Author's Note: Alright, I honestly don't know why I'm writing so much, but I'm taking advantage, and doing it. This chapter's gonna be shorter (in theory) than my other ones, but it's still hopefully good! I hope ya enjoy it!
That was certainly an interesting time. Optimus and Hot Shot had gone to M2, and Starscream had apparently defected from the Decepticons. I still wonder to this day what Optimus would've done if he were there, and not on Planet M2. Oh well, that happened years ago, it doesn't matter now.
Rodimus Prime
Chapter 4: Lost Allegiance
Autobot Base, Earth
Starscream groaned, while stirring slightly. He was lying down on a table of sorts, and tried to sit up. He flinched, as his body was still damaged from the brief but harmful onslaught. He slowly turned on his optics, and turned them back off. Damn that light above him was bright!
"Look's like our guest is awake." Said a gruff voice.
"Yeah." Replied another voice. It wasn't as deep or as rough as the other, but still emanated authority. It was also much closer, as if right next to the Decepticon.
Starscream again tried to sit up, and managed to do so, while ignoring the pain. He turned on his optics once again, and looked straight ahead at Jetfire, who had Rodimus standing next to him. He looked to his left, and saw Scavenger in his classic pose against the wall. He looked around a bit more, and found Blurr with his arms crossed to his right.
"So... I wake up captured in the Autobot base... Not the best way to wake up." Starscream said out loud.
"You're lucky we let you wake up at all." Said a voice behind Starscream. He turned around, and saw Smokescreen, with a straight face plastered on his face.
"What were you doing at our base?" Jetfire asked, bringing attention to himself. Starscream looked down. This is it.
"I've... left the Decepticons." He hesitantly said. "I seriously don't like how Jhiaxus is leading us, so I've left them."
"So you want to join us, right?" Jetfire said with a sarcastic tone. Starscream nodded.
"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Asked Scavenger from his pose on the wall.
"You don't... I don't expect you to believe me, but that doesn't change the fact that I came here for help. If you wont give it to me, then I'll be on my way." Starscream replied.
Jetfire looked at all the Autobots in the room, and motioned them to the exiting door. "We'll be back in a bit, you wait here." Said Jetfire to Starscream, who nodded again in return.
Jetfire waved all the Autobots out of the room, and they all followed him out. Once the door automatically closed behind them, their discussion began.
"Well, future boy, what's supposed to happen?" Jetfire asked Rodimus in a teasing tone. Rodimus had a doubting look on his face.
"I'm not sure... I don't remember this, for some reason... All I remember about Starscream is that he and Tidal Wave will attack soon." The future Autobot replied. Jetfire chuckled.
"Yeah right, well whether you're from the future or not doesn't meant I have to follow your past." Jetfire said. The sub-commander then looked to the other Autobots. "What do you think we should do with Starscream?"
"I say we keep him out. You can never trust a Decepticon." Said Smokescreen.
"I say we let him in, but keep him under heavy watch." Replied Blurr.
"Keep him out. A Decepticon has no place in an Autobot army." Scavenger bluntly said.
"Let him join, I know if I were in his place, I'd wanna join us, since its Jhiaxus leading them." Rodimus said. Jetfire tapped his chin.
"So... It's all up to me... Hmm..." Jetfire appeared in deep thought for several moments, before coming to a conclusion. "Alright, I got it." He said, while heading to the room which contained Starscream.
The Decepticon looked up at the entering Autobots, and bit
his lip. "So you've come to a decision?" Asked Starscream.
"We have." Jetfire said. He walked up to the Decepticon, and remained still for
a brief moment. "We don't want you here, Starscream." The sub-commander said.
Starscream hung his head, and sighed.
"I understand." He replied.
"However..." Jetfire continued. "We wont let you go back out
damaged like that, so we'll let you use one of our recharging beds before you
go." Starscream smiled at the hospitality.
"Thank you." He replied. Not once had he ever experienced such kindness, even
though they said he wasn't welcome. It felt... kind of nice.
Decepticon HQ, The Moon
Thrust peeked around the corner. Good, no one there. He darted through the dark, empty hall, and stopped at another corner. He then flattened himself up against the wall, and slowly edged over. He heard voices. Warhawk and Wheeljack. Thrust listened in to their conversation.
"Man, I didn't think his training would actually pay off!" Warhawk excitedly said.
"I know! Who would've thought Jhiaxus would be so good at hand-to-hand combat." Wheeljack commented.
Thrust sneered, but then looked down at his own hands. It's true, ever since Jhiaxus began training everyone, he had felt noticeably stronger, and his skills were greatly improving. Laughter occurred, and Warhawk said something like 'catch you later'... Human slang, it's so odd. why would he want to catch Wheeljack, and how, for that matter? Thrust suddenly flattened himself back against the wall, as Wheeljack walked right past the conehead without noticing him.
The Decepticon breathed a soundless sigh of relief, and continued stalking his way deeper into the base. The farther he went, the darker the halls got. He began thinking there was no end to the darkness, when he saw a distant light. Thrust began running towards it, and it got closer and closer. After running for what seemed like ages, he eventually came into contact with the light, and found himself outside the base. The Decepticon looked all around for his companion.
"Sideways! Sideways where are you?" He called out in a whisper. No answer. Thrust walked further away from the base, calling the turncoat's name. Before he knew it, the base was out of sight, and he was surrounded by small and large craters. Thrust looked all around again, but found no sign of him.
"I was wondering when you'd show up." Sideways spoke in his cool, calm tone. Thrust yelped in surprise, and jumped around to face the mech behind him.
"Don't scare me like that!" Thrust snapped, earning a soft chuckle from the turncoat. "Why are we all the way out here, Sideways?" Thrust asked after calming down.
"We don't want to let the Decepticons know what's going on... Yet." The purple mech replied.
"Well, I hope you know I can get scrapped if we get caught. I better get the power you promised, Sideways." Thrust said.
"Has anyone ever told you you're too paranoid? You'll get your power, and you can overthrow Jhiaxus when you please." Sideways calmly said, while popping his Decepticon Mini-con, Rook, off of his head. The two-faced Transformer's true head then showed itself, in a matching color scheme with his body. He had a single optic, stretching across his face, and seemingly had no mouth.
The Mini-con kneeled, along with his master. Thrust eyed the two oddly, before realizing that he too had to kneel. Doing so, he eyed Sideways out of the corner of his optic, to make sure he had it right. A few seconds passed, and a hologram of an all too familiar figure appeared.
"Report, Sideways." Unicron commanded.
"Master, Jhiaxus has taken control of the Decepticons, just as you have predicted. Megatron is dead, and Optimus and Hot Shot are off on another planet, thinking they're getting information on Predacon." Sideways replied, while chuckling. Thrust kept a straight face on. So Unicron was real after all!
"Excellent. I also presume Thrust wishes to join us for power and glory?" The dark god asked.
"He does." Sideways replied. "He is right here with me." The hologram of Unicron's head looked to Thrust, then back to Sideways.
"How did he know of us?" Asked The chaos bringer.
"After I forewarned them of your coming, Thrust sought me out, and asked if I knew what this power was. I told him everything, and he wanted to join us." Unicron grinned.
"As I have foreseen. Very well," Unicron began, while looking back to Thrust. "If you join us, you will get the power you crave. Do you wish for it?" Thrust could barely contain his excitement. He'll finally get the power he deserves!
"I do." Thrust said, trying to sound calm. The hologram of Unicron nodded, and his optics glowed bright red.
Thrust suddenly started glowing, and felt a sudden power surge rushing through his whole body. His whole structure began tingling as he began to change.
His legs went from silver and green to blue and brown, with black markings on his shins. His torso turned from grey to gunmetal black, and had a blue streak climbing up the center of his chest. His shoulders became white, and his arms went black and grey, with the tailfins on his forearms turning brown. The wings on his back turned from green to the common shade of brown, as did the cone on his head. His face went white, his optics yellow, and the area around his face turned black, almost like a mask. Unicron chuckled darkly.
"Welcome to my team, Powerlinx Thrust. But just so you know... I will not tolerate failure or treachery, or else..." Unicron let the sentence hang, as suddenly, Thrust doubled over, clutching his head in pain. He screeched loudly, and Sideways flinched from the volume. And just as quickly it started, it ended, while Thrust remained on the ground, twitching occasionally.
"That is what happens to those who fail me. I hope I can trust you to do your best." The dark god said.
"I... I under-...stand." Said Thrust weakly. He sluggishly climbed to his feet.
"Now, Thrust, you will report back to Jhiaxus, and tell him that you found an energon cache on Earth, but you accidentally fell in it, and absorbed it all. That should be enough to confuse and occupy him for some time." Unicron said. Thrust nodded, but then looked back up at the hologram.
"When may I overthrow Jhiaxus, and rule the Decepticons?" He asked.
"You will know when the time is right. But I can tell you right now it wont be for a while." Unicron replied. Thrust nodded again.
"Right. I'm on my way... Master." Thrust said. He reverted to jet mode, which was colored different than his older form. It was mostly brown, with black markings all over the body of the jet. The front of the wings had silver plating, and the cockpit was tinted orange. The Decepticon then turned on his jets, and kicked up dust as his thrusters came to life.
Sideways chuckled to himself. "He's a lot more gullible than I expected."
"He is," Unicron replied. "But having a mole inside the Decepticons will be useful for some time. We'll let him have his fun, then we'll dispose of him."
Autobot Base, Earth
Starscream walked out of the med bay. He just woke up from the recharging booth, and it was a rather nice rest. Red Alert followed Starscream out of the med bay, and into the control room, where Jetfire and the other Autobots were waiting.
"Sleep well?" Asked Jetfire to the Decepticon. Starscream nodded. "Good... Now that you've been repaired, I'll have to ask you to leave." The sub-commander politely said. Starscream sighed.
"I appreciate your hospitality." He said, while turning around. "I just wish I had somewhere to go." He said quietly, hoping the Autobots would hear. Jetfire did, and walked up to him.
"The exit's this way, I'll show you the way." Jetfire said, while walking ahead of the Decepticon. Starscream followed after him.
Minutes passed, and Jetfire and Starscream were outside the base. The sub-commander looked to the Decepticon. "If you play nice for a while, we'll consider letting you in... But for now, you better get goin'."
"Yeah... Thanks again." Starscream said. Guess the answer's 'No'. The Decepticon transformed into his seeker mode, and blasted off into the sky.
Jetfire watched as the would be Autobot fly away, and turned around, heading back inside the base.
"Auto-guns online." He said, while closing the door behind himself.
Space, Solar System
Starscream exited the Earth's atmosphere in deep thought. It just didn't make sense! He told them he left the Decepticons, he told them he needed their help, he even tried the guilt trip! Maybe the Autobots aren't as soft as he always thought. He neared the Moon, and got more nervous. He had failed his mission, and Jhiaxus doesent like failure. He could only hope that he isn't as bad as Megatron was.
He flew up to the Decepticon base, and landed at the entrance. Transforming, Starscream showed himself once again, and hesitantly walked into the base. He purposely slowed his walk, trying to buy himself more time. He never liked to say 'Hey, I failed my mission.' because he always suffered for it. He saw the entrance to the throne room. Damn! There already? Starscream walked up to the entrance, and heard two voices.
Jhiaxus and Thrust.
The Decepticon peered into the room, and saw that Thrust got a new look, and Jhiaxus looked less than pleased. He listened into their conversation.
"...and my super structure absorbed the energon, sir." Thrust finished. Jhiaxus frowned.
"All of it?"
"All of it."
Jhiaxus sighed. "Very well... Go... on patrol or something." Jhiaxus said, while waving his hand. He obviously didn't want Thrust there. The conehead nodded.
"Yes sir." He stood up from his kneeling position, and walked out of the room. Starscream took this opportunity to walk into the throne room. Might as well get this over with.
"Um... Jhiaxus?" Starscream hesitantly asked. Jhiaxus looked up at Starscream, surprise written all over his face.
"Starscream?... What happened to your mission I gave you?"
"...I Failed it."
"You what?" Jhiaxus snapped.
Starscream tensed as Jhiaxus rose out of his seat. He calmly walked over to the Decepticon, but the look on his face gave away his anger. The commander stopped in front of the seeker, and remained still, as did Starscream. The two stared at each other, and seconds passed like minutes. Starscream kept his optics locked onto Jhiaxus, but then, without warning, he was on his skidplate, with his head facing his left. Jhiaxus kept his hand in the air after backhanding Starscream in his face, and kept his snarl. The seeker looked shakily up at him.
Jhiaxus bent over, and picked up Starscream by his chest plate. "I do not tolerate failure, Starscream. Of course, you know that by now." He said, while turning his snarl into a grin.
He lifted Starscream higher, to the point where his feet were dangling in the air, and embedded his knee into the seeker's abdomen. The Decepticon gasped sharply, and before he knew it, Jhiaxus' free fist was violently pressed against his cheek. Starscream grunted, and coughed up mech fluid as Jhiaxus shoved his other knee into his stomach. The commander kept the same routine for quiet a while, before rearing back his fist, and punched Starscream hard across his face. Jhiaxus let go of Starscream before the punch made contact, and the seeker went flying. He crashed into a wall, creating a rather large dent in it. He slid down to the floor, and looked up, as Jhiaxus had already closed the distance between them. Jhiaxus raised his fist again.
"And one for better luck next time." He said, while bringing his fist down.
It never made contact. Starscream yelled out, and thrust himself upwards. He zoomed by the attack, and curled his hand into a tight fist. He jumped up to Jhiaxus's level, and rammed his hand into the commander's cheek. His head snapped to the side, with a shocked expression plastered on it. Starscream took his chance, and kicked Jhiaxus back as forcefully as he could. He succeeded somewhat, as the Decepticon stumbled backwards a few steps. By the time Jhiaxus looked back up at Starscream, the Decepticon had already pulled out his wing saber.
"I've had enough of you, Jhiaxus!" Starscream exclaimed. "You were a terrible leader then and you're a terrible leader now! I'm through with you!" Jhiaxus chuckled.
"Is this your idea of a mutiny? If it is, you've got a long ways away from beating me." He calmly spoke. "Where do you think you're going to go? The Autobots certainly wont take you."
"What makes you say that?" Starscream said, while gripping his sword.
"Because if they would, you'd still be there!"
"..." Was all Starscream could say. Jhiaxus grinned more.
"Face it, you cant win against me. And even if by some miracle you bested me, you've still got the rest of the Decepticons here to take out!"
"If I have to, then so be it." Starscream said.
He suddenly rushed at his newly discovered opponent, saber held tightly in his grip. Jhiaxus opened his arms, as if trying to block Starscream's assault. The seeker pulled the sword into a horizontal pose behind him, and prepared to slash at the Decepticon horizontally. He swung, but the blade missed its target. Jhiaxus had ducked down, and was looking up at Starscream. He grinned, balled his two hands into one fist, and slammed them up into Starscream's chin. Starscream painfully groaned, and fell over backwards, while dropping his sword, which in turn, embedded itself into the ground. Standing up tall, Jhiaxus took Starscream's saber, and pointed it at the seeker's neck. Starscream tensed.
Jhiaxus paused for a moment, before raising his open hand to his chest, and pressed a button. "Tidal Wave, report to the throne room, I have a task for you." Seconds passed, and Tidal Wave strode into the throne room.
"What is it?" asked the titan.
Jhiaxus looked down to Starscream, with his sword still pointed at the seeker's neck. "Starscream here has decided to rebel against us. And I have decided to exile him. Please escort him to Earth, and make sure he cant come back."
"Yes sir." Replied the booming voice of Tidal Wave.
He walked over to Starscream, with each step shaking the ground slightly. Stopping in front of the seeker, the giant looked down to him with a straight face on. He knelt down, and picked up Starscream in his hand. Tidal Wave looked at him, and turned around. Walking out of the throne room, Tidal Wave kept Starscream in his grasp. Jhiaxus grinned, and held onto Starscream's sword.
"That makes two who have defied me." He said, while walking back to Megatron's throne. He sat down, and embedded the tip of the sword into the ground next to the seat.
Earth's Atmosphere
Tidal Wave descended towards the ground, with Starscream still in his hand. The Decepticon looked to the black and purple behemoth holding him, and got an idea.
"Why do you follow Jhiaxus?" Asked Starscream. "He killed Megatron, you know."
"I know." Replied Tidal Wave. "But Megatron no leader. He was more dictator, Jhiaxus good leader. He help us get good, he share glory. Megatron never do that." His lack of a good vocabulary hid the giant's intelligence, of which many were unsure of.
"Jhiaxus beats his soldiers if they fail." Starscream countered. "No good leader should do that."
"Megatron did, too. Whether Jhiaxus good or bad leader, I no care. I loyal to power, no matter who it is." Tidal Wave said.
Starscream held back a groan. "Why not join me? I'm going to take Jhiaxus down, if you help me, you'll go down in history as my partner." Starscream said, trying to convince Tidal Wave.
The seeker looked down. They were past the Earth's atmosphere, and are almost through the clouds which cover the planet. He looked back up to Tidal Wave, who had the same face on as he always did. Starscream wondered if the giant was capable of any facial expressions.
"No. I no want glory like you. I only want Autobots dead, that why I joined Decepticon army." Tidal Wave spoke.
"Heh, a Decepticon to the spark you are, Tidal Wave." Starscream commented. Tidal Wave would've grinned.
"Thank you." He said. The giant's feet and Earth met, and Starscream found himself and Tidal Wave in a barren desert. The giant threw Starscream to the ground, kicking up sand as he landed.
"Now, time to make sure you no leave Earth." Tidal Wave said. Starscream climbed to his feet.
"I hope you don't mind if I fight back." The seeker replied.
"I was expecting you too." Tidal Wave said.
Starscream slid into what could be a fighting stance, and Tidal Wave remained still, with his fists clenched. Both Decepticons stared each other down, waiting for the other to make a move...
Author's Note: Well now! A new record! I wrote that chapter in two, count 'em, TWO days!
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime: Well, don't you feel proud?
Crab: Yeah, I do *pulls out a can labeled 'BEER'*
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime: Woah wait!
Since when do you drink?!
Crab: ... I don't
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime: Hmm.... *rips off a label on the can, and it says 'ROOT BEER'*... There, that makes more sense.
Crab: Wait, I think there's more of 'em *pulls off another label, and the can says 'NOT ROOT BEER'*.... That's odd.
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime: Hmm.... *rips off another label on the can, and it says 'MOTOR OIL'*
Crab: O.o... Ooooh! This is YOUR drink! *hands it to Prime*
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime: Wooo! *opens the can and drinks it*
Crab: Well now, I finally get an Author's note where nothing bad happens to me! ^_^ Review and lemme know what ya guys think of- *a can hits his head* Hey!
20th Anniversary Optimus Prime: *voice is slurring* GET ME MORE!