Dark Tides Saga

Chapter 4 - Dark Premonitions

Hatred.

Vengeance.

Wrath.

Beautiful stars in the moonlit sky covered in a veil of thick, black smoke.

Chaos.

Isolation.

Terror.

The once-prosperous colonies now desolate ruins.

Destruction.

Conflict.

Corruption.

Energon erupts from the shattered husks of any and all touched by the dark tides of war.

Standing on the sidelines, watching the ravages of war, Twilight cried for it all to stop.

Senseless, meaningless, pointless chaos.

She had once heard an Autobot soldier, cracked and broken and trembling as his body lost the fight against death, claim that it was a great honor to "give his life" for such a "noble" cause.

What noble cause?!

Twilight wanted to scream at this nameless, faceless soldier.

You will not be remembered for your sacrifice!

Your husk will simply be cast aside, your memory forgotten, your entire life nothing but a terrible waste! The sun will rise, the war will continue, more Cybertronians will be built in your place. Yet, you will never see another sunrise. You will never laugh with another friend, accomplish another task. You will be nothing more than a casualty, a number in a growing death toll! And you say that you are honored?!!

Why?

WHY?!!

Twilight's optics brightened as she regained her senses. The sensors indicated that she was inside of the lab she, Soundwave and Ratchet shared…

Ratchet…

She sat up abruptly, her memory of the recent occurrences rushing back to her like a tide. The action caught the attention of the elusive, azure robot who was, oddly enough, not in his usual place at the back of the lab. Instead, he was standing near the table she had been laying on.

"Twilight. You have been unconscious for an abnormally long time," Soundwave said monotonously.

"Really?" the femme said, surprised. She raised one hand to the back of her head nervously. "What happened to Ratchet?"

"Departed," He answered.

"Already? Oh no…I had wanted to say goodbye to him before he left…" Twilight said softly, lowering her arm back down to her side. Her large, emerald optics darkened questioningly. "How long was I out for?"

"One complete lunar cycle*," Soundwave droned. His visor flickered faintly, indicating…worry? She wasn't sure. Except for the fluctuating eye band, he was motionless. Even if her impression was wrong, the thought of it was moderately touching. "Scans were unable to identify the cause of your sudden shut down."

She shook her head. "I wouldn't worry about it, Soundie, I feel fine now-"

Realizing what she had called him, she immediately froze. Pet names were uncommon amongst Cybertronians, as it indicated an intimacy that most friendships rarely reach. For a moment, she expected him to be annoyed by her choice of words, maybe even go so far as to snap at her or warn her never to do it again. But he said nothing. With an uncomfortable laugh, her hand trailed to the back of her head again. "I-uh, do feel a little low on energon…"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, dispelling the fog of nervousness that had developed. Soundwave turned his gaze to the door. "Open."

Bombshell poked his head into the room and nodded at the two. "Soundwave, Twilight. We have a visitor. Appears we have gotten a bit popular, yesterday the 'great' Optimus Prime visits us, and today the 'mighty' Megatron-"

"M-Megatron?!" Twilight stammered. She had heard terrible stories about him, about the Decepticons in general. Ruthless, cowardly, known to destroy any and all who refused to give themselves to their cause… Although she had never met the warlord, immediately she wanted nothing to do with him. Soundwave, on the other hand, appeared to be intrigued.

"Very well. We will meet him," the navy blue robot replied stoically, much to the femme's dismay…

"We believe that, as a culture and as a superior race, that we should be more than what we have allowed ourselves to be," Megatron said strongly. his voice surprisingly full of passion. The intensity matched in his burning, ruby optics. The speech was taking place in the large, main room where most NAAW conferences were held. Soundwave and Twilight were not the only spectators, other neutral androids also hovered nearby. "For millions of years we were slaves to the Quintessons and we managed to defeat them for our freedom. Yet, even after all that, we allow ourselves to waste our talent and our lives in this boring world. We have the technology required to pursuit the galaxies, all we need is the state of mind."

Twilight had to admit that his speech was enthralling. He was obviously intense and passionate about his beliefs, and wanted dearly to share them to all who would listen. His intentions sounded innocent enough, if that's all he wanted, than why was there a war in the first place? What were the 'noble' Autobots trying to prevent him from doing? There must be more to this than meets the eye.

The femme glanced over at Soundwave but, as always, his expression and posture were unreadable.

"Before you continue, Megatron," one of the other scientists, a tall, large robot named Skyfire, interrupted. "Perhaps you would like to explain the four colonies that your army has so viciously destroyed."

Twilight's optics darkened considerably at the mention of the ravaged neutral colonies. Duero was the colony where she had been built, and the second colony to be destroyed…

The great silver mechanoid's shoulders slumped and he appeared to sigh, as if he had anticipated, even dreaded, the very question. "Despite the overwhelming evidence against us, we are not responsible for those attacks. I understand the strength of your conviction, and we have tried as hard as possible to find the culprits responsible for these terrible occurrences. However, our efforts have currently been in vain. All I can tell you is that no one under my order has ever performed such a travesty-"

"Liar!" another scientist, Wheeljack, cried. His emotional outburst drew stares from the others, including Twilight. "I was in th' third colony you destroyed, ye bastards! I know y'did it! I know it! Who else would do it?! We were right by one of the most well-known Autobot bases so they had no reason to attack us and we have no known terrorists except for you!"

He stepped forward, his fists shaking. Bombshell and Shrapnel had to hold him back. Megatron's optics darkened. Twilight, too, began to feel herself shaking with barely contained rage. How could she have allowed herself to even listen to his courageous babble, when it was his team that destroyed her colony, her brother, her life?!

"I'm sorry for your loss. Truly, I am," the warlord stated, his voice soft. "But we are not responsible-"

"Just leave!" Wheeljack snarled, his voice taking a sinister edge. "We don't want yer kind here!"

"We're not going to just stand here and listen to your lies!" another voice cried from the sea of agitated scientists.

"At least listen to him first!" Bombshell defended. "He may just be telling the truth!"

Megatron appeared to be terribly annoyed, even angered by the situation but despite the accusations remained as calm as possible. "I will depart. However, please keep my words in mind. The Decepticons could use any and all allies. Do not be afraid to stand up and fight for what you believe in. At the same time, don't allow others to influence you and only do what you feel is right."

With that said, the warlord turned his back to the angry crowd and exited.

Twilight watched him leave with a terrible feeling of abnormally fierce hatred. She almost felt guilty at the emotion, as such intense negative emotions were not normally within her character. He could be telling the truth. The Decepticons could have been framed for it. They could simply be scapegoats. Yet, for reasons she couldn't explain, nothing she could think of would dispel her anger.

The monster's fiery eyes glared down at her. The dark color scheme appeared almost black in comparison to those terrible burning orbs.

"It is confirmed that the Decepticons have been behind this attacks…"

The hatred and disdain for all organisms practically radiated from the vile creature's glare.

"The totalitarian views of the Decepticons have gone too far with another attack on a neutral colony…"

Suddenly, the behemoth raised its massive head to the stars and roared. The terrible shriek echoed throughout the smoke-filled skies…

Soundwave suddenly gripped her shoulder, startling her from her thoughts. He had been listening to everything the entire time and, until that moment, had said nothing. Looking into her friend's ruby eye band, Twilight noticed a considerable brightening. His words brought with it a torrent of surprise and confusion.

"Megatron's declaration is truthful…"

Walking into one of the hidden quarters of the Autobot main base, making sure that no one was watching, Optimus Prime shut and locked the door behind him. Not that the lock was necessary, the door itself was expertly camouflaged to hide itself from even the most well-trained eyes.

The room was shrouded in darkness. There was a light available, but it was unnecessary. The one he looked for stood just before him, visible only by his bright, burning eyes. Despite his massive size, the monster's color scheme allowed him to blend well with the darkness.

Explanations and gestures were not needed, not wanted. There was only one thing Arsenal wanted to hear, and his audio receptors almost strained to hear it.

He was not disappointed.

"It is time."

* - One entire day.

Author's Notes: Sorry this chapter took me so long. Between work and art and my other fanfics, this one has been sort of placed on the back burner. But, as I've said, I will continue this story until completion. (If I can help it, I will never allow a story to become completely idle. It agitates me to no end when I get really into a story just to find that it will never be continued.) Funny thing - although authors tend to love their Mary Sue characters, I am more attached to Arsenal than I am to Twilight, and look forward to writing the next chapter (which will feature him much more than these recent chapters had.). I hope that, despite the terrible blows the story has had since before its creation (the fact that this has to be a Mary Sue fic, AKA has to focus on Twilight), I manage to keep the story and original characters interesting, while at the same time keep the real characters in-character.