Chapter 9 Return
Thundercracker screamed in terror before he was tackled to the ground. Whitesilence snarled, blue optics blazing in fury as she tried to reach his throat around his flailing arms. She bared her fangs at the thrashing mech before she brought her fist back, planning to slam it into the other's face to make him stay still. Before it could begin its downward plunge, another hand grabbed her first, holding it back from the damage she wanted to inflict. She turned to glare over her shoulder at the mech that had dared to interfere.
Scourge's green optics stared lazily down at her. "Cease your actions, Whitesilence," he ordered.
She glared at him before rising, towering over the red mech. She bared her fangs to him, letting him know that she was not impressed by his interference, but stood down as he had requested. He nodded before releasing her hand, soon enough to avoid getting bitten by Redscream as she scuttled over to stand by her mistress. Blacksprite leapt over as well, rubbing against Whitesilence's leg to show her affection, missing Scourge's sneer .
"So, now what?" Ransacked asked.
"We need a new leader," Blacksprite mewed.
"I'll lead," Thundercracker shouted before jumping up, waving his gun around.
"You?" Ransack snorted. "You couldn't lead a parade!"
"What was that, small fry?" Thundercracker demanded.
'Truth hurts, doesn't it?' Whitesilence sneered.
"You're one to talk!" Thundercracker shouted at her before Ransack and Crumplezone tackled him.
All three of them rolled around on the ground, snarling and shouting insults. Blacksprite giggled at them, her tail waving back and forth in excitement. Redscream growled at their antics, voicing her disgust to Whitesilence, who merely stared on in boredom, unimpressed. Scourge brought it upon himself to end the fight by breathing fire on the combatants, sending them scurrying for cover.
"None of you are worthy of leading," he snapped.
"Oh, and you are?" Thundercracker demanded, waving his gun around again.
"I know how to settle this," Ransack announced. "Battle royal!"
'He's not serious?' Whitesilence asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Come on mechs," Ransack hissed to the other two, "together we can take out this overgrown lizard."
'My credits are on Scourge,' Whitesilence broadcasted.
Scourge chuckled softly, his mind taking the compliment the wrong way and she growled at him. For someone who clearly did not know her, he certainly thought that he could just earn his right to take her for a mate just by being Megatron's most powerful soldier. It was rather infuriating to say the least, but the mech was harmless, thankfully. Thundercracker, Crumplezone, and Ransack leapt forward at the same time, hoping to catch him off guard. He caught them easily, throwing them back with a roar before breathing fire on them. Thunderblast finally came out from behind the rock she was hiding behind the whole time and sighed.
"I'm starting to think that I made a mistake leaving Starscream," she commented as a huge Cybertronian ship flew by overhead.
'You're mistake, playbot, was coming out of your capsule,' Whitesilence replied darkly, giving the other femme a bored look.
"Hey!" she screamed, spinning around to glare at her. "You want to go?!"
Whitesilence chuckled before facing her and crossing her arms. 'You realize 'top general' means 'third in command', right?' she asked.
"Yeah, what's your point?" Thunderblast asked.
She smirked before lifting her gun onto her shoulders, optics blazing. 'I did not get to that position by being a weakling.'
Thunderblast took a step back, narrowing her optics in through before pointing. "Then why are you fighting against Scourge?" she demanded.
Redscream growled as the mechs behind her shouted in pain. 'A waste of my time,' she replied evenly.
The other femme frowned before turning and walking away. Whitesilence turned back to the mechs and shook her head in disgust at the juvenile display. Scourge had all three of the upstarts pinned, making a show of stepping on them, the two extra dragon heads snickering with him. He glanced at her, almost as if he was expecting her to attack him. She shook her head before touching her first two fingers to her helm in a mock salute.
She smirked before spinning around and shooting Thunderblast's gun out of her hand. The femme squeaked in surprise, her attempt at a sneak attack torn apart by the fact that she had forgotten that Whitesilence was telepathic. She heard Blacksprite gasp beside her and then she heard the sound of charging feet. It did not take her long to put two and two together; Scourge was attacking her from behind. She summoned her Cyberplant Key, grabbing her swords as it fell, and whipped around to hit Scourge across the face.
Scourge was sent sprawling into the dirt, groaning as his legs flopped onto each other. He growled weakly, turning to glare at her as he got slowly back to his feet. He roared at her, but she didn't budge or twitch, not finding the roar any more impressive than Thundercracker's arm mounted gun. She found his confused thoughts amusing, interested by the fact that no one had ever still stood so defiantly after he roared at them, aside from Megatron and Starscream of course.
"You are braver than I gave you credit for," he commented with a grin.
'Bravery had nothing to do with my lack of response,' she replied simply.
"Either way," he chuckled, "I underestimated you."
She nodded before bracing herself for an attack, knowing that he was going to charge again. Scourge charged at her before transforming, lifting his battleaxe up to strike her. She blocked his attack with her sword, grimacing as she tried to keep it from getting at her shoulder. He smirked up at her, impressed that she was able to resist when Optimus could not. She growled at him before sweeping his legs out from under him and watching as he fell to the ground. He hit the ground with a grunt, rolling away in anticipation of another attack. He glanced at her in confusion as she stood there staring after him, her stance loose.
"You do not fight?" he asked in confusion.
'I do not see the point of your attack,' she replied. 'I did not challenge your authority after your, ahem, 'victory'.'
"It would be natural for you to want to lead," he replied, tilting his head. "You…accept my leadership?"
'If you turn out to be improper to lead, I'll kill you,' she replied before setting her sword back in its place.
"So you will follow all of my orders?" he asked, a mischievous grin.
'Only on the battlefield,' she replied bitterly, optics flashing in outrage. 'Anywhere else you are what you are now.'
"And what would that be?" Scourge asked.
"A slagheap," Blacksprite purred before bounding over and rubbing against Whitesilence's leg.
Scourge glared at her before shaking his head in disgust as the white femme knelt down to hug the panther cub's neck. Blacksprite purred softly as she rubbed against her "aunt" before smirking at Redscream. The Scrapmetal was sitting exactly where she had bed told to, quivering on the spot with the urge to race over, but obedience told her not to move. Whitesilence tapped her leg, calling her pet over, and she obediently leapt over with a squeal, tucking herself into her arms.
'My vicious Scrapmetal reduced to a lap dog,' she teased.
Redscream barely seemed to be fazed, purring and snuggling into Whitesilence's body. Scourge snorted before kicking the other three Decepticons back to their feet, ordering them to attack the Autobots. Whitesilence placed Redscream on the ground, motioning to a suddenly excited Blacksprite to calm down. Scourge threw the mechs onto a nearby asteroid, propelling them towards Cybertron.
"Come on, Red!" Blacksprite mewed before leaping onto another asteroid. "To Cybertron!"
'She will grow out of this, right?' Redscream hissed before scuttling after the young femme.
Whitesilence chuckled before following in jet mode. They headed for Cybertron, the entire trip with the complaining of the beaten mechs. Thunderblast followed at a distance, whining about the situation.
"Whoa!" Blacksprite mewed, leaping to her feet. "Is that Cybertron?!"
Whitesilence was about to ask what she was talking about when a new mind entered her peripheral senses. It immediately commanded her attention, sending her into a downward spiral in shock. Her engines cut out, letting her hover in the middle of space, her mind being engulfed by the powerful one of the new mech. She tried to get the mind away from her, but it would not release her.
Daughter of Megatron.
'Release me!'
How many of my children have you killed?
'Who are you?'
Do you regret what you are?
'A Decepticon?'
Yes. Are you proud of what you are?
'Yes, I am.'
Why?
'Because the Decepticons are the sole reason that I exist; my mother wanted me dead.'
You were created from a forced bonding.
'It should not have mattered! She was my mother!'
Your father….
'Cared for me better than the Autobots ever could have,' she snapped bitterly. 'The Autobots kidnapped Jetfire and CPU-washed him!'
Are you so sure?
'Jetfire is Starscream's baby brother,' she replied. 'He told me that Jetfire is different now.'
Why do you hate the Autobots so much? The Decepticons were the ones who harmed you.
'Silverdart is a minor problem now and I hate them because they hate me.'
You know this for a fact?
'I'm telepathic; of course I know.'
The new presence chuckled before it backed away slowly. She felt it gently calling her towards Cybertron the same way a parent beckoned their child home. The others had already drifted away and she took off after them, knowing that she was going to get yelled at for it. The presence increased gradually until she came into Cybertronian airways where she pulled up abruptly and gawked. There was an enormous mech hovering there, seemingly asleep, and she could see the Autobots running around on the surface.
'Wha…?'
You are surprised, little one?
'You…you're Cybertron?!'
I am Primus.
She froze again, her CPU shorting for a moment. 'That is just wrong!' she screamed.
How?
'Ewewew! Our planet is a giant mech! You pervert!'
Pervert?
'There are couples interfacing and bonding every hour of the day on your surface!'
I do not pay attention.
'Sure you don't,' she sneered, her respect for their kind's creator failing quickly.
Primus chuckled gently before his head twitched, snapping her back to reality. She didn't bother focusing on him anymore, heading down to the surface to find her vanished comrades. Blacksprite waved her tail back and forth to signal her position, dodging away from Snarl as he tried to snap his jaws down on her back.
'Bad dog,' she growled before she transformed and slammed her foot into his back.
Snarl rolled a short distance before leaping back to his feet. Blacksprite leapt up beside her, meowing in her most ferocious voice in hopes to scare him off. The wolf-former merely chuckled before charging again, jaws open in hopes to bite one of them. Blacksprite darted aside before bringing her paw down on his hind leg, making him howl in pain. He spun on her again, fangs tearing at the air inches from her face, but she boldly stood her ground. Whitesilence asked if she needed any more assistance, wondering if she was needed elsewhere, and was given the affirmation that she was alright. She nodded, telling her niece to be careful, before she took off to find a real fight.
She quickly found Thundercracker and Jetfire fighting, dodging around spare laser fire. She demanded a report out of the blue jet, who was quick to shoot his mouth off about this being hopeless. She ignored his drivel, digging through his mind to find what she wanted. She snorted in satisfaction before advising him to shoot Jetfire in the underside of his alt. mode. She nodded in approval as the cargo plane went spiraling towards the ground, a trail of purple smoke issuing behind him.
She kept moving, locking onto Scourge's coordinates. She felt herself grow in excitement, dying for the chance to destroy the Autobots. She spotted Scourge fighting with Optimus and silently asked if he needed assistance. He quickly ordered her not to interfere, his arrogance expressed in his thoughts. She rolled her optics in annoyance before heading off to find Ransack and Crumplezone. She heard shouting up ahead before Ransack crashed into her leg, sending them both sprawling on the ground, Whitesilence landing on top of the smaller red mech.
"Ow," he whined before trying to wiggle out from under her. "Come on doll, move! There are crazy Scrapmetals after us!"
She stood up, careful to dig her heel into his groin. 'My name is Whitesilence, vermin, and I fail to see any Scrapmetal,' she growled.
He squeaked several times before pointing in the direction he had came from. She looked up and stared in disbelief at the sight before her. Crumplezone was firing at the horde of Scrapmetal, yelling his head off in terror. She caught the lead Scrapmetal's mindwave and knew she had to get the green dimwit out of there; they were going to kill him.
'Crumplezone, move!' she ordered before she raced forward.
He kept firing, even as they tackled him to the ground and began to bite him. She felt panic rise in her and felt her spark freeze as Crumplezone's body exploded. Ransack cried out behind her, snapping her out of her stupor, and she continued to run towards the Scrapmetal. They lunged at her from their latest victim, but she shot several before a large red Scrapmetal smashed into them, sending them everywhere. Redscream hissed at them, challenging them to a fight, but a large blue one paused, tilting its head curiously and creeping closer, sniffing at her hind leg.
Redscream squeaked before slamming her hind end onto the ground, causing several of the other Scrapmetal to look at her curiously. Whitesilence decided she didn't want to know and advanced onto her fallen comrade. The remaining Scrapmetal were killed with a few well aimed shots and she was able to assess Crumplezone's damage. She fought her urge to flinch as she took in all the burned metal and his prone position. His optics flickered weakly up at her as she bent down beside him, wondering if she should give him a merciful death.
"Crumplezone!" Ransack cried before appearing at her elbow, tears shining in his optics. "Oh Primus, we gotta get him outta here!"
She wanted to tell the smaller mech that he was going to die no matter what they did, but the part of her spark that held affection told her not to. She nodded slowly before gingerly lifting the injured mech up, fighting down her winces as he whimpered in pain. His mindwaves were erratic, panicking at the fact that he was going to die. Ransack was fighting back tears, his mind running through precious memories that she tried to ignore, but she finally felt her aloof resolve break and dissolve when Ransack let out an involuntary sob.
'Ransack,' she sighed, horrified that she was asking the smaller mech this, 'were you and Crumplezone…romantically involved?'
He jerked his head up to look at her, green optics bright in shock. "How…where did you get that idea?" he demanded.
'You're crying…and remembering nights when he held you tightly,' she replied as Redscream darted over to them, the remains of another Scrapmetal in her mouth.
"We're brothers," he replied with a small grin. "Guess from someone who doesn't know us you'd think we were partners."
She felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment before she set Crumplezone down gently on the ground. He smiled up at her, optics still flickering weakly.
"I've got myself a pretty guardian angel," he choked out.
She blinked several times, not use to such endearing terms coming from subordinates. She felt her spark croon in her chest and she smiled before resting her hand on his cheek. She leant in and kissed his forehead, making him go limp while making Ransack snicker. She pulled back, letting the brothers comfort each other. Ransack kept telling him that everything was going to be alright, but they both knew that Crumplezone was going to be leaving them. Redscream wisely kept a fair distance from them, churring softly in a farewell song.
Whitesilence knelt down beside her pet, stroking her head reassuringly. A presence entered the periphery of her sensory range again, and she looked up in curiosity. It was strange, almost like it was hovering between coming and teleporting. Redscream growling softly, shifting around as Ransack looked up too.
"Hey, look! It's Megatron!" he shouted before hopping up and waving his arm in the air.
Whitesilence did not believe what her optics were transmitting to her. Megatron, who she had seen shatter into a million pieces, was gliding towards them, wrapped in a dense aura of darkness. Her intakes hitched as an orange Scrapmetal leapt out of nowhere and landed not far away from him, shooting repeatedly at his back. The lasers vanished into him before he turned around slowly to face the semi-drone. It snarled before leaping onto his front, trying to eat him, but the darkness rolled over it. It threw its head back in pain, screaming at the sky before it vanished altogether without a trace.
Ransack gasped in horror before Megatron turned back around, advancing slowly again. Ransack whimpered before scrambling away, unintentionally backing up into her lap and clinging to her arm. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into her chest as she stared at her father in confusion as he reached out and grabbed Crumplezone's chestplate, engulfing him in darkness. Crumplezone started howling in pain, causing Ransack to hide his face in her shoulder and whimper. She hugged him closer, reacting like an overprotective mother as Megatron's optics flashed. The glow vanished and Crumplezone stood up before turning around.
"You can come out of hiding, little buddy," he called.
Ransack pulled back, uneasy after the episode. "Hey CZ…you feeling okay?" he asked nervously.
"Never better," Crumplezone crowed. "I've never felt this good before or this powerful! It's amazing."
She regarded his new colour scheme in admiration. Black looked good on him with the red metal on his upper arms and sides, the orange flames accenting his look even more. He blinked at her, immediately looking away with a reddening face, taking her gaze to be one of infatuation rather than merely assessing. She laughed gently before standing up and letting Ransack walk over to his brother. The two of them smirked at each other before transforming and tearing off, driving in circles around one another as they shouted about being the "Masters of Disaster". She smiled after them before walking over to Megatron, who was holding his hand up in front of his face, a thoughtful frown on his mouth.
She reached up and touched his shoulder, causing his head to snap down and glare at her for a moment. His blue optics softened somewhat as his hand, ghostly cold, brushed along her cheek, causing her to shiver. Redscream purred as she rubbed against Megatron's leg, only to leap back with a hiss at the dark coils that had tried to wrap around her. Megatron let out a hollow sounding chuckle before he leant his head on Whitesilence's, optics distant for a time.
'Crumplezone and Ransack will need guidance,' he stated after a pause.
'I suppose that duty falls on my shoulders?' she asked.
He chuckled before nodding. 'By the way you were clutching Ransack to your chest, I'd say you already have a foundation of trust with them,' he stated.
'I highly doubt Ransack will ever let me do that again,' she chuckled before hugging him the best she could through the dark matter that surrounded him. 'I'm glad your back, father.'
'Not fully, not yet,' he replied before rubbing her arm. 'I must get moving, keep these two in line,' he ordered.
She nodded before reluctantly pulling back. He drifted off, heading towards the sounds of a fight in the east. She shook her head sadly before transforming to go look for the two trouble-makers. Something told her that looking after those two was going to be as bad as making sure that Redscream and Blacksprite didn't kill each other. She drove off in search for her new charges, making sure to keep an optic on her pet racing beside her incase a stray laser fire hit her. Her armor may have been better than the rest of her kind, but it still could take heavy damage.
"I think we just got crowned," she heard Ransack moan up ahead.
She glanced up and mentally shook her head. Crumplezone and Ransack were lying in a heap, one on top of the other, and Hot Shot drove past them laughing, Override right behind him. She sighed before driving up to the two and transforming, looking down at them with a bored expression, one hand resting on her hip.
'You two are more trouble than you are worth,' she sighed.
"Aww, come on! Give us a break will ya?" Ransack moaned before he managed to sit up. "We're still young here!"
'I'm afraid that will not be an excuse anymore,' she replied before grabbing him by the scruff and hauling him off of his brother so that Crumplezone could get up. 'Blacksprite is younger than both of you, but she is a far better fighter. Since you both are now under my guidance and supervision, you had better start acting like warriors.'
"Says who?" Ransack snapped, wiggling in her grasp.
'Megatron,' she replied as Redscream helped Crumplezone get back up. 'If you have a problem with it, take it up with him.'
Ransack growled before crossing his arms like a spoilt sparkling. "And why do we need you to baby-sit us?" he demanded.
'Maybe because you and Crumplezone have no battlefield experience, are immature, and lack obedience,' Whitesilence replied, giving him a shake.
"HEY! Why do you keep treating me like I'm some sparkling?" Ransack demanded, trying to turn around to glare at her. "I'm probably older than you are!"
'You barely look like you've seen a hundred years yet,' she replied evenly.
He froze for a moment before snarling. "It ain't none of your business!" he shouted, swinging his fists at her. "It ain't, you hear me?!"
Her optics softened before she carefully set Ransack down on the ground and turned him to face her. 'Ransack, I didn't mean anything by what I said,' she cooed gently as she knelt down to be optic-level with him. 'Your history is your own; I'm here to make you a soldier.'
Ransack growled weakly at her before trying to pull away. "I'm not some stupid sparkling," he snapped. "I can fight."
'Street fighting and war are different things entirely, Ransack,' she stated gently, already pulling him closer to hug him. 'Your knowledge will not help you when you are pinned down by Autobots too far away to swing a fist at.'
He growled at her again before sighing. "Why do you talk to me like I'm a sparkling?" he demanded.
She laughed gently before kissing his helm. 'Because I'm use to talking to Blacksprite that way,' she replied before standing up and glancing at where Crumplezone was kicking at the dirt. 'Something wrong, Crumplezone?'
"Well…it's just that…um," Crumplezone stuttered before gulping. "YourereallyreallyprettyandIthinkIloveyou," he blurted out in one sentence before turning around and hiding his face.
Whitesilence blinked a few times as she tried to figure out what he said. She winced slightly before sighing and shaking her head. 'Crumplezone,' she sighed before walking over to him and resting a hand on his shoulder, 'sweetspark, I'm already taken.'
He lowered his head and his shoulders sagged. "I should have kept my mouth shut," he muttered.
She smiled before kissing his cheek, making his face heat up. 'It was brave to admit such a thing,' she cooed. 'You're going to make a great soldier.'
Ransack hopped onto Crumplezone and tackled him to the ground. "No fair! I saw her first!" he shouted before he started fighting with his older brother.
Redscream shook her head while Whitesilence groaned and rubbed her temples. She could tell this was going to be a long, long day, made even longer by the fact that Primus decided to laugh in her head at the display. The universe must have been against her today, she decided, until she got a familiar command.
"All Decepticons head for these co-ordinates," Megatron ordered.
The brothers stopped fighting at the sound of Redscream squealing, running around them in circles. Whitesilence ordered them to their feet before transforming into her car mode and taking off towards the co-ordinates. They were both behind her in an instant, still fighting over who saw her first, making Redscream grumble. She ignored them before skidding around a turn and falling in beside Scourge, who had to jump aside to make sure he didn't trip over her in mid-stride.
"What do you think you are doing?" he demanded before Redscream scrambled to stay with her, Crumplezone and Ransack having fallen back to hang out with Thundercracker.
'Taking my place,' she replied before adding smugly, 'soldier.'
"You are amused by the fact that you are now of a higher rank?" he asked.
'Naturally,' she replied before Megatron drove up on her other side, a black and silver lion racing beside him. 'Who?'
"Nemesis Breaker," he replied evenly. "Born from Leobreaker's own doubts."
'Don't you just love to cause trouble,' she commented with a laugh. 'Just keep him away from Sprite; she doesn't need to be chased by a lion.'
"I will make sure he does not," he chuckled before they drove on.
Blacksprite turned up a moment later, favoring her right hind leg but still running as fast as she could. She gave the lion a look before squeaking and hopping onto Scourge, who roared in surprise.
"Get off!" he shouted, beginning to act like a bucking bronco.
"No way! Not while that lion's there!" she yelped in surprise.
Whitesilence mentally groaned before pressing on; this was going to be a long day.