Disclaimer: Transformers = Hasbro, Efforts + story = Mine

Chapter 28: Common Knowledge

Everyone in the computer room jumped as Flickword blasted by, the wind wild and the roar of engines loud.

"What is that idiot doing??" Megatron snarled.

"Uh, Megatron," Skywarp said, shaking himself off to recover from the hovercraft's recoil. "Exactly where did you send Mextron?"

"Near a place called Rust Rocks to talk with a Transformer there," Megatron replied.

"Uh, sir?" one of the mechs at the computers, a red and gold one, said. "There's no Transformer there."

"Yes, there is," Megatron insisted.

"No, there isn't," another male mech, blue and grey, objected. "Common knowledge, really; that's one of the Breaker Labs' original back up stations. Anyone getting close to it got fried. Happened to my friend, Jimmy."

"Poor Jimmy," the red and gold mech said sympathetically.

"Then there can not be a Transformer to recruit there," Soundwave summarized.

"Definitely," the red and gold mech agreed, nodding.

"Lord Megatron…" Shockwave said slowly. "Did you-did you send your own Sparkling to his death?"

"Shockwave, not in front of the soldiers!" Megatron hissed.

"It's all cool, we already know," a third mech, bright lime green and blue, said, waving a hand dismissively.

"Y-You do?" Megatron asked dumbly.

"Yeah, it's common knowledge now, actually," the blue and grey mech said. "You and Mextron got the same leadership abilities; lead until the kids need some smacking to get in line, then smack them. Except Mextron has a longer waiting period for the smacking."

"Everyone on base's figured out that you guys are the Effort's dads, especially when one of the hackers saw the files about the experiments here. Like Skynet; he looks and acts just like Soundwave so they're father and son. Pit, practically twins, I think…"

"Then there's Ferrofluid and Shockwave always working together, so they're a package," the red and yellow computer counsel Transformer said.

"Cartwheel has Thundercracker's colors in her hair, so that's obvious. Plus, Cartwheel's got a soft touch, just like her dad," a purple and pink female mech sighed dreamily, hugging herself.

Everyone turned to stare at Thundercracker, who shifted on his feet nervously.

"You tapped that? Nice!" Skywarp laughed, holding a hand up to Thundercracker to high-five.

"Then there's Shadowleap and Skywarp," the lime green and blue mech said as he chuckled. "Pit, their actions alone make it painfully obvious."

"Oh, and as for Smartmouth and Starscream," the femme shrugged. "Let's face it; they're one and the same, right down to the colors. The only thing that separated them is that Smartmouth's got more backbone and is not as power hungry and she's a girl and Starscream's a guy. But the true gender of Starscream is open to discussion in some circles."

"Fine, yes, we're fathers to some organics via evil scientists," Starscream admitted, uncharacteristically admitting, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. Everyone noticeibly jolted on their feet in surprise at this.

"What ever. Point is; Megatron, you sent your own Sparkling to Breaker Lab territories!"

"If he is indeed my son, he will be fine," Megatron growled, looking away as he crossed his arms across his chest. "He will survive and come back, even if the Breaker Lab base has Autobot reinforcements."

"WHAT!?"

Starscream burst into action. A red, white, and blue streak swept through the air and slammed Megatron against the wall hard enough to make a small dent, making everyone jump in surprise. They didn't realize that Starscream could move that fast! And while Starscream always jeered at Megatron, he wouldn't openly up-in-his-face attack him, would he? He didn't have the spine for it!

"My daughter is going to rescue him, you slagging idiot!" Starscream yelled into Megatron's face, pinning the war leader to the wall by his arms. "They'll get killed!"

"Sense when were you so concerned about organics, Starscream?" Megatron snarled.

"Sense that organic turned about to be apart my Spark," Starscream said quietly. He released Megatron, stepping back to glare down at him. "You make me sick, Megatron," Starscream sneered. "Seekers! We have some Autobot slag to kick!"

Thundercracker and Skywarp followed Starscream out of the room. Soundwave and Shockwave stayed, but they looked away as Megatron got to his feet.

"Those fools better die out there," Megatron said, brushing himself off "Because I'm certainly not-- geaugh!"

Megatron suddenly hit the floor hard on his knees, clutching his sparking chest. The other mechs leaped to their feet and Soundwave knelt in front of Megatron.

"Warning: Detect unusual energy flux in Spark," Soundwave diagnosed. "Cause: Unknown."

"That's strange-- "Megatron began to say, but screamed in pain again as another shock ripped his body. The other mechs were trying to figure out how to help him, but suddenly, he knew what the matter was.

Somewhere, Mextron was in extreme pain and Megatron's own Spark, sensing Mextron's, was attacking him reminding him of his betrayal. It was common knowledge, really; connected Sparks never betrayed each other.

"Soundwave, help me up," Megatron panted, teeth grinding against pain. "Shockwave; gather a small force. We have a human base to destroy."