"Of Sparks and Cons"
Chapter One
"You're certain Soundwave?" Megatron turned to the silent mech and waited for his affirmation. With a single nod, Megatron smiled and turned back to the screens that created a semi-circle around him. The planet on the central screen spun slowly on its axis, peacefully unaware that it was now caught in the middle of a war.
"Windsplittter!" Cascade called, bending down to see under the overhang of the organic's residence. One of only two sparklings on this planet, Windsplitter tended to wander far and wide while she was on her own. None of the organics messed with her and she knew all of the Cybertronians that had created a colony here. Still, Cascade found it unnerving whenever his sparkling disappeared right from under his faceplate.
"Cascade, is something wrong?" Amala asked as Nahallia followed her out. Amala was the local healer; a tall, slender feline tilted her spotted head to one side as she regarded him calmly.
"Windsplitter has left again, mother," Nahallia responded for Cascade, stepping down from the porch and moving to stand beside the tall Cybertronian. Her head barely reached his knee.
"Nahallia is right, if I may borrow her for a moment?" Cascade requested, standing to his full height once more and looking up toward the distant mountains.
"Of course, I am in no need of my cub's services at this time, much luck in your search," Amala bowed slightly before turning and walking back into the residence with her back straight and her shoulders squared.
"Thank you… Nahallia, can you go search the village? I don't want to make a mess of the marketplace… again," Cascade grimaced at that particular memory.
"Sure thing, Cascade, just give me a holler if you find her first," Nahallia requested as she took off at a run toward the village square. Cascade watched her until her long tail disappeared into the dust that her powerful strides kicked up. It would never cease to amaze him how fast such tiny creatures could travel.
Moving beyond the main road and into the brown savannah that surrounded the village on all sides, Cascade continued to search for Windsplitter, moving aside any object that got in his way. Something about the way Windsplitter disappeared so suddenly sat uneasily in his spark. She had been acting strange, well stranger, for the last few weeks. It was as if she were two different femmes. But he didn't see how that was possible. Even the medic had said it was just a phase that all sparklings went through. That she was starting to manifest her own personality. Still… something didn't feel right.
He was pulled from his musings by the sound of thrusters as a flyer came toward him, dropping to the ground and leaning against a tree in a relaxed manner. Rolling his optics, Cascade moved to walk past the mech, only to have him grab his shoulder and stop him.
"Looking for something?" the mech's tone was anything but friendly however Cascade was not about to pass up the chance that the annoying gnat had seen Windsplitter in his travels.
"My sparkling, what else would I be looking for on this dust ball?" Cascade had learned long ago that it was useless acting as though he loved the planet he was currently residing on. In all honesty, he hated it. The dust got into parts where it simply did not belong and caused more issues than it was worth. If not for Nahallia's people, he'd go for another colony all together. But the people of this planet could not possibly protect themselves from the likes of the Decepticons or even the Autobots. They were too peaceful for that.
"Haven't seen the little… sweetie," the flyer growled, knocking a few leaves from his shoulder, the dark red metal gleamed in the bright summer light, "You need me to send her home?"
"If you don't mind," Cascade growled in irritation at the look that gleamed in the red and white flyer's optics.
"Very well," the flyer lifted off and left Cascade in a cloud of dust.
With a servo waving in front of his faceplate, Cascade watched him go before turning his gaze skyward, sighing as he considered the two stars that shone even during the day. One was the largest sun of Altera while the other was a planet that was closest to this one. If it had not been for his bondmate, he'd have never come to this planet in the first place. He'd wanted to take Windsplitter to Altera where the Neutrals had placed a barrier to the war. However Celestial Winds had decided they needed to offer their protection to those who could not manage on their own. And she had lost her spark in doing so.
"And now I'm stuck here because I can't refuse my sparkmate's final wish," Cascade snorted while he stared up at the heavens. His thoughts were interrupted when a new star appeared and began to grow larger. Over the past one hundred rotations of the planet around its sun, he'd never seen a meteorite during the daylight hours. When the long tail suddenly changed directions, he narrowed his optics and cursed under his breath.
Spinning on his heel, Cascade marched through the savannah, his bright yellow optics focused on the tiny village. His last hope was that Nahallia had found Windsplitter and was going to meet him before he had to make his announcement. His worst nightmare was that she had no luck and his sparkling was going to be alone during one of the worst times of her life.
"Mardel," Cascade called to a bent old feline, his spots had started to go gray and the fur on his muzzle was beginning to fall out. The old cat was the leader of this particular village, though how he even managed to leave his residence was unknown to Cascade.
"Cascade, is something the matter?" Mardel asked as one round-tipped ear pricked forward and his rheumy gaze moved over Cascade's shoulder. It was clear when the reason for Cascade's sudden appearance struck him.
"I'm afraid so… I need you to take your people to the mountains and hide in the caves," Cascade ordered steadily, indicating the nearest mountain range, nearly a half-day's run for the felines. But they could make it before anyone reached this section of the planet. Once he was sure the locals were safely away in their hidey-holes Cascade would take Windsplitter back to the main colony, hopefully the 'Cons on the ship would only want to trade for supplies and talk. He didn't even consider the possibility of the ship belonging to an Autobot contingent or Neutrals. Most of the colonists on this world were Decepticons or Neutrals. A well-known fact.
Mardel did not respond at first, then with quivering whiskers and fear shining bright in his dull yellow eyes, he nodded and turned on his heel, making his slow way down the main street of the village. Cascade watched him go until he'd reached the warning bell and begun to ring it. Once he was certain that the old cat could draw all of his people from their residences, Cascade began to earnestly search for Nahallia and Windsplitter. He'd be damned if he allowed his sparkling to suffer through the upcoming battles alone.
Lying at the top of the watch tower that overlooked the eastern rim of the island taken over by the Cybertronian colonists, Duskwalker stared off into the distance and sighed. Far below her on the water's surface, she could see crews of spotted felines pulling nets from the water, carefully avoiding the salty drops. Each net was filled to capacity with fresh fish. This was a daily ritual for the locals and Duskwalker often wished she could speak to them about it or even try the fish. Though she doubted the latter was possible. Simply by looking like, and often acting like, a feline herself did not constitute the ability to eat the same foods. Stretching her thick paws out before her she yawned and tipped her rounded ears from side to side. She knew that, lying at the top of the watch tower, she was clearly visible. The mottled coloring of her armor would do little to disguise her from any flyers that happened by.
"Dusk, what are you doing up there?" Searazor shouted from inside the watch tower. The mech was leaning of the opening, glaring up at her. Standing and placing her paws on the edge of the tower roof, Duskwalker hung her head down and looked at him upside down. The mech was on the shorter side which gave him an advantage as a member of the watch crew. His optics were a vivid green that seemed to offset the tranquil blues and greens of his armor.
"Watching the fishers on the sea," she stated innocently enough. Searazor huffed out a ventful of air and shook his head.
"You're not supposed to be up there and you know it. Come on, get down," Searazor ordered, waiting with a tapping ped.
Rolling her optics and sighing, Duskwalker did as he 'asked' and leapt down easily to the railing surrounding the interior of the tower. As she reached the floor inside she transformed into her robot form and crossed her arms. The other two mechs inside the tower looked over at her with knowing grins before turning back to their work.
"Remain off the roof, what would you have done if you'd gotten hit by an electrical storm?" Searazor admonished, rubbing the smooth surface between his optics. This wasn't the first time he'd had chase her from the roof of the tower. And it most likely wouldn't be the last.
"Noticed it before it reached the colony," Duskwalker responded without an ounce of sarcasm. Electrical storms moved slowly over the seas. Though they did tend to gain power in the meantime.
A few snickers from the other watchers made Searazor cringe before shaking his head with a sardonic smile, "You win… what's old Renegade up to these days?"
"Repairing the weather warning system," Duskwalker answered as she sat down on her haunches and wrapped her tail around her front paws.
"That glitch Farshot managed to break it again, huh?" Searazor snorted taking a seat at the control panel and leaning back against the console. Following his movements with her golden optics, Duskwalker shrugged. She didn't know what had happened only that she had not felt like going with Renegade to the job. Farshot tended to try and use her as target practice if she wasn't careful. Not even Renegade could get it through that mech's head that she wasn't a toy.
A sound had Duskwalker twitching her ears as she turned her head and looked up out the windows. The mechs in the tower did not have to ask her why she was looking; everyone knew her audio receptors were far more sensitive than theirs. Instead of asking her what she heard they all abandoned their posts and looked out the windows.
"Frag it," Searazor swore before spinning from the view and rushing to the console, "Dusk, go home. Get there fast and stay there."
Duskwalker, though curious as to what had them up in arms, did not argue. Instead she leapt to her pedes and darted down the stairs that lead to the dusty earth below. Emerging from the tower's stairway she stopped and looked skyward, watching as a ship began its final descent. It would not be long before it landed. It looked far more aggressive than the other ships that landed here and she did not doubt the turrets were in fact weapons. Slipping into the shadows she darted in and around the different buildings and piles that littered the colony streets.
Reaching the landing field as the ship put down, Duskwalker stopped and skulked in the shadows, watching. There was no way for her to run across the field without being spotted by the ship's occupants. But she had a chance of remaining hidden in the deeper shadows of the buildings.
Nahallia ducked down under an overhang and smirked, her fangs glistening in the hot sun as she spotted her prey. Hidden deep in the shadows, her legs and arms curled underneath her, was Windsplitter. The little sparkling had hidden from the sun and fallen asleep… or rather, into recharge. Shaking her head at the difference, Nahallia reached out to Windsplitter and pulled her out with a grunt. Compared to the cubs of her village, the Cybertronian sparkling weighed a ton.
Panting in the heat, Windsplitter cradled on her lap, Nahallia looked up with pricked ears as the village bell rang out in warning. Something was happening and it was urgent, however there was no way Nahallia would be able to carry Windsplitter to the bell's location. And she most certainly could not leave the little one alone in the heat of the day.
"Nahallia! The bell, it rings," Char shouted as he trotted up to her and stopped. His powerfully muscled legs flexed as he bent down so that he was nearer to her level. His clear blue eyes shifted across her face before focusing on Windsplitter. He took in the blue and grey femling with slight interest before refocusing on Nahallia.
"Cascade's daughter… I'll carry her, I think I saw him on the other side of the village… at least I assume it was him," Char laughed at his own joke as he took Windsplitter into his arms. Most of the Chartah could not tell the Cybertronians apart.
Nahallia allowed Windsplitter to be taken from her lap. Once the little one was safely away Nahallia stood up and dusted the dust and dirt from the short fur of her legs. Regaining her full height, which meant she came to Char's chest, the top of her head barely scraping his chin, Nahallia spun on her heel and looked to where the bell was hidden behind the cottages. No sign of Cascade.
With Windsplitter in his arms, Char turned toward the opposite end of the dusty road and began to jog back. Turning to follow, Nahallia's long tail twitched as she started to jog after him. The sooner they returned Windsplitter to her father, the sooner they could find out what the bell's tone meant.
Flying over the savannah, the hot wind rushing past his sensors as he startled the local wildlife into a headlong rush toward a gully, Darksky laughed. He may dislike the planet, but he loved the feel of flying. Watching mindless organic animals fall to their deaths was simply a bonus for the Decepticon flyer. After all the nonsense with Cascade worrying over his little brat, Darksky had needed the break.
Unfortunately, before the first of the creatures could actually go over the gully wall, the sight and sound of a landing vessel caught Darksky's attention and he shot up into the air to get a better view. A large Decepticon battle ship was landing at the spaceport on the Cybertronian island. He was too far away to tell precisely which ship it was, but he had a sick feeling in his spark that he could guess. Apparently the rumors were true.
Turning sharply, Darksky headed back over the village at top speed, slowly only long enough to note that Cascade and Windsplitter had been reunited. With a sneer he looked away from them and continued along his flight path to the island. If he had his way, he'd be off of this miserable ball of sand long before the inquisition could begin.
Huddling down in the shadows, hoping the glowing golden orbs on her body did not stand out too much, Duskwalker watched as three mechs stepped out of the shadows of the ship. In the lead, a tall grey mech looked around. Large spikes adorned his armor and his broad, barrel chest bore the mark of the Decepticons. On his right arm was a massive weapon that made Duskwalker hiss softly. Only the enforcers of the island carried weapons here. Behind the grey mech was a tall, slender purple and black mech without a faceplate, or at least it was hidden behind a smooth plate of dark glass. He moved with an air of confidence and looked directly at her before turning to focus on his leader's words. Beside the purple mech was another tall, slender mech. This one was a flyer and grey like his leader. But the expression of pure arrogance on his faceplate made Duskwalker distrust him even more than the one in the lead.
However, when the one in the lead spoke, she knew she had been right to distrust him first.