Primus was benevolent. Primus was everywhere. Primus was wise and strong… but so was His brother.
With every Yin came a Yang and with everything right done in His name, something wrong was accomplished in the name of the Unmaker. The Unicron had corrupted His children, turned them against each other and poisoned their very sparks until they no longer believed in His very existence. Every shot they fired at each other ate away at His very being.
Cybertron had long been dead, His physical embodiment could no longer create life, but His people, but His children still lived on. And even after all this time they still fought, He was growing weaker. History was about to repeat itself; Primus had already foreseen it in. A young planet, Earth, was in grave danger from His own creations. A select group of Cybertronians, He knew them well, on the verge of destroying the young planet for the very purpose of saving their own- of saving Him. But Cybertron was dead; it had been for so long now, and everything in time came to an end.
Primus could never bring Himself to intervene in the lives of His children, ordering them or forcing them to choose His way was wrong in itself. They had to learn from their mistakes in their own way, in their own time. His children would all, one day, return to Him when their sparks extinguished and became one with Him. There, they would be safe in an eternity of peace; His brother could never touch them again.
However, until all were one, there were sentient life forms whose very existences were being threatened. It was nowhere near Earth's time of judgement, that planet had many long years yet; it had so much potential and a far greater purpose to play in this universe. Something would need to be done preferably before His brother claimed yet another of His children's sparks. No, He couldn't force His children to see the errors of their ways, but He could give them a push in the right direction.
It was time, He thought, that Megatron and his Decepticons learnt what it was to be human, and maybe then they would understand.
He tried to think back, concentrate. What had he been doing and where was he now? Cairo… they'd lost and then fled. Yes that was it. The Autobot scum had offlined half the fraction and destroyed the Sun Harvester- their last hope, their only hope.
He remembered regrouping with a small band of Decepticons -all fliers, thank Primus, as landing was now dangerous. They were all that was left of a once proud and mighty faction. However, there was a large gap, an empty, silent hole in his memory files. Nothing. It was so frustrating; not even a blurred image or disoriented noise, just dark emptiness.
And now, he was here. Mind you, he didn't really know where here was at the present moment. Only that it was cold… cold and breezy. How very unusual; breezy. Never to what he could recall of his, obviously flawed, memory had he acknowledged a breeze before.
He took a moment to assess the situation. He was on his back staring up at the sky, his vision was poor- his optics possibly damaged- and something hard was digging into his back. It had probably managed to slip through his armour plating, but still he shouldn't be feeling it so… accurately. He didn't feel right. His own frame felt foreign to him, like something was missing, his processor was sluggish- working at an unbelievably slow pace- and he was having trouble connecting to the human Internet. In fact he couldn't connect to it the link had disappeared… none of his internal links were there!
Perhaps he was more damaged than he'd previously contemplated.
He should have moved hours ago, who knew how long he'd been lying here in broad daylight, out in the open, staying up dazedly up at the sky; Earth's blue, open sky. He attempted a systems check, only to find that that wasn't working either. How absurd, his processor wasn't functioning and yet he was still here, online and thinking.
Finally fed up of lying sprawled out on the uncomfortable lumpy ground, he began to sit up and lifted a servo to run down his faceplates.
Only to find, it wasn't a servo.
He lurched away in alarm, and it took Starscream several moments to realise the white, squishy appendage was actually attached to him. He twitched his fingers; yes it was defiantly his. The gaze travelled down the offending unfamiliar arm and to a shoulder, which he flexed in astonishment. Eyes, where optics should have been, then crossed and locked onto the protruding flesh between them. What the slag was that? Raising his servo- no hand- up, he felt it, soft but hard and pointy. He wriggled and pulled at it, but it was stuck fast to his face. How very peculiar.
He was obviously having some sort of strange dream in recharge, one brought on by all the organic fuels he'd been consuming. It had had this affect on him last time he'd been on this planet; all the impurities had given his delicate tanks cramps and his processor throbbing aches. Another side affect had been bizarre hallucinations, he vaguely wondered if any of the others experienced them, but this one felt a lot more…real.
Painfully real actually, there was a niggling sensation in the back of his mind.
But his brilliant scientific and rational CPU was telling him none of this was physically possible. So for now he was content to explore this body until he roused from recharge. He didn't have any of the insulating material the humans called clothes on, so he could see all the skin and muscles covering his body. It appeared he didn't possess a lot of melanin, as in some areas the skin was so translucent he could see the blue veins carrying human blood about the body.
He inhaled deeply; taking note of the rise in his chest and flexing of the flesh on his face, and took in the scent of the area. He pulled a face, it wasn't pleasant, the air was humid and the stench of human and animal was strong.
It really was remarkable how realistic this dream seemed, his spark- his heart- thumped nervously. No, it wasn't possible. There was no way he could really be human, there was no possible way to turn a Cybertronian into an organic. He was being irrational; this was just a dream that was all, a dream.
He lifted an arm to rub at his back and his breath hitched. But of course, he was human in this dream humans did not possess wings. He surveyed the area, no wonder it stank. It appeared he was sitting in the middle of some colossal human dumping ground. Winged organics flew overheard, squawking and shrieking, as they swooped down scavenging in the filth below. The filth he was sat in. Humans really were revolting, dumping their own waste out in the open and leaving it to rot. How did they cope with the smell? Well, he supposed, they probably wouldn't notice if they smelt the same.
There was a loud grown from behind him and Starscream whipped around in alarm. What was it, another human, in his dream? A large form rose from out from the debris, human and male. Starscream stared, wide-eyed as it sat up. It was a strong human, taller and broader than his body. It hadn't appeared to notice him yet, so he silently observed.
The human seemed to be flustered, staring and grapping at his own flesh. It made odd distressed sounds; Starscream couldn't tell if they were ones of fear or anger. Suddenly the human looked up and locked gazes with him, after just seconds of staring it leapt up with a roar of fury and lunged for him. Shocked, Starscream didn't even think to move as the human male's hands clamped around arms, squeezing.
"Arghh!" Starscream cried out in alarm; it hurt. This human could actually hurt him. Dreams didn't hurt, which meant this was real it, had to be. He was really human.
Well he wouldn't be for that much longer if he just sat here and let this savage rip him apart. He tried to kick it off, but wasn't strong enough. The human was heavy with muscles, and he was small now, very small. He had nothing to rely on but his- hopefully still- brilliant mind and puny human body. The savage human he roared again, hand seizing his chin forcing him to look at him. "What have you done to me!" it bellowed in his face, spit flying.
Starscream tried to pull away in disgust, what was he yelling at him? Did all human males run around attacking each other out of the blue? He knew it was common in some species of organic, but he had research that humans had evolved out of that unruly habit.
"Answer me insect!" the human roared again, fist slamming into the side of his face. Pit it hurt. It hurt so much that he was momentarily bewildered; his vision blurred. When everything came back into focus he realised something stunning. This human, the one attacking him sounded and spoke strikingly similar to-
"Meh-Megatron?" He guessed, tugging at the fist crushing his delicate windpipe.
The human was suddenly thrown, grip loosening, but then returned full force, "Who are you? What have you done to me!" he snarled inches from his face.
Starscream thought it was best to reply with the truth, "I-It's me!" he wheezed desperately, "S-Starscream, please m-my Lord!"
Megatron- it had to be him- slammed him back down into the waste covered ground. "You lie!"
"N-no! Please, it's me! Please Lord Megatron, believe me! Don't kill me!" He shrieked in fear, closing his eyes as he cowered under the former Warlord. The fist suddenly removed from his neck, and he cracked an eye open to see his leader still knelt over his form, no longer choking him, but still scowling.
"What have you done?" Megatron hissed through clenched teeth.
Starscream frowned, why was it that he was always blamed for everything. He didn't know whether to be offended that Megatron would repeatedly point the finger at him every time without a scrap of evidence, or flattered that he believed he could pull something like this off. Never the less-
"My Lord," He ground out, doing his best to kept his tone polite. It wouldn't do him any good to infuriate his leader again; he was the only one around here for Megatron to take it out on. "If I was the cause of this, do you really think I would have done this to myself as well?"
Megatron grunted, "I don't pretend to understand your twisted mind Starscream, why don't you tell me?"
"How the pit should I know?" the younger man screeched and pushed himself back up to stand on his own two feet, wobbly at first. No thrusters, no wings, no missiles no nothing. He felt very short and pathetically defenceless. Fighting the urge to throw himself back down and wail, he turned to Megatron, "I can't remember what happened! All I can remember was flying, following you! On another crack pot scheme of yours!"
"Starscreaamm," Megatron growled, "I'd choose your words more carefully if I were you. You are in a very vulnerable situation, Seeker."
Starscream smirked, "Oh but you are in my position dear Leader," he said gesturing at Megatron's own organic body. "You too are just as… vulnerable."
Megatron grumbled something incoherent and rose to his feet to survey the area. Starscream pouted, the slagger was a good head taller than him. He took this opportunity to look at his leader. Despite his now organic-ness, the Decepticon leader still managed to project an aura of strength, authority and influence, he stood tall and straight-backed. His skin was the almost the same tone as Starscream's, but his darker completion caused him appear paler. Black, straight, scruffy hair fell over his leader's face- he pushed it back in annoyance- the lower half of his face was covered in short black hairs.
Starscream unconsciously ran a hand over his own cheek, only to find the skin soft and baby smooth. Lifting up a hand to the top his head he breathed a sigh of relief as he felt hair. At least he wasn't bald; Starscream didn't think the hairless look would flatter him very much.
"Come," Megatron's deep purr cut across his musings, "We need to look for the others."
Starscream was tempted to protest and say that they could fend for themselves; but quickly realised that by doing that it would leave him and Megatron alone and susceptible. They had suddenly become very small beings in a very large world, and there was safety in numbers. They needed everyone they could get.
So he dawdled behind his leader, walking through the polluted landscape carefully to avoid stepping on anything sharp that could damage his unthinkingly sensitive feet. Stupid humans, thought Starscream viscously, hundreds of thousands of years of evolution and this was the best they could come up with. These bodies were so weak and useless, everything hurt, and they tired so quickly. He and Megatron had only been clambering over the mounds of rubbish for three or four hours now and they were already out of breath. How did they ever get anything done?
"Oh, I give up!" he moaned, unceremoniously throwing himself down onto a comfortable looking embankment of debris. He winced and rubbed at his back as something sharp pinched the skin there. Slagging humans.
"We need to keep searching, get up," Megatron announced over his shoulder not stopping or looking back at his second.
"We don't know if they're here, we could just be wasting our time!" Starscream yelled back crossing his arms over his chest, reluctant to move now that he found a- relatively- comfy resting place. His legs were aching, his feet hurt, he couldn't be bothered! "We don't even know if they're like this! What if we find them and they're still Cybertronian! What do think they'll do to us then, Lord Megatron!"
The taller man finally stopped and turned to face the Seeker. "I am their leader, they will still obey me." He replied calmly; but Starscream still heard the uncertainty in his voice.
The mighty Megatron, thought Starscream mockingly, not quite so mighty now.
He laughed, "Not if you're an organic they won't! Tell me Lord Megatron. What self-respecting Decepticon would take orders from a pathetic little human like you?"
Megatron advanced on the laughing Seeker, furious at the taunting. "Shut up!" he snarled reaching out and grasping Starscream's neck. The seeker didn't even flinch as he squeezed the flesh in his hands, how temping it was to crush the idiot's windpipe and leave him here for dead. But he couldn't, he needed him. And Starscream knew it.
"I simply speak the truth," Starscream wheezed, absently realising his flimsy human neck would be left with an unattractive bruise from all this manhandling.
Megatron shoved the Seeker back into the dirt and turned, heatedly kicking a can with his foot and carried on his way. Either Starscream could stay there, sat on his backside moping, or he could follow his leader like he always did in the end. Predictably, before long the soft sound of footfalls, reached his ears. Along with a few a bangs and several muttered curses. They carried on.
After another hour, Starscream was ready to start a second argument with his leader, just for something to do, when he heard a distant wailing. It was human… defiantly human. Perhaps it was a child, from what little he had researched on them he knew they cried a lot. But it wasn't the high-pitched snivelling of human young calling out for food, or for its mother; it was one of choked pain.
Megatron had also stopped in his tracks after hearing the noise; then to his Second's horror he started to head towards it, gesturing for Starscream to follow. The Seekers jaw dropped, Megatron going to the aid of some worthless human?
"Lord Megatron you can't be serious-"
"This is the first human we have come across since one another," Megatron cut across him, "Come. We are going to investigate."
Starscream snorted his disapproval and loitered after the taller man, mocking him silently behind his back. Megatron had already disappeared over an embankment to the left, from behind which the howling was coming from. Clambering over the top, he looked down at the scene below him.
There were three humans, two males and one female. One of the males appeared to be greatly distressed, the other male was shaking him trying to calm him down, and it didn't appear to be working. The human female, on the other hand, was approaching Megatron and after a moment of speaking she led him over to her male companions.
They had to be the others.
Starscream quickly scrambled down the mound; after tripping twice and stepping on something pointy he eventually made it to the bottom. The female was watching him and had undoubtedly seen him stumble down the slope. She sent him a disappointed glare.
"Screamer," She growled coldly. He supposed that was meant to be some sort of greeting; he immediately recognised it as Slipstream. Great.
He huffed, shoving past; at least he was taller than her.
Megatron was scowling down at the two struggling males. Thundercracker and Skywarp. Starscream didn't know how he knew; he just did; almost as if the bond between the brothers and the trine was still present in this form, although very faint. Both seekers were similar in appearance to Starscream, young slim, pale… and short. Dark brown hair hung over their faces, which like their bodies, were fair and smooth. Except for Skywarp, his complexion was marred with dampness and red blotchy skin irritated by salt water streaming from his eyes.
"What's wrong with him?" Megatron asked emotionlessly, he wanted everyone to get on their way and out of this dump; they still needed to find Soundwave. He couldn't do that if one of his Seekers was in hysterics. If Skywarp didn't pull himself together he was going to become a liability, one they couldn't afford to have.
The man holding his sobbing friend down spoke and Thundercracker's voice came out, "He's not taking it well-"
"He needs to get over it, we have to move." Megatron replied frowning down at Skywarp.
Thundercracker flexed his jaw and turned back to his trine mate, "C'mon Warp, we've gotta get out of here,"
Skywarp didn't appear to be listening, "M-my wings!" He choked out, "M-my wings, they-they're gone!"
"We can see that!" Starscream snapped heartlessly, throwing himself down into the waste again, thankful that this time nothing dug into his back. Slipstream sent him the dirtiest look she could muster, but the hair that fell over her face ruined the affect.
"If you can't get him walking soon we'll have to drag him," said Megatron frostily, at Thundercracker's horrified expression he added, "It's either that or we leave him here for dead."
Slipstream strode over and fell to Skywarp's side, caressing his cheeky whispering comforting nonsense in his ear. Eventually his sobbing calmed and his breathing started to regulate, Slipstream gestured for Thundercracker to loosen his hold.
"T-TC?" He hiccupped, looking up at his older brother, "W-what are we gonna do?"
Thundercracker smiled, he did his best to make it look convincing, "Don't worry about it Warp, we'll figure it out."
"We need to move. There is still Soundwave to find," Megatron said curtly, moving off again, gesturing for them to follow.
Skywarp was a little slow at first, wobbly on his feet due to both exhaustion from the episode he'd just had and the loss of the wings that were once his balance. But with Thundercracker's and- a reluctant, whining- Starscream's help he managed to keep up with the others.
Megatron was relentless in his search for the remainder of the group, now that he knew he and Starscream weren't alone he was twice as determined in searching for his TIC. Unfortunately no one was perfect, they were now 'only human' and Megatron no longer had a working inbuilt guidance system. They had been walking in circles for some time now in the searing, unsheltered heat; Starscream soon noticed and helpfully pointed it out.
"RIGHT! That's it!" He squawked dropping Skywarp's arm from his around his shoulders- who was saved by Thundercracker's quick reflects from landing hard on the ground- and stamping towards his Leader. "That is the third time we have passed that junk pile! You're leading us in circles!"
"For the love of Primus Screamer!" cried Slipstream as she came up behind him, "How the pit would you know! Everything looks the same! There are junk piles everywhere."
"No that pile was distinctive! I picked it because it has a tire sticking out of the top, look!" Starscream shouted again, defending himself, he knew he was right; this area was all too familiar.
"Alright Starscream," grumbled Megatron, running a hand tiredly down his face, he'd just about had enough today. He couldn't even muster the strength to shout at his Second for his insubordination. "You think you know better, lead us."
Megatron was actually very aware that they had been going in circles he had realised it just before the Seeker had started howling at him, he had spotted the same tire Starscream had. But it he'd be slagged if he ever admitted it now.
Starscream smirked confidently at the challenge, "Alright then, this way!" he announced marching off towards the left with exaggerated enthusiasm. Reluctantly, everyone else followed at a much slower pace.
Half an hour later Starscream spotted that same tire again, "Oh for-"
"Hey Starscream!" Thundercracker called out, "Is it just me or does that pile of junk look familiar."
"Frag off Thundercracker!" he retorted, face heating up with embarrassment. Slagging human anatomy.
A large hand slapped down on his shoulder. Starscream staggered away from Megatron's touch, skin crawling at the feel of the warm palm against his flesh. There was a sudden clinking of metal behind them. They whipped around. Someone or something was behind them, coming from the direction they had just come from. Were they being followed?
"Who's there?!" Megatron bellowed, stepping in front of his men- and woman- stance defensive.
A half crushed can rolled out from behind a heap of rubbish next to them and they all switched the direction of their gaze. The next second a human stepped out from behind it and in his arms he held two human children. He was tall and broad though not quite as large as Megatron. Nevertheless Starscream inched further behind his leader. The stern faced human approached them; stopping a few feet from them, he spoke.
"Lord Megatron; are you aware you have been travelling in circles." Everyone but Megatron's jaw dropped open, was that Soundwave? It had to be, but it was so odd to hear him sound so… emotional. His normal monotone and detached tone of voice was gone. He sounded… exhausted.
"Soundwave," Megatron confirmed stepping towards his most trusted servant, "We have a situation,"
Starscream snorted and muttered something sarcastically, before strutting forward, "What took you so long! We've spent all day looking for you!"
Soundwave ignored the Seeker, who was standing hands on hips on the tops of his toes in an immature attempt at making himself seem taller. Megatron nudged him out of the way; Starscream overbalanced and fell back down to the ground at their feet.
"I take it those are Rumble and Frenzy?" Megatron said casually gesturing to the children in Soundwave's arms.
"Affirmative; younglings could not cope with the stress and fell unconscious." He confirmed shifting his hold on one of the twins, Megatron couldn't tell which. Without their different colour schemes it was almost impossible to tell the difference between the two. They were duplicates.
"Suggestion, find clothing before we enter denser populated human settlements."
Starscream was brushing himself of after he'd picked himself up off the floor and snorted again at Soundwave. Megatron sneered at his second; that all too human noise Starscream kept making was starting to become a habit. If he did it again he might have to slap him.
"Oh and where do you expect us to find such things in a place like this!" Starscream shrieked and gestured to the appalling scenery that surrounded them. "I'm not walking around the humans dressed in a tire!"
Skywarp giggled at the mental image but quickly fell solemn again, shrinking behind Thundercracker as his trine leader glowered at him.
"Starscream's input; counterproductive," stated Soundwave.
Megatron was inclined to agree, "Starscream, shut up!"
The former Air Commander was about to suggest Soundwave shove something up his own tail pipe- despite him not owning one anymore- when Slipstream slapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him away, snickering at his indignant look.
"Some local humans: dispose and then scavenge for items such as clothes in this area. We will find something; no one will have to wear 'tires'" Soundwave glanced over at the flustered seeker as he finished, his expression did not shift from emotionless. He knelt down and lowered his creations to the ground gently and started to rouse them.
One of them, the one on the left, groaned and started to sit up only to fall back down again, clutching his head in pain.
"Urgh, my helm!" it moaned, eyes still squeezed shut. "I had the most slagged up dream,"
"Correction; that was no dream," Soundwave said lowering a hand to caress Rumble's sweaty forehead.
The boy jumped up, eyes flying open and stared at Soundwave in alarm before starting to look down at himself, expression one of horror. For a moment Soundwave was certain he was going to start fitting again, like both he and his brother had the first time they had first woken up. But Rumble just sat, slumped, poking at his human flesh.
"Slag…" he whispered, both amazed and disgusted with his new body.
"Language," his creator scorned gently, Rumble wasn't paying attention.
"How was this possible, Boss?"
Starscream's voice rang out from behind the mass of litter next to them, "That's what I've been asking myself all day!"
"That Screamer?" he asked Soundwave in shock, the TIC nodded his head in confirmation. "So who else-"
"Megatron, Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Slipstream, Frenzy, you and myself," Soundwave listed off.
Rumbles next question died on his lips as a loud moan came from the body next to him. Frenzy was awake.
"Urgh, what the frag hit me," he wailed, and like Rumble clutched his head in pain at the oncoming head ache. Soundwave didn't bother to scorn him for his language but was starting to grow irritated with it. He hoped they didn't pick up too many human curse words. It was unbecoming of sparklings to swear so much.
"Primus bro!" Rumble laughed, "You don't 'alf look ugly as a human!"
Frenzy cracked an eye open to peer at his brother and ask him what the frag he was talking about but his breath caught in his throat as greeted with the sight of two humans.
"Arrgh!" he cried out crawling backwards frantically from them. The larger of the two reached out and grasped his ankle, gently pulling him back against his struggles.
"Frenzy," He froze, the human spoke with his creator's voice, "Remain calm," it ordered him.
Then he remembered what had happened earlier and he was bombarded with memories of warmth and soft dampness. The horrifying sight of seeing himself covered in human flesh. Then there was the nauseating sensation of a human heart beating in his chest when it should have been a Cybertronian spark. And screaming, he remembered screaming; it must have been him. He felt his optics- no not his optics his eyes. His human eyes began to sting and blur, moisture leaking from them; it was uncontrollable. He was filled with sorrow, no longer what he should be. He was something different… something wrong. Was he still Frenzy, even if he didn't look like him.
Then he realised what his brother had just said to him.
"Slag off Rumble!" He shouted at his twin, his human twin- he was still his twin. He wasn't alone. "We're twins we look exactly the same as humans!"
Soundwave dwelled on what his creation had just said; they did look exactly the same- to others. He could still tell the difference between the two, Rumble had a slightly rounder face than his brother, and Frenzy had a tiny freckle on his neck behind his jaw. Asides from that though the similarities between them were staggering.
"Come," Soundwave motioned for them to stand with him, "We must join the others in finding clothes."
"Others?" Frenzy wondered aloud walking with his brother.
"Just wait and see," said Rumble grinning and taking off to catch up with Soundwave.
Two hours of scrounging later, everyone was clothed- relatively speaking. Rumble had managed to find a pair of dirty, half eaten shoes that fit him. Of course he had given one to his brother so they were sharing, Rumble had the left shoe and Frenzy the right, though they both wore them on their left foot.
They had managed to find- and in some cases steal- worn ratty pieces of clothing resembling T-shirts, despite Thundercracker and Starscream ripping one whilst fighting over who spotted it first. And they all, apart from Skywarp and Slipstream, had found pants or shorts or at least something similar to them to cover their lower bodies. Slipstream said she didn't need any, she claimed she was suitable covered enough as it was. Megatron and Soundwave begged to differ.
But Skywarp was still naked from the waist down and was starting to feel rather self-conscious about it.
It was his own fault of course; he'd spent almost all his time searching fooling around with some sort of human contraption Soundwave had declared an umbrella. It was apparently designed to protect humans from rain, or here, more likely sun, Megatron didn't see how; it was just a few pieces of metal attached to each other in a spiral, with ripped pieces of fabric hanging off in places. It was broken, but Skywarp had decided to keep it anyway. Finally Starscream dug out a pair of loosing fitting pants, it only had a few holes in it but was far filthier than anything else they had found and slightly damp, he tossed them to his brother who reluctantly put them on.
Starscream complained for the next twenty or so minutes about the clothes being itchy and hot and smelly until Megatron, finally having enough, smacked him around the back of the head, hard. Skywarp too was very uncomfortable, the fabric of the T-shirt was chaffing under his arms. He rubbed and pulled at it as they walked. Thundercracker promised that soon he'd find him some warm, dry, clean and comfortable clothes for him to wear. Skywarp cheered up slightly at his older brother's reassurance.
They carried on in silence until it started to get dark, the long hot Indian day finally approaching its end. Megatron grew apprehensive, there was no cloud cover. The heat the planet had absorbed throughout the day would be lost rapidly without the clouds to keep it in. It would be a cold night, one their new and fragile human bodies might not be able to handle it. If he didn't find them shelter soon they could all freeze to death.
Then none other than his favourite Seeker broke the silence.
"What the slag is that!" Starscream shrieked, gesturing back towards the pile of rubbish they had just clambered over.
Disinterested, the group glanced in the direction the former Air Commander was pointing in. There, standing out amongst the waste, was a fairly average sized mammal, covered in scruffy black fur and standing on four legs.
"Soundwave?" Megatron enquired, not foolhardy enough to remove his gaze from the creature. It was growling at them, from what little he knew of Earth mammals, that wasn't a good thing. It was defensive. If they stayed away, it might move on and leave them be.
"Species; Dog," Soundwave paused; it would take him ages to get used to hearing himself sound so… expressive. "Domestic mammal," He finished.
"Domestic?" snapped Starscream, edging away from the snarling mammal and moving behind Megatron's more intimidating bulk. "It doesn't look slagging domestic!"
Skywarp was curious; he thought the… dog looked quite adorable. Perhaps it just wanted to make friends? Leaving Thundercracker's grasp he started to move towards the growling dog.
"Skywarp!" screeched Starscream reaching out for him but not daring to move out from behind his leader's form. "What are you doing? That thing's dangerous, get back here!"
"I just wanna see-" he called back already half way there, Thundercracker was hurrying after him. After tripping over a piece of debris he came to stop just meters away from the snarling dog. "Hey there-" he said softly, holding out an open hand, but came to an abrupt halt as he got a closer look at the creature. It didn't look quite so friendly after all. Patchy fur, missing in places stood on end, foam dripped from its snarling mouth and he could see an impressive row of long, sharp teeth; teeth that his pathetic organic flesh wouldn't stand a chance against. The dog suddenly lunged forward, barking and snapping its jaws.
Skywarp jumped back, terrified as the dog advanced on him, he cried out, "Arrgh!"
"Skywarp!" Thundercracker was there, thank Primus, hauling him to his feet and dragging him away. He latched onto his older brother as the dog chased them back towards the rest of the group. He distantly heard Starscream shrieking something about 'not bringing that thing back over here!' as they broke into a sprint. The Dog was crazed, quickly gaining ground on them. He had never wanted to teleport so desperately in his life, he willed it to happen; straining himself so hard a vein throbbed in his forehead. But it didn't work, it never would.
He then heard a cracking of wood, followed swiftly by a high-pitched yelp. Slowing to a stop, Skywarp turned back to the source of the noise. There stood Megatron holding large branch- likely snapped off the lifeless tree he stood in front of- the dog laid twitching and whimpering at his feet. He looked away again as his leader raised the branch again, and tried to drown out the sickening sound of bones cracking.
Megatron threw the branch away and strode over to his third in command, "Domestic, Soundwave?" He demanded an explanation.
Soundwave stepped forward, head bowed. He examined the creature's remains, careful not to actually touch it. "Dog; infected with rabies. Disease; affects the brain. Contacted commonly via being bitten, it is in their saliva."
"Rabies?" questioned Starscream, curiosity leaning out from behind his leader; he sneered down at the bloodied mangled corpse of what would have once been a beautiful creature.
"Most uncared for Indian dogs; carry rabies. Suggestion; do not get bitten." Soundwave explained darkly moving away before adding, "Skywarp; do not approach dogs."
Skywarp blushed, looking down at his feet as Starscream and Slipstream scowled at him. He felt stupid and cowardly; he never would have thought organic creatures could be so dangerous and so scary. Eventually he trawled after his fellow Decepticons.