Whoo hooo! I'm back ya'll!
Oh how I've missed having internet, and I wish I could say that I had typed several chapters in advance but I ashamedly have not. With a 1 year old and then we moved again (just starting out on your own with your own little family is difficult as hell, especially when your landlords decide to sell the house your renting right out from under you), and the fact that the internet provider for our area didn't go out to our property... it's been a hellacious couple of years. But I am proud to report that I am back and in action to bring you new updates to all my stories as soon as I can get them typed out!
Also, I have not yet been able to see 'Transformers: The Last Knight' so please no spoilers in reviews!
~.~
Savannah was busy as usual. Reporters dogged her for information on the Autobots, a group of 'fangirls' had formed and would purposefully place themselves in danger to try and get autographs or photos with the Autobots in the middle of battles, celebrities were always attempting to create meet and greets featuring the 'alien species', and her parents were bugging her to come out to their farm. Which Savannah did not want any part of. Smokescreen was still on both her and Optimus about their weekly appointments. Which just so happened to be where she was going at that moment. She had about a thousand other things to do, but the short break from the havoc of being public relations was welcome.
"Good! You made it!" Smokescreen called as she entered the room, she could hear the calming beat of Optimus' spark and let out a sigh of relief. "Just have a seat and we'll get started!"
Savannah walked over to Optimus and allowed him to lift her up to his shoulder. She had sent Kay to Ratchet for a systems check, they were still ironing out a few 'bugs' with the petro-hound.
"Alright, I think this time we should try discussing the past." Smokescreen stated once his patients got settled. "Whenever you're ready we can get this going."
Savannah and Optimus sighed in unison. They really didn't want to even broach that subject, but Smokescreen was relentless.
"My parents were overbearing and if something wasn't done their way they would... punish us." Savannah fought to keep the tremble out of her voice. She hated talking about her past, especially when it involved her parents.
"How did they punish you?" Smokescreen wasn't going to let Savannah avoid specifics, and she responded better to blunt questions.
"They would isolate me, berate me... they locked me in the cellar for 3 days once." Savannah sat very still, and Optimus held his breath. "Do I have to talk about this?"
"One of the best ways to work through trauma is to talk about it." Smokescreen urged gently. "But if you feel like it is too difficult to continue then we can talk about something else."
Savannah only nodded and refused to share anything else for the moment.
"Very well, Optimus?"
The Autobot leader sighed and gave Smokescreen a blank stare. He really didn't want to dwell on the past either.
"Dwelling on the past does nothing for the future, Smokescreen." He sighed. "I understand that it may be helpful to some, but I do not see any use in me speaking on things that have already happened."
"Tell us about Iacon. And the records that you used to be keeper of." Smokescreen wasn't letting Optimus off the hook either.
Savannah turned towards Optimus' head, she was slightly surprised to find out that he hadn't always been the Autobot leader.
"I didn't know that you were a records keeper." She leaned forward in slight anticipation. "Is that like a librarian? And what was Iacon like?"
"Iacon was the capital city of Cybertron." Optimus chuckled. He could talk about these subjects easily. "And yes, a records keeper is very similar to a librarian. I worked in the hall of records and was in charge of the improvement records.
Any time a change was made to any of the cities on Cybertron it was recorded by the dates that the project began, finished, and what section of the city had been improved or demolished. Then I had to sort it into sections based on city, city section, whether or not it had been an improvement or a demolition, and the beginning date of that change. The city that underwent the most changes was Iacon, with Kaon being a close second."
"Kaon?" Savannah was extremely interested in this, she knew very little about Cybertron and took every chance she could to learn more.
"Kaon was what most referred to as Iacon's dark sister." Optimus sighed. "That is where the Decepticons began, and what they eventually used as their base of operations. For instance, Iacon was built with crystal. Kaon was built using an element similar in appearance to the stone you recognize as black galaxy granite."
"Weren't there some Decepticons that didn't agree with Megatron's view of things?" Savannah suddenly asked. "I assume some of the Decepticons, before the faction became evil so to speak, didn't agree with how Megatron wanted to control the galaxy."
"This is correct, just as there were some of the Autobot faction that sided with Megatron." Optimus rumbled.
"So Iacon and Kaon were like yin and yang." Savannah stated before Optimus could continue. "And I'm sure there was some unfairness going on, wasn't it the Autobot faction that was in charge, with little to no representation for the Decepticons?"
Smokescreen and Optimus shared a look.
"That's true." Smokescreen started. "And that was on the verge of change when Megatron did what he did."
"I mean, I don't agree with how he went about it, but there was something similar that happened between America and Great Britain back in the 1700's." Savannah shrugged. "I don't know how much of our history you guys have studied, but that's a big part of what the Revolutionary War was about. Just search 'Revolutionary War' on the net and you'll see what I'm talking about."
Savannah fell silent as both Optimus and Smokescreen searched for and read through the information.
"There are some similarities." Optimus admitted.
"But Megatron went overboard with the whole thing, right?" Savannah continued. "Instead of stopping when the Decepticons could have gotten representation or been declared their own people he decided to eradicate the Autobots and then take over the universe."
"There are indeed similarities," Optimus repeated. "However, that was his goal from the beginning. He was not thinking of what would be best for our species, and was only interested in his own gain. The Decepticons that joined him were of the same mind as he was, and those that did not were executed unless they were able to escape to join either the Autobot or Neutral factions."
"Neutral faction?" Savannah jerked with surprise and barely managed to catch herself before she fell off his shoulder.
Both mechs fell silent at her question, and Savannah realized that it was a touchy subject.
"Yes, though we are unaware of how many Neutrals are left." Optimus stated after several minutes of silence. "Megatron discovered and eradicated many of their safe places."
"The Neutral faction was made up of mostly Femmes, younglings, and the aged ones." Smokescreen continued on for Optimus when he once again fell silent. "Those that were unable to protect themselves. That's why you have never seen a youngling and have only met the Arcee Triplets."
"He killed the women, children, and elderly?" Savannah asked in horror.
"He killed any who did not agree with him." Optimus stated quietly. "As well as any of those who were what he perceived as useless to him."
Savannah was silent, trying to process what she had just learned. She had just assumed that Megatron had left those groups be.
"I'm... I'm sorry..." She finally whispered, and she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes from the knowledge. "That's... I can't even imagine. I had no idea he was so horrible."
"You like to try and find the good in everyone, which is admirable." Smokescreen stated gently. "But, there is no good left in Megatron, or in those who did as he ordered."
Savannah began to tremble as silent tears streamed down her face, the pain she felt was immense... as if it was her own. As if she had been there. She tensed as she became aware of a consciousness much larger than her own, and felt the pain radiating from it.
"Are you alright, my Crystal?"
"Is this... is this your pain?" She suddenly asked through a sob. "It feels... I can feel that something is different."
Optimus froze, and Smokescreen was on the comm to Ratchet almost immediately as Savannah's skin began to glow ever so slightly.
"Savannah, are you alright?" Optimus lifted her off his shoulder and cradled her gently in his hand.
"What's happening to me?" She asked suddenly. "I... it's so warm."
Ratchet arrived just as electricity began to shoot off of Savannah's arms, and then passed out from whatever was happening to her.
~.~
So, you guys may get more than one chapter in the next day or so...
Hope you enjoyed it!
~Chistarpax