The flier landed and walked over to the supplies. This was the fourth tower they worked on this vorn, rebuilding the communications in Kaon. Skydive enjoyed the chance to see his fellow Autobots for a change; usually he, Fireflight, Silverbolt, and Powerglide ferried supplies under the supervision of Dirge and Thundercracker. Blacklight, the supervisor, started to stroll up as the Autobot flier exchanged some casual greetings with the other Autobots. Clearly someone gave orders to the supervisor regarding Skydive interacting with the work team Autobots, but this time the Decepticon supervisor got distracted when a turbofox shot past from under a nearby ruin. Every Decepticon in the area joined in the excitement of the chase. No longer possessing weapons, the Autobots watched, and commented as the turbofox evaded his chasers. Huffer commed Skydive to move to the back of the crowd. "Hey, 'Dive," Huffer asked, "have those Seekers been treating you right?"
"They treat us like little kids," Skydive complained, "but other than that, we're okay. They keep a close optic on us, though. You guys?" The sound of a shot and a shout of triumph told them their time was short. Everyone got back to work as the Decepticons returned. Skydive unloaded the last of the supports and Huffer transformed.
"Better than I ever expected, but not great," Huffer said. "Here, look at this later," and sent him an information file. Skydive stored it as the supervisor came back and called for him to help hold the supports while the crew welded them in. The young flier noticed that Blackrock considered Huffer's advice if the construction engineer gave it. After a time, Skydive realized that while Blackrock supervised the workers, Huffer directed the work flow.
At the end of the shift, Rewind trotted over. "Soundwave said for you to come with us and have a cube," he relayed.
Skydive heaved a heavy vent. "Okay." They walked to over to the two communications specialists. Soon after, Soundwave led the way into the rec room of the construction headquarters, and handed out cubes. The flier sipped. He hoped to bunk with the Autobots tonight. He should have known better. Ever since they came to Cybertron, the Seekers never left them with grounders long enough to talk for any length of time. Huffer and the others noticed, which explained the information dump sitting in his processor.
All the Aerielbots agreed that their supervising Seekers turned out to be good mentors, strict but fair and often kind. The Seekers loved the end of the war and relished the idea of a rebuilt Cybertron. The Autobot fliers bunked in a section of the Seeker's hangar. Frequently one of the Seekers took the Aerialbots on flights after their shifts ended and talked longingly about their hopes to revive Vos sometime in the future. Starscream assigned all of them to mentors except Powerglide, who had separate quarters. But they treated him decently as well, though without the consideration the younger fliers received.
After their capture, they all assumed that consideration came from the loss of their brothers. Air Raid and Slingshot flanked Skyfire when he launched; Silverbolt, Fireflight and Skydive started to launch behind them when the Decepticons opened a bridge on the tarmac. The three fliers fought a rearguard action, as Skyfire managed to break atmosphere and into space. The shuttle carried his full capacity in mechs, including most of the remaining Autobot leaders.
Skydive would never forget how Slingshot and Air Raid screamed, before their presence in his processor simply went blank. Over the com he heard yells about an explosion. Even now, he remembered nothing of the next several orns. Powerglide told them later that they fought, got captured, and put into stasis for the trip to Cybertron. He knew someone pulled him out of stasis, but he felt too much pain to care. He did nothing, said nothing. Not even Silverbolt's grief-filled rant at Starscream mattered. Then Starscream said something about not killing them and something about brothers. The screaming stopped. Silverbolt reached for Fireflight and Skydive, using the gestalt bond to pull at them.
Within that pull, they felt not three bonds, but all five. The other two felt impossibly far away, but the pull existed. That yanked the attention of the other two out of their mourning. Seeing them stir, Glit hurried over. Not long after, Dirge and Thundercracker came for them.
For five vorns Dirge, Thundercracker, and Starscream monitored them constantly. Every delivery made included a flying lesson; every long trip meant a lesson in the history of Vos and in between the Seekers gave lessons in air protocol. All of them, Seekers and Aerielbots, worked until they refueled and fell into their berths at the end of their shifts, until Kaon began to resemble a city and not a mass of ruins. Sometimes they tried to talk to their grounder friends, but rarely got in more than greetings before being interrupted.
Skydive knew that Lord Protector Megatron ordered that Iacon and Kaon be restored first, with Kaon being the primary push. He noticed that other Seekers, not the mentors, worked in Iacon in shifts. Their teams occasionally went to some of the smaller abandoned towns to scavenge building materials, but they spent very little time in these areas. The loads sat ready when they arrived, and they left as soon as they were loaded. "Don't wander off alone," Dirge warned them. "These places aren't safe."
"Give us back our weapons," Powerglide said, but only got a nasty look.
Eventually the shifts eased and gave all of them some free time. Public buildings neared completion. Once Dirge landed near a set of buildings when on a pleasure flight with Skydive and Fireflight. They walked through a few tall buildings with large balconies, big enough to use for flight. "These were built to imitate the Towers that the nobles lived in," he said as the younger fliers marveled over the space. "See the murals?" Skydive gazed at them, impressed. Ruined, they still looked beautiful. "Sunstreaker's work. He was an artist once. His fields flared with amusement over their curiosity and wonder. "You never saw how beautiful Cybertron was," he said softly. "But we'll make it beautiful again, some orn."
More than the younger fliers, Powerglide chaffed under the restrictions. One orn Dirge took them to help ferry scavenged material. While he argued with Hook over something, Powerglide sent a private com to Skydive, "I saw some mechs a few streets over. I'm going to try to find out what's going on."
"They won and we're at peace," Skydive reminded him. Powerglide only made a rude noise. "And we aren't in Kaon. You know how they keep warning us not to wander off. Besides, there's only Decepticons in this work crew." He noticed that and wondered; usually work crews included both factions with Autobots and grunt Decepticons doing the hardest work.
"They're only trying to keep us in line. There might still be some resistance here. And I can fly away from any danger. " Skydive shut up. He wondered at the change in the Seekers as well but all the Aerialbots worried over their grounder friends. The glimpses they got told them nothing of how the others got treated. Was so bad that they left, even in the face of energon starvation and the threat of what wildlife was left on Cybertron? He watched as Powerglide took off.
The screams started less than a quarter joor later. Skydive took off in that directions. Dirge commed him to come back. Skydive ignored him, too shocked by the sight of several mechs hunched over Powerglide. Automatically he tried to bring up his weapon, to the sound of clicks. He shot up in time to avoid the rocks flying at him. Shots rang out beneath him. "Stay up and out of range," Dirge told him, fury and worry in his com. This time Skydive listened. He circled as Dirge and the work crew drove the crazed mechs off long enough to rescue Powerglide. Skywarp popped in and took a badly shaken and leaking Powerglide to the med-bay.
A furious Dirge hauled Shydive on their original mission to pick up a load of scavenged building material. When he cooled down enough, he explained, "Those are Empties, unaligned mechs left on Cybertron. Those were pretty far gone, starving for a long time." True to Lord Megatron's rebuilding ambitions, special teams dealt with Empties as their energon stores allowed, bringing them in, getting them energon, and then putting them to work. It was a slow process. They did find a few medics, which helped. Once decently refueled and repaired, the neutrals joined work crews in Iacon.
"If you want to know how the grounders are doing, you can work with Soundwave in getting the communication towers up," Starscream informed him, in a tone that said this was a punishment detail. "No flight outside what's needed to get the job done." Sound wave would monitor his obedience. As he finished his cube, Skydive decided that the relief of seeing his friends were OK made up for the flight restrictions.
Blaster roused enough to talk about the project for a time. The Aerialbot worried about him. He looked apathetic, though he got his work done. Skydive noticed that Soundwave seemed to be keeping Blaster away from other Autobots the same way the Seekers kept him from grounders.
Then Soundwave shocked him. "Youngling." Skydive looked at him, somewhat annoyed. He fought these soldiers in a war and they certainly shot at him! Why did they treat him like a human teenager now? "You were in contact with brothers at last battle?" Silverbolt nodded, puzzled. "Are you certain brothers deactivated?
"What?" He looked at the sound engineer and telepath in honest shock. "What are you talking about?" How could Soundwave know about their brothers?
"Reports of witnesses state that shuttle Skyfire struck asteroid, exploded. Pieces of metal, rock found at site. Investigation complete, no Decepticon fired on shuttle. Decepticon wished to talk, not destroy. Hoped to bring shuttle to Cybertron, to speak to Prime and Lord Protector." He paused and looked expectantly at Blaster.
"I was there during the interrogations," Blaster said. "None of the Decepticons in space fired on Skyfire. "
Skydive barely heard him. "Wait, wait, wait. You said Prime. What Prime?"
"Starscream never told you?" Blaster said, anger rising in his field.
Soundwave placed a hand on his counterpart's shoulder. "Decepticons told not to speak to Autobots," he reminded Blaster. Skydive felt his own anger rise. "This, agreed between Optimus Prime and Lord Protector Megatron. Better to wait, allow Autobots to assimilate change in Decepticons, lessen stress between factions. Prime judged end to silence at time of last incident."
"They told us about the incident," Skydive said, "but not about the Prime." He let his resentment show.
Blaster vented but the anger faded. "Shockwave let something come through that was going to destroy Cybertron first and the rest of the universe second. That's why Optimus Prime and Lord Megatron bolted here. "His voice dropped. "Optimus- he somehow woke Primus." The Aerialbot felt the awe in his field, and Soundwave's. "He gave up the Matrix of Leadership and took the Matrix of Purification instead."
"Decepticons, tainted by Unicron," Soundwave said. "We knew nothing of the taint until gone. "
"But he paid a high price for it," Blaster said. "Primus required them both to stop the war and rebuild. Optimus gave up the right to bears arms. He's still a Prime. Even more now, he speaks for Primus. "
Skydive tried to process the information. So much made sense now, and hope bloomed in his spark. He looked up to Soundwave's sharp gaze. "What happened to the Matrix of Leadership?" he asked, trying to distract the telepath from his chaotic hopes.
"Come." He led Skydive outside, held Blaster close to him, and flew off. The flier followed, still dazed. They flew for some time, in a direction away from the other construction. They landed on a completely restored building standing in the middle of a section of Kaon and stepped in. Soundwave put Blaster down. Skydive looked around him in wonder. "Temple of Primus," Soundwave said simply. He stopped and stood still. Skydive shuttered his optics and let the peace of the room fill him.
A gentle touch brought him out of his trance. He looked up to see Optimus standing in front of him. The Prime stood smaller now. "Skydive," Optimus said, "Soundwave believes you have information I need. May I?" He held out a hand. Skydive nodded and opened a dataport, but Optimus only laid a hand on his shoulder.
Memories swirled through his processor of that horrific day of defeat, then the brief glimpses that hinted at his brothers' continued existence. Then the Aerialbot returned to the present. Optimus gripped his arm and led him into another room, waving at Soundwave to stay in the outer temple. "You give me hope," the Prime said quietly. "Blaster sometimes feels something from one of his symbionts as well."
"Are- are all of them alive?" Skydive dared to ask. "Skyfire got away?"
"Not all of them," the Prime said. "Blaster lost one of his symbiotes. The others have another mission, one I will not speak of at this time. One of them carries the Matrix of Leadership now, while we rebuild Cybertron until they can rejoin us." He paused as Skydive tried to guess who got the Matrix. "Soundwave knows. Megatron does not. Do not tell your brothers unless they guess the truth. "
"I won't," Skydive promised. He added wistfully, "I wish I could stay here. It's so peaceful."
He felt a rueful agreement in Prime's field. "I wish I could stay as well. I do come when I can. But Megatron is hopeless at all the administrative detail needed to run the rebuilding." His field became serious. "Primus gave me the means to purge Unicron from the Decepticons, and enabled all of us to end the war," he said, "But this did not change who they are. Remember that, young one."
"I will remember," Skydive promised.
"Now I have a request. Will you act as a witness for me?" Skydive nodded. "Wait here." He walked to the door and summoned a mech, who left. Soon after, Skydive saw several couples gather in the lobby outside the door: Blaster with Soundwave, Grappler with Hook, and Bluestreak with a seeker Skywarp knew as Flightspeed.
"I will speak with Blaster first," Optimus said. Blaster walked in. Soundwave looked after him anxiously. "Skydive, I ask that you listen and record." Then he turned to Blaster and placed his servos on the symbiote master's shoulders.
"Blaster, I have brought you here because you expressed a concern regarding being one of the last of your kind." Blaster nodded. "As you know, Vector Sigma was destroyed. However, the Temple records here reveal there is a means within us to reproduce our kind. However, there are grave risks associated with this method, which is called budding. Once Primus gave all of us the programming to bud, until he became satisfied with our numbers and erased the program. Thereafter, sparks were given by Vector Sigma, in the manner in which we became accustomed. "
Skydive listened with dawning astonishment. There was a means to reproduce? Like organics did? Blaster showed no surprise, and only nodded. "How will this work?"
"There is an ancient program called the Oracle which Vector Sigma replaced. It can reformat mechs for reproduction. It reads the mech with three results. One, it can refuse to do any reprogramming at all. Two, it can provide programming to sire a sparkling. Three, it can download the ability to bud a sparkling. All mechs who can bud can also sire a sparkling, but one programmed to sire cannot bud a sparkling."
Skydive listened in fascination. While he never discussed the matter with his brothers, he did sometimes worry about how they would continue their own kind. But how did a mech initiate the programming? Blaster asked, "How does this work?"
After being reprogramed, two mechs with the reproduction programming must engage in a spark merge following an overload," Prime explained. "At that time, a spark ignites within the mech's chest compartment, and when the mech is ready, buds a sparkling from the sparks and resources from the mech's body. " He paused, becoming somber before detailing the possible dangers, concluding with, "Mech have died budding. This is rare. But it does occur."
Soundwave came in separately. "Aware of budding program," he stated. "Offspring became unstable after few generations. How different?"
"In the old budding system," the Prime stated, "the budding came from one spark. The offspring were fully formed and able to function as adults, much as a mech prebuilt, preprogrammed, and granted a spark. In this new system, an overload and a spark sharing are required, and the creator buds a sparkling and not an adult."
"Not like spark split," Soundwave said, his field swelling with longing. "Giving part of self to new being, but not symbiote. Risk, acceptable," he stated and went back to the lobby. Skydive marveled at his reaction and wondered where his symbiotes were.
"Carrying so many symbiotes is a strain for him," Prime said softly. "Before the war, symbiote carriers cared only for their own creations. Most of Soundwave's were not his, but orphaned."
When Bluestreak came in, Skydive wondered at his silence, until he spoke. His voice was harsh and scratchy. "It's worth the risk," the former sniper said. "I might be the only one of my kind left. " Optimus hugged him tightly. The flier caught Bluestreak's optic and touched his own vocalizer, expanding his field to show his worry. "One of the guards couldn't stand my constant talking," Bluestreak said. "He tore out my vocalizer. "
"And will never be allowed such responsibility again," the Prime stated, his field harsh and unyielding. "He will work in a crew with the neutrals, since he chooses to behave as they do, without the excuse of prolonged energon deprivation. Such behavior will no longer be tolerated. We must rebuild Cybertron and our society." He touched Bluestreak's vocalizer gently.
"Glit and Hoist fixed it, but it's not going to get better. It's okay. I don't need to talk so much anymore," Bluestreak said. "I don't have to kill. My prewar skills are needed. " He left, to be replaced by the Seeker. To all the mechs in the lobby, separately, the Prime detailed the same information. All of them accepted the risk. When the last left, Optimus said, "I thank you for your assistance. I needed someone who was not biased and unable to participate."
"Why not?" Skydive asked.
"A spark must be fully developed. You have a few vorns before you or any of your brothers can safely bud. " He paused. "Review the information Huffer gave you. It will explain much."
Back in the lobby, Flightspeed told Soundwave, "I'll escort the youngling back. " They said nothing on the flight back, both absorbed with their thoughts. As soon as Skydive made it back to the base, he headed for his brother's quarters, consulting his gestalt link to see where they were. To his relief, both walked through another building with their mentors. He settled on his berth and opened the information dump.
Some of the information he already knew- about the incident where several mechs of both factions got killed, and how Prime was still alive. Some he did not- the story of the assault on Cliffjumper and the result. The confrontation between the Prime and his Protector surprised him, but it was the behavior of the Decepticons that concerned him more. He got up, walked to the hanger, and made the short flight to the roof. There he focused inward.
Some time later, a shout and a servo on his shoulder brought him out of his meditation. "That bored?" Dirge asked, amusement and some kind of excitement in his field. Behind him Fireflight and Silverbolt laughed.
"We found something that concentrates energon," Fireflight said. "Dirge said if Starscream could fix it maybe we can make energon goodies." He sounded wistful and slightly sad. Ratchet used to give them goodies, but Ratchet, like so many of their high command, was on Skyfire.
"It's going to be a long orn tomorrow," Dirge told all of them. "Head for your berths." He herded them into their quarters and left.
"Wonder what's got him so excited?" Silverbolt wondered. He looked at Skydive. "We haven't been to the washracks yet," he added abruptly, and led the way. The solvent started, they gathered close as Skydive shared the revelations of the day, holding out only that Skyfire and his passengers survived. He felt their combined relief and resentment that Prime still functioned, their surprise and sorrow at his sacrifice, and their wonder at the purging. "That explains the changes in their attitude," Silverbolt observed. "I remember that Prowl once told me that Seekers have a strong tendency to protect the young. If we're still too young to bud, I can see why they still call us younglings." He grimaced. "Wonder if they'll ease up when they have the chance to have little Seekers of their own. " He motioned for Skydive to turn and began cleaning his wings. Skydive did the same for Fireflight.
"Think about it," Fireflight said, "if you had to choose who would create and who would sire, who would you pick? Decepticons or us?"
"Carriers can die," Skydive reminded them. "So if you were someone like Starscream, and you wanted sparklings but didn't want to risk yourself carrying- what would you do?"
