Nota Bene:
Time units: Astrosecond = 0.283 seconds; Breems = 8.3 minutes; Joor = 1 hour; Mega-cycle = 93 hours; Orn = 13 days; Meta-cycle = 13 months; Vorn = 83 years
Length units: Klik - 1 kilometer; Mechanometer = 1 meter
Italics: scene taking place in the past
'Text': thoughts of a character
(Text): discussion through comm.-links
Chapter 25: The truth (4) – Collateral damages
Forward Operational Headquarters 0022 of the Earth Resistance Force
Skyfire emerged from the thick cloud and transformed in robot mode. He had expected to be attacked by other Stalkers, but none of the robots had followed him. He found the reason very quickly: Thanatron. The Salonian general was holding Starscream by the throat, targeting at point blank range his chest. The first thought of the shuttle was that he had to help him, but he quickly changed his mind; Thanatron would certainly execute Starscream if someone came to his rescue. The Seeker was the only one able to escape such a terrible fate. Megatron had certainly come to the same conclusions and was hovering at good distance, flying up and down like a caged bird.
"Sorry, Starscream. I can't do anything for you. You have to save yourself!" he murmured.
He couldn't save the Seeker, but rescuing one of his wing mates was a task that he felt ready to fulfill. He threw a last glance at his former lover and wished him good luck before swooping down to the sea, where Thundercracker had disappeared.
O
The thoughts of Starscream were racing at the speed of the light. He had stopped squirming, as it only annoyed Thanatron, and besides, a plan was taking form on his imaginative CPU. He hung still, the barrel of the fusion cannon menacingly set against his chest.
(And now, Starscream, time for punishment!) The warlord stared at his optics and grinned cruelly while he powered his weapon.
(Wait! Before you kill me, tell me what I've taken away from you!) Starscream retorted, trying to buy some time.
(You had everything from Megatron. He gave you the attentions of a father and ultimately, gave you his love. You, a whining little bitch that only had a pretty face and an attractive body!)
(You are the one who tricked me, in the basement of the Decepticon Academy, aren't you?) Starscream asked.
Thanatron smiled cruelly. (I pretended to be Galvatron. That was easy; I resembled him. Besides, I knew how Galvatron and Megatron had betrayed each other. I just had to add some details to the story, and you bought it all.)
The Seeker clawed at the cannon once the pressure on his throat became too heavy. He had to do something, without delay. Nobody would come to his rescue in the fear that Thanatron would execute him; he would earn his salvation by himself.
(Enough talking!) The weapon emitted the so characteristic noise, signaling it was completely loaded. Thanatron's optics flashed a dangerous red as he also noticed the hiss. (Now, face your termination!)
(Go and slag yourself!)
Still firmly gripping the cannon, Starscream sent his knees into Thanatron's stomach, strongly enough to have the general loosen the grip on his neck. He slammed his fist into the face of the mech, who released him under the surprise of such combativeness. Starscream immediately took this advantage to transform into his jet mode, and avoided the shot from the fusion cannon that grazed at his tail.
(Now, catch me if you can!) he hissed, orienting his body so that he had his thrusters spitting fire in Thanatron's face.
O
The Salonian general screamed in pain as his dermo-plating reacted immediately to the heat, and jumped backwards to avoid being more damaged. However, rage was still rushing through him, requesting immediate revenge for this new provocation from the Seeker. He wiped away the metal droplets beading from his damaged face, and transformed to his alt-mode, flying full speed after Starscream. The former Decepticon commander was heading to the heart of the base, slaloming between canyons of drilling towers, flames and hangars.
(You think you can defy me? Beware: I'm a merciless hunter!) he warned through the .
(I'll show you I'm not just a pretty face!)
O
Megatron had tried to reach his Seeker countless times through the comm.-link, but Starscream had cut the transmission as the sign he wanted to fight by himself.
"You don't have to do that to prove you're a good warrior, Starscream!" he growled, feeling more helpless and useless than ever. "I know it, and love you for that!"
The noise of a fusion cannon powering reached him despite the distance, together with the vibrations of Thanatron's energy field. It was exactly like his own frequencies before the kill, leading him to the troubling conclusion that the Salonian general was definitely a member of his family.
Fortunately, Starscream made an unexpected and audacious move. While Megatron thought the Seeker had no way to save himself, he put Thanatron under the torment of the fire of his thrusters. Megatron couldn't help admiring his crazy and perverse genius as the injured Thanatron backed out, but shuddered when the enemy transformed and chased the Seeker.
"Touch him… Touch an inch of his plating, and I'll tear you apart, Thanatron! Whoever you are towards me!" he swore.
For the first time, he did what he had refused to do from the time he had come back to life: switching to his alt mode. He transformed into a shuttle, and flew full speed after the two Transformers.
O
Galvatron watched apprehensively while his brother transformed to his alt-mode to stalk his lover and his pursuer. He had studied very closely his energy field, and what he had caught was only anger and emotions. It was not the first time that he had felt this irrationality in his brother; Megatron had once been in love, while their creator was still the king of the arena. He had seen Megatron, his idol, doing stupid things and stop thinking for the softness of his lover's arms. Megatron had ended up feeling the bitterness of loss once the Autobots' authority had sent the two lovers in the arena, fighting against each other. Megatron had won, and his hatred towards the Autobots had born while he was crying over the body of his dead lover. Consequently, Galvatron had stopped believing that rationality and integrity were leading each Transformer on Cybertron, and had developed his tortured personality. His supposed craziness was the best defensive shell he could build, and only Megatron could go through to him.
"My brother… You have to keep your emotions on a leash," he muttered.
A shot grazed at his cheek, reminding him that he was not in this past, but on the battlefield of the base 22, and that he had enemies to dispose of. He shot the Stalker that had attacked him, and checked once again the position of his brother.
(Cyclonus! Scourge! You keep the area clean of Stalkers. I have business to carry on!) he ordered through the comm.-link and then engaged his thrusters, flying in the directions of the three other Transformers.
…..
Skyfire searched for traces of pinkish fluid in the water tainted with dark oil and various solvents. He finally detected a pink trickle floating from a sandbank; Thundercracker lay there, showing no sign of life. The shuttle hurried to his side and felt a small relief when he saw a weak light in the optics of the wounded Seeker. First he ran a scan of the damages, which reported an alarming conclusion: the spark casing was half torn from the cavity, only retained by a few wires. It was a miracle if Thundercracker was still alive, but it wouldn't last long.
(Don't worry; I'm here to help you!) he said through the comm.-link, not really sure that Thundercracker was aware of his presence.
He seized delicately the Seeker by the waist and set a palm over his opened chest so that the spark casing didn't separate from his body, and swam slowly to the surface. He reappeared in a hell of burning oil and floating carcasses of Stalkers. He lifted the Seeker on a floating dock, still holding a hand on his spark; he turned him over to drain the water and other fluids out of his chest cavity. Thundercracker moaned softly in pain and lost consciousness again. Once no water was left, he lay him down on the back and scanned closely the damages. Several broken pipes were leaking energon, his fuel pomp was gored and his spark casing almost detached from his body. In other words, Thundercracker would quickly lose his vital energy and die if an external source of energy didn't take over.
"Don't worry, I won't let you die, Thundercracker," he murmured as he traced affectionately the features of the wounded mech with a delicate thumb.
He heaved himself by the side of the Seeker, and delicately lifted him up to lay him a few meters, where a high wall hid their forms. Skyfire needed some calm to patch Thundercracker's wounds.
"It's going to sting a little," he warned, starting to weld a pipe that poured liquid on the weakly glowing spark casing.
Thundercracker gave out a faint cry and fell back to the darkness of stasis, leaving Skyfire to his task. Skyfire welded the other pipes, cut the electricity supply to the damaged circuits and patched the fuel pomp with a remarkable precision and quickness in regards to the conditions. He knew very well that his work wasn't as good as what Ratchet could do, but at least, it would secure the Seeker's vital prognosis for a few hours. Once he was finished, he contemplated with hesitation Thundercracker's life core; he would have never thought that he would see it so soon, and even less, do what he was going to do.
"I'm sorry, Thundercracker, I don't have any other options to save you," he spoke to the flier.
Skyfire opened with a trembling hand his cockpit and had an internal panel shifting, unveiling his own spark. He drew two wires from his spark casing, which he connected to the Seeker's dying spark. Thundercracker's life core immediately glowed of a more vivid blue, allowing the Seeker to regain some consciousness.
"Good, Thundercracker. You're doing fine!"
He was startled when he heard the noises of engines and heavy bodies landing on water. He couldn't see anything because of the wall and the smoke, but he knew Stalkers were coming to finish them. He lifted Thundercracker and cradled him in his left arm, trying to arrange him comfortably against his shoulder, while he seized his riffle and held it firmly.
Thundercracker nodded gently as he regained consciousness. A trembling hand caressed the plating of his ribs, making him shiver.
"Who… Who?" the exhausted Seeker murmured as he looked up, "Sky… Sky-fire?" he stuttered.
The shuttle gave him a warm and reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry, Thundercracker. I won't let anybody harm you again," he assured.
A Stalker stood in front of him; for once, Skyfire fired with a real intention to kill.
…..
"TC?"
Skywarp shook his head in order to clear his mind and stop the ringing bell in his CPU. Once he felt a little better, he pushed away the scraps that covered him, and scanned his surroundings; fortunately, he was alone. No Stalker had followed him to finish him off. Not yet.
"Thundercracker?" he called.
He was answered by the noise of an explosion, reminding him that the battle was still raging around and in the base 0022. Stalkers would certainly come after him very soon, he reflected. However, he was less concerned by this possibility than by the absence of reply from Thundercracker. He tried the comm.-link, but his wing mate didn't respond. Skywarp concentrated on scanning the energy fields of the mech involved in the attack and detected Thundercracker's weak aura. If he was right, Skyfire was very close to him. The Seeker sighed as he felt relieved that his friend had been rescued. He had been so terrified and felt so powerless when he had witnessed the damages inflicted on Thundercracker.
"Boy, you're lucky to have a so enamored suitor!" he even joked, trying to take heart.
Even if the question of Thundercracker's survival was temporarily solved, he still had a duty to accomplish: fighting the Stalkers to the very last swirl of energy in his spark. He braced himself to transform and take off when a voice reached him.
"No! Leave me alone!"
It was the vocal frequency of a Transformer, as Skywarp clearly identified. Besides, if his audios weren't damaged, he would say it was the voice of a femme, who seemed to be in danger.
"Stop this, you slagging Stalkers!"
The voice was conveying all the fear and panic of its owner. More out of curiosity than pity, and galvanized at the idea to eradicate more Stalkers, Skywarp dashed in the direction of the cries. He ran passed the walls of the hangar he had fallen into, and penetrated another one. He immediately caught sight of the shapes of three Stalkers, surrounding a pink femme who had fallen to the ground and was trying to protect herself from the kicks of her aggressors. The Seeker recognized her at once, given that he had crossed her path on the battlefield several times. He perfectly remembered the insults the hot chick had thrown him, focused on his lack of intelligence. He ignored what she was doing here, knowing this would be the good occasion to humiliate her. 'Revenge is a dish best eaten cold', he thought as he advanced towards the Stalkers, still oblivious of his presence.
"Hey! Pick somebody of your one size!" he shouted.
A first Stalker turned around to face him and exploded with a loud bang as he was shot in the chest. Prompt to react, Skywarp shot his two rifles with a terrifying precision, sending the two others to the ground, with their cockpits exploded. The Seeker welcomed the fall of his enemies with a satisfied smile and stood in front of the femme, who kept her head lowered, shaking with fear.
O
The kicks had stopped and the three Stalkers were lying on the ground, deactived. She concluded that an ally had come to her rescue, but something deep within her screamed in fear. Her data bank warned her that this energy signature was well known, leaving her to the conclusion she had already felt it on a battlefield. It wasn't any ally who was standing in front of her: it was a Decepticon.
"Look who's here!" A grave voice rang in her audios.
She was suddenly raised from the ground and cradled within strong arms. Ashamed, she looked at the silver face adorned with a smirk. Her hand grazed at a purple wing as she realized her terrible situation.
"You!?" she exclaimed.
"Isn't that Arcee?" the Seeker cooed. "The hot Autobot femme soldier Arcee, who used to insult me each time we met on the battle field?" he added and then gave her a nasty smirk.
"Let me down!" she replied. "LET ME DOWN!"
"As you wish!"
Skywarp let her fell to the ground in an ungracious heap; Arcee crawled on the dust to get away from this unwelcome savior. Skywarp and Arcee had a long history of insults on the battlefield, and knowing the moron, she feared that he wanted to shoot her. The action of Skywarp confirmed her fear; he seized her ankle and pulled her to him, adding more dents to her dusted paint job when she slid on the stones. She turned over and faced him with a disgusted expression.
"Leave me alone, you stupid bastard!" she screamed.
"Always so polite et subtle, aren't you, Arcee?" Skywarp retorted, "What are you doing here?" he asked, tilted his head as to better observe her long, slick legs.
Arcee felt uneasy at the red gaze undressed her pink plating.
"I was on the bunker over there!" she replied, pointing at a tumulus a few hundred meters away, "I saw a jet former falling in the hangar. I wanted to help… I didn't know it was you!" she completed, breathless.
"Because if you had known it was me, you wouldn't have helped, would you?"
"No… Yes… Maybe," she stuttered, "Now, let me go!"
"Hum, I don't know…" the Seeker replied with a thoughtful expression, which suddenly fell as he jumped and tackled her to the ground, "Face down!" he shrieked.
Arcee pushed a cry as the heavy Seeker pinned her. She tried to move out but was totally paralyzed by Skywarp's greater weight. She had her face on his neck, his cockpit was pressing on her breastplates and his hips took on the shape of hers. Her mind raced as awful images started to challenge her cold blood.
"No! No! Leave me alone, you Decepticon bastard!" she screamed in panic, trashing beneath the Seeker.
"Shut up, Autobot femme! Other Stalkers are coming, and they hadn't spotted us yet!" Skywarp retorted, moving his arms forward to point his riffles at the new comers. "You want us to be killed or what? Leave me a chance to ambush, you stupid!"
The explanation didn't reassure Arcee to the least, but she chose to comply with the order to keep silence, just in case the brute had told the truth.
O
Skywarp exulted with joy. He had two Stalkers on target, and the two glitches were totally oblivious that deactivation was awaiting them, hiding a few meters away from them. Cherry on top, he had the hot Autobot femme soldier Arcee pinned beneath him, which plunged her into a deep fear and shame according to the sporadic frequencies of her energy field. For a prankster like he was, this was an enjoyable situation, feeling enhanced by the chaos of the battle. 'Back at the good old days of the war!' he rejoiced, feeling the excitement of the predator before the killing rising in his body.
Fortunately, the femme was now silent, and the two Stalkers kept walking in their direction, scanning the wreckage of the industrial building. One of them finally caught the sight of the ambushed Seeker, but his reaction was too slow to protect himself from the shot that tore his chest apart. His comrade wasn't any luckier as another shot hit his cockpit, killing its pilot.
Skywarp lowered his weapon and propelled on his elbows, looking down at the shaken femme he had crushed in a very shameful position on the dusty ground. He grinned wickedly as a cutting tirade came up to his mind.
"Sorry, pet, I don't have time for this right now," he giggled as he came to a seating position, still imprisoning her hips between his thighs. "Maybe later…" he added with a triumphal smirk and a knowing look, roaming from her breast to her lower body. "If I have nothing else to do, of course."
The face of Arcee burned with shame and humiliation. What a complete victory! Skywarp felt so boosted that he jumped to his feet and ran to the most open area to take off.
O
Arcee watched the Seeker running away and finally transform back to his F-15 mode, heading full speed to the heart of the aerial battle. She sat on the dust and tried to cool down her systems, disoriented after those long minutes of fear and humiliation.
"Son of a glitch!" she finally spat, glaring at the purple jet who was now fighting in robot mode, "Who do you think you are to treat me like this?"
…..
"I have to take cover… or I'm dead!"
Dirge's survival instinct kept telling him to find a hideout as quickly as possible if he didn't want to be terminated by the enemy. It was easier said than done as his legs were broken. Thanatron had damaged his right leg when he had ripped off his wing, and Dirge had badly negotiated his landing – better say, he had crashed. Now, he was lying on the ground, reduced to crawl on the scraps in order to escape, and he wasn't really succeeding. He paused, trying to calm the pain that irradiated from his legs. He then heard the noise of heavy footsteps heading in his directions. He tried to crawl quicker but the pain on his legs almost paralyzed him.
'I can't finish like this!' he swore to himself.
He was to reiterate his efforts to move when a black foot crushed his left hand. The Conehead strangled a cry, trying to gather himself and find a way to counterattack, but a vivid pain from his torn wing annihilated his will. Another Stalker had joined, crushing his bleeding wound under his foot. Fear took over Dirge as he foresaw a painful and long agony.
"No, Primus, please, no!" he shrieked.
The pain stopped when the feet withdrew from his hand and leg. At this point, his audios were ringing and his optics flickering too much to allow him to check the situation. He waited there for further tortures, or if he was lucky, the final kill. Finally, someone seized him by the waist and shoulders and turned him over.
"Are you functional?"
The masked face of Soundwave appeared in a blur. Dirge tried to reply something, but no sound escaped his vocalizer. He avoided the gaze of the former Communication officer and looked at the corpse of one of the Stalkers; Buzzsaw was perched on his chest and threw him a shrill cry.
"I guess you are," Soundwave concluded despite his lack of answer.
The blue jet was to raise him from the ground when a dark shape appeared on his back. The two eagles gave out a shrill hiss to warn him of the danger, allowing Soundwave to turn around and face the Stalker before being tackled to the ground by his side.
O
The Stalker's hand ripped out Soundwave's facemask, slid to his throat and squeezed strongly, with the evident intention to break his neck. The former Decepticon officer didn't lose his cold blood and slammed his fist on the side of the black helmet, strongly enough to push the aggressor backwards. The Stalker straightened up, showing his cockpit to the attentive Transformer. Soundwave dug his fist on his chest, searching for the pilot that he bluntly extracted. The Salonian soldier fired his riffle, adding a scratch to Soundwave's cheek.
"Disgusting pest!"
With a simple rotation of his wrist, Soundwave sent the tiny alien flying to the next burning drilling tower. He then waved away the carcass of the Stalker and scanned his surroundings. Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw were still perched on the corpses of the two deactivated Stalkers, and according to the gaping hole on their chests, they had finished off the pilots. They hadn't tried to help Soundwave, as they were sure of his victory. He stretched a hand, and the two vultures flew to him, patting at his fingers gently. Then, they came back to their macabre perches.
"Lovely birds."
Soundwave sat up and looked at the flier lying beside him; Dirge was wandering between consciousness and stasis. After a few seconds of recovery, he grabbed the jet and flopped him over his shoulder.
"Lazerbeak! Buzzsaw! We're taking cover in this factory!" Soundwave decreed, pointing at a wobbly building with a metallic roof.
The two eagles flew to the factory and disappeared inside, soon joined by Soundwave. The flier observed the configuration of the place and gave a smile of satisfaction. It was the perfect place to play the sniper and ambush to the Stalkers who would have the bad idea to fly into the neighborhood.
…..
(Guys! My tank is empty, I need to refuel!)
The voice of Octane reached Blitzwing through the comm.-link, spoiling his enjoyment of the situation. Since they had adopted this strategy of smoke screen, the three triple changers had managed to run through three kilometers on the enemy line, killing thirty-three Stalkers. They were now less than seven hundred and fifty meters from the hangar where the earthling jets were parked.
(Don't be too long… We're almost done!) he replied with some irritation.
(It's a question of a breem!)
Blitzwing caught the humming of Octane's engines dying away, for lack of seeing him because of the thick curtain of smoke that surrounded them.
(Keep firing, Astro. This smoke is our best ally in this battle.) he advised to his companion.
(Yep,) Astrotrain replied. (Don't you think hilarious that we, Decepticons, are going to rescue the Autobots' allies, led by Megatron himself?) he threw with a laugh.
(We're not doing this for the rescue of those jets, Astro. We're doing this to show Optimus Prime that the Decepticons are back on track, and that they're excellent warriors. After this victory, I hope that Megatron will spend less time marveling at Screamer's aft and come back to his former self!)
(You mean, kicking Autobots and Salonian's afts?)
(For example…) Blitzwing blindly fired a salvo of lasers when he picked the energy signature of a Stalker. The black robot fell in front of him, smoke raising from its blasted cockpit. (Frankly speaking, I'm getting sick with the policy of Optimus. We're Decepticons, not Autobots. We should attack the Empire of Salonia instead of keeping on the defense side. I'm sure Megatron will end this war…)
(If he stops playing the doting father with is lovely one…) Astrotrain corrected.
(He will… He's the Slag Maker after all!)
(Guys, I'm back!) Still invisible in the dark fog, Octane drove to Blitzwing and stopped a few meters from him. (Shall we go?)
(Let's go! Victory is at hands!) Blitzwing ensured.
A long tongue of fire soared on the fog, immediately adding more smock, enveloping them in a perfectly dark curtain that made them invisible to the enemy. Raring to go, the deadly trio hit the road again.
…..
Starscream had to grant Thanatron this quality: he was gifted of an amazing maneuverability. A skill that was far from matching his own talent, fortunately; Starscream was still at the leading position, leaving his pursuer behind him. He flew towards a group of giant cisterns, transformed as he negotiated an audacious u-turn and hid behind one of the colons of metal and fuel. A few seconds later, Thanatron emerged on the canyon and transformed to his robot-mode. He hovered there, turning on himself while he nervously scanned his surroundings in search of Starscream's traces. The Seeker knew better; he could reduce the resonance of his energy field and remained undetectable. He waited till Thanatron showed his back to leave his hideout, ready to attack him by surprise.
The general was suddenly mown down by a silver-white tornado. The shuttle slammed into him and then transformed into a fusion cannon holder that Starscream immediately recognized. Into his game with Thanatron, he hadn't noticed that Megatron was also involved in the pursuit. The two Transformers rolled on a floor, scratching their wings in the process, and lay there, stunned by the shock.
"Primus! Megatron! Get away from him!" Starscream screamed, aware that Megatron was in danger if Thanatron recovered first.
To his greatest fear, the Salonian general got quickly to his feet and tried to hit Megatron's on his head. The silver Transformer however blocked his foot and pulled strongly, destroying Thanatron's balance. He fell flat on his back, allowing Megatron to pine him on the ground.
"You're already dead!" Starscream heard his lover screaming.
A rain of punches fell on the trapped general, sparing no inch of his upper body. His cockpit was rapidly shattered and wires torn from it.
"Enjoying this?!" Megatron shrieked, hitting the silver face. "I can remember you did this to one of my men!"
Rapacious hands tore apart plating on the robust shoulder, ignoring the complaints of the wounded mech. According to Megatron's fury, Starscream was almost sure that he wanted to kill Thanatron. The Decepticon Leader had many times knocked him down, but never had Megatron hit him that hard.
"Megatron, stop it! We need him alive!"
Starscream turned around and stared with a blank stare at Megatron's brother. "Galvatron?!" he asked.
"Don't look at me so stupidly! Help me stopping this cretin before he deactivates this glitch!" the purple warlord barked as he seized Starscream by a shoulder. "You take the right, I take the left."
The Seeker extricated himself from the grip of Galvatron and ran to his lover. He knew how to stop him; he needed to tell him a simple word, the reality.
"Megatron, stop!" he shrieked, grabbing his wrist as he was to pummel once again Thanatron's face, "Primus, stop! He's your son!"
O
'Son'. The word came as a shock to Megatron, who suspended his punch, staring successively to Starscream and to the bleeding mech who he had wrestled to the ground.
"What is that nonsense?" he exclaimed, unable to move. He glared at the mech, scrutinizing his face, analyzing closely the frequencies of his energy field. Despite his wounds and the energon that stained his face, Thanatron looked like his image reflected into a mirror. "That… can't… be!" he stuttered.
"He is! He told me… lower your fist, Megatron!" Starscream insisted.
The Seeker tried to pull him but the warlord refused to move.
"What did he tell you?!" Galvatron rasped. "It must be a trap of his own!"
"I'm sure he didn't lie. He also told me that he had trapped me, disguised as you, Galvatron, and fooled me with his lies," Starscream retorted to the purple warlord before he looked again at his lover. "It's him, your son, Megatron!" he exclaimed, breathless.
Megatron's expression darkened, while Galvatron didn't hide this story was hard to process. The silver warlord suddenly stood up from his prey, hauling him to his feet, and knocked him against the pillar of a drilling tower.
Thanatron replied by a snigger, which owed him a new punch in the face. The general strangled a hiss of pain and glared at Megatron, then finally spat him some energon in the face. The former Decepticon leader clenched his jaw, rewarding this provocation by a new punch in the torso.
"Is Starscream telling the truth?" Megatron groaned, "Beware… I have no patience."
The arrogant smirk didn't leave Thanatron's face, who stared at Megatron in the optics.
"Yes, I have the dishonor of being your son," he hissed. "I was the one who instilled hatred in the spark of your little bitch! But there is something he doesn't know yet: I pretended to be Galvatron and attacked you, so that you think he wanted to kill you." Thanatron laughed madly, "I hate you!" he barked.
Black fingers laced around his throat, squeezing strongly.
"Why?" Megatron questioned.
"You tried to kill my mother while she was holding my spark. She was nesting! She implored you to spare her spark and mine, but you said you didn't care!" Thanatron's voice choked with emotion, "You threw her into a melting pit, you bastard!"
A melting pit… Suddenly, everything became clear in Megatron's mind and called a name.
"Darkracer… Your mother is Darkracer!"
"This non sense! She's dead!" Galvatron screamed in indignation, "He's definitely lying!"
Megatron would have liked to say the same thing, but a voice in his mind told him Thanatron was saying the truth. The roar of jets' engines disturbed him, and he looked up. Black shapes of jets appeared on a grayish background, until a dark cloud, casting the shadow of death over the Salonian army, hid them. The Earthling jets had been freed, and they were claiming revenge for the destruction of their base.
Megatron thought he would rejoice of this victory, but he was actually thrown into hell. He could feel on Thanatron's energy field some frequencies that threw him back in the time he was raising the Decepticon faction. When a dark femme called Darkracer had granted him the favor of her recharge berth for several recharge cycles, longer than he had planned.
"Oh, you say nothing, mighty Megatron?" Thanatron scolded, smirking nastily. "You want me to repeat what I've done to you?" he asked defiantly.
Megatron didn't reply, as petrified. His mind was racing, trying to analyze what had happened since that day he and Galvatron had pushed Darkracer in the melting liquid. He imagined this unknown son being indoctrinated by his mother, raised in the hatred of his genitor. He could see him hidden in the shadows, observing him while he was talking with Starscream. He could picture himself the anger of Thanatron, watching his father affectionately pat the young jet, as if he was his son.
"Have you killed Shootingstar?" Starscream's screechy voice covered the roar of engines. "Have you killed my father and brother as well?" he added, voice trembling.
Thanatron crooked a nasty smile. "That was an accident, but I'm glad that it hurt you!" he retorted.
Megatron's fist mashed on Thanatron's chest, close to his spark casing. The shock was violent enough to knock out the general, whose body slid slowly to the ground. He had to stop him speaking. He had to freeze the time. He had to regain the control of his life, which the revelations of Thanatron had completely destroyed.
"I'm going to kill him!" Starscream muttered darkly.
Megatron emerged from his dark thoughts to grab him round the waist.
"No, Starscream!"
"But… He killed them. He killed my father and my brother! He–"
"He has all the answers to our questions, Starscream." The Seeker looked at him with a stare reflecting the chaos of his emotions; pain, anger, revolt, even guilt. "You have to trust me, Starscream!" Megatron pleaded.
Far away in the sky, the black bodies of Stalkers were fleeing the attacks of the earthling jets, chased by the few Transformers who were still able to fly. His men were winning the battle, but inside, Megatron felt as gloomy as he had lost the war.
To be continued
Text originally beta read and edited by Krystallmaze. Reedited in September 2015.