The third time's the charm, humans say.
Megatron doesn't agree, and neither do his Decepticons.
If it wasn't for the difficulty of it, he'd have moved the Space Bridge to another location.
Fortunately, though, a sandstorm buried the blackened ground where he'd last seen his Air Commander still active, if gray and broken.
The warlord offlines his optics with a quiet huff, shaking the thought away as he concentrates on the inactive Space Bridge.
The past is the past. Shockwave's replacement for Starscream, at least until either Thundercracker or Skywarp manage to pull themselves together, is about to arrive.
Soundwave, standing calmly at his left, doesn't betray any emotion, but his placement is more than enough for those who know him.
He may be the Decepticon Second in Command now, but he certainly doesn't feel like it.
The Space Bridge flashes to activation almost unexpectedly, but neither the Communication Officer, the remnants of the Command Trine or the Slagmaker himself react.
When it goes offline, however, there are three frames stepping out of the ring instead of two.
Blitzwing gives him a half bow before going to where Astrotrain is waiting a respectful distance away, but the Seekers stop.
The one at the front is a glaring green only softened by the darker shades covering it in a camouflage pattern, servos, forearms and pedes black, and thighs white, yellow details here and there, and orange cockpit.
His helm is black and his faceplate an almost white silver, his bright red optics as calm as the rest of him.
The one standing a step back and to the first Flier's right is yellow, chest and pelvic armor a more orangish shade, with forearms, servos, thighs and pedes white and the same red and white stripe Thundercracker has on his wings.
His faceplate is white and helm black, but his optics are a blazing yellow, more intense than his straight posture and emotionless look would make them to be.
There's something wrong with that Seeker.
Starting with the fact that he shouldn't be here.
"Acid Storm." Megatron salutes calmly with a nod, and the green Seeker answers with a deep bow, the other mimicking him so quickly that it almost looks like they bent in unison.
"Lord Megatron. It's an honor to be once more under your direct command."
"Indeed. Now, perhaps you could start proving your usefulness by explaining why I have two Seekers when I was told I'd be welcoming only one." He orders with a calm voice, and the Fliers straighten.
"This is my Trinemate, Sunstorm. I couldn't simply leave him behind." The new Air Commander supplies, gesturing to the yellow mech.
And Megatron knows, as do the others present, just how true those words are.
He's been seeing how the loss of one can affect the two others, and, judging by the fact there's only two of Acid Storm's Trine, he knows it's better that way.
So, he just nods and gestures for them to follow back to where Astrotrain is, the Triple Changer already transforming into his Shuttle mode.
The new arrivals may have been outfitted with the native F-15 Falcon alt modes, but it wouldn't do to have them flying around to be spotted by Autobots before it's their time.
The yellow one scowls in an almost familiar gesture, but follows silently.
Megatron forces himself to delete the budding line of code.
Starscream is gone, no matter how unlikely that possibility had grown to be with the vorns. If he wants his Decepticons to win and the Autobots exterminated, he needs to move on.
Easier said than done for some, judging by Thundercracker and Skywarp's attentive looks in the yellow Seeker's direction as the warlord talks to Acid Storm.
And… is Soundwave staring?
"What?" Sunstorm finally scoffs, voice rich and with the superiority undertone that is oh so familiar…
He only realizes he's stopped talking to the Air Commander to join in the staring when burning yellow optics find his.
"I may be the messenger of Primus, but I'm not a processor reader, so speak. Or you speak for them." The Flier snarls softly, glaring at Soundwave, who straightens in surprise.
"How…"
"Sunstorm is nosy. He's been getting into Shockwave's computers any chance he's found."
"It's called preparation. It usually works when thrust into a war." The yellow Seeker scowls, but his Trineleader just gives him a deadpanned look.
"Did he say messenger of Primus?"
"He's a Covenant mech." Acid Storm answers calmly, earning himself another glare.
"As should everyone be. I understand weak-willed mechs being blinded, but Primus' greatness should have never been disregarded as it has been. That fake Prime will pay for it."
"Oh?" Megatron lets out with healthy curiosity, almost perking up at the words.
"The line of Primes became corrupted as soon as the Senate was created and linked to it. The current imposter must be eliminated to allow for the Matrix to return to the true worthy, someone capable of making what remains of Cybertron see what they have been blinded to."
"Like you?" Skywarp asks with a mocking tone, but, despite the flash of annoyance in yellow optics, the other Flier doesn't do more than straighten.
"Like Megatron."
Silence.
Slowly, all optics turn to the warlord, who has to reboot his visual array a couple of times before letting a sharp smile on his faceplate.
"Why, of course. I would be honored to carry out Primus' duty." The Seeker seems satisfied at that, nodding, while Acid Storm gives his leader a funny look. "Something you want to add?"
"Has Shockwave given you any information about Sunstorm?"
"Should he?"
"Oh, mech. We're slagged." The Air Commander groans, hiding his faceplate behind his servos. "Let me tell you later. In private. Just… tell your mechs to not piss him off."
Before Megatron can ask, he feels Astrotrain slow down and land, the ramp lowering almost immediately after to let them step out into the Nemesis' tower lift.
"Thundercracker, Skywarp. Keep an optic on our newest addition while Acid Storm and I discuss our incoming plans. Soundwave, with us." He orders, already walking away, and taking into account the meaningful look the Air Commander gives his Trinemate, who answers with a tired look.
Once the door to the warlord's office closes at their back and they're all seated, Megatron turns his whole attention to the Seeker.
"So, what is it that Shockwave should have told me about your Trinemate?"
"He's a newspark."
Silence.
Soundwave's visor reboots, but the startled pinkish color remains, as the Slagmaker is sure it's on his optics too.
"What?"
"Shockwave has been trying to replicate Vector Sigma spark-creation for decavorns, not to say hecavorns. He designed frames, powerful ones, and even built them, but he hadn't managed to stabilize a spark. Until Vector Sigma was reactivated and he had a chance to study it further. The first spark he managed to stabilize and transfer was Sunstorm's, and as far as I know, it's the only one."
"Is he now. Does that mean he has a specially designed frame?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, that comes with a few glitches, some of them… quite important."
"Like?"
"He was created by a Grounder. He has almost no Seeker protocols." Which to Megatron means absolutely nothing, but, for the sake of his distraught Air Commander, he nods sympathetically.
"I am sure something can be done."
"Train him, but… It's not the same."
"Anything else we should know about?"
"His Primus obsession? That's a glitch too. He thinks himself a messenger of Primus and is a Covenant mech down to the spark. He believes he was created because Primus gave Shockwave the idea."
"We've dealt with worse." But Acid Storm's look tells him otherwise.
"No, you haven't. He may not have much Flier protocols, but he's a natural in the air, his armor is corrosive-resistant and—"
The lights don't flicker, they just die, and the Seeker is up on his thrusters and running down the corridor so fast that Megatron barely manages to catch his loud cursing.
Whoever said Fliers aren't fast on the ground is going to have a nice chat with the end of his charged fusion cannon.
When he finally catches up it's not because of the loud noises, not completely, but because of the light.
Blazing yellow light that has both him and Soundwave rebooting their visual arrays a couple of times before they can finally enter the Rec Room without being blinded by it.
And there, in the center of it, burning like a star, is Sunstorm, Wildrider scrambling away from him with just one arm attached to his frame, the shoulder joint melted to the point not even a drop of Energon escapes from the lines fused together.
Optics pale amber, the yellow Seeker is simply staring with tired boredom at his ranting Trineleader.
"—go a breem without me keeping a leash on you?! I told you not to start melting slaggers into puddles of Cybertanium until at least an orn, and what do you do?! Melt the slaggers not even a breem after we get here!"
"I wasn't going to completely melt him."
"Not. The. Point!"
"What the Pit is going on here?" Megatron manages to rumble menacingly, stepping into the room as tall and imposing as always as the present Decepticons, minus the two newest Fliers, turn their pale startled and fearful visual arrays on him.
"That especially built and powerful frame I told you about?" Acid Storm scoffs, pointing at his Trinemate as the crackling electricity and what look almost like solar filaments arcing over yellow plating start to grow weaker and fewer in number, darkness slowly creeping in. "He's capable of creating elevated levels of radiation, star-like levels. Essentially, he's a radioactive bomb."
"I am the light of Primus."
"Or that, whatever you want to call it."
When his astonishment clears enough for his processor to function again, Megatron smiles widely and sharply.
"Reflector, get the generator repaired. Soundwave, as soon as we have energy again, contact Cybertron. I want to hear all the details of this project of Shockwave's." He purrs, and not even the settling darkness can hide the shudders of his Decepticons.
The Nemesis is strangely quiet after the power comes back on, and Mirage is more than a little determined to find out what the Decepticons are planning, because he wasn't the one to mess with the lights.
Which means they're doing something big, to require enough power to drain a ship for some minutes, or even to produce that effect by backfiring.
Well, that's what he's here for.
The rush of mechs is as unexpected as it is dangerous, and the spy counts himself lucky when he manages to avoid them by pressing against a wall.
The only words he manages to catch are 'sun', 'Seekers' and 'crazy'. Not especially promising, but at least it's something.
Besides, all the Decepticons seem to have come from the Rec Room, so that's where the noble goes to.
And that's where he finds the Seekers.
All of them, both the two members of the Command Trine and the Coneheads, standing around a mech he has never seen before, not even in file.
Another Seeker, though this one bright yellow and with amber optics.
Starscream's replacement?
"—don't know how long I've been waiting to do that to the slagger." Thrust finishes with a dark grin, almost giddy, while the newcomer looks at him as one would the mud under their pedes.
"The fact you hadn't done it yet just speaks of your uselessness." The yellow Flier deadpans with the barest hint of a sneer, and Mirage startles.
The voice is obviously wrong, but the stance and the tone…
Ramjet scowls and takes a step closer to the unimpressed unknown mech.
"See how well you deal with Motormaster after that stunt. The scrap-heap is even worse than the whole of his Gestaltmates combined!"
"You mean Menasor?"
"I—Uhm, no. Actually, I meant it as in having to deal with them at the same time, not…" The white Flier mutters, startled.
"You said 'Gestaltmates' and 'combined'." The yellow one points out in a mixture of smugness and questioning, blazing amber optics analyzing the Conehead with the intensity of a predator that has its prey trapped.
"I—But that's… Oh, mute it!" Ramjet finally settles with, grimacing as he crosses his arms against his chest.
"It is really by the will of Primus that you have all not been deactivated yet. You should be grateful I… I…" And, just like that, the unknown mech falls silent, looking confused with his optics unfocused.
The Coneheads take a step back, unnerved, while the other two lean closer, slightly worried.
"Sunstorm? Are you alright?" Thundercracker asks, and Mirage makes a note of the designation to check with Teletraan's database later.
"Acid Storm?" The yellow Flier whispers, turning around with confusion and…
Worry? Fear? Distress?
Whatever it is, the expression makes him look definitely newspark-like.
That doesn't mean Mirage isn't tense when yellow optics scan the entrance, taking into account the designation.
Acid Storm.
Leader of the Decepticon Air Forces on Cybertron.
Is he on Earth?
A muted whirr of transformation, and yellow wings open wide, twitching.
Oh, slag.
Blazing yellow optics find Mirage's own.
Before the noble can do more than turn around and open the door, he hears a roar at his back—
He's slammed into the corridor wall loudly with a pained grunt, but the world twists away as he's thrown back, falling to the ground with yet more clanging and feeling his disruptor short out at the impacts.
"Autobot!"
"So it seems."
He manages to bring his optics online, only to almost wish he hadn't.
There's Seekers all around, and none of them look happy.
With a move worthy of Jazz's dancing skills—and that he'll never let anyone know he knows—he pushes the Decepticons away, more at the surprise of the spy whirling on his shoulder plate that at his legs making actual contact, before he rushes to the door again.
Turbines roar once more, and he doesn't wait for his pedes to get any traction before transforming and speeding down the halls, uncaring about Soundwave catching his frequency as he contacts the Autobots to get him out of the ship.
There's yelping as the Fliers crash into a tight corner, too big to take the turns—
One set of turbines doesn't mute or grow weaker, but stronger.
One Seeker is getting closer.
He risks a 90 degree turn on an intersection, hoping to lose his tail—
And feels a large weight pouncing on him not a nanoklik later, tires screeching loudly as his suspensions burn with pain, before clawed servos pierce his undercarriage for a firm grip to get him off the ground.
He can feel Energon dripping down the dactyls even before the alarms flash, and hoping to distract his captor, he transforms.
The grip vanishes, the spy falling to his pedes, ready to bolt again—
Something explodes behind him, back plating boiling off of his struts as his voice box shorts out from the energy surge ravaging his frame to the point he can't really feel his body anymore.
When the pain finally lessens, he finds himself lying on his side in the middle of a puddle of liquid metal and boiling Energon, a blazing winged silhouette approaching calmly and regally, tongues of solar plasma arcing off of it as almost completely white optics bore into his.
Comm miraculously still online, he manages to send one last message before impossible radioactive heat sends him into stasis.
What exactly was Wheeljack's device supposed to do?!
Optimus finds himself on his back before he manages to turn around and see why the door to the bridge has opened, and when he looks up, he finds a distressed Jazz clicking on the main console madly.
"What—"
The screen comes to life, and the Prime only manages to catch purple as he stands up—
"I want to negotiate Mirage's safe return to the Autobots." Jazz warbles out before Megatron can do more than open his mouth, a curious green Seeker standing by his side—
Oh, Acid Storm.
Wait, did Jazz say Mirage's safe return to the Autobots?!
"Ah, so that was the signal Soundwave detected." The Decepticon leader says simply, looking pleasantly surprised.
"Sir, I have just been informed the Seekers have an Autobot spy in their custody." The Flier adds calmly, and Optimus give his Head of Special Operations a brief startled look.
How did he know Mirage had been caught even before the Decepticons themselves? Did he receive a comm?
"Tell Skywarp to bring him here. Let's show our dear Autobots how we deal with spies." The gray mech rumbles in almost a purr, looking right into the Prime's optics as he moves to stand at Jazz's side, Prowl at the red and blue mech's free one when the saboteur relinquishes the center of the screen to his leader.
There's a flash of purple behind Megatron, and the warlord turns around at the sound of displaced air—
A tiny part of Optimus' processor notices the fact that the Slagmaker himself tenses as much as the Autobots, but the majority of it is too busy being shell-shocked at the sight of one of his mechs lying on the ground in a growing puddle of Energon and molten metal, the plating on his back, and the back of arms, legs and head gone, as if eaten by some kind of acid, and his inner workings exposed, blackened and showing signs of heat damage as they strain to work, the sound of usually silent fans almost a roar in the silence.
Skywarp reappears again, this time carrying Hook and Scrapper and a bunch of medical supplies, and both Constructicons only stop cursing when they see the pile of half-melted mech at their pedes.
"Wow. What happened to him?" One of them asks, calm and curious, but Optimus can't bring himself to try to identify who, unable to look away from the tear-like molten optic lenses dripping down Mirage's faceplate, frozen into an agonized silent scream.
"He tried to run." The Seeker answers nonchalantly, and lime green moves to kneel just outside the puddle of boiling liquid.
"Well, he'll be lucky if he gets to walk again after this. His motor controls seem to have taken a nasty hit."
"If he survives, you mean."
"Which you will make sure happens." Megatron orders with a menacing rumble, and both Constructicons reach towards the melted ends of Energon lines to stop the loss—and take their servos back with loud cursing.
"Frag! He's still boiling!"
"What the Pit did you throw on him, liquid plasma?!"
Skywarp snickers.
"Get us to the Repair Bay, there's no way we can do anything with what we have here."
Without another word, they're gone with a flash of purple, only a puddle of cooling Energon and liquid metal proving it has been real.
"And let that be a warning." Megatron purrs, turning to the Autobots on the screen once more with a pleased dark smile. "Now, what makes you think you can get me anything in exchange of such a delightful piece of entertainment for my troops?"
"You… You sick—" Jazz's explosion is avoided before it even happens by Prowl putting a servo on a shoulder plate, but the Praxian's doorwings are vibrating in warning with enough anger for the motion to be seen instead of just heard.
"Energon. And letting you send it safely to Cybertron." Prime answers, hoping the usual offer suffices, because they don't have any prisoner to trade for Mirage.
Megatron's optics dim, as if he was talking through a private comm line, as do Acid Storm's, and the Autobot leader feels his spark falter in its pulsing—
"Very well." If he had less self-control, Optimus would have sagged in relief at that answer, red optics brightening as they focus on his blue ones once more. "I'll send you the details in half a joor."
"Mirage—"
"Will be repaired, but not rebuilt. You will deal with the aesthetics, my Constructicons will just make sure he doesn't deactivate."
And the screen goes black.
Jazz's curses make even the Prime startle and jump away from the smaller mech, who is shaking badly enough to have all his fluffed out plating rattle noisily, visor white.
It was bad enough when the Decepticons were just focused, but now…
Acid Storm is on Earth, and, apparently, he's brought some new weapon with himself.
And judging by the fact Megatron acquiesced to their offer, what they're planning with it is going to be much bigger than just stealing energy, if they don't think the task important enough to use the weapon.
Primus have mercy on them…
AN: I'm laughing so hard at the last line that I can barely think, so give me a moment.
Okay, better now. Things are going to get nastier from now on. As you've seen with Mirage, the 'Cons won't be pulling their punches, and Jazz is mad now, so watch out.
Now, the reason for the early update is because I won't have internet access this weekend, and since holidays will get in the way, I don't know when I'll be able to post next chapter (it's already written, so no problems there).
Happy holidays!