Author's note: This one shot can be read on its own but this is the history I conjured up to lead into to my upcoming story, The Demon of Razgriz.
Disclaimer: I do not own transformers
The world trembled under his feet and screams of fear arose under the heavy weight of his name. Entire cities burned before his fiery gaze and generations disappeared under his lengthy shadow. If only they had known how much potential he truly possessed then maybe the takeover wouldn't have been so easy. The senate had been in control for long enough and the cries of outrage from the citizens of Kaon had been ignored for the last time.
Small spurs of uprisings weren't uncommon in the squalid city and a mere vorn ago he was nothing but a gladiator, a rebel to be loosely watched. The high and mighty political kings thought he was just another nobody, a mere blip on their radar. The pigs were too contempt with their Golden Age, too drunk with their own power and luxurious lives. How deliciously easy it was to decimate their fictitious world.
Quiet mummers of his name, of his heinous deeds and of his goals began to travel through the dirty streets at the speed of a virus. Words of confidence, of hope were spreading, words of whom could lead them out of their miserable existence and bring upon them the true Golden Age.
From the ashes he rose, sparked of a burly mech and a violated femme. He chose to escape his shameful sparkright as a bastard and his doomed existence as a slummer. These crumbling pillars barely supporting a once glorious city were filled with strong warriors whose potential were untapped. Their skills wasted on underground fights and rusty gambling floors. One mech just needed to speak a little louder than the rest, to speak of what they all felt and secretly wanted. All it had taken was a hard shove in the right direction to flip those inebriated drones around to focus their anger on one entity.
He alone unlocked the potential of Koan's citizens and united them under one banner. He alone brought them from the rusting metal of their forgotten city and laid waste to their enemies. They were his Decepticon army, and under his leadership, they soon earned the respect they deserved through laser fire and demolished cities. He, the mighty Megatron, had led them to glory and would soon erase every Autobot standing in his way to becoming ruler of Cybertron.
Megatron's tall chair shone dully, the metal seat donning patches of rust that would be hardly fit for even the lowest class citizen to consider keeping. It harbored no intricate engravings or robust colors, it was simply a slate of metal standing tall and void; but once Megatron sat in that chair, a kind of chill that froze energon lines could be felt sweeping through the room. To Megatron it was his greatest trophy, especially considering just who's chair it used to be. A certain politician he liked less than the rest and one he had made sure to deactivate with his own claws. Indeed, It was a throne fit for a king.
"My liege. I bring a message," a scratchy voice announced.
Megatron tilted his chin upon his fist and glanced down from his seated throne. His optics burned like red coals through the dark room making the kneeling red and white mech before him tremble.
"What is it Starscream?" the impatient leader rasped.
Starscream stole a glance of the navy blue shadow standing near his leader, its red visor shining towards him in the darkness. Soundwave had always been Megatron's ever vigilant bodyguard and most recently his communications specialist. Megatron was rarely seen without the mech at his side for the towering blue telepath could tell him everything his leader could not hear. Starscream had nothing to fear though, not this time anyway. He was there for a perfectly honest reason.
"Shockwave requests your personal appearance."
"Does he now? Am I to believe there has been significant progress? You know my patience is thin and I do not appreciate being bothered when there are no physical results," Megatron gave a throaty growl and a silver flash of denta plating.
Starscream was a smart mech, too smart for his own good at times, and loved experimenting. It made him an invaluable asset, and a liability. But having the willful scientist around made things that much more interesting.
"I am merely the messenger, Megatron." Starscream bowed deeply to show he knew his place.
The large military leader rose to his feet. "Messenger or not. You will be punished if my time is wasted."
Deep in the bowels Cybertron was a shadowed room illuminated only by the faint glow of computers. It was quiet save for the humming of machines and the constant tap taping of claws against a keyboard. Megatron entered the observation deck with squared shoulders and a permanent glare set into his fiery optics.
"Shockwave, this better be good news," he barked in way of greeting.
A large purple mech with one glowing red optic pulled away from the monitor. He only gave Soundwave and the unhappy looking Starscream a lingering glance before squaring respectfully with his commander's heated gaze. "My liege, I have very good news. We have broken a significant amount of ground and I believe you shall be pleased with the results."
Megatron sized up one of his most loyal warriors. This very mech had infiltrated the Autobot's political ranks and took the first step in Megatron's glorious cause. This master of disguise had single handedly murdered the Senate one by one, save a certain Prime. He took sole control of the city and allowed the Decepticon troops access to the heart of Iacon. Shockwave's underhanded techniques were not to be taken lightly.
"Very well. Let's see these results of yours," Megatron gestured halfheartedly to the mech, a gesture that flashed talons powerful enough to crush any of the helms of the mechs present
Shockwave gave a slight bow and swiftly returned to keying the computer in front of him. His clawed servos brushed across the illuminated board in a near blur and he brought up a scanned image on the massive screen built into the wall. Simultaneously, the lights of the inner facility brightened enough to be easy on the visual sensors but still dull enough to protect light sensitive parts. Megatron walked up to the slick glass of the command room and clasped a large fist behind his back. He looked out over the underground lab, his shoulders tall and spine erect as he surveyed the hundreds of rows of occupied medical berths. Each one of the uniform protoforms bore the sweeping wings that made them unique.
They were the beginnings of his bred army that would never say no to his commands, question their loyalty, or back down from a fight. They were Seekers, killing machines that would rid the sky of Arialbots forever.
"As you can see, I've completed several units already. Three hundred and sixty five mechs have been built and my most recent project has produced fifty femme's. I am downloading their core programming as we speak. I have a few completed models that I require your presence for to confirm if they fit your meticulous standards," Shockwave summarized from scrolling data charts and reports on the screen.
Megatron snapped his head in the massive purple mech's direction. "You know I won't accept any anything less than perfection."
"But of course Lord Megatron," Shockwave replied humbly.
Starscream stepped forwards and nearly put his nose to the glass. Megatron took note of his failed prototype's narrowed optics. The red and white mech had been nothing but an energon dagger in his side ever since its creation, but the drone had proved its usefulness. It's intriguing habits had at least created a break from normally stagnant routine of running his army. It was also a successful, if a bit glitched, stepping stones toward creating his army.
"Show me," Megatron ordered.
"Come this way if you please." Shockwave directed the three Decepticons to a door that led out onto the facility floor. Their footsteps vibrated heavily in the large room, but were still lost to the loud clank of machinery.
Megatron was assaulted with the acrid scent of burnt energon and metal bubbling under a laser pen, and solvents of all kind seeped into his ole factory sensors. He couldn't help but curl his lips in satisfaction as the smells triggered his memory core, scenes from countless battle fields filling his processor.
Starscream, who was usually chatty in his own right, was being uncharacteristically silent as he brought up the rear. He always fell quiet when entering the facility, his optics darting around the laboratory as unpleasant memories rushed forth. As the first seeker he had observed his brothers and sisters being built, experimented, and tested on. The process should have been excruciating, there should have been screams echoing around the walls like his had once done. It was eerily quiet.
A bright flash at the back of the facility caught his optic and Starscream turned his helm just as a white light disappeared from the shafts of a slit window. Hidden from view and behind a sealed door, he knew sparks were being created in the very room his had been created in. It was all done by a technology that had thought to be lost long ago. Somehow, Shockwave recovered the lost technology and restored it for Megatron's use. Starscream curled his servos into a fist.
Megatron followed Shockwave to a line of berths filled with armored protoforms lying listlessly with their chest cavities held wide open. They were connected to various machines and liquid tubes that kept their sparks beating. Scientists, engineers, and medics were seeing to the functionality of the sparks in the frames. They were there to make sure the spark would receive the body. Only sixty percent survived the transfusion, the other forty percent refused the programming being forced on it and in varying ways the spark would either violently rip apart and explode under the strain of resistance, or it would simply snuff out with barely a whimper.
Megatron stopped by a white medic tending to a wavering spark within the casing of a femme as it tried to resist its assimilation. Shockwave stopped his them and motioned towards the medics handy work. He stood by respectfully while Megatron leaned over to watch the glowing, crackling sphere of white energy twist, swirl, and pull with the strain of its new cage. It grew and shrank dangerously within its chamber.
The drone's stocky medic ignored the entourage and worked furiously on altering fluids and the strength of electrical charges, doing all he could to stabilize the spark. The mech's red optics pulled angrily in a concentrated scowl as the spark began to shrink considerably. With clenched denta plates the medic sent a controlled pulse of energy through the frame and into the spark. It shimmered and dulled even more, eliciting a curse from the medic. He was about to send another pulse of energy through the body when Starscream stepped forwards and easily shoved the smaller Decepticon aside.
"Out of my way," he snapped.
"What the frag are you doing? Get away from that!" the medic roared and pounced at Starscream.
When not even his brute strength could remove the Seeker he looked up angrily at Megatron who simply stood by with a look of intrigue. Starscream placed his servos against the keyboard and typed a code into the machine. With rapid succession he grabbed a syringe and inserted the glowing liquid directly into one of the body's main energon lines. The frame convulsed on the berth and the spark within flared dangerously bright. Only a few micro seconds passed before the frame fell still and the spark dimmed in a stabilized and healthy glow. It had accepted the drone programming.
Starscream allowed the angry medic to push him out of the way to examine the newly pulsing spark. Starscream stepped back and took his place back in the shadow of his commander and tightly crossed his arms over his chest.
"It appears you're losing your touch, doctor. I may just have to replace you with a drone," Megatron drawled, in amusement.
The white mech tensed knowing full well the threat was anything but empty and wisely kept his mouth components shut.
Megatron leaned forwards once again and hovered over the exposed spark of the new Seeker. The white glow of the pulsating energy that gave life to all Cybertronians glowed off Megatron's gunmetal gray frame and created dark shadows in the crevices of his sharp armor. His ruby optics glinted in satisfaction as he towered over his newest soldier. The creation of drones had been illegal for vorns, it was too bad he was the only one who saw their potential.
"Shall we continue my liege?" Shockwave inquired, his tone hiding his impatience.
Megatron took a leisurely step back. "Yes. We shall continue."
Soundwave turned his gaze silently from the exposed spark and followed his leader as the four of them continued forwards. All but the navy blue Communications Officer missed the burning glare sent to their backs by the white medic, but he made no comment to this small look of defiance.
Shockwave stopped at a metal door and entered a pass code to slide it open. Their audios were suddenly assaulted by an energon curdling scream that made Soundwave stand straighter and Starscream to curl his metallic lips into a silent snarl. Megatron didn't react in the slightest as he entered the energon splattered room with the calm of a mech merely stepping outside for fresh air.
Tools hung from the ceiling, casting sharp shadows about the vicinity as the sound of a drill squealed over a shrieking mech. A green medic was hunched over the frame of a tied down seeker with his servos deep in the drone's entrails. The black and purple Seeker withered under the restraints, its voice growing horse from the strain on his new vocals.
Against the far wall six Seekers stood stoic and silent. Their expansive wings that swept proudly behind their shoulders forced them to stand half an arm's length apart. They towered over all of the mechs in the room, save for Megatron himself. All of them were watching the screaming Seeker with hungry optics.
Megatron stepped up to his small army and their attention snapped to their encoded leader. Megatron reached out and ran a marveling claw down one of their chests. The seeker didn't so much as flinch as the commander's servo left a sharp groove right above its spark chamber. Megatron smiled wickedly. His warriors from Kaon were strong and brutal, but he had needed something more, something unnervingly powerful with unyielding devotion that didn't have a mind of its own yet was regal enough to bear his insignia. Something that could seize the very skies.
"You have outdone yourself Shockwave. I am impressed," he purred.
"Thank you Lord Megatron," the cyclops bowed deeply to the rare praise. "Unfortunately, I have two more hiccups that made their way through the system." He gestured to the far side of the room.
In the corner, standing in a pool of dried energon, was a cobalt Seeker who stood with its shoulders taught and head hung. Dried energon was splattered about its frame and caked between the joints.
A loud bang and a terror filled screech shifted Megatron's attention.
"Quit screaming you maggot! You're done."
The green medic slammed the black and purple seeker down on the table as the drone's chest closed before the medic released the restraints. The drone jumped up and tried to run away but it was grabbed roughly by the wing, paralyzing it. The medic threw the weakened drone unkindly towards the wall. The cobalt Seeker reacted and caught the purple and black one before they both could fall over. The black Seeker pushed its body against its taller counterpart and shook violently in its grasp. Its fearful ruby optics darted around the room before finally resting on Megatron who was watching the pair with indifference.
"Those two managed to keep their personality programs intact I'm afraid," Shockwave reported shamefully.
Megatron eyed them closely. "What are their abilities?"
"The blue one, designation: 12124, has the ability to channel sonic blasts that are powerful enough to bring down buildings and destroy sensitive circuitry. The black one, designation: 12137, as you just saw being installed, now possesses a prototype warping component which allows it to open an internal warp gate and use it to jump several klicks through present space. It is unclear how far it will actually allow the body to move or what the long term effects will be," Shockwave noted.
There was a moment of pause. "Starscream," Megatron barked.
His prototype stepped forwards to show his attention had been caught. "Yes my lord?" he bit out.
"Remember how I promised you the position of Air Commander?"
"How could I forget?" Starscream answered with a different kind of glint passing through his optics.
"Take these two other failures to the brig and get them under control. If you can accomplish that small task then you can keep them to do with as you wish."
"I am honored, Lord Megatron." He gave a slight bow.
"Don't get used to it," His commander sneered.
Ignoring the comment, Starscream stepped forwards and both Seekers locked optics with him. The cobalt one stared back with hazy optics hiding swirling desperation and the black Seeker sent him a silent plea as well.
"Follow me if you want to live," Starscream commanded.
The two drones looked at each other and both of their red optics burned through the hazy light in silent understanding. The cobalt one returned its gaze first and nodded slowly at Starscream.
Starscream turned on his thrusters and briskly walked past the ever watchful Megatron and his silent Communications officer. The cobalt seeker took a step forwards but stopped when the tug of the black drone halted him. They locked optics again and 12124 nodded reassuringly. That was all it took for the black Seeker to release its grip and follow.
Starscream led the two Seekers back through the facility, past the wavering new born sparks fighting for their identity, and past the tables full of dissected parts spilling with wires and entrails. The black seeker kept its claws tightly clenched around the cobalt's arm and 12124 didn't seem to have the spark to push the other away.
They reached the elevator and Starscream punched in the pass code before ushering them in with a wave of his claws. He stepped in after them and the door closed, blocking the occasional clanking of the facility. He turned to observe the two seekers that were watching with a mix of fear and hope swirling like a pool of plasma in their optics.
The scientist lifted a clawed hand into view and flexed the strong talons into a caged fist. He felt his own circuits burn at the thought of his brothers struggling for their life below his feet and narrowed his optics.
"From now on you are to call me Commander Starscream and you will follow my orders without question. Understood?"
There was a pause and Starscream looked up to meet their optics. Simultaneously they nodded, each with a new light burning in their ruby orbs.
They had reached an understanding.