Chapter Ten
AN: So… that ending. Man oh man… I cried. Caution, time jump. I had no other inspiration, that and the ending of the series… well…
T-T Soundwave's fate is by far the worst D'|
Two chapters in one day to make up for everything. Love y'all for reading this.
-:-
Months passed, the Decepticons winning some battles, and losing others. However, with their most recent victory, the destruction of the Autobot's base, the three siblings were finally getting the hang of being on the Decepticon side of things.
Whilst the two boys had yet to be changed into Cybertronians, Nitrostrike, formerly known as Kirstin, had managed to gain back her voice, much to her excitement. In fact, many things had happened in the past month or two that had her more cheerful than before, like Airachnid being locked in a stasis pod, only to be found in the wreckage of the Autobot base.
However, with her voice back, she could finally start giving orders, something she had longed to do. While she was usually laid back and let others lead, she was, and always would be, the oldest of the siblings. She was used to having to order her brothers around to get simple tasks accomplished, and when she was given a group of Vehicons to command by Megatron once her voice returned, it had come second nature.
She no longer had to assist Knock Out in the med bay, where she had spent many of her hours aboard the warship.
Michael and Travis were relieved when they heard their sister's voice once again, only to fondly remember the silence as she started to yell orders to the Vehicons.
Travis still tried to help Knock Out in the med bay, but with everything that had come to pass, he felt more useless than useful, so he tried to hang out with Soundwave, who at first was neutral to the youth staying with him, but eventually let him learn a bit of Cybertronian.
Michael had a new guardian, more or less; Starscream. In fact, Starscream was his third guardian; Breakdown had fallen to the spidery Airachnid, and while a new bot had come aboard, Dreadwing, he too was dead, having tried to kill Starscream and went against orders.
However, Breakdown was still Michael's favourite guardian; mostly due to the fact that he was around more so than Starscream or Dreadwing. But now being stuck with Starscream, Michael could see why Kirstin had a distaste for the SiC.
With the Autobots scattered and their leader dead, that left the Earth for the Decepticons to take over, which Megatron was currently planning.
-:-
After making sure that her brothers were safe with somebot, namely Knock Out, Nitrostrike made her way to the bridge. However, being at the opposite end of the warship, she had a little walk ahead of her; one she would have preferred to do alone, but instead she ran into her least favourite on the ship, Starscream.
"And where are you off to in such a hurry, Nitro?" the seeker almost purred, sending shivers down Nirtrostrike's spinal strut.
"Lord Megatron has summoned me to plan an attack, I'm sure you're heading the same way, Screamer?" the femme replied, using a nickname she knew annoyed the flier.
Starscream growled, "Don't call me that. Remember, you report to me for anything."
The femme looked at him. "And yet here we are, both heading to the bridge. Curious, is it not?" she asked, eliciting another growl from the flier. "How was it, Starscream, to be inches away from 'joining the Allspark' as you say? To be nearly wiped from existence?"
"Like you would know," he replied with a mumble.
"You think I don't? If I remember correctly, my brothers and I were taken from our world, exposed to the real world that few knew or would believe, watch it scorched, burned, destroyed, and are forced to change species? The first while I was certain of death; and while that feeling has calmed, it has, nor ever will, disappear."
"Yes, changing species does sound 'dangerous'," Starscream said, his voice impossible to tell if sarcastic or not. Nitrostrike took it as sarcasm, stopped and slammed her fist on the wall, causing the seeker to jump. "What was that for?"
Nitrostrike looked him square in the optic, but said nothing; she didn't need to in order to convey the message.
However, Starscream quickly turned the situation around so he would end up victorious. " You pretend to be strong, but inside I know exactly what you are; weak, pathetically so. You may claim to have done things, but when were you truly alone? You operate well with your brothers, but take them away, and you're nothing but a weak, useless femme incapable of accomplishing anything."
An evil smirk spread across his faceplates as an idea formed in his mind. "Shall we test this out, as you're clearly one for proven strategies?"
Nitrostrike's optics widened. "You wouldn't dare," she nearly whispered, before pulling out her weapon.
"Ha! You expect to defeat me with that puny thing?" Starscream taunted, for indeed, Nitrostrike's weapon was very light; she had yet to get the upgrade Knock Out was currently working on for her.
By then they had reached the doors to the bridge, but that didn't stop the two from breaking into a fight, just before the doors opened.
When Megatron caught sight of them, he growled and walked over to the two, separating them. "I will not have two of my commanding officers fighting, risking the safety of those aboard, like last time!" he yelled at the two, who stood frozen in fear. "Starscream, what do you have to report?"
It took a few seconds and a painful nudge from Nitrostrike to get the seeker out of his fear induced stasis. "No signs of Autobots so far, Master. Perhaps if more ground troops were patrolling, we may have a better chance at-"
"Of course, you have to turn this to me," Nitrostrike narrowed her optics at the flier. "The ground troops are already stretched thin enough as is. There just isn't-" She was cut off by the evil glare she was receiving from Starscream. "Why you little-" She held her fist back as if to punch the flier.
"Enough!" Megatron said, causing the two to turn their attention back to him. "If I see any more fighting amongst the two of you, I will take more permanent measures. Do I make myself clear?" He looked at the two of them. "Starscream, scramble your armada and search again. Nitrostrike, remain here."
Starscream almost looked hurt as he grumbled on his way out. Nitrostrike smirked, then turned to Megatron. "Sir?"
"Knock Out is taking a search group to Cybertron to recover anything they can. You are to accompany them to help with the search. Do not disappoint me again, or I do believe you know the consequences."
The femme just bowed and walked out of the room to go find Knock Out and get this task over with. She didn't have to travel very far before she stumbled upon the red mech, a few vehicon and surprisingly, Soundwave.
"Soundwave is coming too?" she asked, only to nearly get smacked upside the helm by Knock Out.
"Of course not, you daft femme," the medic replied. "He's going to open a space bridge," he said, as if everyone in the world knew.
Nitrostrike snorted, until a space bridge opened a foot in front of her, startling her and causing her loss of balance. It was Knock Out's turn to smirk and laugh as he led the troops through the bridge, with Nitrostrike bringing up the rear.
-:-
Cybertron was a barren place, at least that's what it appeared to be to Nitrostrike. A large, barren wasteland, unable to host any form of life. "Why are we here again?" she complained while rummaging through rubble. "And what am I looking for?"
When she received no reply, she looked up. "Knock Out. Would you mind telling me what I'm-" She was cut off when something appeared on the horizon, the same thing that had rendered Knock Out speechless. The thing was approaching quickly, and the only thing that made sense was a Cybertronian in vehicle form.
"I thought you said this place was deserted," she said, curious at the approaching form.
Knock Out, however, stood still and muttered "by the Allspark" as it drew closer. When the object finally stopped before them, it transformed into a one-optic purple mech. "Shockwave, but how did you- this is wonderful," Knock Out said with a grin, he finally didn't have to be the ship's scientist anymore.
Nitrostrike had had it of being ignored. "Can someone explain to me who that is and how everyone said there was no life here, yet someone obviously is living, and is here?!"
Knock Out rolled his optics. "This is Shockwave, the Decepticon's lead, and best, scientist. Perhaps now your brothers can join you."
The femme looked at Knock Out. "So, someone who's actually competent when it comes to science and experiments?" The red medic looked at her with a glare, but she was already calling in a space bridge, thus ignoring Knock Out.
The bridge opened before them, and after the medic and Shockwave went through, the rest of the group went through, with Nitrostrike once again bringing up the rear. After exiting the portal, Nitrostrike walked ever so silently to stand with Starscream, who she noticed was scowling at Shockwave.
"So, what's the matter, Screamer? Don't like him?" she asked the flier.
Starscream just made an even uglier face before approaching Megatron and Shockwave. The femme just shrugged and walked off to find her brothers, as Knock Out had clearly put them somewhere before departing; there was no chance the medic would take leaving the humans alone in the med bay.
However, before she could leave the top of Darkmount, she heard an unfamiliar voice call her name, so she could only assume that it was Shockwave. She turned around and looked at the purple mech. "Yes?"
Shockwave walked over to her, paused beside her, then continued past her. "I require your assistance in the lab, you have been reassigned to there for the time being; therefore you report to me."
Inside, the femme was doing a happy dance. "Finally, no more Starscream," she said, a little too loudly, so that everyone heard her as she left, following Shockwave. It was silent as the two walked through the halls of Darkmount, until Nitrostrike broke it. "So, what's up first?"
"I am required to complete the formula I created long ago for cyber forming living organic matter. It is my understanding that you have two brothers, and works similar to a seeker trine."
"Seeker trine?" Starscream was a seeker, wasn't he, Nitrostrike thought to herself as she walked to steps behind Shockwave.
Shockwave stopped before a door, which slid open in response. "I advise that you ask Starscream, as he was part of one once." He paused for a moment. "I require the formula from Knock Out's lab."
"Alright, I'm on it," Nitrostrike said before walking out the door. However, a few feet down the hall she groaned; anything you need was always scattered around Darkmount and the warship. It took a while for anything to get done; there was very little organization there.
It took her ten minutes to reach Knock Out's med bay, which was empty when she arrived. "Now, where could that formula be?" she muttered to herself as she began to look for it. After five minutes of searching, she had yet to find it. "It's not here," she said aloud, grumbling to herself.
"Oh, you mean this?" Knock Out said, stepping out from the entrance, holding a jar with liquid in it. "Whatever could you use this for?"
"You know very damn well why I need that; Shockwave needs to finish the formula so my brothers can-" She never finished her sentence though, because a moment later, Knock Out dropped the jar, effectively shattering it and spilling the contents on the floor.
Nitrostrike stood there, optics wide and mouth agape. "What did you do?!"
"Simply put, I bought them more time. You were unconscious when you were cyber formed, but apparently that didn't stop you from screaming as loud as you could. You thought that your voice loss was a defect because of the formula, but in actuality, you broke your voice by yourself from yelling so much. The formula was nearly complete, and stable enough to have a small chance of success, which it did.
"You've barely spent an hour with your siblings since then; have you any idea what they think of the procedure? They are terrified of it."
The femme stood there in silence, confused. "Knock Out, why should you care about my brothers? I thought you hated humans with a fiery passion?"
Knock Out grit his denta. "I do, most of them."
"You actually care about my brothers?"
The red medic scowled, he had been caught. "What can I say, the older one knows his automobiles. And it's not just that. I've seen family units torn apart before because of this war, and the outcome is never pretty."
"Outcomes of any war are never pretty, Knock Out. So, what should I tell Shockwave? I slipped and fell and it broke?"
Knock Out shrugged. "You're not that graceful in the first place, so that would work."
The femme just glared before leaving the med bay to report back to Shockwave, leaving Knock Out all alone. Once she was gone, the medic sighed, "That had been close." In fact, he couldn't care less about her brothers, at least while they were human.
No, it was something else, something he enjoyed having to himself without the thoughts of siblings interrupting her thoughts.
-:-
AN: ~o,o~ um… yeah. Hey guys, not dead, see? The ending was just so…. Amazing spectacularly SAD. Buckethead kicked the bucket… T-T He was so… awesome. Well, we'll just have to see what happens in the next few days with that epilogue movie thingy.