I think I really outdid myself on this one. With that said, Pokémon is the property of Nintendo, Gamefreak and several other companies, while Beast Wars and all other Transformers related media is the property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Enjoy.

Chapter 11: Towards Peace

The brig onboard the Darksyde was not up to Skyfire's standards. For one thing, it was too small; containing only four medium sized holding cells. And for another, the surveillance system in this sector was beyond outdated; even when it was working it suffered from a twenty second lag. But on the other hand, when fleeing from the law, one can't be too picky when choosing an escape vehicle. And besides, it was more than sufficient to house four human children.

Now normally, guard duty would be beneath such a high-ranking member of Megatron's 'army', but given how important the captives were to this stage of the plan and how capricious and ill-tempered his subordinates were, Skyfire was the only Predacon their 'illustrious' leader could trust to watch them. Which suited the ex-mercenary turned revolutionary just fine, as it afforded him the time to sharpen and polish his trusty sword; something he'd been unable to do for days, thanks to his many other responsibilities.

It had been over an hour since he began his task and aside from having to give the prisoners their nightly rations of food and water, Skyfire found the humans to be surprisingly low maintenance. Which again suited him just fine, since it gave him time to focus on maintaining his weapon, but it also made the assignment feel quite dull. And although he was far more disciplined than the others, that didn't mean he was immune to boredom.

Something told him that he was in for a long night.

"I just realized, I don't think I ever thanked you." Said the human Rudy from his cell; drawing Skyfire's attention away from his sword. "For saving my little sister from that big goon, I mean."

"That is not necessary, I was only doing my duty." He replied gruffly. "Insubordinate behavior cannot be tolerated in an operation such as this. It is as simple as that."

"Maybe so, but I'm still grateful." The young gym leader said casually, before changing the subject. "You know, for a supposedly advanced alien species, you Predacons are a remarkably uncomplicated group. Megatron and Tarantulus want power, Clawber and Terrorsaur are just bullies looking to hurt people, and Waspinator is too simpleminded to think for himself. The only one who doesn't seem to fit is you."

"Oh, and how is that?" asked Skyfire; mildly annoyed.

"You know what I'm talking about. Ever since you brought us here, you've been going out of your way to keep your teammates from mistreating us. You even volunteered to watch us tonight because you knew the others probably wouldn't give us water."

The other humans began to stir in their own cells. None of them said anything, but they all moved closer to their respective barriers. Clearly, they'd become interested in this conversation.

"I believe I already explained my intentions to you earlier." Skyfire said bluntly.

"Yes, I remember what you told Tarantulus about us being too important to waste, but I don't buy it. Just being a pragmatist and trying to instill discipline in your troops doesn't explain you. Not to my satisfaction."

"Your satisfaction is none of my concern."

"Maybe not, but you can't deny that you're not like the others. You don't attack people without a good reason. And aside from Tarantulus, you seem to be the only one around here who knows what he's doing. So just what is a consummate professional like yourself doing with this merry band of screwups?"

"I am not obligated to answer any of your questions."

"True, but I'm too wound up to sleep, and you're clearly not going anywhere. So you can either start talking, or we can both try to break the record for the world's longest awkward silence."

Skyfire did not appreciate the way this human was speaking to him. He was being far too familiar. However, he couldn't deny that there was a certain logic to what he was saying, and there were only so many times he could perform maintenance on his weapon without it becoming monotonous. So after giving the matter a little more thought, he finally relented.

"Very well, if you really must know. I fight now in the hopes that one day it will no longer be necessary."

"I'm not sure I understand." Rudy replied confusedly.

"It is as the great Megatron said in Towards Peace, 'My weapon is my burden. A reminder of the path I was forced to take. When the word weapon is emptied of meaning. When the purpose of a weapon is impossible to grasp. When the rejection of my weapon is of significance to no one other than myself. Only then shall I remove it from my arm. Because only then will I have earned the right to rid myself of my burden.'." Skyfire paused for a moment to let that quote sink in. "That was the dream of our ancestors. That is what the Autobots and the Maximals could never understand. Their methods may have been extreme, but the Decepticon cause was glorious. Just picture it. A civilization free from conflict. Everyone's needs met. No want. No unhappiness. No dissent. Peace through Tyranny."

"Um… are you sure we're talking about the same guy?" asked Todd, suddenly feeling brave apparently. "I mean, no offense, but Megatron doesn't really seem all that deep and poetic. Unless he's talking about himself."

"He didn't mean this Megatron, he meant the original." Rudy corrected his friend before the Predacon could. "Megatron was the name of a great poet and revolutionary from several centuries ago. The jerk who kidnapped us just started using the name so he could gain respect."

This took Skyfire completely by surprise. Sure, he had prattled on endlessly about the Great War and other bits of Cybertronian history during their training, but he hadn't expected the young human to actually listen.

"Look, Skyfire, I think your cause is a noble one, and I can understand you being angry with the Maximals after the way you've been treated, but do you really think getting involved with this group is the best way to fix things?" Rudy asked his Predacon jailer bluntly. "I mean, your ancestors were open to peaceful solutions. They must've been if they surrendered."

"The Decepticons surrendered because of the promises of one honorable Autobot, which were quickly broken by his successors." Skyfire said bitterly.

"And… you've lost me again." The young gym leader replied. "What promises? What Autobot?"

Naturally, Skyfire was becoming a little annoyed with these constant questions. On the one hand, his duty was to keep the humans from escaping, not give them history lessons. But on the other hand, it was a rather fascinating story, and he did so enjoy telling it, and he was quite bored.

'Oh, what the hell…' he thought to himself quietly before he began his tale. "It was during the last half century of the Great War, shortly after the death of Optimus Prime. With the Autobots' supreme leader gone, a Decepticon victory seemed inevitable. However, his successor, Rodimus Prime, proved to be quite the nuisance. And to make matters worse, not five years after the demise of his greatest rival, Megatron, in a move that stunned the entire galaxy, defected to the other side."

"Wait, back up a minute." Rudy interrupted; sounding deeply confused. "You're telling me the founder of the Decepticons became an Autobot? Why the heck would he do that?"

"Oh, I imagine he probably had a billion reasons. Some more rational than others. I honestly don't think there's a Cybertronian alive today who could possibly understand why he switched sides, but the point is that he did, and he wasn't alone. More than two thousand other Decepticons followed his example and some of them were quite notable and influential; Soundwave, Astrotrain, Thundercracker, Ravage, just to name a few. It was a serious blow to the Decepticon cause, but not enough to end the war."

"So what happened next?" asked Ritchie, apparently also receiving a burst of courage.

"Well, over the next few decades, the leadership of the Decepticons changed several times. Many ambitious bots coveted Megatron's throne and a few of them actually managed to seize it; Galvatron, Shockwave, Scorponok, Overlord, and the greatest of them all, Deathsaurus." Skyfire felt a strange but familiar stirring in his Spark when he spoke his idol's name. "Ah… now there was a true Decepticon. Megatron may have had noble ideals, but he was too quick to sacrifice his followers to achieve them. But Deathsaurus was different. He fought alongside his soldiers in battle, on the front lines no less. And what's more, he put their lives above his own. He protected their blind spots in the midst of combat, and when the battles turned in the enemy's favor, he would often draw their fire so his men could escape. He was a warrior of unquestionable honor."

"Sounds a bit like you." Rudy commented, much to the Predacon's displeasure; such comparisons made him… uneasy.

"Perhaps…" he said, shifting uncomfortably before he continued. "But regardless, Deathsaurus was the last of the Decepticon Emperors and it was his surrender after the Battle of Sherma Bridge that marked the end of the Great War."

"If he was so great, then why did he surrender?" asked Casey, the last of the group to pluck up the courage to speak.

"The answer to that is… complicated." Skyfire replied bluntly. "By that point, the war had become a lost cause. With Rodimus and Megatron leading the charge against them, the once mighty Decepticon Army had been slowly whittled down to a mere five thousand soldiers; excluded those who had been hospitalized or captured. The push on Sherma Bridge was to be an all or nothing offensive; they were all prepared to either retake Cybertron from the Autobots or die trying. At least that was the plan, until he appeared."

"He?" Rudy parroted confusedly.

"Yes, he. A member of the Autobot Elite Guard whose skills with a sword were so great that he had earned the right to rename himself after one of Cybertron's most sacred relics; Star Saber." The Predacon paused in reverence as he thought about the great warrior of legend. "They say both sides stopped to watch when he and Deathsaurus clashed on Sherma Bridge. They say it was like witnessing a scene from the Covenant of Primus. Oh… to witness such a battle between two such honorable warriors. Glorious~"

Skyfire kind of drifted off for a moment, but fortunately he regained his composure before it could get too embarrassing.

"Ahem. As I was saying, the battle raged on for hours, the balance of power shifting between the two of them more times than could be counted. Until finally, Deathsaurus lost his footing and was knocked to the ground. He closed his eyes, content in the knowledge that his final battle had been a good one. But the finishing blow never came. Instead, Star Saber sheathed his sword and offered Deathsaurus his hand in friendship. He said he had believed the ways of honor were dead; long since tarnished by the decadence of war. But having seen them live on in another, and in an enemy no less, his faith had been restored. Deathsaurs felt the same way, and they both agreed that to kill one another would be a grievous loss to all of Cybertron. So with but a few words, they proclaimed themselves as brothers and declared that the war was over."

"Whoa…" was all Rudy could say; which was more than anyone else could, since they were all frozen in quiet awe.

"Indeed, with Star Saber in his corner, Deathsaurus was able to win many concessions for the Decepticons in the final treaty; including equal representation on the new Council and a homeland to call their own."

"But after a few short centuries, the Maximals 'forgot' all about the friendship between Star Saber and Deathsaurus and decided to assert themselves over the Predacons." Rudy speculated.

"Precisely." Skyfire answered bitterly. "The Maximal Elders must pay for what they have done, as must any Maximal who chooses to defend them."

"Look, I agree that these Elders sound like a bunch of self-righteous jerks, but is starting a new war really the best answer?" the young gym leader asked concernedly. "And even if it is, are you sure this phony Megatron is the right guy to get behind? I mean, the guy clearly doesn't care about honor or the good of his people. He just wants to put himself in charge. You see that, don't you?"

Skyfire thought for a moment before he answered. But once he remembered that the surveillance devices in this section of the ship were still offline from the crash, he decided that there was no harm in speaking candidly with the prisoners. After all, even if they did repeat anything he said, the others would simply assume they were lying to cause trouble.

"Megatron is… a placeholder. Nothing more." He said bluntly. "His 'charisma' was necessary to gather a crew in order to steal the Golden Disc, but once his usefulness has passed, he will be removed, and I will assume control."

"And then what happens to us?" Rudy asked without fear.

"Once your usefulness has passed, you will be set free. There is no honor in killing children."

"Oh, well that's a relief, I guess."

"Yes, now off to bed with all of you. We have an early start tomorrow."

"But we can't sleep now. We're too wound up." Casey asserted childishly. "Tell us another story, please~"

"Yeah, please. It'll help us fall asleep faster." Ritchie reasoned.

Naturally, Skyfire found all of this quite annoying, and yet strangely not enough to get angry.

"Very well." He relented begrudgingly. "One more story, and then it's straight to bed with all of you."

The children all nodded silently and shifted into more comfortable positions.

"Countless ages ago, before the dawn of even the earliest civilization." The Predacon began in a dramatic yet dignified fashion. "The universe was but a battleground for two warring titans; godlike beings of pure energy. One was called Primus and the other was Unicron."

XXX

Meanwhile, in another section of the ship, Tarantulus sat silently in his lab, as though he were in a trance, with a strange looking mask over his head. After a few more minutes he began to stir, and then he began to chuckle.

"Well now, isn't this interesting?" he said to himself amusedly as he took off the mask and placed it on a nearby table. "Poor, naïve Skyfire. With the Triptych Mask I can peer through space and time, and even into the Land of the Dead. Did you really think I couldn't look across my own ship?"

The wicked arachnid burst out laughing; making that horrible sucking noise he was known and despised for.

"So, our honorable friend Skyfire is plotting a coup. And not only that, but as I suspected, he's developed a soft spot for our human captives." The sinister spider said to himself thoughtfully. "But the question is, how can I make this work for me?"

Tarantulus gave this matter a great deal of thought, and for the longest time he came up with nothing; well, nothing he could implement immediately anyway. That is until he noticed a small chunk of contaminated Energon he'd confiscated from one of their captives; what the humans of this world called a 'Dusk Stone'.

"Hmm… now there's an idea." He said as he picked up the stone, smiling hideously. "You, my little beauty, are going to cause more confusion than a Junkion at a spelling bee."

End Notes:

Can't think of a clever line to go out on, so I'll just end this chapter.

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one.

Peace.