Chapter 22-Memory Lane
Solomus, Cybertron four million years ago
The metal world of Cybertron has two moons; Epistemus and Solomus. Unlike most other moons, these moons were something like their own little worlds. Each moon had its own gravity and atmosphere, and was much less populated than Cybertron. There were no massive, sprawling cities that could be seen from space, only small towns and villages populated by the Minicons, the smallest of the cybertronian race who called the two moons home.
Mugen sat on a rock overlooking a small canyon not too far from her home village, looking up at the night sky. She had sat there for half an hour, just staring up at the big metal ball in the sky that was Cybertron. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice a mech walk up to her until her hugged her from behind.
"Here you are. I've been looking for you." He said. He was a silver mech with a lithe body that composed his lanky aerial alt mode. He had a clear yellow optic visor that reflected the light of the planet above as he sat next to his lover.
"You left without a word and I got worried." Overrun said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just thinking." She said.
"About what?"
"About…stuff. Like the craziness happening on Cybertron. Did you hear that Zeta Prime's dead?" Mugen asked. "That along with the energon shortage, the last thing we need is a war. And that's exactly what's happening."
Overrun hummed and rubbed her shoulders. Mugen liked to put on a brave face, but she had a habit of hiding her emotions behind an indifferent mask or a fake smile. He tried his best to get her out of that habit, but it was a slow process.
"We'll be safe up here." Overrun promised. "Sparkplug and I are talking with the Autobot leader for some support on the moons."
"Optimus Prime? Are you sure we can trust him, Overrun? He's a Prime and those slagheaps aren't exactly role models for protoforms."
"Don't worry, Mugen. Optimus Prime…he's the real thing. He's a mech of the people who might actually give us the respect we deserve."
Mugen wasn't so sure, but she nodded anyway. Minicons were treated like scrap for a long time now, before and after Sentinel Prime's reign, treated as nothing more than pests at bests, spies at worst. Zeta Prime did little in that field; if she even remembered that they were up there in the first place. By the time of her induction as Prime, much of Cybertron's Minicon population had retracted from greater cybertronian society to live in communities on the moons, watching from above as the planet of giants devolved into war and chaos. She could care less about this new Prime, who was too much of an idealist for her liking. Like there would be a Prime who suddenly gave a damn about them.
"Mugen, we can't just live on the moons in seclusion while everything goes to hell on Cybertron." overrun said. "Sooner or later, we'll need to seek help from the bulks, and I'd rather it'd be from the Autobots than have the Decepticons knocking at our door."
Mugen made a disgruntled noise and crossed her arms. "Yeah, but…"
"Hey," He placed a hand on her face. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do." Mugen answered, smiling and took his hand in hers. "Now and forever."
XXXXXX
Darren never saw himself as an empathetic person. He was moderately good at reading people, the consequence of living with a volatile twin sister with a hair trigger temper, but he wasn't a pro at it like some politicians. This was even more evident with his Autobot and Minicon friends, some of whom had no facial features to show expression. But it wasn't hard to see that Mugen was feeling a bit under the weather for the past week. Her body language and depressed expression practically screamed sadness. What she was sad about was the question.
It was a quiet day in the Ark, and some of the Autobots were either off doing their own thing, relaxing, or out on recon. The Minicons were doing the same as well, though Annie had somehow coerced the Minicons to somehow host a video game tournament that looked to be getting out of hand. Wanting to get away from that murderfest in the making, Darren did some exploring around the Minicon quarters and stumbled upon a sad sight.
Mugen was sitting alone on her recharge slab looking forlornly at a holo-disc she had in her possession. If she could cry, Darren knew she would've done so already, and he almost went in to see what was wrong when Sparkplug approached him.
"Darren?" Sparkplug called out. "What are you doing?"
"I was about to see if Mugen was doing alright." Darren said. "She's been depressed about something since we got back from that mission to Egyptia. It has me worried and I wanted to see what's bothering her."
"Darren, you know she'll tell us when she's ready." Sparkplug said, though Darren knew better than that.
"You know she won't say a damn thing to us, Sparkplug." Darren replied, crossing his arms. Sparkplug couldn't refute that statement.
"Yeah, you're right." Sparkplug sighed. He looked over his shoulder at D-Va and nodded when he saw what she was doing. "Oh…I see what's wrong."
"What do you mean?"
Sparkplug had Darren follow him to a secluded area of the room, where he took out a holo-disk and brought up a hologram of a silver-gray Minicon with wings on his back and a pointed head.
"Who's that?" Darren asked.
"My best friend, Overrun." Sparkplug said quietly. "He was the representative of the Minicons on Cybertron. He was an advocate for Minicon rights during pre-war Cybertron. We were partners working to support the Minicons throughout the early stages of the war. Overrun was also Mugen's conjux endura."
"Conjux Endura?"
"It's the cybertronian version of a spouse, sort of like a married couple in human terms." Sparkplug explained. "Optimus and Ironhide have their own conjux off world, and Overrun was Mugen's conjux before the war started."
Darren could already tell where this was going and knew from the wording Sparkplug used that Overrun probably wasn't around anymore. "What…happened to Overrun?"
"He was killed in a Minicon raid on his village. No one was expecting it. I don't know the full details, but somehow the Decepticons had assaulted Solomus, Cybertron's smallest moon, and leveled the settlements there without mercy. Only two Minicons survived the massacre: Mugen's and Leader-1."
"Leader-1, the guy who's working for the Cons right now?"
"I know. It's strange that he'd do that when the Cons destroyed his home." Sparkplug sighed. "Mugen's might be feeling a little lonely. It happens sometimes for people who've lost loved ones. Arcee went through that phase and I'm sure plenty of Autobots have as well. We're all feeling a bit out of juice with all the craziness going on."
Darren nodded. It was a taxing job trying to coordinate a ship's worth of refuges while at the same time making sure the next Minicon they bring aboard isn't some Decepticon plant. He had no idea how Sparkplug was able to do all that and not look as old as Ratchet.
"Just give her some space. She'll be back to normal in a few days." Sparkplug concluded.
"Okay." Darren nodded, though, looking back at Mugen's, he was sure that there was something more to this than just lover's grief.
XXXXXX
High Wire entered the little abode of Liftor and Roll Bar that was their designated workshop and stopped upon seeing an odd sight. Darren was standing in the middle of the room with a small crate on his back. That wouldn't be so bad if the crate wasn't twice the size of his body. The crate was one of the smaller containers on the ship, no bigger than Ironhide's palm, but that was still big, and extremely heavy for even a thirteen year old telekinetic, even if it was empty. On the side, Gina stood close by with a stopwatch and Liftor and Roll Bar manning the crane that was designed to move the cubes.
"What did I just come upon?" High Wire asked cautiously.
"We're doing some strength tests with Darren's powers." Roll Bar answered.
"I can see that, at least." High Wire said, glancing at the stopwatch Gina held. "But why?"
"It's to test the limits of his strength. After what happened in Egyptia, Gina's trying to get Darren to manifest that armored form he created back in the tomb." Liftor answered.
"It was Gina's idea." Roll Bar said. "She wanted Darren to have something to fall back to in addition to the weapons she was making to use on missions. You know, if something were to happen to Centurion."
High Wire looked at Gina. "Is this true, Gina?"
Not taking her eyes off the stopwatch, Gina replied, "Yes, High Wire, it's true. Darren's the strongest member of the team right now, and I'm still working on the blasters Roll Bar's helping me make, along with some other stuff. I wanted to have something to fall back on if we lost Centurion back in Egyptia."
"We're protecting you three the best we can. Isn't that enough?" He asked her. It honestly felt insulting that she would think they weren't enough to keep her and the others safe. And after everything they've been through as well.
Gina sighed and blew her whistle, ending the test. A crane hand took the cube out of Darren's hold and the boy fell to his knees exhausted. As the Minicons went over to give him some water and a towel, Gina looked over to High Wire with tired eyes.
"High Wire, you, Sureshock and Grindor have kept us safe on multiple occasions, and no one's arguing that. But let's be realistic here; compared to you Minicons, we're just dead weight. If Centurion gets taken out of the fight on a mission, all we have are homemade blasters and Darren's powers to rely on. And after what happened last time, I'm not keen on letting Darren risk his life again pulling our asses out of the fire."
Darren had displayed a new level of his esper abilities that no one thought possible, and Gina wanted to capitalize on that. His armored form was strong, but it withered away after only ten minutes of use. Gina wanted to increase his endurance to lengthen the amount of time he could maintain it, though no one knew exactly what to do. Telekinetics were an odd sort in that they were only limited by their lack of imagination.
Despite this, Gina was also working on making small energy weapons for her and the twins, as she didn't want to be dead weight and force Darren to put himself in danger protecting herself and Annie. Blasters, energy shields, melee weapons, whatever went if it meant that everyone could stay safe and protected.
"I'm sorry if you're offended, High Wire, but it's something that has to be done." Gina said. "We won't be able to rely on you guys all the time, what happened with Darren and Annie with OZ is proof of that."
High Wire couldn't hide a wince at the mention of the OZ incident. Debbie being taken hostage to lure Darren and Annie to them was a sore spot for him. Despite what others said, he considered it a massive failure on his part as a guardian of the twins. On the other hand, at least Gina wasn't doing this out of some belief that his team was useless. Though, he still didn't feel right allowing the children laser weapons of all things, least of all Annie.
Gina smiled and walked over to pat High Wire on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, but at least we're taking some heat off you." Gina said kindly. "Just know that I have everyone's best interests at heart
"I know." High Wire nodded. "I trust you."
"Guys, guys!" Annie ran into the room, almost running over Jolt and the others. "We've got another biter!"
"What?" Gina asked.
"Another Minicon popped up." Annie panted. She bent over and took a deep breath. "Give me a second, that was a long run." She took a deep breath and continued. "You'll…never guess where it's located."
High Wire crossed his arms. "Where?"
XXXXXX
"Teletran-1 has detected the next stasis panel in eastern Emmeria, in the republic of Estovakia." Optimus said to his team. "The signal is faint, but we've tracked its signal to a small province called Transylvania."
"Transylvania? Sweet, we get so see Dracula's castle!" Annie cheered.
"Annie, that's all in the movies. Vlad Dracul was the lord of the neighboring province, not in Transylvania." Gina said. Annie waved her off.
"Let me bask in the awesomeness, Gina. This is a once in a lifetime chance." She said. "Let's get a move on!"
"Optimus," Prowl stepped up to Prime. "May I lead this mission? You and Jazz still need to recover from that encounter with the dragon."
"Recovery which you still need to undergo." Ratchet pointed out from behind them.
"You could've at least taken some pictures of the dragon." Annie muttered. "That would've been cool."
When she heard that Optimus and Jazz fought a dragon, she was jumping off the walls in excitement-until she learned that neither of them had gotten any sort of photos or video images of the rare beast. Dragons were hard to find unless they were looking for you, and to see one in person, much less get a picture of one, was the chance of a lifetime.
"Sorry, Annie. We were too busy trying not to get roasted by the giant lizard." Jazz said.
"You may lead the mission, Prowl." Optimus said. "Though, I wish to know why you want to go. You rarely volunteer for missions up front."
Prowl glanced down at the Minicons with his usual calculating gaze. "I just feel that mobility and strategy are what's needed on this mission. That's all."
XXXXXX
Leader-1 sat on a rock watching Starscream lord his status over the Seekers to keep Blackout from superseding him with common sense. Between that moron and Grid acting like a glitch-ridden protoform, he was not having a good time. It was a slow, awful way to start off a mission, but he knew that things would get good soon. All he needed was for his little spy to do her part.
"Leader-1," Well, speak of the devil. "It's me. The Autobots are mobilizing."
"About damn time." Leader-1 muttered. "How many are coming."
"It's a four-man team lead by Prowl. He has Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee on it."
"And the kids? Are they coming?" Leader-1 asked eagerly.
"…Yes. They are coming along to search for the panel while the Autobots hold off any Cons. The Street Action Team and Tracer are providing protection and support."
"A combiner team and an outlier. Not bad, brats." He hummed. "Looks like it's time to move out. Grid!"
Grid, who was chatting with Blackout's partner, Cannon, gave Leader-1 an annoyed glance. "What?"
"Lose that tone, idiot. Tell that moron you call a partner that the Autobots are coming! You two are with me."
"What are we going to do?" Cannon asked.
"What do you think?" Leader-1 replied rudely. "We're going to find and liberate our sleeping comrade."
XXXXXX
Mugen switched off her comm and sighed. The deed was done, and now all that was left was to wait. She ran a hand down her face and groaned. What was she doing? Never in her life had she felt any ounce of regret or hesitation the whole time she had played both friend and foe. So why hesitate now?
Mugen knew that everything she had done, all the backstabbing, the killing, the lives she put in danger, would get her a first class seat on the flight to hell. She did it for the Minicons who were wrongfully killed right under Prime's nose. She did it for Overrun. But…what would he think if he knew all the things she had done in the name of revenge?
'Primus, I'm pathetic.' She thought bitterly. 'I talk a big game, but when slag hits the fan I wuss out. Why am I acting like this?'
"Mugen?" She turned to see Darren walking up to her. "The Bots are moving out. You ready?"
"Yeah, locked and loaded." Mugen said, though she didn't sound very convincing.
"You don't look ready." He said. "You sure you're going to be okay?"
"Yes, Darren, I'm good." She sighed. "I just…have a lot on my mind, okay?"
Darren bit his lip and rubbed the back of his neck. "It is…Overrun?"
Mugen's head turned sharply to him, her expression icier than a glacier. "How do you know that name?"
"Sparkplug. He told me about him after I saw you staring at his image back at the Ark." Darren said calmly, not wanting to chase her off. "I'm sorry. I was just curious, since you've been down lately."
Mugen made a mental note to give Sparkplug a good punch in the face. "If he's told you about Overrun, then I assume he's also mentioned how he died."
"Yeah…that too."
"Well don't worry about me, Darren. Overrun's been on my mind lately, and it's got my mood down." She told him. "I'm sure it's something you're familiar with."
Darren could tell Mugen was trying not to lash out at him, though her tone was less than welcoming at the moment. She was a lot like Annie in that sense, lashing out to avoid talking about difficult subjects. He didn't know what it felt like to lose a spouse to war, but he did know the pain of losing someone you love.
"Mugen, far be it for me to try to comfort you like I know what you went through, since I've never lost a lover or anything like that," He began. "But I do know what it's like losing someone close to you. I'm not going to pry into your business or anything, but just know that I'm here for you if you need someone to talk to…or something."
Mugen stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Thanks, Darren. I'll keep that in mind. I know dwelling on the past isn't healthy for me, but I just get a bit…weepy as you humans call it, when I'm left alone with my thoughts."
"I totally understand." Darren smiled. He looked around and cleared his throat. "Um…Sparkplug told me that you and Leader-1 came from the same village. Were you two friends?"
"In a sense. Back then, Leader-1 wasn't such a piece of garbage like he is now." She said and smiled wryly. "Be sure to keep that to yourself, would you? I'm sure the Autobots won't be as understanding as you are about that."
"Your secret is safe with me."
"Thank you." Mugen said honestly. Darren smiled back, but when she stared at him longer than he was comfortable with, he frowned.
"Um, D-Va, what are you…?"
"You remind me of him, a bit. Of Overrun, I mean." She said. "He was always trying to help people even when he didn't know what was wrong with them. It was something he was known for."
"Oh, t-thanks." Darren said.
"It's also what got him killed in the end." Mugen added coldly and stood up from her perch. "Don't be like Overrun, Darren. You'll live longer that way."
XXXXXX
The Autobots tracked the panel's signal to a large castle built atop a high mountain that belonged to the lord of the province they were in. The castle was large and old, made of stone that was weathered and eroded in some areas and built in a gothic style architecture that was the basis for the literary character, Dracula. It was a fortress designed not only for defense, but also to instill fear and awe in all who looked upon it. This was the former castle of Vlad Dracul, one of history's bloodiest warlords.
"Huh," Bulkhead grunted upon seeing the castle. "Someone's compensating for something."
"No kidding." Bumblebee said and looked at Prowl. "So, where do we go?"
Prowl checked the scanner. "The Minicon's located somewhere down in the lower levels. And since we're too big to get inside without causing significant damage, it falls to the children to explore the interior for us."
"We're ready and waiting, Prowl." Gina said.
The now combined Centurion and Mugen led the kids into the castle grounds. Prowl looked to Tracer, who was sitting on his shoulder.
"Tracer, go with them." He said.
"What? But I want to stay with you!" She pouted. "I can help you fight!"
"I know, but you're helping me more by making sure that the kids stay safe if they run into any Mini-Cons inside." Prowl looked at his companions to see if they were far enough before whispering, "And I want you to keep an eye on Centurion and Mugen for me. Monitor them for anything that might be unusual. If you see something, no matter how small, contact me. Can I count on you to do that?"
"Sure thing, Prowl!" Tracer chirped. She wasn't sure why he wanted her to watch her friends, but if Prowl wanted her to do it, then it must be important. "You can count on me."
Prowl nodding, allowing himself to give her a small smile. He wasn't comfortable with relying on a Minicon for help considering one of them was a spy, but Tracer was trustworthy enough. Optimus might think twice about spying on teammates, but considering what's at stake, Prowl was willing to do what needed to be done. This was what he did, doing what more high status mechs like Optimus and Ultra Magnus didn't have the steel to do in order to get the job done.
"All right, Autobots," Prowl said to his team. "While the Micron team is exploring the castle, we're doing to search the perimeter. Arcee and Bulkhead will search the west and south sides. Bumblebee and myself will patrol the north and east sides. Stay sharp and give a call if you see anything. Roll out!"
"Well, I certainly missed working with him." Bulkhead grumbled. He really wasn't a fan of Prowl's rigid command style, or even Prowl himself. The "greater good" argument could only be used so many times before it comes back to bite you. Bulkhead shook his head and looked down at the kids. "You guys be careful, now. You here?"
"Got it, Bulk." Annie grinned. "Don't worry. I'll snag you one of Vlad's torture devices as a souvenir."
"Torture devices?" Bulkhead blinked.
Mugen looked away from the kids and Autobots to gaze up at the castle, taking a deep breath before following the humans into the courtyard.
"You think the Cons detected the signal yet?" Tracer asked. Gina adjusted her glasses and looked up at the statue of a warrior on horseback with a spear jammed into his ribs.
"Knowing our luck," Gina said. "They're probably already here."
Atop the tallest tower, inside the castle library, Leader-1 stood in the window looking down at his clueless enemies. This was going to be fun.
XXXXXX
The Sky Spy drone led the Micron team deeper into the castle, where they came upon the massive throne room lined with armored suits and tapestries that were little more than strips of cloth at this point, worn from age. The throne didn't even look like a throne, time had eroded the metal to the point where it might just be considered a royal stool.
"Where to now?" Annie asked.
Gina sent a command to the sky spy and it flew past them into a small alcove. It landed on the ground and jerked its bird-like head up and down. The kids took it as a sign that their destination was somewhere behind that wall, but when they took a closer look, they saw that nothing was there.
"There's nothing here." Tracer huffed and glared down at the sky spy. "Stop wasting our time and show us where to really go!"
"Maybe it just made a mistake." Centurion said in his deep voice. Gina shook her head.
"Sky spy is never wrong about anything. It's never led us astray before." Gina rubbed her chin as she looked at the alcove. "There's something we're missing here."
Darren narrowed his eyes and started running his hands along the wall. An idea popped into his head and he leaned in to press an ear to the stone.
"Darren, what are you doing?" Mugen asked, but Darren shushed her.
He tapped his knuckles against the wall and heard a light, hollow sound instead of a dull thud one would expect from tapping solid stone. "There it is. I think the wall is hollow."
"Hollow?" Razor said. "Is that possible? I thought those were in movies."
"Actually, a lot of castles in the medieval period had secret routes for nobles to escape through if their castles were breached. Hidden passages and secret doors were rather common back in that time, and this was no different." Gina said.
"There's our queue." Annie said. "Centurion!"
The gestalt walked forward and fired his wrist cannon at the wall. The ancient stone stood no chance against the laser bolt and was blasted apart in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, they saw a long staircase leading down to a second level of the castle.
"Nice work, Darren." Mugen praised, getting a smile from Darren."
"Come on," Gina said and walked through the hole. "This mission's not over for a longshot."
XXXXXX
"I'm not liking this." Bulkhead said.
"Not liking what?" Arcee asked.
"The silence. We've been here for half an hour and there's no sign of the Cons." Bulkhead grumbled. "It's got me antsy."
Arcee patted his arm. "All we can do is be on our guard, Bulk. With any luck, maybe we'll get a break this time."
Her fate chose to reward her hopes with three missiles hitting the ground in front of them. In an instant, they drew their weapons and were alert, pointing their blasters at the sky. Blackout and Skywarp appeared above them, firing their long range artillery cannons at the Autobots. Arcee and Bulkhead returned fire, though the aerial assault forced them to take cover behind a wall to avoid getting shredded by the armor piercing bullets ripping apart the ground around them.
"Some break." Bulkhead growled as a missile hit near his shoulder. Seeing Skywarp teleport in front of them, he pointed his arm forward. "Arcee!"
Arcee leapt forward and fired his gun at the Seeker, but she only got a couple of shots off before Blackout opened fire on her. "He's trying to cover Skywarp! We can't fight like this!"
"Call Prowl. I'll deal with these clowns." Bulkhead primed his arm blaster and fired up at Blackout, scoring a few hits on the large Con's fuselage. One of those shots hit Blackout's nose and the blow stunned the Con for a moment, allowing Bulkhead to shoot his tail rotor.
"Why is it always the tail?" Blackout growled as he spun in the air.
As he descended to the ground, he performed a controlled descent towards Bulkhead. As he got closer to the ground, he transformed and slammed into Bulkhead, slamming him into the ground. Bulkhead kicked him off and threw a punch at him, but Blackout caught his fist and fired his auto-cannon in his face. Blinding the green Autobot, he grabbed Bulkhead's arm and lifted him up with immense strength, throwing him two feet into the wall.
Arcee wasn't having much luck with Skywarp either. The Seeker was hounding Arcee through the forest as like an annoying insect as she tried to get herself enough time to call in reinforcements. She ducked behind a tree just as he appeared behind her and she fired three laser bolts clean through his left wing. Skywarp immediately switched forms and fired his arm cannons at her, forcing her to retreat. He teleported behind her again, but that only got him a heel digging into his jaw and slamming him into a tree.
"You know better than to try that trick with me." Arcee said.
"And you know better than to fight a teleporter." Skywarp retorted.
He warped out of sight just as she shot at him again. This time, he reappeared above her, changing to jet mode and dropping cluster bombs on her. Arcee tried to avoid the bombs, but they exploded around her, one hitting her arm and another exploding close enough to send her crashing into a tree.
"Scrap!" She hissed and called Prowl. "Prowl, where are you? We've got Cons over here!"
XXXXXX
"We're having some problems on this end too, Arcee." Prowl said as he hid behind a rock with Bumblebee.
Starscream and Thundercracker were assaulting the duo with their Vulcan cannons and missiles. They weren't holding back as they pinned the Autobots down behind cover, which wouldn't last long under the heavy fire it was taking.
"Don't let up, Thundercracker!" Starscream said. "Keep firing and don't give them a chance to fight back!"
"Copy that!" Thundercracker said, though he wasn't very happy with this method of fighting. He was a fan of getting up close and massacring his enemies, but Starscream changed their plans when he Prowl was on the team. Starscream didn't want to end up getting scrapped by some scheme cooked up by the Autobot strategist, so he figured that putting pressure on him would at least keep him occupied.
"We have to move!" Bumblebee said. "Arcee and Bulkhead are in trouble!"
"So are we!" Prowl said. He saw Thundercracker fly overhead and thought of a plan. "Bee, can you hit Thundercracker from this angle?"
Bumblebee's visual acuity was spot on, mainly due to his occupation as a scout. He could definitely hit fast moving objects and see across vast distances, though the situations may limit his capabilities. "I think I can, but only if he's close enough."
"Leave that to me." Prowl changed the ammo clip on his rifle and poked his head out. Seeing Thundercracker circle around to attack their rear, Prowl took aim and fired a couple of acidic pellets at him.
The pellets exploded against Thundercracker's armor and began eating away at his metal skin. The pain made Thundercracker lose focus and break away from the engagement, which allowed Bumblebee to fire a couple of shots into his afterburner. Starscream saw his partner wobble before crashing into the ground and dived at the Autobots, firing his guns nonstop.
"Filthy Autobots!"
"Bee, we need to move!" Prowl said.
They jumped out of the trench they took cover in, but were blasted off their feet by two missiles fired by Starscream. Bumblebee landed on his back, smoke leaking off his form, but Prowl wasn't so lucky, as his arm was badly scorched and nearly inoperable. Starscream changed to robot mode and was firing at Prowl, riddling him with armor piercing rounds that tore into Prowl with ease. Not slowing down one bit, Starscream increased his boosters and slammed into Prowl before he could react. Rock and dust exploded into the air as the Seeker crashed into Prowl, sending him deep enough into the ground to make a crater.
Starscream climbed out of the crater, leaving behind an unconscious Prowl who was half buried in the dirt behind him. He looked around and saw Bumblebee getting to his feet.
"That's one down, and one more to go." Starscream grinned viciously. "Now, I remember that I still have yet to pay you back for that stunt you pulled back in Francois."
"Feel free to come and get some. I guarantee you won't get a shot off me." Bumblebee said. He knew this was going to be a difficult fight, but he wasn't backing down.
XXXXXX
The little band of humans and Minicons entered the underground chamber, which was more gruesome than they had anticipated. The room was full of torture devices; death machine staples like guillotines, iron maidens, wooden horses and the like. Judging from the dried blood on some of them, they were definitely used a lot by the castle's lord.
"This place looks like the set of a horror movie." Annie said.
Tracer looked at a skeleton that was still sitting on a large iron spike that ran straight through its pelvis and right up its ribcage and collarbone. She grimaced as she visualized this gruesome scene back when the poor soul was alive.
"This is horrific." Centurion said. "How can humans do this to each other?"
"Medieval times were rather bloody, since things like the rules of war didn't exist back then. Warlords and emperors used very evil means to control their people and put fear into the hearts of enemies." Gina explained. "Vlad Dracul was the worst of them. He loved torturing his enemies, and even some peasants who displeased them. The things he did to them were legendary, like impaling prisoners on spikes and watching them slowly die."
"This doesn't look like a quick death." Mugen noted.
"It's not supposed to be. You were lucky if the spike pierced a vital organ and killed you instantly, but usually it took hours for them to die. Vlad was so evil that the locals saw him as a demon. Lord knows he fought like one."
"And that was how Dracula was born." Annie smirked. Darren rolled his eyes.
"For the last time, Annie, Dracula doesn't exi-"
Everyone went silent when they heard loud explosion topside. The Minicons went on their guard as they heard more explosions go on above them.
"Looks like the Cons really did decide to pay us a visit." Darren said and looked to Gina. "Gina, where is that panel?"
She looked down at the scanner and saw…nothing. There weren't any alerts or readings, and sky spy didn't detect anything either. The blonde frowned as she told the others about this.
"What do you mean it's gone?" Razor asked.
"That's just it. I'm not getting any readings anymore. We were close to it, but now it's just…vanished."
"So what the hell do we do now?" Annie growled. The Bots were up there fighting and here they were doing nothing!
Darren scowled as he started losing his patience. What could they do now? Time wasn't on their side and that became evident when they heard a louder explosion upstairs and saw smoke coming from the staircase.
"I think Leader-1's posse is here." He said.
Centurion looked down at the kids. "Stay here and look for the panel. We will go and fight them off."
Without waiting for confirmation from the children, Centurion ran back up the stairs towards the danger. Razor gave the kids a sympathetic look and ran after him with D-Va.
Upstairs, when the gestalt reached the top, he saw that there were multiple holes in the walls and floor, as if someone went on a shooting spree in the throne room. Aside from that, there was one more thing that was different now-Leader-1 sitting on the throne.
"It's about time you answered the call." Leader-1 said, looking at the gestalt coolly. "I thought I was going to have to go down myself to get you. Thank Primus I didn't have to resort to that."
Razor appeared behind Leader-1, her guns pointed at his head. "Where's the panel, Leader-1? We know you have it."
"Had it, Razor. Past tense." He said coyly. He wasn't even concerned about being held at gunpoint. "I had it, but now it's gone."
"So what happened to it?" Centurion growled.
The grin could practically be heard in Leader-1's voice. "Why don't you ask the Con who was inside it?"
A large golden ball descended from the ceiling like a bullet and slammed into Centurion, knocking him to the ground. It ricocheted off a wall and came back, slamming into his chest and knocking him into a suit of armor. Razor, distracted by the surprise attack, was hit in the shoulder by a laser blast that knocked her off her feet. She warped away and reappeared before Leader-1, who was now flanked by Cannon in his tank mode.
"Meet the new addition to our team-Cannonbolt."
The ball crashed into the ground in front of Razor, but stayed in place. Now having a closer look at it, she saw that it had gold and black armor and surrounded by an energy field layering its smooth surface. It broke apart and the round panels reconfigured to reveal the robot mode underneath. The mech was large, almost as tall as Centurion, with a short head between hunched shoulders, slanted yellow eyes and a large bottom jaw.
"That was fun!" Cannonbolt grunted, slamming his fists together. "Me do it again!"
"In a moment, Cannonbolt, I need to do my monologue first." Leader-1 said and walked up to Tracer and the wounded Centurion. "This is Cannonbolt. He's a veteran gladiator from the Pits at Tarn-the city of warriors. He may be a bit thick in the head, but he's durable enough to take anything you can throw at him."
"Don't get too full of yourself. You haven't won yet." Razor said bravely.
"Actually I have. Now I'm just throwing it in your faces," leader-1 replied. "Before I have you all dismantled."
"You and what army?" Centurion growled.
"Oh not me." Leader-1 pointed behind him. "Her."
Centurion screamed as something was stabbed into his back and his whole body was wracked with seizures before he split apart into his separate components. Mugen stood over the disorientated forms of the Street Action Team, her staff now a glowing spear crackling with energy.
"D-Va?! What are you doing?" Razor exclaimed. Mugen looked at her with cold eyes.
"What I need to do."
XXXXXX
Bulkhead and Blackout grappled, trying to overpower each other. Though Blackout was larger, Bulkhead was stronger, and he was able to lift the Con over his head with a yell and throw him into the castle wall, sending him sailing into the courtyard. Blackout jumped to his feet and took out his tail rotor, spinning it rapidly and slashing at Bulkhead. The green Autobot stumbled back as he felt the rotating blades almost tear into his neck cables and slammed his wrecking ball into them, nearly breaking Blackout's hand.
Blackout reeled back, but Bulkhead rushed forward and slammed his ball into his face, knocking him to the ground. A kick to the face put Blackout's lights out for good.
"That was tougher than I thought." Bulkhead said. "Arcee, how are things on your end?"
He got his answer as Skywarp appeared before him in a burst of light, with Arcee having him in a chokehold. Skywarp tried to throw her off, but she had a firm grip on him and was aiming to put some strain on his neck joints. He gagged as he felt the mesh around his neck start to groan from her grip and in a panic, he teleported as many times as possible within just a few minutes. Bulkhead tried to follow them, but he could barely track them at the speed they were going.
Then he heard the sound of jet engines from above and looked up to see Starscream flying towards them with Bumblebee hanging onto his alt mode. The scout was holding tightly onto the Seeker's wings and he wasn't letting go anytime soon.
"Get off me, you pest!" Starscream shouted.
"Make me!" Bumblebee replied.
Bulkhead saw them flying around haphazardly like Skyfire on a drunken Engex binge before Starscream circled in the air and dove straight towards the castle-more specifically the courtyard. The same courtyard Bulkhead was standing in. Seeing that Starscream was flying at speeds faster than Mach 2, Bulkhead knew the property damage was going to be horrific.
"Why me?" He groaned.
XXXXXX
Razor was stuck in the middle of a spider's web of enemies, being threatened by the femme she considered her best friend. The pink Minicon had her spear pointed at her, but she made no moves to attack.
"Mugen please, don't do this. Whatever the Cons promised you, it isn't worth betraying your friends." Tracer pleaded. Mugen scowled.
"I can't betray a faction that I never had any faith in." She replied. "I am loyal to only one side, and that is the Minicons. Or did you all forget that after spending so much time with those damn Autobots!"
"Don't do this, Mugen." High Wire groaned. The forced separation hurt a lot and he could barely move his body. Sureshock was still trying to gather her wits and Grindor, who took the brunt of the blast as Centurion's torso unit, was unconscious. "You have nothing to gain from working with Leader-1. He's just going to use you and toss you away like trash."
"Shut up!" Mugen shouted and kicked him in the face. She was then hit in the head by a flying stone that shattered against her cranium.
"High Wire!" Darren shouted as he charged into the room with three large rocks orbiting his body. Annie and Gina followed after him, the girls holding Gina's homemade blasters.
Cannon swerved his tank barrel and fired at Darren. The boy rolled aside to dodge the pulse blast and flicked his fingers. One of the orbiting stones dissolved into a hail of smaller rocks that shot at Cannon with the speed of a bullet, hitting him dead on and digging into his tank mode. Tracer used this moment to warp forward and fire her pistols at him, riddling his body with laser bolts. She appeared right above him and opened fire directly on top of his alt mode, shooting until her pistols were close to overheating. Then Darren stomped his foot and Cannon went sailing through a window, plummeting into the steep drop below.
Leader-1 changed forms and fired his twin laser cannons, forcing Darren to raise manipulate the stone around him to form a shield that block the laser blasts. He waved his hand and threw the stones at Leader-1, who drove in reverse while still shooting at Darren. One rock caught his wheel and sent him spinning out of control, falling on his side. Darren slashed his hand and the floor under the Mini-Con jutted up and flung him into a stone pillar. With him taken out, Darren turned his attention to Mugen.
"Mugen!" Darren roared as she charged at him with her spear. Seeing her run at him with her weapon, like he wasn't even her friend anymore, caused something to snap in Darren's mind. Scowling, he gave a roar as silver telekinetic energy burst from him and solidified around his body.
Mugen charged at him, brandishing her spear. Darren scowled and without even trying, his black armor carapace to formed over his body before sprinting forward. He shot compact force blasts at her that were strong enough to shatter stone, but she dodged them with ease. He tried grabbing hold of her with his powers, but she moved too fast for him to properly focus on her, moving too fast for him to register.
Just before she could reach him, Razor warped in front of her and kicked her aside. She flipped back to her feet and threw her staff at Razor just as she warped a few feet in front of her. The spear stabbed into Razor's shoulder and pinned her to the wall. Darren snagged her foot and forced his mind to pull her as hard as he could, throwing her into the throne. He fired a TK blast at her, but she jumped away as the throne was blown apart.
Seeing Darren charging at her, Mugen braced herself and caught the punch he threw at her face. Her feet dug into the floor as she was pushed back by the force of his punch, but she landed a kick to his side that staggered him before punching him in the chin. He threw a punch at her face, but she ducked under his arm before pummeling his chest, punching off chunks of his armor before backhanding him across the face. Darren was staggered, and Mugen used this opening to shift her hand into her pulse cannon and fired a blast right into Darren's chest. The blast tore into his carapace, shattering his already decaying armor and exposing him. Though unharmed, Darren had the wind knocked out of him as he stumbled back, his armor melting off him like smoke. Before he could recover, Mugen rushed forward and grabbed his arm, throwing him over her shoulder and slamming him into the floor. She stomped her foot onto his chest to keep him in place.
"Darren!" Gina and Annie cried out. Gina pointed her blaster at Mugen, who glared at her.
"Don't even try it!" Mugen shouted and pointed her hand at Darren, which changed into a pulse cannon.
Darren wasn't scared of the weapon pointed at his face. His anger outweighed his fear at the moment. "Go ahead and do it. Show us your true colors!"
"I didn't choose to be this way, Darren." She said.
"We all have a choice." Darren replied.
Leader-1 slowly stood up, holding his aching back as he limped over to her. "Mugen, make this quick. We're on a tight schedule."
"Shut it!" Mugen hissed and fired a warning shot at his feet to show that she wasn't in the mood.
"How could you?" Darren asked, getting her attention. "How could you betray the Autobots after everything they've done for you?"
"Don't act like the Autobots are heroes! You think they're any different than the Decepticons? Let me give you a dose of reality. Those Autobots you cherish so strongly have treated us Minicons like dirt! We were second class citizens before and after this goddamn war started!" Mugen roared. "I'd gladly help the Cons wipe them out for all the suffering they put us through."
"The Cons wiped out your village, and you're helping them? Where in your mind does that make any sense?" Darren said staring up at her. Then Leader-1 began to laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Who said it was the Decepticons that destroyed our village?" Leader-1 said.
The entire room went quiet as the children realized the implications of that statement. Cannonbolt just looked confused. Darren looked up at Mugen and saw that the pink femme's rage had tapered off into sadness.
"It was after the Decepticons began raiding Cybertron's moons for Minicons to capture. They mostly attacked Epistemus, Sparkplug's home and the largest of the moons." She said softly. "Optimus Prime sent a contingent of Autobots to guard our moon, Solomus, for when the Decepticons moved onto it."
"But the big-wig didn't know that the squad leader was a mech who had prejudice against the Minicons-animosity left over from when Minicons were spies for the Senate in the pre-war days." Leader-1 jumped in. "You can imagine that after weeks of tension between the races, things would hit a tipping point and blow over. The result…a mountain of corpses."
XXXXXX
Solomus, Cybertron
Mugen cursed as a proton missile blew up the house next to her and sent debris flying dangerously close to her. Tesarus Minor, her home, was in flames. Minicons were running for their lives while the member of the defense militia mobilized to combat the threat. Missiles rained down from the sky and demolished the area in a sea of flames and the sky was alight with explosions and the falling bodies of people she knew on a daily basis.
"Solomus was under attack, and it wasn't from Decepticons. It was the Autobots.
"Mugen!" Leader-1, a member of Solomus' defense team, ran up to her.
"Leader-1, what the hell is going on?" She asked.
"Autobots," He said grimly. "They've invaded Solomus' eastern hemisphere and are attacking the villages."
"Autobots? No, they would never do that. They're supposed to protect us!" Mugen exclaimed.
"Well it's true. And I think it's only one unit, but they're using heavy weapons to wipe out the villages in the eastern quadrant." Leader-1 got a call on his comm. "I need to go. Find Overrun and evacuate while you still can."
Leader-1 transformed and drove down the street. Mugen also transformed and she raced deeper into town trying to find Overrun. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess and she didn't think to use her local sensors to locate his signature nearby. Just as she turned a corner, she slammed into the heel of a Bulk. Mugen switched to robot mode and looked up at the mech.
He was tall, standing around 18 feet tall with red and green armor and purple eyes. The Autobot symbol sat almost mockingly on his lower abdomen, clear as day as he fired his gun at Minicon flyers that were zipping around his head trying to bring him down.
"Stupid little Scraplets!" Joyride growled. He swatted a Minicon out of the sky, sending the tiny mech crashing to the ground and stomping on him, horrifying D-Va. "I've had enough of you!"
Then he noticed Mugen, sitting on her knees frozen in fear. Joyride grinned viciously as he spotted her and stomped towards her like a predatory organic beast. Laser blasts and missiles fired at him by the airborne Minicons did little to deter him as he glared down at her.
"Another one of you Minicons. Primus, it's like you're breeding, just like those organic fleshies Prime preaches about." Joyride sneered. "I don't know why he wants us to protect you little creeps. It's slagheaps like you that got my buddy killed by the damn Senate!"
Mugen shook her head and tried to run, but Joyride blocked her escape with the barrel of his gun.
"Don't even think about it. I came here with a job to do and I intend to do it with as little problems as possible." Joyride said. "So please die for me."
A large beam hit the side of his head, burning a hole into his cranium and shattering one of his optic lens in the process. Joyride stumbled to the side in pain, and Mugen looked up to see a silver plane coming at her.
"Overrun?"
Overrun transformed and landed next to her. "Are you alright?"
"Overrun!" Mugen hugged him tightly, scared out of her mind. "What's going on? Why are the Autobots attacking us?"
"I don't know, but this is not the place to be thinking about it. I have Leader-1 organizing an escape route out of the village near the town square." Overrun said. "Go there and-"
"Look out!"
Overrun pushed Mugen out of the way just as Joyride's large hand smacked him away. He crashed into a statue and hit the ground. Joyride fired his blaster and destroyed the building next to him, causing huge pieces of debris to fall on Overrun.
"No!" Mugen ran to her lover and tried to dig him out. Overrun's lower body was pinned beneath large pieces of metal beams and stone that pinned him in place.
"It's no use." Overrun groaned, wedged beneath two heavy beams. "I can't feel my legs. Run, while you still have a chance to escape."
"NO! I'm not leaving you!" She cried.
Joyride pointed his gun at the two Minicons, but two laser blasts hit him in the head again. "Slag! Where do you things keep coming from?"
Leader-1 arrived on the scene with two soldiers firing at Joyride. As his team drew the Autobot's attention, he maneuvered his hovercraft over to his friends and ran over to him. He looked at the state Overrun was in and cursed. There was no way to get Overrun free in time, and he didn't have the equipment for such heavy lifting.
"Leader-1." Overrun said. "Get Mugen out of here. Take her far from this place. The village is lost."
"But what about you?" Leader-1 asked. Overrun gave him a sad smile.
"It's too late for me, Leader-1. Just get her someplace safe."
Leader-1 looked into the eyes of the mech who did so much for the Minicons and nodded. He tried to take Mugen's arm, but she shook him off.
"No, I won't leave him!"
"We have to go." He urged her. He looked up and saw Joyride shooting his teammates down. "Now, Mugen!"
"No!" Mugen yelled. Overrun reached out and touched her face, turning her to him.
"I don't care what happens to me, Mugen. I can die in peace knowing that you've made it out alive." Overrun said. "Remember, Mugen, I will always love you."
Mugen stared at him with glistening eyes as Leader-1 grabbed her and hauled her onto the hovercraft. She struggled to get free as she was pulled away from Overrun.
"No!" She screamed. "Overrun!"
She didn't take her eyes away from him even as they boarded the hovercraft. She stared out the window as Joyride reached down and grabbed Overrun in his large hand. She watched as the Autobot glared down at the Minicon with a savage sneer on his face. She watched…as Joyride crushed Overrun's body in his hand and threw his mangled body aside.
"OVERRUN!"
XXXXXX
The throne room was silent once Mugen finished her story. Leader-1 was quiet for once as he remembered that horrific day vividly. Tracer had a look of disbelief on her face and the Street Action Team were stunned speechless. But none were as horrified as the children, who couldn't believe that the Autobots did that.
"An Autobot did all that?" High Wire whispered. "But…I thought the official report was that the Decepticons attacked the moon with inside help from Minicon agents."
"And who gave that story?" Mugen growled.
"…Prowl." Sureshock muttered.
"Exactly. The massacre didn't escape the attention of Autobot High Command, but it wasn't handled by Optimus Prime or Ultra Magnus. No, it was Prowl who led the investigation and performed his own judgment on Joyride and his mechs. They weren't punished with death or even imprisonment, they just shipped off to some remote planet, far from the war where they were never heard of again." D-Va spat in pure anger. "They basically got off Scott free for the murder of innocent Minicons, all because Prowl wanted to save face for the Autobots and make the Cons look bad." She glared down at Darren. "So you think the Cons are bad, do you? Well, know that the Autobots are no saints, especially not Prime. Someone like him has no room to talk about equality when he employs mechs like Prowl."
"N-No," Razor shook her head. "Prowl would never do that. He's an Autobot. He may not be like Optimus, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have our best interests-"
"PROWL IS A SCHEMER NO DIFFERENT FROM SHOCKWAVE! HE'S JUST A MECH WHO PUTS LOGIC OVER EMOTIONS LIKE SOME DAMN MACHINE!" Mugen roared. "He's done things that will make you hate him for the rest of your natural life, things that Optimus has willingly turned a blind eye to in order to further the Autobot cause. They've hurt me in the worst way possible and I will do the same to them!"
Mugen shoved her cannon in Darren's face and charged up her weapon. Annie and Gina pointed their blasters at her while Leader-1 pointed his gun at them. "So you're going to kill us just to get back at them?" He asked.
"…Yes." Mugen said. "They've become attached to you. They depend on you as much as you depend on them. I can't physically hurt them, but emotional scars run far deeper than physical ones."
Darren looked up at her with an intense gaze that was hard to match given his vibrant green eyes. Not looking from her face, he said, "Before you shoot, I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Is this really what you want?" He asked. "Do you think that this will make up for all the pain you've gone through?"
"No, but it will give me a sense of satisfaction." She replied.
"And when the feeling of victory fades, will you feel any different? Because I doubt that anything you do will bring Overrun back." Darren said. Mugen shoved her cannon in his face, close enough that he could feel the heat from the barrel. "Did everything we've been through-all the laughter, games, stories, everything we've shared-really mean nothing to you?"
Her arm began to shake, her expression one of anger and pain. If she were human, tears would be streaming from her eyes right now.
"I know that you are angry-at the Autobots and the world for what happened. But all the killing in the world won't bring back what you've lost." He continued. "And when you do finally see Overrun, do you think he will accept what you've done in response to his death?"
"Shut up!" She growled.
"Do you think he will be happy after hearing about what you did in his name?" He yelled.
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
Mugen charged up her cannon and fired a blast that echoed throughout the room.
XXXXXX
"Ow." Prowl groaned as he climbed out of the crater Starscream left him in. A hand was held out to him and he looked up to see it belonged to Arcee.
"Need a hand?" She smiled.
"That and more." Prowl said. He took her hand and she helped him to his feet. His body felt heavy and ached, sporting numerous wounds from Starscream dive-bombing him. "What's our status?"
"Blackout, Skywarp and Starscream are out of commission. Thundercracker's probably still having his armor melting off." Arcee said.
"How'd you take out Skywarp?" Prowl asked.
Arcee led him back into the castle courtyard, where Bulkhead and Bumblebee were resting. Starscream was unconscious on top of Skywarp, who looked like he got run over by Megatron's alt mode.
"He tried doing the same thing with Bumblebee to shake him off." Arcee said.
"But I tore off his wings and let him free fall towards Skywarp, who was nice enough to teleport right in front of us." Bumblebee grinned. Bulkhead chuckled and punched his shoulder.
"And almost got Arcee I slagged. You're lucky you're still in one piece considering Screamer was going at Mach 1." Bulkhead said.
"Hey, I'm still here aren't I?" The scout said.
"Indeed, Bumblebee, you did a good job." Prowl smiled. He looked at the castle. "Has anyone heard from the kids?"
The Autobots shook their heads and Arcee grew worried. "Maybe we should see if they're okay." Arcee suggested.
"Don't bother."
They looked to the castle entrance and saw the kids and their guardians walking out of the castle. High Wire and Sureshock were each helping a wounded Grindor and Razor walk, while Gina and Annie were aiding Darren, who was bruised and walked with a limp. There was no sign of Mugen.
"You guys look terrible. Are you okay?" bumblebee asked concerned. He grew worried when they stayed silent. "Kids? What's wrong?"
"Did you find the Minicon?" Prowl asked. They all glared up at him with a fierceness that caught him off guard.
"We need to talk." Darren said.
XXXXXX
As it turns out, Mugen was not yet done demonizing the Autobots. When the retrieval team returned to the Ark, they were met with even more glares from the Minicons, who were on the verge of taking up arms against the Autobots. The kids would later learn that Mugen had made a pre-recorded message detailing the true events surrounding the Solomus Massacre and the Autobots' involvement. It took a lot of wordplay from Jolt and Sparkplug to keep the Minicons from revolting against the Autobots, but it was clear that things were at a boiling point between the two races.
Optimus, Prowl, Ironhide, Jazz and Sparkplug were sitting in Prime's quarters discussing this sudden turn of events that threatened to ruin the Autobot/Minicon relationship for a long time. The kids and their partners had given them a rundown of what went on in the castle and the revelations were being felt by everyone.
"I can't believe it." Ironhide said. "I knew Joyride was a piece of scrap, but I didn't think that he would do something like this."
"I didn't think an Autobot would do something so horrific either, but here we are." Sparkplug said tensely. He looked up at Optimus. "Did you know, Prime?"
"No, Sparkplug, I didn't." Optimus turned his hard gaze to Prowl. "Why did you hide this information from us, Prowl?"
"I did it to maintain the Autobots' credibility and reputation. This was early in the war and the populace was just beginning to respect us. If the truth of the massacre got out, then the trust we've gained from the people would've been lost and the Decepticons would have won the War for Cybertron before it even began."
"So you went behind our backs and judged them yourself? Don't make me laugh!" Ironhide growled. "You had no authority, Prowl. You should've informed your superiors and-"
"Have the truth leak out and ruin us? Get real, Ironhide, I'm not proud of what I had to do, but I did it to keep our army afloat. Joyride and anyone associated with him are serving out a life sentence on a distant world with no way off and that's where they'll remain." Prowl said. "It's a fitting punishment for their crimes."
"But you still kept it a secret. You even had the gall to cover up the damn massacre!" Sparkplug had finally lost his temper and was glaring up at Prowl. "You're no better than the Senate with actions like those!"
"Don't you dare compare them to me!" Prowl growled in a rare show of anger. "What I've done is no different from you hiding the secrets of combiner technology. Secrets you stole from the Autobots!"
"Settle down, Prowl." Jazz said, shoving Prowl back into his seat.
"I did what I had to do in order to protect my people from slavery and death. And if that meant creating weapons to fight any Bulk, Autobot or Decepticon, then so be it." Sparkplug said. "And it seems my fears were correct if people like you have high positions in Autobot high command!"
"Enough of this!" Optimus yelled, his voice making everyone quiet down. "What happened in the past cannot be changed, and arguing about it will not help anyone." He sighed and looked at his folded hands. "The reality is that Mugen's status as a Decepticon spy, her defection and this cover up has put major strain on our relations with the Minicons and things will be harder in the long run."
"And we have only one mech to thank for that." Ironhide said, glaring at Prowl. The tactician remained silent, though he hardly seemed bothered by the fallout his actions caused.
Things had changed on the Ark, and it wasn't good for anybody. As usual when it came to the Autobots, they took one step forward and two steps back.
XXXXXX
Mugen sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Emmerian countryside. She looked nothing like the pretty and confidant femme she was before this day. Now she looked tired and haggard, even her pink armor looked a shade duller. Her eyes stared into nothing as she gazed out into the distance.
She didn't take the shot. Her memories were fuzzy from the overcharge she was experiencing, but she recalled swinging her cannon arm around to shoot Leader-1 in the chest, nearly blasting straight through his torso before she spun around and shot the slow moving Cannonbolt in the face. Mugen stared down at Darren, who looked back at her in surprise, before retrieving her spear and driving out of the castle in her alt mode.
Why didn't she shoot? She wanted to hurt the Autobots so badly, to make them pay in the worst way possible for the injustice they dealt to her people. Yes, she wanted to hurt the Autobots-but not the children. They helped the Minicons multiple times, even though they had no obligation to do so. Three children who went above and beyond to show them their world, to help them…protect them.
"Do you think he will be happy after learning what you did in his name?"
No, Overrun would be utterly appalled at what she had done since leaving Cybertron. He hated violence, and the things she had done to her fellow Minicons would horrify him. But even though she spared the children, she just couldn't forgive the Autobots for the silence and neglect they showed in regards to the genocide.
She needed to be alone. For how long, she didn't know, but she just needed some time to herself. Mugen looked up at the moon praying that other Minicons would be safe. High Wire, Grindor, Sureshock, Roadstorm…Razor. She wished them and the children a happy future and that they survived this hellish war plaguing this world.
Having given contemplated her next move long enough, Mugen jumped off the cliff and transformed, driving off into the darkness below. What happened to her now…only Primus knew.