Clarity
Chapter II: Old Enemies
I decided to add a little reference to Prime in this chapter.
Cliffjumper canonically exists in Cyberverse, as Bumblebee mentioned him in The Trial.
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Has/Tak.
Salutem was a beautiful city, the core of the AllSpark Realm. It reminded Starscream of how Cybertron was said to have looked during the Golden Age. It was at least four times the size of Iacon and Polyhex combined, and was infinitely more spectacular. The city looked as if it was one constant festival, as if everybody was ready to enjoy their eternal peace. Not Starscream though, never him.
He was here to find his Seekers, his brothers-in-arms. Solitude was unfamiliar territory, it reminded him of his early days, before Jetfire, and that was a part of his life he wanted to forget, to bury under his legacy as an air commander, of power and respect.
The Seeker knew that finding his soldiers would be a challenge, given how many sparks that existed here, but he knew it could be done. They had died fairly recently, however, doing research, Starscream discovered that Slipstream had been sent to trial not too long ago, and deemed innocent for her attempts to thwart Starscream. If she was so far along in processing months ago, surely his Seekers hadn't been far behind.
Starscream would do whatever it took to reach his Seekers, and return to life once more…
Cliffjumper hated his luck.
He remembered the day he died, only a few short months after he and the other Autobots had awakened from stasis on the Ark. He had been sent on an Energon mine raid with Arcee, one of the few Autobots as stealthy as him. Unfortunately, the mission had gone wrong. He had gotten separated from Arcee, and he guessed one of them had tripped an alarm. In moments, the Seekers swarmed the mine. A firefight began, and he had been hit in the shoulder by Starscream's null rays, frying his circuitry. The shot had paralysed him, and he was unable to do anything as that glitchhead Thundercracker accidentally hit an Energon crystal, and his body was vaporized in the explosion. If one good thing came of it, at least Arcee was able to make it back to base so that she could inform the others of his death.
The next thing he knew, he'd awoken in the AllSpark, and after his fairly short trial, he was deemed worthy of staying, and when offered the chance to become an Autotrooper, a protector of the AllSpark, Cliffjumper couldn't say yes quick enough.
Unfortunately for him, the scout hadn't been informed that he would be assigned to work with a hotshot Velocitronian that hadn't fought a day in his life. Cliffjumper sighed, before hearing a familiar voice from behind.
"Wassup Cliff? We got a new job from up top!" Blurr shouted out. He and Cliffjumper shared a body style, the standard Autotrooper white and black frame with a glowing visor and white faceplate, making them look nearly identical, aside from the small horns protruding from Cliffjumper's helm and the "wings" on Blurr's.
"Hmm?" Cliffjumper acknowledged, with only a passing interest in whatever new task he would have to endure.
"You won't believe this, some slagger is broadcasting a signal across the city! What a lugnut, the system picked up that ping the moment it went online!" Cliffjumper looked at the handheld device in Blurr's hand, it showed a grid that represented the city, with a unique signal flickering. Only one mech in history had that mutated spark signature…
The one that got away… "Starscream…" A vengeful smirk appeared on his face. That Seeker was the one that killed him, and Cliffjumper would ensure he was brought to justice.
That's all for now, I appreciate all feedback, and will try to keep the references to Season 3 vague since it isn't on TV or YouTube yet.
If you have any ideas at all, I may be interested in incorporating them into the story.