A/N: Took some time, but I finished the chapter, yeah! Heyo, everyone, it's that time again to see what our Decepticon friends are up too! This chapter came out real nice and I'm happy with it, which is a great feeling. I do hope you enjoy it, we'll soon be at the next episode in the canonical series so I am hyped for it, as you should be too! But anyway, enough rambles, enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 21-The Plans We Make

Starscream's POV

I've been testing my limits as of late, using my access to my new powers from the earring to pull off some stuff around the ship. Like messing with Knockout by moving his buffer, or messing with Astraea by tripping her up while she walked through the halls. HA! That still makes me laugh. And as of that one, I knew that I couldn't even be detected by Soundwave's security when Astraea complained to Lord Megatron and Soundwave about it.

Having the rogue's ability to literally stealth into nothing has come in quite handy.

It was also handy for making getaways or appearing randomly from the shadows to frighten someone.

But I wasn't using any of it right now because I was staring at Moonfall. Still and slumbering peacefully in her room in the Med-Bay. She didn't look tense or scared, like when in the dream. I want to know what happened to her, I only have context clues, and the implications make me want to scream and grab her and never let go.

I sighed, poking slightly at our barely formed bond, but nothing poked back.

It's been like that for a week.

Honestly, it scares me more than anything else I've ever been afraid of before. I hate being scared, I hate not knowing, and I just want to be there, with my Moonlight. I am with her, but not really, and she is not letting me in. I know she's hurting, and when I think about it, my spark screams in pain too.

I'm starting to lose hope. And I think it's my fault for not being more forward. Maybe if I had pushed my way in, she wouldn't be like this. Or...she would push harder back and hate me for it. She was happy that I gave her space to breathe and think. Rationalizing was hard sometimes, and counterproductive, but it was all that I had left.

I love her, and I want to tell her that, but I am afraid I will only push her away.

I wanted her to come to me when she was ready, I just need to be more patient.

I sighed, rubbing my face tiredly, "Why is this so hard…?"

"Who you talking to, bro?" A happy voice cut through my thoughts, and I snapped my head next to me to see Skywarp sitting there.

I blinked owlishly, "How long have you been there?"

He laughed, "For like a minute or so, you were so deep in thought you didn't notice me teleport in!"

I frowned, "But I should've known you were about to pop in, how did I…"

His smile faltered a little as I stared in confusion at the floor.

"Bro," He said, sadly, "You didn't notice because you've been blocking me and Thundercracker, it was hard to find you with our bond, so we asked about and Knockout said that you came here a lot so…"

Regret filled the void that confusion left, "R-Right...I forgot."

"Forgot? How could you forget that you were blocking us this whole time?" An angry yet calm voice came from the door as Thundercracker stepped in, his face marred by a subtle rage and sadness.

"I-I-I…" Was all I could stutter out, before looking away from them, even now I blocked them out because I knew what would happen if I let them in. They might figure out everything and when that happens...well I don't know what will happen.

I sighed, "I'm sorry, but it just has to be this way."

"WHAT!?" Thundercracker bellowed, finally losing his cool, it was rare for him to do that. "WHY!? Why does it have to be this way? What are you doing, I thought you promised to be more open with us? Why, Starscream, did you lie to US?!"

I only stared at him in shock, Skywarp looking almost frightened between us.

Frowning, I said, "You don't get to boss me around, you arrogant scrap! You've not been here for a long time, and I am fine working things out on my own, I don't need your help, so just drop it!"

He laughed dryly, "So what? We don't matter anymore? I thought we were brothers, Starscream, a trine. Tell me, right now why you are doing this and give me a straight answer. Ever since we came back you've been blocking us out, and I am tired of waiting! So what's so important that you have to bottle it away from you're own trine!?"

So much that you couldn't hope to comprehend, I thought silently to myself, wishing I could say it to them, but I knew I couldn't.

But instead, I said, "Thundercracker, I'm only going to ask you this once, drop it. You wouldn't like it when you'd see it, and I doubt that even after everything that's on my spark was laid out before you that'd you be satisfied. So no, I won't tell you, and you can't make me."

Then, he laughed, dryly, before he stared down me with the darkest expression I'd ever seen. "Really? Alright then, Skywarp, liked we discussed."

He looked back at his darker brother nervously, "B-But…"

"NOW!" Thundercracker shouted, I now was on high alert, I could feel battle protocols kicking in, as well as my new abilities.

Skywarp sighed shakily, clearly not willing for whatever they were planning, then he blinked out of existence. There was a moment, a beat of silence before the popping occurred and he reappeared, but not in the same place next to me. Now, he stood next to Moonfall, holding the cortical psychic patch.

My optics widened, "What do you think you are doing?!" I stood, my armor with its enchantment now activated, there was no indication that anything happened on the outside but my systems knew it was working.

"Starscream," Thundercracker's cold voice pulled my optics back to his, and with everything activating, so did my roguish abilities, in one moment I discerned everything. My insightfulness and prior tendencies towards scheming made everything clear, they were intending to not only look into her mind but mine as well.

Before Thundercracker could go on I growled, "How. Dare. You."

The darkly colored seeker seemed confused for a moment, before I growled out, "You will never, ever touch her, so long as I live."

"W-Wait, how'd you know that's the plan?" Skywarp seemed very confused and now very frightened.

I stepped forward to my younger brother, "Hand it to me, now."

"Or what?" Thunder' challenged.

I stared him dead in the optics, rage, and fury all-consuming as I said, "Impetus."

No One's POV

Thundercracker and Skywarp loved their brother, and this was for their brother's own good. Everything started with her, the femme that bore the name of this planet's satellite. So, something within her mind must have answers. They'd never hurt her, just take a peek, see what's up.

They did this because they were scared for their brother, and he'd lied to them.

He said he'd open up, but that never happened, and Thundercracker was getting frustrated. Skywarp was just concerned, but he understood his older brother's frustration. And that's how they got here.

But what they didn't expect was this.

Sure, they knew he'd push back against the idea, but nothing like this.

After speaking a strange, unworldly, word, something happened. His right optic, red as the other, suddenly turned black with the white ring becoming a deep cold shade of blue. And rising from behind him was a well-made sword, with a glowing blue gem in the hilt, floating there.

It suddenly snapped the blade in the direction of Thundercracker, simply suspended in the air, waiting.

In a dark and cold voice, made more menacing by Starscream's black and red armor, said, "Move an inch in our direction and I will rip you to shreds."

Thundercracker froze on the spot, not understand what was happening or what to do.

Skywarp dropped the patch and blinked out, through the bond he knew he wasn't coming back. Which left the two elder brothers alone, one wielding a strange sword, the other frozen in terror and confusion.

"Leave," Starscream commanded, the sword suddenly inches away from his optic, staying completely still in the air. "And never come here ever again."

Thundercracker musters up enough courage to say, "It's only a matter of time Starscream, we'll eventually get to the bottom of this."

"And when you do, I'll make sure you never know relief from the pain I will inflict upon you, brother." He snarled, the sword inched even further towards his optic and slowly, ever the cautious one, back away from Starscream before leaving him and the strange sword alone, once again.


Nerium's POV

I grunted in pain as I smacked the floor with my frame. For a moment I was dazed before I was picked up by the neck and thrown into a nearby wall. The crack and clang made my helm swim even more, and my vision was staticing out. I groaned in pain, the throbbing becoming numb. I was a tough gnome, but even this was more than just falling out of a tree.

"YOU LITTLE GLITCH!" A loud and angry voice yelled in my ringing audios, "Did you honestly think you'd get away with it?!"

Again I only grunted and groaned, my only thought process was to stop my helm from spinning. I slowly looked up to see in my blurred vision two figures standing over me. Easily enough in my dazed state to tell, that this was Astraea and Makeshift, murder in their optics.

I sputtered out, "O-Oh, I knew w-what I was doing, a-and I delighted in the fact of it." I said with a smug grin.

Astraea now spoke this time, "Really now? Then maybe we should make this HURT even more."

Suddenly she grabbed my arm, flipping me and twisting it at an odd angle.

"GRAH!" I screamed, I stared at them with only hate.

How did I end up like this? Simple, I was ambushed, but I wasn't going to fit back. I needed to lead them on, so if I have to endure some pain, so be it, after all, I've been looking for a way to numb myself for some time since this ship doesn't have booze.

"So tell me, my little pet, what did you tell Megatron exactly? I want to know how much I have to beat you until you are within a nano-meter of your life." Makeshift purred as he circled where Astraea held me down.

I coughed, some Energon escaping my lips, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Astraea twisted my arm further, closing to dislocating it and ripping it off, I screamed in pain but I savored it, it gave me the motivation to keep it up.

"Yes, I would, my pet." He growled, "But since you are so determined to not tell me anything, then maybe you're little minicon will tell me something?"

I froze, Wendigo was with Laserbeak and Soundwave, and I felt hot boiling rage bubble up. Yes, you can hurt me as much as you want, but Wendigo, that's crossing a line. I felt my palms heat up and using my strength I smashed my helm into Astraea's who monetarily lost grip of my arm.

I twisted and snarled like a beast, grabbing onto her helm and smashing hard onto the floor. I snapped towards Makeshift who stumbled back in surprise, I raised my hands and quickly created a glyph like that of a burning red hot iron appeared before I snapped if forwards, the glyph passing his chassis.

He was momentarily stunned before looking at himself, then smirking, "Ha, you missed."

A dark smile spilled onto my face, and I raised my palms, the red hot glyph temporally branded onto the onyx gems. "Hmm, are you sure about that…"

Then he looked confused, and then pain etched across his face as he suddenly started pawing around his chassis, steam started to rise as the metal on his chest began to glow red hot.

He screamed, "WHAT IS…!?"

"Heat Metal, you fool." I said with a sadistic grin as the metal heated on his chest, "It'll most likely kill you if I let it go for too long, overheating and melting the spark and all. So let this be a warning, this deal is between you and me, not Wendigo, not anyone else. You can beat me all you want, but never, ever, touch her or anyone else I care for, ever again."

He screamed before promptly passing out, I released the spell and the metal slowly started cooling around his chassis. I then turned to Astraea who was slowly backing away from us.

I smiled at her and said, "You won't be so lucky as to actually get away unharmed, but don't worry, I won't kill you, yet."

"N-N-No, no, I'm...can't we cut s-some sort of d-deal perhaps?" She said, panic in her red optics as she tried to gain further distance.

"Well, I do hate playing with Makeshift...how about this, if you keep Makeshift out of my way, out of my spikes, and make sure he doesn't spill anything, then I'll consider not killing you in you're recharge, how does that sound?" I said playfully, like a cat playing with a dead mouse.

And like the little cowardly mouse she was, she nodded in agreement, "Of c-course, I can do that for you just...please don't hurt me!"

Ha, no matter what in the end you both will be dead if I have anything to say about it.

I smiled with a sick sweetness, "Oh of course, now, be a good little thing and take Makeshift to the Med-Bay. Tell no one of this, or I'll hurt you as I did him."

She nodded enthusiastically, before running and grabbing Makeshift and heading for the Med-Bay. My injuries were not too bad, I've felt worse and I knew my internal system could easily repair it.

"You were supposed to play along." Starscream's voice came from the shadows of the hall.

I rolled my optics, turning to see him step out of the shadow effortlessly, "I have a limit to these sorts of things, and that was it. Besides, what matters is the end result."

"But now you threatened Astraea's life, I thought we were only after Makeshift?" He said, cocking his hips slightly and crossing his arms almost with an air of annoyance.

"Oh please, both of them are too much trouble for their worth, they're better off dead than alive. Besides, I'm planning on ending her much later, she still has some uses, but for now, we will focus on that fucking mech." I growled, staring after were they went.

He shrugged, "Ah, forget it. Debating it now is pointless, besides, I think Astraea is the 'new old me'."

I looked at him curiously, "How so?"

"She reminds me of myself, that's all." He then growled, "It's very annoying…"

I stared at him even more intensely noticing how stiff and agitated he was.

"So, what's got you so worked up?" I asked as I started making my way down the hall, Starscream was quick to follow in my steps.

He huffed, "It's nothing, but...I may have threatened my brothers with the Dancing Sword."

I looked at him with shock, "You did what?!"

He cringed, "They threatened Moonfall...so I reacted."

A moment of silence hung over us, the weight of his words set in.

I frowned, "They are becoming a problem?" The implication alone unsettled Starscream, after all, they were his brothers after all.

"Unfortunately, yes, I've been blocking them from my side of the bond. And they aren't taking it in stride. I was hoping they'd not question it, but they are family, I shouldn't have assumed." He sighed, playing with his gold earring.

"This is true, but if you feel like you need to block them out, then that's fine. But we can't keep them at bay, if what you are implying. But we can't worry about that now, we have to focus on what is in front of us. Otherwise, we'll be overwhelmed. But when we take care of that, what do you want to do with them?" I asked, knowing it was a question that needed to be asked.

He was silent for a moment, "I don't want to...you know what, but I think in time we'll have a better plan."

I nodded, "Very well, just remember Starscream, you aren't bound by their will. You are your own mech, so make sure they don't try to take that from you."

He smiled, genuinely, "Thank you for the reminder, Nerium, I need this."


Somewhere in the Mindscape...

Moonfall's POV

I stood in the Forge of Solus Prime, the anvil was in the middle, fire spouted from the forge and tools and odd things were everywhere. Currently, I watched in silence as Solus Prime herself worked on a piece. I had entered this place to speak with her about finding a weapon strong enough to take down a literal god, but I noticed she was busy with her Forge Hammer so I stood waiting for her to finish.

The flashes from the strikes and the heavy hits were welcomed distractions from my thoughts.

I found my loneliness in my own Mind Palace was quite...unforgiving.

Even in this mindscape, I still had flashes, still had nightmares that played before me. It was disturbing. So, I busied myself, blocked myself off from Starscream so that I couldn't feel his concern. Because when I did, I was reminded of what had happened and I didn't want him to see that ugly side of me.

"You think too loud, Luna." Solus voice called out, I looked back to her holding a complete piece of...something, her golden hammer off to the side.

She called me by my organic name, which I didn't like but allowed, after all, I was in my organic form, but not my elven form, my fetchling form instead. Ever since I came back I've been like this, with the shadow-like skin and glow eyes, I really didn't like it.

"Thanks for noticing," I blankly retorted, "I assume you know why I am here?"

Solus grunted, unhappy with the turn of the conversation but said, "Yes, a weapon to destroy the Chaos Bringer. I'd be happy to help, but it won't be easy."

"When is it ever?" I scoffed before crossing my arms, "So, what do we need to do to get it?"

Solus looked up, her glowing white eyes training on mine, "Well, first off, you can't kill him."

I frowned, "What?"

"He's a necessity for balance in the universe, Luna, even if you hate the Raven Queen and you kill her, it does not mean death will end, it means something else will take its place. And Allspark forbid whatever that could be. We know Unicron, that's why we chose not to kill him because something far worse could replace him." She said, placing the piece away, "What you need, is something to contain him."

I sighed, "Fine, I get it, so where can we find such a thing?"

Solus moved around her anvil, plucking her golden hammer, "Well, the Matrix of Leadership is one such device."

Curious I stood at attention more, "Where's that then?"

"Optimus Prime carries the Matrix within him, it grants him powers and the title of Prime." Solus then frowned, "If used though, there could be some unforeseen drawbacks."

"Well getting it anyways sounds impossible," I mused, "Having anything else we could use instead?"

"There are other Matrix's that belong to other Primes, but they can't be used by others, only by the Primes themselves." Solus said as she sat on her anvil, "But we have something that you can use. We've sent these weapons already to Earth, with the relics that the Autobots sent to Earth in the last days of the war. One among them was made for this sealing process. But can only be used when Unicron is a threat or any god for that matter. The other weapons will be given to you in time when you are ready."

"So, what are these weapons?" I asked.

Solus smiled coyly, "Ah, ah, not now, I am only telling about the Divine Trammel, the other weapons come in time."

I sighed, "Fine, tell me about this Divine Trammel and where I could find it?"

She nodded her helm and motioned for me to follow. We stepped out into the hall of my Mind Palace and I follow to the room where I first met her. I had made these rooms for her, to occupy her as she seemed to enjoy being in my Mind Palace as gave her peace of mind from her brothers.

She pulled up a hologram showing a device that looked like a pocket watch, without the time face, and filled with gears and gems. It was golden with the gears being silver, and on the back was an angel in chains.

"This is the Divine Trammel, a device created by the Primordial Spark with the purpose to keep in check its godly creations. It was given to Primus to seal Unicron in slumber, but it isn't permanent and that is why it is to be used again." The hologram changed to a map of Earth with a lit-up marker.

I stared in surprise, "Wait, the Divine Trammel is located in Jasper, Nevada!?" Looking to Solus with curiosity.

"Indeed, located underneath this town is the Divine Trammel, and it seems to have an interesting effect on the surrounding town." She said as the town came into view on the map, "It seems that the Divine Trammel has traces of Primus's essence from when he used it take down Unicron and it's attached to several humans there."

I narrowed my eyes at Solus in suspicion, "Wait...are you saying…"

She laughed lightly, "Yes, I am. Jackson Darby, Miko Nakadai, Sierra Chambers, and Rafael Esquivel have these fragments of his essence. That is why they are involved, fate brought them into the care of the Autobots, and to us."

"So what does that mean for them?" I asked, thinking about Raf could be affected by all of this, as well as the other humans.

"It means their destinies are linked with the cybertronian race and the war. It also means that when the Divine Trammel is used, there may be unforeseen complications." Her voice grew grim and somber.

I clenched my fist, "Will they die?"

She sighed in relief, "No, at least they shouldn't, it just means they are connected to Primus like we are. We believe if the right conditions are met, they may even become cybertronians themselves, either upon their deaths, or some other factor like the trammel. It's possible that when you activate it, they will turn into cybertronians themselves, though that might be dangerous in of itself."

"How so?"

"Well," She hesitated, "each of them has a slightly different connection. Jackson Darby holds the Essence of the Self, he is a natural leader and has the potential to be a Prime himself. Miko Nakadai has the Essence of the Soul, she is the heart and soul of her friends and strives to bring out her friends and self from the mundane and apathy of life. Sierra Chambers has the Essence of the Body, this means she is focused on the physical world, and living in the now, rather than Miko who focuses on the spiritual side of enlightenment, she seeks enlightenment in reality and day to day life.'

She paused and smiled, 'Then we have Rafael Esquivel, the Essence of the Mind, he is mindful and uses his talents to his advantage. He is in tune with logical thinking and has the potential to become a great boon to humanity later in life."

I hummed in thought, "So, the children represent the whole of Primus?"

"Yes, and since our creator is mysterious even to us at times, it is uncertain how the Divine Trammel will affect them or even him." She sighed, tired from all the explanations.

"Thank you, Solus, I think we'll make good use of this information," I said as the hologram faded away.

Solus nodded happily, "Of course, we are here to aid all of you, now go, there are things you must prepare for as well."

I nodded and headed out of the room, she was right, I had things to prepare and things to occupy my mind.