Chapter 25 Cybertron
Galvatron yawned as he settled himself into his throne, throwing a glance at Thrust as he tapped away at the key board in front of one of the many monitors. It was a rather slow day for everyone, apart from the Seekers who were running up and down the hallways screaming for some odd reason; probably managed to get Thundercracker into a pink outfit or some other stupid prank. He sighed in annoyance when he heard Cyclonus and Skywarp go running by the room, laughing their fool heads off before a very pink Thundercracker went barreling after them, swears running out of his mouth faster than Galvatron could think. While it was humorous, he didn't understand why they had to keep making so many pranks on each other.
He rubbed his temples in thought for a moment before Thrust let out a confused sound. "What is it, Thrust?" he asked in annoyance; why did this mech have to make so many strange noises?
"Well sir, the spy-droid that we have in the Autobot's base in Iacon just picked up a very enraged scream," Thrust replied before Starscream and Flamewar walked in snickering.
Curiosity rising, he rose from his throne and walked over to the Conehead, looking at the screen he was indicating. Starscream and Flamewar appeared on either side of him, peering on curiously as Thrust brought the spy-droid in for a closer look at what had caused the disturbance. They blinked several times, watching an empty corridor leading into the recroom for several long moments until heavy footsteps filtered into the audio feed. Before Flamewar could voice her opinion on the cause of the noise, a large figure stormed into the recroom, making all four of them pause in surprise.
"Wingdagger, I'm going to kill you!" Optimus' voice bellowed.
"Go in?" Thrust asked.
"Go in," Galvatron replied.
The spy-drone flew into the room while the doors were still open and settled itself onto the ceiling, pointing the camera lens down towards the fuming figure in the door way. Starscream and Flamewar's jaws were on the ground, their optics widening in shock as they stared at the screen, while Galvatron was trying excessively hard not to overload on the spot. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots who strove to be presentable at all times, had somehow managed to get herself dressed up in an incredibly suggestive pleasurebot outfit. Most of the circuitry in her body was exposed, making all three mechs; in spite of Thrust's homosexuality; heat up excessively, and Galvatron began to mentally urge her to turn around, careful to keep such thoughts out of their bond; the last thing he needed was for her to figure out that they were watching the base.
The whole room that Optimus was standing in was silent; the only thing audible was her incredibly heavy breathing. Then, someone snickered near one of the tables, earning a death glare from the Autobot leader, and from there, the whole room exploded into rowdy laughter. They ignored Optimus' suddenly sickened face, some even falling off of their chairs, as they continued on. On the other end of the feed, Thrust was covering his optics, muttering something about a happy place, Starscream was looking at the screen with a sympathetic gleam in his optics, Flamewar was muttering under her breath about something, and Galvatron was silently waiting for his mate's emotions to bubble up through the bond. He was actually enjoying the view that the spy-droid was picking up, but the last thing he wanted was for any of the others to figure that out. Optimus stood there for a moment longer before she started moving forward at a speed too slow to be any good.
"Uh oh," Flamewar commented, "she's mad."
"Hope Wingdagger's smart and is hiding," Thrust muttered. "Not that I really care what happens to her or anything. Just saying."
Starscream and Flamewar gave him unimpressed looks before they turned back to the screen. Optimus had stopped behind the couch, leaning over it slightly, and unknowingly giving all four of them a nice view of her aft, which made Galvatron bite down hard on his glossa to stop himself from letting out a moan of delight; none of them knew about Optimus being his mate and it was going to stay that way for as long as possible. She was talking slowly and sweetly to someone on the other side of the couch, a little too low for the spy-droid to pick up, but the others in the room had suddenly stopped laughing. There was a moment where Optimus draped her arm over the couch, a little too innocently, before she brought it back sharply, the fingers wrapped around Jetfire's neck as he squawked in surprise and shock.
"Where the Pit is she?!" Optimus demanded, hauling him up to meet her optics.
"I don't know!" Jetfire replied as he struggled. "Why would you think that I knew?!"
"Because someone had to give her the access codes to my room," Optimus growled before she turned and stormed out of the room. "You had better start running, Wingdagger, because when I catch you, you're going to regret every doing this!"
All four of them chuckled as they followed Optimus down the hallway. "Wonder how Dag managed to get Optimus into that outfit with her waking up," Flamewar mused.
"Put something in her energon," Starscream replied. "You know how much my dear little mate loves to use sedatives."
"Is that how she managed to…," Flamewar started to ask with a sly grin before Galvatron quickly cut her off.
"Keep following her, Thrust," Galvatron ordered.
"As you command sir…but if I catch another picture of her aft, I'm turning it around and hiding," he replied.
It took everything Galvatron had not to snap at him for that comment; if there was going to be another picture of Optimus' aft on the screen, he wanted it saved onto a file and sent directly to him. He'd use the "blackmail" excuse if anyone dared to ask why, even though he had a feeling Starscream would see right through that. It was like the slagger knew about Optimus being Oriona, and if he knew it wouldn't take long for that information to filter down into the other Seekers, which would then filter into the rest of the army. After that, Optimus and his reputations would be ran straight into the ground, as well as some of the other soldiers demanding "displays" of their love for each other; and people said he had weird fetishes. He tried to suppress the shudder of disgust that rose up in him; he was never doing anything to Optimus in front of any of his subordinates. In his privet quarters, yes; in public where everyone could see, no. Unless it was harmless kissing, that he didn't have a problem with.
He looked up when Optimus cleared her throat, smirking at the sight of a cornered Wingdagger. Starscream was shaking his head slightly while Flamewar made a cross over her spark, both of them praying that Optimus didn't kill the femme. He highly doubted that she would, but considering how much she hated the type of outfit she was currently in, he wouldn't put it past her.
"I'm giving you two minutes to tell me where my armor is before I beat the living spark out of you," Optimus growled.
Wingdagger snickered slightly before inching along the wall. "Aw, come on Prime! You know it was all in good fun!" she cooed.
"One minute," Optimus replied with a cold voice.
"Well…it's hidden in a place where only your mate could find it," she replied.
Optimus was silent for a moment, letting everyone in the Decepticon throne room mull that thought over. Somewhere that only her mate could find it; where in the Pit would Galvatron be able to find Optimus' missing armor? Slag, he had destroyed her last armor from when he had tried to force her to return to being Oriona. Where would it be hidden in the Autobot base, a place he didn't know any of the closets or rooms well enough to guess where her armor would be hidden? Unless…Wingdagger hid it in HIS base.
Optimus seemed to have followed that same train of thought because she grabbed the other femme by the top of her chest plate and hauled her up. "YOU HID MY ARMOR IN THE DECEPTICON BASE?!" she screeched.
Wingdagger gave her a sly grin as Flamewar and Thrust blinked at the screen in shock, missing Starscream's attempt to sneak out the door. "You can thank Starscream for assisting me there," she snickered. "He met me on the outskirts of Kaon and took it from there. Happy hunting."
"I'm gutting both of you when this is all over," Optimus threatened before dropping her friend on her aft.
"Oh come on! That outfit make's your aft look bigger! I'm sure your mate loves that!" she called after her leader's retreating form.
"Starscream," Galvatron called after him as he reached the door, "you had better find that armor before anyone else does."
Starscream let out a weak chuckle as Flamewar turned on him with darkened optics. "Um, yeah, about that…," he started to say.
"Starscream, just find that armor before Prime comes anywhere near the base; Wingdagger's right about her aft," Flamewar stated before trotting over to her cousin. "And I don't need the competition around base; Quick's already got a bigger chassis than I do, I don't need someone with a better looking aft walking around looking for her missing armor."
Galvatron gawked after the two Seekers as they left the room, missing Thrust's questioning gaze. "Who's Optimus' mate in the Decepticon ranks?" he asked.
"We'll figure that out later," he replied before going and sitting down. "She'll be contacting the base in a moment and I don't want her to realize that we were spying on her."
"Yes sir," he replied before cutting the image and pretending to start on a report.
Galvatron fought down the urge to vent a huge sigh, rubbing his temples slightly. Wingdagger and Starscream had teamed up to prank Optimus badly enough to tear down a few walls of her respect. Were they planning on sabotaging the entire army together? Probably not since Wingdagger was still angry with Starscream as far as he was aware. It was probably just a stroke of idiocy that made the mates communicate with each other and decide to help each other out. Wingdagger was infamous for these types of pranks; Thrust has once ended up walking around campus back in their Academy days in a bright yellow uniform because Wingdagger had taken his armor, dyed it, and then hidden his spare armor so that he couldn't change out of it. Flamewar still had pictures stashed away somewhere, if he recalled correctly, and used it to blackmail him several times.
But why would they want to stick Optimus in a pleasurebot's outfit? It certainly suited the other faction leader, if only by accenting her perfect figure, and looked stunning on her, but there was no point to it. Optimus was willing to kill whoever had been involved with the prank and he didn't think that her usual "make peace not war" policy was going to stop her. He just hoped that the brunt of that fury did not come down on his head.
"Transmission from Autobot base," Thrust called.
"Put it through," he ordered, standing up to face the screens.
Optimus' enraged face appeared on the screen, missing her face mask; so Wingdagger had also snitched her face mask. That would explain the high levels of aggression; Optimus hated anyone touching her face mask, he knew that from experience. He tried his best not to let a purr slip past his lips, finding her high aggression levels very attractive, but gave her his best crooked smile. That evoked an arched optic ridge from her, but nothing more before she snorted in disgust.
"I hope that Seeker of yours knows how to hide," she growled.
"You will have to be more specific, Prime," he replied smoothly. "I have several Seekers in my army."
"Starscream," she replied angrily. "I want that Seeker's head on a platter for this!"
"For what?" he asked, tilting his head curiously. "All I can see is that you are missing your face mask; I highly doubt Starscream is that secretive or agile to sneak into your base and steal it."
"That's not what this is about," she replied before she stepped back to show off her outfit, her optics daring him to say anything. "I want my armor back."
"How," he started to ask before he snorted with laughter, "how did you manage to lose your armor to Starscream?"
"You can thank Wingdagger for that," she growled before stepping closer to the screen. "I want my armor back, Galvatron," she added, her voice sinking to a very dark whisper.
"And what makes you think that I would know where it was?" he asked with a smirk.
"Because I know you," she replied coldly. "You know where it is, or you know that it is hidden in your base somewhere."
He chuckled softly before ordering Thrust to leave the room, telling him to find the other Seekers and see if they had found the offending armor yet. When he left he turned back to his mate, a crooked grin on his face again as he leant on the control panel. He stared her down as she immediately started to fidget, suddenly paranoid more than ever by the amount of her chassis hanging out where the world could see it. He chuckled again before narrowing his gaze.
"Care to tell me how your friend managed to get you out of your armor without you noticing?" he asked.
"How the slag should I know?" she snapped before folding her arms angrily over her chest. "All I know is that I woke up in this stupid outfit…and don't you dare be staring at my chassis!"
He chuckled before touching his chest in a hurt manner. "What? Why would I do that?" he asked innocently.
"Because you are a sick, twisted pervert who seriously needs an overload!" Wingdagger's voice called from the background.
"Shut UP, Wingdagger! I'm still mad at you," Optimus snapped.
"But it's so true, and he knows it!" Wingdagger called back, barely holding back the snort of laughter. "He's probably got his pelvic plate off already and…."
"Shut up, Wingdagger," they shouted together, a blush rising to Optimus' face.
The wingless Seeker snorted with laughter before the sound of her retreating footsteps echoed through Optimus' end. They both groaned and rubbed their faces in annoyance, grumbling about Seekers and their weird customs. He really should have known that something like that would come out of his mate's friend's mouth, but he had been secretly hoping that time away from the other Seekers had tamed her thoughts. Apparently, he had been wrong to think so because she still acted like a sparkling over these things. Why did Seekers have to have such a huge interest in interfacing?
"Oh, she called so soon?" Flamewar's voice called. "I figured we had about another ten minutes to search before she actually called."
"Don't sound so happy," Optimus grumbled before she folded her arms again. "Did you find my armor?"
"Yes, and my crazy-aft cousin had hid it in Meg…Galvatron's personal bathing quarters," Flamewar replied before shuddering. "Seriously, that's the most disgusting thing I have ever had to step into. And I thought I was kinky!"
"I…really don't need to hear that," Optimus shivered before closing her optics. "Just…Starscream, meet Wingdagger wherever the Pit it was that you two decided to hand the armor off last time."
Starscream smirked before shaking his head. "You don't order me around, Prime," he sneered.
Her optics went from golden yellow to the darkest shade of yellow known to the Universe in a matter of seconds, her mouth twisted into a snarl. "Starscream, do not try my patience right now; I'm not far from stringing you up by your wings and letting the Autobots beat you like a piñata," she hissed.
"You're bluffing," Starscream hissed.
Optimus got a very uncharacteristically sadistic smile on her face. "You want to tempt me, Starscream?" she asked, making everyone's jaw hit the ground in shock. "Today really isn't the day to push my buttons."
"I'm gone," Starscream commented with a squeak before turning and leaving the room as quickly as he could.
Flamewar let out a snicker before glancing over at Optimus, her optics skeptical. "So, tell me, what made Wingdagger decide on black, of all colours, for you?"
"Based it off of Earth culture," Optimus grumbled. "It's supposed to be like leather."
"Leather?" Flamewar asked in confusion.
"A very tight-fitting human clothing that is thought to be sexy on human females," Galvatron replied.
"And how do you know that?" Flamewar teased.
"Don't ask him," Optimus grumbled before dropping her head onto her forearm.
Galvatron laughed before he cut the transmission, smirking over at Flamewar as she laughed while shaking her head. She sighed dramatically before shrugging her shoulders, swinging her arms back and forth. Thrust gave her an uneasy glance while stepping away, an action that Galvatron was quick to follow, not at all trusting the crazy tom-mech.
"Wonder what I would look like in one of those outfits," she mused as she smirked at him. "Wouldn't I just be the hottest thing on base?"
"Or the scariest," Galvatron replied with a snort. "I personally do not want to see that in a pleasurebot outfit."
Flamewar blinked several times, an outraged cry on her lips before she sighed and smirked at him. "Aw, you're only saying that because you think of me as one of the mechs," she commented. "Bet if I walked in one morning wearing an outfit like Optimus' you would drown yourself with drool."
"Or die of a major spark-attack," he grumbled. "Return to your post and stop talking about this."
She sighed sadly before heading out the door, probably off to find her mate and drag him off to their quarters. He always did have trouble controlling the Seekers after someone mentioned anything pertaining to interfacing; they were driven by that primal urge. Then again, so were most mechs, but Seekers seemed to have that drive ten-times over; even the femmes went searching for an interface partner every few weeks. Mates had it easy, but the single ones had to be ripped off of whatever poor soul had happened to wander by.
He sat back in his throne, shaking his head as Thrust wandered back over to his post, fiddling with something on the control panel. He settled in for a nap, not having gotten much recharge the night before because he had heard a celebration going on just outside his door until very late in the night, keeping him from falling into peaceful oblivion for a while. He settled down comfortably before offlining his optics, his breathing deepening and missing the giggle that left Thrust as he made contact with someone that was not a Decepticon.
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He snorted awake as Thrust started screaming like a femme that caught sight of a glitch-mouse under the table. He shook his head quickly before standing, his gaze flying around the room as he looked for the cause of the disturbance. Thrust was dancing around in one spot, screaming his fool head off as Starscream tried to get him to shut up. The blue Seeker looked over at him with a desperate stare before going back to trying to stop Thrust from screaming.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"Hotshot somehow managed to get into the base," Starscream replied before smacking Thrust alongside his head. "Stop screaming, you idiot!"
"Why is he here?" Galvatron asked.
"Something about not being able to get a hold of us," Starscream replied. "That's what I don't understand; Thrust was on duty during your…nap, and he said that no one tried to contact us."
"Odd," Galvatron mused. "Very, very, odd."
"What will we do?!" Thrust wailed.
"Let him come," Galvatron replied.
"But, but, Galvatron sir!" Thrust squeaked.
"Let him come; if he can get here without getting killed, he's earned the right to be heard," he replied.
Thrust started wringing his hands and looking around, probably jinxing Hotshot under his breath. Starscream took his usual place beside the throne as Galvatron sat back down, his gaze staying on the door while they waited. Gunshots echoed in the hallways as numerous feet rushed past, voices ringing in a cacophony of battle cries that blocked out even the whirl of the computers. For a long time, that was all that was heard, gunshot after gunshot, but Galvatron knew that Hotshot was making steady progress towards them, albeit a little more slowly than he would have liked.
"I believed he has failed, Galvatron," Thrust chirped.
"No, he's still coming," Galvatron replied, leaning back in his throne with a smirk.
"How can you be so sure?" Starscream asked, giving him a skeptical look.
"If he was defeated, the gunfire would have ceased," he replied evenly. "And I don't know about you, but that certainly sounds like gunfire to me."
Thrust let out a low noise, similar to a moan, and fell silent. The gunfire ceased suddenly, making the tension in the room spike as shouts started rising outside. They all stared at the door for a few more moments before Thrust let out a snicker, obviously thinking that Hotshot had been defeated, and Starscream shook his head, an unreadable expression on his face. Another minute went by before one of the walls was blasted in, the smoke parting to reveal Hotshot as he darted in, Wheeljack right on his heels firing his guns.
"Enough," Galvatron ordered as he stood up, watching as Wheeljack ceased firing in an instant. "I'll give you credit, Hotshot, you're tougher than I thought you would be."
He growled as he stood up, panting slightly as he dangled a large blaster from his hand. "Trust me, this wasn't no picnic," he replied before straightening up.
"Not surprising; you just infiltrated the Decepticon base; did you think you were handling foot soldiers?" Starscream demanded.
"Kinda hoping security in this place wasn't that heavy," Hotshot grunted before straightening himself. "I've come to talk to you about an incredibly grave matter. I'm sure Optimus would have contacted you personally, but for some reason someone wouldn't pick up on the other end."
"Now I wonder who's fault that is," Starscream grumbled.
"Silence," Galvatron ordered coolly. "I'm listening, Autobot."
"Unicron is heading for Cybertron," Hotshot stated with a hardened face. "The Autobots and the Decepticons have to join forces to defeat him."
A moment of silence rang throughout the throne room before several snorts of laughter rose up. Galvatron stared down at Hotshot, an unimpressed look on his face, but he gently probed his son's spark for any chance of deceit. Hotshot poured his feelings down the bond for once, almost making him jump in surprise, and put a great deal of emphasis on the fact that the threat was real. He reassured his sparkling as he pulled back, mulling the news over in his mind with a smirk; so, Optimus actually believed that the Unmaker Unicron existed?
"Are you serious?" a female voice demanded, causing all of them to look at the orange and mauve med-con standing in the doorway, energon spear in hand. "You actually expect us to believe that pack of lies, kid?"
"I'm being serious!" Hotshot shouted. "Unicron is real and he's heading for Cybertron to destroy us all!"
"Maybe you've been listening to too many bedtime stories, kiddo," Flamewar called as she walked in behind Quickstart and resting a forearm on the smaller femme's head, earning a growl. "Unicron is a story told to sparklings to keep them from doing anything naughty."
"He's real," Hotshot growled.
"Prove it," Thrust sneered.
"I…I can't," Hotshot admitted, his shoulders sagging a bit. "But I wouldn't lie about something like this!"
"You're nothing more than a lying, sniveling little offspring of a deranged femme," Thrust sneered, missing the sudden perk in Flamewar's wings. "I never did like that useless little runt anyways."
Hotshot growled darkly before taking a step forward. "What did you just say?" he demanded.
"Maybe I should say it in a way that you'll understand," Thrust sneered before taking a step forward. "You're mother was an unsightly little glitch that couldn't keep her filthy little nose out of everyone else's business. It seems you've picked up some of her unsavory characteristics."
Hotshot's fists clenched as he took a step forward. "You coward! Why don't you try saying that to my face!" he shouted at him, blue optics blazing with rage.
Thrust laughed at him. "Why? So I can watch you break down into a sniveling little puddle of patheticness? Not that I'd really be surprised; your mother wasn't exactly the bravest thing ever. Always using others to defend her; even against her own family. Pity that we weren't able to locate her before she went into hiding; it would have been so good to crush her disgusting spark out of existence," he droned on before a red fist connected with his face, sending him flying backwards.
"You wanna repeat that, you useless heap of scrap?!" Flamewar bellowed as she pulled her wing-sword out and pointed it at him. "If it wasn't for the fact that Galvatron needs your worthless hide, I'd rip you apart for daring to talk about Oriona like that!"
Galvatron froze. "Excuse me?" he demanded; how had Flamewar known about Hotshot when he hadn't?
"Like you don't notice the resemblance," she snorted. "Honestly, you really are a mech, aren't you? Can't even tell a sparkling that your own girlfriend sparked."
Galvatron blinked at her several more times before shaking his head. "How…?"
"Can I get back to killing him?" Flamewar interrupted him. "After that, I'll answer that question."
"Don't kill him; unfortunately we need him alive," Galvatron replied.
"Aw," Flamewar pouted before giving the downed Seeker a hard kick in the side, "I wanted to watch him burn."
She walked over to his side after replacing her wing, glaring down at the grey Conehead as he weakly got back to his feet. Her optics spoke his death for him and he immediately fell silent, letting the conversation drift back to the shaking Hotshot, who was Pit-bent on tearing Thrust apart with his own hands. He inhaled deeply before turning back to face Galvatron, the faintest look of unease in his optics.
"So, Optimus wants the Decepticons to join with the Autobots?" he asked, folding his hands in front of him in thought as he sat back down in his throne.
"It's the only way to destroy Unicron," Hotshot replied. "By working together, we can defeat him better than if we were working alone."
Quickstart had her head tilted to the side, muttering an update to a confused Cyclonus and Demolisher as they stood beside her. Both mechs looked from Hotshot to Galvatron, sensing a hidden link between them as they stared intently at each other. Thrust looked ready to have a spark-attack on the spot, optics darting from everyone in the room, and Starscream was quick to pick up on it. His optics narrowed as he watched the grey Seeker, trying desperately to pick up on anything that would result in an attack on Hotshot.
"How can we be sure this isn't just a ploy to lure the Decepticons into surrendering?" he asked, shifting the focus for a moment.
"Optimus Prime isn't that underhanded, Starscream," Hotshot replied coldly.
"I wasn't saying she was; I was calling you that," he replied just as coldly. "How do we know that you are here on Optimus' orders and not on your own will to play 'hero'?"
Hotshot froze for a moment before looking at his feet. "Optimus…didn't order me here," he murmured, causing both femmes to look at him in surprise. "I came here because she wasn't able to get a hold of Galvatron. There was no other way to get the message to you without crossing some hidden taboo."
"What does he mean by that?" Cyclonus asked.
"Wingdagger," Flamewar replied, "he's talking about Wingdagger contacting Starscream. It would have been seen as treason by both sides and then the threat would be brushed off as an attempt to overthrow Galvatron. Not at all surprising consider Starscream's treacherous ways."
"Thanks for the support, cousin," Starscream grumbled.
"You love me and you know it," she replied while sticking out her glossa.
"Enough you two," Galvatron growled before looking at Hotshot. "What would the Decepticons gain from this?"
Hotshot blinked in confusion. "What?"
He smirked as he stood up, the Starsaber sword coming to life at his side. "What would the Decepticons gain from such an allegiance? I can see the benefits for the Autobots, surely, but what about my faction? I see no gain from such an alliance," he explained.
"What? Are you serious?!" Hotshot shouted, stepping forward. "Can't you look past your own greed for one fragging moment?! We're all in danger here!"
"Calm down, kid," Quickstart warned. "Don't push your luck with him."
Hotshot growled before throwing his arm out beside him. "This allegiance means that you get to stay alive!" he snapped. "If we don't band together like all Cybertronians are supposed to, we'll be wiped out!"
Galvatron raised an optic ridge as he strolled closer, making sure that the Starsaber was in plain sight. "You don't think the Decepticons are strong enough to survive such an attack?" he asked.
"Unicron will wipe out everything in his path," Hotshot replied slowly. "No one stands a chance against him on their own."
"Enough of this!" Thrust shouted, his voice an octave higher than normal. "Please, Galvatron, just let me shoot him!"
"You're oddly edgy, Thrust," he commented calmly as he turned to face the Seeker. "Care to explain?"
"Edgy? Whatever do you mean?" he asked nervously.
"Do you think I have failed to notice how shifty you have become since Hotshot arrived?" Galvatron asked as he stepped towards the other mech. "You're hiding something and I demand to know what."
"I'm not hiding anything, my lord!" Thrust argued as he backed up to where the Requiem Blaster and Skyboom Shield were being safeguarded.
"Liar," Galvatron growled before signaling to Flamewar. "Seize him!"
Flamewar leapt forward with her wingblade out in an instant, fire leaping up along the blade. Thrust leapt backwards quickly and snatched up the two Minicon weapons, lifting the Skyboom Shield up to block her attack. He smirked before shoving her aside, watching her slide along the ground in amusement. Galvatron growled as he charged, only to get knocked back as Thrust started spinning his wings around behind him, creating an airstream that knocked over everyone in its path. He cackle was the last thing that was heard before he vanished.
"Find him!" Galvatron roared as he rose to his feet.
Hotshot and Wheeljack nodded to each other before following the others, leaving an over-reacting Quickstart behind them. The femme medic was fusing over Flamewar's arm, which was bleeding from where she had scraped it along the ground. Flamewar, for her part, was telling her as calmly as she could that it wasn't that big of a deal and it could be buffed out in a few minutes. Galvatron chuckled as he listened to the femmes banter back and forth, their voices never going beyond loud talking, and limped carefully back to his throne.
"As if I don't have enough work to do," Quickstart snarled before storming over to him, a fixed Flamewar in her wake, "now I have to repair you too?!"
"That's your job, Quickstart," he replied before shifting around to give her access to the damaged leg.
Quickstart continued to snarl about the stupidity of the war, mechs, and just Cybertronians in general as she set to work cleaning up the gash he had in his leg. He smirked before focusing on a wall, hissing slightly whenever the medic hit a sensitive wire. Flamewar had settled herself against the arm of his throne, leaning her head on his shoulder affectionately, and sighing loudly into his audio. He glanced at her in annoyance before she sighed again.
"Don't you think this is getting annoying?" she asked.
"You bothering me?" he asked in reply, earning a cuff over the head.
"No, stupid, this war," she replied sharply. "We haven't gained any ground in several thousand years, our numbers are slowly decreasing while the Autobots increase, and we're no closer to accomplishing our goal than we were when we started out."
"Our goal is clear, Flamewar," he growled. "And we are closing in on it."
"Since when?" she demanded. "I've yet to see one of the old council members fall over at our feet and say that they will change what they've done to us."
"Optimus Prime will fall, and with her the rest of the Council of Elders," he replied.
"That didn't work when you took out Sentinel Prime," she argued. "A new Prime just took his place."
"But this Prime is different," he replied. "Very different."
"Name one thing that sets her apart, aside from the fact that she is a femme," Flamewar challenged.
"I could say something, but you'd find it unpleasant," he replied with a smirk.
"If you're thinking that she's a good interface…," Flamewar started to say before she let out a yelp and covered her audios. "EWEWEW! She's an Autobot and you have a girlfriend! You sick fragger! EW! Now I have that picture in my head!"
He laughed at her reaction before he shook his head. "Whatever gave you that conclusion?" he asked. "How did you know that I wasn't going to mention how extravagant she looks in a pleasurebot outfit?"
"I don't want to know," Quickstart piped up as she finished her job. "Now if you don't mind, I need to get back to my paperwork."
He dismissed her before Flamewar leant on his shoulder. "By the way, why didn't you attack Thrust when he was insulting Oriona?" she asked. "I could tell by the way you were tensing up that you knew who he was talking about."
"Sometimes it is better to remain still than to attack," he replied. "Besides, you did a much better job of scaring him slagless."
"Got that right," she laughed before kissing his cheek. "Now, think what Hotshot told you over; Optimus might actually be telling the truth for all we know."
She left the room after that, leaving him to ponder Hotshot's words. He had not been able to pick up any sense of a lie through the bond, something that the youngling probably didn't know how to conceal from him. He genuinely believed that Unicron, a make-believe character created by adults to scare sparklings into listening, was real. On top of that, Optimus had been unable to get a hold of him, most likely because Thrust was blocking communications while he had been resting, so his sparkling had braved the Decepticon base to relay the message. Either this threat was real or Hotshot was just plain stupid; he was hoping for the former.
He stood up and nodded once before heading towards the door.
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"Are you sure this is safe?" Jetfire asked as they headed out onto Cybertron's surface, just outside of Kaon and not far from the Decepticon base.
"We need to have Galvatron's support, otherwise our whole planet is doomed," Optimus replied gently as she transformed and started walking. "As much as you don't want to believe it, Galvatron does care about Cybertron and its inhabitants… just not in the same way that the Autobots do."
Jetfire grumbled as he walked beside her, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist. She patted his arm gently, trying to get him to understand that everything was going to be fine, but his jealousy was blocking his logic processors lately. It saddened her to see him like this, but there was nothing she could do anymore. When it came down to it, Galvatron and Jetfire were going to have to duke it out like a couple of bull moose in rut. She shook her head at the thought before she heard the sound of approaching engines, and huge ones at that.
"Incoming!" Jetfire shouted before they both darted aside, narrowly avoiding getting shot through by Tidal Wave.
"You didn't come prepared, Prime," Galvatron's voice called. "I'm almost disappointed."
"I'll keep the giant tin-can busy," Jetfire growled before he took off after Tidal Wave. "You try to convince Galvatron!"
She nodded before watching her huge mate walk towards her, cocky grin in place as he stopped ten paces from her. She stared up at him, a mixture of pain and longing reaching out over the bond but remained as composed as she could on the surface. She sighed before stepping forward, running a hand over her face as she carefully prepared herself for the onslaught of yelling.
"You've heard?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied, poker-face in place. "And I have serious doubts."
"That's understandable," she replied. "But he is real, Galvatron."
"If this is a grandiose scheme of yours to get the Decepticons to surrender," he growled as he took a menacing step forward.
"It's not," she replied curtly.
"Prove it," he ordered.
She pointed at the huge moon that had descended into Cybertronian airspace. "Right there," she growled.
"That is a hunk of metallic space rock," he replied, giving her an annoyed look, "not a giant, planet-eating being."
"It is Unicron," she snapped, throwing her arms in the air. "It's not my fault the giant slagger decided to hide!"
"You've gotten quite the foul mouth," he commented before leaning in closer. "Do I need to clean it for you?"
"Now is not the time to flirt," she growled as she blushed up under her face mask.
"You never think it's the time to flirt," he sighed.
"Because it never is!" she groaned before giving him a hard shove in the chest. "Unicron is about to descend on us and all you can think about is getting my pelvic plating off!"
"Again with Unicron!" he snapped before grabbing her and hauling her up to his face. "He does not exist, Oriona! This is some drugged energon dream that some idiot fed you."
"You're wrong, Galvatron," Starscream's voice called before a glowing red blade was pressed to Galvatron's throat. "Let her go."
Galvatron growled as he lowered her to the ground, his body shaking in rage. Starscream backed up, taking his blade away from Galvatron and holding it out in front of him as the giant turned on him.
"What is the meaning of this, Starscream?" he growled.
"You are missing the point, Galvatron," Starscream replied. "I've seen Unicron and felt his power; it is both terrifying and unfathomable."
"What are you going on about?" Galvatron snapped.
"Don't you see yet, you idiot?" Starscream growled. "The only way for any of us to survive is to join together as one army. And preferably under Optimus' leadership because you have long since lost your ability to lead with a straight head!"
"Excuse me?!" he bellowed in rage, the Starsaber sword forming in his hand.
"You heard me, Galvatron; your ability to lead the Decepticons had long since passed," Starscream replied.
"Starscream, stand down," Optimus ordered as she stepped forward. "This does not concern you."
"With all due respect, Optimus, it does concern me," he replied with a sad smile. "I've watched him slowly slip into this role and I did nothing to stop it."
"Starscream," she tried to press before Galvatron threw his arm out in front of her.
"He's made his decision," he stated coldly. "Let's hope you've improved since the last time we fought, Starscream."
They nodded before leaping at each other, swords smashing into each other with enough force to create shockwaves. Optimus backed up quickly, not wanting to get caught in the cross-fire, and settled her fuel tank for the fight that was going on before her. They stood in the same spot for several minutes, swords crossed, and tried to over-power the other mech. They appeared to be evenly matched, even with Galvatron's huge height and weight advantage, but a part of her spark told her that Galvatron wasn't really trying. She guessed that the part of him that still clung to their old friendship was not letting him go all out in this death-match.
With a grunt, they sprang apart from each other, glaring the other down before they charged. Their swords clashed again, Galvatron shoving Starscream backwards as he put a bit more force behind his attacking this time, and she winced as she heard the sound of bending armor. They grunted as they strained to shove the other over, not gaining ground for more than a second before the other fought back with more power. They leapt back and swung the blades at each other, blocking and paring each other until Galvatron gave a quick, underhand swipe, sending Starscream's sword flying into the air.
With a snarl, he lunged at the smaller Seeker, only to find his target to have vanished. He snapped his head up and growled angrily after Starscream as the blue Seeker flew after his wayward blade. He caught it and flipped back over, heading straight for Galvatron as he brought his blade back, ready to swipe him from above. Galvatron brought his sword up and blocked the attack, twisting his wrist enough to send Starscream careening to the right. Starscream spun around, only for his sword to be knocked out of his hand again. It embedded itself into the ground and his optics followed it for a brief moment before he gasped in pain which quickly followed by an involuntary gasp from Optimus as she covered her face with her hand; Galvatron had stabbed the Starsaber into his chest.
Galvatron's released the handle of the sword like he had been burnt, his optics wide as he took a step back. Starscream stared down at the sword in his chest and frowned as he grabbed the glowing blade. Optimus shouted at him to stop before he ripped the blade out of his chest, energon spraying down his torso as he stumbled slightly. She could see the glow of his spark through the hole in his chest and the energon in her fuel tank rose up her throat. He stared down at his spark for a moment before he stared at Galvatron, his silver optics holding a complex emotion.
"Now," he gurgled, "I'll show you your proof. Swindle! Combine!"
His Minicon connected on his back and flipped his blasters up onto his shoulders. He shouted at Unicron before he fired off his guns, sending a huge laser blast rocketing towards the satellite that was orbiting Cybertron. There was a crackle of electricity from near the horns that were protruding from the surface of the metallic moon before a huge jet of blue electricity started heading for them.
"Starscream, move!" Optimus screamed as Swindle detached himself at Starscream's command.
Starscream stared up at the slowly approaching electricity and a sad smile crept over his face. His optics started to dim before a white and red mech crashed into him from behind, sending him flying forward to sprawl out on the ground. Jetfire was caught in midair as the electricity smashed into his head. Yellow optics widened as the blast started to disintegrate his body, not even giving him a chance to scream or move away. Within moments, his body vanished and the blast ate a crater into the surface of Cybertron before dissipating. Optimus stood there for a moment before she tried to bolt forward.
"Jetfire!" she screamed before Galvatron's arms wrapped tightly around her, stopping her from charging forward blindly.
She struggled against him, every inch of her screaming to get to the crater and look for any remains. His arms tightened around her as he began to murmur sadly into her audio.
"He's gone," he whispered. "He's gone, Oriona, there's nothing you can do."
She struggled for another minute until she froze and looked up at Galvatron, who's face had also twisted into horror. "Starscream!" they shouted together.
They scrambled over to where the Seeker was lying face down in a puddle of his own energon, wings twitching every now and then. Galvatron carefully flipped him over, wincing as sparks flew out of the cavity in his chest. Optimus started tapping his cheek to make him stay awake, staring down at him in terror as energon continued to ooze out of him. On impulse, Galvatron grabbed both sides of the wound and physically held them shut, ignoring Starscream whine of pain.
"Where's that medic of yours?" Galvatron growled.
"Red Alert?" she asked as she activated her com-link.
"No. The psychotic one that liked to whip wrenches at my face," he replied. "I still don't get why Ratchet hated me so much."
"Because you ducked, that's why," she replied before picking up on Ratchet's com-link. "Ratchet, you there?"
"Yes, what's wrong?" Ratchet replied sounding very tired.
"Starscream," she replied before stroking the Seeker's head. "He has a large wound in his chest and…."
"Why are you calling about an injured Decepticon?" Ratchet demanded, the sound of a wrench hitting something metal echoing down the link.
"Because," she sighed, "he's hurt and the Decepticons are siding with us against Unicron."
"You're sure of this?" Ratchet asked.
"Trust me, Galvatron is holding the wound shut on his own free-will and he just witnessed Starscream try to take out Unicron who shot back; I think he's convinced now," she replied.
"I'll be there as soon as I can; get Galvatron to contact Quickstart and see if she can get there first. And for the love of Primus, don't let him fall into stasis!" he ordered before the com-link was cut.
"You catch that?" she asked as she turned to look at her mate.
"Already called," he replied, his gaze on his energon-soaked hands.
She nodded as she turned her attention to keeping Starscream awake. She had tears racing down her face as she spoke to him, petting his head continuously as his optics started to flicker more and more. His internal components were starting to slow down, and he was drawing in air to cool his systems at an alarming rate, which meant that his air intakes were starting to fail. More tears started to fall down her face as she gripped his hand tightly, avoiding Galvatron's optics as much as possible so she didn't break down into hopeless sobs.
At the sound of jet engines she looked up, her optics homing in on the red Seeker heading towards them. The Seeker landed and set the orange medic down, looking at Starscream with pained optics.
"Is…is he gunna be ok?" Flamewar asked as Quickstart moved forward.
"If he gets the medical attention he needs he might," Quickstart replied swiftly, slipping under Galvatron's arm to settle herself in at an angle that she could work on Starscream's wound. "Galvatron, sir, you're going to have to move your hands."
Galvatron nodded before he pulled away, energon dripping from his hands, and let the sides of the wound slide open again. Quickstart's face revealed a repulsed face before she set to work soldiering closed the fuel lines, stopping anymore precious energon from escaping. Optimus remained where she was, waiting for the medic to tell her to do anything else. The orange femme glanced up at her for a moment, optics passive before she went back to her work.
"My brother won't be too much longer," she stated gently. "Wingdagger is flying him out. When she turns up, you can let her take over keeping him online."
Optimus nodded as she gave Starscream's hand a squeeze, earning a finger twitch in response. Quickstart's hands were soon drenched in energon but her face plate had managed to compose itself, the familiar frown that was often seen on Ratchet's face settling. Flamewar had sat down beside Galvatron, rubbing his arm as he stared down at his energon-soaked hands, while letting tears streak their way down her face. It was unnerving to watch the strongest femme she had ever known break down like that.
Jet engines roared nearby before Ratchet was beside her, gently moving her to the side to get a good look at the wound. He glared at Galvatron, silently telling him that when it was all over he was a dead mech, before he got to work helping his sister with the major repairs. Optimus moved aside as Wingdagger collapsed by her mate's head, sobbing as she clasped his hand tight enough to make him whimper in pain. She moved away from the compact circle and headed over to where Galvatron was staring at his hands.
"I…I caused this," he murmured as she sat down beside him. "I caused all of this."
She rested her hand on his upper arm, rubbing it gently. "You couldn't have predicted this," she replied. "It was a fight between you both."
"I stabbed him," he hissed, clenching his fists. "Almost clean through! I'm the cause of his wound, not Unicron."
"Look at me," she ordered as she rested a hand on his cheek. When he turned to look down at her, she moved close enough to rest her helm against his. "That may be true, but you regret it. And that means that you never meant to hurt him."
"I still did," he growled. "I almost killed him."
"Would you stop already? He's not dead and he'll be fine once Ratchet and Quickstart get him patched up," she replied sharply.
"This could have been avoided if I wasn't so stubborn," he murmured.
"A lot could have been avoided if you weren't so stubborn," she teased before poking his nose. "Now would you stop? You are seriously scaring me with this angst crude you're spewing."
His optics hardened as his hand crept up onto her cheek, his fingers playing with the clasp on her face mask. "It could have been you," he whispered.
"But it wasn't," she replied as leant into his hand. "I'm fine and soon so will Starscream."
He leant closer to her as he managed to get her face mask on, his warm breath settling on her neck as he started tilting his head. "Oriona," he breathed before his lips met hers, "my beautiful Oriona."
She murmured softly into his mouth as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling herself as tightly to his chest as she could. For a moment, the world stopped mattering to her and it all condensed into his mouth against hers and his arms wrapping tightly around her waist, holding onto her in an almost desperate manner. She pressed closer, desperation starting to take control of her body. She wanted her mate back; she didn't care if he was Megatron or Galvatron, as long as he was back. Her huge mate who kept her protected and safe, who treated her like the most precious jewel in the Universe, who whispered sweet nothing for hours on end, even after the longest, most brutal days at work. She wanted him back so badly that her spark was screaming in pain within her chest, an eternity of repressed love flooding back to the surface at a dizzying speed.
A loud cough brought her crashing back to reality with such a jolt she almost bit Galvatron's glossa right off. They pulled apart slowly and turned to look at Ratchet as he leant over Starscream's body, Wrench of Doom tapping menacingly against his leg. Galvatron let out a low chuckle as Optimus' face heated up in embarrassment, catching the low level hum of the two Seeker femmes and the even lower subsonic hum of Starscream's engine. She bit back her moan of despair as she turned her face away, wanting to hide in a hole as far away from everyone as she could manage.
"Well, guess Optimus does have a lusty side after all," Flamewar commented from where she was stretched out on the ground. "Galvatron, you player you."
"I hope you're happy, Optimus," Quickstart commented from where she was working.
"Do I want to know why?" she asked as she tried to find a place to hide her face in Galvatron's arm without making it look like she was trying to get more action.
"You just made my mate really expect me when I get back to base," she replied with a glare.
"Sorry," she groaned before rubbing her temples.
"I quite enjoyed it," Wingdagger called. "Now you can't get mad at Starscream and me for getting it on in the hallways!"
"Shut up, Wingdagger!" she groaned before hiding her face in Galvatron's shoulder. "You aren't helping!"
They snickered at her as she tried to hide away, punching Galvatron in the chest as he tried to pinch her aft. She just wanted to hide now and hope that everything would blow over, and every second that was passing was letting her know that it wasn't going to happen. Wingdagger and Flamewar were shouting at each other about what they thought would happen next while Ratchet and Quickstart continued to work and tried to ignore them. She heavily resisted the urge to start beating her head against her mate's shoulders when she heard Wingdagger let out a small curious noise.
"Hey…wasn't Jetfire with you when you left the base?" she asked. "Where'd that slack-off get to?"
Optimus froze, everything rushing back to her with enough force to make her reel with nausea. A sob caught in her throat as she dug her fingers into Galvatron's chest, her body starting to jerk as she tried to fight off the image. Jetfire's optics, the glow of the electricity over his armor, his body being eaten away by the blast, all the images of those few seconds assaulted her. Galvatron's arms tightened around her as the others let out worried murmurs, his voice gently reassuring her in her audio.
"Jetfire was destroyed by Unicron," Galvatron stated solemnly. "He saved Starscream from suffering his fate."
"Optimus," Wingdagger's voice called after a stunned moment of silence, "I'm so, so sorry."
"There's nothing we can do," Ratchet stated sternly. "He went out like a true Autobot, that's all that matters."
Optimus felt tears spill down her face again, but Ratchet was right. Jetfire went out like an Autobot, protecting another life, and trying to defend Cybertron. She inhaled shakily as Galvatron's hand found her cheek again, stroking gently as he whispered into her audio.
"I'll protect you now," he whispered. "Nothing bad will happen, I promise."
She smiled before hugging him tightly. "I've missed you," she whispered. "Don't leave again."
"I won't," he promised before his head was resting on her shoulder. "You can be sure of that."
"Thank you," she whispered as she snuggled closer to him. "Thank you."
Author's note: Yeah, finally got this one all written up! I really can't multitask anymore. And I need to start finishing these stories up soon. Too many stories that have sequels! Dang it, I'm probably going to put a poll up to find out what stories you want me to focus on and finish, that way I can get more ideas out of the way. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter.