Summery: Cybertron is split. In the Southern Hemisphere of Cybertron, the Decepticons whom are ruled by Megatron have control. They own slaves, who are treated as animals. The Autobots are in the North, and they believe in equality. It is ruled that if slaves are able to escape the Decepticons and head to the north, the 'Cons can't go and get them back. But, the slaves have to cross through neutral territory, some of whom would gladly bring them back. But many of them will help smuggle the slaves north.
I do not own Transformers! I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement.
"Soundwave" "Barricade" "Shockwave"
"Get going." Hydrostorm stumbled when he was pushed, then lost his balance completely and fell.
"Pathetic." The older mech behind him growled. "Now get up!"
Hydrostorm pushed himself up and the mech gave him another shove.
"Move!" Hydrostorm quietly walked forward, not really sure where the mech behind him was making him go.
After being bought, her had been brought here and dragged into a tunnel. He watched as the light behind them began to fade, but began to grow lighter in front of them. Hydrostorm spotted lamps on the wall. Then he realized where he was... He was in a mine.
The mech behind him stopped, so Hydrostorm stopped as well and turned to look at him.
"You will be working in my mine. You will not come back up until the shift is over, and in the morning, you will follow the others down. You will also not refer me to anything other than 'Sir' or 'Master'. Understand?"
"I want to go home." Hydrostorm said curtly.
"This will be your home for the rest of your life unless I say otherwise."
"But-" Hydrostorm stumbled back when the mech slapped him.
"You will not talk back to me! Now move!"
Hydrostorm glared at his 'master' before turning and walking the rest of the way to where he was supposed to work.
-00000-
"You got that?" Hydrostorm blinked out of his daze when the question was asked and he looked at the bot in front of him. It was another mechling around his age, whom was gray with a black stripe going down both of his arms. His optics were more of a silver color, kind of like Cybertron's surface. Hydrostorm called him 'Silverstripe', seeing as the other mechling didn't tell Hydrostorm what his name was.
"Did you understand what I told you?" 'Silverstripe' asked.
"Um..." Hydrostorm went quiet, not wanting to tell the truth but not wanting to lie at the same time.
"You weren't paying attention." 'Silverstripe' said.
"No..." Hydrostorm looked at the ground in embarrassment.
'Silverstripe' nodded and pointed to a tool. "We use a pick to help us with the mining. It kind of helps with removing energon or another crystal while in a location where the mine walls could collapse when the drill is used."
Hydrostorm nodded to show he understood.
"The drills are what we mainly use, though. I will show you how to work them later."
"Alright." Hydrostorm said, though he hoped he wouldn't be there later. He wasn't a slave, he was a free bot!
"Did our master tell you about shifts, refueling, and recharging arrangements?" 'Silverstripe' asked.
"He sort of told me about shifts. I wasn't told anything else."
'Silverstripe' nodded a little. "We all refuel before and at the end of the shift. We also share two dwellings between us all."
Hydrostorm blinked, not sure what to say. He wasn't very excited about the... It was torture to think about ever having to share a room with Skyline... Well, it used to be torture to think about it... Now he would hug Skyline and never let her go if he was able to see her again...
"Come on, we need to get to work." 'Silverstripe' said before starting down deeper into the tunnel. Hydrostorm watched him, then looked back to where the entrance was before finally followed the other mechling...
-00000-
Hydrostorm was exhausted when he shift had ended, slowly following 'Silverstripe' and others out of the tunnel. 'Silverstripe' seemed to have some more energy than Hydrostorm.
"Aren't you tired?" Hydrostorm asked him.
'Silverstripe' looked at him. "A little. But I am used to doing this kind of work."
Hydrostorm gave a tiny nod as the two mechlings walked toward the two slave dwellings. Hydrostorm paid little attention to the chatter of other slaves as he entered, just wanting to go into recharge. He jolted a little when something was pressed into his servo. "Huh?" He looked down at his servo, blinking when he saw the tiny cube he now held.
"It's your serving." 'Silverstripe' said.
Hydrostorm stared at the tiny cube. "That's all?"
'Silverstripe' blinked. "Yeah. What do you mean?"
Hydrostorm went quiet, not really sure what to say, seeing as he was used to receiving a little more. He looked at 'Silverstripe' and watched as the other mechling drank his own cube. He finally drank his own, though it didn't do much for his empty tank. He then followed 'Silverstripe' across the room watched him lie down on the floor next to a berth.
Hydrostorm blinked. "Why are you lying on the floor?"
"F7-893 recharges on the berth." He pointed across the room to a femme slave that was talking to several others.
Hydrostorm looked at the femme before sighing quietly and lying down on the floor near 'Silverstripe'. He stared at the group of slaves talking, seeing as he couldn't fall into recharge, despite being tired.
"What are you called again?" Hydrostorm asked 'Silverstripe'.
"P6-921." He answered.
Hydrostorm yawned. "No name?"
"No."
"Well, I have one for you. Silverstripe."
'Silverstripe?" The other mechling asked Hydrostorm, confused.
"Yeah. Because of your optic color and the stripes on your arms."
"Oh... Then I guess you can call me that." Silverstripe said.
There was a pause...
"Silverstripe?" Hydrostorm asked.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have a brother or sister?"
"I don't know... After I was born, I was sold by my previous master to my current one."
Like the femme and her sparkling... Hydrostorm thought sadly. But he just said "Oh."
Silverstripe looked at him. "Do you have a brother or sister?"
"Yeah... A younger sister... Her name is Skyline."
Silverstripe blinked, clearly surprised. "Really? Do you ever see her?"
"I used to see her everyday... We'd play hide-and-seek together..." Hydrostorm said sadly.
Silverstripe looked at him. "Then you had the same master?"
Hydrostorm shook his helm. I never had an owner... I was sparklingnapped from the neutral territory..."
Silverstripe stared at him in shock. Hydrostorm stayed quiet for a while before turning away from the other mechling.
P6-921 watched Hydrostorm as the other mechling slowly slipped into recharge. Hydrostorm... Had been sparklingnapped... from his family? From the neutral territory? He blinked. That... That made sense. Hydrostorm didn't seem like he had been a slave before, especially because he had a name instead of a number. P6-921 turned away from him, quietly deciding that he would try to help Hydrostorm get home. He off-lined his optics to try to recharge. As he lay there, he listened to the other slaves' quiet chatter.
"They caught some 'Con trying to help a slave across the Decepticon/Neutral border." Someone said softly.
"Really?" Someone else asked.
"Yep. They are planning on executing him soon." The first bot said.
"That's a shame..." Said another bot. "We could use more bots like that..."
-00000-
In the center of Koan, a crowd was gathering in the middle of the square. There was a stage set up before them as the bots mingled and talked to each other. The words changed to a cheer as Megatron went onto the stage, followed by a mech with his arms cuffed behind his back.
Megatron stood in the middle of the stage, waiting for the crowd to calm. When they had calmed down, Megatron began to speak.
"We are here because a mech among us has committed a terrible crime. He has been captured while attempting to help a slave escape!"
There was a roar from the crowd, cries of outrage and insults being flung at the black mech standing behind the Decepticon leader, The mech was oddly calm, giving no reaction to the crowd. He seemed, in fact, proud of what he had done. Finally the crowd calmed down again and Megatron looked at the mech behind him.
"The punishment for committing this crime is offlinement. Do you have anything you wish to say before your execution, Darkraid?"
Darkraid looked at Megatron calmly, raising his helm a little bit as if to challenge Megatron. "I do not regret what I have done."
Megatron scowled, charging his fusion cannon and aiming it at Darkraid's chest. Darkraid looked at Megatron, his expression unchanged. The Decepticon leader's fusion finished charging and Megatron fired.
Darkraid stumbled back a bit as the blast tore a hole in his chest. His optics flickered before going off-line and his lifeless frame collapsed.
Megatron turned to face the crowd, who began to cheer. "Let this be a warning to those that defy the law! Those that go against me, against our citizens! If you disrupt the way we live, you will be punished!"
-00000-
"Darkraid has been executed..."
"I know..."
He should have been more careful, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten caught."
"Wow... Very sympathetic, Shockwave."
"I am only stating the truth."
"True, but-"
"Shockwave, Barricade, silence. This is not the time to argue. We must plan ahead."
"Soundwave is correct."
"Yeah... Sorry, Soundwave..."