AN: Background story set way before the events of Snapshots.
xxxxx
I was only a sparkling when things went to the Pit on Cybertron. Oh sure I was an adult by Earth standards, but only the equivalent of a five year old in my development. I didn't have battle subroutines or defense programming. I was merely a sparkling who wanted to play.
But I remember the solar-cycle when my world crashed down around me for the first time. I lived in the Youth Sector in a housing chamber with two other sparklings who came online at the same time I did.
Blurr was ten solar-cycles older than me and always slightly ahead of me in programming and development, but he never treated me like I was inferior. He was always quick and from the time he was able to walk he could run. And run. Many times our caretakers would find him inside the off-limit areas. Or Hound, who was a rather impatient and foul mannered youngling then, would be sent to find him. No matter how many times Hound dragged him back, Blurr would still runaway as if he just couldn't stand the idea of staying in one place.
Bumper was two solar-cycles older than me but unlike me he was a fighter from the moment he came online. Oh he wasn't aggressive or foul tempered and he didn't really pick fights with anyone. But he did all he could to be around the warriors who protected us. He wouldn't recharge without hearing a tale of battle. And more time than one Hound had to pull him back from too close to the frontlines where the Autobots fought to hold off the Decepticons.
My favorite playmates had already gone off to war, except for Jazz and Hound who stayed to help the femmes take care of us. Inferno had shipped off to Iacon for training along with Clamp Down and his brother Deep Cover. Then Red Alert enlisted a few solar-cycles after them. When I wouldn't release his leg Inferno had assured me that he and the brothers would be back to visit before I knew it. Red Alert just told me to suck it up and deal. Yeah, Red never was a very friendly mech.
But even they were only younglings. Fully developed physically, but still learning and maturing. They shouldn't have been fighting in a war.
I don't remember a time when the Decepticons weren't trying to conquer something. I wasn't alive before the fracturing of the factions. I know at one time the Autobots and Decepticons had been one united people simply calling themselves Cybertronians. That time was gone before I ever had a chance to witness it.
Still, the fighting didn't encroach on my life until that fateful solar-cycle.
It started out like any other solar-cycle. With our morning refueling.
xxxxx
"Don't be a whiny-bot, Bumper," Blurr sneered, giving the slightly smaller sparkling a shove.
Bumper stumbled then straightened up. "Don't be such a meany-bot, Blurr."
Bluestreak gravitated closer to Nova as they walked toward the fueling complex. He hated it when the older sparklings argued. It made his spark quiver and he searched out the soothing presence of their most frequent caretaker. The red and yellow femme smiled comfortingly at him and leaned down to heft the sparkling up into her arms. At the same time in a sharp, disapproving voice she scolded Blurr and Bumper and told them to behave.
They arrived at the fueling complex and made the familiar trek to room C where Nova set them all up with supplement tubes and then left the room. Bluestreak happily slurped at his tube, not paying much attention to the other two sparklings. He loved the feeling of a full energon converter.
But his attention was drawn to Blurr when the blue sparkling pushed away his supplement tube and began to clamber down from the high seat he was on. One foot slipped and the sparkling lost his balance and crashed to the floor with a clang. Bumper and Bluestreak were both frozen, staring as their fellow sparkling as Blurr watched the door apprehensively. For several cycles all three were still and silent.
"'Blurr you'll get in trouble," Bluestreak said, then went back to sucking down supplements.
"OnlyifIgetcaught," Blurr retorted as he pushed himself to his feet, wobbling just slightly.
"Hound'll catch you," Bumper pointed out. "He'll be mad."
Bluestreak watched as Blurr moved quickly to the door which triggered open at his approach. The little sparkling poked his head out slowly. Then with no word to his companions Blurr disappeared out of the room.
Bluestreak shrugged and went back to his supplements. Only one thing could distract him from his supplements.
"How're my favorite sparklings this beautiful solar-cycle?" A cheerful voice spoke from the door.
"Jazz!" Bumper and Bluestreak exclaimed in unison.
Both sparklings turned in their seats, supplements forgotten and held out their arms in a pleading manner. The bigger youngling laughed and used both arms to lift at sparkling into each one and then allowed them to snuggle against his side. Bluestreak clicked contently as he settled into his favorite position with his favorite caretaker.
Jazz let them both stay there for a few minutes before he set them back down on their seats again and urged them to finish their supplements. Bluestreak had just started sucking down the supplements again when the door slid open and Hound stalked in. The big green youngling had a squirming Blurr by the back of the neck. There was the most foreboding look of impending doom on the sharply angled face including bright yet narrowed optics. Blurr was curled into a ball in the furious youngling's grasp and Bluestreak instinctively leaned closer to Jazz, fearful of the green mech's ire.
"I'm getting tired of chasing you all over the fragging compound you little glitch," Hound snarled as he roughly dropped Blurr onto his empty seat.
Jazz immediately stepped forward and shoved Hound backwards, sidestepping to place himself between his green friend and the sparklings. "Watch your language and take it easy. You know how easy it is t'hurt a sparkling."
"And you don't think the Decepticons will hurt the little runt if he runs away and gets caught by them? They're practically right outside banging on the gate, Jazz!"
"That doesn't give you the right t'be mean," Jazz returned, optics flashing in anger. "I don't care if you are a little older and a little taller than me. If you hurt one of these sparklings I swear to Primus I'll make ya regret it."
Hound made an ominous sound from his vocalizer, but with one flash of a glare at Blurr the green youngling turned and stomped off. Bluestreak didn't know why Hound was always so angry, but it scared him. He reached out for his favorite guardian while making an obvious pleading sound. Whenever he was scared or upset it was Jazz's cheerful, yet calm presence that Bluestreak always craved.
"Aw, now don't you worry none, Blue," Jazz said comfortingly as he turned his attention to the frightened sparkling. "Hound's just in a bad mood, but ya don't need t'fear him."
"He's mean," Bluestreak whimpered.
"Oh, he just worries s'all," Jazz replied as he once more scooped up Bluestreak, holding him carefully in his arms. "He's scared lil' Blurr here'll wander out and get himself hurt."
"I can take care of myself," Blurr piped up indignantly.
Jazz laughed. "Oh yeah, you're one tough sparkling alright."
"I can take care of myself too," Bumper eagerly added.
"Sure, sure," Jazz agreed with a teasing smile. He squeezed Bluestreak gently and then used one freehand to lightly stroke the sparkling's red chevrons. "Now, you sparklings be good and finish your supplements and maybe we'll do somethin' fun later."
Suitably comforted Bluestreak didn't protest as the big black and white youngling set him down on his seat. The idea of getting to do something with his favorite playmate was more than enough encouragement to get him slurping down his supplements again. Blurr and Bumper were both doing the same, Hound's rough bad attitude already forgotten. They didn't even notice when the black and white youngling moved silently out of the room with only the soft sound of the door hissing open and shut.
Bluestreak's processor began to wander and he found himself thinking about Decepticons. He'd heard that word used more than once, especially when the mechs thought he was recharging or not paying attention. He paid attention a lot. More than his caretakers realized sometimes. But the word Decepticon was always said with a negative emotion attached to it. Hound always spit it out like it was something foul that he just couldn't keep inside and there was always an angry bite to it. Jazz said it with resentment and even a hint of fear, as if the very word conjured something unsettling. Whatever Decepticon was it wasn't anything good.
He finished his supplements in no time flat and Nova appeared as if she had sensed her charges were done refueling. Nova helped each of the sparklings down from their seats and let Bumper and Blurr walk in front of her while she took Bluestreak into her arms. The two slightly older sparklings were as usual frisky after refueling and began to play around, weaving behind and between Nova's legs as the femme walked steadily toward the housing complex. She laughed and was careful not to step on them and released Bluestreak when the sparkling began to wiggle, wishing to join his companions.
They were halfway to the housing complex when there came an explosion so loud the sparklings sensitive audio receptors overloaded and they screeched at piercing decibels. Nova crouched low and gathered the three sparklings into a gentle embrace despite how much their shrieking hurt her audios. Bluestreak clung to her desperately, terrified and in pain.
"Nova! The Decepticons have breached the perimeter!" Bluestreak looked up as Jazz came bounding up to the group with a purple and black guard-mech known as Skywarp right behind him. "Seekers got past the ion cannons somehow!"
"They're jamming the comms, too," Skywarp added. "We can't get word to the main defense force."
"We have to protect the young," Nova said, holding the sparklings to her protectively.
An explosion bigger than any before rocked the entire area and Bluestreak lost his footing and fell to his knees. He whimpered in terror and clutched at Nova's leg. Smoke began to fill the sky along with a thunderous roaring unlike anything Bluestreak had ever heard before.
"Seekers!" someone shouted.
A high pitched whine filled the air and Bluestreak screeched once more as his audio receptors were overwhelmed. Then, the housing complex that Bluestreak had called home exploded. The flash would have blinded Bluestreak for sure, except the force of the explosion had sent everyone flying through the air. Luckily, Nova managed to cradle Bluestreak as they landed though the rough jostling didn't feel very good.
Nova pushed to her feet with Bluestreak still held protectively in her arms. The femme was approached by a silver mech that Bluestreak recognized as the Watch Commander, Nightwatch. With his audio receptors still ringing the sparkling couldn't hear what the mech said to Nova. Whatever it was she disagreed with it. However, she didn't argue for long as more explosions began to rock the Youth Sector. Bluestreak clung to her tightly as she, Skywarp, and a yellow mech separated from the group and began to run as fast as they could toward the opposite side of the Sector.
"...get through? I thought the defenses were supposed to be able to hold up," the yellow mech was saying as Bluestreak's audios finally recovered.
"I don't know," Nova replied. "This is a disaster."
"You don't know the half of it."
Bluestreak watched from Nova's arms as Skywarp blasted a hole through the yellow mech's chassis. He shrieked in terror and buried his face in Nova's shoulder strut. The femme held him tighter as he heard her energon pump speed up. Without a word to the purple and black mech, Nova ducked into the nearest building with Skywarp firing after her. Bluestreak was too scared to process what was happening.
"You can't get away from me, Nova," Skywarp's taunting voice seemed to fill Bluestreak's audios. "There's nowhere to go."
"Why are you doing this, Skywarp? They're only sparkling's for Primus-sake," Nova asked in reply.
"Because I'm tired of listening to the little scraps shrieking all the fraggin' time! I'm tired of taking orders from femmes and mechs who have no vision! Most of all I'm tired of being a Primus fraggin' GUARD!"
Shots rang out, loud and terrifying in the hall, and Nova jolted as if struck by something. She stumbled and tried to catch her balance, but a second impact made her fall. Bluestreak shrieked as she lost her grip on him and he was sent tumbling. Every impact against the floor made his frame pulse with pain and by the time he stopped his processor was so scrambled all he could do was lay there while he tried to recover.
"My only regret is that you're not going to live to see everything you love fall," Skywarp said.
Two shots rang out and when Bluestreak recovered enough to look for his guardian he felt all his systems freeze. Nova had no face. Internals were hanging out and mech fluids of all kinds were pooling around her. Bluestreak couldn't make a sound, couldn't even move as the purple and black mech focused on him with burning red optics. However, when Skywarp started to move toward him, Bluestreak's survival programming kicked in and despite how much he hurt the little sparkling scrambled to get away.
"I've wanted to do this for a long time."
"TRAITOR!"
Bluestreak didn't even stop to see how the fight between Hound and Skywarp turned out. He didn't even pause to think about how grateful he was that Hound had shown up in time to save his life. All he could think about was getting away.
Lucky for him he was just big enough to trigger the door sensors. He was suddenly back outside. He had only gotten a few steps away when his audios picked up a high pitched whine and then the building he had just exited exploded. The shockwave that followed flung the sparkling into the air, but before he could hit the ground he was snatched into rough hands. He was held too tightly and his tiny frame protested the vicious treatment.
"Aren't you a little young to be flying, runt?"
Bluestreak struggled in the big mech's grasp, but he wasn't strong enough to free himself. He whimpered as he was lifted so that he was looking into the glowing red optics of a silver and black mech. His systems whirred furiously as panic gripped his processor. Those glowing red optics held sadistic glee at his torment and his spark felt cold and dark in the presence of something he had never felt before. Bluestreak wanted to get away. Away from the explosions still rocking the Youth Sector. Away from the mechs who were murdering his closest friends. Away from the bad mech.
"Squeal for me."
"Please don't hurt me, please oh please. Don't hurt mepleasepleaseplease--."
"I said SQUEAL!"
Bluestreak did more than squeal. Drawing up every ounce of strength he had left the little silver sparkling shrieked the loudest and hardest he possibly could. He didn't even stop when his captor released him in shock and pain. He didn't stop shrieking when he hit the ground hard enough scramble his processor again. All he could think about was to keep shrieking. That Jazz would save him. His favorite playmate would never let him down. Never.
"Silence you pathetic waste of circuits!" the silver and black mech roared.
If possible Bluestreak shrieked even louder as the terrifying mech raised one giant foot. His optics grew wide and he curled into a protective ball as the shadow fell over him. He squeezed his optics shut as his still maturing vocalizer gave out.
"Blitzwing!"
And suddenly the silver and black mech was tackled in a flash of white and black. Bluestreak sat up quickly and stared at the two mechs wrestling violently not that far from him. His rescuer was the same color as Jazz, but was clearly not the same model. That became even clearer as blades swished out of the white mech's left wrist and were plunged into the bad mech's back in three quick movements. The bad mech fell still and Bluestreak's savior quickly stood and approached where Bluestreak lay hurting more than he ever had, but still functioning.
The black and white mech knelt, glowing blue optics sweeping over Bluestreak's battered form. Then without a word Bluestreak was scooped up into gentle arms and his savior began to move swiftly. Bluestreak curled into the new mech's arms and buried his head to hide the horror around him.
Then there was another explosion and heat burned at Bluestreak's already battered body. His new guardian stumbled as the ground rocked, but managed to keep his balance. Bluestreak kept his head buried, unwilling to watch what was happening around him even as his guardian's weapons returned fire, feeling the juddering through his whole body.
"Prowl! We've lost the east gate!" a voice shouted over the sounds of a desperate firefight.
"The Decepticons are swarming the sector, sir. We can't possibly hold them off let alone push them back," another voice shouted.
"Until Optimus Prime orders otherwise we will fight with every last bit of strength we have for this sector," Bluestreak heard and felt his savior reply. Prowl. It was a name he would never forget.
"What about the sparkling?"
Bluestreak looked up at the same time Prowl looked down. "At all cost the sparklings MUST survive."
"Yes sir," the other two mechs said with conviction.
"Nitroburst, take point. Steelwave, cover our six," Prowl ordered.
Bluestreak buried his face in Prowl's chassis as the black and white mech started moving swiftly again. Explosions sounded from all around them, but almost as loud were the screams. The screams that would haunt Bluestreak for the rest of his life. Screams of the terrified and dying that filled the air from all directions. Bluestreak whimpered and tried to get closer to his savior.
"Hush now, young one," Prowl murmured softly. "I will not let anymore harm come to you, I swear my spark to it."
Bluestreak calmed a little at that, but still held on tightly to the bigger mech. He heard weapons fire too close for comfort, but one of Prowl's hands came up to touch his back and Bluestreak felt himself relax despite the danger he still sensed. Gentle fingers rubbed comforting circles as the shock of Prowl's weapon fire beat a steady rhythm through his frame. He was no where near relaxed enough to fall into recharge, but for just a moment he imagined himself back in Nova's arms going to refuel.
"Ambush! Get back, Prowl, get--."
Prowl jolted to a stop and the illusion of safety was gone again. Bluestreak dared to look and see what was happening, but immediately wished he hadn't. There was a mech on the ground leaking fluids everywhere and his head missing. More frightening than that were the vicious looking mechs that stood pointing what looked like a variety of weapons at them.
"Are you really going to kill sparklings now, Shockblast? Is there no low you will not sink to?" Prowl questioned.
The purple and silver mech had no features except for a yellow visor that seemed to glow with malice. "They are nothing more than stepping stones to the future."
"Do you really believe there is a future in this course of actions?"
"There's a future for me, Autobot, but you won't live to see it!"
Bluestreak held on tight as Prowl ducked and rolled at the same time Steelwave fired from behind. He held in the whimper that threatened to escape as things happened very quickly from there. He did whimper when he was roughly snatched out of Prowl's grasp as the black and white mech struggled against Shockblast. Bluestreak's vocalizer gave a weak buzz when he tried to shriek in defense.
"You lose, Autobots," the mech holding Bluestreak rumbled.
Shots rang out and his captor jolted as if struck from behind. The mech lost his hold on Bluestreak and the sparkling began to fall. He was caught by gentle hands belonging to the black and white youngling he was familiar with.
"Jazz," he managed to whisper in a raspy voice.
"Quiet, Blue," Jazz hushed him softly.
"AUTOBOTS FALL BACK!" A voice boomed from somewhere in the Youth Sector.
Bluestreak dared to take a quick look around as Jazz started moving rapidly and agilely. Prowl was leading the way with a mech Bluestreak hadn't seen before. Behind them were two more mechs Bluestreak didn't know and to his surprise a very familiar green youngling.
"Hou--" Bluestreak's vocalizer gave out, but the green youngling gifted him with a flicker of a smile.
"Where are we falling back to? The Decepticons are swarming in from everywhere?" Jazz asked.
"We must make it to the south gate," Prowl replied. "It is where we have had the strongest hold and our only hope for escape."
"Thank Primus we're--."
"Incoming Seekers, hit the ground!"
Bluestreak held on for all he was worth as Jazz fell to the ground, shielding the sparkling with is body. An explosion too close overloaded Bluestreak's audio receptors again, but this time he didn't have the vocalizer to screech with. He squeezed his optics shut and willed the pain to go away while he felt more than heard the debris hitting Jazz's armor.
Then Jazz was scrambling up again and rushing after the mechs leading the way. Bluestreak saw Prowl glance back to make sure they were still there. Bluestreak tried not to notice the buildings burning around them. Or the dead femmes, sparklings, and younglings that littered the ground.
Bluestreak shuttered his optics and buried himself as close to Jazz as he possibly could. He lost track of how long they were running or how many explosions he heard. What he became aware of next was Jazz coming to a stop and kneeling on the ground. Bluestreak protested and held on tightly as the black and white youngling tried to set him on the ground.
"C'mon Blue, let go. We need t'see how bad you're hurt," Jazz explained gently while rubbing caring fingers over the frightened sparkling's back.
As the gentle ministrations continued Bluestreak started to relax more and more until finally he didn't fight it when he was pulled free of Jazz. He kept his optics shuttered, too exhausted to bother, but a sudden spike of pain drove him to full awareness. With a gasp his optic shields flew open and he struggled away from the unfamiliar red and white mech leaning over him.
"Shhhh, be at ease, little one," the mech said in a soothing, calm voice. "You have several wounds that need tending to. Please remain calm or you may damage yourself further."
"S'okay Blue, let Evac take care of ya," Jazz coaxed, appearing over the shoulder of the kneeling red and white mech.
Bluestreak relaxed once more and before he knew it his systems cycled offline one by one until the sounds of war and death faded away and he fell into deep recharge.
xxxxx
It was quiet when Bluestreak's systems started to boot up again. Definitely quieter than his room usually was. His music player wasn't on and Blurr and Bumper were being too quiet. They were always awake before him so why couldn't he hear them?
It was that feeling of wrongness that really brought him to full awareness. He snapped open his optic shields and sat up. At once a sharp throb of pain made him cry out before he was gently pushed back down onto his back.
"Take it easy there," an unfamiliar, somewhat gruff voice, said. "You're in no condition for moving around like that."
Bluestreak flinched away from the unfamiliar mech and curled into a ball. His whole body hurt. Why did he hurt? Where was Nova? Where were Blurr and Bumper? Where was he?
As the questions flitted through his processor he began to panic. Fear consumed him he began to screech. Except his vocalizer didn't make a sound. He couldn't call for help. He was alone with a mech he didn't recognize and he couldn't call for help. He began to cycle air rapidly through is vents as his systems began to overheat.
"Calm down, boy. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Bluestreak?"
Bluestreak moved lightning fast, despite the pain he felt. He lunged into familiar arms and buried himself against the black and white chest that brought him comfort. He felt Jazz's arms come up and wrap around him carefully.
"Hey now, you shouldn't be movin' so much, Blue," Jazz scolded softly. "You'll hurt yourself."
Bluestreak tried to ask the questions that were gnawing at him, but his vocalizer still wouldn't work. His mouth still moved like he was speaking though and he knew Jazz could feel it when the older youngling spoke next. "What's wrong with his vocalizer, sir? I feel his lip components movin'."
"Don't call me sir, I work for a living. Just call me Ratchet and I deactivated it so his self-repair systems could fix it without me having to do any invasive procedures," the gruff voiced mech explained. "Now, if you don't get that sparkling back in the berth you'll be joining him in one."
"Good idea, doc."
Bluestreak held on tight as Jazz maneuvered onto the berth. The bigger youngling laid on his side with his arms holding the sparkling to him. Bluestreak curled up against the familiar warmth and felt the gentle rhythm of Jazz's energon pump.
"Now, if he promises to talk softly will you reactivate his vocalizer for a few cycles?" Jazz requested and Bluestreak looked up hopefully at Ratchet.
The red and white medic let out a frustrated puff of air from his vents, but quickly and gently reactivated Bluestreak's vocalizer. Immediately questions began to pour out of the sparklings vocalizer, but at a sharp look from the medic he went silent. Jazz huffed a laugh and gently rubbed Bluestreak's back, calming the sparkling once more.
"How're ya feelin', Blue?"
"Tired, sore, confused," Bluestreak listed, speaking softly this time. "Where are we?"
"We're in Iacon," Jazz answered.
"Where's Nova? Why'd we leave the Youth Sector?"
At that Jazz shot the medic a worried look. Ratchet held up a hand to forestall any questioning. Jazz subsided, though Bluestreak could feel his systems were a little more keyed up. There was tenseness in Jazz's body as he replied softly.
"Nova's gone away, Blue. She didn't want t'leave ya, but she had to," Jazz hugged the sparkling closer to him. "We left the Youth Sector because...it wasn't safe anymore."
"Why not?"
"Cyberwolves," Jazz replied. Ratchet snorted, but didn't comment.
"Oh," then Bluestreak remembered something else. "Where's Blurr and Bumper? Nova didn't take them with her, did she?"
"No," Jazz assured him quickly. "They're in their new quarters."
"Can I see them?"
"When you're fully repaired," Ratchet cut in. "And your vocalizer isn't going to heal while you're using it."
Bluestreak wanted to argue, but a stern look from Jazz squelched that. Ratchet deactivated his vocalizer again and Jazz began to stroke a gentle pattern on Bluestreak's back. The sparkling snuggled into the warmth of his guardian and let his systems start to cycle into recharge. He was just about out when he felt Jazz shift to get up. Bluestreak tightened his hold and looked up at Jazz with pleading, half shuttered optics. Jazz chuckled but settled back down and within nano-cycles Bluestreak was deep in recharge.
xxxxx
Oviously my memories of that day came back to me though Jazz and the others tried to hide it from me and the other two. Cyberwolves. The Decepticons don't even deserve that much. They're lower than any form of life I've encountered.
And I learned stellar-cycles later that Skywarp had not only murdered Nova, which of course I knew, but that he had been the very reason why the Decepticons won that day. He gave them vital information about the Autobot defenses and weaknesses. He brought death into my world. I'll never forget and never forgive. I've sworn on my spark that if it's the last thing I do it'll be taking that Primus-forsaken bastard with me.