"You really do care about those twins, don't you?" Wheeljack asked as he and Ratchet entered their room.
"I do."
"Were you guys-never mind," the Wrecker broke off, turning away from his mate.
"Wheeljack." Ratchet grabbed his servo, tugging him back. "Were the twins and I lovers? Yes, millennia ago. Do I love them, yes, I will always love those two brave, idiotic fools. But not as I love you. You are the very pulse of my spark.
"And believe me when I tell you nothing and no one could pry those two from Prowl. The trust few, and for them to give their sparks to Prowl tells anyone how true the depths of their feelings are towards him."
"Would you?"
"Would I what?"
"Sparkbond?" Wheeljack's own spark throbbed in his chestplates.
Ratchet stared into his optics as a heavy silence stretched between them.
"It's okay, I didn't-"
Ratchet silenced the Wrecker with a soft kiss.
"Are you sure you want me forever?"
"And longer."
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A knock brought Shockwave from his berth. Opening his door he saw Magnus standing there.
"You will keep the sparkling. It is more than obvious to Starscream that you want it."
Shockwave was about to argue but hesitated. "I am glad. Truly." Shockwave said and nodded as Magnus turned and left.
"Are you really?" Optimus asked from where he was standing.
"Yes. Creating an adult is one thing. Nurturing a sparkling is not something I am comfortable with but I do want one. Would I be right in assuming you have been hoping to be sire to a sparkling?"
"Yes, but I did not want to influence you or Starscream and Magnus."
"You really need to stop being so selfless."
"Comes with the Matrix."
"Not entirely true, Sentinel had the Matrix and was as selfish as a mech could be."
"The difference is Sentinel took the Matrix for himself, I was given the Matrix. It never connected with Sentinel, was never a part of him. It never chose him. He only carried it."
"Perhaps one day when the war is a distant memory I will be able to study the Matrix," Shockwave mumbled as his optic dimmed in recharge.
"Perhaps."
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"Please do not think ill of my friend for his outburst. Trust is not something easily found for those in the Pit and even less for slaves. You will have to prove to them they can trust you and your intentions."
"You trust me and my intentions, though," Bulkhead said, walking Megatronous into the former gladiator's room.
"Yes, but they spent millions of vorns believing this closest friend and caregiver became a murderous psychopath who destroyed their world," Megatronous said, taking a seat on his berth. "Their trust is understandably harder to earn."
"I should go," Bulkhead said, hesitating.
"You don't have to."
"Sunstreaker will pummel me and I'm sure Sideswipe will help."
Megatronous laughed "Have you so little faith in me to think I'd allow that?"
"No, but even you have to admit, those mechs are scary."
"They are that, but you can still stay."
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"It's a good thing you decided to move him here," Prowl said to Steve looking at the dead clone. "Had he been in the Nemesis brig, Knockout would have probably found away to bring him out of stasis."
"Credit goes to Predaking. I don't think he was comfortable having Megatron on the ship. He didn't like feeling as though his loyalties were divided between his creator and leader."
"Understandable," Optimus said, but kept his gaze on Prowl. As unreadable as ever, his SIC was obviously deep in thought, but about what, the leader had no idea. "Something is concerning you Prowl?"
"Always. We need to talk to Starscream and Shockwave. Steve, I'll want you present as well," Prowl said, turning sharply and returning to main room.
The Vehicon looked up at Optimus, seeking confirmation from the Prime.
"You'll get used to Prowl."
"I doubt it," the Vehicon muttered, causing Prime to laugh.
Everyone was in the main room, broken up in small groups.
"Starscream, Shockwave, who would Airachnid, Knockout and Breakdown consider allies?" Prowl asked without preamble.
A little surprised at the SIC's take charge demeanor Starscream looked at Prime, who by all appearances was fine with Prowl taking the lead.
"Airachnid, no one. Knockout and Breakdown, only each other. Breakdown is the only survivor of his gesalt. Knockout took the brute under his wing. I would venture to say Knockout has his loyalty first, and Megatron had it second," Starscream answered."
"I would have to agree with Starscream. Airachnid made no friends among the Decepticons," Shockwave answered.
"We need to get back-" Prowl drifted off, his gaze becoming unfocused for nearly a minute. Then his optics surged. "Ratchet, I need a groundbridge. Sides, Sunny with me."
Ratchet looked from Prowl to Optimus, back to Prowl. Optimus shrugged and waved his hand. Opening the groundbridge, Prowl tore through it, the twins hot on his bumper.
"I'll get used to him?" Steve looked at Optimus.
"I'm kind of used to him," Optimus returned.
I'm not. Psi-boss shook her helm.
"Here's a question. Who had more mechs transfer out of their command, Magnus or Prowl?" Smokescreen asked.
"Six left the Wreckers when I took command," Magnus answered honestly.
"I have no idea how many mechs transferred because of Prowl. It's not as though any listed him or being scared energonless of him as their reason for leaving," Optimus said.
:: I have nothing but respect for Prowl, but he scares me strutless.:: Bee beeped.
"Is he really that bad?" Smokescreen asked.
"YES." Ratchet, Optimus and Bee answered.
Within minutes, Prowl called for a return groundbridge. He led the way with another mech's altmode in between him the twins.
Returning to root mode, a black spiky mech similar in build to Prowl surveyed the scene. A vicious sneer etched on his faceplates.
"Seriously, brother, this is the best you've got? I think it's safe to say, you are fragged, mightly."
"Thank you for that tactical assessment, Barricade," Prowl replied dryly.
"Cade, it's good to see you again," Starscream said to the Special Ops mech.
"You too, Star. Somehow I'm not surprised you and I have made it this far." Narrowing his four optics he stared long and hard at Megatronous. "You're not Megatron."
"No, youngling, I am Megatronous. Your former leader was my clone."
"Makes as much sense as anything else in the Primus forsaken war."
"Brother? Prowl, care to explain?" Optimus asked.
"Barricade is my half-brother. We have the same carrier. He is five vorns older than I am.
"We were Enforcers together back in Praxus. He left the force and Praxus and ultimately joined the 'Cons. He hailed me over my old Enforcer channel. Only Enforcers can access it, even a telepath couldn't. That's how come I had no doubt it was him."
"This explains the 'Capture, Not Kill' order you had on Barricade," Prime said with a smirk.
"Family relation had nothing to do with it. Barricade has been an interrogator and Special Ops, he was certain to have vital information," Prowl said, wings high and tight.
"I dunno, little brother, sounds like a stretch to me," Barricade snarked.
"Hardly, you would have been interrogated until you provided the intelligence we needed and then you would have been confined until you smartened up and left the Decepticons," Prowl countered.
"Most ruthless Autobot to wear the brand," Starscream pseudo whispered.
"If you wanted me to switch sides that bad, Prowl, you should have asked," Barricade said, ignoring the Seeker.
"I could have shot you."
"You did shoot me, twice in fact."
"And yet, here you stand, so obviously I didn't mean it."
"Somehow this is and isn't exactly how I would have expected a Prowl family reunion to be," Ratchet deadpanned.
Arcee and Bumblebee tried to discreetly cover their giggles. Psi-boss and Steve laughed out loud as did Optimus.
"Perhaps you should tell Optimus, what you told me," Prowl said, wearing his dignity like a cloak of armor.
"Airachnid's backup has arrived."
"Do we want to know?" Wheeljack asked.
"The Combaticons and some crazy afted slagger calling himself Galvatron," Barricade answered. "Never seen or heard of the mech before, but he makes Vortex look sane, and I have NEVER encountered anyone crazier than Vortex."
All optics turned toward Megatronous.
"Did they make another clone of you?" Sideswipe asked.
"Not that I knew of, but then-"
"You were in stasis," Optimus finished.
Megatronous dropped his helm into his servo. "What have I done?"
"Not a thing, old friend. It's what did your former owner do?" Optimus soothed.
"Combaticons," Starscream hissed, the derision thick in his vocals. "Loonies, the lot of them."
"Megatron had slave coding placed in them when they rebelled. And I must say, that coding I did not mind implanting," Shockwave added. "Still, I can't really see Airachnid joining forces with them. Given her nature, I can't imagine her sharing power."
"She's not leading, Galvatron is. Airachnid is his second, and they seem to be well-" Barricade made a face.
"Ugh," Starscream shuddered.
"Exactly."
"Barricade, while I appreciate this information, why switch sides now?"
The former Enforcer stared at Prime for a moment. "Fair question. I received Soundwave's hail. All Cons were to report to Earth for the final assault on the Autobots. I show up, Megatron is dead, Soundwave is dead and this Galvatron and Airachnid are running the show. They got the bugs following the spider, Knockout, Breakdown, Vehicons, and Combaticons following Galvatron.
"I know the Combaticons and Airachnid. Vortex, the spider and I were all interrogators at one time. Those two were the reason I switched into offworld Special Ops. Sickest of the sick they were, or rather, are. When there were no Autobot prisoners, they would grab any random low ranking Con and torture him to death for fun. And I do mean fun. They would laugh, pose and take image captures.
"I've seen some Pit Spawned scrap in this war and nothing compares to those two twisted slaggers. Knowing she's swapping cables with that Galvatron told me all I needed to know about him. I volunteered for some recon, pinged my brother and fortunately he was here to answer.
"I choose the 'Con because I hated the way Cybertron was going and the Council's inaction and complacency. I choose the wrong side to do the right thing. I will now make my final stand in this war."He said with a nod to his brother.
No one knew what say. The revelations about how twisted Airachnid and Vortex were sat heavy in the air. Arcee's plating rattled in her distress. Bee gently stroked her winglets, hoping to calm her.
"Tailgate," she whispered, her vocals raw.
"Megatronous, would you be able to sense Galvatron if he is your clone?"
"I believe so."
"Who says he is Megatronous' clone?" It was Sunstreaker who posed the question. "Who's to say Galvatron isn't the clone's split spark twin? Think about it. Taking one piece of Megatronous' spark almost offlined him. What if his owner split that spark in two? Split sparks who are not together for long periods of time go mad."
"Combine that with corrupted coding and it would explain a great deal about the clone," Prime said, rubbing his optic ridge.
"It would also explain why the Combaticons are following Galvatron. The coding would recognize the spark signature," Shockwave offered.
"Splitting the spark would have been dangerous but not impossible," Ratchet added. "And since Megatronous' owners cared little about the damage taking the initial spark piece caused. They may have been willing to take the risk. After all, if it failed they still had the original donor to take another piece from."
"Barricade, I want you to work with Prowl and Starscream. Prowl, we need a plan of attack. We need to strike before this Galvatron does. There is no telling what he may do, or who his target might be.
"If he launches an attack on the people of this planet, they will have no chance. I will not let Earth fall to Galvatron like Cybertron fell to Megatron," Prime said.
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They listened. They waited.
"Should we help them in this, Clamp?" Silence. The small seeker have a wicked smile and an insane giggle as the silent bulky flier next to him nodded silently. The seeker contacted the Autobot base with a strange giggle. "Hello little Autobots~! You want some help?"