"So you're happy as a human?"
"Yes, Thundercracker, I like being human."
"But you can't fly."
I was perched cross-legged on the edge of my bed. Shortly after Skywarp had left Thundercracker had come into the room unannounced. He sat in the middle of the room now, staring at me. I hadn't understood his intense look until he'd begun the barrage of 'how can you stand it' questioning.
"I can do what I need to do from the ground."
"But it's so much better from the air. Skywarp built that bone mender: maybe he can make you some wings like mine. Wouldn't that be better? Flying around…?" His voice trailed off with what was supposed to be tantalizing effect.
"Why would I need wings when I've got two jets to do the all of that fabulous flying for me?"
Thundercracker straightened himself up proudly. "Yeah, we can fly pretty good. Me 'n' Skywarp 'n' Starscream, we used to be the Seekers. Everyone trembled if you just mentioned our names…" His voice lowered, and I could tell he was reliving his glory days. "Took out so many autobots. Those were good times, back when the war was all in one place. It's not as fun as it used to be. Plus, Starscream left us to take Megatron's place all that time ago."
I listened blearily. I wanted to go back to sleep, but Thundercracker seemed pretty comfortable where he was.
"I got a good feeling somethin' big is gonna happen here soon, though. Optimus himself is here, leading all the autobots this way…"
I hoped he was wrong. I'd only seen guerilla warfare among the transformers so far. The idea of a full-blown battle, like Mission City or worse, gave me a sick feeling.
"Maybe you guys can fight it out somewhere else, like the moon. Or Pluto. Pluto would be good."
"Nah. We got so many energon sources here it'd be stupid not to fight right where we are. Besides, Pluto's got no sunlight and that's the numero uno battery."
"Venus has even more sun than Earth, you know."
He gave me such a disgusted expression that I actually felt a little embarrassed. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. Venus? What kind of degenerate half-sparked critter are you? Venus…"
I shrugged and settled back down on the bed, sharing his feeling of disgust. I couldn't figure out if I was worried about the autobots or Skywarp and Frenzy. The autobots had been good to me, were my only friends in the world... But I owed Skywarp my life, and Frenzy had once been an autobot too.
"What I still don't get is that you can't fly, and you like it."
I groaned. "Right, Thundercracker. I don't mind not flying."
"But how can you stand it?"
"Because I'm a degenerate half-sparked critter. It's hardwired into my brain to like sticking to the ground, just like gravity intended."
"I bet Skywarp could make your wings real pretty."
"I've had the pleasure of being the target of Skywarp's inventions, and I'll have to pass this time."
Thundercracker growled in annoyance and glared at me like I'd turned into a giant autobot badge. "I don't get what he sees in you. You aren't even a good pet."
"Sorry I don't feel like dress up, Thundercracker." I rolled over on my bed, not even looking at him. I thought the hint was obvious, but he was oblivious. He didn't move and I could feel his red eyes burning on me.
After a few minutes, I heard him clear his throat. It was like nails on a chalkboard, and I winced. When he spoke again he sounded apologetic, to my surprise.
"I didn't mean it…" He began. "I think you're a great pet. I was just mad."
I sighed into the blanket and twisted my head to look at him. "It's ok."
He sagged with relief, and I could see in his expression that he wanted to talk.
"Is everything ok?" I asked gently.
"Yeah… It's just… It's nice finally having Skywarp understand me. We're like brothers you know, and him and Starscream always used to hate the natives… No matter what. They've helped wipe out so many intelligent creatures, and I just hated it. They made me help, and it was awful. Just cuz they can't fly doesn't mean they don't have feelings…"
When I was silent, watching him with sympathy, he continued. "Sometimes they threatened to tell the others I was going soft, if I didn't help them kill things. I only wanna fight, not… not slaughter. Sometimes I thought about asking the autobots if it was too late… They don't like killing little things… But they don't like fighting too much either." His expression brightened. "Maybe things are different now, though. Skywarp likes you, and I don't think he even wants to hurt your kind because of you."
This news was a relief to me. Maybe Skywarp would help prevent a war here on Earth, if we were so important to him. A tiny part of me was wishing that maybe he would see that the autobots were right, and that he would let the past go.
Thundercracker was rubbing his metal fingers in the carpet, looking much more relaxed now. He looked back up at me, and his fierce metal face was almost childish. "Wanna go flyin'?"
"What?"
"Do you wanna go fly outside? I'm sick of just sitting here doin' nothing."
"It's late, Thundercracker."
"Just one little swoop around the mountains…" His voice was wheedling, like a little boy's, and I couldn't help smiling.
"Ok… One little cruise, that's it. Skywarp would be pissed if we left the mountains."
Thundercracker climbed to his feet with a grinding of metal, then snatched me up as soon as I was on my feet. In moments he was climbing up out of the metal hatch in the hangar. The cold air blasted me, and I felt a faint ache where the break in my arm had been. He zipped outside, and I could swear that if he'd been a human he would have been skipping.
He stood out under the night sky for a few minutes, just looking, and I joined him. The stars were brilliant and stark: There were no city lights to dim them. I was watching the stars and trying to focus on the warmth of Thundercracker's hand when I heard him make an uncomfortable metallic sound.
"Everything ok?" I asked, not completely interested.
"Yeah, I think so… I thought I picked up a transmission, but it wasn't real clear. Probably just hearin' things…"
With that, he began transforming. The experience was shocking, to say the least, as his hand pulled me close and tossed me into the sliding metal mass that was his body… Somehow, by some great skill or luck, I was sitting in the cockpit, albeit backwards and on my knees. I quickly twisted around and the seatbelts clicked around me as the canopy snapped shut with a hiss. The air instantly became warmer, and I barely felt when he shot away from the ground.
In moments were hanging in the inky blankness of the night sky. The Rocky Mountains were barely visible as hills below, and we were still climbing. I watched the sky shift with a mixture of awe and anxiety: It was beautiful, but Thundercracker was getting very, very far from the ground.
"Ain't it great…" His voice murmured into the cockpit. "Just leaving the ground behind… Like leaving your troubles behind."
"You have troubles, Thundercracker?"
"Yeah, lots. You wouldn't understand most of 'em. Don't worry about it."
He was silent after that, and it wasn't long before I fell asleep, dreaming of reaching out and trying to catch a rain of stars falling from the sky.
It also wasn't long before I woke up to a blinding light and shuddering metallic roar as Thundercracker's whole body spun out of control.
I was beginning to get a sense of déjà vu when I woke up again. Thundercracker was belly deep in the ground, crash-landed. The dim lights in the cockpit were off completely, and I didn't even hear the usual faint metallic purr from deep within him, though of course my heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear anything… A soft buzzing came to my attention and I looked around blearily. Slowly, it became louder, and I began to realize it was Thundercracker's voice speaking to me… So quiet, but getting louder in my traumatized ears.
"Bravura, get out right now! He's coming, he's coming, get out! I don't want to have to kill you, if I transform you'll die- GET OUT!!"
The safety belt was gone, so I leaned forward woozily and the canopy cracked open with a hiss. Freezing air rushed in, and I fought my urge to huddle now, climbing out and sliding down the side of Thundercracker's body, landing on my feet but quickly falling down on the hard ground. There were a few trees, and a deep furrow in the loose rock and dirt where Thundercracker had crashed. The ground was uneven, and we were standing on a rise. A rock wall rose behind us with an extremely steep slope, almost a cliff below…
My hearing was better, and I heard him clearly as he transformed behind me. I was suddenly standing beneath him, and he was crouched down, weapons glowing…
"Who is it…?" I whispered anxiously. Please, Hotrod… Mirage, Optimus, anyone…
"Don't know. They're covering up their signals. Quiet. He's coming."
"How do you know he's a he?"
Thundercracker glared down at me and I shut up, inching close to one of his legs for the warmth.
I jerked against Thundercracker's warm metal leg when I heard the snap of something huge breaking a tree in the woods below. Thundercracker didn't move. He was almost hot enough to burn me…
A red glow came from just below, and I my clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering. A giant hand gripped the edge of our hiding place, and Thundercracker trained his huge gun on it... A head with glowing red eyes followed.
Thundercracker made a noise of pleasure and his gun powered down. "Scrapper, you made it! You got your crew with you?"
The decepticon Scrapper didn't answer in English, but Thundercracker barely seemed to notice, rushing forward and helping to pull the other decepticon up. This new decepticon's colors were yellow and purple, but he wasn't quite as fierce looking as the other decepticons I'd met…
They were talking in Cybertronian, so I didn't have much to do but sit and wait for Thundercracker to remember me. While they were chatting I heard the crack of another decepticon below, and soon another one joined us, colored in the same way as Scrapper. Within ten minutes there were six total, all babbling in Cybertronian with Thundercracker.
When one pair of unfamiliar red eyes settled on me during the middle of their reunion, I froze and stared back. The decepticon said something to Thundercracker and pointed at me.
"Oh yeah…" Thundercracker mumbled in English, seeming guilty. "That's, uh, Skywarp's pet. He's in charge til Starscream gets back, so don't hurt it…"
One of them snarled. "Starscream's in charge again? What in hell makes him think he's good enough for the job anyway?"
Thundercracker shrugged. "I don't know Long Haul, that's just the way it is."
"You're such a sheep sometimes, Thunder."
"That hurt, Hook…"
They were all laughing, until Thundercracker cut his chuckle off short. "Wait a minute, why did you guys shoot at me?"
The decepticons fell silent, looking between each other. "We didn't, man," the one named Scrapper finally said.
"We got a problem to take care of, then…"
With that, the new decepticons were all business. In seconds they had slipped down the edge of the incline and out of my sight. I looked up at Thundercracker, who was still with me.
"What happened?"
"They're looking for the autobot who shot me."
A thrill shot up my spine, but I smothered it. I didn't want Thundercracker to see… "Maybe… Maybe you should help them look. I'll be fine right here."
Thundercracker seemed to be thinking it over when there was a snarl down the slope from one of the new decepticons. Without saying anything he shot down the incline with a spray of rocks and dirt, leaving me alone.
I rushed to the edge, peering down, trying to see anything. I could see faint spots of red when the decepticons turned their head my way, but for the most part nothing… and then-
A white flash appeared near where I'd seen a pair of red eyes, followed immediately by a boom and a roar of Cybertronian. I sank down low, until only my head peeked over the edge. Something was happening down there… There was another flash, nowhere near the last one, and my eyes whipped about, searching desperately for a flash of blue…
"Ready to go?" A voice whispered close behind me.
I flipped onto my back, gasping raggedly. Not three feet away, a face containing a pair of blue autobot eyes were watching me. He was strange to me, all dark in color, like Hotrod had been when we'd first met.
"The name's Prowl," he whispered. "And we have to go. Right now."
"But… How are you doing that? Shooting them…"
"Not shooting… They're walking on some signal-sensitive mines. Only responds to Decepticon frequency… Pretty nice little setup, Perceptor made 'em… But yeah, we have to move and I mean quick. Ready?"
I hesitated, and then slowly rose into a crouch. His hand presented itself to me, and I climbed in. He lifted me to his shoulder. "Now hold on tight… Real tight. This is going to be some ride…"
With that we were a blur in the dark, scaling the mountainside silently. We were on the other side of the mountain, clear of the decepticons for now, before he spoke again, his arms and legs working together in perfect unison as he navigated the uneven rocks of the mountain. "You're Bravura, aren't you?"
I almost lost my grip, but his hand was there to catch me…
"Yeah…" I steadied myself. "Yeah. How did you know?"
"Already got the debriefing from Optimus. Was in the middle of sending confirmation when your decepticon buddies started flying through the sky, landing all over the place. I didn't know you were in the blue one, sorry…"
"It's ok…" I mumbled. "Are they coming? The other autobots?" Hotrod?
"Bumblebee's meeting us, if I heard right. I would tell them you're with me, but I don't want the decepticons attention anywhere close to us." He chuckled as we heard yet another boom from the other side of the mountain.