"You complete me, you know."
The taller femme's voice, low and almost seismic in quality, sent a shiver through Calypso's frame. She didn't resist as a large hand, scarred from vorns in the mines and cycles of brutal war with the Alternians, rested on her hip and drew her close. Nor did she pull away when the femme's other hand took her chin and tilted it up until she was looking into her deep blue visor.
"It's not like I was broken before," Gaia went on, her thumb caressing the jetformer's cheek plate. "You weren't a missing piece. It's more like… you're water, filling in all the gaps and cracks I didn't know were there."
"That's a bad analogy when water rusts us," Calypso murmured, though she didn't pull away. Primus, she could gaze into Gaia's visor forever, as if she were gazing into the night sky. Perhaps if she gazed long enough, she could pick out stars and galaxies, comets and nebulae and the very heart of the universe…
Gaia gave a chuckle that rumbled through both their frames. "You know what I mean." Her thumb drew over Calypso's lip plates, making her spark blaze until she thought it would melt through her chestplate. "And don't tell me you haven't felt that connection. I've seen how your optics light up when I come into a room."
"I have," Calypso confessed. "But… Gaia, Cybertron is at war. And we're warriors! Cityspeakers, no less! Either of us could die at any time. Is it really smart to-"
Another frame-shaking chuckle, and Gaia unhooked the Amethyst Sword from Calypso's hip and set it aside. "We can be warriors and lovers at the same time, Calypso. And yes, either of us can die at any time. But that makes every moment together even more precious, doesn't it?"
Well, when she put it like that, it made sense. Emboldened by the truckformer's words and her own crackling energy field, she reached around Gaia's back to detach the Garnet Axe from her shoulder and set it aside. "Then let's be warriors later… and take tonight to love…"
"Hey Swift, have you got a minute?"
Swift hurriedly clicked away from the story document, bringing up the rough draft of her essay instead. Very rough draft, as at this point it was just a random scattering of her thoughts on her chosen topic, but it was better than nothing. And at least it gave her the appearance of doing some legitimate schoolwork instead of plotting out a shameless love scene between two fictional characters.
"Yeah, Mom," she replied. "Come on in."
Glory stepped into the room. "Hey Swift… working on your essay?"
"Yeah." She pecked out a few more words. "Kind of stuck on this thought, but I'll power through it."
"Good." Glory stepped up beside her and patted her shoulder. "But don't be afraid to take breaks now and then. Don't burn yourself out."
"I won't. I'm switching over to my fiction-writing every now and then for a change of pace." At least that was the truth, even if the fiction-writing was occupying far more time than the essay.
"That's good." Glory gave her a wistful smile as she squeezed her shoulder. "I wish you'd let us read your stories sometime… but we understand if you want to keep them private."
"Maybe someday." If her parents found out that most of her writing was fanfiction, she had a feeling they'd just look at her weirdly. Blitzwing might be a little more understanding, given that it was video-game-based, but she was still sure that the knowledge that she mainly wrote shipping fics would earn her a lecture on plagiarism and originality from her mom.
"Is everything okay, Swift?" Glory asked.
"Yeah… why?" Did her mom suspect something was up? She was pretty sure Glory didn't hang out in the chat channels, but she could always be lurking under a pseudonym. There were a number of mechs with the word glory in their usernames, if she remembered right… though she figured odds were slim that her mom was going under GloryofthePrimes.
"You just seem a little out of sorts these days," Glory went on. "You do know you can talk to us about anything, right? No matter what it is, we'll do our best to understand and help you."
Swift looked down at the keyboard, tanks and spark churning with emotion. She wanted to believe her mother's words, and the urge to spill out everything that had been bothering her over the past few weeks burned in her chest, until it felt as if it would all come pouring out of her vocalizer the moment she opened her mouth.
I'm tired of being seen as just a Decepticon. I think factions are useless, and my friends and I have started a movement to protest wearing sigils and to promote non-factionism. I have a stalker and I have no idea what I did to attract him in the first place, though part of me wonders if it's not because of my role in the no-faction movement. I'm in love with an Autobot, and even if I think factions are garbage I still worry that you won't accept her just because her creators fought on the other side of the war.
And most of all… I'm scared. I'm scared that you and Dad are going to push me aside in favor of the new sparkling. I'm scared that you're already pushing me aside, that now that I'm an adult it's time to replace me with a new child and that I'm superfluous to you. I love you guys, and I don't want to lose your love, and it hurts every time you ignore me in favor of fixating on building the new sparkling…
But she voiced none of those thoughts. "I'm okay. Just… worried about this essay. Professor Datastream's been so critical of the last two that I want to make sure this one's perfect."
Glory squeezed her shoulder again. "Don't worry about making a first draft perfect. Just do the best you can, and listen to your advisor's suggestions on how to fine-tune it. Nothing's a masterpiece on the first try… trust me."
"I guess that's true, if the artist says it," Swift noted with a laugh. "Thanks, Mom."
Glory gave a deep sigh, and when Swift glanced at her she was shocked to see tears forming in her optics. "You've grown up so much, sweetspark. It feels like it was just yesterday that you were still climbing into your daddy's lap begging to play games with him."
Swift ducked her head, flustered at the sudden show of emotion, but the churning in her spark eased a little. "I'm still your little one, though… even if I picked a huge adult frame."
"You kind of did… it's kind of like you're compensating for being the smallest among your friends." She gazed off into the distance, her expression wistful. "I still remember the day we first saw you. At the time, our only thought was to save you from being brought up as an Autobot… but you latched onto me right away. It's like you knew I was your mother the moment you saw me. And seeing you all grown up now, wearing our symbol… it warms my spark."
Her spark clenched again. Did her mother have to bring up factions now, during what should have been a loving moment? Though she couldn't deny that moment had been powerful for her - the very moment that she'd seen Glory and Blitzwing, and seen them not just as rescuers but as parents. It was gratifying to know the feeling had been mutual.
Though how is she going to feel when she finds out the only reason you've finally put on a sigil is so you can tear it off at the rally later? She tried to push that thought aside - factions meant a lot more to her parents than they did to her, and while she knew that came from both of them living through a brutal war, it still bothered her...
A metallic, staticky snore interrupted her thoughts, and both their gazes moved to Wildfire. The equine-shaped drone was sprawled out in a very un-equine manner - on his belly, legs spread out in all directions, head stretched out and chin pillowed on the plush dragon Swift had inherited from Mom. He looked so undignified and silly that it was hard to believe this was the same drone who had killed Galvatron and practically dismembered a would-be kidnapper to keep his charge safe.
Glory laughed. "He sure sleeps a lot lately, doesn't he?"
"I still love him," Swift replied. "Even if he doesn't do much protecting anymore."
"Well, he'll have someone to protect soon," Glory assured her - an assurance that just deepened the pit in her fuel tanks. "Once the little one is sparked, Wildfire will be back to his old lively self. Your sibling will have the best protector on Cybertron." She patted Swift's shoulder. "Don't work too hard, sweetie. Do something fun tonight, not just hack at your essay."
"Yes, Mom," she replied, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible.
Glory walked out, leaving Swift behind to stew in her own resentment. She hated the fact that her parents just assumed that she'd give Wildfire to her new sibling the moment they came home. No one had asked her if she would be willing to let go of the drone, to give up what was essentially her childhood pet as if he were nothing more than a hand-me-down toy. It wasn't enough that the new sparkling would take her parents' affections and uncles' attentions - they were going to take away everyone she was close to.
Be fair - Wildfire belonged to Mom first, and she let you have him instead of moping about it. It was one thing to tell herself that, however, and another to believe it in her spark. She still saw Wildfire as hers, at least partially, and knowing that he was going to start ignoring her and lavishing his affection upon the newspark hurt.
She shook her head and focused on her screen. Dwelling on her own feelings wouldn't help. The best thing she could do was distract herself. Her essay still needed a lot of work, and this chapter of fic was nowhere near done…
Her comm unit pinged. Hey Swift, we still on for tomorrow?
Her tanks clenched again. Something else to be nervous and fretful about… Hey Firebolt. Yeah, I'll be there.
Don't sound so excited. This was all your idea.
The rally was YOUR idea. I still think it's too soon. We need to hold off awhile, get more supporters-
We're never gonna get more supporters if all we do is dork around online! We need to get the word out to more Cybertronians, and this is the perfect way to do it! Besides, all we're doing is getting the word out - it's not like we're going to be throwing scraps or Mazel Tov cocktails at government buildings.
I think they're called Molotov cocktails.
Whatever the humans call them. You don't have to come, Swift, but we'd all be really grateful for your support.
Swift took in a deep intake of air, then let it out slowly. I'll be there. I mean, we all got faction symbols so we could make a statement. I'd hate to let mine go to waste.
That's the spirit. Think your girlfriend'll be there?
She's not my… is it that obvious?
As a Junkion in the Towers district. If it's any consolation, though, you two make a cute couple. And she disconnected with a giggle.
Swift stared at her essay, then brought up the fanfic document and stared at it instead. Then she closed both documents and opened Cityspeakers IV: Moonstone. She was too keyed-up now to even think about making progress on any writing, academic or leisure. Best to burn off some steam by helping her beloved cityspeakers fight off an alien invasion. At least those characters could solve their problems by hitting them.
A sizable crowd had gathered in one of Polyhex's parks for the rally - both supporters of the factionless movement and onlookers who were simply curious to see what the fuss was about. The turnout on both sides was larger than Swift had expected, with over thirty mechs assembled for the rally and easily several dozen already gathered to gawk at whatever was going on. And she even spotted some new faces in the crowd, though she recognized many of them already.
Nervous energy fluttered in her fuel tanks. This was it… they were really doing this. They were going to show all of Cybertron that factions didn't matter to them, and that it was okay to refuse the labels of Autobot and Decepticon. And they were going to put faces to the movement… and potentially make targets of themselves in the process.
"How you feelin', kid?" asked Uncle Swindle, grinning up at her.
"Like I'm going to projectile-purge my fuel tanks," she confessed.
"Eh, some jitters are normal," Swindle noted, though he took a step back from her. "Hey kid… no matter what happens, you'll be fine. You've got your uncles and Aunt Steelwing on your side - if anyone comes after you for this, we'll all make 'em wish they'd never been sparked."
"I hope it won't come to that, but thanks."
"No prob." Swindle's vicious grin softened as a familiar black carformer jogged up. "I'm gonna go see if Steelwing and Windsheer have shown up yet. You talk to your friend." And he darkened one optic in a wink before turning away.
Swift fought the urge to roll her optics as her adoptive uncle sauntered off. Primus, was her attraction to Harmony so blindingly obvious to everyone? It seemed everyone could see it… except her parents, of course.
"Heads-up," Harmony murmured as soon as she was within audial-shot. "The creeper's here."
Her spark plummeted. "You're joking."
"This isn't something I'd joke about." She angled her helm towards the crowd of onlookers, and Swift tensed as she caught sight of a familiar silver tankformer. "He seems to be doing his best to not look at you. Like he doesn't want to be too obvious."
Swift shivered. "I wonder what he wants." Was this about the factionless movement? No, the movement hadn't even been a concept when she'd first seen him. Had he known her parents, then? Or did he just have a creepy obsession with shuttleformers?
"Want us to chase him off?" asked Harmony. "Your friend Bloodslash volunteered to go beast mode and scare him away."
That comment just earned Harmony a baffled look. "Who's Bloodslash?"
"Oh, that's Ricochet's new name," she replied. "It's silly, I know, but I'm trying to respect him by calling him what he wants to be called."
"Oh… we don't even have blood. Why does he want 'blood' in his name?"
"Search me," Harmony replied with a shrug. "But it's his business, I guess."
"True… but he doesn't have to change his name if he doesn't want to. Just because he's a beastformer doesn't mean he has to have a savage name."
"I'm sure he knows that. Just let him either settle on a name or realize his old one is still good. But we're getting off topic." She gazed at Swift, her expression taut with worry. "Seriously, do you want us to do something about him? Before he causes problems?"
Swift glanced at the silver mech, who quickly looked away as if pretending he'd never been watching her in the first place. "No… it'd be hypocritical of us to chase anyone away. Lets just keep an optic on him."
"You sure?"
Swift nodded… then caught a familiar face among the crowd. "Besides, I'm more worried about someone else. Valiant's here."
"You mean that Seeker who's giving us dirty looks?"
"That's him." She wondered why Valiant was here, when he'd made it so abundantly clear that he was against their anti-faction movement. Was he hoping to cause trouble? She hoped not - she hoped that enough of their friendship remained that he wouldn't want to mess with something so important to them.
Valiant met her gaze, and while his expression didn't change his wings - each emblazoned with a proud Decepticon symbol - hitched higher. Swift sighed softly and looked away. Well, they knew what side he was on, at least. Hopefully he'd at least be civil while he was here.
"Swift, Harmony, it's almost go-time!" Firebolt announced, hurrying up at that moment. "You two got your signs?"
"In subspace," Swift replied. "Echo remembered to get us a permit for this, right?"
"He did! His dad helped, though."
Harmony stared. "You're telling me Shockwave's communications officer and third-in-command of the Decepticons helped us secure a permit to promote non-factionism?"
Firebolt shrugged. "Just because he's an officer in his faction doesn't mean he can't support us not wanting to wear faction symbols, I guess. Echo says he was really cool about it."
"...huh." Swift had never considered Soundwave to be part of her family, but she had looked up to him and thought he was cool. Knowing that he approved of their movement, or at least of their willingness to stand up for something they believed in, was both surprising and gratifying.
"Okay, I think we're ready for this," Firebolt went on. "Who wants first turn with the megaphone?"
"You do it," Swift suggested. "You've always been the most vocal of us."
"You mean the biggest loudmouth?" Firebolt grinned. "We'll take turns. I'll give it to you next." She climbed onto a steel crate Hornet had brought and brought the megaphone to her mouth.
"ATTENTION CITIZENS OF POLYHEX!"
Several mechs backed away, and a few covered their audials. Firebolt winced a bit and cranked the volume down before continuing.
"Attention citizens of Polyhex!" she repeated. "For generations our planet has been divided into Autobots and Decepticons! First by war, and now by the peace treaty that divides our planet! The war is over, but we continue to wear sigils and divide ourselves! Well, we say it's time to get rid of the dividing walls!"
Ricochet/Bloodslash whooped and held up his sign - a banner declaring NO BOTS, NO CONS. Stardust let out a shout of their own and raised a sign reading WE'RE ALL CYBERTRONIANS - NO MORE SIGILS. One by one mechs and femmes joined in the cry, many raising signs and a few even lifting sparklings onto their shoulders.
Swift drew a deep intake, then pulled her sign out of subspace and hefted it high - a simple image of the Autobot and Decepticon symbols with a line through them. She hoped the message was clear enough - it would be disastrous if someone took her sign to mean that she wanted to see both factions wiped out.
"We just want to be Cybertronians!" Firebolt went on. "Not Autobots or Decepticons! Let us choose what symbol we want to wear, or even choose to wear no symbol at all!"
Swift had expected a hostile reaction to their rally… but to her surprise, mechs mostly just watched or just exchanged confused looks. A few looked angry, but they didn't voice their objections. Some even turned and walked away, as if they'd expected something more exciting out of all this. Perhaps this rally would have stirred up controversy or even a riot had they done it during the war or even the Knights of Cybertron's uprising, but now it seemed to generate curiosity, nothing more.
She smiled behind her mask and lifted her sign high. Perhaps they'd get through this without disaster after all.
"We are not Decepticons!" Firebolt shouted. "We are not Autobots! We are Cybertronians!"
"Cybertronians!" Harmony shouted, and flashed Swift an exultant grin.
"Cybertronians!" Swift echoes, her optics blazing with triumph.
The rest of the mechs assembled for the rally took up the chant. "CY-BER-TRONIANS! CY-BER-TRONIANS!"
Firebolt pumped her fist in the air, then hopped down from the crate. "Slag, this crowd is chill. I thought they'd be feistier."
"So when's our cue to do the thing?" asked Hornet.
"I dunno, I was expecting a heckler by now," Firebolt noted. "Here, Swift, take a turn."
Swift's internals tightened with nervous energy as she took the bullhorn. "What do I say?"
"Same stuff, just put your own spin on it." Firebolt lightly punched her shoulder. "You can do this, girl!"
"We've got your back," Harmony added.
Swift nodded, and she stepped up onto the crate and lifted the megaphone… just in time for Valiant to speak up. The crowd parted slightly, and mechs turned to stare at him as he yelled out at the ralliers.
"You're all a bunch of slagging hypocrites, you know!"
Swift gave him a glare that she hoped came across as challenging. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean!" He twitched his wings as if trying to show off the sigils he wore so proudly. "How can you claim to be against factions when you're all wearing faction symbols? You want the best of both worlds or what?"
Despite her nervousness, Swift couldn't help feeling a burst of triumph. Valiant had provided their cue.
"We wear these symbols to make a statement," she informed him. "And that statement… is this."
And with that, she tore off her Decepticon badge with a flourish, crumpled it in her hand, and dropped it at the base of the crate she was using as a makeshift stage.
Gasps rose from the crowd, and a few hands went to cover sigils, as if the onlookers were worried Swift would charge into the crowd and start ripping off symbols right and left. Then the satisfying rip of more sigils being peeled from armor filled the air, and Autobot and Decepticon sigils alike fell at the feet of the factionless-ism supporters. Swindle even went as far as to kiss his goodbye before flinging it away.
Valiant's optics flashed. Evidently he hadn't expected Swift to have a ready retort for his accusation.
"We are Cybertronians!" Swift declared. "We don't want to be defined by our creators' factions anymore - we want to choose for ourselves! Even if that choice is to choose no faction!"
Valiant opened his mouth to fire back… but someone else, a brown Seeker with an amber visor, cut in first.
"Shame on you kids!" he snapped. "Spittin' on all the sacrifices your creators made like this! Mechs shed precious oil for that sigil you're rippin' off and treatin' like trash!"
"And aren't you the old Air Commander's kid?" demanded a stocky gray carformer. "Didn't you and your friends get rescued from an Autobot re-education camp or something? This is a sorry way to thank your rescuers!"
"Hey Swindle, does your boss know you're out here?" shouted someone Swift couldn't catch a glimpse of. "Wait'll he hears what you just did!"
"Well, THAT got their attention," Stardust noted.
"No kidding," Lancer muttered.
Swift cringed and stepped quickly down from the crate. She hadn't expected the crowd to get ugly so fast. Perhaps they'd assumed they were all talk and no action up until the sigils had come off, and the knowledge that they were serious about their cause had finally roused their anger.
"Let's go, guys," she urged. "We've made our point-"
"Nuh-uh," Firebolt retorted. "We're staying right here. We're not going to let a bunch of bullies scare us off. Besides, our permit says we can be here for another-"
She ended her sentence with a shriek as bright violet paint splashed over her, splattering her normal crimson paint job. Swift and Harmony were caught in the spray as well, and blots of purple appeared on the armor of most of the ralliers.
"There!" someone shouted. "Now you're wearing your colors proudly!"
"Okay, THAT was premeditated!" retorted Steelwing. "Nobody just wanders around carrying paint like that!"
Swift shook paint out of the megaphone before raising it again. "This is the kind of hatred factions breeds - hatred towards anyone who dares step outside their faction-"
"Traitors!" came the retort, and Swift yelped and ducked as the paintcan sailed over her helm. A clunk and a yelp told her that someone else hadn't been so quick to dodge. A high-grade bottle followed suit, and it struck her chest and shattered into glittering shrapnel. And even as the glass rained down more projectiles sailed their way.
"Okay, NOW we can go," Firebolt muttered.
"What happened to not letting the bullies scare us off?" asked Lancer, even as he and Echo began collecting their paint-spattered signs.
"This isn't worth getting hurt over," Firebolt insisted. "Let's go!"
Harmony screamed, and Swift gasped and instinctively threw out an arm to catch the carformer as she toppled over. A sizable dent showed in the back of her helm - a sizable dent most likely made by the iron bar that clattered to the street nearby.
"Harmony!" Swift hefted her in her arms. "Oh Pit… hang on, I'll get you to help."
Harmony didn't reply, just hung limply in Swift's arms. Her optics sputtered, flickering between blue and white and black, and her head lolled back against Swift's bicep. That couldn't be a good sign… she didn't need to be a medic to know taking a blow to the head like that couldn't be healthy.
The din of the crowd finally eased as she carried Harmony into an alleyway. Her friends from school were here, as were Steelwing and Windsheer, but there was no sign of Swindle, Beatbox, or any of the other rally-goers. She couldn't blame them for scattering at trouble, but at the same time she was disappointed that Swindle, at least, hadn't stuck around.
"Is she okay?" asked Stardust, laying a hand on Swift's arm.
"I dunno," she confessed. "She got hit in the head… she's still online, at least partly…"
"Lay her down," Steelwing ordered. "Let me give her a look. Windsheer, be a dear and keep a lookout for us."
"Sure thing," Windsheer replied, and she took up her post at the alley's exit.
Swift settled Harmony on the ground and backed away, her tanks churning with terror as Steelwing gently inspected the wounded femme. She had to be okay… Primus, she hoped she was okay… it was all her fault she was here, she should never have invited her to join their cause… it had been stupid to think they could change anyone's mind, or do anything but anger mechs…
"Hey," Lancer urged, patting her arm. "This isn't your fault, Swift. You didn't know this was going to happen."
She realized she'd been rambling aloud, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry… I dragged all of you into this…"
"Hey, kid, we're all here of our own accord," Steelwing told her. "You didn't drag us into anything. And this is just a setback - we aren't giving up just because some people don't want to hear what we have to tell them." She touched a scanner to Harmony's neck, then nodded. "No internal damages that I can see. She's just stunned. Still, I'd keep an optic on her when she wakes up, until she sees a proper medic."
Swift sighed in relief. "Let's get her to a clinic, then."
"We can always take her to my place," Stardust suggested. "Knock Out's still a medic, even if his license is out of date. And he never asks too many questions."
"Good, because we have plenty of questions."
Swift glanced up sharply… and found herself gazing into her father's visor. Blitzwing filled the exit of the alley, arms folded across his chest and a hard scowl on his faceplates. Glory was already in the alley, striding towards them with optics blazing with emotion.
"Swift!" She skirted the unconscious carformer and gripped Swift's arms, giving her a quick shake. "Are you hurt?"
"No, but-"
"No buts!" Glory interrupted, and her optics flashed with mingled relief and anger. "Thank you for looking after her, Steelwing. Kids, all of you come with us. Your parents are here to pick you up."
"How'd you know where we were?" demanded Hornet.
"Your little stunt's all over the news," Blitzwing replied. "We went to the park to break up your little party, but when all we found was an angry crowd we just followed your purple footprints."
Hornet glared down at the flecks of violet drying on his yellow armor. "Onslaught is gonna KILL me."
Swift couldn't blame Hornet for his remark - she felt a healthy dose of dread herself. "Mom, can we at least get Harmony to a medical-"
"There's a medevac on the way for her," Glory replied firmly. "Home. NOW. We're going to have a good long talk about what you've been involved in."