wait!", Jack yelled, "You want me to stop an entire War?! How?!"

"That is something you will have to discover on your own.", Prima said.

Wow, that was helpful, Jack thought sarcastically before getting serious. This was a chance to end a lot of suffering before it even started, but was he willing to give up his future to save Cybertron's past. Thinking back on everything he's witnessed, he found that yes, he was willing to do just that if it meant saving everybody, including the Decepticons.

"I'll do it.", he said, standing tall. The three Primes before him all smiled, and Alpha Trion looked especially grateful.

"Then the best of luck, Nobilis Prime.", Prima said.

"Wait, Prime?!", Jack yelled as the world faded out.

"Brace yourself. The emergence will be a bit disconcerting.", Alpha Trion said before Jack lost sight of them completely. Then it felt like the ground disappeared from under him and he was falling through water. Seconds and centuries later, he felt himself being pulled toward a bright light. The light engulfed him and he felt an electrifying jolt run through his body, making him cry out in pain.

"He's online! It's a miracle!", someone yelled, and Jack opened his optics to see a room full of excited Cybertronian medics. What in the Pit is going on?

"My sparkling. Give him to me.", a tired voice commanded from somewhere behind him. He was suddenly picked up and placed in the arms of an exhausted looking femme with jet black armor. "You shouldn't scare you're Carrier like that, little one. I thought I had lost you before I even got the chance to know you." Jack was overwhelmed with emotions. He got the same feeling from this femme that he always got when he was around his mother. That, coupled with everything else that has been going on, had him incredibly confused, so he did the only thing he could think to do in his emotional state; he curled up into the femme's chestplate. He could feel the vibrations in her chassis as she chuckled at his behavior. "Don't worry, little one. I know the world can be scary and confusing sometimes, but if you can brave through it you'll find plenty of hidden treasures just waiting to be discovered."

Jack looked back up at the femme, his Carrier. What she said was a little weird, but it also filled him with hope for the future. "Oh, such a beautiful smile. You'll be quite the spark breaker when you reach majority.", his Carrier said with a smile of her own. Jack yawned, the excitement of everything that happened finally catching up with, and he quickly fell into recharge.

"Sentinel Prime, Sir.", a medic called into the waiting area of the Prime's private med-bay. The mech in question looked up from the datapad he was reading, "Congratulations, sir. You have a healthy mechling." Sentinel got up and calmly walked down the hall, the medic falling into step behind him.

"Were there any complications?", Sentinel asked, mildly concerned since the emergence happened almost a meta-cycle early. The medic hesitated, not sure how to proceed. "Well?"

"Well, sir, it's unbelievable. The sparkling was born offline," the Prime stopped and turned in surprise as the medic spoke, "We did everything to save him, but nothing worked. We had all given up, but then the sparkling started glowing, and his spark energy surged through his body and... sir, your son is blessed by Primus."

Sentinel nodded once and resumed walking. He walked through the door to his consort's room and was greeted by the sight of Nightfire holding their newborn sparkling. If he noticed her tensing as soon as he entered the room, he didn't show it. He strode up to the side of the berth and examined his son. He took more after his carrier in coloration -he was black with silver highlights- but he had Sentinel's frame type.

"Does he please your Lordship?", Nightfire asked in a strained voice.

"He is acceptable.", Sentinel stated, placing a servo on the sparkling's helm and ignoring his quiet whimpering.

"What do you wish to designate him?"

"Nobilis.", Sentinel said before walking out of the room.

Nightfire let out a relieved vent once he left before looking down at her sparkling. "Nobilis.", she whispered, "I have a feeling your designation will fit you far better then your Sire intended."

In her arms, the newly dubbed Nobilis slept on, forgetting for a short time the enormous task the Primes set for him.

Okay, now that you've gotten a taste of the story, I want to give you a more detailed warning about what's to come; the M rating isn't for the gay pairing, it's for everything else. This is a crime drama, and that means crime scenes, prostitution, racism, classism, assault, murder, and sexual crimes. These things do happen and have happened, and while I'm not going to describe them in excruciating detail, I'm not going to sugar-coat them either, so if you don't think you can handle them, you may want to back out now.

For those of you brave enough to continue, please tell me what you think. This is a new experience for me, not only in fandom, but also in style, and feedback would be incredibly helpful, as well as ideas for things I could do in the story, and, if you're feeling especially generous, maybe donate some OCs. Pit, even just a list of names I could use would be helpful. I will give full credit to all who help me out on this, so I'll be waiting.