New chapter! Heavily inspired from "In The End" by Linkin Park. Enjoy. Disclaimer: I don't own song or show
"I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There's only one thing you should know
I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There's only one thing you should know
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter"
- "In The End" by: Linkin Park
As soon as Orion Pax arrived on the Nemesis, he walked straight to Megatron's quarters. "Lord Megatron," Orion said.
"Yes, old friend?" Megatron asked, hiding his cruel demeanor for the stoic, firm but kind mech Orion knew him as.
"I have extinguished the warlord Ratchet's spark," Orion said bitterly and proudly.
Megatron's optics widened. "Have you? Well the, excellent work although I'm a bit surprised. You usually show mercy to your enemies."
"Yeah well, Ratchet could have destroyed more innocent lives. One dead is better than millions dead, and besides Ratchet was my friend, and he betrayed me," Orion stated matter-of-factly.
"Very well then. By your act, you have possibly saved countless lives, but there are still Autobots fiercely loyal to him that not only will avenge Ratchet's death but continue his plans of world conquest. We will still need to hunt them down."
"Then I'll do whatever I can," Orion vowed.
Megatron placed a hand on Orion's right shoulder. "You will, but first you need to rest. Then I need you to finish decrypting those data from Iacon."
"Very well," Orion said. He left Megatron's quarters for his own.
He laid down on his birth, but instead on going straight to a recharge, he thought about his actions only half an hour ago. He just killed Ratchet. Ruthless, cruel Ratchet. Energon-hungry, warlike Ratchet. Killer, demonic Ratchet. Peaceful, close friend Ratchet.
Where did Ratchet go wrong?
Ratchet encouraged Orion's ideals and beliefs when Megatron began pulling away. Ratchet listened to him. Not only listened but shared some of his ideals, believing that they should use nonviolence and reformation to solve the political corruption and end the caste system. Did Ratchet mean what he said or was it all a sham? Maybe it wasn't, but Megatron's philosophy proved right all along. Turns out, Megatron proved good this whole time, but Ratchet proved to be evil and cruel.
Megatron said that during his captivity, the Autobots brainwashed him into siding with them. It was Ratchet's idea. He wanted to change him into Ratchet's own likeness – a ruthless killer – in order to preserve the friendship they once had but in a more twisted way which explains why there's a huge gap in his memory bank.
It's amazing how friendship can change? Orion thought. Long ago, he and Megatron were practically brothers, but they grew apart (or so he thought). Then he and Ratchet grew close. Now he and Megatron are pretty much brothers, and he and Ratchet are now bitter enemies. Life is a crazy thing, but it stung him, too. In a perfect world, Orion would be friends with both mechs at the same time, or at least Ratchet would have been his true friend this whole time. For all he knew, the whole peace thing was a whole fraggin' charade.
I trusted you, Ratchet, but I guess, in the end it doesn't even matter. You're dead, and you deserved it. Orion thought back to the times when Ratchet was the peaceful mech he was. Ratchet had once encouraged Orion to speak out but to never resort to violence. He even started friendly debates with Orion to help him develop his thoughts, and Orion loved Ratchet for it, but now things aren't the way they are now. Ratchet was just a liar. Either that or he became corrupted. Then he's a slaggin' hypocrite. Orion had trusted Ratchet and listened to him. It was because of Ratchet that Orion preserved his seemingly impossible ideals and didn't budge for anyone, but it turns out Ratchet wasn't or became the mech he wasn't. Meatron was the true one this whole time so Orion budged and devoted himself to the Decepticon cause. Megatron was right all along, but it doesn't even matter now. All that matters is stopping the Autobots. Ratchet is dead. Orion made sure of that.
Ratchet even tried to control him, acting like he owned Orion. I changed, Ratchet. I'm not your piece of property. I'm my own mech. I now know where I truly stand. "Heh," Orion laughed bitterly, "I bet you didn't even recognize me when you captured me. It doesn't matter now. We were once friends, but not anymore. In the end, it doesn't even matter. Nothing does." They were once so close, but not anymore. They were bitter enemies, but one stood high while the other fell. The friendship died a long time ago. Saving innocent lives and Cybetron were more important. Orion tried to think of himself as a hero, but a part of his spark still wished things could have been different. Maybe in the end, part of it did matter, but it can't be helped. What's done is done, and now countless lives were saved from Ratchet. Still…
Orion got up. His mind was too busy to rest. He exited out of his quarters and to the Decepticon archives to decrypt some of that data from Iacon. For awhile things were quiet and boring as Orion struggled to complete a task he was once so fluent in, but out of the blue, the door was kicked open, and Orion turned around to see a surprised mech with a stack of energon, covering his face except for an optic. As soon as the mysterious mech saw Orion, he dropped the energon, aimed his missiles at Orion, and in surprise and fear, shouted "Optimus Prime?"
It was Starscream.