I woke up to a surprising start. I opened my eyes to find two red lights staring right at me. I didn't know what to do. I was about to say something when they put their hand over my mouth. My arm transformed into my rifle and I was going to aim whoever this was. But had they had a hand on my arm too. They whispered, "Don't." I recognized that voice: it was Slipstream. What was she doing? She let go of my mouth and stood up. She called to someone, "There is no one here, Thundercracker!"
I heard his voice, "But he was here! There was a dust storm; there is no way he could've have left!"
That's when I realized what was happening. They must have come back for me after the dust storm had settled down. Man, maybe I shouldn't have taken that stasis nap.
"Well, apparently there was since he isn't here!" She sounded kind of pissed. She walked away from I was laying and she continued, "You let that Autobot scum escape! We may never have another opportunity to capture him thanks to you!"
"Slipstream, he broke my arm and he threatened to break my other arm. If I would not have left-"
She interrupted him, "I care little for your excuses! There is only one thing you have shown me today; you are nothing but an insubordinate soldier. And as second in command under Starscream of the Seeker Regiment, I am authorized to terminate you!"
"No please!" He sounded terrified. I mean if she was speaking to me like that, I'd be scared of her too. "I don't deserve to be destroyed! I have served the Decepticons for mega-cycles!"
"Well, your services are no longer required!" I heard a sudden metallic clang and a loud crash.
I thought to myself, "Scrap, she must not be joking around. But there's no way she would actually kill him, right?" But I had a strange feeling that I was about to be proven wrong.
I heard him begging, "Please I have done nothing to wrong you!" He clearly was just throwing out random statements to try and save his own tailpipe.
"No you have not wronged me; you have wronged the Decepticon cause! But don't worry, no one will miss you!" The final sound I heard was the sound of metal ripping. At last there was silence.
I waited there, behind the counter, for my cue to leave my hiding spot. At this point, she must have killed him. But still, I… wasn't expecting her to do it. Actually, I felt kind of upset that she did that. I mean, she just killed one of her own kind! How could she do that?!
But I didn't have anymore time to contemplate what she did when I heard her say, "Ok, Ricochet, it's clear."
I got up and stood on my feet. And I looked at her and then I looked at Thundercracker. He was most definitely dead. She had used a blade of some kind and stabbed him. The weapon must have cut through his spark chamber. And I noticed the sword she used folding back into her arm as she wiped the energon off its edge.
"Well…" was the first thing I said, "Care to explain the real reason why you killed him?"
"No, I killed him because of his insolence. Even if I revealed you to him, I would have ended him either way." Well that was a comforting thought (not really).
"But why? He made a mistake but was it really worth killing him over?"
She looked at me, "Are you trying to defend his actions? That's not like you at all to defend a Decepticon."
I couldn't believe she just said that! "No, he attacked me! The last thing I would do is defend him. I just don't think killing him was necessary. It just… feels wrong to do."
She smirked, "Hmm, I see those Autobot ideals are still ingrained into your brain. Listen, killing him sets a standard for the rest of the troops. They will fall in line."
I picked up after her, "...out of fear! Fighting for what you believe in is different than fighting for something that you're too scared to fail! A soldier shouldn't be afraid to fight!"
"Quiet! I have been second in command for mega-cycles while you were sleeping! I know what makes an army tick and this method is effective," She pointed at the body of Thundercracker, "and you don't have the experience to deny that!"
I opened my mouth to respond but I hesitated. She was right; I don't remember what it's like to be a soldier, much less a leader. I didn't recall what war was like when I was fighting in it, if I even fought. But I must have; Thundercracker called me an Autobot, which was one of the factions in the previous war. "I wonder what part I played in the war?"
My thoughts were quickly interrupted by Slipstream, "Ok, I'm patching you in."
"Wait, patching me into what?"
"A private communications network. Basically, comms for just you and me. It'll help us stay in touch." She walked up with a small sphere-like orb in her hand. She grabbed my head and inserted it into my ear. It sparked as it plugged itself into my audio receptors. She pushed something on the side of her head, "Can you hear me?"
Her voice was coming from two places at once. "Yes, the comms work."
"Ok, well, I have to return to the ship. I need to report to Starscream. When you need my help, contact me with your comms. Stay safe." She turned towards the door, transformed, and took off into the sky.
Now that... that incident… was over with, I could start moving towards my old military academy. The dust storm had subsided so I could roam freely now. There was no point in wasting time there so I transformed and drove out of the library.
Using the map and coordinates I recorded, I tracked my way through the city sector. The roads were surprisingly intact despite all the wreckage around it. Much like the previous sector, there were piles of bodies everywhere. It looked like a red and purple scrapyard. Though I was slightly desensitized, it still sickened me to see so many of my own kind deceased and rusting away. I didn't care if they were Autobot or Decepticon; this war is hurting them both. And I was apart of it, which was hard to accept.
But that was in the past. From now on, I'm going to forge a better future for myself. And the first step to bettering myself was to discover what was wrong with the old me. And that academy is the perfect place to start.
I pulled up to the coordinates. The academy must be fortified because there was a large wall cutting my line of sight of the main facility. There was something strange about it though. It looked new, or well kept; as if someone has been maintaining this base for awhile. But no matter who or what was in there, it wasn't going to stop me. I reverted to my robot form and strolled up to the gate. It was electronically locked, preventing me from opening it easily. And since there's a possibility that there was someone inside of the academy, it wouldn't be a very tactically intelligent decision to enter through the front door since I didn't know this person's intentions.
"So I need to find a different point of entry. Maybe over the wall? I would need some kind of grappling hook, but those aren't particularly easy to find." But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, "Doesn't every Cybertronian have some kind of… ability that they can use. If they do, then what is mine?" As soon as I asked myself that question, I felt the panel on my forearm open. I brought the panel up to my face. I was right, a grappling gun was deployed on my arm.
I aimed at the top of the wall and fired the hook. It wrapped around the railing and the cord rolled back into my arm until it was taut. Then I stepped back and jumped. The cord pulled my weight over the railing of the wall. I flipped over the railing and landed on my feet. On top of the wall, there were towers for guards and snipers to watch the gates, though they are empty now. I stepped towards the edge of the inner wall to scout the area.
There were two separate hangars with a small runway in the middle. Now that I was looking at it, the academy did have a nostalgic atmosphere. But no memories yet. If I wanted to figure out more, I was gonna have to investigate those buildings.
I took out my grappler and hooked it onto the inner railings. I jumped over it and used the cord to lower myself to the ground. The rope held my body well and I successfully made my way down the side of the wall.
I detached my rope and transformed into my truck form. I drove down the runway towards the two buildings. One of the hangars had a translucent red lighting, while the other had a lighter blue. I didn't think it mattered which one I went to so I went to the building with red lighting. The hangar door was open and I stepped inside.
There was almost no light in the hangar, forcing me to use night vision. I unfolded my rifle and called out, "Hello?!" My voice bounced off the walls and echoed back into my audio receptors. There was no response. "Maybe I'm the only one here?" is what I foolishly thought.
I started exploring the facility. Luckily, there was a holographic map displaying on the wall. I was in the main training room. The map also labeled the building as the Ground Hangar, or where ground troops would train. Seeing as I transform into a truck, I assumed I trained in this very building. I did feel a tinge of familiarity walking in here.
Then, it started coming back to me. It was like I was looking at an image in my head. I saw five different people, though only two I recognized. Slipstream and I were standing side by side. It must have been some kind of initiation day, because, since Slipstream was air force soldier, she would be training in the other hangar. The other three Cybertronians were completely unfamiliar to me. There was one standing in front of the rest. He must have been our sergeant.
I heard someone behind me, "You know… is peace and quiet really that hard to get?" The voice was deep and gritty, Out of instinct, I turned around with my gun aiming at the mysterious stranger.
"Who are you?"
"That's no way to greet someone. " Suddenly the lights turned on. I still had night vision on and the sudden change in brightness blinded me. Then I felt him grab my arm and swing me over his shoulder. I hit the ground with a thud and heard the charge up of a gun. My optics adjusted and I got to see who my unknown attacker was. He was… the one in my image who was standing far from the rest.
I only managed to utter, "Who… are you?"
He responded, "Ricochet? Do you not recognize me? It's your good old friend Ironhide. And I thought I'd never seen you again."
