We are Preparing for the Afterlife
Chapter --- 001
For the most part, Thundercracker spent the majority of the meetings taking meager, mental notes, while his counterpart Skywarp doodled on the tabletop with his index finger. The blue seeker had given up long, long ago on convincing Skywarp to ever paying much attention to the meetings. He could understand where Skywarp was coming from when he had mentioned that the meetings consisted of ninety percent bullshit, five percent of Megatron having to physically remind Starscream of his position, and another five percent of actual planning. This meeting was no exception to the percentage rule, and Thundercracker found himself drifting between Starscream and Megatron's banter and planning what he would do with the rest of the day after this meeting ever ended.
"Thundercracker!" He flinched as Starscream's dry, creaky voice called out his name. The blue seeker lifted his head up, barely looking his commander in the eye before staring at Starscream's chest. "What is your opinion on this new battle plan?" Starscream leaned forward across the black, circle table. The tan seeker's maroon optics threateningly looked at his subordinate. They both knew what Starscream wanted from him—an answer that would support Starscream's viewpoint. However, Megatron had casually crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, awaiting Thundercracker's answer. Megatron's red orange optics eyed the seeker. He too, Thundercracker knew, was trying to intimidate in a more subtle way to disagree with Starscream.
A kick from Skywarp quickly brought the seeker to his senses. "I think the plan is fine as it is, Starscream," Thundercracker answered. "The more complicated the plan is, the more likely something is too go wrong; however, I think that if we did another direct attack, we would inevitably be forced to retreat once the Autobot forces arrived. I propose that we adjourn this meeting, and reschedule another one were we can debate and decide upon a better course of action to obtain more energy."
Starscream visibly snarled at the answer, while Megatron regarded the answer for a moment before giving an approving nod. This only further infuriated the second in command, but Megatron, like most of the time, ignored his second in command's childish behavior. "I concur, Thundercracker," he replied in his deep, rumbling voice. "This meeting has gone on far too long." The Decepticon leader's optics glanced to Starscream and back. "We will resume this meeting in three solar cycle's time." Megatron stood up, and looked around at the other officers at the table—Blitzwing, Astrotrain, Hook, Barricade, and Motormaster. "Skywarp, since you have failed to contribute anything to this discussion, you will make up for it by going on patrol during the break. Astrotrain, you will accompany him. The rest of you—" He looked around at each and everyone of them individually. "I expect to bring fourth your own ideas."
With that said, Thundercracker could breath a sigh of relief as he saw Megatron passed through the doors and out of his sight. The rest of them (excluding Starscream, Skywarp, and Astrotrain) shared his same relief. It wasn't often that Megatron gave them three days in between meetings with little to no restrictions. For the blue seeker, this wasn't something he was going to let slip by quietly. He stood up and followed Hook out of the room, leaving Skywarp to grump with Astrotrain about how "unfair" it was of Megatron to give one of his most elite and loyal soldiers a job suited for a drone. Thundercracker wouldn't let Skywarp know, but he was silently happy that Megatron had assigned him the duty. With Skywarp out of the way, he'd only have to worry about Soundwave spotting him. He took a big breath and tried to conceal the smile fighting to spread across his lips. Oh how he appreciated Megatron sometimes.
It was Starscream, as usual, to ruin his moment of joy. As his commander came beside him, Thundercracker slowed his pace out of respect. He let his yellow eyes glaze over Starscream's tattoos. He was disgusted at how quickly after Megatron's demise Starscream had been to announce his leadership to Cybertron, and to top it off, he marked himself in glyphs to symbolize his power; however, as stupid as this act was, Thundercracker did admire the courage that Starscream had had for painting himself as moving target. "You really should get rid of the glyphs, Commander," Thundercracker addressed. "You'll be easy to spot on Earth."
Starscream sneered, moving ahead of his subordinate. He held his head high like a dominant, aggressive dog and strutted down the hallway as if he owned it. "I will not be an undercover, stand-by seeker disguised as a faulty F-22, Thundercracker," he corrected harshly. "If I ever return to that horrid, rusty planet, it will be to only gather more energy. And besides, I don't want to have to apply the glyphs a second time."
"Starscream," Thundercracker met with an equally challenging tone. "It would be more efficient for the missions if you could blend in properly with the surroundings and pretend to be part of the U.S. Air force, so as to help cause a surprise attack on the Autobots." Starscream picked up his pace, obviously agitated. "Secondly, isn't it a bit early to be planning Megatron's demise already? After all, it took Optimus Prime how many millions of Earth years to finally kill him? Are you willing to wait another ten million years so that someone else can do your dirty work?" A low snarl echoed from his commander now, and Thundercracker smirked like a child. "Thirdly, you are not leader material Starscream. We saw what happened to you on Cybertron after Megatron's demise. The empire fell apart under your watch—"
"It was falling apart underneath Megatron's watch!" Starscream snapped. "I merely had the bad timing of getting the brunt of his mistakes." Starscream twisted his ugly head around to stare critically at Thundercracker. "And if you are to be so critical, why don't you shed your protoform and adapt a human vehicle, Thundercracker." His voice was the venom to Thundercracker's ears, and the blue seeker's wings bristled at how Starscream pronounced his name in that cynical, demeaning, downright wrong way. Starscream, with that bloated ego that just begged to be popped, crossed his arms and stared with an annoyed gaze at Thundercracker. "Actually, I think that would be a good task for you to do during your three days off, soldier."
This, what Starscream was telling him, was what would make these three days off so much better. He would have orders to go to Earth, and so he wouldn't have to worry about sneaking passed Soundwave. He could take his ol' merry time if he so pleased. This was one of the few times Thundercracker was happy to serve his commander. "So it's an order?" Thundercracker asked for clarity, just to ensure that he in fact did have clearance.
"Yes," Starscream sneered in his aristocrat voice. At that one word, Thundercracker's spark swelled with uncontainable happiness. "And while you are on Earth, bring back another set of calculations of a different insect-designed aircraft so that Skywarp can adapt a new form as well." The tan seeker placed a finger on Thundercracker's chest to reinforce the point. "I expect you back with only quality disguises, Thundercracker. Use your holoform if you must." Thundercracker nodded, trying to suppress his aching smile. "Then what the hell are you standing around for?" Starscream criticized. "Go!" He pushed Thundercracker back, before Starscream continued the long walk to his quarters.
For Thundercracker, he could not leave the Nemesis and Saturn's moon fast enough, and the trek to Earth seemed just as painfully long, if not longer because of the unchanging scenery. The seeker would never understand how that geeky Starscream could spend hours, days, and probably years studying a single celestial, gaseous body. To him, they looked the same, just some a bit dimmer than others. But that had always been Starscream—he always loved picking out the small details that made one star unique from another. Thundercracker on the other hand, longed for scenery where he could see a change without having to search for it. It had been his conclusion, that if you had to search for the beauty, then you wouldn't be able to enjoy it so much as beauty that you didn't have to search for, only observe.
That itself was another reason he enjoyed Earth. The scenery there was always changing, never the same for long. He didn't have to search for beauty because it was all around him. His silly, childish grin grew as the feeling of the Earth's outer atmosphere winds brushed against his body. It was made only better by the idea of Soundwave orbiting the planet on the complete opposite side of him. He transformed in the air, gracefully landing in Wyoming prairie lands. The wild mule deer flicked their li'l white tails skyward, and jumped and pranced away frantically like mad men. The black birds took to the skies as the ground shook from the massive weight of the lumbering giant. They screamed out into the morning air with unprecedented, clear voices.
The seeker took in a deep, colorful scented breath of the Earth's atmosphere. He took a moment to just take in the scenery and relax. The long, rolling hills were beautiful in the mid-summer drought. The green, fading brown grass leaned over one another in the wind and occasionally buckled to the ground. The deer nestled in a tight herd in the distance, where with large, alert, ebon' eyes, they stared at the intruder. But he didn't feel like an intruder. No, Thundercracker felt more like a visitor, someone who was just here to appreciate this "God's" work, if in fact there were an almighty. For the seeker, whom had come from a world defined by numbers, shape, and perfection, he found it hard to believe that there could possible be some greater power to create a masterpiece such as this world. It was hard for him to comprehend that something or someone could have such imagination.
Yet, Thundercracker would not believe that this beautiful scenery was the result of random events. The numbers and statistics didn't support that idea, nor would he allow himself to think that out of such a deadly and fragile world would yield such a sturdy and beautiful thing like a flower. The titan bent down to pet the grass, trying to imagine how it would feel if his sensors weren't dulled from a thick armor and pain-numbing programs. But he would take the faint touches and enjoy them for what they were.
He knew his limitations, and unlike Starscream, he respected those limitations.
Tranquility like this, as he had learned, never lasted long. There was always some chaos-bringer to destroy—and in this case it was a bark. This bark didn't belong to a wolf—they rarely spoke—but to a cousin of the wolf family. The bark was sharp, deep, threatening, and directed towards him. He momentarily froze because his initial instinct to fly would give him away on a clear day like this. Damn! The only place left … No; he wouldn't go there, that would be cowardly like Starscream! A second bark, followed by several more barks from different dogs erased all his pride as he ducked into the trees.
The branches snapped and yelped as he desperately, clumsily searched for a place to hide, but these trees—Dammit!—they weren't high enough to disguise his thirty-two feet tall body. Well, at least when he was standing. The seeker hunched over and laid flat on the ground. The warm Earth felt cool against his hot body and the trees' shadows helped to shade him from the burning, summer sun. For a moment, it was quiet, pure silence. In that brief moment, he sighed in relief that they were—WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! His optics flinched at the barks. He twisted his head to spot the small pack of five lean, graceful dogs charging towards him. Their large, radar-like ears were red with excitement, and between their legs, they whipped their tails from side-to-side. Behind the pack ran a tall, female human. She ran fast, faster than a normal human by his calculations.
"HALT!" she ordered at the top of her massive lungs. The dogs, without question, followed the order. They looked at the alien hiding in the trees, then back at their pack leader. The human slowed down, but came close enough that Thundercracker could make out the details of her body. She was tall, five feet nine inches to be precise, with soft, pale blonde hair. The woman's hair was cut short, just above the shoulders, and layered so that it framed her youthful face. She appeared foreign from her olive toned skin—the Mediterranean by his guess. She was beautiful, near perfect by human standards—well, would've been. Both her eyes were natural, tea green eyes. The only imperfection that bothered the transformer was her left, heterochromia eye. A block-like section of her upper eye was a light, hazel color with golden highlights near the center.
She didn't stop at the edge of the forest like he had hoped. No, he couldn't be that lucky. She crept far enough within the forest that he could smell the trances of energon from her breath. Behind followed a light fawn dog with tickling on his chest. The dog was alert, pulling his jowls back into growl. Thundercracker wanted to half growl back at the dog, but he didn't want to give away his position.
"Go home," the well-dressed human stated. It took a moment for Thundercracker to realize that the human had spotted him and was conversing with him. "Your kind isn't welcomed here." She raised her head with that snobbish, cynical, I'm-better-than-you-attitude. She, in a motion too similar to Starscream's, crossed her arms. She crinkled her nose. The dog stopped at her side, holding himself with just as much pride as his owner. "If you fail to comply, we will use physical force and your life may or may not be jeopardized."
Thundercracker, unable to tolerate her stern voice and curious as to what she was—he knew she wasn't human—stood. The thing stepped backwards as he revealed his height. Not only was he intimidating for being tall, but for his heavy, seeker build. His shadowed loomed over her ominously, but she hardly phased. If anything, she disregarded it, which only brought more questions to his mind. "Who are you?" he boomed.
"I said go home, Thundercracker," she repeated. She knew it by the tone of her voice, but he didn't know her … at least he didn't remember remembering her. "You have thirty-seconds to begin evacuation of the area in order for me to call off the attack."
Thundercracker chuckled at her threat. He knelt down, placing both his arms on his knees. "Who the slag do you think you are?" he demanded.
"Fifteen seconds," the human answered.
"You can't order me around," Thundercracker clarified. The girl stepped aside as a boom, loud enough to rival Thundercracker's own, registered within his audio sensors. He barely had enough time to twist his head around to catch a glimpse of a bright green object diving bombing him before he was forced to the ground. The feeling of his wings being detached from his body brought a sharp, spark-splitting pain to his body. A desperate plea for help and relief from the pain escaped his mouth, but he was quickly silenced. The neon green seeker took a shot at his chest, rendering the Decepticon's body limp. Thundercracker's senses dulled as he forced into stasis lock. Only the last words from the strange female reached his sensors.
"—told him it would happen."