Before The War Part VI
Starscream lay draped over the couch, glancing up at Sunstorm as he lay on the ground staring up at the ceiling. It was an absolute bore waiting for their mother and father to finish up in with the meeting with the other Decepticons. They weren't allowed in because they did not wear the insignias; at least, that was that idiot Lugnut's excuse. Their mother's excuse of them being too young and not having any real interest in what was being discussed was a little more believable. Of course, it didn't stop them from trying to sneak in from time to time, but someone always spotted them and booted them out.
"Mech, how much longer is this going to take?" Sunstorm whined.
"Who knows," Starscream grumbled as he rolled over to look at his older brother.
His brother was now well into his later years of adolescence, every inch of him praising the best mates in the citadel. He was slightly jealous of his brother, if only for the reason that he had inherited their mother's ability to control fire and he, Starscream, their mother's favourite, had inherited squat. Sure, he himself wasn't that bad looking, if anything he was incredibly handsome for one his age, but he could see flaws in his design. Blackfire claimed it was only an awkward stage that most younglings go through, but she was his mother; of course she was going to say something like that.
He glanced up when he heard footsteps and ducked in time to avoid getting knocked over the head by a playful swat from one of the older Seekers. Skywarp grinned at him, enjoying the fact that he had just about given Starscream a spark attack before flopping down beside him. Thundercracker, Skywarp's partner, was there a moment later, a rather bored look on his face as he stood behind the couch to make sure the black and purple Seeker didn't try anything stupid with the prince.
"Heya Screamer," Skywarp greeted.
"Hello Skywarp," he replied evenly, not really enjoying the fact that he was now trapped.
"Must suck having to wait out here, bored out of your processor," Skywarp cooed, a malicious grin on his face; while he bore the Decepticon insignias on his wings, he wasn't considered old enough to attend the meetings either.
Sunstorm, catching on immediately to what the older mech was implying, bolted up off the floor with a savage snarl. "You keep your filthy mitts off my brother or, so help me Primus, I'll rip your wings off," he threatened, his yellow optics flashing in rage.
Skywarp yipped before bouncing up and away from him. "Easy there, Stormy," he squeaked, "I wasn't going to hurt him or nothin'."
Starscream found himself heavily embarrassed as he realized what had just transpired without him even realizing it. Skywarp had just suggested that they interfaced to pass the time. Sure, Skywarp was attractive, but he certainly didn't want to interface with the mech; could someone say gross? He shuddered at the thought while Sunstorm continued to glare down the black Seeker that had dared to even consider his little brother as a partner. He would have lunged to kill him if another adult had not stepped into the room.
"Sunstorm, is that really how a prince treats his guests?" Shockwave's voice asked from the doorway. "I'm disappointed."
Sunstorm straightened up, twitching his wings in absolute annoyance. "You should have been here a few moments ago," he replied evenly. "Maybe then you would have seen the reason for my aggression."
Thundercracker sighed before raising his voice. "Skywarp insulted Sunstorm by hinting to Starscream that they should interface to stave off their boredom. It is natural for Sunstorm to be protective of his younger co-creation," he stated calmly.
Shockwave's single optic narrowed at Skywarp before he shook his head. Lugnut walked into the room a moment later, raising his voice to announce that they were leaving. Starscream rose quickly to his feet, dusting himself off even though he was sparkling clean as always. Northstar expected both of his sons to provide proper manners to their leaving guests, no matter what mood they were in. Sunstorm was at his elbow a moment later, back straight and wings held high, which Starscream was quick to copy. Shockwave let out a small chuckle at their antics before waving a hand at the other two Seekers; both were under his supervision while away from the gladiator arena. Starscream wasn't sure why, considering neither were his sparklings, but he didn't dare question the Cyclops in fear of a reproachful reply.
The top soldiers of the new Decepticon ranks trotted out first, grim faced yet oddly exhilarated at the same time. They glanced at the brothers and nodded their heads in approval; it was odd how they seemed to enjoy coming here, if only to be seen as honored guests. Starscream felt his wings quiver in excitement as his mother and father walked out on either side of Megatron. They were speaking in low voices to him, optics hard and calculated about whatever had been discussed. Sunstorm elbowed him gently to get him to stop squirming as the giant silver mech walked closer to them; it was obvious to his brother that he had a crush on the Decepticon leader.
"Ah, Sunstorm and Starscream," Megatron's voice rolled through the silence and both shivered in awe, "it has been a while hasn't it?"
Sunstorm lifted his head up higher, optics bright and proud. "A few stellar cycles since the last time the meeting was held here," he replied.
Megatron chuckled before Blackfire hung onto his arm. "Sunstorm is nearly of age, my liege," she cooed, her green optics glowing in pride. "I'm sure he will be ready for initiation with the stellar cycle."
"Is that so?" he asked, glancing at the yellow Seeker.
"Yes, sir," Sunstorm replied proudly, snapping into a salute.
Starscream felt his wings fall slightly; he still had ages before he would be old enough to become a fully fledged Decepticon. Megatron chuckled again before walking over and ruffling Sunstorm's helm, something he had done since they were sparklings. Sunstorm groaned and took a step back, giving Megatron the same annoyed look that he had since the Decepticon leader had started doing it to him. He chuckled again before glancing down at Starscream, who made an effort to appear taller than he already was. Megatron smiled slightly before clapping his shoulder roughly, making him stumble under the weight and impact.
"Finally hit that growth spurt," he commented.
"Yes, sir," he replied shyly, which was incredibly odd for him considering his high self-esteem.
Megatron smiled, sending his fuel tank into a frenzy before he nodded to his parents. "I should take my leave now," he stated before heading towards the door. "If Shockwave's Intel was correct, the Autobots should be heading for Kaon's border, right into our line of fire."
Blackfire smiled as she followed him. "Good luck to you, my liege," she crooned before hugging him tightly. "May Primus grant you this victory."
Megatron grinned at her before giving her a one armed hug in return. "You know I do not believe in luck," he stated.
"It never hurts to give someone it though," she replied before pulling back and smiling. "Primus speed," she added.
Megatron nodded before he turned to follow his troops out the door. Blackfire made sure the door was closed behind them before turning towards her youngest son with a smirk on her face. He blushed up immediately and dropped his head, shameful that he had even acted that way towards Megatron; it was not like the slowly growing warlord would ever look at him with affection. The femme Seeker crossed the room towards him before pulling him into a large hug, kissing his forehead as she rocked him.
"You'll catch someone's optic one day, my little one," she cooed to him. "What about that Skyfire friend of yours?"
"He is more in love with science than with me," Starscream grumbled as Sunstorm snickered behind him.
"You'd be surprised," she chuckled before releasing him. "Just keep your chin up and don't think about it too much."
He rolled his optics before he felt his brother's warm arm around his shoulders. He glanced at his older brother, who had a playful grin on his face, before he shrugged him off. He was about to walk away when Sunstorm threw his arms into the air with a loud and dramatic sigh.
"Fine, go to your room and interface with yourself, pretending it is Megatron; I'll keep the hot femme in the closet all to myself," he moaned out.
Starscream spun around with a snarl. "Sunstorm, I'm going to kill you!" he snarled before lunging at his brother.
Blackfire sighed and rubbed her forehead as she watched her sons chase after each other. Northstar shook his head in disappointment as they vanished into the hallway, still shouting profanity and insults at each other.
"Where did they inherit this behavior from?" he demanded.
"Me," Blackfire replied before walking over and kissing him.
"And his attraction to other mechs comes from you as well?" he asked bitterly.
"Northstar, mechs being spark mates is entirely normal," she sighed before tapping his nose. "Do not act like that to your son over something of this trivial nature."
"Trivial?" Northstar snarled, not realizing that both of his sons had reentered the room. "It's disgusting!"
"What is?" Sunstorm asked before Blackfire growled at her mate.
"Nothing," she replied before turning towards the brothers and made a shooing motion. "Come on you two, let's go get some flying in before the sun goes down."
Starscream nodded happily before following her out the front door, Sunstorm right behind them. He didn't bother to question what his father's aversion to mechs bonding with each other was; he had aversions to anything that was not in his classification of prestige. Blackfire led them down to the courtyard just before the gates around the city, separating it from the walls where the royal families lived. Blackfire nodded to one of the other mothers with her newly fledged sparklings. The other femme smiled back, her little mech squirming in defiance to being taken back to their house.
Starscream waited a moment while the other femme left before taking to the skies quickly, wanting to get up there before his brother could streak past him in a blaze of fire. He felt slightly left out, considering his brother and mother had powers but he did not. Blackfire had tried to tell him that he took after his father, but that had only caused him to grow angry and she never tried again. It wasn't that he hated his father; he resented that he never treated him like family, but rather like a virus that he would rather not associate himself with.
Blackfire flew up beside him, nuzzling him in midair before darting away, teasing both of her sons to follow her. Starscream grinned before kicking his turbines into overdrive and chasing her, Sunstorm right on his heels. They charged at her, only for her to drop down and blast back the way they came. Sunstorm recovered quickly, blasting back after her while Starscream tried to come down on her from above. It ended with the two brothers crashing into each other as their mother effortlessly dodged them.
"Ow!" Sunstorm commented as he reeled away from his younger brother.
"Owow," Starscream agreed, holding his helm in pain. "That was a cheap move!" he added as he glared after his mother.
She smirked before flipping over and flying back over to them, smirking as she locked her arms around her youngest and hugged him close. He squawked indignantly as he struggled to get away, only for her to squeeze him more in return. He gave his brother a pleading look, but it turned into a glare when he saw him laughing at his predicament. He growled, hanging his head as bitter tears stung his optics in humiliation. Blackfire's arms loosened around him somewhat before she pulled him close enough to nuzzle him gently.
"Starscream, hush," she whispered softly.
He glared at her, growling slightly before she cradled his head in her hand. She smiled at him before kissing his forehead, making him feel like a sparkling again. He growled again but she just growled back playfully, giving him a shove before taking off. He blinked before grinning and tearing after her, staying just behind her all the way around the courtyard. When she went to dive, he ducked underneath her and tackled her from below, causing her to gasp in surprise before delight flew through her green optics. They tumbled to the ground, wrestling with each other until Blackfire had him pinned.
"Who taught you that?" she asked as she panted, her optics bright in excitement.
"Megatron," he replied with a grin. "I picked up on it while watching him in the Pit fights."
She nuzzled him affectionately and laughed. "My clever little mech!" she praised. "We'll make a fighter out of you yet!"
He basked in the praise as she helped him back to his feet, slinging her arm over his shoulder. Sunstorm landed nearby and gave his helm a rub in response to his antics. They headed back to their home, talking about everything that came to mind and not worrying about who overheard. When they walked in, they headed for the kitchen to get an energon cube to refuel their exhausted frames, smiling and laughing away without a care in the world.
Northstar leant against the wall in the kitchen, an optic ridge raised as he watched the other three units of his family act like sparklings, punching each other's shoulders and laughing like lunatics. He shook his head before walking forward, ignoring his two creations as he wrapped his arms around Blackfire's waist and nuzzled her neck affectionately. She smiled at him, resting a hand on his cheek before she kissed him, earning two squeals of disgust from the two younger mechs.
"Oh, grow up," she laughed, swatting at Sunstorm as he pulled faces.
Starscream looked away with a sneer, hating that his mother's attention was being diverted by his father. However, it quickly faded away as the whole foundation beneath them suddenly shook with enough force to send them all sprawling on the floor. Blackfire was back on her feet in an instant, her blade out as mechs burst through the front door and charged towards them.
"On your feet!" she shouted. "We're under attack!"
Sunstorm and Northstar leapt forward immediately, but Starscream froze, his optics widening in terror. Blackfire spotted the fear immediately and acted on it, stationing herself in front of her youngest creation and began to cut through the wave of mechs that were attacking them. Sunstorm charged into them, every inch of him on fire, and caused several of the invading mechs to catch fire in his wake, sending them to the ground in heaps of charred armor as he cut a path through them. Northstar tore into anyone that got too close to him, energon pooling on the ground near his feet as he sent mechs into painful deactivation.
Starscream was silent before he felt his body shudder and a feeling of nausea overcame him. He glanced at one of the dead bodies and stiffened as a red mask glared up at him from the mech's chest. His processed energon stuck in his throat as he yowled in terror. "They're Autobots!" he cried out.
Blackfire glanced back at him after decapitating a mech and snorted. "Great, just what we need," she grumbled before going back to the fight.
An explosion reached them again, sending everyone flying backwards into the walls as fire leapt over their heads. Blackfire screamed for Sunstorm, her optics wide in terror as she stared at the oncoming flames. Silence greeted them before Starscream felt his spark fill with pain before a lifeless Seeker corpse was tossed into the room, closely followed by two enormous mechs, both with menacing smiles and cruel laughs ringing on their lips. Blackfire cried out in pain as she scrambled over the corpse, holding her dead son close to her as the Autobots laughed. Northstar roared with anger before he charged forward, killing any mech that dared to even raise their heads at him. A bright red laser tore through the house and Blackfire's head snapped up, her mouth opened in a scream as her optics widened.
"NORTHSTAR!" she screamed as her mate was sent towards the ground.
Energon sprayed from his damaged chest, coating everything with his fuel. He was dead before he hit the ground, his colours fading away as his mouth hung open in a silent scream of pain. Blackfire lunged at the mechs in the doorway in a blind rage, black fire engulfing her as she tore them apart with her bare hands, claws raking through circuitry like her wings through clouds. Within moments, the only ones left alive in the inferno of their home was Starscream and Blackfire, both with tears streaming down their face as they absorbed the pain of their loved ones' death.
Blackfire walked over to her mate's body and collapsed beside him, sobbing onto his grey chest. Starscream hid from sight, sobbing silently for the loses, knowing that everyone else in the citadel was experiencing the same thing, if the screams he was hearing was any indication. He sniffled before he heard heavy footsteps heading towards them. He crawled slightly out of his hiding spot, hoping that it was Megatron here with reinforcements, but that hope died the moment Blackfire's head snapped up with a snarl.
"Such a pity," a voice stated as a large blue and white mech carrying a hammer entered the room. "I can't imagine what it must be like to loose your mate and your son."
"You fragger," Blackfire snarled as she slowly rose to her feet. "Why are you here? Why are you terrorizing the citadel?"
"I am here to exterminate a race that has plagued Cybertron since the moment they were created," the large mech replied.
"Plagued Cybertron?!" she screeched, her personal fire bursting to life on her wings. "We have as much right to live here as you do!"
"You're kind are wasteful," he replied, stepping closer. "So much of our energon is wasted keeping this citadel floating, and for what? So a pack of mangy Seekers can plot against the Counsel?"
"That's a lie, Ultra Magnus," Blackfire snarled as she took an offensive step forward. "Seekers make their own fuel, you know that."
"Do I?" he asked before he roughly grabbed her chin. "Or is this the word of a traitorous little femme that would rather live with scum than cleanse herself?"
"You're the filth," she snapped as she swung a fist at his face. "You and every other Autobot that has dared to insult all of us that lived in poverty."
The mech, Ultra Magnus, laughed before he pinned Blackfire to the wall, his body pressing down heavily on hers. "You don't live in poverty anymore, darling," he cooed as a hand traced over her wings.
"I did," she growled as she struggled to drive her fist into his stomach. "I know of the hardships that you and your Counsel members shrug off as mere annoyances."
"You don't know what you're talking about, little Pit Fighter," he replied before he slammed his mouth over hers, causing her to cry out to terror.
Starscream lay frozen against the ground, his optics watching his struggling mother through the flames that were consuming the room. Ultra Magnus' optics strayed to him and a heavy frown overtook his features as he turned away from Blackfire. The black femme's optics widened as she stared down at Starscream, her mouth moving in a silent plea for him to run.
"Seekers multiply like petro-rabbits," Ultra Magnus grumbled before he lifted his hammer into the air.
"Starscream, RUN!" Blackfire screamed as she lunged at Ultra Magnus' throat. "Now! Get out of here while there's still time!"
Ultra Magnus stumbled from the sudden attack, but growled before throwing Blackfire against another wall, watching as she slid down, her back broken. "I'll give you one last chance, Blackfire," he growled before he walked over. "Will you join me?"
"I'd sooner die," she wheezed out.
"So be it," he replied stonily before he slammed his hammer into her chest plate.
She screamed as electricity coursed through her, lighting her up like a supernova before her optics went out. Smoke poured from her open mouth as her colours faded away, leaving dull and lifeless grey in the place of her once beautiful black and green armor. Starscream cried out in pain as he felt the last tendril of the family bond dissipate with Blackfire's spark. The mountain of a mech turned towards him, his blue optics narrowing before he lifted his hammer into the air, making Starscream cower in terror.
"And so ends the rein of the Seekers," he growled as he started to bring his arms down.
"Not if I can help it!" Megatron's voice boomed before a purple laser caught Ultra Magnus in the side and blasted him into the wall.
Starscream stared on in shock before the enormous grey mech charged into the room, his red optics alive with fury. He took one sweep of the room, hanging his head as he realized he was too late to save any of the family, before he turned to face Starscream. Tears were streaming down the younglings face before he finally moved, darting over to hug Megatron's waist tightly, burying his face in his hip.
"They're gone!" he wailed. "They killed them!"
Megatron's hand rested on his helm for a moment. "I'm sorry, Starscream," he murmured before he picked the smaller mech up like a sparkling. "I couldn't get here fast enough."
Starscream sobbed into the larger mech's shoulder as they left the burning inferno behind them. Ultra Magnus stirred as they left the threshold, missing Megatron's death glare, but he stumbled to his feet, glancing at the three Seekers that lay dead around him. He snorted before more of his mech charged in, guns out and ready to fire. He waved them down before motioning to the Seekers.
"Collect their frames and repair them," he ordered before he headed for the door. "I want them dropped off at my quarters when they are fully repaired."
"Trophies?" one mech asked.
"Yes," he agreed. "Trophies."
Meanwhile, Megatron had returned to Kaon below the citadel, his hold on Starscream not lessened during the trip. They watched as the last of the Autobots fled the burning city, their optics misted over as they watched it fall out of the sky, crashing into the ground and sending many others flooding into the streets to watch and find out what happened. Starscream sniffled softly before he felt himself drop off into recharge.
"What's going to happen to me now?" he asked softly.
Megatron's arm tightened around him slightly. "I'm not sure, Starscream, I'm not sure," he replied.
Starscream sniffled again before dropping off. "I trust you," he whispered.
Megatron sighed before heading back towards the Pit Fighters' Arena; he hoped that he could keep the youngling safe until he could choose his own paths. Blackfire had wanted her sons to be Decepticons, but now he wasn't so sure if that was the best path for him, considering every last one of his kind had just been slaughtered. Glancing around, he noticed small groups of battered Seekers slipping away into the darkness, nursing wounds that needed immediate medical treatment, and carrying their near dead away as quickly as they could. He prayed to Primus that they found shelter and would live; he would need proof of what the Autobots did to the Seekers' citadel to launch a full-blown campaign against the brutes that were killing innocent mechs and femmes. They were survivors and he hoped they would rally together to help shove the last of the Autobot oppression away from the struggling slum bots that lay shivering in houses that barely kept them alive and safe.
"Primus save us all," he whispered before he vanished down an alleyway towards the entrance to his arena.