CHAPTER 23
"There, that should do it," Knock Out said and wiped his lubricate-wet forehead. He had spent at least twenty cycles closing Starscream's wounds and supplying him with fresh energon, and finally it seemed the Seeker was beginning to stabilize. His brainwave activity beeped occasional and steadily, though with some minor disturbances. It seemed as if the air commander was in a limbo, standing on a line between life and death, unable to commit to either. The sight reminded the doctor of the time Megatron had been on that table, in the same situation as the Seeker – well, almost the same, excluding the protoforms of course.
"Knock Out," Megatron's voice sounded from outside the lab.
Knock Out's spark skipped a beat and ran over to the door as it opened, stepping outside in front of the warlord and closed it quickly afterwards. He struck a pose in an attempt to look casual – and failed.
"Hey, Big M! You called me? What's the news, huh?" he said in a painful tone.
Megatron raised an eyebrow by this behavior. "What's going on?" he asked with a deep voice.
"On? There's nothing going on, I'm just…" Knock Out tried to think of an explanation. "…working on the synthetic energon formula, that's it! It's coming along quite well, I assure you, my liege…"
"Good," Megatron said, but his expression revealed he knew something was going on. "Have you seen Starscream anywhere?"
"Starscream? No, haven't seen him anywhere," Knock Out lied. "Why?"
Megatron snorted by the answer. "Well, it seems that since my second-in-command is both absent and completely incompetent, I need you to go fetch the next Predacon bone, in a museum."
"Moir? Uh, of course, sir! I'll get right to it!"
"Good. Do not fail me."
After assuring his leader he would not fail him, Knock Out went through the corridors to find Soundwave so he could GroundBridge to the museum. He looked over his shoulder and was relieved to find that Megatron had left to return to the command center. That was close, he thought. He didn't know why he had lied about Starscream's whereabouts to the warlord, but he was certain that if Megatron had seen the unconscious Seeker in sickbay, he would start asking questions. Questions he did not want to answer, in case Starscream woke up and found out about it. But he was also unsure if it was a good idea to leave the air commander behind in his lab unattended while he went out to retrieve a Predacon bone. But he had already closed the wounds, supplied him with energon and stabilized his brainwave activity. There was nothing more he could do for him – he had to get out of this limbo by himself.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to be gone for half a megacycle," he mumbled to himself. "He'll be fine."
"They're coming back now," Raf informed.
The GroundBridge at the Autobot base had stayed open for Ratchet and Wheeljack to go back to Scotland through and return again. After having a long discussion about what to do, they decided it would be best to gather up the energon spilled during the birth of the sparklings, to test Ratchet's theory, and giving that they were unable to reach Starscream at the moment. When they returned through the GroundBridge, it turned out they had only filled a single cube of energon; it was mostly blue, but it had a sickly mix of green, red, yellow, pink and purple in it, looking a lot like oil in a water puddle spilled from a truck.
"Is that it?" Miko asked loudly in disbelief, while the sparklings continued to wail in the background. "Where's the rest of it?"
"This is the rest of it," Wheeljack said. "I was surprised too how little energon there actually was, considering how much it stained."
"One cube should be enough," Ratchet assured. "They're small, so they need less. They should be able to get what they need from this one cube."
He put down the rainbow-colored cube on the table, next to the crying sparklings. He took the hoses from the normal cubes and put them in the sickly colored cube, giving each hose to a sparkling.
They stopped crying and investigated the hoses once again. Everyone held their breaths. The one with the blue spark sniffed its hose and put it in its mouth again for another test. Energon went from the cube through the hose and into the sparkling's mouth. It held tighter around the hose, as if it was about to throw it away again…
…then it started purring and continued to suck the energon in it. As if it was a signal, the other sparklings began sucking their own hoses. All the sparklings were now curled up in fetal positions, making soothing purrs like they were big kittens, happily drinking the energon they were used to.
Everyone sighed of relief and watched with warm sparks and hearts the small forms, listening to their purring.
"It's hard to imagine that they're Starscream's," Raf remarked.
"Really? With all that screaming it's hard to imagine they wouldn't be," Wheeljack noted, earning a few giggles among the others.
"Well, all jokes aside, what do we do now?" Arcee asked. "That cube won't keep them occupied forever. Sooner or later we'll have to get them more, and you know what that means."
They nodded. If the sparklings were to survive, they needed Starscream.
Where am I…?
Everything was darkness. Starscream couldn't remember anything, and all his senses were shut down. He wasn't even sure if he had said that out loud or thought it. Then, he heard a voice. Familiar, yet unknown. Warm, yet intimidating. Calm, yet loud. It came from everywhere, and at the same time nowhere.
Starscream, the voice said. I have been waiting for you. Do you know who I am?
He tried and tried, but his memory was completely blank, as if he had just been born. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, one particular name struck his mind.
…Primus…?
A blinding light appeared before him, and suddenly everything became clear to him. His name was Starscream, he was a Decepticon commander, former leader of the Seekers on Planet Cybertron, and his enemies were the Autobots. But he did not remember how he got here, in this darkness with the only light coming from the white sphere of circling sparks.
Primus, what am I doing here? he asked concerned, with his mind rather than with his mouth. It seemed more like a dream than reality, as his senses were still shut down, and what he did see and hear was more like a blurry image, happening in his mind rather than clear and visible like reality. He could not feel anything, not even ground underneath his peds; he was merely floating in empty space, yet it felt so…freeing.
Your spark is fading, my child. You are preparing to join with me, with the AllSpark.
Join with the AllSpark? But I don't even know how I got here.
You sustained fatal damage. Suffered pain beyond your recognition. Do you remember now?
The Seeker thought back to his last memory. Yes, now that he mentioned it, he did remember something about unbearable pain, pain that made him wish to die immediately, energon everywhere, and then…nothing. His memory was blank after that.
I do. And whatever happened, I don't want it to happen again. I'm done with the pain.
He took a deep breath, or at least that's what it felt like.
I'm ready to join with the AllSpark.
Later, in the Autobot base, Agent Fowler had informed the team of another Decepticon signal, this time in New Mexico. Arcee and Wheeljack ended up going together; for some reason, Wheeljack seemed to want some time alone from Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead as well, but neither Ratchet nor Arcee would let him go alone, so he was convinced to let Arcee join him. Not long after they left, Jack's mother, June Darby arrived at the base to deliver medical supplies to the soldiers, and stopped by the base to see how everyone was doing. As she saw the sparklings on the table, sucking energon in them, she naturally asked questions and got them answered. That they were Starscream's sparklings, that they only wanted his energon, and that the team was trying to figure out a way to find Starscream at the same time with trying to keep the Predacon bones from the Decepticons.
"So they really won't take anything but specifically his energon?" June asked. "Did you try warming the other energon? It works with human babies and milk."
"It's not that simple," Ratchet explained. "It doesn't matter if the energon is warm or cold. If the sparklings refuse to drink one type of energon, they won't drink it at all. They are very sensitive to changes at this age and will refuse anything unfamiliar to them. Which means that once they're done with that cube, we'll need Starscream's help to keep them sustained."
"Hello? This is Starscream, remember?" Miko pointed out. "He's a Decepticon, the worst kind, even! He won't care about these sparklings, will he?"
"While you are right that he can be ruthless and dangerous at times," Ratchet explained, "I cannot be sure given the current situation. He may be indifferent about his sparklings' fate, or perhaps he sees them as an opportunity to give Megatron additional troops. Under any circumstances he seems to be a first-time parent, which makes any action towards them very dangerous and risky, for them and for him. Either way, these sparklings will not be safe with him."
"Hey guys," Raf said from his computer. "Not to interrupt or anything, but I just found another Predacon bone!"
"Really? Where is it?" Bulkhead asked.
"In a museum. The same one we found that Energon Harvester in. Scientists were stumped when they found it and put it in storage because they couldn't classify it."
"Well, I didn't choose an emergency vehicle for laughs," Ratchet said, sounding ready to leave.
"Wait, you can't leave," Bulkhead protested. "We need you to keep an eye on the sparklings."
"Oh, so now I'm a nursebot, am I?"
"Uh, no! That's not what I—"
"How about I go?" Agent Fowler suggested. "If it's in a museum, it'd be wiser for a human to get it, instead of one of you stomping around with your big feet."
"My feet aren't big," Ratchet protested. "Just…hefty."
"I think he's right though," Jack said from the couch, playing a video game. "It would be less suspicious if Agent Fowler went. He's got army authorization and everything."
"Maybe we should just wait for Optimus to get back," June suggested.
"I'll have you know, Nurse Darby, I was an Army Ranger and federal agent for Unit:E three decades before I even heard the name 'Optimus Prime'."
He then invited June to tag along with him. She was reluctant at first, but after Jack decided to ignore his game and forbade her to go because of the possible danger involved, she got annoyed and agreed to go after all. Ratchet opened a GroundBridge and let the two humans through it, coordinates set to the museum. As such, Ratchet, Bulkhead and the kids were left behind in the base.
There was silence for a while, the only sound coming from the purring sparklings.
"Okay, so, what's the story with those sparklings?" Miko said, breaking the ice. "How does a guy like Starscream get pregnant? How do you bots do it? How long 'til these little guys can kick tailpipe?"
Ratchet sighed and face-palmed. "Humans and their questions…"
Come to me, Starscream, Primus said calmly. Your destiny awaits…
Starscream reached out for the light…and flinched as his servo was pushed back. He couldn't touch the AllSpark. Something was wrong…
PATHETIC, a loud and intimidating voice rung through the void. He looked around for the source of the voice.
Wha? Who are you? Where are you?
I AM HERE, the voice said, and behind the Seeker, a large purple sphere identical to the white one appeared. It was ominous, dark and reeked of evil. Though he had never met it before, the Seeker knew who the voice belonged to. It could be no one else, in this place.
Unicron… he thought gloomily. What are you doing here?
YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHY I AM HERE. TO RECLAIM WHAT IS MINE.
Starscream was confused. What are you talking about? I don't have anything of interest to you.
OF COURSE YOU DO. YOUR SPARK.
My spark? What about it?
DO NOT PLAY ME FOR A FOOL. YOU TOOK MY BLOOD AND PUT IT IN YOUR SPARK. YOU DID THAT TO RAISE THE ONE CALLED 'SKYQUAKE' FROM THE DEAD.
Oh, you know about that, huh… Starscream thought embarrassed. But I took the crystal out of my spark chamber again! I don't have any dark energon in me, Lord Megatron does!
NAIVE LITTLE MORTAL, Unicron bellowed, though his tone suggested he was being calm. YOU ARE A GREEDY ONE, GREEDY LIKE YOUR PUNY SPARK. YOU MAY NOT CONTROL THE DARK ENERGON LIKE MEGATRON, BUT REMOVING A CRYSTAL FROM YOUR SPARK DOES NOT RID YOU OF MY BLOOD. YOUR SPARK HAS BEEN INFECTED, CONSUMED BY MY POWER, CRAVING MORE. YOU CANNOT JOIN THE ALLSPARK, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!
Starscream felt as if everything froze. It had been six months since he inserted the dark energon crystal he stole from Megatron's spark chamber into his own to control Skyquake. Perhaps he had made a mistake by breaking the crystal in half and first inserting it into his spark after giving the other half to the fallen warrior, because the symbiosis did not work. He had felt it though, and he had also felt the power within him, summoning a dark fire around him, then spreading it into the ground below. Though when the Autobots had arrived shortly after and shot his arm off, he realized the energon did not work, and thus he removed the crystal and retreated, having his arm replaced later by Knock Out. He had never even considered that the effects of the dark energon might still be within him.
Well, uh…well then. I'm…sorry?
THERE IS NOTHING TO DO ABOUT THAT NOW. THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO IS RETURN TO EARTH AND RESUME YOUR MISERABLE LIFE.
Wait, I can do that? How?
JOIN ME, Unicron said, in the same kind of diplomatic tone Megatron had. JOIN WITH THE ANTI-SPARK, BECOME ONE OF MY HERALDS, AND YOU SHALL LIVE YET AGAIN…
Do not listen to him, Starscream, Primus said. Starscream had almost forgotten he was there. If you join him, you will NEVER be freed of your pain. You will be trapped in the living world forever.
AND WHY SHOULD AN ETERNAL LIFE DRAW HIM AWAY FROM ME, BROTHER? YOU KNOW HOW THESE MORTALS ARE ABOUT THEIR LIVES.
You know this is wrong, Starscream, do NOT do it!
Starscream listened to their arguments, trying to decide what to do. An eternal life would be nice…but if it involved the kind of pain he remembered, then it didn't seem so nice after all…
ARE YOU WILLING TO ABANDON YOUR SPARKLINGS? Unicron said out of nowhere.
Suddenly, Starscream remembered: The pain, the energon, the screams, it was all connected to the sparklings. His sparklings…
THEY NEED YOU, STARSCREAM. THEY NEED YOU, AND I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BRING YOU BACK TO THEM. As Starscream did not answer, Unicron continued: NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU TRY, YOU CANNOT JOIN WITH THE ALLSPARK, AND IF YOU REFUSE TO JOIN ME, YOU WILL BE LEFT TO WANDER THE VOID IN ETERNITY. SO ANSWER ME: WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE? ME, OR THE VOID?
Do not do it, Starscream, Primus repeated. There are consequences to this that you will regret forever. Do not let him trick you!
You know what? Starscream finally said, looking at the AllSpark and all its flickering sparks. I'm done with you. I never really cared about you, the Thirteen or any of that religious nonsense! I only prayed to you because I was lonely and scared! I can clearly tell that I can't join you either way, and you want me to wander in limbo forever because it's wrong to join with Unicron? Well, you know what? Screw you, Primus!
He turned around and reached out for the Anti-Spark that was Unicron. My sparklings need me.
As he touched the Anti-Spark, the dark matter enveloped him and he felt unspeakable pain, worse than even birthing his sparklings. The AllSpark disappeared, leaving the Seeker in a black void with the only light coming from the eerily dark purple Anti-Spark, with a red face he assumed was meant to be Unicron's. The face made a loud, dark, demonic laughter as what seemed to be a hand made from dark sparks was holding tightly around the screaming Seeker.
HE IS MINE NOW…
"Hmm, fascinating…" Ratchet remarked while analyzing the scans of the sparklings.
"What is it?" Raf asked curiously.
"It seems that four of these sparklings have a unique form of innermost energon."
"Innermost energon? What's that?"
"It's the energon that lies within our very sparks, the energon that makes us who we are. While the energon flowing within our bodies comes and goes, the innermost energon stays for as long as we continue to function."
"Well, what's so unique about four of them?" Jack asked.
"Innermost energon is normally composed of regular blue energon, though it is not uncommon to have artificial pink energon either." He pointed at the sparklings with blue and pink sparks. "The rest, however, are kinds of energon impossible to obtain that way."
The kids took a look at the curled-up sparklings. Other than the ones with blue and pink sparks, there was one with a green, one with a red, one with a purple and one with a yellow spark. Some of these colors seemed awfully familiar…
"Red energon," Raf concluded and pointed at the one with the red spark.
"Correct," Ratchet replied. "Though the question is how it doesn't burn up all its energy right away. Red energon usually only lasts for about five cycles after consumption, but there has never been anyone having it as their innermost energon before…"
"Well, what about the purple one?" Miko asked and pointed at it. "Isn't that dark energon? Shouldn't that be worse?"
"Yes, it is dark," Ratchet replied. "But like with the red energon, I have no idea how it will affect the sparkling as its innermost energon. Considering it is the blood of Unicron, it's bound to gain some…issues."
"And the green?" Jack asked. "What's that? Synthetic or toxic?"
"If it was toxic, I doubt the sparkling would even be alive," Ratchet replied. "The readings indicate it's synthetic. My analysis show a great amount of energy within that one, though also with a high level of aggression, so the energon is imperfect."
The kids looked at the sparkling with the green spark. It seemed pretty peaceful as it drank from the hose and purred like a small engine. Their attention then went to the last one.
"What about the yellow one?" Bulkhead went in, having kept quiet for a while, but having listened to their conversation. "I've never heard of yellow energon."
"Me neither," Ratchet admitted. "Though there is a legend that tells of golden energon. The legend says that golden energon is the blood of Primus, much like dark energon is the blood of Unicron. Some say golden energon can only be found in one particular place: The Realm of the Primes, meaning only one of the Thirteen would be able to retrieve this kind of energon. Others, however, claim that golden energon can also be found within the lost city of Dorades, a city swimming in energon, but that place is also only a myth. Which leaves me to wonder how this sparkling came in possession of such unique energon. Any of these sparklings, actually."
The kids stared at the sparklings in wonder, in deep thoughts about what they had just learned.
"Well, what I'd like to know," Miko said, "is how you Transformers can even get pregnant and stuff!"
"I'd like to know that too, actually," Raf said in agreement. "How do robots like you…do that?"
Ratchet rolled his optics at the kids. "I can't tell you the details, but as Starscream has just shown us, it is very possible for us 'robots' to carry. I've only been present at such birthing processes a few times, back on Cybertron during the golden age, but it seems I haven't forgotten my skills in handling that."
"Okay, so here's my question," Miko said, even though she had technically just asked one. "If there are guys and girls of you like there are of us, then how come Starscream got pregnant? I mean, he is a guy…right?"
"I'll have you know that gender is purely an identification thing for us," Ratchet replied, almost sounding a bit offended. "In reality we are genderless. It doesn't matter if the carrier considers themselves 'male' or 'female', heck, there doesn't even need to be a carrier."
"Wait, really?" Jack replied confused. "Why not?"
"Well, most protoforms actually come from eggs," Bulkhead said this time. "And those we call hatchlings. 'Sparkling', well…"
"It's more like a term for young protoforms in general," Ratchet answered for him. "When a hatchling grows older, eventually we begin calling them sparklings as well."
"Oh, and by the way, 'sparkling' is also what we call newly created sparks," Bulkhead said.
"Uh, isn't that a little confusing?" Raf asked.
"Why? We're just being concrete."
"Guys, can we all just take a moment to think about how Screamer got those sparklings in him in the first place?" Miko said with her arms spread. "Like, he'd still need to hook up with someone, right?"
"Miko…" Jack said and laid a hand on her shoulder.
Ratchet and Bulkhead's optics flickered, apparently not sure how to respond to this.
"It's not like what you humans do," Ratchet simply replied after a while. "It's more…spark-based. But yes, he would have needed to…interface with someone else. And if my calculations on these sparklings' ages are correct, then it must have happened while he went rogue."
"The real question is," Bulkhead said, "who'd be dumb enough to take Starscream?"
Starscream woke up with a scream, sitting up in a fast movement. He quickly realized he was no longer in the Void, but instead in Knock Out's lab on the operation table, connected to a lot of cables supporting him with energon. He took deep, fast breaths while thinking about what just happened.
He had seen Primus. More than that, he had seen Unicron. They said he was trapped, and that the only way to leave was by becoming a Herald of Unicron…
He shook his head in denial. "It was just a bad dream, that's all," he reasoned. He was still alive and well, he had never even been on the verge of death.
Then he remembered the reason why he was here.
"The sparklings!" He looked around in the room, and as he could neither see Knock Out nor his sparklings, he started to panic.
"I have to find them," he said to himself and ripped the cables off him, ignoring the soreness in his chest. He left the lab and ran across the hallways, ignoring the looks from the passing Vehicons and Insecticons, until he arrived at the flight deck where the Predacon was resting. As soon as he arrived, it looked up and growled at him. He walked cautiously along the walls to avoid it.
"Don't beat yourself up, I'm not interested in you right now, you mindless beast," he hissed at it. The insult made it growl even louder, but he didn't have time to deal with it right now. He switched to jet mode and flew off the Nemesis with his radar on full alert, determined to find his sparklings.
"Don't worry, my little ones," he said to himself. "I'll find you, no matter where you are. And then the Autobots shall pay!"