Hoo! Bit lengthy, this one. I never expected it to be this long…Nor did I expect to write a somewhat sad poster…And about Dreadwing and Skyquake, no less. Normally I'm all about humor and stuff, so this was a step outside my comfort zone and I did it with two mechs that I'm not really familiar with…So…If you see any errors, any OOC moments, or grammar mistakes, please point them out to me. I really hope that this one is alright and not too cheesy…I also know next to nothing about the relationship between Skyquake and Dreadwing and the relationship that they share with others, or why Skyquake was sent to Earth in the first place, so it might be a bit skewed from the original plot and a bit AU. Sorry about that. I watched "Masters and Students" 20 times almost for this one. ^^; Anyway, enough of my gabbing! Enjoy! :D
StoleTheSpider does not own the Transformers…Maybe I can hire M.E.C.H. to catch one for me…
Missing Mech!
Name: Skyquake.
Loyal, Loud, And Large. Often Not Seen Without His Split-Spark Twin, Dreadwing.
Loves: Dreadwing, Serving Under Megatron, Scrapping Autobots, And Slapping Starscream Around.
He Tends To Be The Louder Of The Two, And Is An Excellent Fighter Alone, But Is Completely Devastating When Fighting Alongside His Twin.
If Found, Please Return To The Nemesis. His Twin Misses Him.
Reward: You Won't Have To Suffer Through Dreadwing's 'Puppy Pout' Face.
Warning: Skyquake Really Likes Hitting Things When He Gets Frustrated. Watch Out For His Wicked Backhand.
oooooooooooo
Silence.
That was all Dreadwing heard when he opened up the private comm. link that he shared with his spilt-spark twin, Skyquake.
Never before had this happened. There was always some form of noise when Skyquake answered Dreadwing's pings, be it static or background noise. Skyquake never left his twin unanswered, and even went so far as to unconsciously answer pings when he was in recharge, greeting Dreadwing's hails with the quiet snores and whirrs of his recharge cycle.
Except not this time.
The only thing that came through the link that Dreadwing and Skyquake shared was silence. Nothing. The link was mute. Empty. A big hole in his processor that felt huge and gaping and heavy enough to swallow the blue Seeker whole if he allowed it. No noise. No snores. No excuses for not answering Dreadwing's pings earlier. Just…silence.
It had been a wonderful moment for Dreadwing when he felt his brothers' signal awaken from the stasis that Megatron had ordered him to enter on that far off planet called Earth. Finally, after all these vorns, Dreadwing and his twin would be reunited again. Dreadwing would be able to catch up with his brother and tell him all that had happened while the other was in stasis. They would laugh together and reminisce about old times or maybe just simply sit and enjoy being in each other's company for the first time in vorns.
But that was decacycles ago. Skyquake was still not answering the many pings that Dreadwing was sending out to him. All calls were met with silence. Silence that should have been sleepy greetings or, at the very least, static. But there was nothing. Silence.
It was so unlike Skyquake to do this, leave his brother hanging with no notice or update on his well-being or location. That was why the silence was so unnerving to Dreadwing. It was like Skyquake was offline. Maybe he was offline. That could be the only reason why he was not answering Dreadwing's pings. Maybe-
No. Frightened by his current train of thoughts, Dreadwing quickly closed the private comm. link and ceased constantly pinging his twin. But immediately after closing the link, the burly Seeker felt an immense wave of guilt. Maybe Skyquake was just busy at the moment and couldn't answer his pings. Maybe he was just about to answer back when Dreadwing closed the link in his faceplates. Maybe Skyquake was trying to ping him in return but couldn't reach Dreadwing for some strange reason. Who knows? Maybe this strange little planet of dirt was interfering with the signals that Cybertronians naturally sent out. Primus knows that this planet that Megatron had sent his twin to was primitive at best, with its fleshy organics that had the filthiest of habits.
Slightly reassured, Dreadwing opened the private link again and waited for the pleads and begs for his forgiveness that he was sure Skyquake would be spewing in microseconds, but was met with the same resounding silence as before. This was unnatural. This was strange. This was so very unlike Skyquake. Dreadwing needed help. He needed some form of explanation. But from who? He was currently traveling through some strange solar system full of strange plants with unknown life. He was far from Cybertron and even further from any helpful forms of life. No one would help him here.
There was one place that Dreadwing could try and get some information, but he was hesitant to travel there. The planet that Skyquake had been assigned to guard, the dirt ball, Earth. Word had gotten around that Megatron had traveled back to that little dirt ball after finding out that Energon still resided there, buried in the ground and just waiting to be harvested. Maybe Megatron had information about the current whereabouts of his twin. He was one of his loyalist followers after all, Dreadwing right behind him.
That is…if his twin was still online.
Chastising himself for allowing negative thoughts to enter his processor again, Dreadwing busied himself with punching in the coordinates of the small plant, Earth. Megatron would know the location of Skyquake. He had to. He was the one that ordered him there in the first place.
oooooooooooo
"Dreadwing! You'll never guess what happened to me today." Skyquake shouted as he barged into the small room that he and his brother called home, practically bowling his navy colored twin over in his excitement.
Dreadwing smiled at Skyquake, shuffling the data pads that he had been reading under his arm as he rose from his desk to fully face his twin. One could always tell when Skyquake entered a room. He was quite loud and had this habit of stomping around wherever he went. Whereas when Dreadwing entered the room, it was silently and with a step lighter than most mechs expected when they laid optics on his bulky frame.
"What amazing, spectacular thing happened to you today that was so important that you had to barge in and interrupt my studying?" Dreadwing asked, a smirk playing across his faceplates as he teased his twin.
Completely ignoring the tease, Skyquake beamed. "Remember that battle I recently fought in against the Autobots, the one, what was it called…The Battle of Technahar! Do you remember that battle?"
Dreadwing frowned. "How could I forget? You were grievously wounded in that battle, barely online when I found you and brought you home. I was worried that you might leave me to become one with the Allspark." Dreadwing paused, lost in his memories for a microsecond, before frowning again and asking, "Why do you ask?"
Skyquake only grinned at his twin's downbeat attitude and pulled his cannon out of its holster on his back, rotating it gleefully as he spoke. "I took plenty of Autobots down with me! My fighting skills were unmatched! Even Megatron noticed! And he once was once a gladiator in Kaon! He approached me after the battle and commented on my battle skills. And get this," Skyquake leaned closer to his brother, as if what he was about to tell him was some great secret. "He invited me to go on a special mission for him! Tomorrow! Isn't this great? What an honor! To serve Lord Megatron directly!" The green Seeker was practically swooning.
Dreadwing, however, was not so won over. "'Invited you'? He asked politely? Somehow I do not see Lord Megatron asking anyone anything politely, much less one lowly, no-name Seeker under his command. Are you sure that he did not demand that you carry out his mission?"
This was not quite the reaction that Skyquake had hoped to get from his twin and Dreadwing knew it. He was not surprised to see his twin's expression darken from gleeful to annoyed, and even angry. "Are you questioning our Lord? And what do you mean 'lowly no-name Seeker'? Megatron loves and cherishes any Seeker that is under his command! Just look at how he treats that little glitch Starscream!" Skyquake paused to roll his optics. "Pfft. Scientist. I don't believe that that pleasure drone has ever set pede in a lab, much less take the schooling to become a scientist." Skyquake was really getting angry now, working his way up as he ranted at his brother.
"And I thought that you would be happy! This is everything that we've ever dreamed about! Serving Lord Megatron! That's why we joined the Decepticons! To serve Lord Megatron. Not some namby-pamby Prime. All they preach about is getting along with one another and solve nothing because of it." The green Seeker trailed off into an angry silence, shooting occasional glares at his twin.
"I am happy for you! I am just looking out for you. You know I just want the best for you, Skyquake. Do you even know where Megatron is sending you? Are you not worried that the planet that he is shipping you off to might be dangerous? I do not want to lose you, Skyquake. You almost left me once. Please do not do it again." Dreadwing pleaded, trying in vain to make his brother see sense.
But it was too late. While Skyquake was known for being boisterous, he was also known for having a short temper and being able to hold a grudge for an unnaturally long amount of time. Dreadwing knew this better than any other mech or femme on Cybertron, often because he was the one that Skyquake was holding a grudge against. Being split-spark twins meant that each twin knew exactly how to push each other's buttons.
With a disgruntled and angry vent, Skyquake crossed his arms over his chassis and turned away from his twin. "I'll ping you the coordinates when I arrive. I have to go meet Lord Megatron tonight to make plans for my departure tomorrow. Maybe I'll ping you later on, but don't wait up." And with that, Skyquake was gone, transforming into his alt-mode in order to escape his brother faster, leaving Dreadwing more than a bit worried and considering chasing after his twin, his brother, in order to make him see sense and back out of this crazy, harebrained 'adventure' that he was planning on undertaking.
But he never did.
Memories washed over Dreadwing's processor as he watched the death of his twin at the servos of those wretched Autobots play out on the screens before him. Knock Out was saying something in front of him, but Dreadwing really couldn't be bothered to hear him at the moment. He only saw his brother burning on the ground, dying on some foreign dirt planet that was a far cry from their actual home.
And it just got worse.
The traitorous glitch, Starscream, had desecrated his brother's tomb after the Autobots had buried him and had tried to bring his brothers' corpse back to life with Dark Energon. This attempt was a failure, like anything that that glitch Starscream attempted, leaving his twin a wandering Terrorcon, a crumbling shell of what he once was, forced to stumble about some canyon, forever searching for his lost appendage.
It all made Dreadwing want to purge his tanks. Or punch the nearest mech in the faceplates. Or both.
Dreadwing settled for slipping out of the Med Bay before Knock Out, who was currently distracted by the rest of Starscream's memories, noticed and asked him where he was going.
He had to escape. He needed air. Fresh air. He needed out of this miserable ship as fast as possible.
Practically jogging down hallway after hallway, past Vehicons, Eradicons, and Insecticons, Dreadwing finally found himself outside. Granted, he was still technically on the ship, but he was outside. There, the loss of his brother finally hit him.
Greif tore his spark in two and Dreadwing found himself screaming, howling in rage at the sky above a planet that was not their home, would never be their home. A planet that his brother had foolishly traveled too and entered stasis on, expecting his mission to be an easy one, as did Dreadwing. Never in his wildest thoughts would Dreadwing expect Skyquake to perish on this planet. And now he could not properly mourn the loss of his brother, having no frame to mourn. All was taken from him. It was all so unfair.
Letting the phenomenon that the humans called 'rain' beat down upon his faceplates, and ignoring the warnings that flashed on his HUD about rust, Dreadwing cried.
*hesitantly rubs hand together* Well? What did you think? Too cheesy? Too OOC? Too long? Let me know by leaving a review of you have the time. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing. Autobot Poster up next!