Author's Notes: Skywarp and Thundercracker. Two character who really didn't get the character development they deserve. So cool, so sleek, so nicely colored. Why was such effort wasted on Starscream when you had these two around? Thus I have come to rectify such a travesty. A look from Skywarp, sometime on Earth...who knows when?

Warnings: Mild themes.

Spoilers: Vague for series.

Obligatory Disclaimer: I own no part of Transformers or any of its characters.

Far Away From Here


It is a time when one's spirit is subdued and sad, one knows not why; when the past seems a storm-swept desolation, life a vanity and a burden, and the future but a way to death.

-Mark Twain




Would it really be so surprising if I admitted that I hated Earth?

Well, I do, if you weren't aware. I can't stand the place. I mean, sure, there's energy and everything, but what is that in the face of all the other scrap this planet's handed us? It's so alien and organic, and the energy is so foreign and unstable. And when we do find stable energy, I can't finish missions without some pathetic flesh creature attempting to put up a fight. For Pit's sake, half the time I can hardly get around without stepping on something squishy.

Then there's whole problem of the weather. Hot, cold, windy, rainy, warm, dry, humid, etc, etc. Earth can't seem to decide what it wants to be wherever you are. Cybertron's no paradise, but at least you don't have to worry about walking outside one day and suddenly out of nowhere you get slapped with a rain shower.

And the technology here is so backwater it's disgusting. I suppose it isn't as bad as some I've seen, but it's still laughable. I mean, really, Nightbird? The average Cybetronian maintenance 'bot has more logic circuits than that pile of rust.

Let's not even get into the severe vermin infestation you guys have. We've honestly tried our best to do you humans a favor and terminate the Autobots, but it doesn't help when you consistently support them. That's like telling Starscream he's a genius and not expecting to hear about it for the next three weeks.

Face it, Earthlings, your planet sucks. It sucks more than having to listen Starscream and Megatron argue or dealing with Rumble when he's in punk mode.

So knowing all of this, knowing that I hate Earth more than the average Autobot, I suppose it would honestly be surprising to admit I'm not looking forward to returning to Cybetron either, would it? Because as much as I loathe this place and its inhabitants, better here than back on that salvage yard.

I don't want to go back to Cybetron as the glorious conquerors because there really isn't a Cybertron left for any starry-eyed warriors to return. I've seen the planet myself. It just isn't worth it.

Mind you, I haven't always thought that way. In fact, I thought very little of Cybertron until Megatron began announcing our plans to return with all the energy we had collected a few weeks after our resurrection. I looked forward to returning to it at the time. While waiting for the energon cubes to crystallize or between mission commands, Thundercracker and I would literally just sit for hours and reminisce, trading old war stories and jokes just like back in the old days when we were still just two young Decepticons looking for some fun. I had told him about the collection of Autobot parts I had on my wall; he had offered to take me to some of his old haunts when we got back.

Then Shockwave contacted us through the space bridge. Then we all saw Cybertron for what it was four million years after we left it behind.

And suddenly, going home didn't seem so great anymore.

It's always like that, isn't it? You get all excited about something and form all these great expectations, and then everything just goes to the Pit. It was the whole reason Megatron got us to follow him on this mission in the first place. He promised that if we followed Prime's ship, not only could we find the energy they were after, but we could kill Prime too and win the war.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should've known better. Who cares if Prime finds some new energy sources? Chances are the inhabitants aren't going to give it to him anyway, and even if they did, who cares? We could just beat them and steal it for ourselves. Hey, we've got the advantage here. We're the warriors, not them. They were just workers. Reason a little, will ya?

But then Megatron just won't listen to reason. He just keeps ranting and raving about taking over the universe and how he'll one day be ruler of us all. Well, fine, go ahead. I don't care anymore. I've lost the one place I really cared about. I mean, yeah, power and glory and riches is something that everyone wants to have, and I sure wouldn't mind having, but I also know that even with everything we accumulate in our advances, it still won't replace home.

And now I really don't have a home to return to, or, at least, one that I plan on doing so.

So, yeah, I'll follow Megatron to the end. I'll fight for Decepticon glory, for power, and all that other good stuff. But when it comes time to go home, I won't be with them. And, hopefully, if I can talk Thundercracker into it, I won't be alone.

It's not as dumb as it sounds. After all, it's not as if we're abandoning Megatron or anything. We'll fight the battle alongside him to the end. We'll accompany him on his mission for power. We'll fight the Autobots to the death. And we'll help him establish his universal empire. But after that, I'm leaving, getting away from it all.

Look, Thunder and I got it all worked out. We take over, Megatron starts up his empire, we conquer, pillage, etc, etc. That's when we're gonna spring it on him. We'll offer to take over some distant galaxy and get all the riches and resources he wants if he'll just let us set up our own little thing over there.

Now, mind you, we aren't going to betray him or anything. We're not stupid like Starscream. We know Megatron would have our chassis if we tried to pull anything on him. 'Sides, by the time he takes over, the rest of our Decepticon kin would probably be up to their radar housings in wealth and wouldn't be too keen on somebody turning on the guy who gave it to them in the first place. So usurping power really isn't our thing. We'll just set up some kind of empire-state or something. Like we had on Cybertron when the elders were still in charge while senators took care of smaller regions. We'll still be loyal to Megatron, but we'll have our place of power.

Listen, all we wanna to do is get away. Like I said, Cybertron isn't worth the fighting anymore. I just want to get somewhere far away with my friend so we don't have to look back and remember all those places we used to haunt and those we never will. It's gone, done for, and the past is something that's just that: behind us.

And you know what the most painful part of it all is? Even with all this fighting, the fact is that Cybertron's condition is our fault because we couldn't stop fighting long enough to care about what we already had. We dragged this war on for millions of years. We were the ones who drained it of all energy. It's all our fault. We killed the very thing we were fighting for.

So now it's all just a matter of time. My decision is made, and I'm not changing it. Just gotta wait until Prime makes that stupid mistake or Megatron gets that lucky shot. Until that point, we're stuck along on this wild ride of his until the bitter, bloody end.

Fighting this war used to satisfy the warrior's calling within me. It was in my programming. It was what I enjoyed doing. It was my purpose. I was young when I first joined this war; I had dreams and aspirations. Now I'm old, and I know better. I know there isn't going to be much of a golden age for my fellow mechanisms.

It's just been too long, too draining, too painful. And now the very thing we were fighting for from the beginning is lost to us anyway. What's the use in dragging it on?

So like I said, I'm going to get away and find some place to settle down. Hopefully, Thundercracker'll come with me. Hopefully, I'll find that place far away from here. Someplace worth the pain.

I used to believe in glory, in battles, but now I know better now. I used to think that everything would be all right, that we would win and Cybertron would be sitting there just waiting for our return.

But now I know better. All that's left of my glory is a pile of rusting metal and ashes in a galaxy far, far away. So even if we win this war, it doesn't matter. Even if Megatron gets that lucky shot, it doesn't matter. Our victory doesn't matter.

Because we had already lost before we even began.