Chapter 7 - Aftermath

Despite leaving the energon farm as soon as Teletraan detected the monster, Jazz didn't arrive in Cabo until five hours after it was killed, and in some ways, he was very thankful of that fact. Witnessing the deaths of... teammates... he had known for quite some time was not something he wished to experience again - he'd had enough of that on Cybertron, to say nothing of what came after. Being informed of the Twins' untimely demise by Ironhide as he was crossing the Gulf of Mexico had, rather unfortunately, allowed him to reflect on the fact that for the past six years, the Autobot fatality rate had been zero - a record that had been unbroken for, well, the entire War. It wasn't a pleasant prospect to think about, especially considering that most of his fellow Autobots had come to Earth expecting to escape the wanton amounts of death and destruction that they had witnessed both on and off Cybertron. For a while, it had seemed like those expectations would be reality, but those hopes had been dashed.

As a result, it was a sombre affair when Jazz pulled up on the beach, the blue-stained sand glinting in the pale light of the crescent moon. The monster's carcass was casting a giant shadow across the beach, and most of the other Autobots had found refuge in it, sitting around looking rather agitated. A couple, like Mirage, were sitting separate from the main group, evidently not wanting the others' company. All were seemingly preoccupied with staring at the sand beneath them, so much so that none even raised their heads as Jazz slowly transformed, the shifting metal and circuitry carving dunes in the sand.

"Where are they?" the Autobot lieutenant asked.

He received no reply for several seconds, until Crosshairs let out a quiet 'there' and pointed vaguely at the grassy knoll on Jazz's right. Jazz turned and quickly spotted one of the recently-built aircraft, no doubt the one Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet and Mirage had arrived in only seconds before Mudflap had killed the monster. Evidently they had moved Skids' body into the hold. A few seconds later, Jazz had covered the distance between him and the plane, and had opened the door, allowing him to gaze down sadly at the Twin's body. It was mostly intact, and certainly easily recognisable, but the left arm was almost completely severed from the torso, connected only by thin strands of circuitry. Then, of course, was the the gaping hole in the chest, indicating that Skids had been impaled directly through his Spark Chamber. Jazz winced. Sparks were the lifeforce of Cybertronians, containing their memories, personalities and soul. If their Chamber was destroyed, then that particular Cybertronian was gone for good. Skids would have died immediately.

Jazz averted his optics. The mere thought of the destruction of Skids' Spark Chamber made him feel rather uncomfortable by reminding him of his closest near-death experience. When Megatron had bisected him during the battle of Mission City, the Decepticon leader had uncharacteristically missed his Spark Chamber, leaving it completely unharmed. Perhaps he had been too preoccupied with the imminent arrival of Optimus to notice, or maybe a few thousand years of being stuck in ice had cost him some basic cognitive recognition. Whatever the reason, Megatron's oversight had allowed Ratchet to fuse his body back together and revive him with an Allspark shard quite soon after, but the medic never missed an opportunity to remind him that he had been very, very lucky to survive. Unfortunately, Skids had had no such luck.

"It was my fault, you know." Hound's voice broke the silence as he walked up behind Jazz. "I shot the missiles that shook him off balance. Not that he should have been up there in the first place, but still…"

Jazz looked up sympathetically at his friend. "Accidents happen," he said simply.

"Yeah," Hound agreed. "Never thought I'd say this, but I kinda miss him." He stared sadly at the pile of grey cybermatter. "Ah well," he said a moment later. "He got off better than Mudflap. Nothin' left of him, and we spent hours looking all over the place. Wasn't till Ratchet scanned the area for traces of cybermatter that we realised we'd been walking all over him." He let out a bitter laugh and trundled back down to the rest of the Autobots.

With a final glance at Skids' body, Jazz followed him. "Anyone know where Prime is?" he asked upon reaching the group.

"He went walking somewhere with Ironhide and Ratchet," Mirage said, his back turned as he stared out over the ocean. "The Twins' death hit him hard...you know what he's like."

"Well, it had to happen eventually," Crosshairs said. "What?" he added as several of his fellow Autobots glared at him. "They were two clowns, always fooling around." He laughed, a low, bitter sound completely devoid of humour. "The fact that they survived this long is a miracle."

"He's right," Hound mumbled. "Why did they last this long, and not some of the others. Bulkhead, Rotorstorm…"

"Damn you, Primus," Sideswipe muttered, earning a chuckle from Hound and Crosshairs.

"So, uh, when did Prime get here?" Jazz asked quietly.

"Just before Mudflap killed the creature," Wheeljack said sadly. "But it was too late. Even if Optimus and Ironhide had manage to stop him from killing it, he'd have died a few cycles later. The Twin Spark effect can't be stopped."

Sideswipe shifted uncomfortably, and Wheeljack cursed.

"Sorry, Sideswipe," he said hurriedly. "I forgot…"

"Don't worry about it," Sideswipe mumbled, looking miserably at the sand. "Doesn't matter."

"What doesn't matter?" asked a gruff voice. A second later, Ironhide emerged from the shadows, with Ratchet and Optimus right behind him.

"'Bout time you guys got back," Crosshairs muttered. "You've been gone since sunset."

Ironhide shrugged. "Lot's to talk about," he said, exchanging glances with Ratchet.

Jazz looked up at Optimus. "You alright, Prime?" he asked. "You don't look too good."

Optimus sighed. "I will be, Jazz," he said, before addressing the Autobots as a whole. "I know the past few hours have been difficult for us all, myself included," he said. "But now is not the time to let our grief get the better of us. There are much more important questions we need to consider. What are the monsters, and why do they attack the humans? Where do they come from?" He paused briefly, bowing his head. "And what shall we do with the remains of our fallen friends?"

"Well, there ain't anything left of Mudflap," Crosshairs said, "unless you want to filter the entire beach for bits of him."

"We could bury Skids in the sand," Hound suggested, earning a scowl from Ratchet.

"Something more dignified would be preferable," the medic said. "Just because we live with the humans does not mean we have to follow their death rituals. Besides, the cybermatter that makes up our bodies isn't likely compatible with this planet's ecological recycling processes. At least human bodies break down over a reasonable amount of time. Ours can go millennia without the slightest change."

"We could burn him," Mirage said. "That's what some of the Neutrals did back in the early days of the war."

"We're not Neutrals," Ironhide huffed. "We're Autobots!"

"Faction distinctions never made much difference to death rites during the War, Ironhide," Sideswipe said tiredly. "Both sides left their dead out on the battlefield. What else could they do?"

"We could always recycle," Wheeljack piped up. "Melt Skids down and use his cybermatter for something useful."

"Like the energon farm," Jazz added. "We could make a memorial or something, dedicate the farm to their memory."

Crosshairs laughed. "There's no way I'm going near that farm if that happens," he said. "Yeah, I'm kinda sad that they're dead, but I don't want to remember them! I've had enough of their crap for a lifetime."

Everyone ignored him.

"Well, Optimus," Wheeljack said. "What do you think?"

Optimus considered. Recycling Skids' body did seem like the best option, and using it to construct a memorial at the energon farm would ensure that his and his brother's sacrifice was not forgotten.

"Make it happen, " he said.


"Contacted Lennox," Jazz reported early the next morning. "He knows we're coming."

"Thank you, Jazz," Optimus said. "Get Sideswipe to prepare the dropship; we are almost ready to leave."

"Sure thing, Prime."

Optimus looked around as Jazz walked away. In stark contrast to the previous night, the beach was bustling with activity, as humans worked with Ironhide, Hound and Mirage to collect the sand contaminated by the monster's blood. While they still weren't sure of most of the blood's properties, they did know that it stained almost everything and was extremely difficult to remove. Even cybermatter wasn't completely safe - it had taken the Autobots weeks to purge the stains gained from when they'd fought the first monster in San Francisco almost a year previously.

Optimus opened a comm. channel to Wheeljack, who was currently climbing all over the monster, taking as many samples as he could. "Wheeljack, have you contacted the Navy yet?"

There was a brief pause before Wheeljack responded. "Yes, Optimus; they're sending an aircraft carrier around to move the creature back to my lab in Washington. They'll need all the help they can get to get it onto the ship though."

"That should not be a problem," Optimus replied. "Tell Hound and Ironhide that I've asked them to help you when the Navy arrives."

"Thanks, Prime," Wheeljack said, and ended the connection.

Behind Optimus, the engines of the Autobot dropship roared into life.

"Everyone ready?" Sideswipe shouted, ducking his head around the door.

"Yep," Crosshairs said, entering the plane and immediately sitting down next to Jazz. "Let's get away from this hellhole."

"Optimus?" Ratchet called, already settled down in his vehicle mode.

With a final glance around the beach, Optimus climbed into the hold and transformed into truck mode. A second later, the door slid shut.

"Here we go," Sideswipe said, somewhat gleefully, and activated the ship's VTOL, lifting it into the air.

"Hey now, you're not flying are you?" Jazz asked worriedly. "You know Teletraan can fly it instead?"

"Yeah, but that's no fun," Sideswipe replied. "I much prefer flying myself."

Crosshairs and Jazz exchanged looks and quickly integrated their feet into the floor, thanking Primus that Skids' body was secured very safely in the compartment behind them.


It was mid-afternoon by the time Optimus and the others arrived at the energon farm, swooping down from the sky to land safely near the farm's main tower. Much to everyone's relief, only Lennox, Epps, Courtney and the Wreckers were there to greet them; the media having been ordered out of the area several hours previously.

"Good to see you again, Optimus," greeted Lennox as the Autobot leader exited the plane. "Just a shame it wasn't in better circumstances."

"Likewise, Major Lennox," Optimus replied. He stood to one side, allowing Jazz and Crosshairs to step out of the plane as well, carrying Skids' body.

Courtney frowned. Skids was green, wasn't he? So why was his body now a dull grey?

Epps was thinking the same thing. "Why's he grey?" he asked. "He was green before."

"Lack of energon," Ratchet answered, walking up behind Optimus. "Similar to what would happen if you humans were depleted of your blood supply."

"Oh…" Courtney said faintly. Just the thought made her queasy.

"How'd he get like that then?" Epps said as the Wreckers directed Jazz, Crosshairs and Sideswipe over to a specially prepared section of the tower. "The monster slit his throat?"

"If only," Ratchet sighed. "No, he lost all of his energon because he used it to kill the monster."

"He took one of those things down by himself?" Lennox said, surprised. "But - how?"

"Used his plasma cannon to burn a hole right through the sucker's brain - both of them," Crosshairs interrupted. "Most effective thing I've ever seen him do."

"But we've analysed those things, man," Epps said. "Breaking through all that skin and bone isn't easy. Mudflap's plasma cannon wouldn't be able to get through by itself."

"So he used up all his energon to increase the power output…" Lennox realised. "But why would he do that?"

Ratchet glanced at Optimus. "Should I tell them, Prime?"

Optimus nodded. "Yes, this is information they deserve to know in light of recent events." He smiled. "I know you like your explanations, old friend, but do try to keep it simple."

"My explanations are always simple," Ratchet sniffed.

"Except that one he did with Wheeljack about energon," Epps muttered to Lennox, who grimaced.

"I take it that this is a long explanation?" Courtney asked as Optimus walked over to the others.

"Yes," Ratchet admitted. "Have you got the time?"

Lennox shrugged. "Suppose. We were just about to head back to Washington when you called, but we can stick around for a little longer."

"Very well then," Ratchet said. "I suppose the answer to your question starts with the very creation of our species. I'll spare you the details, but essentially all of us were 'birthed' from the Well of Allsparks, a part of the very core of Cybertron itself."

Epps frowned. "If you don't have parents, then how do you get twins?"

"The birthing process occasionally produced anomalies," Ratchet continued. "Sometimes a Spark would split during the creation process, producing two sparklings instead of one. You remember what a Spark is, of course? Good. Now, from what I understand, the splitting is very similar to how human twins are created, so we chose that word when translating our term for the anomaly. Cybertronian twins are extremely rare, though; I can only think of a handful of known cases."

"Mudflap and Skids were one - who were the others?" Courtney asked, interested.

"Well, there were the Decepticons, Skyquake and Dreadwing, then Tread and Trample," the medic said thoughtfully. "The Autobots Rumbler and Sprocket were twins too, though you wouldn't guess it." He sighed. "And then there's Sideswipe and Sunstreaker."

"Sideswipe's a twin?" Courtney said in surprise, glancing over at the silver Autobot as he squabbled with Leadfoot. "He's never said anything."

"No, and he doesn't like to," Ratchet said. "They haven't seen each other since they got separated somewhere in the Magellanic Clouds a few million years ago while looking for the Allspark. Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia, Elita and the Twins - Mudflap and Skids, that is - got cut off from Sunstreaker and a few others during a Decepticon attack on their scouting mission. At least that's what they told us when they arrived here on Earth."

"Oh…"

"That's all well and good," Lennox said impatiently, "but that doesn't explain why Mudflap would go all kamikaze on us."

Ratchet sighed. "Well, rather unfortunately, having two Cybertronians formed from the same Spark has rather severe disadvantages. The worst is that, if one's half-Spark goes offline, the other's does too."

All three humans were rather taken aback.

"But - but how does that work?" Courtney asked.

"We don't know," Ratchet said honestly. "Not even Shockwave ever found an answer; it's just how things are. Similarly, for reasons only Primus himself knows, the two halves of the Spark contain different personality traits. And if one half of the Spark is destroyed, so too its traits. That's why Mudflap went berserk. When Skids died, half of their collective personality did as well - in this case, their rationality. Mudflap lost all ability for rational cognitive processes, and became single mindedly focused on avenging Skids. That's why he did a 'kamikaze'."

"That's horrible…" Courtney murmured sadly, and even Lennox and Epps appeared sickened. "You don't seem too worried about it," she told Ratchet, somewhat accusingly.

Ratchet hmphed. "I've had several billion years to come to terms with it, Ms Gallant," he said. "Although there's nothing I can do to fix it, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish there was a way around it. The only things that could make a half-Spark whole and remove the connection to its other half are the Allspark, the Forge of Solus Prime. Unfortunately, both have been inaccessible since before your species evolved."

"You found the Allspark though," Lennox pointed out.

"Before Sam destroyed it to kill Megatron," Epps reminded him. "I don't think they got the chance to use it."

"Why didn't you use it before you launched it off Cybertron then?" Courtney asked.

"Well, there was a war going on, and the effect simply wasn't known." Ratchet said. "Our species is quite hardy, and both accidents and Twins were rare enough that up until they were deliberately killed, nobody had ever observed the results. Certainly, nobody had ever wanted to know so badly as to find out, either. There was only a single case of Twins dying, and that particular event killed both of them at the same time. We only discovered the effect by accident long after both items had been lost."

"Yo, Ratchet, you done over there?" Jazz shouted. "We need you to extract Skids' spark chamber - what's left of it anyway."

Ratchet let out a sad sigh. "It appears as though I'm needed elsewhere," he said. "But I hope my explanation was substantial enough for you. Now, please excuse me." He walked off.

"Wow," Lennox said once Ratchet had gone. "That's the most we've learnt about them all year."

It was true. Although the Liaison Team and the Autobots had been working closely together for the better part of the last decade, the Cybertronians had divulged very little of their past. It was theorised by members of the team that there was a 'three tier system of knowledge.' Tier One was the basics, the information the Autobots had publicly supplied. This included the Great War with the Decepticons, an outline of some of their history, and a few minor details about life on Cybertron. Tier Two was Government Intel, the stuff that the Pentagon and the CIA demanded to know if the Autobots were to stay on Earth; things like the current level of Decepticon threat, weapons capabilities of both sides, and details that related to projects that required government authorisation. Tier Three, however, was saved solely for those the Autobots regarded as true friends. Incredible details of cyberlogical functions and processes, greater insights into Cybertronian culture and history, and even personal anecdotes by the Autobots themselves were grouped in this category. Much to the Liaison Team's consternation though, Tier Three information came very infrequently.

Courtney grimaced, pushing a few loose strands of blonde hair out of her eyes. "I'd rather that they hadn't told us all that," she said. "I'm better off knowing that Sideswipe doesn't have a constant risk of dying on us because his twin's out fighting Decepticons. It's horrible."

"Well, like Ratchet said, they can't do much about it. And we all know that if Ratchet says something, it's generally true."

"You're right, I suppose," Courtney said. "I mean, what do I know? I'm only twenty-seven, and they're like a bajillion years old."

"Close enough," Lennox agreed.


"Well, I've just finished the operation," Ratchet told Optimus, walking up beside him about half an hour later. "Spark Chamber has been removed...just cybermatter left now." He held up the mangled remains of Skids' Spark Chamber now.

Optimus lowered his eyes. "Till all are one," he murmured softly.

Ratchet bowed his head. A sudden, terrible thought occurred to him. "Do you think the creatures will ever stop coming?" he said quietly.

Optimus looked at his old friend with concern. Ratchet was usually among the most optimistic of the Autobots; it wasn't like him to voice concerns such as this one.

"It would be unlikely if their arrivals did not cease," Optimus said slowly. "But until we learn more about them, it is unlikely we will be able to ascertain whether or not they will stop appearing." He sighed. "But for now, Ratchet, it appears as though we shall have to continue to fight these creatures for the foreseeable future."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Ratchet replied. He looked down at the Spark Chamber in his hands. "I'll go and give this to the Wreckers," he said. "They'll keep it secure until it can be used in the memorial."

Optimus nodded as Ratchet walked off to find the rather crude trio. Although the medic hadn't said it, Optimus could tell that he was worried about future Autobot casualties. When the first monster had emerged almost a year ago, he would have dismissed Ratchet's worries as baseless. But now, after Mudflap and Skids had died, it was a completely different situation. Ratchet had a point though. If the monsters didn't stop... well, there weren't an infinite amount of Autobots. Optimus was confident that they could hold them off for a while, but eventually their luck would run out.

Still, that didn't mean that they couldn't at least try to stack the odds in their favor. Wheeljack had already attained samples from all three of the creatures, and what he discovered could be put to good use in defending against the creatures, knowledge that they were more than willing to capitalise on.

But that was all in the future, and an unlikely future at that. Time had long since taught him that it was useless trying to determine the machinations of The One. Whatever the future held, the Autobots would face it head on, and they would win.


Author Note: Things aren't looking too good for the Autobots - they're starting to question their effectiveness against the Kaiju. This will all culminate when they face Scissure in Sydney.

Replies to reviews:

Mazamba: Omega Supreme and a Jaeger are probably around the same size, but that's just a guess. We haven't even thought about that at all really, probably because its not important to the story. As for whether the Omega Sentinels make an appearance, you'll just have to wait and see. Same deal with the Pretenders!

Ridli Scott: Having a Jaeger ~450m tall seems a bit excessive, not to mention that it would require a lot more resources than both the humans or the Autobot could provide. No, for this story, we'll just be sticking with regular sized Jaegers.

Pyro: The Autobots are definitely affected, as I hope the chapter demonstrated, but as unfortunate as it sounds, they've seen this all before, and thus will get over it relatively quickly. As for the big, silent hole in the base...I don't think they'd particularly mind it! Thanks!

Xahraxas: Thanks. It will be a lot of fun when the Jaegers finally arrive, mainly because of all the changes the Autobots will bring. Yep, Optimus and Stacker will be good friends.