Talk
Supernova
I was taking a break. I didn't really care what anyone else said to me. The spaceship would be finished soon enough. For now, I wanted a break.
I had managed to sneak away without anyone noticing, but they would be aware by the time I got back. They would all be furious. Well, too bad for them. There wasn't much they could do about it. No one would want to bother Megatron the way he was now, and I wasn't afraid of Thrust. I hated every ounce of him, mind you, but I wasn't afraid of him.
The ship was unusually silent as I walked through. Even my banging footsteps seemed muted. Not exactly settling. The whole place was dead, lifeless. Cyclonus was right, there really was no morale around here.
I was walking aimlessly, not really knowing what I was doing or why I didn't feel like working. I was restless, I suppose that's the word. I needed to get up and move around. Get my mind off of things.
Far down the hallway, a sound broke the unnerving silence. It sounded like… talking? Yes, that was it. Muted voices speaking. From the throne room.
That meant there were only two people who it could possibly be. Megatron and Thrust of course. I listened for another second. It was apparent that Megatron was trying to keep his voice down… without much success. Megatron has a rather loud, booming voice. It's hard to stifle it, even harder to ignore it. Without really thinking about it, I continued down the hall to the throne room. I wanted to hear what they were saying.
Racket instantly sprang to life in my head, protesting the whole way. 'No, go back,' he hissed, 'You shouldn't be doing this.' I ignored him. I really didn't know what I wanted to hear or even what I was expecting to hear, but I was curious.
Curiosity is fatal, you know.
I reached the entrance to the throne room and hung out to the side of the doorway, out of sight. Racket instantly became silent. I smiled. He was curious too.
"Have they left planet Earth yet?" I heard Megatron ask.
'They? Who's they?' Racket asked.
'Who else? The autobots, of course,' I responded, frowning. I wanted him to be quiet. He could read my mind; he should've known that.
"Yes sir," I heard Thrust respond. "They've sent Jetfire and Starscream to intercept the minicon."
Every word of that sentence confused me. For one thing, if there was a minicon, why in the name of Cybertron were we still here? We should've been gone to wherever the minicon was. Why was it that the alarm hadn't been sounded? Why were Thrust and Megatron trying to keep this a secret? What did they have to hide?
The other issue had to do with Starscream. It didn't seem likely that the autobots would send Jetfire alone with Starscream to go get a minicon. They didn't seem to trust Starscream that way… unless he had taken off without anyone's permission. Actually, now that I thought of it, that did seem like something he would do.
Starscream could be loyal, brave, and a fierce warrior, but he could also be brash and impatient. He acted out of sync with Megatron's orders on more than one occasion. He didn't like the idea of not getting his way, nor the idea that anyone could beat him.
And Thrust knew that he was basically alone.
A completely unexpected fear shot through me. Acting out of orders could prove to be a terrible mistake. What if he was killed out there today? Wait, why did I care? Now I was frustrated at myself. He's your enemy now, I kept telling myself, Your enemy.
'Don't try to fool yourself, m'lady. It's not working,' chirped Racket.
'Be quiet, Racket,' I communicated back, emphasizing the word "quiet."
While this was going on, they had continued to talk. "And Starscream has the Star Saber with him, does he not?" I heard Megatron ask.
"I've sent Tidal Wave to greet them. As soon as they get near the base, we will attack," Thrust responded. Immediately, the fear in me vanished. I felt fairly certain that Starscream could take Tidal Wave. Tidal Wave was somewhat slow… and dumb. Of course, he was five times my height and covered with guns, but even so…
Then I caught myself rooting for the enemy again and refocused.
"If what you have told me is true, Thrust, the three power weapons can combine into one, unleashing the ultimate power of the universe… and vanquishing the autobots forever," said Megatron.
What?
"Yes sir. Victory will soon be ours," Thrust agreed menacingly.
"Yesss… This is about to get interesting," Megatron murmured.
'No doubt of it,' I heard Racket comment. I sighed and began to walk away. Racket wasn't very good at not talking, it seemed. Not that it mattered now. They appeared to be done speaking.
'So what now?' he asked when we were further away.
'Now? Now, I go back,' I told him flatly. 'There's work to be done.'
'What? Wait, what about Starscream and Tidal Wave?'
I knew the real question wasn't about Tidal Wave. I sighed again. 'None of our concern. He can take care of himself. And if he can't, well, that's his problem,' I said.
'C'mon m'lady, you know you don't believe that.'
'I know no such thing.'
'But, but,' Racket stuttered, 'Don't you think it's strange that they would only send Tidal Wave? And what about what Thrust said, about the three weapons?'
'Thrust and Megatron obviously have some sort of plan. They know what they're doing. Probably. And I wouldn't worry about the weapons thing. It's only a myth, thought up to entertain restless protoforms,' I responded. I wouldn't put it past Thrust to try to apply a child's myth to a real war.
'No, no, it's true! But where did he learn that? That's what I want to know,' said Racket.
I hesitated. I didn't like the way Racket said that. Like he knew that all along and had never said anything.
I remembered that earlier today I had seen Thrust sneak away. Had he gone to a place that would tell him something like that? It didn't seem likely. There was nothing on this forsaken wasteland except for rocks and dust.
'Maybe he didn't find out by himself,' Racket said in response to my thoughts. 'Maybe someone told him.'
'Who?' I asked. There's no one out there.
There was a moment's silence. Finally, almost a mental whisper, 'There's Sideways.'
Sideways.
Now there's a thought. I shuddered without really knowing why. It was a possibility. The whole time Sideways had been with us, it was like he was constantly egging us on, whispering to go after some bigger prize. It seemed in character for him to tell Thrust something like this. But, not likely. 'Sideways wouldn't bother with a fool like Thrust,' I said, 'Thrust has nothing to offer him. Anyway, it doesn't matter.'
'But m'lady…'
'I said it doesn't matter. Alright, say I were to listen to you. What would you have me do?'
Racket was ready with his response. 'Go and help Starscream,' he answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
'Excuse me?' I asked, taken aback.
'I mean it,' he answered earnestly. 'You know you want to.'
'No, Racket. That would be suicide.,' I told him firmly. Then , more quietly, 'I've done enough for him already.'
'But m'lady, what if…'
"We're NOT having this discussion," I snapped. Too late, I realized that I was speaking out loud. Conveniently, there was no one else around to hear my outburst. I turned and walked back to the repair bay where the ship was.
After all, they would be wondering where I was.
