CHAPTER 73
"... I know I haven't contacted you in a while but ... a lot has happened and ... I have so much to tell you ..."
"... Gasket?" It's me. As you know, since my last message ... we got the Book of Epistemus."
"… Tell me if you're alive." I ... I still believe but it gets more difficult every day, Gasket."
Gasket brought his servo back to his earshot. With his antenna now repaired, Wing watched him listen to the messages. Sitting next to each other outside the base, the white bot watched his reaction.
His mentor's face decomposed as he kept listening.
"... there are over a hundred."
"... I was worried" said Wing, a slightly embarrassed smile. "I ... I didn't understand why you weren't answering me. But you know ... you don't have to listen to them all."
Gasket looked down.
"I would have answered earlier. Believe me. But now ... you know everything. You know why I couldn't do it before."
They had talked for long hours when Gasket told his student about everything he had endured since leaving the Drift apartment in Kaon until their reunion. Wing had listened, had shivered, had felt hurt when he learned of the extent of the torture from his mentor. As he had been telling his story, Wing got closer to him as if he feared that his mentor would disappear again.
"… Without Undertone… without Mary… I don't know if I would have managed to get out of it" said Gasket.
"We are lucky that we have found allies" approved Wing. "Allies on Earth."
Wing curled up, silently watching the Jasper Mountains in front of them.
"Many have criticized Optimus Prime for defending this planet at the expense of his own people."
"Even if I doubted before landing here" Gasket added softly, "I think that in the end, the Autobots were right to protect the Earth and its inhabitants."
Wing turned his attention back to him, looking at him sadly.
"... You shouldn't have endured it all by yourself."
"I was scared. I condemned the universe by revealing the location of the artifacts."
"But it wasn't your fault!" Wing burst out. "Nobody would have stood like you. You did what you could."
He paused.
"... And then ... Dai Atlas should never have given you such a responsibility" Wing said slowly. "I don't understand why he revealed the locations to you and not to the rest of his comrades. The artifacts could have been protected more effectively."
It was his resentment against Dai Atlas that spoke. He knew it. Since their departure from Frayus, Wing had not taken off. And he knew it was immature. Gasket had always taught him to respect his leader and not to challenge his decisions. But it was stronger than him. He had been afraid too. Not just for the universe, but for Gasket.
"You know, Wing. Dai Atlas and I ... before I was exiled, we were very close. I was the third to join the Circle of Light. Dai Atlas did not have the same relationship with me as with Star Saber. We were friends. And he would confide things to me that he would not confide to anyone else because it was too hard for him to endure them alone. I wanted to be useful to him. So he revealed the locations to me, making me promise to keep it a secret and do everything in my power to protect it, if something ever threatens them."
"... I know you were close."
But that hadn't stopped him from going into exile, Wing thought bitterly.
"... He wanted to preserve you" said Gasket after a while. "He didn't want you all to have such a heavy weight on your shoulderplates and become like him. Someone who has to make the toughest decisions to keep order."
"Gasket ..."
"He was the one who told me. And somehow, I understand him. He's a born leader. He has experienced things that no one else has experienced. This is the reason why I never resisted when he exiled me because in one way, he had no other choice. I had to be punished. And if it had been an Autobot or a Decepticon ... I think I would have been sentenced to death for murder."
Wing said nothing. He just crossed his arms, turning his head away.
"Scorponok was executed by Dai Atlas," continued Gasket. "But Wing ... he would have been executed in all cases. If it weren't for the Autobots, he would have been executed by this Queen of the Sanctuary ... this Airachnid. She is one of the most cruel and sadistic people the universe has ever worn."
"He should have had a trial. At least a trial."
Still, Gasket's words reminded him of how much Wing admired his mentor. It was the Gasket he knew, the one who fought, who got up despite the difficulties he had suffered.
As silence fell, Wing mechanically stretched out his arm and put his servo on Gasket's. The green bot jumped, apparently surprised.
But soon a smile appeared on his face, tightening Wing's embrace.
"…You know. The whole time I was at the Sanctuary" Gasket stammered, seeming to be searching for words, "I only thought of one person."
"Really?" Wing smiled. "A femme whom I am not aware of?"
Gasket sighed before sneering, diving his optics into his.
"... I only thought of you" said the green bot. "I resented myself for the way ... I treated you when we ended up on Kaon."
The real reason he didn't want you to come back to Cybertron.
Wing remained silent.
"You wanted to preserve me" said Wing, his words lacking in conviction.
"Still. I regret. I regret it and more than anything... I really missed you."
"... I missed you too ... really."
Wing did not withdraw his servo. Gasket continued to smile tenderly at him, and Wing almost came close to hugging him tightly, this time never to let him go.
However, as soon as Wing looked at him, he couldn't help but see Heavenlight's face again. And for a moment, he resented himself. He was angry because the time was not the right one for that.
Gasket had just returned and he'd thought he would never see him again. It was not the time for explanations, settling of scores ...
Wing stroked Gasket's palm before straightening up.
"We still have to find the fifth one" said Gasket. "The fifth artifact. Primus'. And we need to recover the Crown of Solomus."
"It's not the end yet" smiled Wing, approving.
"You too have endured a lot…"
"To find you, yes. But ... with hindsight, I tell myself that it was for a good cause."
Gasket nodded. The two stood up.
"But before ... we still have a little time. A little time ahead of us."
"Are you thinking of the same thing as me?" replied Wing, looking mischievous.
"Training? Of course."
"It's been so long."
This perfect atmosphere ... training. It was one of the feelings he had missed the most.
As Wing took his sword, Gasket saw him fail. The white bot realized that he no longer had his katana offered.
Still, the green bot didn't seem to hold it against him. Gasket came over to put his servo on his shoulderplate, inviting him to look at him.
"Wing."
"Hm?"
"... We'll go and forge another one."
"I am sorry."
"Don't be. I prefer it to be the katana rather than you."
At his words, Wing replied with a nod, feeling a slight warmth bathe the spark.
Soon the two got into position.
The explanations would wait later ... For now, he just wanted to enjoy the presence of his mentor. He wanted to enjoy Gasket's presence.
For the umpteenth time since this morning, Fracture sighed in annoyance.
Sitting in his office, the purple bot used three screens to be able to decrypt the data and thus access the source of the malware. But data ... there were thousands.
When he'd agreed to hack this USB drive, he hadn't expected such work. The jaw clenched, the helmache began to break out. However, Fracture continued to strum on the various holographic keyboards.
" …You manage?" Drift asked behind him, standing in the doorway.
"Arg, Drift! Why the Sanctuary does not use modern technologies?" complained Fracture when the screen displayed "Request Unavailable".
THIS "Request Unavailable" message which appeared for the thousandth time approximately. Fracture punched the desk with a furious fist. Drift sighed lightly.
"You better take a break, Fracture."
"I would only do one when I would access to the malware."
"But you haven't recharged for two days."
"You do not get it. Technology is my field. Besides being the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, I'm the king of hackers!"
"You WERE the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy."
Fracture turned to him to grant him a wince. Drift had repeatedly told him to look for a job and offered him a job as a computer scientist. But Fracture had no desire to help morons who, most of the time, didn't even know how to turn on a machine. And they were surprised not to be able to use it afterwards.
"Good," replied Drift, in defeat. "As you wish. But avoid dropping so many swear words in the presence of children."
"Divebomb and Airazor have been used for ages," said Fracture, turning his attention to the main screen.
"About that… maybe we could send them somewhere too," Drift suggested.
Fracture froze. He replied with a firm "no". Night, Jetstorm and Slipstream were already sufficiently dispersed like this. It had already been a tear to send them away. He didn't want to relive that.
"We could send them to the Crystal Cities," suggested Drift. "They would stay with Night."
"I'm sick of this situation, Drift. I'm not sure that sending them somewhere will help matters, anyway" Fracture grimaced. "Especially that we don't know when they will work out."
"In this case, we could simply move and try to see how things are going at Polyhex."
"How many times will we move? Because of fools?"
"I'm just saying that right now we're living as best we can. Airazor is at the end, Fracture."
"We just have to quit Cybertron in this case. It would solve all the problems."
Fracture knew that Drift had nothing to do with it and that he suffered as much as he did. But he was tired of running away. They had been bounty hunters in the past. They had never been one to flee. But Drift thought above all about the safety of children. It came before theirs, even if Fracture was too proud.
The other possibility would be for one of the two to join a faction, but there had already been enough argument over it. And the damage was done. None would take Fracture as an Autobot seriously. And even if he tried, he was already categorized as Decepticon.
The purple bot couldn't help but think of the possibility that Drift would give up and ultimately choose not to bond with him, a Decepticon.
The thought hit him right into the spark and immediately he hid his face so that Drift didn't notice his distraught expression. But Drift seemed to read him like an open book. Soon, Fracture felt him approach him and wrap his arms around his shoulderplates.
"... I want to bond with you, Fracture."
"Really ? Despite all that?"
"Despite all that. But you should try to reconsider your judgment."
"... For now, we're focusing on this USB key."
"About that ... Thanks again."
Fracture nodded and Drift kissed him on the neck. The purple bot caressed his face before letting him leave the office. Fracture focused on the screen and began to hash the data.
Better working this time ... Fracture was expecting so much the message "Request Unavailable" appearing to deny it access.
Then, abruptly, as if Drift's presence had been beneficial to him, the "Request completed" window appeared instead.
Fracture cried out in joy, rising from his seat to dance in the office before sitting down and clicking on the screen. Then, his smile disappeared when he saw a quantity of files appear in a long list arranged in alphabetical order.
I had better not declare victory too quickly, sighed Fracture.
But as he leaned over to read the titles, he realized that these files did not correspond to typical directories used on USB sticks.
Rather, they were ... names. It sounded like names with Cybertronian connotations, which said absolutely nothing to Fracture. The purple bot turned to check that Drift was gone.
He turned his attention back to the screen. Files ... Fracture hesitated, but he ended up selecting a name at random to check what it contained. Out of curiosity.
A window appeared. A video. About a lynx, in a bar, standing in front of a standard Autobot who was yelling at him.
Fracture widened the optics, surprised. What was it? Memory files that Drift had talked about?
Fracture let the video play. The lynx howled at the Autobot in return. The purple bot did not understand the subject of the argument. He noticed a small lynx, resembling the first, hiding behind him.
His son, obviously. Then the Autobot raised his fist to strike the lynx in the face. The lynx staggered, taking his face in his servos which was already bleeding profusely.
The latter roared in rage before pouncing on the Autobot and punching him, before biting the cables in his throat and breaking them, killing the Autobot instantly.
The video ended. Fracture remained silent in the face of this, not sure about how to feel.
He eventually climbed back up and clicked on one of the first files, titled Airachnid.
Another video. About an Insecticon with a spider mode, in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the dunes, cooing in the presence of a body of a standard individual that Fracture knew only too well.
The hunter who had been known as one of the most powerful that Cybertron had ever known. Lockdown. Or rather, the head of Lockdown that the spider was holding against her, whispering tender and affectionate words in the audio that could no longer hear.
Again, Fracture checked that Drift was not standing behind him. It was not a good idea to let him see a video containing a passage about the mech he had killed in battle.
The same mech that had cost him his place in the Circle of Light. Apparently Airachnid was that Insecticon and had been someone close to Lockdown.
"We're going to destroy everything together, my love. Destroy everything together ... don't worry. I'll keep your head as a trophy, so that we're always together. "
Very close, even.
The video did not last long. Only about twenty seconds. Fracture crossed his arms, thoughtful. After a moment of hesitation, he ended up clicking on the file.
It shouldn't be too difficult to search it to possibly find other videos of the same person. Or, collect the data to be able to extend the memories placed on the USB key.
After about half an hour, he managed to find a new video. A video where the same Insecticon stood in the same place, in the arms of a very alive Lockdown whom raised a bloody hook covered with energon above his head, having used it on a poor bot which had had misfortune to cross his path, the latter's corpse lying on the ground.
Airachnid wore a lip clip to suck the energon with her glossa, before wrapping her arms around Lockdown's neck to kiss him full on the mouth, the two collapsing on the ground to practice the interface next to the bot's corpse they had just killed.
Fracture almost vomited in disgust at this image and immediately quitted the video. He had had his sadistic inclinations at the time of his bounty hunting career, but he would not have been able to interface next to a body as if nothing had happened.
For a time, he himself had admired the so-called Lockdown. He'd admired him even after his death ... at least until he met Drift.
Fracture hesitated to continue ... but the malware was perhaps hidden in one of these files. He ended up browsing the list of files categorized by name, before clicking on another at random. Kickback.
Another video. On a grasshopper who was being beaten in an alley, by several Autobots and who cried for help, begging them to spare him.
The video did not last long. Fracture searched the file, but found nothing else. Apparently, he had not placed many memories on this USB key.
He selected another. Filch.
Again, a video. On a femme with a bird mode that stood face up, sobbing a single word: shiny, shiny, shiny.
She was leaning over the corpse of another bird mode, older than her. Fracture quickly guessed that she had been her creator.
Fracture clicked on a file called Rose. This time it was a butterfly mode standing in front of a boss's desk, the boss writing something on a pad, muttering separate words.
We don't need your breed here.
What he wrote ... it was a dismissal letter.
Fracture watched the butterfly falter at his words. The video stopped but Fracture wanted to see more.
Again, he searched the file to gather the data, revealing another memory.
About the so-called Rose, preparing her luggage, who was screaming against another butterfly. Probably her mother, who was preventing her from going and leaving the house.
You don't understand this suffering! Do you want to stay and be victimized? Be my guest!
The video stopped. Fracture tried to find others ... to no avail.
He ended up clicking on another file, called Saberhorn. On an individual with a beetle mode. The memory took place in a bar that Fracture knew, which was known as a landmark of pirates and smugglers. The beetle was with a standard bot, in the corner of an alley, passionately making out when a car stopped near them to swing a cube of energon glass still full which landed right into the face of the beetle.
Get rid of my planet, dirty vermin!
The beetle stood face screaming in pain while his lover struggled to comfort him.
When the video ended, Fracture tried to assemble data to retrieve other videos. He fell on one where the so-called Saberhorn was apparently controlled and manhandled by a spider that Fracture recognized as being the same Airachnid, the latter opening him by force to get pleasure despite the supplications of the beetle, and another where Saberhorn was on board a burning ship that was being bombed by another that Fracture recognized as Autobot.
The beetle was apparently a pirate and despite the apparent pain on his face to see the members of his crew burn alive, he rushed to an emergency capsule to flee the ship, ejecting it towards a blue planet . But his expulsion was too quickly brought about, and the video stopped before Saberhorn even crashed into the atmosphere.
Fracture rummaged through the file again. He wanted to see more. He cut the file and reassembled it to extend the video by at least a few seconds.
It worked. The video showed the fatally injured Saberhorn in the arms of a blue-fused Insecticon using energy on his open chassis to revive his spark. Saberhorn opened the optics to watch his benefactor and the video stopped.
This file did not contain other videos.
Fracture left the file and scanned for others, cutting and assembling them one after the other to recover the malware.
He came across one, titled Glowstrike. Curious, he clicked on it.
But the file did not open. When Fracture selected it again, a message said that this file was locked.
Strange, thought Fracture. But maybe this was where the malware was. Without wasting time, Fracture began to look for solutions to decrypt and unlock it.
In the dark, Saberhorn woke up.
Beside him, groans. The beetle blinked, the memories slowly rising to the surface. He turned his head towards the source.
Again, he thought, surprised. It was not the first time this had happened. Glowstrike suffered from night terror, even though she didn't remember anything when she woke up. Gently, in order not to surprise her, Saberhorn came closer to her, leaning over to caress her face.
A few moments later, the moans gradually subsided. Glowstrike's breathing returned to normal. She coughed and Saberhorn straightened up.
" …What is happening?" he heard.
"You were having a nightmare, my dear. Another."
"…Really?"
Saberhorn saw her shadow rise to sit. The amazement was clearly evident in her tone. The pirate couldn't help but smile sadly at her.
"… would you know why?" asked Saberhorn. "Why these nightmares? Because of Airachnid?"
"... I'm not afraid of this spider."
Glowstrike took a long breath. Gently, with a silent request, Saberhorn wrapped his arms around her shoulderplates, inviting her to calm down.
"... I must have dreamed of the old Queen" said Glowstrike after a silence.
"Maybe even if I doubt it, my dear. You were calling for help, as if you wanted to be saved."
This silenced Glowstrike. Saberhorn gently stroked her wings behind her back as the firefly wedged against him, resting her head on his shoulderplate. Glowstrike was close to the former Queen, yes. But not to the point of dreaming of her death every night.
"…I do not see what you're talking about."
"Your parents, maybe? Do you miss them?"
Glowstrike remained silent.
"I sometimes dream of my parents too" confessed Saberhorn. "From them and others that I lost. Sometimes I talk to them."
"… My parents are dead. Nothing will bring them back."
"Maybe they can hear you from the Allspark, my dear."
"... I doubt they can hear me wherever they are."
She sounded hesitant. Saberhorn smiled again.
"Try it anyway. Maybe it will soothe your nightmares."
"… You already soothe them."
It was the first time. The first time she confessed how she felt so freely. Even though she kept repeating that she didn't feel anything ... Saberhorn knew it was wrong.
She felt things, at least in her spark. He felt servos around his cheeks. Saberhorn blinked, a little surprised.
For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. If Glowstrike wasn't actually recharging next to him.
But it was real. She was indeed awake.
The next moment, Saberhorn felt a touch on his lips. First as light as a feather.
Then Glowstrike's lips rested on his and never left them.
In the dark, even though he would have liked to see Glowstrike in front of him, Saberhorn tasted the moist lips of the firefly, the latter's digits gently caressing his face as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss.
Saberhorn no longer remembered. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so happy.
After the hesitation, Saberhorn moved closer to wrap his arms around her waist, hugging her against him while Glowstrike invited him to open his lips, gently sliding her glossa inside.
Saberhorn felt a shiver when the firefly's servo slid towards his wings to caress them in tender touch. He replied back willingly, kissing her back so intensely.
Glowstrike let him do it, not pushing him away.
"Hmm ... Hmm ..."
For a moment, he wanted to tell her that he loved her. She would surely tell him that she was unable to return these feelings to him ... but even if that were the case, Saberhorn could not erase his.
They stayed in this position in the dark, exchanging more kisses and hugs. At the end of a time which felt too short in Saberhorn's optics, Glowstrike broke the kiss, without detaching herself from him.
"... I am not ..." she began.
"We don't need to do more, my dear," said Saberhorn, understanding the rest of her sentence.
He paused.
"It's even more than you could give me, for me."
He guessed a nod from the firefly, before she kissed him again, a more chaste kiss this time.
Someone knocked at the door. Saberhorn sighed slightly as he heard Glowstrike straighten up to turn on the light and open.
One of Hardshell's soldiers stood outside the door.
"My Lady ... the Queen summons you."
"What do you mean?" she asked, in a tone devoid of warmth.
"Scorponok has fallen."
