Chapter 2: Doohickey-41
A pair of wine coloured optics silently watched the resurrected Transformer lying in blissful recharge. Basking in the halcyon ambience of the medical bay, Skywarp admired the undisturbed look of peace playing on the blue seekers face, bearing a haunting similarity to the one he wore astroseconds before he passed on. Seventy one percent more and the blue seeker will be fully operational and ready for battle. Skywarp's optics spontaneously danced with his thoughts juggling in his mind. Should he tell him? A Decepticon's memories were erased for specific purposes, and Megatron had witnessed enough acts of repeated treachery. The Decepticon warrior grumbled incoherently to himself. If Starscream did not contribute her generous share of boundless disloyalty, maybe Thundercracker could be granted a second life with his memories intact. Even if his spark did not fizzle away in defeat, Thundercracker's memories were an empty bowl, and it was up to Skywarp to fill it.
"Hey."
Skywarp looked down to find Thundercracker's optics glowing back at him. 'Hey TC, ol' buddy, ol' pal, how'yre doin'? You still owe me two cubes of high-grade energon, remember? Yeah, you SAY you don't...'
"…Hi." Skywarp returned with an impassive grunt. ''Time for the routine reminders,' he thought. "…'Know who you are?"
"Yeah." Thundercracker's answer did not change Skywarp's waiting look. "The name's Thundercracker."
"I know, TC."
A whispery huff escaped the tired seeker's lips. "So…that's my nickname around here?"
"Pretty much." Skywarp wings shrugged lightly with his shoulders. Thundercracker seemed contemplative now, and it was obvious why; Skywarp's personal idea about his being and the basic data fed into Thundercracker's new cerebral board, told him he was not alive for the first time.
"…I've been reconstructed? Well…" a flash of doubt ran across the purple Decepticon's visage, but Thundercracker was relatively perceptive despite his fatigue. "…I guess I can't really ask why. But-"
"You slagged yourself." Skywarp blurted. "You shot yourself in the face, 'cause you're a stupid slag head who thinks with your aft. Also, you tried to betray 'Big Boots Boss and his Mighty Cannon', but you don't know that…yet."
The transparent insults didn't provoke Thundercracker, but his purple counterpart was holding a cautious manner of speech, picking at the blue jet's curiosity. He wanted to know: was it part of Skywarp's nature, or an odd routine granted by his superior's orders. "So…you're telling me this because…."
'Ah, slag. I've already said enough. Who cares,' Skywarp sighed inwardly. "Because I used to be your best bud, okay? Y'know, like a friend-"
"I know what a friend is…" Thundercracker interjected, testing his newfound friendship at the same time. "…Slag head."
The blue seeker's legs took a mind of its own when they fell away from the vertical Decepticon. An unsuspecting swipe from Skywarp grazed the blue jet's leg, but they both shared the same sentiment with a grin. "…Can I know why I betrayed our leader…Megatron?"
A black hand curled its digits into a tight fist, save for the smallest finger teasing the air in front of Thundercracker's nose. The physical gesture was completely alien to the blue F-15, but Skywarp's answer was old news to many other Decepticons. "A femme con."
'A female? Why is it always a female-' Thundercracker ran through his thoughts, turning towards his shoulder for some kind of answer. Why would he foul his sensors with such irrational stupidity? Was this the exclusive reason he had for forfeiting his previous life? Maybe the answer was as plain as day.
"…Is she pretty?"
"Oh 'con she's as hot as the smelting pools and as fine as that bitter-sweet-sour kinda high grade, y'know, her legs are so fiiiiiine-" Thundercracker studied Skywarp's overexcited state of arousal and came to a fitting conclusion. "Oh. 'Kay." The blue seeker's optics started turning a darker shade before they powered down, leaving Skywarp to rant to himself.
"And then when she, hey-" the purple seeker became somewhat dejected at the sight of his sleeping friend. Time was of necessary importance to those who were working their self-repair systems, and a mildly tolerant wait to their superiors. Running the external scanners over the blue seeker's supine chassis, Skywarp bobbed his head in an accepting nod to Thundercracker's steady process. He could already feel his circuitry shaking in hopeful anticipation to his wingmate's fully operational status.
After the solitary conversation, Skywarp took his chance at getting lost within the dreary hallways…not like he could, having circulated the cannon tower for the umpteenth time with a photographic memory. Expecting a mounted assault by the Autobots in the near future, commanding officers were instructed to keep their troops ready for battle, and the reaction between each soldier ranged from blind enthusiasm, antsy trepidation or placid absent mindedness. Skywarp fell into the third category, with past experiences deliberately guiding his systems to suit his needs. The waiting game soon became obsolete in his cerebral circuits, knowing in advance that their leader's strategy was pre-planned, intricately sown with tactics, counterattacks, substitutes, back-ups plans and the odd macguffin. Just in case.
An air vent mischievously exhaled on the jet's helmet, reminding him not to shirk his duties, but Skywarp's natural impulses pricked him into watchfulness at the minute changes in the towers brusque ventilation. His concern was hastily answered by a roaring vibration shuddering through the hallways, throwing his equilibrium to the walls.
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Fantastic. That word singularly summarised Megatron's current mood at the Autobot's predictability. His calculations almost bore a near resemblance to that of the ocular Shockwave, minus the cultivated lack of personality. Maroon coloured optics hawked-eyed the darting circles on the screen, indicating the expendable troops on either faction. 'Gullible Autobots, disregarding their own lives for some organic planet and its sweaty inhabitants. Ah, just perfect'. Megatron's favourite vorn rival has made his presence on Cybertron. None had lasted as long as Optimus Prime, and for a good reason: he was almost like Megatron. Almost. The next monitor followed the leader of the Autobots himself, gallantly commandeering his herd of pacifists and idealists into the killing fray, posed over a jagged mound on the parched landscape, in all his irritating 'magnificence'. Peace-loving as he was, the Matrix bearer was direct in orders and action, forwarding his troops to their well served, premature deaths as far as Megatron knew. The tyrant wanted to see the look on Optimus Prime's face when he opened the p.a. microphone to remind him that all his efforts are pitiably futile.
"Prime!" he growled into the receiver. The latter responded to his name, and checked the surveillance camera stoically placed in the hallway. Prime quickly gesticulated to his soldiers to advance without him…a minimal threat to the grey Decepticon.
"What do you want Megatron? I've got to admit, this fortress is pretty big and I like a good challenge, but I'm already in." Megatron pulled a face. 'Was he always this confident?'
"Oh, don't worry Prime," the tyrant crooned over the speaker. "That's only the beginning…this fortress was built to deal with your Autobot rats and their cowardly sneak-ins."
"Isn't it because it's filled with snakes like you? Look, Megatron, I'm only going to say this once: stop your attack on Earth, 'cause you're not going to win!" The speaker heard a hoarse cackle echo along the hallways, mingling with the conflict outside. "Not going to win-! Not going to WIN! That was the best joke I've heard in vorns, Prime! Bravo, bravo! Unless you plan to disassemble my cannon tower piece by piece and take on the whole Decepticon army, I'll give you an astrosecond, just to say goodbye to your precious Earth and it's insects!"
"Well…" Prime stole his optics away from the camera for an astrosecond, and started counting fingers. "You have this near-to impenetrable fortress, which must have taken…months to build? All that construction must have expended your stolen share of energon, and gigantic, planet-destroying cannons do take up phenomenal amounts of energon…"
"You state the obvious, but go on," Megatron's voice took a cautiously sardonic turn.
"Knowing the mastermind behind this plan, that cannon must also be able to collect fuel to make up for its losses, like an energy vampire...much like you, Megatron. After extensive research, our Autobot scientists have given me an idea that you must be housing a very incomprehensible, scientific device…or as I'd like to call it, 'The Doohickey', powering this monument of mass destruction…" Megatron hated his current level of immaturity. For some deep-seated reason, the Decepticon leader didn't want to hear his rival's punch line.
"…I don't think you'd do the obvious and place it in the heart of this cannon. So we asked a certain femme con for directions to the cannon's main computer, and she was very helpful."
Megatron officially declared that he hated Starscream from the bottom of his cannon barrel.
"Face it, Megatron. We know where the cannon's main computer lies, and without it, this tower's as deadly as a stick in the mud. I guess you being here on Cybertron's just for show. Great minds think alike."
"Save your heroic speech for somebody else!" He slammed an angry fist to end the conversation, watching the truck drive to his fellow Autobots. The tyrant quietly agreed to himself that Starscream should be rebuilt into a human waste collector.
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"RUUUH! MENASOR, CRUSH!"
"BRUTICUS, DESTROY!"
"HULK, SMASH!"
"DIALOGUE, ORIGINAL!"
"Air Raid, Sling Shot! Prime sent us on a mission, quit fooling around!"
"Geez, 'Silvy'…we were only joking."
"Yeah, don't get your thrusters in a twist!"
"That doesn't matter right now…we have to destroy that machine!"
"Protectobots, it's either them, or us and this planet too, so if we don't do our job, ka-BLAM! Bye-bye Earth!"
"(And us-)"
"Aerialbots, form Superion!"
"C'mon Protectobots, it's time to shine and merge into: Defensor!
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Skywarp had never felt so naked without his trine.
Three astroseconds ago, he was breathing lazily through his olfactory sensors, when in less than a sniffle came the full-scale assault that literally swayed the whole base into alarm. Skywarp pondered for a nanoclick concerning his uncanny powers to attract undesirable chaos, but had his thoughts interrupted when a blind shot flew past his helmet. Spinning around to face his adversary, the Decepticon jet would have pointed and jeered if the, red-steeled, pint sized minibot wasn't carrying a missile launcher bigger than himself, and wielded it with the deftness of ease. Cliffjumper replied to Skywarp's jaw-dropping exclamation with a devious smile, and started chasing the seeker twice his size through the purple labyrinth.
Losing the mini menace in a riot of Transformers, Skywarp regretted having wasted his energy on teleporting pranks with the triple changers, and closeted himself into the nearest room he could find. If Starscream was available in the Decepticon army, she would have cautioned him against using up his energy on childish tricks. Scanning the deserted med bay, Skywarp scrounged the room for anything that can overpower the launcher, apart from syringes, swabs, broken pieces of metal and an oversized probe. The minibot soon arrived, making a second entrance to the room with his cannon, and a small shriek escaped the seekers mouth, turning around…to grin from one audio receptor to another. A missile launcher BIGGER than that biscuit-'bot expelled a shot…which means it would take some time to recharge, and even if Cliffjumper did fire again, the bullet wouldn't be as powerful. Skywarp would have ample time to dodge that attack. It was perfect! Skywarp beamed with optimistic hope…
…Until a heat searing projectile flew by his face, caving the wall. And another. And another.
"Aw, what wrong Deceptijerk? Feeling small?" Cliffjumper started inching closer to the seeker, clicking his knees with each passing nanosecond. Dabbing his digits on the warped wall, Skywarp felt the barrel sibilate along his chest to take a better aim at his head. "Look on the bright side Skywarp…if you live after THESE shots, your Decepticreep friends don't hafta drag you ta' first aid!"
'Primus Primus Primus this is it this is the end! Goodbye cruel Cyberpiece-a-slag why was I created in the first place-!'
A reflection of memories started running through the seeker's mind. Starscream's shrieks, Megatron's bellowing, the inaudible mutterings from the rest of the Decepticon troops, he regretted not being able to put names to faces (he DID delete them from his memory banks out of disinterest). His mind ran in circles, reaching for the most familiar recollection of voices that haunted his circuits…Thundercracker. A soft whisper of his wing mate's words hummed through his head, of dying with the least regrets, and valiantly facing the end of their lives with open optics...just like he did himself. Skywarp peeped an optic online. It was his time… he was ready.
'(I think…).' Skywarp could see Thundercracker now...why was he not smiling? Skywarp's face turned sour, having his presumption of Thundercracker broken by the animosity radiating from his being…
…And a blue foot up Cliffjumper's tail pipe. Thundercracker wasted no time punching the minibot to the ground, locking the Autobot into stasis lock. Raising himself from an arced position, the blue seeker quickly caught a gladsome purple warrior jettisoning into his arms, and received a pair of puckering lips for his timely arrival.
"PXXXHHH-! TC! TC! TC! YOU SAVED ME, 'CON, YOU SAVED YOUR BESTEST BEST BUD EVER! I LOVE YA', 'CON, I LOVE YA'-!"
Thundercracker also dropped the unwelcome slobber to the floor.
"OWWW! Dude, why'd you hafta' drop me? (Damn, it hurts, 'con…)"
"Forty-one percent," Thundercracker wiped away the lip marks plastering his helmet.
"Boogaboogawha…?"
"Forty-one percent until fully operational status." The blue jet joined his companion on the floor, but the purple jet took cue and caught the fatigued seeker, catching Thundercracker by the shoulders.
"…Ohhhh, yeah…hey, don't worry TC, you did a good job, (good job, 'con). Let's get outta here, I downloaded the emergency escape route." Skywarp helped his wing mate shuffle to the exit. "...You're a good friend…Skywarp?"
"It's 'Warp to you, TC, and for the info…I'm your BEST FRIEND!" Skywarp turned to judge Thundercracker's drooping expression.
"…Oh…..great."
A/N: This fanfic is about Starscream, but I'd like to delve into other TF's for now ;) Rest assured, the rest of the chapters will be about Starscream :D I didn't know how long the Cybertronian wars lasted, so I presumed it went on for 9 million years. After doing some research, I found out that it DID last for 9 million years! Either I had a very good guess, or I (cough) forgot I ever knew XP But yeah, it lasted for 9 million years. Fun for everyone :\
