Legends

by Nike

No one believed the Twins had met the mythical AB-1025, except for the few who knew the truth. Now the Twins find their lives entwined with that of a badly broken mech who may be the Autobots' last – and best – hope. Slash, poly. Please heed warnings.

1. Part 1: Chapter 1

Title: Legends

Author: Nike

Rating: NC-17/Mature

Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro/HasTak/anyone else with current copyright and trademark rights. This work of fiction is not intended to infringe and no money is being made off of it.

Summary: No one believed the Twins had met the mythical AB-1025, except for the few who knew the truth. Now the Twins' find their lives entwined with that of a badly broken mech who may be the Autobots last – and best – hope. Non-gendered het, slash, and poly. Various pairings stated and implied. Sticky. Please heed warnings.

Warnings: Cursing in both human and alien tongues, violence, death, war, war crimes, slavery, descriptions of systematic abuse and degradation, murder and assassination, sexual violence up to and including non-con and rape, violence and sex, sociopathy and other forms of insanity, twincest, prostitution, and relationships between some very messed up individuals.

Author's Notes: These are long. Feel free to skip over, but it will explain some things that might not be readily apparent.

This work of fiction borrows heavily from the G1, TFA, and Bayformers universes without being an outright crossover. It also borrows from any other Transformers canon I have even passing familiarity with and I added in some details of my own in an attempt to make a coherent whole. As such, certain things might not appear quite canon depending on which canon you're referring to, but I hope all instances thereof make sense in the context of this fanfic. Bonus points to anyone who recognizes the references. Oh, and there's a few OCs wandering around in the early parts.

On Time:

Nanobreem ~ small part of a breem/a moment

Breem ~ approx. 8.3 seconds – Transformer second

Cycle ~ approx. one hour

Joor ~ approx. 6 hours - Transformer hour

Solar Cycle/Earth Cycle/Cybertron Cycle ~ 1 day and 1 night, varies by planet – Transformer day

Orn ~ approx. 13 Earth days – Transformer week

Stellar Cycle ~ 1 year/time it takes the planet to circle its sun – Transformer month

Vorn ~ approx. 83 years – Transformer year (aging is based on this)

Megavorn ~ approx 8,300 years/100 vorns – Transformers are considered young, even if they are legal, until they pass their first megavorn.

On Distance:

I personally think it would make sense if a larger species measured distance differently. While Transformers have equivalent terms for distances, these distances are naturally going to be much larger than a human would make them. For example, a nanoclick is the Transformer equivalent of an inch but, in human measurements, a nanoclick would be approximately 1 yard. Thusly, it would, for instance, take a Transformer longer to go the distance of a megaclick than it would for them to go the distance of a human mile, despite them being approximately the same thing in each species' mind. With that in mind:

Nanoclick = Inch/Centimeter

Click = Yard/Meter

Megaclick = Mile/Kilometer

On Technology:

EM - The EM is an aura-like energy waste field surrounding a Cybertronian. The power signature of each EM is unique and allows for a certain level of identification, although pings are also used for etiquette and tense situations where one needs to determine friend from foe very quickly. Transformers use their EM much like humans use facial expressions and body language. It's possible to tell from the EM whether a mech's running hot (angry, passionate) or cold (sad, listless) and how open a mech is feeling. A short wave, for example, is held close to the body and is hard to make out unless one is actively looking for it, while a long wave can easily invade another mech's personal space. Friendly long waves can be akin to a hug if the EMs mesh, while angry long waves are considered rude and spiteful because it means one is pushing zie's anger into another mech's personal area, which can be painful to the sensors if the EMs are clashing. Many mechs nowadays also mimic organic facial expressions and body language in an effort to get themselves properly across to the organics whose senses are unable to see EMs.

Ferro-fluid face mask - After the discovery of sentient organics on Nebulos, ferro-fluid face masks were developed and then became a popular mod. These particular face masks consist of three parts: the face plates, the electro-magnetic field, and the ferro-fluid. The face plates act much the same as an organic's skull, providing a frame of reference as well as certain limited mobility around the mouth. The ferro-fluid is the most visible part, taking shape as the face plates and/or electro-magnetic field moves. The electro-magnetic field acts as both containment and allowing small variations to the various expressions by changing polarity in certain areas by small increments. A full-face mask is capable of an incredible variety of organic-based expressions. (Mostly, I don't see why, if we humans can use this magnetic liquid metal to do things like cool down stereo systems and hard drives, act as super-efficient shock absorbers, and create moving art, then why couldn't an advanced alien species use it to create faces not unlike what's in the cartoons?)

End Author's Notes. On to the story, or at least the part I keep thinking of as the long-ass prologue. This is just me setting things up for later.

Part 1: Alpha of War

Chapter 1

One word was enough to make a world tremble and bring an end to civilization as its inhabitants knew it.

"No."

"No?" Lord High Protector Megatron repeated in confusion. Optimus Prime found himself staring at the familiar, sleek gray frame of the mech before him, and wondered if he'd ever really known him. This was the mech he'd looked up to when he was still Orion Pax, the one he'd considered a friend and equal upon being made Prime, and the mech he'd considered a lover once Elita-1 made it clear that if he didn't mind her actions with Aeterna, then she certainly wasn't going to mind him acting upon his attraction for Megatron. He was also the mech Optimus had accused of hiding something the last time they'd interfaced, before this debacle began.

"Then bond with me, so we can have no secrets from each other," Megatron had replied with deep laugh at the time even as he'd trailed fingers down Optimus' side.

"You know I can't," Optimus had sadly replied.

"Because Elita-1 beat me to your spark. I know. You do know it's possible to be bonded to more than one individual, correct?"

"Don't tempt me, Megatron."

"Oh, I'm tempting you, am I?" Megatron had drawled with a grin.

"Yes, but not in that way. If I took a second bonded, I'd be tacitly giving both you and Elita permission to do the same, and while I might not mind what my bonded's chassis gets up to, I'm afraid I'm rather selfish about sharing my bonded's spark."

"Who says you don't deserve to be selfish once in awhile?" Megatron had asked before thoroughly distracting Optimus from the conversation. And then everything had gone wrong, leaving Optimus feeling woefully unprepared.

"You heard me, Megatron. No," Optimus repeated, wondering if he was the first person to deny Megatron anything more than once: first his spark and now his request for more mechs.

"You're refusing to do your duty, Prime?" Megatron asked with a deepening frown. Optimus frowned as well. His duty, beyond several religious ceremonies and seeing to the general chaos of everyday life, was to spark new mechs. With the population severely limited to prevent overcrowding and overstretching resources, that now only occurred when a mech died, which was a rarity these days and meant any and all sparklings were considered a joy and delight to every mech fortunate enough to be around one. Still, as the Keeper of the Matrix and Protector of the Allspark, the two Primus-given objects capable of creating new sparks, it was solely the Prime's duty.

"I am not refusing to do my duty, Megatron. There will be new sparklings to replace the mechs who died recently, but they will be civilians and not part of your army, considering you are the reason we now have twenty dead mechs to begin with!" Optimus replied hotly. Since the end of the last Quintesson War, which had ended vorns before Optimus had been sparked, twenty dead was unheard of. Vorns could pass before a mech died, and when they did it was either because the individual in question was ancient or because of some accident.

"It is not my fault they were foolish enough to die," Megatron growled. Optimus hated that Megatron said that, hated that anyone truly believed that. To believe death only resulted from stupidity took away from the fact that sometimes the individual was at no fault other than being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It meant denying that the universe was a chaotic place no one could truly plan for, and if one denied the chaos, then one usually believed one could control the universe. After all, anything that wasn't chaotic could be controlled. Optimus didn't believe that and disliked people who did. It also didn't change one fundamental thing.

"They died because you chose to lead an attack on Nebulos. Nebulos! They've been our allies since before the last Quintesson War, and you attacked them unprovoked!" And since the war had been over since before Optimus himself had been sparked, that meant there had been generation upon generation of the short-lived Nebulons who had lived with the knowledge that Cybertronians were friends, only to have that trust abruptly shattered.

"They were planning on attacking us and it is my duty as Lord High Protector to eliminate threats to Cybertron!"

"Do you have proof of this threat?" a new voice interjected. Optimus found himself relaxing as the smaller mech done up in black and white strode forward. Optimus had to put up with questions of all sorts when he'd first hired the very young mech to act as head of planet-wide security and emergency services, but no one could deny that Prowl was spark-gifted in all the areas needed to do an excellent job. Even now, he was being fair and logical.

"The Nebulons destroyed it during the fight," Megatron said in disgust, although whether it was aimed at Prowl or the Nebulons was anyone's guess.

"How unfortunate," Prowl replied, ferrofluid mask and EM field utterly still and emotionless as if he was stating a simple fact. Knowing Prowl, he probably was. Megatron eyed the much smaller mech, as if waiting for something to betray some emotion: a flicker of an optic or a twitch of one of the wing-like appendages Prowl's sensor array formed when in bipedal mode. Optimus knew Megatron was looking in vain. Prowl could keep utterly still when dealing with the chaotic maelstrom caused by a chemical spill and not a single mech, not even the Lord High Protector himself, was going to phase him.

"Yes, unfortunate, but it is now up to the Council to decide whether I did the right thing or not," Megatron said. And the Council was hotly debating the topic the last Optimus checked. Morally, it was reprehensible, but the resulting flow of goods and energy into the market was making its mark. Quite a large number of mechs, especially the poor ones, loved cheap energon and were making that clear to their Council representatives. It was the ones who could afford to take a moral stance (or had actually visited Nebulos) that were fully against what Megatron had done.

"Legally, yes," Prowl agreed, "But morally, no. There is a precedent for Primes to take a moral stance on an issue being debated in the Council and acting upon it. Until the Council decides and legally enforces their decision, Optimus Prime has every right to refuse your request. It is, after all, his job to decide who gets sparked and where."

Optimus quickly tried to hide his surprise when he realized what Prowl was essentially saying: if he sparked the twenty new mechs and placed them before the Council made their decision – and it was starting to look like when they forgave Megatron rather than if – then no one could do a thing about it. Megatron was quick on the uptake as well. The look he gave Optimus made the Prime take a step back, it was so full of malice and hate. For the first time in his life, Optimus Prime found himself frightened of Megatron, and he felt relieved when the slightly larger mech turned and stomped away.

Once the door slammed close behind him, Prowl said, "Good riddance."

"You've never liked him," Optimus observed.

"No, he's never liked me, ever since he learned he can't control me. He was only willing to put up with me because I obey you and he believed he had you under his control. Now that you're proving otherwise…" Prowl trailed off before turning and looking Optimus in the optics and saying, "I'd work fast, if I were you, sir."

No one could feel it yet, but the tremors had begun.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Bunch of old fuddy-duddies," Alpha Trion growled as he left the Council Chambers and fell in step beside Optimus Prime. Optimus gave the Ancient a startled look.

"Pardon me, sir, but aren't you the oldest member of the Council?"

"Of course I am! That's why I can get away with calling them that. I may be an Ancient, but they act like they are. The lot of them are too comfortable in their old age to risk the status quo and too young to realize that sometimes risking the status quo's exactly what needs to be done! Bah!" Alpha Trion suddenly came to a screeching halt quite literally.

"Are you alright, sir?" Optimus asked, worried and trying to help as the very old mech limped over to a nearby seat.

"It's my old joints again. Surprised I'm not falling apart at the seams. Here, take this lubricant and give my knee joints a good squirt, will you? There's a good lad."

Optimus accepted the unsubspaced lubricant spray and cleaning rag and knelt before the Ancient to better see what he was doing.

"Oh, if only I could get you to kneel like that in front of me," a new voice playfully interjected. Optimus didn't bother turning, his sensor array including secondary optical units and the newcomer's ping letting him know who it was.

"Hello, Quicksilver," Optimus replied politely as he sprayed Alpha Trion's first joint and quickly mopped up the spillage before working it into the joint.

"Ah, that's good, lad. And you, don't tell me a pretty Collector like yourself is jealous of an old rust pile like me?"

"Oh, but I am," Quicksilver replied cheerfully. "When I'm not acting as the Collective's Council representative, I'm supposed to be gathering information from important figures like our lovely Prime here. And you have no idea how hard it is to get Optimus to stop long enough to interface with me."

"You ask more often than is strictly necessary for information gathering," Optimus grumbled as he started on Alpha Trion's second leg joint.

"How would you know what's necessary? And how do you know I don't ask so often because you keep putting me off?"

"My bonded has first claim," Optimus replied, trying to deflect the Collector's questions.

"And Megatron has second?"

Optimus did turn and face Quicksilver at that. The Collector was a very pretty mech, all liquid-shiny silver except for the blue sun-like Collective mark, with filigree on his panels and even, in some places, replacing the panels in order to provide teasing glimpses of the protoform underneath. Collectors were information gatherers and the best way to gather large amounts of data very quickly was still a direct hard-line, which meant interfacing. Colloquially, the Collectors were referred to as pleasure bots and the Collectors did nothing to deny that. Then again, no one messed with a Collector unless they wanted to be on the bad side of the Collective and with the amount of information they'd already gathered, the Collective ran pretty much everything these vorns.

"What do you know about Megatron?"

"I interface with him regularly. It's my job, as I've already stated. He doesn't put up nearly as much of a fight as you do, either," Quicksilver replied, inspecting the polish on his finger joints as he replied. Optimus stood, absently handing Alpha Trion back the lubricant and cloth.

"Then you know Megatron was hiding something just before he attacked Nebulos," Optimus said.

Quicksilver gave Optimus a calculating look and Optimus was reminded why he didn't like having to deal with the Collective in general and Quicksilver in particular. Collectors were Collective-bonded. All Collective mechs were, from the Collectables who acted as super-computers to the Enforcers who acted as the Collective's own police force. The Collective bond meant every Collective member knew what all the other Collective members did and, despite appearances, Collectors like Quicksilver tended to be very intelligent.

"You're planning something and don't want anyone to know," Quicksilver stated as he violated Optimus Prime's personal space, aura-like EM expressing desire. Optimus stumbled back until his back came into contact with a pillar, Quicksilver matching him stride for stride.

"Um… Quicksilver, now is not the time," Optimus stated uncomfortably as the smaller mech stroked sensitive areas.

"Oh, but you've got me all intrigued now," Quicksilver said, ferrofluid mask reforming into a pout. "You know how I get about new data."

"Quicksilver, the fewer who know the better, which means interfacing with you at this time is not an option."

"It has to do with the Council's decision about Megatron, doesn't it?" Quicksilver asked with a frown as he took a step back, out of the Prime's reach, before suddenly smiling again, "But afterwards, you can share the information?"

"I… yes," Optimus admitted. Quicksilver's EM and ferrofluid mask went utterly still in the way it only did when the Collector was in direct contact with the Collective, then the silver mech became animated again.

"Very well. The Collective will let you keep your secrets until after the decision is reached. But I get you first immediately afterwards."

"Alright," Optimus agreed with a sigh, knowing he wouldn't get anything better than that. Quicksilver smiled before sauntering off.

"Well, that's the Collective off your back for now. If Megatron goes to them for information about what you're doing, they'll deny all knowledge of it, even if they suspect the truth," Alpha Trion observed.

"Yes. Now I need to ask you about preparing the Sparking Chambers…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"How are the protoforms coming, my old friend?" Optimus asked. Ratchet grunted in reply, working on a weld, even as the other medics scrambled to acknowledge their Prime. The newer ones looked horrified that Ratchet was still working, but that was why Optimus had chosen the slightly older mech to be in charge of medical services. In addition to being one of, if not the best, medics on the planet, the patients always came first with Ratchet no matter who else was there or who he was working on. When Optimus and another mech had been injured at the same time, Ratchet had chosen to fix the worst off which had been the other mech, to much consternation. Optimus wouldn't have it any other way.

Finishing the weld, Ratchet looked up and said, "They'd go faster if you weren't in here distracting my help."

"My apologies. I merely wanted an ETA, but considering the nature of what we're doing, I didn't want to comm. you."

"You mean the work you're not trusting with the manufacturers with? You bought a bunch of slagging cheap drones from all over the place and are expecting me to get them spark-ready in a far too short amount of time, Prime."

"Again, I apologize, Ratchet, but if we don't keep it secret and do this soon, it won't be done at all."

"You really believe that, don't you?" Ratchet said with a frown.

"With all my spark, old friend."

"Humph. If you'll get out of the way, we should have them done by the end of the solar cycle and at the Allspark Temple by early the next. Now leave!" Ratchet growled, waving a wrench threateningly. Optimus took the hint and ducked out of the room, only to run into an angry Elita-1.

"Ratchet, where's a private place the Prime and I can talk?" she called out, optics not leaving Optimus for a moment. Without looking up, Ratchet sent a comm. with a map, a security code, and a brief note that as long as that code was up, no one would bother them. Elita sent back a thank you before dragging Optimus off to the room and locking it with the security code.

"You know you're not supposed to dodge me and Aeterna. Especially not Aeterna when I'm busy leading the femmes."

"My apologies, beloved."

Elita shook her head. "How are we supposed to guard you if you won't let us? What are you up to that you don't want us involved?"

Optimus felt guilty, realizing he hadn't told either femme about what was going on in his effort to keep things secret. Traditionally, the small, fast, and deadly femmebuilds were the bodyguards of leading figures and the lead bodyguard of the Prime led the femmes. They obeyed no other, and Elita had gained the position automatically because she wasn't going to let another be in charge of her bonded's safety. Technically, as Prime's other bodyguard and Elita's sometimes lover, Aeterna was second-in-command and he really should have told her instead of dodging her.

"I am truly sorry, Elita. You were busy and I didn't think to tell Aeterna because I was trying to get this done as fast and silently as possible."

"What are you doing? That's an awful lot of protoforms Ratchet's working on. Are you planning on sparking them all?"

"Yes, before Megatron manages to get back into the Council's good graces. Traditionally new mechs are sparked to replace the ones that died, but considering Megatron's actions are what killed them, I'm going to give the new sparklings to the others who've requested. I can only do that now before the Council makes its decision."

"How do you know the Council will side with him?" Elita asked with a frown.

"I don't for certain," Optimus admitted with a sigh, "They may yet surprise me, but I'm not willing to take that chance, beloved."

"He made you angry with his actions, didn't he?" Elita stated, going straight for the reasoning behind this.

"Yes," Optimus admitted, "And I suspect he's so used to getting his way that it hasn't even occurred to him that not even he should waste life like that. This will hopefully be a wakeup call. At the very least, it might make him reconsider sending his troops to die if he knows they won't be easily replaced."

"Who knows about this?" Elita asked after a thoughtful pause.

"Prowl – it was his idea – Ratchet of course, Alpha Trion, and now you. I was planning on telling the new mentors late this solar cycle so they can come to the temple early the next. Quicksilver and the Collective might suspect. I can never tell what they do and do not know. I think Megatron also suspects, but he hasn't said or done anything. Indeed, I haven't seen him recently and that concerns me."

"You should tell your brother," Elita said suddenly and firmly. Optimus made his optics blink even as confusion colored his EM.

"Ultra Magnus? Why?"

"He wasn't involved in the Nebulos business. He retired to a civilian life just before, right?"

"Yes, he did."

"I know he was angry about the attack, and something tells me we'll need as much help tomorrow as we can get. I'm also placing my femmes as guards around the temple and you don't get any say on the matter."

"Of course not, Elita. I wouldn't dare," Optimus replied, sounding amused. Elita kissed the smile on his face.

"Now go on and get this crazy plan of yours going," she ordered, "And next time, tell me first!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you certain that this is the wisest course of action?" Ultra Magnus asked his brother as he watched the medics unload the finished protoforms into the Sparking Chambers. "The Council has yet to make their decision, after all."

"That's why it must be done now, and quickly," Optimus Prime replied as he continued with the preparations. Alpha Trion, who acted as the keeper of the Allspark Temple, normally did this, but he'd only had time to get started and give Optimus some last minute instructions before he'd had to show up at the Council Chambers in order to allay suspicion. Ultra Magnus watched him uncomfortably. Having been sparked early on in the last Quintesson War as a replacement for a dead soldier, Ultra Magnus was a good hundred vorns older than Optimus, who had been the next sparkling their mentor had raised. It didn't sit well with him to go against the Council he'd served for so long.

Ultra Magnus had never liked being a soldier, despite being sparked for it. Finally, within the past few vorns, he'd managed to strike a deal. A mech in the merchant class had died, and Magnus had requested his brother, Optimus, and his boss, Megatron, instead let him take the place of the dead merchant and the newly sparked mech take Magnus's place in Megatron's ranks. The deal was accepted and Magnus retired to the civilian life he'd always wanted. Now he was a merchant and quite enjoying it, but felt guilty he hadn't been there to talk sense into whatever idiot had thought attacking Nebulos had been a good idea.

Ultra Magnus still wasn't sure why he was at the Allspark Temple or even in the holy city of Simfur anyway. Elita and Optimus had implied it was to support his brother in his actions, actions he wasn't certain he truly supported considering it required sneaking behind the Council's back, but mostly he felt useless.

The head medic shouting, "Be careful with that, slaggit!" made Ultra Magnus pay closer attention to the medics. The average medic-build was designed to be sturdy enough to lift a mech, but they also had to be small enough to work on delicate wires and circuits. The largest protoform, which looked to be a heavy-duty construction-build, was giving them troubles. The head medic suddenly looked over at Magnus, appraising his large soldier's build.

"You, quit standing around. Get over here and help!"

"Me?" Ultra Magnus replied, startled.

"Yes, you idiot! Now move it!"

"It'd be a good idea to obey Ratchet before he starts throwing things at you. He has remarkable aim," the dark green and purple femme that had been introduced to him as Aeterna said with a smirk. Said femme was obviously standing guard over Optimus, which had added to Ultra Magnus's feeling of uselessness. Even he knew how long he could stand up to a well-trained femme, and it wasn't long at all. Taking the femme's advice, Magnus went over to help lift and carry the large protoform to the Sparking Chambers.

A cycle later, the protoforms were in the Sparking Chamber, basic programming downloaded and spark casings open and ready. Their future mentors had all finally arrived and were now standing proprietarily over their soon-to-be sparklings. The femmes including Elita and Aeterna and excluding the ones guarding the outside of the temple, the medics including Ratchet, and Ultra Magnus were all acting as the audience. Magnus felt nervous as Optimus started the traditional incantations, glad they were short and succinct. While he'd never witnessed a sparking before, he knew Optimus had never sparked a group this large before.

"Welcome to all who stand within these chambers, whether you have come here for a specific reason or just to observe. We come this cycle to stand before Primus as we claim a small part of His spark to create new life in His image. May he bless them," Optimus stated gravely before turning and pressing a hand against the Allspark in an odd pattern, something he'd no doubt been shown when he'd first become the Prime.

Ultra Magnus heard several of the gathered mechs gasp. He only just prevented himself from doing the same. Optimus was glowing brightly from his optics to the farthest reach of his EM, which crackled with power where it came into contact with the atmosphere of the rest of the world. Watching his younger brother standing there, Ultra Magnus was prepared to believe in Primus again.

"Bring forth the first," Optimus said, sounding like muted thunder. The new mentors shuffled and shifted before the yellow construction-build brought up the large protoform that was to be his sparkling. Optimus smiled at them before reaching out. The crackle of power on the edge of the Prime's EM gathered around his fingers before he gently pushed it into the spark chamber. The little ball of power separated off and glowed brightly before the spark casing automatically snapped shut in response to suddenly awakening protocols now that the protoform had a power source. The paint nanytes activated, turning a dusty green, before the blue optics on-lined.

"Live well and free," Optimus said, still smiling as the sparkling on-lined.

"Come on, Bulkhead. Lets get out of the way so the others can have their turn," the new mentor said softly, gently helping the wobbly if very large sparkling stand and walk to the edge of the chambers while the next one quickly took their place. Later, the mentors would use the sparklings' medical port where the back of the helm met the neck to download more specific protocols involving society and their expected place in it, as well as the more specific dangers of the world. For now, they knew enough to obey and trust any mech who was gentle towards them and were satisfied by looking around in utter curiosity or playing with some of the toys purposely placed at the edges of the Sparking Chambers to keep new sparklings occupied. Magnus found himself grinning as the large green sparkling pushed curiously against a fabric doll imported from Nebulos only to squeak and hide behind his mentor when the doll gave at his push. Said mentor chuckled and picked up the doll.

"Don't be afraid, Bulkhead. It's a toy. It can't hurt you," the yellow construction-build said before gently touching the toy to the sparkling's arm. "See, it can't even scratch you."

The sparkling looked at it before gingerly picking up the toy from his mentor's open hand. "Squishy!"

"Yes, it's very squishy. You have to be careful with it, or you might damage it. There are lots of things you'll need to be careful around, so always be gentle," the mentor said.

Ultra Magnus found himself nodding. These first few joors were important to a sparkling's formation. They imprinted on whoever they saw the most of the first few breems, and were very curious. What they learned greatly affected who they'd become. It was a good idea to make a larger mech aware of smaller and more breakable things in this time frame if you didn't want the said mech to bring about damage through sheer carelessness. And they were cute in those first few joors. After that, they learned to question the world around them and became little terrors, especially if you didn't train them right.

"So when are you planning on having one?" Aeterna asked quietly, making Magnus jump in surprise.

"I… hadn't thought about it."

"Hello. I'm Sunfire. What's your designation?" a minibot mentor suddenly asked curiously, having wandered over.

"Hello, Sunfire. I'm Ultra Magnus and this is Aeterna. I'm afraid I don't know your designations," Ultra Magnus said ending with a sheepish look at the construction-build and his sparkling. "I'm Grapple and this Bulkhead."

"Isn't this exciting? My mate and I were bonded less than an orn ago, and now we have a sparkling!" the minibot enthused, bouncing up and down.

"Congratulations."

"There you are! You'd best hold him for a bit as well, love, or he'll just imprint on me," a red minibot said as he arrived, a protective hold on the purple minibot sparkling he was leading about. Sunfire eagerly took the sparkling, humming a little as he stroked the sparkling's helm. The minibot sparkling gazed at him curiously before smiling a little and snuggling close, his EM field meshing happily with Sunfire's.

"Designation?" Bulkhead asked, pointing at the minibot sparkling.

"We hadn't decided on one yet. We're going to wait until we know more about this one's personality," the red minibot replied with an easy grin. "How about you? Getting along with your mentor?"

Bulkhead looked at Grapple before beaming. "Yes!"

"Good!"

Grapple chuckled before saying, "I'm going to teach him to build things, eventually. And if he has an artistic spark-gift like I do and I hope he does, I'll teach him how to make functional art."

"Art!" Bulkhead echoed, waving the toy. The minibot sparkling, who had been following said toy, suddenly made a grab for it.

"Want!"

"No! Mine!" Bulkhead screeched as he tried pulling the doll back.

"Now, now, play nice!" The resulting tussle was over quickly when the doll ripped. Ultra Magnus relaxed as the children separated. Sparklings or not, Bulkhead was big enough to cause major damage to the little minibot sparkling. It was just as well that the doll was the only thing damaged.

"I'm sorry," Sunfire apologized as he tried to sooth his upset and wildly wailing and clicking sparkling.

"Looks like we're going to have to teach the kid not to take on mechs several times his size," the red minibot stated ruefully.

"Sounds like he takes after you, love," Sunfire added cheerfully as their sparkling stopped the wailing and the clicks slowed, face still buried against Sunfire's throat.

"Hey!"

"It's okay," Grapple said even as he moved to take the broken pieces of the doll from Bulkhead. "This is why we have to be careful, Bulkhead. We can damage things easily and if it becomes too damaged, it can't be fixed and there are many things that can't be replaced. Next time, let them have the toy and then tell me and I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Okay."

"I hope that… whoa!" the red minibot cried out as the building suddenly shook. Grapple and Sunfire clutched their sparklings protectively, as did the other mentors scattered about the chambers. Ultra Magnus was aware of Optimus looking up sharply before swiftly moving to the next protoform.

"Frag it all, we're under attack," Aeterna hissed quietly next to him before quickly moving away and Magnus suddenly realized why he'd been asked to attend. Optimus hadn't put it past Megatron trying to forcibly stop this from happening.

"Head for the exit," Ultra Magnus ordered the mentors and sparklings near him even as the sound of the femmes outside returning fire could be heard just before the building shook again.

"What?! But that's gunfire!" the red minibot shouted appalled.

"Gunfire? But that would mean someone's attacking the temple!" Sunfire cried out.

"But why? Why would anyone do such a thing?" Grapple rumbled even as he held Bulkhead close.

"No time to explain! We need to evacuate! You see the ceiling?"

Grapple looked up, covered his sparkling's audials, and cursed.

"What? What's wrong?" Sunfire asked, frightened, his sparkling starting to wail as their EMs clashed in response to their fear.

"The temple wasn't designed to withstand an attack. One more good hit, and the ceiling's going to collapse," Magnus replied even as Grapple started making for the exit, pulling Bulkhead behind him. The sparkling followed obediently, but was looking back and waving as he did. The minibots exchanged glances before following. No one got far before the temple shook again and what Ultra Magnus had feared occurred. Large portions of the ceiling caved in. While Grapple managed to catch and knock away a thick piece of ceiling that nearly got him and Bulkhead, one of the pieces of falling ceiling landed on the fleeing Sunfire and the sparkling. Judging by the red minibot's sudden howl of anguish, they hadn't survived. Ultra Magnus's spark went out to them, but he didn't have time to deal with that at the moment; his first duty was to the Prime and always had been and his brother had just disappeared under some rubble.

The Primes had been built fairly sturdy ever since a Quintesson assassinated one thousands of vorns ago, so Magnus had hope Optimus was still alive. Throwing away loose rock and metal, he found Optimus kneeling in an odd position, curled around a second body. Judging by the way the paint nanytes were coming to life and forming a cheerful reddish-orange, it was the last sparkling he'd sparked. There was no sign of the sparkling's would-be mentor. Optimus groaned and looked up at his brother before shoving the sparkling at Magnus.

"Take him," the Prime ordered as Magnus was forced to take the sparkling. Optimus stood and moved away, battered and paint nanytes scraped off in several places, but still alive. Magnus opened his mouth in protest, but a whine made him look down. The sparkling had just on-lined his optics and was staring up at him. Magnus held back a curse as he realized that unless he found someone else very quickly, he was going to end up being a mentor whether he wanted to be one or not.

"Listen to me well, little one. There are people hurt here and I need to help them. Helping someone is the most important thing you can ever do. Understand?" Magnus stated gruffly. The sparkling stared for a long breem before slowly nodding. "Good. Now come on then. You can help."

~*~*~*~*~*~

People always asked Optimus Prime if Primus had ever spoken to or with him, and he'd always been forced to admit that no, Primus hadn't. This was frustrating, because then it would be used as an excuse to prove Primus didn't exist when in fact they were asking the wrong question. Why would their god speak to Optimus when said god could get his point across through sheer emotion? And it was emotion that he felt every time he activated the Allspark.

Optimus had never activated the Matrix. He'd never needed to. But the memories of past Primes whispered at him sometimes in the dark, pieces of thought and emotion, of life and death, love and joy and anger and grief. Only three of the previous multitude of Primes had ever talked to Primus, and only once had it ever been more than a quick order not easily conveyed through emotion. This was why Optimus had been startled but not entirely surprised when a powerful voice had ripped through his very being and ordered, "PROTECT THE SPARKLING." And so, he'd grabbed the protoform in front of him right before the ceiling fell on top of him. He'd felt the power from the Allspark dissipate even as he felt the sparkling in his arms come to life, and Optimus knew in a sense of grim shock that this would be the last sparkling for a long time.

Ultra Magnus freed him quickly enough, for which Optimus was grateful and he'd express his gratitude later when a leader wasn't desperately needed. In the meantime, he gave Magnus the sparkling, feeling guilty for doing so but utterly trusting his brother to protect and care for the sparkling. He then quickly moved to where he could see Ratchet working on a damaged Elita-1, who was shooting at a group of flyers through the gaps overhead.

"Prime!" Ratchet shouted upon seeing him, gesturing him over with the obvious intention of fixing him.

"I'm fine for now, Ratchet. The damage is superficial. How are you?" Optimus asked, pointedly looking at where Ratchet was leaking down one arm.

"Half of the medics I brought are dead, Prime, and there's dead and injured civilians scattered everywhere."

"So are many of my femmes," Elita-1 said darkly even as she lined up another shot. "Megatron brought an army with him, and while we're giving as good as we get, they outnumber us." She fired and the off-lined seeker crashed into the far side of the chamber.

"Listen, I want you to gather up everyone who is still alive and get them to the exit at the back of the chambers and down into the Underground," Optimus ordered.

"What will you be doing?" Ratchet asked with a frown.

"Moving the Allspark."

"Not alone, you're not," Elita-1 retorted.

"But the civilians will need protection," Optimus Prime protested.

"Aeterna and the others can handle that."

"Elita," Optimus said, touching her facemask gently, "I just want you to be safe."

"I want the same for you too, Optimus, and since my job involves making sure you are, you're not getting rid of me."

"She's got you beat, so I suggest you go along with it," Ratchet advised as he finished subspacing his tools and picked up the nearest living mech who couldn't walk.

"Thank you, Ratchet," Elita-1 said sweetly even as the two other not-as-injured mechs nearby chuckled. Then she sighted down her gun again and took another shot, cursing as it only clipped the seeker roaring overhead.

Optimus Prime carefully picked his way across the room over to the huge cube known to all Cybertronians as the Allspark. He moved with care because he knew there were mechs still buried and he didn't want to accidentally crush anyone still alive. If they survived this attack, then there was a possibility they could be rescued. The other occupants of the Sparking Chambers, or rather the ones that could move or be moved, were limping out in a ragged line. A mech with no arms was helping support one missing a leg. Another mech, broken leg dragging painfully behind, was carrying a squalling sparkling who was too young to understand what was going on and just knew that he was frightened. The other surviving sparklings were silent, but hung or clung close to the nearest adult. The roof cave-in hadn't spared them, either; the lucky ones were just dented but many were worse. Optimus Prime's spark went out to them, regretting he'd brought them into a life that was proving to be very painful.

The Allspark loomed above him now, so Optimus pressed a hand to its side, temporarily shutting down the video-feed from his optics as he focused on the emotions rushing into him. There was the ever-present sense of pure love, but there was also sadness… no, grief and understanding. An image appeared in his processor and Optimus on-lined his optics in shock before pressing where the image had shown him to. There was nothing for a long moment, and then the Allspark started shrinking in upon itself.

"I didn't know it could do that," Elita-1 said, awed that the relic was subspacing a large part of its mass.

"Here you are!" a blue and green seeker suddenly cried out in triumph as he landed in the chamber, moving without care over the rubble so that he stood between Optimus Prime, Elita-1, and the escaping civilians. A sudden cry rent the air as the red minibot, who had been lagging at the back of the group of civilians, attacked the seeker with his fists and feet. The seeker stumbled back in surprise.

"What the…?" Then the seeker realized what had attacked him. He plucked up the minibot with a sickening grin and squeezed until the minibot cried out in pain.

"Pathetic pile of scrap metal! Do you really think you can damage me? You'd need a gun at the least. Scratch that, you'd need a gun bigger than you are to take me out!" the seeker pompously told the minibot. The minibot responded by biting the seeker, dentals slicing through a few wires. The seeker made a pained noise before flinging the minibot against the wall near where the seeker's brethren had crashed earlier. Then he turned and grabbed at Optimus Prime, who'd tried to use the distraction to reach the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" the seeker snarled as he shoved Optimus Prime back. Elita-1 responded by firing on the seeker. The seeker yelped before dodging and grabbing Elita-1's gun and the arm holding said gun and crushing them. Elita-1's electronic screech of pain echoed, causing Aeterna, the last at the exit, to turn and start to head back.

"Aeterna!" Optimus shouted, throwing the small cube that was the Allspark's current form at the femme. Aeterna caught it, nodded in understanding, before fleeing through the door. The door swung shut and sealed.

"No!" the seeker screamed as he dropped Elita-1 and moved towards the door.

"Leave it," a new voice ordered. Optimus, who'd paused to help up Elita, looked up, spark sinking as he recognized the voice.

"Megatron."

"But Lord Megatron, they have the Allspark!" the seeker protested.

"And that is a quantum lock. They're heading into the Underground most likely, but they have to surface sometime. We will get the Allspark then. In the meantime, there is more than one way to create a sparkling. Isn't that right, Optimus?" Megatron said, purring the last bit as he stepped closer to Optimus.

"Over my off-lined chassis!" Elita-1 roared, leaping at Megatron. The damage she caused was minor before Megatron grabbed her and thrust her at the seeker.

"That can be arranged. Hold her."

"Elita!" Optimus called out, moving to free his bonded. Megatron grabbed him. Optimus twisted free, prompting Megatron to smack him hard enough that Optimus staggered back until he caught himself on a fallen pillar. Megatron pounced on him and started trying to pry open the plates on Optimus Prime's chest. Optimus swung and kicked at Megatron, untrained but still fighting desperately. Megatron growled and smacked Optimus again.

"If you'd just be still, this would go faster and be much less painful," the larger mech hissed. Optimus realized in shock that quickly morphed to fear, then anger, that Megatron really expected him to just lie still as Megatron forced him to bear spark after spark.

"No!" Optimus Prime roared, managing to knock Megatron back.

"Hey, airhead! This a big enough gun?"

The seeker looked and saw the red minibot with a gun bigger than he was, salvaged from the dead seeker next to him. The seeker panicked and moved right into the shot as the minibot fired. Elita-1 landed with a thump, but quickly stood, unsubspaced a new gun, and attacked Megatron again even as the minibot tried shooting him. While the first shots were wild because the minibot was untrained, he was quickly getting better. Megatron frowned and rose, distracted enough that Optimus was able to push the larger mech into the line of fire. A few of the minibot's shots damaged Megatron's right arm and leg, although the ones hitting his chassis were unable to penetrate the thick armor. It was Elita-1's shot right at Megatron's left optic that made him roar in pain. The optic was shattered, sending painful warnings all down his HUD, and the faceplates around it cracked, allowing ferrofluid to seep out like black tears.

Optimus ran, grabbing Elita-1 and then the minibot as they entered the next room and then the twisted halls of the inner temple complex. They could hear Megatron behind them when Optimus stopped and pried up a trapdoor that meshed perfectly with the floor, knocking some rubble loose as he did so.

"You first," Elita-1 ordered, pushing the minibot, still holding his huge weapon, toward the steps carved into the metallic underbelly of the temple that was normally covered by the imported stone, before pointing at Optimus, "Then you."

Optimus nodded. "Just do me a favor and shoot at the ceiling once you're nearly through the trap door."

"Why do that?" the minibot asked, pausing as he climbed down, gun clanging softly against his back before he thought to subspace it.

"It'll make the ceiling collapse the rest of the way in this section and hide the trap door if we close it quickly enough."

"Oh. Careful down here. It's kind of slick," the minibot called out to Optimus as the Prime quickly followed him down.

"Thank you… I'm afraid I can't recall your designation and your image doesn't match the list of mentors."

"That's because my bonded Sunfire was the one you called here. I'm Cliffjumper. And I didn't really do it for you, sir. Sunfire and our sparkling are among the dead up there. I wanted to die, or at least make the ones responsible hurt as badly as I do."

A rumble from above made them look up to see Elita-1 rapidly coming down, stone dust and pieces of metal that had made it through the gap showering around her. She jumped about halfway down, landing firmly, before giving Cliffjumper a look, EM registering pity and empathy.

"Where's your other trine mate?" she asked gently as they started down the sloping metal tunnel.

"We weren't a trine. We'd talked about maybe doing one eventually, but we're not going to have a chance now."

"Then how are you still alive?" Elita-1 asked, surprised. Bonded mechs didn't tend to survive losing a bonded unless they had more than one bonded to begin with. The shock of suddenly losing what felt like half their spark tended to put your average mech into a stasis lock they'd never wake up from, their systems dying as they refused fuel and other necessaries.

"I don't know. I think that, maybe, because we were bonded for less than an orn my spark might remember how to be alone. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like the Pit, if you'll forgive my language. Next time, do me a favor and don't grab me before I can die, okay?"

"I sworn worse, so don't worry," Elita-1 told him, even as she gave Optimus a concerned look over the suicidal minibot's helm. They finally reached the door leading to the Underground proper, where they had room to transform and drive.

"Elita, you lead. We cannot use the comm. frequencies and your connection to Aeterna is stronger than mine." Elita obeyed without complaint and the three of them traveled in silence amid strange shapes into the deep dark of the Underground.

~*~*~*~*~*~