Chapter 24: The Guilty
In a dingy apartment in Tetrahex, a pair of mechs sat by the windows, with the lights off.
"I hate this." One of them remarked. "We can't even get a decent night of recharge."
"I'm on watch, Cliffjumper." The other mech replied. "You can recharge. You don't trust me?"
"I trust you, Streetwise." Cliffjumper replied, standing up and walking toward a small refrigerator. "I just don't want you to be alone if they show up."
The smaller, Bumblebee sized mech took out an energon cube, and brought it to the black and white mech.
"Well don't worry." Streetwise replied. "I haven't seen any movement since this afternoon. Street's usually dead around this time of night." He grabbed the energon cube and sipped it.
Cliffjumper hopped onto his recharge slab, as headlights flashed through the window, causing him to freeze.
"Neutral. Relax." Streetwise stated. "Get some rest, Cliff. You've got watch in six cycles."
Cliffjumper let out a sigh.
"This is so messed up. All of it."
"You're telling me?" Streetwise asked. "I nearly got shot showing up for my shift at the Citadel. They took over quick, autobots inside must not have had a chance." He leaned against the window. "What a disaster."
"They tried running off the road during my route." Cliffjumper said, as he laid back. "Thought it was a prank at first..."
"Cliff, shh!" Streetwise interrupted.
A high pitched whistling seemed to intensify, and the mechs exchanged a glance.
"Oh Frag." Streetwise muttered.
"What?" Cliffjumper asked, fear in his voice.
Streetwise turned to him, optics wide.
"Run."
The wall exploded, a missile slamming into it with full force, and both mechs were sent flying.
Vortex hovered overhead, and began blasting the apartment apart with laserfire.
"Go Cliff, I'll hold them off!" Streetwise shouted.
"I'm not leaving you!" Cliffjumper replied.
"Go! Now!" Streetwise shouted, firing his pistol up at Vortex.
Cliffjumper changed form, his tiny red vehicle mode blasting down the hallway, and smashing through a back window.
Vortex fired a missile, that hit Streetwise directly, and sheared off a good amount of his armor.
He was sent through the apartment wall, and into the hallway.
Vortex transformed and dropped down.
Barricade climbed up, and stood next to him, where the wall had been, and let out a disappointed sigh as he walked towards the downed autobot.
"It's a shame. I've been watching you for weeks but I was going to give you a chance, partner." Barricade said, his hand morphing into a shotgun. "You should've kept moving."
"Barricade, you spawn of a glitch..." Streetwise muttered, looking up at him in disgust. "All those years, knowing you were a decepticon sympathizer. And I never said a thing because you were my partner. I should've known it was gonna be you."
"Look at it this way." Barricade said, humorlessly. "If it wasn't me, it was gonna be someone else. And they probably would've let you suffer."
"Suffer?!" Streetwise demanded. "IM LYING IN PIECES ON THE FLOOR WAITING FOR MY PARTNER TO KILL ME!" He shouted. "All because of the badge we both used to wear." He spit at Barricade's feet. "You'll get yours, 'partner.'"
Barricade sighed.
"I hope there's an afterspark, Streetwise." Barricade said, lifting up the shotgun. "You deserve it."
He fired, blasting apart the top of the mech's head.
Streetwise dropped limp to the floor. Barricade shook his head in disgust, and turned away.
"I didn't take you for the sentimental type, Cade." Vortex teased.
"Go eat a muffler, Vortex." Barricade replied angrily.
"So...the legendary lawman himself." Megatron taunted, looking up at the helpless, chained autobot.
"Indeed." Ultra Magnus replied. "And the miner revolutionary who let the success go to his head."
Megatron frowned, walking around the large autobot.
"Let it go to my head, you say?" He asked. "Pray tell, how did I let it go to my head?"
Ultra Magnus looked down at him.
"I'm not your therapist. I can't deal with your radicalized psyche right now. As you can see, I have my hands full."
Megatron nodded. "Oh you certainly do, Ultra Magnus. But, I am in no rush. Take your time. By all means, let's drag this out as much as you wish." He looked up into the autobot's optics, and the amused looked seemed to vanish.
"The longer your faction continues aggression against us, the worse it gets for everyone. You can stop this now, before it escalates."
Ultra Magnus stared back at him in disbelief.
"You destroyed a city." He stated.
Megatron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nasal ridge.
"It was a necessary act, in order to secure..."
"Oh don't explain your tactics to me, Megatron. And don't you dare try to rationalize it." Magnus snapped. "Millions are dead. Autobots and innocents alike, and that energon is on your hands!"
Megatron twitched, the truth of his words stinging the mech.
"If you order your autobots to lay down their arms, I will end this, Ultra Magnus." Megatron stated. "They forfeit their badges, and they'll be able to move on with their lives, we all will."
"Am I supposed to take your word on that?" Ultra Magnus asked. "Orion Pax was the last mech to take you on your word, how did it work out for him?" He demanded.
Megatron's optics seemed to grow more disconnected, as the words cut deep into him.
He didn't understand this feeling. How it permeated him. But it was overwhelming. He opened his mouth, but found there was nothing to say.
"No, Megatron, there will be no surrender." Ultra Magnus continued. "We will never accept you as the leader of Cybertron, we will resist, and in time we will make you answer for your crimes! You have my word on that!"
Megatron was silent. He let out a sigh, then turned to walk out of the room.
"Altihex will be avenged, Megatron! Justice will come for you!" Ultra Magnus shouted, as the decepticon leader left the room.
The autobots repairs continued, within the dimly lit sewer bunker.
"So what do we do now?" Prowl asked. "We have a medic. A scientist. A handful of soldiers. A newly minted Prime..."
"And a courier." Ironhide added, pointing to Bumblebee.
"He's a lot more than that." Optimus pointed out, gesturing to Bumblebee. "You're looking at the only survivor of Altihex."
"Woah." Jazz remarked, looking over at the little mech. "You got outta there? What's your secret?"
"Falling in the right spot." Bumblebee replied, holding his helm, as he grimaced in pain.
Ratchet gave him a concerned look.
"Bumblebee go find a berth." He said, gesturing to the medibay.
"I'm fine doc, I didn't inhale THAT much rust."
Ratchet crossed his arms and issued a stern look.
"Bumblebee."
"Fiiiiine." Bumblebee whined, turning and walking over to a medical berth.
"And as for you." Ratchet said, looking at Optimus. "You need a physical. I need to be sure there's nothing about your new chassis that could be harmful."
"On that same note..." Arcee added, raising her hand. "Maybe tell us how you got it?"
Optimus nodded slowly, looking at the curious optics as they turned toward him.
"My brothers...and sister." He added. "I'm not sure exactly what happened. I...awakened in a chamber. Deep within Cybertron. I was spoken to by...a ghost. Or a vision. I'm not sure which."
"Mhm." Sunstreaker said, crossing his arms. "Was that before or after you beat up mortilus, won a card game against Adaptus, and found the matrix of leadership stuck in your tailpipe?"
Optimus looked over at the yellow mech.
"Those first two parts...I don't...know. But as for the matrix..."
The mech opened his chest compartment, and the bunker was filled with blue light, as the matrix was revealed.
The autobots were silent. Staring in wonder.
Sunstreaker in particular had wide optics, staring at it in disbelief.
"It was...a joke." He finally stammered.
"When I touched it, I was given this new frame." Optimus stated, closing his chest. "And remade. It was...not a pleasant experience, if I'm quite honest."
"Did this...ghost tell you anything? Anything helpful?" Arcee asked.
"She told me the fate of Cybertron is in my...our hands." He said. "I told her I would need an army, I am just one mech...so she guided me to Bumblebee. And through circumstance, he guided me to you." He said, looking across the faces.
"You are the army that will save Cybertron."
"You're kidding, right?" Sunstreaker asked.
Optimus looked at him.
"I am quite serious."
Sunstreaker turned and did a quick count.
"There are...fourteen people in this room." He said angrily. "Fourteen! Did you see how many cons we just fought off?"
"Yes. And we survived." Optimus replied.
"We don't know if Ultra Magnus is still alive." Hound noted. "We certainly didn't come out of it unscathed."
"Magnus is alive." Prowl said matter of factly. "Megatron would be an idiot to kill him, Magnus is the only person who knows where we're hiding. And after all the noise we just made on the freeway...yeah, they'll want to get it out of him."
"You know what? I can't with this. I mean, what is this?" Sunstreaker asked, standing up. "Is this some kind of cult? We're just gonna do what this guy says, because he's a Prime? Is that how this works?"
"I suggest you sit yourself down." Ironhide warned.
"Come on Sunny..." Sideswipe muttered.
Sunstreaker spun around to face him.
"Oh don't you start. They shot me sides. THEY SHOT ME FOR WEARING THIS STUPID BADGE."
"They kinda shot at all of us..." Trailbreaker muttered.
"I don't think he even sees us..." Mirage muttered back to the mech.
"So what are you gonna do?" Sideswipe asked, standing up and getting in the mechs face. "Feeling a little in over your head yet?"
"Yeah. I am. And I can recognize that all of this is nonsense." Sunstreaker replied angrily, as he turned to Optimus. "You're a big guy with a glowy thing in your chest. The rest of you are professionally suicidal, and apparently you're all gonna do what he says, because some ghost told him he's a Prime?!"
Arcee stood up.
"Sunstreaker. Sit down." She commanded.
"No. This is stupid, I'm not dying for you people. I'm not." He turned toward the bunker door. "Come on Sideswipe."
Sideswipe crossed his arms.
"Good luck out there, Sunny."
Sunstreaker stopped, and turned around slowly.
"Really? You're gonna stay here with this Prime cult? You're gonna die with them?"
Sideswipe nodded firmly. "Yup. This is the first time in my entire life I've done something that's worth a damn. This isn't about Primes. It's about our home. The decepticons want to kill us. They want to wipe us out, for wearing this badge. Do you not see anything wrong with that?" Sideswipe demanded.
"Of course I do." Sunstreaker replied. "I just don't see how it's our problem." He looked at Optimus. "Every single one of us could take that badge off, and walk into town tomorrow. And live the rest of our lives. But instead you want to wear that thing and die. Why?!"
"Because it means something." Optimus replied.
"Does it?" Sunstreaker asked. "What does it mean?! Shoot me?!!"
"It means we aren't afraid." Optimus said, looking down at the mech. "It means we're taking a stand against the decepticons. It means we're not hiding. It binds us, each and every one of us." He looked around the room. "Megatron wants to kill every single person that's in this bunker. And we are wearing this badge to reject that notion. To show that we will stand against it."
Sunstreaker shook his head.
"That's all well and good for you guys. You get to have that warm fuzzy feeling before you die. But I don't belong here. We don't belong here. Me, I want to live."
"So did I." Sideswipe said. "But you just kept pulling me into scheme after scheme. If you didn't have us run guns for the cons..."
"I know! Primus dammit Sideswipe, I know this is my fault! That's why I can't let you stay here and die, because if I do, it's on me, now let's go." Sunstreaker replied frantically.
"You're right." Sideswipe agreed. "This is your fault. So own it. Because you know what?" He turned and pointed to Arcee. "She gave us a second chance. She gave us a chance to be a part of something. And I want to be a part of it, Sunstreaker."
Sunstreaker stared back at him in disbelief. He opened his mouth, looking at Arcee, then back at Sideswipe.
"I don't want to die, Sunny." Sideswipe continued, looking over at Arcee. "I don't think any of us do. But Primus dammit...if we gotta die for something...why not somebody who believed in us?"
Sunstreaker shook his head. Tears forming in his optics.
"I can't believe this. They don't believe in us sides. We were just janitors..."
"I believe in you." Arcee said. Looking Sunstreaker directly in the optics. "Both of you. And I wouldn't have had that badge put on your chests if I didn't believe in both of you."
Sunstreaker shook his head, as tears began to run down.
Sideswipe's optics were wet as well.
"You've looked out for each other for years." Arcee said. "You've kept each other alive, through all manner of...illegal and stupid things. You've earned those badges."
Sunstreaker shook his head again, more frantically now.
Arcee walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Look at me." She said.
Sunstreaker tilted his head up towards her. Slowly, and hesitantly.
"I believe in you."
Sunstreaker looked away, and covered his face with his hand.
"You've never heard anyone say that to you before. Have you?" She asked.
Sunstreaker shook his head.
"No ma'am." He said quietly. "Wasn't anybody there to say it. It was just us." He said, looking at Sideswipe.
Sideswipe looked down at the floor.
"And you love him, don't you?" Arcee asked.
Sunstreaker nodded.
"Yeah. Course I do." He replied. "He's my brother."
"So fight for him." Optimus said, walking toward them. "Fight for him. And we'll fight for you. All of us."
He looked around the room.
"Every single one of you in this room. Some of you know the other autobots in this room. Some of you don't. But they're your brother. They're all you have now. So get to know them. Because when this is done, I want everyone in this room to be alive. And when we make it through this...and we will...the person next to you will be more than your comrade. They'll be family."
Sideswipe nodded in agreement, wiping away a tear. He looked back to Sunstreaker.
"You stayin?" He asked.
Sunstreaker looked down at the floor, hands on his hips.
He sniffled, then nodded as well.
Sideswipe leaned forward and embraced the mech.
Sunstreaker hesitated a moment, then wrapped his arms around his brother.
"You guys are a handful." Bumblebee stated from the medical berth, looking around the room. "Lots of unchecked emotions."
"I know." Ratchet agreed with a sigh. "There'll be no peace and quiet with this bunch..."