Surrounded by death and darkness.

Silenced pierced the dank air.

Blue puddles decorated the floor and monitors.

Parate became numb from all sensation as his optics gazed over his work. His optics scanned at the amount of energon on his servos, finding shards of glass, bits of metal, and a few wires and springs sticking to the tips of his servos. He allowed himself to feel a bit proud of his skill's and the result.

The ship's navigation computer buzzed and hummed in front of him, showing him diagnostics and locations of other Decepticons. He recognized this ship as one of Megatron's multipurpose ship; transporting disposable soldiers, newly built weapons, and used for interrogation. They would download what they needed while uploading enough information, false and true, that the bot would scream in agony and die from a system overload. At times, they would find entertainment with either the soldier switching sides or being sent back into the battlefield with the wrong information.

Parate remembered bringing an Autobot Scout to this ship, one of the many Autobots that had been captured. He remembered this Scout was the one who had spared Parate's life, even though Parate had just slaughtered many Autobot soldiers and civilians only moments before. The Scout had snuck up on Parate and hit him behind his head hard enough to temporarily paralyze his internal system. He watched the Scout towering above him with his weapon pointed at Parate's spark chamber. The Scout spoke, but Parate couldn't hear him. And then, the Scout lowered his weapon and backed away. So, sometime later, when the Decepticon's managed to catch many of the Autobot soldiers, Parate noticed the Scout was amongst the first being sent into the interrogation room. Parate grabbed him and pulled him away from the crowd, deciding he couldn't find it in his spark to allow such torture to happen to the one that saved him.

At the first chance he got, Parate released the Scout. However, the moment Parate turned his back, he was surrounded by bright lights and Decepticon's, Megatron staring him down with heavy disappointment.

"WATCH OUT!"

Parate jumped and spun around, searching for a Decepticon he had missed. Then he remembered, he was alone.

Behind him, he could hear the battle ensuing down below the ship. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the ships discover this one has gone dormant. One ship had gone ahead, it's size appeared massive in the small room.

Massive size.

"I have an idea, but I must be quick." Parate ran to the main computer, typed in the key words to the ships navigation system. Not even a moment later, he steered the ship skywards, and it wasn't until he saw the stars that he changed the ship's direction and began to plummet back down.

"There must be more I can do. Come now, use your processor." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the familiar slashes on his wrist back when he and Smokescreen would cut their wrist plates using sharp debris found in human construction just to release their tension.

Smokescreen.

The bot he had befriended, one of the first to trust him despite knowing Parate's sins, nearly referring to him as a brother. More than anything, Parate wanted to return the favor. That was when another idea came to him.

Quickly, he pressed a button on the far left, typed at a rapid pace and the ships data base appeared. The Earth below was growing larger in the bay windows. Parate typed in Gems and a bunch of files appeared.

"Make haste, Parate. Roads will know someone has hacked his research files sooner or later." He clicked the file opened, grabbed a nearby tube. He froze, hearing the screams of the tormented bots like faint echo's, optics popping out of their helmets, the sweet scent of smoke. At times, he wondered how it felt to be on the other end of the machine. Before he lost the courage, he connected the circle end to the computer and sharp jagged end into the back of his head. The pain was sharp and hot, he gasped and groaned as the file was downloaded into his memory banks. However, as quick as the pain arrived, it vanished and Parates vision became black.

"That is all he had?" Parate wondered as he yanked the tube off his head, letting it drop to the ground with a loud thud. His processor ached, his head hot and frazzled, guilt washed over his spark. "Shake it off, shake it off. I must get off now. Huh?"

He stood with his back to the door, but he could hear it open and a, slowly, bot enter.

Old.

Injured?

"Well, my, my. Still a savage." The bot's raspy voiceprint was all too familiar. Anger spiked in Parate's stomach pit. "Took down these 20 Decpeticon Flyer's on your own. No back up, very few weapons at your disposal, only stain's on your finish. Tell me, boy, does it still boil your energon to kill so many? Is it still so deliciously satisfying? Massacre was always his favorite word, your creator. Such a shame he created such a disappointment."

"I have many memories on this bridge, Lio." Parate spoke, his optics scanning like an adult reminsicing his days in the classroom. "I recall the day Starscream was promoted to Second in Command. Strange fact, though, is that my creator was on the same level in the ranks as Starscream, he fought as long and as hard as Starscream, my creator had more patience than Starscream ever could. However, Starscream was more clever in his speeches, so much more manipulative, such a silver tongue. My creator never bothered with such troublesome trivial, but he deserved the position of Second in Command so much more than that sycophant." As Parate spoke, his spark ached and anger boiled white hot, a sensation he had nearly forgotten. The memory of his creator and carrier bowing before Megatron, following his every word like it came from Primas himself. They acted like the perfect soldiers while so much more was going on behind the scenes. "My creator... was one of the best Decepticon warrior's I had ever seen. My carrier was the most loyal fighter that stood out in the ranks. Yet she, too, went on ignored. The irony in it is that they never wanted to be Decepticon's. However, in order to ensure the our safety, my creator bargained with a Decepticon and, gradually, gained Megatron's favor."

"What is this?" Lio gasped. Parate clutched his servos into tight fists, realizing that Lio was much closer than before. "Are you feeling sentimental? Maybe a bit nostalgic? I swear, I thought that was beaten out of you at a young age."

Parate spun around, tripped Lio, and placed the same landing pad on his neck. His old, dark blue optics looked up at Parate, pleadingly, and his servo's tried to pull Parate off of him. Parate scanned the old bot; his paint job was in desperate need of a new coat, his body was covered in scratches that it was hard to tell what his colors are, his sigil had been replaced recently. Parate raised his head, glancing over the room again.

"Lio, I was brought up here, this ship in particular, in hopes that I would become a great Decepticon leader." Parate said in a louder, angrier tone, his landing pad digging deeper into Lio's neck pipes. "Where we stand now, where I tower over your decrepit husk, is the exact spot where Megatron killed my caretakers, right in front of me. They need not tell me why, all I had to see was the one bot I was lead to believe I can trust. Before that, I, foolishly, released that same said bot, and took my first step towards betraying my predecessor, destroying what I was striving to become. I returned the favor to that Autobot Scout, or someone I believed was one of their Scouts. "

Parate screamed in pain when Lio stabbed Parate's landing pad with a sharp elbow-joint from a dead Decepticon. Parate jumped back and rolled behind a pedestal. He sat up right and looked out the broken window. The ship had, somehow, adjusted itself and was at level with the others. Parate watched Teama and the rest of the Autogirls form a tight circle, surrounded by Decpeticons and Vehicons. His spark panicked when he didn't see Sanna. Before he could move, he was shot in the left shoulder pad. He screamed and rolled as another blaster fire misses him.

"Big mistake, Lio!" Parate snarled, separating a Decepticon husk from it's internal wires. In one swift move, Parate had blocked out the pain, slid over to Lio, whipped the wires at his legs and tripped him again. This time, Parate jumped up and hog-tied Lio. "You seem to forget who I am, who I was trained to be. You, of all bots, ought to remember that since you and my father were, secretly, friends."

"Traitor! That is what you are! No matter how you were raised!" Lio screamed, struggling. "You're creator was a fool! The Decepticon's offered me a deal so much better because I didn't have a runt to protect! But I knew your creator would bargain anything if it meant keeping you safe! He gained only a part of Megatron's trust, but I knew your creator would train you to, one day, become stronger than Megatron! And, as we all knew, Megatron would not stand for that. So he waited for the ample chance to kill them and diminish that firey spirit before it became too late."

As Parate's anger grew, the tighter his grip was on Lio's wrist. He could hear the bot screaming, the exterior skin creaking, he could feel dents forming at his servo digits. It took more control than he ever had to not find satisfaction out of tormenting Lio.

"If I had more time, I could have killed Megatron and all of you would be at my feet, bowing and calling me your master." Parate raised his head, looking around the ship, fantasying himself as leader of the Decepticon's. Starscream at his side, bowing and spewing words of pure sycophancy. All other's kneeling before him. At his feet were the head's of both Megatron and Optimus Prime, victory and vengeance would be his to relish until the end of his days.

"PARATE!WHERE ARE YOU!?" A familiar voice screamed, bringing back to reality.

"By the Allspark." He mumbled, realizing what he just allowed himself to think. "It did not have to be this way! You saved my life, and I returned the favor! You were my creator's friend! Yet, you betrayed him even before his death!"

"He did this to both of you." Lio groaned, laying as still as possible. "All he had to do was end both you and her! Now, he is dead and you were allowed to live! There are many things I can understand, but why Megatron allowed you to live is one I never will! You are nothing, boy! Just like your caretakers!" Lio shot. Suddenly, he was picked up and slammed into a wall. "Oh...you...have stooped to a new level. I thought...Autobots stood for good. You seem to be a bit more dark, Parate."

"You are a Decepticon, I allowed you to live once."Parate picked up Lio and slammed him into the wall, holding him up by his neck."A mistake I shall not make again!"

"What are you doing, Parate?" Lio asked, laughing nervously. He recognized that crazed look, and couldn't fight off the sense of fear in his spark. Parate was something of an animal, he could sense fear and he always used it to his advantage. Lio prayed that Parate was not as an insane bot as he was when he was on the Decepticon side. "Have mercy on me, Parate. I've known you since you were young. Remember when I aided you in battle? When I took the fall for something your creator did?"

Parate slammed him into the wall.

"Ah!" Lio screamed. "What are you going to do?! Kill me!? What would your new leader think of that? Would he condone such blood lust?" Parate's faceplate became more at eased, that's when Lio began to feel the fast pumping adrenaline in his system. "The great Optimus Prime. What would he do if he found out what you had done? Would still be accepted as a member or will you be exiled?"

"You are, also, a traitor. Both of ours were intentional." Parate looked down at Lio's crossed out Autobot sigil. "You had many battles. And before this war, you knew both my caretakers, that's why they trusted you with me when you came over to the Decepticon side. Even on the battlefield, they knew you would not dare kill me. A skilled fighter, master of disguise, sliver tongue, no wonder Megatron took a liking to you!"

He slammed Lio harder into the wall, his grip tightened around the bot's neck.

"What I am doing is reminiscing the last memory of my caretakers." Parate spoke, looking out the window again. "What I am doing, is not only fixing my mistake, but I am erasing my past and starting anew. Megatron's end is at hand as are the Decepticons who stand with him. What I am doing is taking care of all these loose ends that hold me back, all things that remind me of what and who I was striving to be for so long! Before I do that, there is one last loose end."

Parate grabbed Lio's neck and dragged him to the large opening Parate had created.

"No!" Lio choked, trying in vain to free himself as the window drew nearer. Parate heaved Lio over his shoulder pads and threw him out the window, listening to his loud scream's echo throughout the sky.