Chapter 14

Between oblivion and revelations

Iacon, Military Academy, Special Unit 000, corridor A-81, fifty thousand vorns ago.

A place that didn't exist.

A soldier making his way to uncertainty.

A warrior designed for greatness.

The wings on his back felt natural. Sometime in the future, in some other world, he would know about angels.

But not yet.

For a place that didn't exist, the unit was full of silences. One of Cybertron's moons could be seen through the hatches on the wall.

A last gust of his former life. Every step was a farewell, every new corridor moving him away from his roots, turning him into a stranger to himself. The future was cloaked at the end of the maze he was walking.

But he would be part of it.

At the end of the corridor, a ghost. How could there be a place that didn't exist without a ghost? Logic had to prevail even in the realm of the impossible.

A reflection. The stranger looked almost exactly like him.

A Seeker.

A tetrajet model, the one he had been reformatted into.

Treacherous beams of light illuminated the foreign and yet familiar frame. Black and purple paintjob, a big smirk on his face.

It was like facing a mirror. The stranger stood in front of him, suddenly stopping his frenetic run.

"Think fast!" the stranger said as he put something in the cadet's hand.

Then he disappeared in a flash of purple light.

So it hadn't been an illusion. He was a ghost after all, a myth, a teleporter…

Heavy footsteps turned into visible threats. Three figures following the trace of the ghost… More Seekers, but not class A tetrajets. Their heads were cone shaped.

"Where did the fragger go?!"

"Slag! He teleported again…"

"Ramjet, look! That guy has the remote control!"

Four pairs of optics focused on the device resting in the palm of the cadet's hand. Only one knew he was no culprit. Only one knew he was about to pay for his naïveté.

"So you are the one who detonated that grease bomb in our quarters!! We should have known Skywarp had an accomplice…"

"Enough talking, Dirge! Get him!"

Frag.

Then pain happened. Three against one, not fair by any means. Fists like cannons impacted his frame. That was not a regular fight between cadets, that he knew when his cockpit was cracked.

So he fought back. His processor computed anger so easily, momentarily disregarding uncertainties and expectations. Was his pride at risk, was his life? No matter. If things were like that, he would adjust. He would adjust to anything.

His fists found no rest. Face and chest plates were his targets; he wouldn't stop until he pulverized them. However, defeat was certain. All hopes of victory, perhaps of survival, were almost gone when an extra set of hands joined the fight. The purple flash was barely distinguishable, outshined by the sparks that jumped from his armour as he was impacted again and again.

He was pushed backwards. Then mist appeared, followed by the absolute lack of everything. Space didn't exist anymore, neither did time. He could still see his body, but it was blurry, it felt blurry. Limbs didn't weigh anything, wings were effigies of their former shapes…

He was sure he had reached the Inferno.

Then he noticed the hand, closed around his wrist.

When everything finished, he could feel ground beneath his feet again. He fell to his knees, his equilibrium circuits at the edge of the overload. His fingers scratched the floor, expressing his desperation with ten disordered lines.

The feet before him stepped back, shivering. He managed to raise his stunned head and saw the reason for his companion's tremor.

He was laughing.

Bursting out in laughter would be a more proper term.

"Oh, frag! Oh, slaggin' hell! That was slaggin' funny!! You should have seen your face when Thrust cracked your cockpit!"

Dizziness dissipating, equilibrium chip beginning to stabilize… face plates forming a frown.

"They must have confused you with me, or not… Who cares? We got them good, huh?"

He didn't remember having being so fast. In an astro klik he was on his feet, his fist moving by itself and finding the mocking features of that clown.

The black and purple Seeker stepped back and grabbed his face, the attack taking him by surprise.

"Aaarrrggh…what the frag?!! Why in the pit did you do that?!"

A prankster… Vector Sigma had given that Seeker the miracle of teleportation and he was a slagging prankster.

"You set me up!" the claim came.

"Why you… I saved you!"

"From your own stupid dirty trick!"

"You ungrateful screwhead…Do you have any idea of what Ramjet's gang would have done to you if I hadn't saved your aft?"

Fists clenched… anticipating the pleasure of impacting that moronic geek again…

"Hey, you feel ok? You look dizzy… That was your first time teleporting, right? It's such a miracle you didn't empty your fuel tanks… Now that would have been funny!"

"Shut up. Where are we?"

"I really don't know. I just put some distance between us and the Coneheads, you know?"

So many questions. So little patience. He searched for tolerance.

"We are still in the Military Academy, I presume."

"Yeah, for sure. I can't jump as long as to teleport outside… not yet, that is. See, they're gonna gimme this chip…"

"Where is corridor A-81? I'm supposed to report to my superior officer at the unit's headquarters."

"Superior officer? Huh… that would be me."

"What? No slagging way!"

The black Seeker burst into laughter again. "You're right, I'm not… but I could have fooled you, if you weren't a tetrajet, of course... Are you here for the program? What's your name, by the way?"

"None of your business."

"Heh, I think it is. You see, I think we're going to be wingmates."

Frag. Again.

"Are you… assigned…?"

"To unit triple zero? Yeah… I'm Skywarp."

"St… Thundercracker."

"Nice meeting you, TC."

"My denomination is Thundercracker."

"Sure, TC. Come on, let's go. I'll teleport us back. Try to hold your equilibrium circuits this time."

"Forget it. I'd prefer to reach my destination on my own."

"Don't be such a tinhead. We are near the arsenals, and the Triplechangers are always wandering around. And trust me, you don't want to find the Triplechangers on your own."

Triplechangers… another myth. Just what was Unit 000 exactly?

"You said you didn't know where we are."

"I lied."

"By the Matrix… are you always this annoying?"

Skywarp laughed. "Whenever I can be, yes. But hey, don't get mad. I'll make it up to you. There is this tavern that I know where femmes refuel you using their pleasure ports…"

"Are you going to talk nonsense all cycle? Thanks to your irresponsibility and idiotic processor, I'm very late now."

"Gee, relax… Grab my shoulder and I'll teleport you back. But I have to take you to that tavern very soon. You need to stop being so stiff or you'll end up frying your circuits. And believe me, you'll need all your senses sharp in here if you want to survive the training."

"We'll see about that. Alright then, take me back. Just go easier this time."

"You got it TC, but we still have one stop before reporting to the Command Centre."

"What stop?"

"Screamer's quarters. I caught half dozen petro rabbits during our last practice in Kalis and they are howling for freedom."

"Who the slag is Screamer?" Thundercracker asked as they both disappeared in the purple light that was destined to become a familiar sight for him.

..............

Nemesis, Decepticon Headquarters, the present.

Skywarp was strangely silent. Silence and Skywarp were not a common pair, unless he was preparing one of his sadistic pranks or, as was the current case, he was in presence of his Supreme Commander.

Fortunately for him, nobody was paying attention to his silence. All optics were focused on the big monitor of the Nemesis' main computer, in which a visual file was being played.

The quality was less than mediocre. Laserbeak hadn't been able to get any closer or he would have been detected, but the distant figures left no doubts hanging.

"See? Didn't I tell you this would happen, Megatron?! You should have let me terminate Thundercracker when I had the chance! This is all your fault!"

Megatron's facial plates didn't change from their serious and hard expression, not even when he turned around and impacted the back of his hand against his Second in Command's face, sending him to the floor.

Skywarp didn't laugh at the fallen, didn't make any acid remark. He internally wished for Megatron to continue beating Starscream until deactivation, but he knew that wouldn't happen, not when other issues were priorities.

The hit had been brutal. Starscream's cheek was dented, his wound slightly smoking.

"T…that… that was so unnecessary…" he muttered from the floor.

"You question my judgment again, and you die. Am I clear, Starscream?"

Thrust took a brave step toward his Commander. "Just say the word, Megatron, and we'll bring you the traitor's head before the end of the cycle."

Shouts of revenge reverberated across the walls of the Command Centre, supporting Thrust's suggestion.

"Not yet," Megatron said darkly, silencing his warriors. "We have other problems to resolve first. Seems that our infamous deserter has been opening his mouth plates far too much."

Soundwave stepped forward and typed a series of commands into the computer. The image of a distant Thundercracker flying between two Aerialbots was replaced with a map.

"Shockwave reports we lost two battle stations and our main base in Altihex. We also have a communication failure with one energon storage unit in Polyhex. Probabilities dictate that they are already under enemy control."

"So I see," Megatron said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "It is useless to lament the facilities lost. We will focus on preventing the Autobots from advance one single mechano inch more. Soundwave, give instructions to Shockwave to relocate the positions of our underground bases and battle stations. As for the rest of you, wait for my instructions. You will receive your new assignments in less than ten breems."

"But Megatron… are we going to leave the traitor free to fly around with his new buddies?" Astrotrain asked.

"Thundercracker will go nowhere. He's far too scared to do so. Starting from now I want double vigilance on the space bridge. We will be using it constantly to reinforce our positions on Cybertron. Soundwave, coordinate the troops, except the Seekers and the Combaticons, and prepare them to abandon Earth at once. Starscream, organize surveillance shifts with Onslaught. Hunting season has just started."

Cheers resonated again. The idea of capturing the traitor and making him face justice was the boost of morale needed after losing important positions on Cybertron.

Megatron's optics shone evilly. "Dismember him, tear him apart… but I want Thundercracker alive. He has to understand the gravity of his crime before facing termination."

Starscream got up from the floor and stared triumphantly at the only Decepticon who had remained silent.

Skywarp deviated his glance. He couldn't have faced anybody in that moment.

To be continued.


Beta read by iratepirate. She said I had very few typos this time! :o)

Thanks for reading guys. I appreciate all your comments very much.