Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro
Warnings: AU, if only because this would never go down in G1. Also, mech-preg warning is in effect!
Notes: "Loyalty" has been in need of a sequel, and the LJ community crimson_optics was having a contest. It just worked out!
P.S.: Go back and read "Loyalty" first (located via my author page here) to pick up on the background. The story will make more sense that way.
He'd been expecting one of his lieutenants to approach him for quite some time now; it had been a few orns since he'd last summoned all three of them to his chambers for a more intimate meeting, and he was positive that he wasn't the only one that had forgotten to initiate certain programming.
Megatron had been hesitant in the beginning to go forward with the plan of having one of his three most-trusted soldiers play the role of traitor again and again, yet Starscream had proven himself under fire. Several times now the commanders had needed to slip into character due to a few dissenters being a bit too vocal in their treason, and several times the high commander had ensured that his pretend-rage did not cause too much damage to his loyal second.
The Autobots would probably frown upon using interface as a reward for loyalty, but Megatron didn't much care what the Autobots would think. In fact, the only opinions that mattered to him were those of Starscream, Soundwave, and Shockwave, and the three lieutenants were quite content with their leader's methods.
The only minor problem was, on more than one occasion two or more of the command team – once all four of them had been negligent – forgot about initializing the programs that would ensure that spark-conception didn't occur during interface, which resulted in unexpected sparklings.
Unexpected, but not unwanted, and definitely not unloved.
The first time Megatron had been approached in regard to the situation was by Shockwave, who had been embarrassed and unnerved to find himself carrying. The lord protector had taken great pains to keep the mono-opticed mech away from the battlefield and within the relative safety of the Decepticons' stronghold until after the new-spark had matured and was able to be transplanted into a new protoform. He had also ensured that the medic who performed the procedure, a helicopter designated Blackout, was made aware that the sparkling's parentage remain a secret from not only their own faction but from the Autobots as well; Megatron wouldn't put it past the Prime to try and "save" the sparkling from his own creators.
This was why only the high command, the command trine, and Blackout were aware of the fact that Ravage was a triple-changer. The now-youngling preferred his panther-mode or cassette-mode when amongst the main army, but would take on his bipedal root-mode when surrounded only by his family.
The second time one of the lieutenants had come before Megatron a few orns after a reward session (and the one time that none of the four had remembered to initiate their contraception programs) was by Soundwave, who took the idea of being sparked in his stride. It was a bit easier to keep the communications officer off the battlefield than with Shockwave, made a bit easier by the fact that Ravage in his primary alt-mode could easily slip into and out of the enemy stronghold and obtain any information that his creator was unable to access while carrying. The only brief stutter had been Blackout's observation that the new-spark had split in the chamber, prompting Shockwave and Starscream both to scramble in obtaining necessary parts to build a second protoform, but even that Soundwave treated as no real emergency.
It was somewhat easy at times to pick out the individual mechs who had contributed to Rumble and Frenzy's coding. Each of the twins had taken their colouration from one of their creators, Frenzy sporting a darker variation of Megatron's while Rumble wore a blend of Shockwave and Soundwave in his plating, and behind the visors both twins wore were optics the same shape and shade as Starscream's. Megatron half-suspected that the twins carried some flyer protocols as well, given how easily they'd taken to jetpacks and the whining they engaged in whenever their sire had to go on patrol with his brothers.
So Megatron was now waiting, a bit nervously, to see if one of his most loyal would come to ask a boon of him once more.
The wait ended a joor later when Starscream requested to speak with him privately. Perhaps this time the commanders would spark a flyer.
Final Note: Starscream needs a sign to slap on his alt-mode reading "Laserbeak on Board."
