Author Notes: Hi folks! Hope you're all ready for the next part of this tale. Focusing more on our other two players since the last few chapters were all on Sentinel's end. Nice to touch base on the other two and see how they doing with everything. Hope you all enjoy this.

In Memory

After the discovery then the sudden disappearance of the Allspark, the Autobot space bridge repair crew and Megatron himself, both sides deal with the aftermath.

For Elita, she has to deal with the fact a former friend is official out of her life for good and doing her job as a good little Elite Guard member.

For a former bot of the name Optimus, he deals with how he knows best when his world is flipped upside down once more.

Even given the most basic job, the idiot would find a way to screw it up. Now, it was up to Autobot Elite Guard to clean up whatever mess Sentinel had left for them.

Elita was trying her slagging best to keep a straight face as she entered the command room. Even the reassuring face of Rodimus didn't do much to help to put her at ease. To be the face of complete professionalism for those that continue to doubt her position and rank. There was only one femme Prime before Elita, and she was going to make sure it wasn't another four million cycles before the next one.

Some mechs couldn't get it in their heads that femmes could be as good and maybe, if not better than some mechs.

Proof to the point in Sentinel.

Now she had to stand there to deal with the idiot's actions as Ultra Magnus started the meeting.

"Approximately 24 megacycles ago, we received this transmission from Sentinel Prime and his space bridge repair crew, somewhere within the Azazel asteroid belt," explained Ultra Magnus. Images of Sentinel and his crew appeared on the screen in front of those that gather in the room.

"I don't believe I need to brief anyone here on the significance of their cargo," he added on.

An image of the Allspark appeared soon after on the screen. Of all the mechs in the universe, it had to be Sentinel that found the slagging thing. It was supposed to stay lost forever. But no. Somehow, that moron found the relic that was missing for millions of stellar cycles.

"Not long after, we began tracking a signal from a Decepticon warship…This Decepticon warship."

Up came an image of The Nemesis.

"Within mere cycles of receiving this transmission, we lost all contact with the ship, and the Decepticon signal fell off our scanners," sighed Ultra Magnus, looking like the eons wearing down on him. "Thus far, the Rescue Bots teams we sent out have failed to turn up any sign of Sentinel Prime and his crew. At this point, we can only assume the worst."

Only Sentinel would end up facing Megatron and his warship. Elita could remember back in class how he barely lasted against the simulation of the warlord. If it was anyone else, they might have stood a chance. No, the only logical outcome would be that Sentinel had his crew killed in his push for fame and glory. They were the ones that deserved to be honoured and remembered.

The only bright side is that the Allspark could stay lost now and out of Decepticons' servos.

"Elita Prime."

Hearing her name, Elita stood a bit straighter, "Yes, sir?"

"You knew Sentinel best. I think it would be best if you say a few words at the funeral in a few orbital cycles," said Ultra Magnus.

She couldn't keep back the surprise off of her face. Her? Say a few things about Sentinel? Oh, she could for sure say a few things about the egoistical, selfish, fragging mech, but none of it would be good for a funeral. The refusal was on the tip of her glossa. There's no way in the pit did she want to speak at such an event and say good things about Sentinel! How was that even possible? No one could say anything good about him. Not even the nicest bot could find one good thing to say about him.

The only one that possibly could have even tried was dead now because of Sentinel.

But to see the look on Magnus' face and those around the command room, Elita knew that saying no wouldn't be wise. She had to play the good little Autobot soldier part and do that slag she rather not do.

"Of course, sir."

She would need to go to Maccadam's before and after to get through this.

New Kaon was a completely different place compared to Iacon or any other city on Cybertron. The closest that anyone could compare the colony would be Kaon itself. Even the worst part of Kaon that he went to as Optimus were ten times better than here.

All the buildings were held together with wishes and prays. Those that ran businesses spoke as smooth as grease and sold third-rated materials and pieces of equipment at sky-high prices. One had to watch where they step and who they wrong, or else they might end up being sold for spare parts.

But for any member of the Decepticon Empire, it was their capital.

It's where Scourge found himself.

Since the destruction of The Nemesis and the loss of not only the Allspark but Megatron himself, they all headed back to New Kaon. Without Starscream, though. The Air Commander didn't have enough sense to escape before the explosion hit them. Not that Scourge would miss him. He might have been second-in-command, but that was in title only. If the mech was serious about his wishes to take over the Decepticons, he should have at least travelled back to New Kaon to stake his claim.

But nope. Scourge didn't know what Starscream was doing now and didn't care.

There were more pressing matters for why he was here.

The masses of mechs and femmes around the main public area of New Kaon were numerous. A mixture of different frame types, sizes, colours, about everyone in the colony was here. Those that had missions elsewhere had come back. Even as he stood there with Ariel resting on his other shoulder, Scourge still felt small.

It made him feel still out of place, no matter how much he changed and modded himself to feel like one of them.

It made him feel still like Optimus.

And now the one mech that made him feel a part of something…was gone.

Given that it was Megatron, of course, there would be a public funeral. Every member of the Empire was here. He even spotted quite a few of the high-ranking generals and governors of other colonies. He had only met General Strika a few times, but that was due to her association with Lugnut.

Seriously, she could have done better.

Blitzwing walked up to the stage setup for the occasion, next to a large stone statue of the Decepticon leader. If Scourge hadn't seen the triple charge make it himself, he would have sworn it was Lugnut's work in a way to remember his beloved lord.

But that idiot was current in denial of the whole thing.

Firing his cannon in the air, it silent the jamming crowd and focus their attention on him. Blitzwing's red face switch into his icy personality, better suited to start the sombre event off.

"Our Leader has fallen. Megatron is no more," spoke Blitzwing, levelling his optics on the large crowd of Decepticons in front of him. "Rest assured; we will not forget him."

Icy gave way to Rage in a flash, "But first we will crush the miserable autoboot scum responsible for destroying him!" he roared out before his face flipped to his random personality. "Ooooh! And then we'll paint mustaches on their faceplates! Mustaches are funny! Hahahahahahahahahah!"

The crowd seemed to agree with that. As brutal and ruthless as Megatron was, he earned the loyalty of everyone branded with the Decepticon mark. Everyone here felt the loss, and it would be a tough job to find anyone worthy to replace the warlord. The dark part in Scourge's processor knew that this was an event the Autobots would take advantage of, that they would think the hole left by Megatron's death would create a vacuum in leadership.

He knew the stereotypes Autobots believed. That all Decepticons were mindless war machines without a tick of common sense. That thinking like that was completely wrong and would lead to Autobots' downfall. They were too set in their ways, and that stagnation would only lead to ruin.

Before Blitzwing could continue to list the threats against the Autobots that dare destroy Megatron, Lugnut decided to make his appearance. Scourge thought it strange that one of Megatron's most loyal soldiers wasn't here. He had put it up to Strika, chaining him up to make sure he didn't keep spewing his insane theories.

That didn't seem to happen.

"Infidel! This is an outrage, Blitzwing! Megatron lives! Megatron will return!" roared Lugnut.

Blitzwing switched to Icy, who merely sighed and shook his head at his comrade's antics. "You cannot ignore the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Lugnut."

Which there was a lot. They couldn't find Megatron's signal at all in the area where they found the Allspark. They couldn't track him nor the Autobot ship after the explosion. There were only parts of the Nemesis left and nothing of a body to burn.

The fact they barely heard from Starscream didn't mean anything.

Watching Lugnut and Blitzwing coming to blows, Scourge wondered if he should try and stop them. Time and time again, back on the Nemesis, there were similar fights, but they either came to their senses, or Megatron threatened them if they didn't stop.

It seems someone else had a similar idea as Strika stomped her way up to the two duelling idiots and slammed their heads together. That was a signal to everyone that the ceremony was over. The crowd soon parted, but Scourge stood there and watch as both Blitzwing and Lugnut get chewed out by Strika. Quite funny to watch the two Cons get beaten down in such a matter.

"That was different than what we do back on Cybertron," said Scourge, reaching up to Ariel to scratch underneath her chin. The technorganic spider click in pleasure at the attention as Scrouge took his own leave of the area. "Let's go and see if we can find any skitters around for you to have."

That earned him a purr and nuzzle from Ariel as the two walked away, not knowing what the future would have for them now. But Scourge knew that they would continue to survive. It's what he did best.

She didn't drink enough to deal with this.

The pounding of her helm didn't help. Elita made the fantastic decision to drink away her woes at Maccadam's until the early megacycles of the orbital cycle of the funeral. She barely remembers how she got back to her apartment. Slumping her way out of her bedchamber and seeing Rodimus' familiar maroon and golden frame on her couch gave her a pretty good idea of how.

Now, he dragged her to the funeral that would take place at the Autobot Memorial Plaza. Quite a big crowd for a funeral service, especially for a crew of space bridge repair bots. She could see familiar faces of those on the Autobot High Council. Several high-ranking members of both the Science and Medical Guilds came as well. It surprised her as Elita didn't expect such a crowd for this.

Not that Sentinel deserves it.

"Can I ask why the likes of Perceptor, Wheeljack and Pharma are here?" Elita asked Rodimus in a low tone. Was there something in the meeting she missed in her inner frustration over Sentinel and having to speak at the funeral?

All she got from her fellow Prime was a shrug of the shoulders. "No clue," he replied. "I think they knew the medic? The mech looked like he served in the war."

That was most likely the best information Elita would get unless she asked someone else. Not likely, as she wanted to get this done. She took to sitting near the front with Rodimus, and they were joined by Longarm Prime and Cliffjumper. The three Primes exchanged hellos as it seems Longarm was asked too to say something on behalf of the two younger members of the crew.

It turns out he went to boot camp with them…and had Sentinel as his drill instructor.

So Longarm was involved in that whole Decepticon undercover agent fiasco as well. Poor mech. It made Elita feel sorry for those two on Sentinel's repair crew. To have him as a drill instructor during that disaster and then their captain on the repair crew. Primus had to be angry at them for some reason.

Elita didn't have time to think it over too much as the whole ceremony started. It brought back memories of the last funeral she attended, one that only had four bots in attendance.

It should have been three.

Hearing Cleric Heretech speaking of the glory of Primus, the Allspark and all that religious slag was annoying. A small smirk play across Elita's face as Sentinel would have found this all boring. He wasn't a religious mech and thought those who were to be dull and stupid to follow such outdated customs.

If Optimus heard him say such things, he would have lecture Sentinel on the importance of accepting other's views and how important it was to remember the past for the future's sake.

But how would that work for those that didn't have a future anymore?

Once the cleric was done, bots started to go up one at a time to say something about those that were lost. Ultra Magnus gave a broad speech on that Ratchet mech and his war service, similar to what Perceptor and Pharma told about his work in the medical and science fields.

Wheeljack told some story about Ratchet and the femme on the crew that earn a chuckle from the crowd.

Longarm Prime once started to speak about his two boot camp friends, their energy and dreams of the future; Elita felt dread coming up. Once he was done, she would be up next.

"You sure you want to do this?" asked Rodimus in a whisper. "I can go up and-"

"No," she said curtly before letting out a sigh. "I mean, it has to be me. Everyone knows I was friends with Sentinel, so I should say something…even after everything happened. Optimus would have wanted me too."

"Look, I know how much you respect Op. I do too, and the mech was only my tutor back at the Academy. He never treated me differently like everyone else did cause they thought I was this supposed 'Chosen One' slag," said Rodimus. "But he wouldn't want you to live your life because of him. You need to do what's best for Elita."

She merely snorted at the mere idea. What was best for Elita anymore? She didn't know and was too late to discover it. As Longarm step down from the platform, Elita rose from her chair.

"What's best for me is to move on."

She could feel everyone's optics as she made her what to the platform. Elita was no stranger to speaking in public, to large groups of bots at the time. But that was for things like training and plan missions or patrols. Stuff that was part of her job. She wasn't very good at talking about things that were personal to her.

Elita kept all that behind a mask of professionalism. Very few knew the real femme behind that mask.

Taking a moment to cycle her fans, Elita faced the crowd as she stood at the podium. The faster she got this done, the quicker it would be over with, and she could go back to drinking her worries away.

"Sentinel and I have a long history, as most of you know. I met him back at boot camp and were together for most of our time together at the Academy," said Elita, gripping tight to the podium.

"He was a mech full of passion and dreams. Sentinel never wanted to settle down and always strive to be the best of the best. Never could take no as an answer, he pushes his way to get further and achieve his goals."

Even at the expense of others.

"He always wanted to serve Cyerbtron and the Autobot cause to the best of his abilities, and I think he would be happy to have done so in the end."

There, done.

Now, Elita could move on with her life and forget she even knew the mech.

No way Sentinel could bother her anymore.

"Scourge."

Hearing his name, he looked up from giving Ariel another piece of skitter to see who would dare talk to him. He wasn't the most popular mech in New Kaon, or actually in the whole cause. Most looked down on him for any number of reasons. Because he was a former Autobot, he had bonded to a technorganic, size, etc. It took a long time for him to get over it.

Most time, some mechs decided to see if they could prove their superior in taking him down.

It never goes well for them, and Scourge received some funds to rebuild his life. Mods and armour aren't cheap, and being on the edge of universes doesn't make things easier.

But to his surprise, there was the General of Destruction herself, Strika. Dropping the remains of the skitter onto the ground, Scourge stood up at attention and saluted her. Almost like he was still back at the Autobot Academy. Ariel merely hissed as her mealtime was disturbed but didn't strike out to attack as she usually would do. She simply jumped down from her perch and ate the skitter's remains from the ground.

"Ma'am!"

"At ease, Scourge," said Strika holding up her hand. "I merely wish to talk to you about a new assignment I wish for you to partake in."

Ok, that makes sense. Scourge tended to do a lot of dirty jobs for Megatron that no other Decepticons could do. Of course, one of the Decepticon High Command would want to make use of his skills. The only bright side to his civilian frame was it made it easier to sneak into Autobot bases and deal with enemies of the cause. The added aid of an electronic paint job helps. He even thought of talking with one of the merchants for a light bender.

Never in his time in the Academy did Scourge thought he would be fit for a career in intelligence or special ops. But his time with the Decepticons seemed to have proved he did have the skills for it.

"What do you wish for me to do?"

"I need you to watch over Lugnut for me."

Scourge was thankful that his DJD helmet covered his entire face. He didn't want Strika to see his gaping open mouth as Scourge couldn't believe what she asked of him. "Excuse me?"

"Lugnut right now is lost without Megatron around. I believe it will be some time before he comes to accept the truth. I would keep him close, but Megatron's loss has created a power void that we can't allow to continue. I need to focus my attention on those that would use this for their gains. What I need is a set of optics I can trust to watch over him," explain Strika.

"But why not ask Blitzwing?"

Strika stood her head, "You saw how they acted at the funeral. I can't trust neither of them at the moment." she sighed. "No, I need someone to watch and reel him in if things get too out of control. I know with your...partner, you have the power to knock him out if needed."

She did have a point. Over time Scourge has gotten better control over Ariel's toxins and could now easily knock someone out rather than kill them. He could easily do the same with Lugnut if he got a little crazy. Given how Lugnut reacted at the funeral, the mech couldn't be left alone or else he could cause real trouble for someone else that wasn't Blitzwing.

Sighing, Scourge nodded his head as Ariel finished her meal, "I understand and should be able to do it with ease. I'm used to dealing with Lugnut by now and I already have experience dealing with mechs with...unique personalities."

His time in boot camp and the Academy with both Elita and Sentinel proves that fact.

"Excellent," said Strika. She looked to be please with his answer, but it was hard for Scourge to tell sometimes. She reached into her subspace and handed over a datapad. "This has my comm code, and if you cannot reach me, there are Cyclonus's comm codes. He is the only one of my crew that would relay any messages privately. There are also the comm codes for Kalis' Lament's if you need them. I want reports on Lugnut every seven orbital cycles on his doing."

Taking the datapad in his hand, Scourge didn't bother to look it over before placing it into his subspace. He could look it over once he got back to his place.

"I trust you can keep your silence on this matter. I do not want Lugnut to find out about this."

That would be a disaster. Scourge didn't want to be at the receiving end of Lugnut's P.O.K.E. after he found out his Conjunx hired a sparkling sitter to watch him. It was a tad insulting for sure, but this was Lugnut. The mech wasn't the sanest one around. But there wasn't a lot of sanity to spare in the Decepticon ranks.

"Trust me, I don't want him finding out too," said Scourge, smirking underneath his helmet.

Well, at least he found himself a job to keep Ariel and himself busy for awhile now.