Note: Okay, so this chapter turned rather different than what i had planned. Instead of following the original ideas this came to be and i hope you like this little insight. And then i plan to follow my initial ideas in the next chapter, but i wont promise anything.:) i like to have my thoughts work with the ideas and see what comes down on paper in the end.
"So we are at an agreement?"
Thundercracker looks around as an old memory gently worm its way into his dreamless recharge.
The magnificence of the throne room in the center of the Winglords palace surrounds him as he is flanked by Alpha Trion and Rachïar.
He vividly remembers this day. It is the day where he is cut off from his previous responsibility to protect the others and need to learn to become a regular citizen. The day where he no longer will have anyone to protect as the procedures to transfer the ancient cybertronians into their new frames are to commence when the last small obstacle and formality has been done. An obstacle named Thundercracker and a formality securing his safety in the time to come.
The Winglord is one of the few to know what is going to happen. He is after all one of them. Standing in front of the throne, level with the three ancients he doesn't look much different from Thundercracker. His frame is following the ancient design due to the fact that the Winglords are birthed the ancient way, but modified to modern standards. It is the way of the Serkhars, a way that has been passed on ever since the ending of the Quintesson War. It is the way for them to keep their legacy alive. And no one outside the Winglords closest inner circle and the ancients know this fact.
With a nod to Alpha Trion, Sunstar steps closer to Thundercracker and embraces his grand, grand, grand, grand, grand creator affectionately. The embrace is awkward with the blue seeker not reciprocating. Instead Thundercracker goes rigid, stiffening and his wings flare in surprise and discomfort.
"Yes, we are at an agreement." The Winglord confirms vocally as he breaks the embrace and steps back to give Thundercracker the space the serkhar clearly need. "He will remain behind Vos' protective walls, protected by his Winglord, having the same security level as myself." He adds to the two ground bound before turning to look at the serkhar again.
"I know the purpose is for you to become a regular citizen, and I have granted you your wish to become an instructor at the Academy. But I would be honored if you would accept the rank of General in our military. It will only matter if we ever should find ourselves in a war again. The offer is all up to you Thundercracker. No one is going to pressure you. Think of it as a chance for you to teach the higher ranking as well as myself tactics and knowledge." Sunstar humbly lowers his wings as he speaks and finishes his little speech with a deep bow.
"Solarstorm is better at tactics than I am." Thundercracker adds evenly, his discomfort growing as well as the need to have his trine there with him, to support him. Solarstorm is so much better at this than him, even Novastar is more socialized. His discomfort is clear in the way his optics looks at everything but the red and white seeker in front of him. If anyone else had done such a thing they would have been restrained and thrown in a nice little cell. But Thundercracker isn't just anyone, and Sunstar understands that better than anyone else outside the ancients closed inner circle.
Sunstar's response is cut off by an exasperated sigh from Rachïar and seeker and serkhar turns to look at the medic who wears a clear scowl on his face. Unfazed, the medic meets their stare with one of his own and as the staring contest drags out he sighs once more before he crosses his arms across his chest in defiance.
"Don't look at me like that!" he growls while he waves dismissively at their continued stare.
When even that doesn't have an effect, and Sunstar meets his narrowed optics, the medic sighs for the third time and uncrosses his arms again as he begins to explain. Sometimes he just forgets that not everyone knows everything, and while Sunstar is related to Thundercracker far out he isn't familiar with the blue seeker at all.
Thundercracker might have contributed to his creation by donating coding to create the first Winglord. He might have been chosen by the first leader of the serkhars to carry on their legacy. But in the earliest post-war time he had other more important duties than to care for the bloodline he had been chosen to create. The Quintessons still haunted Cybertron's airspace and the serkhars were busy fending them off until they got the message and left the planet and the former slaves alone.
"You aren't alone in this Thundercracker. I know Solarstorm is a better tactician, and I am sure Sunstar is going to give him an appropriate position among his ranks to use his abilities for the good of everyone. But don't forget that you are eons old than him. There are only few of us who are still alive that predates your creation. Don't underestimate your own worth. We might not need your protection anymore, but that processor of yours and the knowledge and memories stored in its databanks are just as important. When I'm done with our transfers into the new frames, you will be the only one left with a complete and uncorrupt knowledge of our past. Our new processors can't handle or even store all that data. Think of yourself as the protector of our past." Rachïar points out in a deadly serious tone, obviously hoping to give the serkhar a clear purpose to help him deal with the changes to come.
"I will have Solarstorm assigned my tactical advisor, while Novastar will be assigned to the medical wing connected to the Academy. Of course only if he wants to, but I think it would be wise to have someone you trust that close." The Winglord interject smoothly with a sincere smile.
The next moment the memory changes radically, and Thundercracker knows that this isn't his own memory.
Vos is a burning inferno.
All around him the sound of explosions and structures falling fills the air and his spark fills with glee.
In the distance the Winglord palace stands vividly.
As he allows himself to fall from the burning structure he is standing on just before it completely crumbles beneath him, he smoothly transforms into his tricolored tetrajet and streaks into the blazing sky. At his flanks he feels his trinemates follow him just as smoothly. Skywarp is filled with a glee rivaling his own, while Thundercracker remains stoic and unfeeling.
It doesn't take long before they are at the impressive entrance into the palace.
"Where is he hiding Thundercracker?" he asks his blue trinemate, looking expectant to his right.
In deep shock Thundercracker watches as his reprogrammed self leads Starscream and Skywarp to the Winglords location in the lower levels of the palace, following one of the countless escape routes in the large building, and he wakes from his recharge just as Sunstar deactivates at the hands of the tricolored seeker.
Blue optics onlines slowly and he just stares into the darkness of the room.
He feels completely numb as the memory is replayed again and again in his processor.
Sunstar is dead.
Just like Solarstorm.
Just like Novastar.
How many others haven't survived this war?
And how many of those has he himself killed?
Once again he clings to a weak hope that most of them left Cybertron before the war broke out completely.
And it raises questions he needs to ask Starscream.
And Skywarp if the seeker survives.
With a deep sigh he untangles himself from the five frames surrounding him. He feels a lot better, even if this new knowledge is distressing, but at least he can do something with it. Silently leaving the room, he stalks the corridors as his processor fills with thoughts and feelings.
Why did Starscream merge with him? The seeker must have known that he risked sharing his own memories when participating in a merge going as deep as it had.
Did the seeker really trust him this much?
Does he regret his actions?
Or did he simply not know that the merge would grant Thundercracker an insight in Starscream's own memories without the seeker monitoring which ones to share?
Restless Thundercracker walks to the base entrance and just stares out into the dark night sky with the countless stars visible.
"Solarstorm. Novastar. Sunstar. What do I do?" he whispers out into the nothingness as his spark throbs painfully.
For the first time since the loss of his trine, he longs to have someone to rely on again. Someone to support him. In his spark he had hoped that Starscream and Skywarp with time could have become that one, but now…?
How he misses Solarstorms advice and Novastars care whenever he finds himself in a complicated situation.
With a deep sigh he transforms and flies into the darkness of the night to think and hopefully make a decision about what to do.