"Optimus, I'm picking up activity at the energon mine again." Ratchet says with a scowl.
The large prime moves to stand beside him.
"Probably the 'Con brigade digging Ol' Buckethead and Screamer out," Bulkhead says.
"It would be likely," Optimus agrees. "Bumblebee, Arcee: I'm sending the two of you to the mine. Stay out of sight and observe. Do not engage. I would like to know the condition of Megatron and Starscream."
The two nod.
"Can I come along?" Miko asks, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Bulkhead," Optimus says, glancing briefly at the human girl. "Please make sure that Miko does not follow them."
"Awwww," She groans.
Bulkhead gently pats her hair with a digit.
"I hear Monster Clash 4 is on," He says. "Want to watch it?"
"I guess," She sighs, still put out by not being allowed to go on the mission. "Jack are you coming?"
Jack jolts and blinks a few times before looking away from the ground bridge.
"Oh… uh… no I'm fine," He says.
Miko and Raf exchange a look.
"Are you okay Jack?" The younger boy asks.
He looks up at him with a gentle concern in his eyes.
"You've been awfully quiet today."
"I…" Jack hesitates. "I… yeah… I'm just a little shaken up after yesterday."
"That was pretty intense," Miko says with a chuckle. She grins at him as carefree as ever. "But you kicked can with that drill."
Jack flinches. He's been trying not to think about that.
"Jack?"
He forces a smile.
"Let's go watch Monster Clash," He says and hurries toward the platform where the couch is.
Arcee and Bumblebee exit the groundbridge and land lightly on the rocky soil. Immediately they scan their surroundings before darting behind the nearest rocks. In quiet sync they alternate moving from cover to cover and keeping a look out. Soon they are in sight of the mine.
Sure enough, the Deceptacons are at work.
The two Autobots share a glance and then drop to the ground.
Trusting Arcee to keep watch on their surroundings, Bumblebee crawls a little closer before focusing all his senses on the scene unfolding in front of him.
Three vehicons are coming and going from the mine opening with large carts of rubble, while several more stand watch at various points around the perimeter. Bumblebee counts seven from his vantage point: four stationary and three on the move. He takes careful note of the moving ones to periodically check their locations. If they start heading in their direction, he and Arcee might need to move to avoid being spotted.
One of the vehicons at the carts has stopped and is looking up at the sky.
"Incoming," Arcee warns.
She and Bumblebee keep still as a helicopter and MQ-9 Reaper fly onto the scene. The two fliers land and transform into the familiar forms of Arachnid and Soundwave.
The vehicon approaches them. Bumblebee routes all his focus to his optics and audial receptors. His frame becomes completely still as his field of perception expands and then narrows.
"Found anything yet," Arachnid is asking.
"No sign of Megatron or Starscream yet, but we have found some energon crystals."
Bumblebee follows the miner's gesture and sees a cart of blue crystals. That must have been what their sensors picked up. His servo's twitch in longing but he keeps still.
"Keep collecting those. They're not our priority," Arachnid says, casting a wary glance at the silent figure of Soundwave. "But they will prove useful."
The two of them watch as the vehicons go back to work. It's slow going. The cave in was extensive and if Megatron and Starscream were where Bulkhead and Arcee last saw them, they have a long ways to go. Bumblebee considers reporting back to base but decides not to do so just yet; with Soundwave close by any long distance communication might compromise their position.
Another hour in and Arcee alerts him to an approaching vehicle. The two Autobots shift their position to better hide as it comes into view. It's a red sports car: Knockout. The grounder Deceptacon rolls into the operation and smoothly transitions to his root form.
"Any word on the boss yet?" He asks checking himself over for scratches. There are none.
"No," Arachnid says.
"Sirs," A vehicon runs up to them.
"What is it?"
"We've found Starscream!"
The trio shift their gaze to the mine entrance. Bumblebee crawls forward to the next closest large rock for a better look.
The mech that is being hauled out of the mine is barely recognizable. His form has been evenly and mercilessly crushed. Even though he has little sympathy for the duplicitous Deceptacon, Bumblebee can't help a wince. What a way to go out. Especially for a flier; he's heard they don't like being underground.
He saves a picture for when he reports back to Optimus.
"What is it Bumblebee?" Arcee asks.
He hazards a glance back and finds her tensely alternating between watching him and their surroundings. The two wheeler is more of a bot of action and has never cared for the rather tedious work that comes with reconnaissance.
-They've found Starscream- He tells her. –It looks like he was crushed by the cave in.-
Arcee blinks.
"Oh," She says quietly.
Bumblebee waits for a second but when she says nothing else he shifts his attention back to the scene in front of him.
Another hour passes, and then two.
Then there's a commotion at the mine entrance. A vehicon rushes out, gesturing urgently. Arachnid, Knockout and Soundwave follow it into the mine. In another half hour they return bearing a decapitated body.
It takes far longer than it should for Bumble to realize that it's Megatron.
Jack is pacing.
It's been four hours now since Arcee and Bumble left to investigate the activity at the mine and there hasn't been a single word from them.
He's just about to ask Optimus if they're going to send back up when Ratchet puts his hand to his ear, nods and then goes to the control panel.
The ground bridge opens up and two forms come through.
Jack's shoulders lose some of their tension when he sees that Arcee is unharmed.
He hurries over followed by Raf and Miko.
"What did you find?" Optimus asks.
Bumblebee and Arcee exchange a look.
"Well?" Ratchet asks impatiently.
Bumblebee says something. Jack might not understand the whirs and clicks he makes, but, based on the expressions of shock on the Autobots' faces, he suspects he knows.
"He said that Megatron and Starscream are dead," Raf breathes out beside him.
Miko puts her hands to her mouth, eyes wide. Jack's heart lurches into his throat.
"That's impossible," Ratchet scoffs. "That mech survived being at ground zero when the spacebridge exploded! How could a mere cave-in snuff his spark?!"
Arcee and Bumblebee exchange another look.
This time it's Arcee that answers.
"His head was gone," She says. "Megatron I mean: Starscream was crushed by the cave in." She has a look on her face that Jack can't quite decipher when she says that. "From what was left, we're very certain it wasn't the cave in that did Megatron in. Bumblebee has some pictures he gave give you later."
She glances at the kids when she says the last part.
Jack is sweating now. He grabs at the bottom of his shirt to steady his shaking hands.
"What do you mean?" Optimus asks.
He's been quiet since Bumblebee first spoke.
"His metal was all twisted and mangled. It looked like he'd been caught in a scrap shredder," She says.
"Do you have any idea what might have caused that?" Optimus asks.
Bumblebee makes a series of beeps and whirs.
"He says he thinks it was one of the drills," Raf translates quietly.
Jack jumps slightly at his voice. He'd forgotten the smaller boy was there.
"I bet it was Starscream," Arcee says. "When Jack and I encountered him and Megatron, Megatron was getting ready to offline him. He fled when the cave in started but he apparently circled back. He must have made a pitstop before harassing Bulkhead."
"No…" Bulkhead says slowly. All the bots turn to look at him. "When he was threatening me and Miko he said something about bringing me to Megatron. He wouldn't be saying that if he'd killed him."
They're almost to the truth. Jack needs to tell them, but like before he can't seem to get his voice to work.
Arcee shrugs.
"Well maybe he got out from under the rockload after we left. Jack left the drill that he was using there."
Optimus hums. His eyes are focused on something only he can see.
"We cannot know the truth of this from the few clues we have," He says finally. He straightens up and the Autobots come to attention. "Speculation will do us no good. For now what's important is that we know both Startscream and Megatron are dead. There will be a large shift in leadership among the Deceptacons. We must be prepared for whatever that will entail."
The Autobots are silent for a moment as they think about Optimus' words. Eventually they began to discuss who they think the next leader will be.
Optimus adds his input periodically but slowly withdraws himself from the conversation. As he does that he gradually reigns in his EM field until it barely radiates past his plating.
Once the topic slides back to who killed Megatron or how he was killed Optimus quietly steps away from the conversation.
He wants a moment alone.
He's the leader of the Autobots and as such there are certain things he has to be careful about.
He cannot let them see him grieve Megatron. Not after all the War Lord's done to them and taken from them.
His slips toward the tunnel that will lead him out of the silo. A long drive will allow him to clear his processor. Maybe he will even be able to untangle some of the mass of turbulent and contradictory emotions that are weighing down on him.
He's just about to shift into vehicle mode when a quiet "Ah-hem" stops him.
He looks back to see Ratchet watching him with folded arms. Optimus, feeling oddly like he's Orion the archivist again, straightens up.
"What is it old friend?"
"A very smooth escape," The doctor comments. "Classic really: Give them something to focus on and then withdraw. I'd give it another ten to fifteen minutes before they realize you're gone."
"You know me too well," Optimus says with a sigh.
He was one of the few left who truly did. One of the few who had known Orion.
He wonders if that was part of why he had always hoped that Megatron would change.
Ratchet studies him for a moment.
"Look Optimus," He says finally. "This was inevitable. Megatron had many opportunities but he always chose destruction. There was nothing you could do."
Optimus sighs.
"I know," He says quietly. He knows where this is going and he doesn't want to have this conversation right now. They had this conversation when the space bridge was destroyed and variants of it more times than he can count. "I just hoped that there would be some way to change his mind. To bring back the mech I once knew." His shoulders slump. "Perhaps it is for the best."
Ratchet continues to observe him and Optimus wonders what he sees. These last few vorns have really worn on them all.
Ratchet looks away finally, casting his gaze at his own servos before resting one on Optimus' arm.
"I think we'll always disagree on what the best course of action was with… Him…" He says slowly. His gaze comes up again to meet Optimus'. "But know that I will always be there for you."
He pauses and gives Optimus a small smirk and a nudge with his elbow.
"Even if I might end up throwing a wrench or two."
Optimus lets out a weak chuckle.
"Thank you. I appreciate it," He says honestly. "But for now I think I would like some time alone."
The medic nods and steps back.
Optimus hazards a glance at his team to make sure they haven't noticed his impending departure yet. It's then that he sees a small shape looking up at him from the shadows.
Jack's eyes widen when the Prime meets them.
With an internal wince Optimus wonders just how much of that conversation he heard. He tries really hard to be a pillar of strength and a good example for the young ones.
"Jackson," He says, pushing his own internal conflict aside for the moment. "Did you need something?"
Jack opens his mouth and an inarticulate sound slips out.
Optimus frowns, his browplates drawing together in concern. Now that he's looking he notices that the human seems a bit paler than usual.
"Are you all right, Jackson?" He asks.
At his side Rachet shifts, moving closer to observe. Despite his grumblings the old medic has become quite attached to the smallest members of their team. Optimus expects it will be only another month or two before he starts studying human medicine.
Jack shifts back and forth on his pedes… feet for a moment before sputtering.
"I… I… just wanted to tell you that…" Optimus leans forward just slightly to show that he's paying attention. The human leans back a little at that his hands clenching, almost in a spasm, at the edges of his shirt. "I need to…" He starts and then trails off. His eyes dart around and his mouth opens and closes a few times before he blurts out: "I… I'm heading home early." There's a sort of sudden abruptness that suggests he was probably planning to say something else. "I need to… take care of something," He finishes with a weak smile. His eyes just briefly snag on Optimus' optics before looking away again.
The mech frowns just slightly before letting his expression smooth over.
"Of course," He says. As worried as he is by the way the teenager is acting, he decides it's best not to force the issue. "Thank you for telling me."
Optimus studies him for a moment longer before he holds out a servo. "If you need to talk about anything I'm here for you. We all are."
Jack doesn't rest his hand on Optimus' like he usually would.
"I'll keep that in mind," He says.
He turns quickly and hurries off.
Optimus is left there with his servo held out and concern whirling in his spark.
Jack is sitting in his room working on his homework when it finally clicks.
He freezes, staring at the computer screen with blank eyes. This is real. They won't be seeing Megatron again. He's dead.
Jack killed him.
Jack killed a living being and no one knew. No one suspected him in the slightest.
Bile rises up in his throat. An image of the drill tearing into Megatron's face flickers through his memory.
In a second he's on his feet. He barely makes it to the bathroom before he throws up. When he finally stops, he stays there for a moment, knees on the ground, hands gripping the seat.
He can't get the memory out of his mind.
What does he do now?
He needs to tell Optimus and the rest of the Autobots what happened.
He can't keep chickening out.
He stays where he is. His stomach rolls uncomfortably at the idea. What will they think? Will they even believe him? This is Megatron! He fought again Optimus Prime himself thousands of times, lead a war that's lasted millennia… He's survived being at ground zero of an exploding spacebridge, for crying out loud! What could a tiny human like Jack do to him? The idea that Jack killed him is simply absurd.
And what if they did believe him? What then…
Jack can imagine Optimus' disappointed gaze. He thinks so highly of Jack. He's always pushing him to be a better person, to do his best, to set an example for Raf and Miko. What will he think of him once he knows the truth? Knows that Jack had killed a trapped and defenseless opponent?
Then there was the strange conversation he had overheard…
Jack's hands are shaking again.
He can't do this right now.
He staggers back to his room and collapses on his bed.
Sleep is not kind to him that night.
Author Note:
Bulkhead received the most difficult mission this time.
Given Megatron's ability to survive things that he really should not, his death would be a bit hard for everyone to accept. That said, while the dark energon can reanimate a corpse (and was able to keep Megatron alive with a gaping hole in his chest), with his processor completely destroyed Megatron won't be coming back. If his body reanimated it would just be a run of the mill zombie.