Usual disclaimers apply. Thank you to Pivot and Olafur for looking this over for me.

Owlman14: Addictive? Uh oh. Don't tell the feds, they might make me illegal and then where would I be?

SaphireStars: Well, fight scenes are what Decepticons do best. Thanks!

Olafur: He had to have gotten the reputation somewhere, right?

Draange: I suppose he can take that as a compliment. Thrust's used to being disliked; as long as he's winning, he doesn't care about public opinion.

TrueBornChaos: I guess with time he got bigger in the ego and experience and smaller in the common sense and interpersonal skills department. As much as I like him, yes, Thrust was a bit of a jerk by the time "Armada" came around. More to come on that.

Yuine: Sorry if I was confusing. I see your point.

SabreJustice: That was the intention, yes. Scary depends on perspective, in my opinion.

Finale

A rested, repaired, and best of all, clean Thrust leaned back on his recharge berth and relished the feel of cold, hard metal against his back.

I did it.

After all of that, only four casualties and no deaths during the entire battle. All three Autobot ships had been destroyed, the few survivors taken into Decepticon custody. And it was all because of him. Would Cloudcrest be proud?

No, he'd probably just be very slagged off. But then again, that wasn't his problem anymore, now was it?

Outside, Thrust could hear the liquid rush of a thunderstorm pounding into the roof and walls of the base. The war-like thunder and lightning only served to soothe him further as he dimmed his optics and put one hand behind his head. Perhaps he'd go for a walk along the wall after it finished raining. From his current perspective inside the base, the muggy environment didn't seem quite so bad.

:He,y Th'st:

"Yes, my dear, dear friend?" Thrust replied smoothly as he toyed with an empty energon flask.

:St'p bein' s'dam smug. Sh'rbom' wanna see ya:

The flask clattered to the ground.

"Commander Shatterbomb? Are you sure?"

Crackle made a static noise over the com in annoyance.

:Yahuh, ya win'ut. Ge' goin':

Thrust quickly stood up and brushed imagined dirt off his arms before darting out the door. He rushed down the hall, pushing past other Decepticons in his way without even looking at them. A hundred thoughts were whirling through his mind, most of them very illogical and some just outright silly.

He came to a sudden halt in the middle of the hallway, ignoring the irritated stares of passerbys. "Crackle," he said flatly into his com.

:Mm: came the vaguely amused response.

"Exactly where is Shatterbomb?"

As he listened to Crackle's guffaws, Thrust mentally reminded himself that taking the effort to hunt down and kill him would probably not be a good way of using Shatterbomb's time.

888

Thrust did eventually find the commander's temporary office on the north end of the base. He nervously pushed the button by the door, and then stepped inside, snapping to attention in the middle of the room. Shatterbomb was waiting for him, one hand resting on his desk and a blank but slightly haughty expression on his face.

Thrust wasn't quite sure what to expect. A question about his report, a compliment on a job well done, maybe even-did he dare to hope-a promotion?

"What happened to Cloudcrest?" Shatterbomb asked calmly.

That was the question? Maybe he'd filled out the report wrong, that was it. Thrust wasn't used to the complex forms and documents that were inflicted on leaders of attacks; perhaps Shatterbomb hadn't been able to understand him.

"He went offline due to severe injuries. Sir." He watched Shatterbomb's face nervously, searching for any indication of whether that had been sufficient.

Three thin blades spaced around Shatterbomb's forearm slid out with a light rasp of metal-on-metal and Thrust eyed them nervously.

"Do you know the consequences for attacking a superior officer?" Shatterbomb asked as he leisurely approached the frightened cadet.

"I, uh, I didn't actually--"

Think quick, Thrust. This is going to be bad.

Shatterbomb folded his arms and lightly fingered one of the blades, an obvious threat.

"I read the reports. Cloudcrest died of injuries inflicted by you, not by the Autobots. You killed him. Murdered him."

Thrust shifted his weight slightly, optics glued to the blades even as he knew it was insubordination, that he should be looking Shatterbomb in the face and standing up straight. He couldn't help it, he was terrified. Shatterbomb was a relatively high-ranking officer, only on this pathetic blotch of dirt to do a routine inspection. If the commander was taking notice of him specifically, he had to have done something outrageous.

And, of course, the least comforting bit of information possible popped into his head. Hadn't Shatterbomb been the one who recommended Cloudcrest to lead Thrust's unit? Cloudcrest had been bragging about it for hours after he got the news, how Shatterbomb had obviously noticed his greatness and was promoting him based on his own merits and not simply because their previous unit leader had gotten his head blown off. Of course, why hadn't he remembered that earlier? It must have been so annoying that he had deleted the memory from his storage files.

Well, it had been a decent life. Not a great one, but Thrust would still miss it.

Shatterbomb's finger moved up the blade and Thrust resisted the urge to take a step back.

He set his shoulders and replied, "Cloudcrest would have lead us all to our deaths by taking us around Sludge Swamp. I suggested an alternative and he attacked me."

"And so you shot him in self-defense?" Shatterbomb countered, idly inspecting his blades and testing the sharp edge of one with a fingertip.

Right answer? No, wrong answer: a trap. If he answered like that, he'd sound weak.

"He was obviously unfit for command, so I destroyed him."

Shatterbomb was silent, still teasing the tip of his blade thoughtfully as he stared at the lower-ranking Decepticon fidgeting before him.

He's enjoying this, Thrust thought. He wants me to squirm. Well, I'm not going to give him that pleasure.

He remained rigid as Shatterbomb drew closer, yellow optics locked onto him as if to destroy him with his powerful gaze before the long blades had even begun to penetrate the his spark casing.

I will keep my optics on. I will not flinch, I will not back away. I am a Decepticon, I am a Decepticon. I am--

"I never liked that smelter-reject anyway."

The blades retracted with a soft "snick" and Shatterbomb stepped back again. Thrust nearly fell over in relief.

"Those supplies you brought us will be put to good use, and the destruction of their other ships will put the Autobots back a few months," Shatterbomb continued matter-of-factly as he turned his back on Thrust and walked behind his desk. "However, there is the slight matter of what I'm going to do with you."

He tilted his head slightly, then picked up a datapad and held it out. Thrust took it so quickly as to border on rudeness.

"Cloudcrest was scheduled to be reassigned to Planet Aztac after his mission was over. You will take his place."

Thrust glanced over the datapad as a matter of manners, though he already knew most of what was on it. Aztac was a medium-sized planet about two light-years away with little organic life outside of the large oceans-thank Primus for that-but an abundance of natural resources. The Decepticons had been preparing an assault on the small Autobot mining colony there, and having a foothold here on Planet Thescen would help to both support their side and keep the Autobots from sending in reinforcements.

Thrust had actually been planning on applying for a transfer to Aztac as soon as he had done enough to earn one. He'd already filled out half the paperwork, and the other half was sitting in his quarters, waiting for similar treatment. Now it was practically being handed to him with Shatterbomb's compliments.

"Report to the launch bay at the established time. Dismissed."

Thrust saluted and left. As he stood outside the door, he looked over the datapad again, this time a bit more closely.

"What the…"

The format was different, not what you'd expect on an average transfer form. There were higher security codes then he was used to, plans that weren't available to common soldiers. Thrust was on the brink of running back into Shatterbomb's office and asking if a mistake had been made before he realized what was going on.

This wasn't a transfer.

This was a promotion. A big one.

Shatterbomb wants me to help lead the Aztac mission. Lead it!

A deep chuckle rose in Thrust's vocalizer as he walked back to his quarters, looking over the plans. Other Decepticons walked past him, some still glaring after his previous actions on the way to Shatterbomb. Thrust didn't care what they thought, he wasn't even there. He was flying high over Aztac's glinting waters, watching Autobots crash and sink below the waves, hearing the rousing cheers of his unit as he led them to victory.

Commander Thrust. Oh, I like the sound of that.