Crystal stared at the grave before her, a huge pile of dirt with a makeshift cross. She wiped a tear that had managed to slip its way down her cheek. "I promise WindCharger, with everything I am that I will get vengeance. No matter what it takes... or the cost." Crystal gently laid her hand in the grave as a rain storm moved in, turning the dirt into mud. Crystal lifted herself to a standing position, her heart ached with the thought of leaving him here, all alone but if she was to avenge him she would have to leave him. Crystal looked to the darkened skies as the rain hit her face, washing the dirt away that had collected there during her digging. "I'm coming for you Megatron! And you shall die by my hand!" Crystal looked to the grave one last time as she lifted off into the sky, teal colored energy shone like a beacon around her as she made her way through the storm. The memory still fresh in her mind as the pain of her loss burdened her heart, the scene played over and over in her mind she couldn't unsee it,
Flashback
"I located the energon signal WindCharger, they are 3 clicks north of your current position." Crystal hovered over the signals location, "Be careful kid if there are cons present..."
"I know I know! Be careful! You do realize that I have cosmic powers right?"
"Which is why I am even more concerned about you, my Little Star, you hold a value to MECH and Megatron." Crystal rolled her eyes, "When are you going to stop calling me that?" A laughed erupted over the com, "When you grow up and stop acting like a little kid." WindCharger slid to a stop outside the cave as Crystal landed, "I've been flying over it looks clear, unless I missed something after all I am a child." She playfully punched WindCharger in the leg, WindCharger smirked "Let's Recon." WindCharger and Crystal made their way into the cave, "this place was emitting some serious EPs." Crystal cocked her head but kept walking, "EPs?" WindCharger shrugged with a "no duh" look, "Yeah Energon Pulse, duh!" Crystal shook her head, "Now who's the child?" WindCharger smiled, stopping dead in his tracks, "Booyah!" Crystal smirked, "Nice going partner! Clean grab!" WindCharger stopped her from walked forward, "Somethings not right. Why would a mine this huge, I mean look at all that energon, not be occupied by the cons?" Crystal looked around, "I don't know but I didn't see any tracks or equipment, no signs of a ship flying low or landing. Maybe we just got lucky?" WindCharger nodded, "Maybe, I can't shake the feeling we are being watched so let's just get it and get out!"
Megatron laughed as he watched the security vid, "Because you are being watched! StarScream!" Megatron voice echoed to the hall of which StatScream was currently making his way, "Coming my liege" he slunk and rolled his eyes. "What is your command my lord?" Megatron glared, "Maintain command of this ship until I return."
StarScream smiled, "Return from where my Lord?" Megatron growled, "That is none of your concern! Do as I command!"
WindCharger and Crystal had collected a nice pile of Energon. "Begin transport." Crystals hand lite up with the cosmic energy creating a platform under the energon crystals. "Commencing." She smiled, though the smiles quickly faded as a loud thud came from outside the cave entrance. "Cons?" Crystal whispered. WindCharger waved his finger in a circle, as the two hid behind rocks. "I know you are in here, did you really think that you would just find a mine of this magnitude? You are more foolish then I thought!" Crystal smirked "You are the foolish one for coming alone, there are two of us and only one of you!" WindCharger nodded to Crystal as the two jumped out blasters and energy blazing, Megatron easily dodged the attacks. Lunging forward he sent a blast to the pile of energon the two had collected, causing the pile to explode and create a chain reaction. "WindCharger!" Crystal hollered as the two were caught in the explosion. Megatron laughed evilly as the cave entrance lite up in a brilliant blue, two forms stumbled out of the cave, disoriented and covered in dust. Megatron wasted no time making his play, grabbing WindCharger by the neck he threw him to the ground, "You foolish Autobot! You truly believed you and the little human could defeat me?" WindCharger struggled, against the grip. Crystals vision had finally begun to stabilize when she saw WindCharger in the grip of Megatron, "Release him!" She hollered, raising her glowing hands ready to fire. Megatron smiled a smile that sent a shiver down her back. "With pleasure..." Megatron half turned around before whipping back and shoving his sword into WindChargers chest, "Noo!" Crystal hollered shooting Megatron and hitting him in the arm. Megatron growled, "You'll pay for that!" Megatron lunged forward, "Come here!" Crystal dodged him making a be line for WindCharger, calling his name on approach. "please answer m..ah!" Crystal felt her body lift off the ground, "No! Release me you monster!" Megatron shook his head, "Oh no Crystal you see ever since you interfered with our space cruiser causing that massive explosion I have been watching you, chasing you, if what happened to you can be transferred to the Decepticon army we will be unstoppable!" Crystals eyes widened, "I'll never let you use me for your experiments you fiend!" Megatron grip tightened causing Crystal to choke, "Oh you will compli..." Megatron body was thrown backwards, sending Crystal into the air. Stabilizing herself Crystal smiled as WindCharger had managed to stand taking a few last shots at a retreating, injured Megatron. "We did it." Crystal whispered, though her sides hurt terribly. WindCharger smiled, "We sure did...did kid." Crystal watched in horror as he fell to the ground. "no" she whispered as he came to his side, "WindCharger please I can't loose you to!" WindCharger smiled sadly, "I'm sorry Crystal, I will always be with you in here." He pointed to her heart, Crystal had let the tears flow freely, "Please, I need you!"
"Awh now my Little Star, this galaxy needs you! You are not a...a normal human." WindCharger grunted but continued as energon flowed from his chest, "You have a great future planned for you, don't let my memory hold you back from the amazing person you are to become." Crystal sighed sadly, holding the mechs finger. "you shall see me become whom you've always told me, believed me to be. I can't be her without you!" WindCharger smiled one last time, "I shall be homesick for you even with the allspark, until we meet again my Little Star." Crystal breathed heavily, "No! No! WindCharger!" Crystal laid her head on the mech, crying she couldn't go on how could she...
Present day
...how could she. Crystal landed on a hill. The Decepticon warship was in her sites, "We have a dance to finish Megatron!" She shouted into the air, "Come and finish it!"
Ratchet studied the energy signature, "This signature is very odd. Though I did just pick up a massive energon signal. An explosion probably." Arcee chuckled, "Dumb Cons, probably saw an earth bat and began shooting." Bumblebee laughed as Optimus walked in, "I am pleased to find you so merry my Friends, though what is the cause of your pleasure?" Bumblebee repeated what Arcee had said, earning him a nod from Optimus. "I see." Was all he said as he walked over to where Ratchet was working. Miko shook her head, "Geez does that dude find anything funny?" Bulkhead shrugged, "Never seen him laugh, seen him smile though, not often enough." Miko rolled her eyes, "I bet me, jack, and raf could make him laugh!" Jacks head shot up from his homework, "Oh heck no Miko, I'm not getting mixed up in your little schemes!" Miko sighed looking to Raph, whom just pretend not to notice. "Ugh." Miko sulked, "Fine, ill do it on my own!" Bulkhead cocked his head as Miko walked toward him, "Mi...Miko I'm not sure I wa..."
"Ok bulk here's the plan!"
"Optimus, have been watching this signal for about half an hour now, it's been in this area but it just moved. Perhaps worth a look anyway." Optimus nodded, "I agree old Friend, open the ground bridge to the signals original coordinates. We shall see what we find." Ratchet nodded, "Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee, and SilverStorm we are going to investigate a signal. Transform and Roll Out!" The five rolled out of the base pulling into a wooded area with a smoking cave, "Well there's the source of Ratchets energon signal." Arcee quipped, "That's not the only energon present." SilverStorm walked over the a puddle of energon outside the cave, "Someone was injured." Bumblebee beeped in replied, "Yes and drug this way!" He pointed to a path leading into the woods. The rain was still heavily falling causing the energon puddles to grow, "Proceed with caution Autobots." The five trudged through the mud until they came upon a what appeared to be a grave, "A grave?" Bulkhead asked Optimus nodded, "Indeed." He pointed to a makeshift cross at the head. Optimus knelt to studied the inscription carved into the wood, "WindCharger, Gone but Never Forgotten." The team hung their heads in respect, "Rest in peace WindCharger." SilverStorm whispered, "Who do you think buried him? I know a con wouldn't have done it?" SilverStorm asked looking around. "Of that I do not know, let us continue on perhaps we shall find whom it is."
"Well, well, so you've come to be destroyed like your friend." Megatron walked toward Crystal "I came to kill you Megatron! I'm tired of running and hiding from you! It's been years of running! No more!" Megatron laughed lunging toward the human, "Now let's be honest." He spoke as he shielded himself from her blasts, "You are doing his for vengeance! You want revenge! You can feel it! The hatred! The anger!" Crystal hollered as she upped her output sending a beam into Megatrons sword, of which he reflected plowing down a path of trees. "You insect!" He hollered making another move for her.
Arcee hollered, "Lookout!" A teal bean shot through the woods, knocking down the trees in its path. "What on Cybertron was that?!" Bumblebee blipped, Optimus looked ahead, his eyes widening at the sight. The others followed his gaze, a human no larger then Jack was in a full out battle with Megatron, and she was holding her own pretty well. Optimus shook himself back into the situation, "Get that human out of there now!" The Autobots rushed in, "SilverStorm take to the skies!" SilverStorm nodded, spreading her wings in flight. Megatron caught a glimpse of Optimus rushing toward him, "No!" He hollered catching Crystal off guard he blasted the ground beneath her sending her flying back. "you ruin everything!" Megatron hollered to Optimus as he took to the skies with SilverStorm hot on his tail. Optimus ran to the place where the human fell. "Ratchet! Contact June we will need her assistance." Optimus gently lifted the human, "She is injured. We must get her back to base." Crystals face was bloodied by a nasty cut on her head, her body was covered in bruises and cuts as her clothes were torn. SilverStorm landed just as the bridge opened, "I chased him a good way till backup came." Optimus nodded, SilverStorm gasped at the human he carried. "Let's get her home." She whispered as the five walked through the bridge to find June already present. "Lay her here." She pushed out a gurney, Optimus gently laid her down. He watched as June went to work still trying to figure out what exactly he saw. SilverStorm came up behind him, "Hey can I talk to you, privately?" Optimus nodded, the two walked to her quarters. SilverStorm shut the door. "Ok what did we see? Cause what I saw was a human fighting with Megatron and actually standing? Plus she was glowing? Tell me I'm not crazy." Optimus shook his head, "I too saw the same." SilverStorms faced shone with relief, "Oh thank primus! I'm telling ya bro, this planet never ceases to surprise me." Optimus nodded "indeed, let us return and see how the human is." SilverStorm nodded, the door opened as SilverStorm was the first to exit, "Rawghhhhh!" SiilverStorm jumped energizing her hand and pointing it toward the noise. "Miko! Are you crazy! I could have slagged you! Miko shrugged, "Oh frag it was suppose to be Optimus." Optimus came out the door his eye cocked, "Miko?" Miko smiled, "There's always tomorrow!" She skipped away calling over her shoulder. SilverStorm laughed, "I forgot to tell you she is working on a scheme to make you laugh. Bulkhead and jack told me." Optimus shook his head, "Miko brings excitement to this base." SilverStorm laughed, "Well anyway I told her if she cracks a laugh out of you to let me in on the secret." Optimus stopped putting his hands on his hips as SilverStorm kept walking, "You coming?" She quipped.
As they entered the control room Ratchet flew past them, hitting the wall and landing on the ground with a thud. "Ratchet!" Optimus knelt to help his friend stand, "What happened?" Ratchet shook his head, dazed from the ordeal. SilverStorm tapped Optimus on the shoulder causing him to look up, a teal light shone in the base. "I'll ask again where am I?" The voice was stern and cold, Optimus stood up walking forward slowly and calmly, "You are in our base, we are the Autobots." The girl seemed to power up as her light got brighter, "He said that much!" Optimus dodged a burst of her power. "Please calm down human, we do not wish to harm you!"
Crystals eyes glowed with power and anger, "I asked you a question!" Optimus raised his hands slightly, "And we have answered, You are in the Autobots base." Crystal powered down, gently landing on the humans pad after catching the Autobots insignia on Optimus's shoulders. "Apologies for the outburst, but I have a mission to complete. Why did you interfere?" Optimus walked forward cautiously, "You were engaged in a battle that you could not win, Megatron would have destroyed you." Crystal scoffed, "Please, he wasn't even close until you all showed up and screwed everything over!" Her voice echoed through the base, "I may be a small human as you put it but if you haven't noticed I have certain abilities. So just stay out of stuff that you don't understand!" Crystal made her way down the steps, "You gonna show me the way out or do I have to blast a hole in the wall?" Optimus turned to face her, "Why were you fighting Megatron?" Crystal stopped walking, closing her eyes, "We have...a history. Something that's none of your business." Optimus placed a hand in front of her to keep her from walking, "We can not allow you to pursue Megatron like this." Crystal began to power up again, "Look if you don't move I will...ah." Crystal fell unconscious as Optimus looked behind him to see SilverStorm, "It was a small burst, just enough to make her sleep." Optimus nodded approvingly, "What do you suppose she meant when she said that her and Megatron had a history? How can Megatron have a history with a human?" Bumblebee chirped, as Ratchet gently placed Crystal back on the gurney.
"Will she be alright?" Miko quizzed, Ratchet nodded, "She'll be fine." His answer was quick and short, as he turned back to his systems.
Megatron slammed his fists on the mainframe control panel, "I had her!" He hollered, StarScream stood by, "We will get her my Lord, I can send my seeker armada to find them and..." Megatron whipped around striking StarScream in the process, "I didn't ask for your help! Keep your opinions and perspectives to yourself!"
StarScream bowed, "Apologies my liege." Megatron growled, "I will find you!"
Crystal slowly came too, she could hear the muffled voices around her talking about who she was and where she came from. She laid quite keeping her eyes closed. "She is full of rage and hatred, for what I do not know but I saw it in her eyes." She could hear Optimus's voice speaking, it was deep and collected yet a hint of concern tipped his voice. A second voice chimed in, "Do you think she had something to do with that grave?" Crystals eye shot open, sitting straight up and staring at the voice who spoke. A black haired boy looked at her sudden movement, "You Ok?" He asked, Crystal just stared, "How do you know about the grave?" Jack shrugged "Them. They found one before they found you." Crystal felt the tears fighting to come, she bowed her head taking a deep breath to keep from crying. "what about it?" She managed to speak, "Whose was it?" Arcee asked coldly knowing full well the name of the grace but wanted to know it had been Crystal for certain she crossed her arms. Crystal sighed, "I'm not going to get away without telling you am I?" Arcee shook her head, Crystal looked to Optimus whose look gave her a sense of security she hadn't felt in a long time. "His name was WindCharger, he was...uh...he was my family. I never really had a normal family," Crystal continued, fighting the tears that threaten to spill as they all gathered to hear her story. "When I was born I was left on the doorstep of an orphanage, from then on I bounced from family to family, no one wanted me, said I was a trouble maker. I didn't mean to cause trouble, things just went wrong when I near by. It's obvious they still do, anyway one family I was with when I was 12, the father was a space scientist, an astronomer. He was planning a trip into space to collect stuff for experiments. I decided in all my wisdom to sneak along, once we got to the ship I was able to slip aboard. What i didn't realize was when we got into space something was going to go terribly wrong. An agency known as MECH had tried to contract that man into collecting information for them, he said no so they sabotaged his spaceship. Once we reached the outer atmosphere the ship blew, killing everyone, except me. When the explosion hit, the blast mixed with the chemicals he was carrying and the meteors that the ship collided with I was given this power. It knocked me out and sent me drifting, the explosion also blew up a Decepticon transport. Megatron blames me for it considering I was the only living thing around with the power to do so. So ever since then me and him have been in many battles with each other, he wants me to pay for the ships destruction but also to use me for the construction of a band of super soldiers he wants to create, MECH wants me for the same reason. I've been running since I was 12, that's 10 years I've been running. When I came across WindCharger, Stinger, and Ironhide we joined together." Crystal stopped talking, she didn't want to continue, having to relive the pain of their deaths she couldn't hold her tears back anymore. They slowly slid down her cheeks and dropping onto her jeans, creating little wet puddles. "Ironhide was first, the Cons killed him. They lured us to a location with a false beacon then jumped us. We didn't have time to respond, after the battle was over many vehicon bodies covered the ground but only one we cared about was Ironhide. We buried him and went to find a new secret location. Then five years ago MECHs science team had created a weapon, they got their hands on me which brought WindCharger and Springer to them. WindCharger grabbed me and Springer told us to run, that he had it covered. Once we made it outside the MECH facility went up in a bang, Springer didn't come out. For years it was me and WindCharger, moving from place to place trying to keep MECH at bay and battling Megatron every so often. We had become quite the team. Yesterday we had located a massive energon signal, we should have been more careful but we went in anyway. Megatron blew the mine. We barely escaped. Megatron got hold of WindCharger and before I could do anything he..." Crystal stopped, she couldn't continue. She felt a large but gently touch slowly lift her up. "We can help you, many of us have lost friends, family to Megatron. But we must do this in the right way. Revenge will not bring those back whom we have lost. instead let us honor their memory by continuing the fight and bringing justice to both Earth and Cybertron." Crystal took a deep breath, lifting her head as her eyes began to spark, "I'm in."
It had been about 3 weeks since Crystal had been found by the other Autobots. She had agreed to training by SilverStorm, to help the Autobots in their fight. Crystal sighed as she laid back on the sofa, WindChargers smiling face appeared to her every time she closed her eyes. No on but her knew her true intentions. The Autobots has Cybertronian equipment, monitors, scanners, etc if she was just patience for a little longer eventually one of these systems would locate Megatron, then it would be game over. Optimus peered around the corner into the main control room, something wasn't sitting right with him. Crystal seems almost too compliant to everything they had asked of her. She had agreed to training, she had agreed to remain at the base, anything Optimus had asked her to adhere to she did.
SilverStorm was taking the opportunity, slowly she crept up on him, walking silently. Even a small creak could mean her death. She smirked as she hunched in the darkness ready to pounce at any moment. His weight shifted signaling he was about to turn, SilverStorm smiled evilly, "Die!" She hollered diving out at Optimus, she missed landing on the floor laughing. Optimus didn't even flinch, merely shifting his weight and crossing his arms. "SilverStorm, are you alright?" SilverStorm stood up brushing herself off, still laughing, "You should have seen your face." Optimus shook his head, "Was this a plan of Mikos?" SilverStorm shook her head, "Nope that was my own idea." Optimus shook his head again, "Are you not too old for these games?" SilverStorm laughed, "Look whose calling who old. According to the human aging system you are like ancient of ancient! Like you look at you and go how is that guy still alive old!" Optimus smirked and began to walk by here, stopping to place his hand on her shoulder. "Lest you have forgotten my sister, we are twins." SilverStorms face of victory dropped as she turned to see him walking away, "You're still older by 5 minutes!" Optimus merely shook his head as he entered his quarters.
Crystal smirked having heard the whole thing, she wondered why the Prime didn't laugh, Miko had tried to convince her to help in a silly game to achieve that goal but she wondered why it was such a big deal. She sunk lower into the warmth of the drifting off into sleep with her last thoughts being on WindCharger.
