Shiori: (comes into the room and to find Hot Shot and Red Alert on the floor bound in energon bonds and gagged) Uhm... Do I want to know what happened?
Hot Shot: Mmmpphhh!
Optimusprimus001: (sitting on top of Hot Shot) Nope, There's nothing to see here. Move along.
Shiori: oookayyy...?
Red Alert: Hhhmmmphh...!
Optimusprimus001: (pokes Red) Shut up, you. Enjoy the newest chapter!
12. Betrayal
The Decepticon command center in the Generation Dimension had a sense of dark power within it, making the dim lights in the room seem even darker. Lights blinked faintly, flashing from computer consoles and uneasy transformer optics glancing at each other as they worked. Behind them, were four transformers and a red droid. One of the transformers was wearing a black cloak and the Decepticon that stood next to him was trying to convince him to stay for awhile longer. The green and white Decepticon seeker wasn't getting much of a response from the cloaked trasnformer. Instead, the red droid that stayed close to the cloaked mercenary was hissing back at him about how they couldn't stay long enough to let that happen.
The silvery-white bot near them had never told the mercenary his name, and the only reason he knew the mercenary's name was Silvershadow was because he'd overheard a seeker talking about him. The silver-white Decepticon ignored the green/white 'Con and the droid, watching the door calmly as he waited for it to open. A little earlier, Starscream had come in, badly damaged, and reported that they had finally captured the mech that had helped the femmebot Skywarp had caught escape. The silver-white 'Con had told him to stay and wait before going to repairs so that he could make an example of the Decepticon they'd caught.
"Yes, Megatron," Starscream had said softly to the silver Decepticon before him, so that only Megatron could hear. Now the seeker was leaning against the wall, repairing what he could with what was available within reach. And so, Megatron stood in the command center of the Decepticon base in Imperial City, enjoying the small sounds of uneasiness coming from the Decepticons working behind him as he waited for the door to open. He faintly noted the sound of the red droid snarling at Sixshot stopped when the door slid open.
Megatron thought he'd treasure the look on Sixshot's face when two droids, both looking like the red one already in the room, dragged a silghtly damaged, but most certianly offline, Decepticon into the room. Many of the other Decepticons behind him stared at the mech in confusion and shock. But nothing could have made Megatron's day better than the gasp that escaped Sixshot when Skywarp and Thundercracker limped in, still wounded from their battle with the 'Con that hung between the two droids. Stopping short in the doorway, Skywarp immediately saw that everyone was staring at them.
"You're a wreck!" Sixshot cried out, wringing his hands in alarm. Casting a look down at himself, Skywarp found he couldn't argue with him.
Deep slashes were all over his body, along with gaping holes in his arms and legs. His black-purple frame sparked all over from severed wires, and energon flowed freely from a gash in his chest, not to mention his neck. Skywarp knew his face didn't look much better, for the 'Con they'd been fighting had managed to hit his helmet with one of his blades. As a result, Skywarp had an odd visual input, with his right visual having a clear stripe fringed with his purple optic lens that had been split cleanly from the blade. Skywarp glanced at Thundercracker, who didn't look any better off than he did. His brother didn't pay him any attention as he cradled his left hand in his other arm- for he was busy glaring at the back of the offline Decepticon that had nearly killed the both of them.
"So... It would seem that he gave you some trouble, Skywarp," Megatron grinned, amused by the fact that the three seekers were severely damaged while the bot they'd fought against wasn't.
"More than, sir. He could have easily killed us had he chosen to," Thundercracker snarled angrily. Megatron's smile immediately dissappeared as he glared at him.
"I was talking to Skywarp, seeker," he growled.
"And he is unable to answer, sir," Thundercracker snapped back, still smarting from the beating the now-offline 'Con had given him. Megatron took a closer look at Skywarp.
"By the Allspark... He tore out your vocabulator..." Megatron breathed in amazment. Skywarp nodded, before signing a message to him. 'The other escaped on a shuttle. This Ex-Decepticon stopped us from following it.' Megatron nodded, before turning towards a Decepticon behind him.
"Track the shuttle, find out where it went."
"I'm afraid you won't be doing that anytime soon," a darker voice said.
"What!" Megatron shouted, whirling around, only to find himself looking straight into the barrel of a plasma carbine.
"Threat: Harm the Master, harm yourself, meatbag," the red droid growled, refusing to back away at the glare Megatron gave him. Megatron looked past him to find that the mercenary near Sixshot was watching him with an irritating calmness.
"So, this is what you had planned the whole time? Betrayal, after all, Silvershadow?" Megatron sneered at the mercenary.
"Warning: Be careful of what you say, meatbag. It might be your last," the droid snarled, pressing the barrel of the carbine into the Decepticon's chest, near his sparkbox. Megatron growled, and glared at the droid again.
"Betrayal? A rather harsh term, but if that's what you see it as... Megatron," Silvershadow laughed at Megatron's astonished look. "Suprised? Fifty-two million years, Megatron... and nine-million in war, in one dimension! Just one dimension! Can you imagine?" Silvershadow gestured at the offline Decepticon. The black droid on the 'Con's right immediately opened a panel on the bot's chest and started to tap a code into the bot's system.
"What are you doing?" Thundercracker demanded.
"Answer: Activating him," the black droid said simply. The Generation Starscream's optics went wide.
"WHAT?" Megatron roared, spinning to face the black droid. Several of the other Decepticons backed away from the scene unfolding before them, Thundercracker being one of them.
"Irritated Threat: Hold still, or I will fire," the red droid behind him hissed. Megatron didn't notice, watching in horror as the bot before him activated.
"Uhhh..." the ex-Con groaned, moving his hand to his forehead. Silvershadow stepped past Megatron and the droid behind him.
"Eight years off, back home, Starscream. But late is better than never, yes?" He offered the 'Con his hand.
"Starscream?" the Generation Starscream shouted, shocked. The future Starscream took Silvershadow's hand and stood up. "Thanks. It's Silvershadow now, isn't it?"
The cloaked transformer bowed his head slightly, making it seem as if he was looking at him. "It always has been," he said softly, before turning to face the other Decepticons. "I'm afraid we can't stay, friends. We have a starship and a home to return to. Coming, Sixshot?"
Sixshot stared at him. So did Megatron.
"C-coming?" Sixshot stammered.
"WHAT!" Megatron roared.
"Countdown: Three..." The ash-grey droid opposite of the black droid began.
"Come with you?" Sixshot gasped, astonished that this legendary mercenary would offer such a thing to the likes of him. Silvershadow nodded slightly.
"Two..."
"YES!" Sixshot shouted. He dashed forward, jumping around Megatron's clawing hands.
"NOO!" Megatron howled furiously, restrained only by the fact that the red droid was pressing the barrel of his plasma carbine against the Decepticon leader's back, near his sparkbox.
"... One," the grey droid finished. And then chaos reigned...
Shiori:... What have they done to my Starscream!
Optimusprimus001: Well... You do want him back, right?
Starscream: Yay! I'm coming back home!
Optimusprimus001: Er... well, Not exactly straight home...
Starscream: What do you mean 'not exactly straight home'?
Optimusprimus001: Uhm... I'll explain that later...
Starscream: Darn you! I want to know!
Optimusprimus001: LATER, Starscream!
Starscream: (mumbling) Fine... I'll just sit here and pout then...
