Consequences of Yellow Sun
Author's Notes: Well, I wanted to write a gift-fic for my friend Sulktora Storm Dragoness. Unfortunately, not only did I severely underestimate how much time I had to write and how much I actually needed, but I could not think of anything to write with her favorite pairings. After about a month of searching, I finally (accidentally) found something that, while it did not quite fit my criteria, looked interesting and that I felt I could write. Rather amusingly (to me), it was an unfilled prompt from a 2011 August challenge at the primescream community over on LiveJournal. I assumed that the lovely people over there wouldn't mind me making off with their prompt, and decided to write it.
Hope you like it, Storm! Merry Belated Christmas, and Happy New Year!
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Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or the plot bunny.
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With an experienced eye, Optimus Prime surveyed the site of the next battle. According to Teletraan 1, the Decepticons would be arriving at the secluded and already evacuated power plant within the next five standard minutes, and when they did, the Autobots would be ready for them.
Quietly, Optimus ex-vented and wished for there to be no hostilities. No war, no real fighting, no impending battle… Alas, none of that wishing appeared to be forthcoming, and he resolutely pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind. At least, he mused, Earth has been wonderful for us.
That was actually an understatement. Earth and her bounties had been fantastic for the beleaguered Autobots. Teletraan 1 worked perfectly in detecting troubles, and the Terran authorities, broadcasts, and other methods of communications aided its efforts immensely. As the Decepticons were forced to live in the dark depths of the ocean, fighting had even become less common due to them preserving their resources. However, Earth had more than enough fuel to spare for her friends. With the Autobots taking great pains to be helpful and nonthreatening, the majority of government officials fortunately had no qualms in supplying their allies' basic needs.
Finally, the world simply felt amazing. Not only was the world simply teeming with life of all sorts, but the sunlight that bombarded the planet was almost intoxicating. Various members of the crew had taken up "sun-bathing," and on any sunny afternoon, at least five mechs would be lounging on the ground outside. Optimus often found himself joining them, either bringing datapads with him or simply soaking up the rays.
"Prime, incoming!"
The call jerked Optimus out of his thoughts. Automatically, he curled into a ready position and scanned the horizon. Spotting the incoming dots, he stepped forward. "Autobots, roll out!"
Several seconds later, the Decepticons arrived, spewing laser blasts as they fell from the sky. The seekers mostly stayed in the air, taking potshots at the few lone Autobots, while the grounders immediately rushed into hand-to-hand combat with their foes.
"Well, Prime," Megatron spit out nastily, "it looks like you have finally managed to use whatever intelligence you have. But don't expect that unusual competency to help you in a fight!"
Ex-venting, Optimus resignedly faced his foe before replying heroically, "Our intelligence has always been excellent, Megatron. But yours seems to have fallen recently! Shall we see if that carries into your fighting abilities?"
On second thought, that was probably more childish than heroic, but it worked just as well at goading the other leader into a fight. Quickly, the Prime dodged the initial strike and immediately followed through with a punch of his own. As Megatron slid back several meters, Optimus found his optics drawn to Starscream, who had landed and was now providing cover-fire for their fight. The Decepticon Air Commander stood relatively calmly, shooting only when necessary and limiting his vicious vitriol to only a few barbs.
Roaring in fury, Megatron lunged at his foe, and to Optimus' surprise, he felt something solidify within himself. Quick as a whip, he dealt the other leader several devastating blows, flinging him to ground with an astonishing amount of force. Before he could stagger to his feet, the Autobot leader stood over him, slamming mighty fists into vulnerable spots along the familiar grey chassis. That same, strange feeling coaxed him into holding himself proudly, even while mercilessly beating a downed mech. Optimus also found himself taking care to dodge any energon that seeped or spurted from his foe's body, for no logical reason that he could realize.
Suddenly, a spray of laser fire from Starscream's position forced him to leap backwards. He watched admiringly as the seeker swiftly took control of the fight, ensuring that the much larger Prime stayed back until several Decepticons had managed to steal away their leader from the unfavorable fight.
Smirking, Starscream called in a proud, mocking tone, "Well, Prime? Is that the best you can do? Or perhaps," he added somewhat sarcastically, "you were merely distracted by the magnificence that is myself to do anything better?"
"Yes."
The unexpected reply shocked Optimus as much as Starscream, who floundered for a moment before suspiciously shrieking, "Retreat!"
As the Decepticons raced off, Optimus watched them leave pensively, and with a disconcerting feeling of disappointment. He simply could not understand why he would feel that, or what had come over him while fighting Megatron. Yes, he had always found fliers fascinating, seekers most of all. And yes, he had always respected Starscream for his brilliance and numerous accomplishments; he had not always appreciated how they were applied, but he respected them nonetheless. However, those facts should not have had any noticeable effect on him, let alone blatant behavioral changes!
Evidently, he would have to keep a close optic on himself.
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The next battle between the Autobots and Decepticons went well; with one exception, no one was seriously injured, and the Decepticons left quickly. Not coincidentally at all, Optimus found himself overtaken by that odd sensation once again, and quickly beat Megatron into a sparking heap before Starscream demonstrated his acute intellect and came up with a rather original plan.
It took Optimus half-an-hour stagger back to the now-Decepticon-free battlefield after Devastator punted him several hundred meters through the air.
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The second-next battle was fairly typical for the war. Cliffjumper, Sideswipe, and several Decepticons all received severe injuries, and the leaders got into a knock-down, drag-out fight. For whatever reason, none of the seekers had appeared this time, and neither had Optimus' brutal determination. Unhappily, he concluded that the two were undeniably related and resolved to visit Ratchet if it happened again.
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The fourth battle was abruptly interrupted by Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Smokescreen getting into a tangled, snarling, unintelligible brawl with Thundercracker and all of the Combaticons but Blast Off. Once pried apart, all parties refused to explain what had precipitated the event, but Swindle and Skywarp were observed to be unusually jumpy for the next few standard weeks.
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While neither command realized it, the fifth battle was a lost cause straight from the start.
Shortly after starting what appeared to be a typical conflict, Optimus watched in shock as the Aerialbots formed Superion and the Protectobots formed Defensor completely without his approval. Comming Prowl produced no answers, and the officers could only watch as both sets of younglings totally ignored orders to return and explain themselves. Instead, the Autobot gestalts plunged into the clustered Constructicons, rendering three unable to battle within moments.
"Combaticons! Transform into Bruticus!"
Tuning out the familiar cry, Optimus searched for the remaining, unaccounted for Decepticon gestalt. Apparently, ignoring orders was par for the course today; Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had already taken out Motormaster and Wildrider and had now turned their attention to seemingly mindless destruction. Bruticus roaring a challenge to the sky drew the Prime's attention back to the middle of the field, which is when yet another instance of insubordination occurred.
A blast of energy from Bluestreak's favorite rifle lanced from his vantage point, hitting Bruticus with deadly accuracy. Two more beams flashed, and Thundercracker and Skywarp fell the ground, trailing smoke all the way. As the dust settled and the crashing subsided, a terse silence fell over the whole battlefield.
For all of five seconds before Defensor matter-of-factly broke it. The behemoth clomped towards the extraordinarily disoriented mechs, plucked both seekers, Onslaught, Swindle, and Brawl into his arms, and stomped away.
Optimus' comm chirped, and Bluestreak's voice broke through his stupefied processor. ::Hello, sirs! Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Smokescreen, and myself will be heading back to the Ark now.:: Scanning the area, Optimus noted without surprise that all three mechs had somehow managed to sneak to the edge of the field and were now driving away. ::Yes, we did most certainly plan this; we put it together after the debacle last fight. But honestly, I think that anyone could have done it. I mean, pretty much everyone has been getting "frisky" recently; Prowl and Jazz certainly have, but they're already bonded. Same thing with Ratchet and Wheeljack. My partners-in-crime and I noticed that the rest of us, those who aren't bonded, have been getting rather handsy too, including in battle. That's actually what started that shebang last time: jet judo gone wrong and Smokescreen getting a little too personal for Swindle's battlefield sensibilities.
::Anyway, we're not entirely sure why we have the urge get down and hopefully propagate the species, but we figured that we won't get anywhere by following the rules. So punish us if you want; we take full responsibility for our actions and the actions of Superion and Defensor. Please don't get mad at the younglings. We had to give them some fantastic bribes before they would do this, and they only made our task easier; we would have done it anyway.
::Oh! And two more things. First, as far as we can tell, the Protectobots, Aerialbots, and Dinobots are the only Autobots who don't have these urges to some degree or another. We'll let Ratchet make of that what he will. Second, feel free to ask Superion everything that you need to know. Over and out!::
With that, the comm shut off abruptly, leaving Optimus reeling from informational overload while his second took control. "Well?" Prowl demanded from the giant.
Superion shrugged calmly. "It's really quite simple. As he said, all of the Autobots, excepting us younglings, have been quite restless and rather randy recently. Perceptor does not know the exact reason why, but he believes that it is a combination of maturity and excessive contact with Earth's sun. Skyfire has tentatively confirmed this; apparently, a dramatically increased sex-drive is one of many reasons why explorers traveled in pairs. Unfortunately, they never did identify all of those reasons.
"Be that as it may, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, and Perceptor all found themselves interested in various Decepticons. Therefore, they came up with an effective plan, and as he mentioned, they bribed myself and Defensor into helping them." Huge optics blinked down at the Autobot officers. "Does that acceptably explain things, sir?"
Doorwings shivering in pent-up emotion, Prowl rigidly answered, "For now." After a moment, he hurriedly asked, "Who did Bluestreak choose?"
"Onslaught."
Prowl visibly gave up his struggle and crashed, Jazz catching him with the ease of long practice. "Well, Ah suppose better Onslaught than Vortex," the saboteur commented philosophically. "For a 'Con, his rep ain't too bad."
"Sir?"
Skyfire's quiet voice broke into his thoughts, and Optimus turned to face the shuttle. "Yes, Skyfire?"
The larger mech smiled hopefully. "I realize that this is extremely short notice, but I was wondering if we were allowed to follow our comrades' examples and kidnap, flirt with, or otherwise strike up relationships with the Decepticons? After all, there are simply not many mechs on this planet, and most of our fellow Autobots are already paired up or not interested in the others here."
Optics narrowing in suspicion, Optimus stated, "You're interested in a Decepticon, aren't you."
After a moment, Skyfire nodded. "Yes, Prime."
"Who is he?"
His smile returning, the shuttle nodded at three approaching figures. "Front and center, Prime."
Swallowing a groan, Optimus decided to ignore everything for a moment and searched deep inside himself. He needed an answer, one both prudent and would satisfy his men, and he needed one now.
Fortunately, the moment he chose a solution, the Matrix flooded him with an unfailing sense of rightness.
Meeting the other's hopeful gaze, Optimus passed the point of no return. Opening a comm channel to all of his men, he verbally answered, "Yes. As long as they properly inform their superiors and friends for safety reasons, all Autobots are now allowed to associate with Decepticons. There can be friendships, romances, rivalries, drinking buddies, or really anything consensual. Just remember to use your common sense and avoid dangerous situations." Cutting the comm, he added privately to Skyfire, "You are free to make your feelings known, but please wait until after I am finished speaking."
Curiosity and excitement flickering in his blue gaze, the shuttle nodded. "Of course, Prime."
Resolutely, Optimus Prime turned to face the incoming trio. One deep breath later, and he strode to meet them.
"Prime!" Megatron bellowed, enraged. "What is the meaning of your gestalt kidnapping-"
The Decepticon leader broke off as his rival rudely shoved past him, sending the great slagmaker stumbling right into Soundwave. As Megatron regained his footing, Optimus stopped in front of a wary Starscream and got down on one knee in accordance to human tradition and entertainment. Staring into astounded, crimson optics, Optimus Prime launched into his one true chance at earning the proud Seeker's attention.
"Starscream," he began, "I am extremely attracted to you. That by itself is not surprising; you are stunning, fierce, fast, and one of the most intelligent individuals I have ever heard of, let alone met face to face. I have found myself seeking to display my physical attributes to the best effect for you, and I have pummeled Megatron into the ground rather more ferociously than I would prefer several times to get your attention.
"Would you do me the honor of entering into a relationship with me?"
As Optimus watched a supremely satisfied smile slide over the seeker's face, he felt his spark flicker in hope. The enemy second in command was going to agree to a courtship with him. The enemy leader was not objecting the idea, if only because he was currently dealing with a similar situation with a mech gifted with patience, intelligence, tenacity, and sheer size compatibility.
Maybe, just maybe, this cruel war could be over after all.
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Mini Epilogue
Many quarrels, fights, misunderstandings, apologies, hugs, and one heck of a lot of patience later, it was. Earth's yellow sun ended up being the catalyst to end a war that had ravaged a species to near extinction. With Skyfire able to act as a buffer for Megatron's more tempestuous impulses, the leaders were able to hash out an agreeable treaty. Fortunately, they finalized that treaty shortly before the first cross-faction bondings and near simultaneous carryings were announced by delighted individuals.
The scientists of both factions eventually confirmed that for their species, copious amounts of yellow sun caused long-dormant breeding protocols to online. Starscream's help in confirming the fact was quite simply immeasurable, and Optimus Prime, civilian leader of the Cybertronian race, made sure to personally thank him for his invaluable assistance.
Two standard months later, Air Commander Starscream and Optimus Prime publically declared not only their bonding, but their concurrent carryings.
And they lived happily, if explosively, ever after.
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11. Any: "New world, new start"
Think Superman Explanation. Yellow sun = super powers. Except for Transformers, it's more like yellow sun = settle down and have younglings.
Add in human allies who are also feeding Autobots ... and suddenly, the Autobots aren't interested in fighting. They're a lot more interested in flirting ... with the Decepticons.
D= Forget Megatron, Optimus is interested in Megatron's second. Afterall, the Prime has all the strength, size, patience, and stubborn truckness that any offspring of his could possibly need. He's totally after super smarts, speed, self-preservation, and flight.
Author's Notes 2: This story probably should have been named "The Transformers Explanation" as suggested by the wonderful Manias 3.0. Unfortunately, I refuse to have any of my story titles start with an article. Sorry, Manias!
As my first real Starscream/Optimus story, a pairing that I love a much as I find it nonsensical, I am extremely pleased with this result. I honestly never thought that I could write it, so this is a great confidence boost. Also, I believe that I've mentioned something similar in another fic, but plot device aside, it is NOT okay to kidnap one's future mate.
Quick things: One of the last lines references the title of a Dear America book, "When Will This Cruel War Be Over?" While I have not read it, the title has always resonated with me. Oh, and I think Skyfire is a very tenacious individual; he managed to survive in the ice for ten million years, didn't he?
Pairings mentioned (or hinted at) in this fic:
Optimus Prime/Starscream, Megatron/Skyfire, Prowl/Jazz, Ratchet/Wheeljack, Bluestreak/Onslaught, Perceptor/Brawl, Swindle/Smokescreen, and Sunstreaker&Sideswipe/Thundercracker&Skywarp.