Atonement

A Transformers: Armada Story

By William Rendfeld

Light poured down upon him directly from above, obscuring his view of the tribunal.

"State name, faction, and position."

He gathered his resolve, and calmly said, "Demolishor. Decepticon, Long-Range Assault."

"Under Cybertronian law, you are charged with conspiracy, willful destruction of property, murder, and treason. How do you plead?"

"Guilty."

The lights dimmed, and Demolishor's optics slowly adjusted to the light. He made out the tribunal above him as one of its members continued, "As you are aware, Lord Straxus had given an offer of amnesty to any and all participants in Megatron's movement against the Decepticon government and the Cybertron council. You turned yourself in; therefore, the charges of conspiracy and treason are dropped. Your other two charges remain. We have been given testimony on your behalf, however, on the part of several others. Starscream himself has stepped forward to say that you were among the first of Megatron's soldiers to join him, and his statements have been collaborated by several others. The tribunal now asks why you chose to betray Megatron."

Demolishor carefully went over his thoughts, trying his best to pick out words that couldn't be argued or that wouldn't land him in more trouble. "Us Cybertronians are hard to hurt, harder to kill. I've only ever taken two Cybertronian lives face to face; can't really say I'm happy about that now. But I was less happy about the idea of taking human lives. With us, there's thick armor, layer upon layer of reinforced metal. They don't have that; humans are fragile, soft. A Transformer can run, escape, get out of the way faster, have a better chance of making it if they don't. Humans don't have that luxury."

"Then you suddenly gained a conscience?" one of the tribunal asked.

Demolishor shook his head. "No. My rationalizations didn't work anymore. I can justify attacking something that isn't alive, or can fight back, but not something that's defenseless. That's my take on it; don't expect to change it much soon."

The head of the tribunal activated a chime, and declared, "Tribunal will recess for five cycles to review the case and testimony. The accused will remain here."

The three retreated to the shadows, leaving Demolishor alone in the dark.

"Six months, full body shutdown," Demolishor recounted. "It didn't even feel that long."

"I'd hope not, all the times we came to visit." Skywarp smiled despite himself. "Besides, you still have a bit of community service to do. Starscream asked for your help, and I don't know if you've been paying attention, but he could use some." Demolishor looked at him silently, and the Seeker added, "It's not an order or anything, or immediate. Just a statement."

Demolishor turned away, shaking his head. "I'll think about it."

"Think about it for a while, alright?" Skywarp asked. "I need to get somewhere; Starscream's got an interview in a megacycle, and I'd like to make sure the interviewer doesn't have any problems entering Kaon. Get back to us when you've got an answer."

Demolishor nodded, then asked, "And if I say no?"

"Then you can take a nice, long vacation at the Praxus oil pools," Skywarp replied. "And if you ever change your mind, there'll still be a place open for you."

With those words, Skywarp leapt up and transformed to vehicle mode, then flew away towards the north. Demolishor silently transformed as well, then trundled his way down the road towards the northeast.

Long Ago...

Explosions rang out around her as she leapt to one side, her sensors on high alert and her camera in her hands. As scared as she was, this was great footage, and she couldn't afford to miss a second of it.

It had all happened so quickly; a renegade faction of Decepticons led by Megatron, the hero of the Outsider Wars, had staged a massive strike against the Decepticon government. Mini-Cons were being captured and used as weapons, and several Autobot units had come in to assist Jhiaxus's forces against Megatron. And she had come in with 'em. But as much as she wanted to be objective about this, she really hoped that Jhiaxus would carry the day.

"Headline, move!"

A sudden push, and she found herself on the ground, concussive blasts erupting over her as she was moved behind a support column.

Sunstreaker groaned. "You'd better learn to pay attention; I don't want to risk my chassis over you and get scratched, or worse."

"Didn't know you cared so much," Headline replied teasingly. "Besides, the public has the right to know what's going on here."

"The public would have to be dead not to know what's going on here," Sunstreaker countered. "You and your Minibot friend need to clear out to a safe distance; this isn't the place for a journalist."

Successive blasts around them, and Headline said in startled agreement, "I think you might have a point." She opened her private comm.-line and called out, "Live Shot, where are you?"

"I'm with Bumblebee and Stockade!" Live Shot called back. "This is gonna be great footage, you should see it!"

"Live Shot, we're pulling out until things quiet down," Headline ordered.

"Come on, we're perfectly..." Live Shot replied, seconds before a blast cut him off, leaving nothing but static.

"Live Shot?" Headline asked. "Live Shot?" She patched in a different channel and said, "Comsat interface, now!"

She transformed to vehicle mode and sped off towards the source of Live Shot's last transmission, focusing on the data being fed to her by satellite linkup and ignoring Sunstreaker's protests. She swerved and weaved, dodging fire as she went, and called out, "Bumblebee, Stockade, come in slag it!"

"Headline, this is Bumblebee," came the familiar voice of her friend, the comm.-line becoming distorted as she approached. "You don't..."

She finally arrived as the battle died down, the rain of fire and armaments ceasing as Megatron's forces beat a retreat. She didn't notice, however; overloading her senses were the input from her optics.

Bumblebee and Stockade were kneeling beside a body, a familiar small, triple-changing Transformer with optics like shutter lenses, the familiar blue glow fading away. His body was shattered, cradled in Bumblebee's arms and with a clean hole from a sniper's laser going straight through his spark chamber.

"Sorry kid," Stockade said as she transformed, shock growing in her optics. "He's gone. May have saved us both when he blasted that artillery round, though; you should be proud."

Headline dropped to her knees. "No...no..."

"Headline..." Bumblebee said softly, apologetically...

"Headline? Hey, you still with me?"

The cerulean and tan mech emerged from her reverie and shook her head. "Sorry. Just lost, is all." She glanced about and continued, "I haven't been out here since it happened."

"Brings back a lot of bad memories, huh?" Bumblebee asked.

Headline nodded softly. "How do you deal with it."

Bumblebee shrugged. "Not entirely sure that you can. I've seen a lot of things that I wish I hadn't. All I know is that you have to keep going, no matter what. They wouldn't want you to do otherwise. I know he wouldn't."

The two continued walking on the long bridge to Kaon before Headline quietly stopped and said, "You didn't need to come along you know."

"I know," Bumblebee replied. "But you're my friend." He laid a comforting hand on the Autobot femme's shoulder and said, "And so was he."

Headline quietly looked to her friend, the little yellow Autobot, and his pleasant, friendly smile. Despite herself, she smiled back and said, "Thanks, Bumblebee."

"Anytime," he promised as the roar of jet engines interrupted them.

The pair looked to find a purple jet flying towards them, its speed decreasing and its body shifting about into a familiar robotic form.

"Headline; welcome to Kaon." Skywarp landed, and continued, "I've been asked to escort you in."

"Thank you," Headline said, trying her best to put up a strong front. She had a story to get, after all; nothing was going to stop her.

Not even herself.

"It's weird having this patched up again." Wheeljack silently ran a hand down his formerly-scarred Autobot emblem as he walked. "After so long, I never thought I'd have a reason to do it."

"I'm glad you did," Hot Shot admitted with a smile. "Maybe now we can all move on from what happened."

Wheeljack stopped, then looked up towards one of the memorial markers and said, "Not all of us."

Standing before them, glistening in the sunlight like polished ivory, was a marker for King Atlas, one of the casualties from Galvatron's assault on Cybertron some months prior.

"You think he ever found out?" Wheeljack asked.

Hot Shot shook his head. "I'd be surprised if he cared. Atlas wasn't the kind of mech to enjoy being proven wrong, or countermanded on anything. He was in charge, and things had to be his way. If he had found out you made it out, he'd have been even worse to deal with."

The two kept their optics on the statue as another voice noted, "Scavenger picks his students well; you've gotten to be a good judge of character Hot Shot."

Hot Shot turned to the new arrival and said, "Thanks..."

"Overcast," the Autobot said, reintroducing himself. "And don't apologize for not remembering me; we never had a proper chance to greet one another before now."

Hot Shot gave a nod with some relief, and Wheeljack asked with a small motion to the marker, "So, you knew him?"

"Served under him for a spell." Overcast turned his optics from the two younger Transformers to the marker and said, "I was part of the unit that responded to that fire, the one you two were engulfed in. Atlas was in command. When we arrived, Hot Shot stumbled out, damaged and with his armor warped. No surprise there; the flames were so intense that I could feel them from the air several blocks away."

"I wasn't even thinking about all that," Hot Shot added. "I was barely conscious; the only thing keeping me online was the fact that you were still in there. He didn't want to go back in; the building was unsound, he said. I went into stasis lock before I could go back in."

"Better to let it burn than risk additional losses, he said." A bitter growl was clear in Overcast's voice as he continued, "The building came down just as I was about to go in and try to find you, Wheeljack. Didn't matter that I couldn't pick you up on the scanners, I wasn't worried about flaming debris. But he ordered me not to go in. Maybe he thought Hot Shot was lying, maybe he didn't want to risk his troops, maybe he just didn't care about some young mech getting into trouble, I don't know."

"Must not have sat well with anyone." Wheeljack looked towards the statue and noted, "I don't think Optimus would take it lightly."

"He didn't," Overcast said grimly. "After what happened I registered a formal protest. A member of the Autobot news corps got word of it, put it out on the feed. Atlas was grilled by the higher-ups, but he didn't get much beyond a mark on his record. I left Cybertron after that in disgust, didn't come back until after what happened on Nebulos. He never forgave me for it. Course, I wouldn't have taken it anyway." He gave the statue one firm look and said, "Atlas was always going on about how we had to wipe out Megatron and his little band, tear them apart because they were the enemy. 'They won't change,' he said, 'they'll always be the same.' One thing I don't think he realized was that he was just as bad. He never stopped and considered his actions, he just blasted things apart. When someone stopped him, he brooded over it. Enemies stop being enemies if you give them enough reason, whatever the reason. The real enemies, the real dangers, are the ones that don't change, that refuse to change. They think they're right and the world's wrong, and nothing's gonna make them think otherwise. But as much as he made my fluids boil, I can't help but pity him now." He turned to the two and said, "Don't take me as gospel kids, but hate doesn't do anyone much good. Certainly didn't help him."

Within his new offices, Starscream silently gazed upon a small statuette, a golden crown decked with rubies in his hands. His optics went first from the crown to the statuette, the head of which bore a similar marker as part of its construction.

A chime sounded, and Starscream set the crown next to the statue before turning to face the door.

Skywarp ducked his head in, and said, "She's ready to speak with you, Screamer."

Starscream rose to his full height and followed Skywarp out to the office's lounge. Waiting for him was Headline, a trio of hovering cameras floating about the room softly. She rose and greeted him, "Starscream. Thank you for allowing this interview."

"It was my pleasure," Starscream said, extending a hand to shake as Skywarp discreetly exited.

The salutations soon ended, and the two sat down. "Now, you had dropped off the sensors for a number of years after the Second Great War. A lot of people are curious about where you ended up, why you came back now of all times."

"That doesn't surprise me," Starscream admitted. "Shortly after the end of the War of Rebellion, I and others joined Megatron's ranks, partially under the suggestion of Lord Straxus. We had received little information concerning Megatron's efforts before the war started, and it was hoped that if we had people inside, we could minimize his effectiveness, whittle him down, perhaps even convince his subordinates to leave him. Had we known at the time about Tankor and Obsidian, perhaps our efforts would have been more effective."

"The fact that they remained active for so long seems a bit frightening." Headline looked at him and asked, "What's stopping something like that from happening again?"

"A wise man on Earth once said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom," Starscream explained. "For now, we're doing what we can. Tankor and Obsidian are now wanted by Autobot authorities, and I've ordered a complete check on all their appointees and recommended aids. With luck, that will help lead us to them, and perhaps other remaining members of Megatron's faction. Beyond that, all we can do is be careful."

"And perhaps more than a little suspicious," Headline added.

"Yes, unfortunately," Starscream admitted.

"And it still leaves dealing with those who decided to leave Megatron and help you and the Autobots. What's going to happen to them?"

"Shortly after the attack on the council and Megatron's disappearance, those who chose to join me turned themselves in to Autobot authorities, and received full trials from the Cybertron courts. Some of their crimes were excused due to them coming to me. Their sentencing was helped both by any actions they performed previous to their joining Megatron's forces and those actions they performed to assist myself and any other infiltrators within the ranks. Some had already filled previous sentences and were released. Those remaining are currently serving out their given sentences; I'm proud to say the first was released a little earlier today.

"And you believe you can trust them?"

"I've spoken with them; all of them are quite sound psychologically, and none of them has any desire to return to Megatron's service. Aside from that, some of them approached me, or Bludgeon. They aided me, helped me of their own free will. Until I have reason to believe otherwise, I trust them to not attack myself or any other Cybertronian in Megatron's name."

"Is there anything stopping them from attacking in their own name?"

"Only me."

Headline collected her thoughts, then asked, "Many have been curious about why you decided to take leadership now, rather than after Jhiaxus was killed. You and he fought beside one another in the War of Independence; you were brothers. It seemed only logical that you would succeed him rather than Straxus."

Starscream collected his own thoughts, and said slowly, "I don't think of myself as a leader, great or otherwise. I've always felt more comfortable as support, plotting strategy or implementing new ideas in the service of another. I thought that Straxus, as a student of Jhiaxus, would be able to take the reins. Traitorous aids or no, it's clear that I was somewhat mistaken. And now, I do what all leaders need to do; I've put aside what was best for me, my own interests, and acted to help my fellow Decepticons and my fellow Cybertronians. Perhaps I should have done so long ago, I don't know, but that can't be changed now. Right now, all I wish to do is serve in a different way, and try my best to not fail. That's really all that I can do."

"Then you think you've failed before?" Headline asked.

Starscream grew downcast. "Yes."

Long Ago…

"Starscream, keep out of sight," Jhiaxus ordered over his comm.-line.

"Are you certain that's wise?" Starscream's voice replied. "Megatron must be expecting you to handle this personally. With me, you could at least..."

"No; whatever happens, one of us must survive. So long as we remain separate, he won't defeat us both." Before he cut off his comm.-line, he said softly, "Brother, should I fall...carry on. Stop this insanity...restore us." He cut off the line before Starscream could protest, and serenely floated forward, weapons armed.

He floated through the wreckage, and shook his head softly at the devastation before him. How could Megatron betray him...betray Cybertron? Why? He had fame, prestige; he was a hero, and not merely to the Decepticons. What in Primus's name could compel him to do this?

As the sun caught his armor, Jhiaxus called out, "Megatron, come out. Let us end this, peacefully, before anyone else is hurt. There needn't be more destruction."

His proximity alarms flared. Suddenly, six energy bolos lanced outwards, wrapping around him and shorting his flight systems before bringing him to the ground. He struggled to rise, familiar footfalls sounding through the ground around him as he made a futile effort to rise.

"Excellent work," Megatron noted, Brushguard beside him. "It seems that we didn't need your pitiful organic designs after all."

"They would have worked marvelously," Brushguard protested. "He would not struggle as much."

Megatron chuckled. "You neglect finesse, Brushguard. It is far more entertaining when they struggle, yes." He approached the Decepticon leader, took hold of him by the head with his right hand, and lifted him up effortlessly. "Lord Jhiaxus. Let's have that little talk, shall we?"

"End this, Megatron," Jhiaxus said firmly. "You cannot win. You will be resisted at every turn."

"By who?" Megatron asked. "Your dear brothers? Optimus Prime will not interfere in an internal affair, especially with our Mini-Con 'hostages'. And that pitiful Starscream is little more than a coward, a scientist and a scholar. He won't so much as last a micro-cycle against me…assuming he decided to face me."

"You underestimate your foes," Jhiaxus noted. "A fool's mistake."

Megatron slammed Jhiaxus against a wall of rubble, then declared proudly, "The only fool here is the one I hold at bay. You have failed to defend Cybertron; we have suffered for it."

Megatron's reply was met with a bemused, "We?" His optics grew in satisfaction, and he quickly noted, "You care about no one, Megatron. If you truly cared for Cybertron, you wouldn't have callously taken so many lives. Our chain as strong as its weakest link, and you threaten to shatter all that we have built, simply for your selfish ends. You will be the death of us all."

Megatron's expression remained neutral, the only thing escaping his face was a small glimmer of ego in his optics. "In that case, it's only fitting that you go first."

A small knife extended from his wrist, and Megatron jammed it directly into the Decepticon leader's chest.

Jhiaxus's face remained defiant, even as his optics dimmed and his orange armor turned an ashen grey. A satisfied grimace on his face, Megatron withdrew his blade, then tossed away the Decepticon's lifeless corpse. "Make certain it's placed where everyone can see it," he ordered before silently walking away.

Brushguard gave the body a small glance, then picked it up and roughly slung it over his shoulder before walking off behind his leader.

"One last question," Headline said carefully. "Now that Megatron has disappeared, increased his already formidable physical power, begun calling himself 'Galvatron', what will you do? He may well want to finish what he started."

"I'll deal with that when it comes," Starscream promised. "For now, however, we have greater problems facing us than Megatron, whatever his delusions may want us to refer to him as. Rebuilding must begin, and the Decepticons must regain their pride and restore themselves in both their eyes and those of our siblings among the Autobots and Mini-Cons. And that shall be a long and dangerous road...one which I hope all of Cybertron will support us in."

The cameras ceased recording, then hovered back into slots within Headline's back. She rose up from her seat just as Starscream did, and said, "Thank you for the interview."

"Thank you for coming," Starscream replied warmly. "I realize this must have been difficult for you, after all you've been through."

"I've adjusted," she said curtly. Just as she began processing the information from her recorders, she remembered something, then turned to Starscream and asked, "One question, off the record. You mentioned something about greater problems than Megatron; care to elaborate on that?"

Starscream sighed. "For now, all I can say is that hard times lay ahead, and we all face great problems in the future. If you ever found out what we suspected, however...you may just regret doing so."

Headline caught those words, and couldn't help but feel intrigued. Even if she might regret finding out what he was talking about...she still wanted to know.

"I'll remember that. Good day, Starscream."

With those words, she departed, curiosity growing in her mind.

"Hmm...interesting..."

Skyfall gave Red Alert a curious look. "Care to elaborate upon that?"

Red Alert pointed towards the readout on his scanners and noted, "These readings from the two of you. It's getting me to think about a few things that I hadn't considered for a long time."

"Then perhaps you should explain your findings before we suddenly expire from boredom," Landquake suggested.

Red Alert punched in a few choice commands. "You remember back during the War of Independence, when the Quintessons experimented on some Transformers, leading to the creation of the techno-organics? When we were researching what happened, we discovered something in the individual spark signatures of the survivors; a common bit of code. Each had a subtle variation, marking just how the organics were integrated into their frame. I've found something similar with the two of you, except with one minor difference; the coding in your sparks are identical."

"Between this and the runes we discovered, this all but confirms a link between us." Skyfall turned to Red Alert and asked, "Have you found anything else?"

"Just two things," Red Alert replied. "Structural scans on the both of you have found what looks like a sort of locking mechanism...sort of like a Powerlink point, only larger. I've also discovered similar coding in the sparks of a few other Transformers; they might also have compatible parts."

"Anyone we know?" Landquake asked.

Red Alert punched up their data. "The Combaticons. Blight, Kickback, Blackout and Stormcloud all possess similar coding in their spark signatures, while Barricade has a variation on it; assuming they already have the components necessary for this, they could well combine into one larger form, a sort of gestalt mode, possibly drawing on the five parts to make a combined mind. The two of you could be part of a second one."

"Which means there's three more of us somewhere out there," Landquake noted.

"Then we have a great deal of work ahead of us," Skyfall decided. "Red Alert, thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," Red Alert replied. "Not all spark signatures are on record; all I've given you is a small lead."

"Even the smallest things can make the greatest differences," Skyfall noted as he downloaded the scan data from Red Alert's console. "Besides, luck appears to be smiling on us as of late. This will at least help our odds."

Red Alert gave a glance to his console, then back to the small Autobot beside him. "I hope it does. With everything that's happened as of late, we're going to need all the help it can get."

"So, what did you think of him?"

"Not really sure." Headline shrugged, then admitted, "He sounds sincere, though, so we can't fault him too much. Maybe he can turn things around for them, bring them back together."

"I know I wouldn't mind," Bumblebee admitted. "One less thing to worry about."

Headline stopped briefly, her optics resting on a nearby memorial. "You mind waiting a minute, Bumbles? There's something I need to check on."

"Sure, I've got time."

The little yellow Autobot gave her a gentle nod, and she walked off towards the memorial, ivory statues of the fallen Transformers from the Second Great War standing silent vigil over the grounds.

Headline remembered so many of them; their names, their faces, their voices. She hadn't known all of them personally, but each one was still vital, still important, if not to her than to someone else. She kept walking, her optics sweeping over each statue, until she caught sight of one she knew. She stepped towards it, and laid a hand upon the shoulder of one statue, smaller than the rest and with an eager, inquisitive look upon his face.

"It's been a long time," she said softly. "But even now I remember it, seeing you. I almost thought you weren't dead, didn't believe it for a while. I'm so sorry, Live Shot. We shouldn't have been in that close, shouldn't have...shouldn't have..."

Headline couldn't find the words, and simply remained in silence. Fluid welled up from her optics, giving the appearance of tears. She wiped away the excess as a footfall caught her attention. She turned to find a bulky green Decepticon with a bronze chestplate, looking startled and apologetic.

"Sorry," Demolishor said, holding up his arms peacefully. "Didn't know anyone else was here."

"Just me and my memories," Headline said quietly, turning away.

Demolishor stepped forward, his optics on Live Shot's statue. "Was he a friend of yours? I remember him, from the battle here. He was with a couple Autobots, recording the battle I guess. I thought he was marking us, trying to get a bead on our position. I fired back; he managed to blast the round before it hit. Brave; probably saved him and the other two. Then he got hit and he just...fell...and time just slowed down around him. If I hadn't fired, he'd still be here." He turned to face her, and said, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. About what happened to him...all of this."

Headline turned to him. "You meant that." She stared at him for a second, then reached over and hugged the bulky Decepticon. "Thank you."

More than a little surprised, Demolishor looked at her in surprise and, not knowing what else to do, gently placed a hand on her back and returned the token of affection.

Elsewhere, Starscream silently studied his crown, his mind going over it slowly. He mused over it; were he another mech, he might wear it defiantly, proudly, as a symbol of his triumph against Megatron and his new stead as leader of the Decepticons at last.

But a crown did nothing except show pride and egotism. It was little more than ornamentation, a symbol. He didn't have much use for it. He halfway considered smashing it in his hands, tossing it into the scrap heap.

Then he looked upon the statue of his brother. The crown was a symbol, yes, but it was a symbol of him; the people identified this crown with the leader of the Decepticons because it reminded them of Jhiaxus and what he stood for. The Autobots would feel the same way about the Matrix of Leadership; even if Optimus would fall in battle, they'd want their leader to at least have it with him and keep it safe. Just because the source of the symbolism was gone didn't make it any less valid.

He was Starscream; he wasn't Jhiaxus. He was a leader not just out of duty, but out of choice. He didn't need to wear the crown...but he shouldn't simply cast it aside, either.

He wordlessly placed the helmet down next to the statue, and smiled. "You'll be remembered, brother; I promise."

Starscream's reverie was interrupted by a chime from his comm.-line. "Yes?"

"Just got word from Demolishor." Skywarp's voice shifted from surprise to joy; it was easy to imagine the smile on his face. "He's in."

"Thank you; have him speak with me when he's able."

The line cut off, and Starscream continued studying the statue for a moment before exiting his office. The door slid shut behind him, leaving only silence.

The End