Disclaimer: Transformers © Hasbro/Takara. Any and all creative liberties are by the author, and in no way are connected to The Powers That Be.

Inspired by the LJ prompts.


The First Set : The Rookie's Tale

Log Entry #7: Naïve – Everyone's an enemy, no one's a friend.

He wanted to crush the Cybertronian tending to his nonfunctional left arm, but that would bury him in more trouble than he desired. Instead he glowered at the medic, counting down the breems, until Mixmaster proclaimed his arm functional and scurried away.

He didn't stick around. No self-respecting Decepticon stayed in the (temporary) medical/repair bay to watch the medics and drones tending to the groaning and thrashing Cybertronians. There was always something better to do.

In his case, there was something to mull over, if that was the best way to describe it. For Barricade, there was no such thing as mulling. He contemplated his next step in the grand scheme of things.

That included questioning his place in the ranks.

«Finally!» Frenzy exclaimed as Barricade picked his way through the debris cluttering the hallway leading to an intact lobby. The small neutral left Ravage and Rumble in a hurry, scampering up the Decepticon's leg, around his chest, and onto his shoulder. «I was waiting for kliks and breems and cycles and-»

«Shut up. We need to talk,» Barricade replied curtly, and carried his companion out of the lobby through another hallway. The wall on his left had caved in from a massive concentration of firepower, and he picked his way over the rubble through the gaping hole outside. There, drones were collecting and piling bodies, and a few Decepticons were sifting through them, stripping armor and other potentially useful parts. A few Aerials made a wide circle overhead before streaking away in an unbroken line.

Frenzy crawled over his head to his other shoulder as Barricade searched for a secluded area to talk. It wasn't hard to find that specified place; the salvaging party had just begun sorting through the aftermath, and most of it was by the walls. Deep inside Ky-Alexia, there was only him, and Frenzy, and dead Autobots.

«Where are we going?»

«Away from them.»

«Why?»

«Because I don't want anyone else around when I question you.»

«An interrogation? Is that necessary? I didn't screw up. Did I screw up? I don't think so. I got the job done, right? Dealer didn't screw up, did he?»

«No. We're not talking about you, or Dealer.»

«Oh…then what are we talking about? You? I don't see the reason why-»

«Because we're not talking about me, either!» At a suitable location – he couldn't tell; it all looked like destruction to him – he hunkered down on a chunk of metal to let his legs finish self-repair, and Frenzy jumped off and hopped up onto a piece of a support beam. The little neutral turned its optics to Barricade.

«What are you brooding about?»

«Starscream.»

«Why?»

«Because he was promoted to Third Lieutenant for my work.» His voice capacitor ground out the words. «That's what I heard while Mixmaster looked at my arm. How Starscream valiantly pushed through the wall with all the Autobot sharpshooters firing at him. How he singlehandedly took them all out before they could kill the others. How the infiltration was his plan, and not mine

Frenzy tilted its head to one side. «That? You're angry over that

«Yes, I'm angry over that! How does that lying, cheating, conniving junk on jets and flight stabilizers take all the credit, all the praise for what I put my Spark on the line for?»

«Then you shouldn't have told him, right?»

Barricade narrowed his glowering optics. «What are you getting at?»

«If you want credit for anything, keep it to yourself, or tell it to the ones you can trust. How can it be that hard to get?»

«I didn't think others would be so cutthroat about promotions,» Barricade muttered, flexing his long fingers. Three of them were dented from when a particularly hefty Autobot stepped on them. «I didn't think they'd turn on their own just because they wanted power.»

«Then why'd you join the Decepticons?»

«Because it's better than the Autobots,» was the quick answer. «Because…being a Decepticon gives you freedom.»

«Better than others. They don't have reasons. They think Megatron is great. They want power. Greatness and power. If you gain power, you can have all the freedom you want.»

Of course. It was that simple. That easy. That obvious.

Frenzy was suddenly in his face. The neutral said, very carefully, «I'll help you get that power. Maybe not as great as Megatron, but close enough. Maybe not as great as Shockwave, but we don't have to be that smart, that calculating. Maybe not as great as Soundwave, but we don't need that level of loyalty, we don't need to be so boring. And good Decepticons don't always lie, or cheat, or steal. The other neutrals like you. Ravage likes you. We can start from there, and fight our way to the top. Isn't that what we did, in the arenas? Those Autobots, they always hide behind grand laws and fake words. We Decepticons fight it out, and may be best Cybertronian win


Author's Note: I had no idea Frenzy could be that smart.

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