So here you go. This one was one of my most favorite chapters to write. I spent a long time figuring out where the story would go. Enjoy!

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-Flashback-

Ricochet looked down at the mech that he was supposed to be interrogating. He didn't really enjoy this job as much as one of his co-workers did. The mech was a mess. Several pieces of his plating were pulled completely off his body and he was bleeding from many different places on his body. He was missing one of his optics and was glaring up at Ricochet. Ricochet leaned forward and said smoothly, "Why don' ya tell meh de truth, mech?"

Luster glared at him with a cold look on his face. He said nothing prompting Ricochet to say again, "Still no answers, mech? Ya have ta know dat dere are mechs 'ere not as nice as meh."

The mech finally spoke, "Nothing any of you can do to me will make me talk."

Ricochet frowned and said, "Well, mech, Ah'll have ya know dat Ah'm fully prepared ta drag dis out as long as I have ta. It would just be easier ta give meh de intel."

Luster drew himself up as much as he could in his chains and said, "Nothing that you or anyone else does to me will break me. I will never submit."

Ricochet gave a soft sigh of sadness. He just wanted this interrogation to be over with. Ricochet didn't really enjoy what he was required to do by his employers. A part of him would have preferred going back to Polyhex and never having to come back to Kaon. He shook his helm and reached for another tool on his table before finally turning back and speaking to the mech, "Why don't ya just give up, mech? Ain't it obvious dat nobody's comin' for ya."

The mech gazed directly at him as he said, "It doesn't matter if no one comes for me. What matters to me is that your bosses never get what inside my head."

Ricochet had no words for that and returned to his job.

-End Flashback-

Ricochet gasped as he came out of the memory feedback. The Polyhexian framed mech shuddered as he considered what the feedback had been about. Ricochet knew that the feedback had been brought on by Jazz and Prowl's comm just before his off-shift. The mech covered his face and shuddered again slightly before standing up and beginning to move towards the door.

As it opened he saw that another mech had been about to knock on the door. Ricochet stepped back slightly and said, "Oh, Hey Hot Rod. What can Ah do for ya?"

The younger mech shifted from side to side for a moment before saying, "It just sounded like you were distressed. I just wanted to make sure you were Ok."

Ricochet eyed the young mech quietly. Hot Rod, along with two other members of Ultra Magnus's unit, had been selected to escort him to meet with his brother after Prowl had convinced Ultra Magnus and Elita One that it was extremely necessary. It was rather obvious that all three of the much younger mechs were curious about why Ricochet was needed on Earth.

Ricochet finally responded, "Ah'm alright. Just some bad feedback. It 'appens ta all of us older ones."

Hot Rod nodded and said, "I was just curious."

The young Autobot paused for a moment before he continued, "Anyway we're finally approaching Earth and Springer wanted me to let you know."

Ricochet smiled softly, "Thank you, Hot Rod. Ah will be down in a moment."

Hot Rod nodded and quietly began to make his way back to the main bridge. Ricochet gave a soft sigh before starting down towards the bridge himself, mentally preparing himself for the inventible talk about to occur.

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Megatron was in his quarters. The dark silver mech's gaze was slightly glazed over as he sat on his berth. Most of the time Megatron was considered a powerful warlord but in private well, if Starscream ever saw him like this he would try even harder to kill him. Heck if his army saw him like this they would probably leave or try to kill him too.

At this moment though, none of it mattered to Megatron. He was busy mourning the way the war had changed from what it had started as. Back at the beginning of the war, the lines were clearly drawn. Decepticons fought for those of the lower casts and Autobots fought for the way things were.

As time had gone on, Megatron had realized that the Decepticons were fighting for tyranny while the Autobots were defending their and others freedom. Sometimes the warlord would think about how it had become like this. In his mind, there was one answer to that question.

To him the death of Bloodhound would always be what had changed his once peaceful mindset. But truthfully the Decepticons had become a tyranny long before Bloodhound died during the battle of Hydrax Plateau. Most of his Decepticons had become cruel and harsh long before that. He had at first tried to prevent the downfall of the Decepticon cause. But after Bloodhound was killed he had changed his tune and tried his hardest to make the Autobots pay for his death.

A part of Megatron would always remember the battle that day. The air had been full of smoke and dust. It had smelled of gunpowder and Energon. He had been standing on a bridge that led to the Plateau surrounded by his men as they fired on the Autobots. Bloodhound just returned from several vorns in space with one of his commanders, Turmoil, had stood by his side before breaking away from the group and moving forward to intercept the Autobots; Jazz, Mirage, and Ricochet.

He remembered smirking as he watched his Special Operations Commander start to win against the three Autobots, finally pinning Mirage down and reach into one of his knife holsters. That was when the gunshot went off. Megatron had seen Bloodhound's servos go to chestplate to clutch at a wound. He had just started to move backwards his face slack with shock when Megatron had started to run towards him.

There was a second gunshot that slammed into his chest plate again causing him to fall back- right off the side of the bridge. Megatron didn't recall what happened after that. Next thing he had known the battle was over and Soundwave had been trying to get his attention.

Megatron had never gotten to honor his friends body. The bridge had collapsed shortly after the battle and Bloodhound's body had never been found. It had torn the warlord apart. He had after all sworn to protect Bloodhound. The very thought that he had failed had infuriated him. After that Megatron had just let his soldiers be as brutal as they wanted to be. He had given up caring what they did to their prisoners. He ignored what they did to their captives.

Megatron knew that for all his brutality, he had once been a good mech. He had once just been trying to help his fellow mech. Now though he had become nothing more than the monster that the Senate had once claimed he was.

He quickly shook his helm and stood up. Why had he been thinking of this again? He didn't need to. He just needed to concentrate on winning this war. That was all that mattered. He just needed to try and win this war for his friend.

Somehow those words were never able to convince the warlord of that.

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Hound could once again feel himself beginning to regret letting Mirage and Trailbreaker leave so soon after they had found him. The pair had swiftly become two of his closest friends after he had joined Prime's group as a Tracker. He had instantly sensed kindred souls after meeting them both as an Autobot. When he had been a Decepticon he had known the functions of each Autobot and their relationships with their fellow Autobots.

Mirage had been one of the few Autobots that Bloodhound had once thought might defect if the situation called for it. Even back then the former Towers mech hadn't had many friends, at least from what Bloodhound had managed to gather. During the period when he was considering his options of defecting to the Autobots or becoming a Neutral, he had noticed that Mirage did have several friends, he just didn't spend much time with them.

Then there was Trailbreaker. Bloodhound had noticed that the force field specialist had quite a few problems the first time he had seen him. That had been on the battlefield, during a fight along the Sonic Canyons. Bloodhound had noted that the large black mechs force fields were unstable halfway through the battle. That had been the first thing to clue him into the fact that Trailbreaker needed to consume much more Energon than he was. He had even pointed it out to Megatron after the battle. Megatron had simply frowned and made a note in Trailbreaker's file.

After watching Trailbreaker for a while Hound recalled that he had decided to have a nice personal chat with the big black mech. It had only taken a little work to make sure Trailbreaker was exactly where he wanted him.

-Flashback-

Bloodhound quietly watched as the large Autobot slowly came back online. The dark green mech was lounging against one of the caved-in walls. The explosion that had caused the cave-in had been more extreme than Bloodhound usually preferred. The large black Autobot who had tried to block the tumble of rocks was slowly returning to the world of consciousness.

Finally, the Autobot, Trailbreaker, groaned and began to rub his helm as he on lined his optics. Trailbreaker's visor gazed up at the rock ceiling. Bloodhound spoke, catching the Autobot's attention, "In case you're wondering, there was a cave-in that you tried to block. You ended up unconscious for quite a while."

Trailbreaker glanced around, obviously trying to figure out who had spoken, the dark green Decepticon smirked and moved out of the shadows of the wall, sliding to the Autobot's side. The black Autobot gazed at his insignia before gazing up at his face plate with fear and recognition. Trailbreaker managed to croak out, "What are you going to do to me?"

Bloodhound tilted his helm to the side a small smirk adorning his face before he spoke, "Nothing. You saved me from the cave-in so consider me sparing your life a thank you."

Then the Decepticon sat down with a soft huff coming from his vents. He glanced around with a bored expression on his face, "Mechs are going to start digging in this rockpile to look for us. We just have to wait for them to get here."

Trailbreaker shifted trying to push himself into a sitting position. Bloodhound managed a frown and pushed him back down flat on his back. Trailbreaker's visor flared in terror as he continued to hold him down. Bloodhound scowled, "Don't try to get up. It's never wise to try to get up when your suffering from effects of Energon deprivation. Don't want to kill yourself, do you?"

Trailbreaker gazed up at him in surprise and asked, "How do you know that?"

Bloodhound snorted, "Seriously? I'm from Kaon. That kind of thing is very common over there."

He paused for a moment and then continued, "And from the looks of your body type you are too. What were you, a miner? That's the only thing your force field could be used for over there."

Trailbreaker seemed to shift nervously before he responded, "Why do you care what I did before the war?"

Bloodhound smirked, "Just curious how a miner from Kaon ended up an Autobot. Most of your kind joined the Decepticons."

Trailbreaker was starting to look frustrated, "Are you trying to make me doubt the side I joined? Because that's what it looks like to me. And just so you know I left Kaon after my family was killed in a mining accident. There was nothing left for me there. And I never wanted to become a Decepticon anyway. The Autobot's stand for what I believe in."

Bloodhound gazed down at him in amusement, "And what is that, Autobot?"

Trailbreaker didn't even hesitate, "Freedom for every sentient being, Justice for everyone, not just the wealthy, speaking for what you believe in without fear of tyranny."

Bloodhound frowned at those words. Honestly, they surprised him. He had thought that the Autobot's had been fighting to keep things the way they were, but it was obvious that the Autobot's believed differently. He gazed solemnly down at the Autobot for a moment as he considered his words. Then he spoke softly, "To each his own, Autobot."

Then the Decepticon sat back and fell silent as he gazed up at the rock and metal. He had honestly not been expecting the conversation to go that way.

-End Flashback-

Hound shook away the memory and sighed softly. Trailbreaker had been the one to cause him to start to doubt the Decepticon cause. It had completely shocked him after that talk how much he found what other Decepticons did abhorrent. It certainly had helped shape his decision to switch sides. A part of him had carefully made friends with Trailbreaker after his defection and following adjustment period so that he could spend time with the Autoboot that had helped him find out the truth of the Decepticons.

It was oddly fascinating that both mechs he had become close friends with had had run-ins with him before he had switched sides. For Trailbreaker, it had been that day when they were trapped after a cave-in. For Mirage though it had been not the best time to meet. As Hound recalled it, it had been the day that he had faked his own death that they met face-to-face. It didn't take much for that memory to be pushed forward.

-Flashback-

Standing beside Megatron was neve-racking for Bloodhound. The Spec Ops mech had no idea if somehow the warlord had discovered his plan to switch sides and he knew that all it would take was a quick blow from the warlord's fusion cannon to offline him. As he fired from his blaster at an Autobot, he noticed three Autobot Spec Ops mechs moving towards the weakest spot of the bridge and recalled Whiplash's plan for this battle.

He glanced quickly over at Megatron and instantly noticed that his master had noticed them too. Bloodhound darted away from his master's side sliding away his blaster as he slammed into one of the Autobot's sides. The Autobot went down with a cry of pain causing the other two to spin to face him.

Bloodhound had allowed a sadistic smile to form on his face as he prepared for the fight. One of the two Autobot's that stood in front of him began to move forward, a look that could be considered fear on his face. He managed to growl out, "Get off my brother!"

Bloodhound looked down at the Autobot he was on top of, immediately he recognized him. The Decepticon bared his denta into a snarl. Ricochet. He looked up to the Autobot that he now recognized as Jazz and smirked before darting towards him claws outstretched to slice the young mech's lines. He heard Ricochet cry out behind him before his former torturer grabbed onto one of his legs and tried to drag him down.

With a snarl, he kicked at the Autobot, making contact with the mechs side, and then grabbed a hold of Jazz and flipped him onto his front on the ground. He slid behind him and snarled softly in triumph before the third Autobot slammed into his side, sending both himself and Bloodhound rolling across the bridge.

With a huff of annoyance, Bloodhound carefully pushed the blue and white mech onto his back once they had stopped rolling, pinning the mechs arms down with one clawed servo. He glared down at the Autobot and hissed down at him, "You are going to pay for that, little Autobot. Very dearly."

Then he reached into one of his hip holsters.

After that there was only pain, surprise, and understanding before he fell off the bridge.

-End Flashback-

Hound winced once the memory was done. Falling off the bridge had hurt quite a bit. It was only thanks to his training that he managed to land on as safely as he did and had survived the experience. Smokescreen and Wheeljack both had been waiting for him at the bottom and after that he had been taken to the main base and kept in Wheeljack's lab during his adjustment period.

To say the least it hadn't been that bad and Hound was pretty happy with the way things had turned out. Even though he was hiding in a cave right now, trying to forget that his two best friends had found him.

He sighed. There was no way he was going to be able to keep himself from regretting this.

1111

Drift knew that the past would one day catch up with him, it was only a matter of time before it did. The white and red former Decepticon gazed out at the slowly rising planet surface. He was super nervous about having to encounter Optimus Prime and his team along with the possibility of seeing Megatron again.

He was concentrating so hard on that thought process that he almost didn't notice Hot Rod joining him. He glanced at his fellow Autobot for a klick before returning his gaze to the planet they were heading to.

There was a brief silence before Hot Rod spoke, "Staring out the window isn't gonna make it stop getting closer, you know."

Drift scowled and said, "I know that Hot Rod."

Hot Rod sounded like he had a smile when he said, "Oh really?"

Drift felt like he was about to do something drastic when, "Hot Rod. Leave Drift alone."

Both mech's turned to stare at the green triple-changer sitting nearby at the ships controls. Springer was frowning at Hot Rod. Hot Rod huffed and said, "I was just teasing."

Springer rolled his optics and said, "Yes Hot Rod. I know that."

Drift gave a slight shake of his helm and glance over to where Ricochet sat. The Polyhexian framed mech was gazing off into space, completely zoned out. Springer cleared his intake causing the Polyhexian to jump slightly.

Drift chuckled softly as Springer said, "Ricochet. Are you alright? You have been tense since we left Cybertron."

Ricochet just shrugged and smiled, "Jus' gotta lot on meh mind, mech. Ya know 'ow it is."

Drift exchanged a slight glance with Hot Rod as Springer responded, "Whatever it is, I'm sure that we can help you with it. It's what Autobot's are supposed to do."

Ricochet gave a soft sigh before responding, "I know that, Springer. I'm just hesitant to share this information, because well…. it's a very long story. One that starts just before the war and ends during the battle of the Hydrax Plateau. And then there's how Drift might react to some of what I say."

Drift frowned and said, "Pardon me, Ricochet, but whatever it is that's bothering you I'm sure it isn't that bad."

Ricochet chuckled and said, "It's much worse than anything you probably have ever heard before, Drift. But I suppose it would be wise to tell this story before I have to tell it to my brother."

And then he opened his mouth to tell the story.

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So, what do you guys think? Megatron's part of this is one of my favorite scenes. I feel like he deserves real substance and this story shows him as a mech with emotions. I feel that Megatron and the Decepticons started out with their sparks in the right place and that is how I like to portray them. Comment please! It helps my muse.