Winds howled and blustered as snow once again began to fall upon the Autobots' newest excavation site in the far north of the Earth's arctic. The generic grunts labored away, shoveling and hauling away mass piles of snow and rock up and out of the further-descending mineshafts. A while ago, they had detected a surge in Cybertronian energy readings, but when they arrived there wasn't much left, and they could only assume that the Decepticons had gotten their servos on whatever treasure lay there first. However, there was still a faint reading deep underground when scouts inspected the area, and so they had begun to dig.
"Faster, you lazy scrap-heads!" The site foreman bellowed out, electro-whip cracking overhead of a ground of laborers as they dug deeper into the solid ice so thick, one would be forgiven if they mistook it for sheer stone.
Prowl watched on from the top of the pit, observing that everything was as it should be, but that they were slowly falling behind schedule. Convincing Rodimus to allow them this expedition was difficult enough, and if they couldn't uncover anything to show for it, there would be consequences. Not on his own head, though.
"Ugh, stupid fragging cold," Ultra Magnus, the designated scapegoat of this operation cursed, as he bumbled and slipped in the snow and ice, his tyres having poor traction as his truck-mode hauled more loads of ice out of the mine.
"And still not even a fragment of an energon crystal. What's even the point of all this?"
"That's assuming it even is an energon reserve, Magnus. All we can detect is that it's Cybertronian of origin to some degree." Prowl scolded the disgraced commander, doing his best to block out all the whining and complaining. Suddenly, his attention was drawn down into the pits, as he heard the workers yelling, delivering via word-of-vocoder that they had found something.
. . . . .
By the time Prowl, and to his misfortune, Ultra Magnus had reached the bottom of the mine, they saw that what had been found was already halfway dug out. Embedded in the ice and rock was a large flier of sorts, a shuttle-former by the looks of it, their paint so gray and faded they could easily have been mistaken for a corpse.
Pulling out a small device, Prowl stepped up to the mystery icemech, "alright, let's find out just who you are…" he said as he hooked up the device via a small cable. "If this mech was ever on Cybertron even for a day, he'll be in our database…"
"No need for that, Prowl," Ultra Magnus butted in, as he immediately waltzed up and searched around for something, eventually happening upon a small compartment in the mech's chest, pulling out an ornately crafted golden pendant on a chain.
"That's… the Vosian royal seal? How in the Pit did you even know to look for-"
"I know many things about many people, Prowl. Rumors back before the war was that crown-prince Starscream had a secret lover, a shuttle-former of similar descriptor of our friend here. Jetfire, by the way, in case you were still curious. Scientific caste pre-war, remained neutral and supposedly fled Cybertron during the first exodus."
"Should I be concerned as to why you know so much about Starscream's love affairs?"
"Like I said, I know many things."
"Well, seeing as you supposedly know so much," Prowl jabbed, "what do you think we should do with them? Being engaged to a Decepticon isn't technically a crime, we can't just arrest him."
"Oh, don't worry. I have an idea, one to strike a deep blow at this frozen-bolt's beloved. Send word back to the ship, have them send down our resident mnemosurgeon."
. . . . .
Chromedome wasnt an amature in his field of work, far from it in fact. He had probed around into the brain-modules of hundreds, maybe thousands of bots, whether it was the New Institute or the Autobots, the end goal was always the same; crack open some poor bot and make them think something they would never have on their own.
Floating through the mindscape of Jetfire was different from those for one sole reason however, everyone else had seen it coming, knowing they would wake up afterwards a different person, whereas this big guy had been out for so long he probably didn't even know what sector of the galaxy he was in.
'Ah, there it is,' he thought-spoke, as he came across what he was after, the perfect memory to begin the process. It was an old one, millions of years in the past, back when the war first broke out. The lack of Skyfire being conscious recently ment it hadn't been thought about, leading it to be grainy like old film.
The start of the First Exodus, Chromedome extrapolated, when most civilians fled Cybertron to be safe from the war once it was apparent it would not be ending anytime soon. The memory was a sweet one, he watched though Jetfire's optics, the then-prince Starscream pressing the amulet into his betrothed's hands, having to stand on the very tips of his pedes to give a kiss to the large scientist, before stepping away, teardrops forming in his optics as the doors of Jetfire's ship closed, taking him away from Cybertron.
'How sweet, a shame it's gotta end.' Chromdome mused, as he set about wrecking and poisoning the mind of his unsuspecting victim. He would almost feel bad about it, too, but this was not the first happy couple he was made to turn on eachother.
The latest readings on-screen were surprising to say the least, and Soundwave had to re-read them as they came in. There was now a massive, fluctuating readout in energon readings, scarily enough around the region of the Arctic where the scraplet pod had been uncovered.
Turning to report to Megatron, he realized that he was not present, and it was in fact Starscream sat in the command chair, helm propped up in hand, fast asleep. Checking his cronometer, he found it to be 3:36AM, and that he completely missed the switch to the night shift. And that he had overworked himself again, despite medical's constant reminders of the health detriments. Certain no one was watching, he quickly slid aside his mask, rubbing his sore optics, and strode over to Starscream. A poke or two to the shoulder was enough to stir the air commander from his slumber.
"Observation: Strange readings from scraplet discovery site; possible Autobot activity" he said when he determined Starscream was awake enough to comprehend basic information.
"Wh-what? What could the Autobots possibly be digging around out in that wasteland for…" Starscream mumbled as he began sending out pings for a team to join him in finding out what was going on in the far north of the world.
"I can have a squad ready in an hour, tap into the humans' observation satellites and see if you can get a detailed view of the situation on the ground."
There was nothing but agony in the darkness, so much so that, if Jetfire didn't hear his own screaming, he would have thought he was loud enough to make himself deaf. Bolting upright on the slab he was on, he fell off, held up on his hands and knees, heaving air through his vents to calm himself, palm pressed to his forehelm desperately wishing the headache would go away.
He was aware of the bright lights above him, he was probably in some sort of examination room, but all he could focus on was the terrible memories…
There was fury in Starscream's optics as he shoved Jetfire away.
"No, that can't be right…" he thought to himself.
The screams of rage as he ripped the pendant from around his neck, throwing it at Jetfire as if a warning to stay away.
"Please, this can't be real…"
"Ah, our patient seems to have woken up," Ultra Magnus boomed, making his presence known. "Lucky thing we found you, or I doubt you would have ever been dug out of the ice," he said, feigning care, as he helped Jetfire back on his pedes and leaned against the medical slab.
Prowl watched from the doorway, analyzing Magnus' performance.
Jetfire soon noticed the faction emblem upon the large bot's frame, drawing in his curiosity further. "You're an Autobot, that means I haven't strayed too far from Cybertron, right? Who are you?"
"I am Ultra Magnus, one of the commanding Autobot officers here. And you are?"
"Jetfire, scientist and a neutral." he responded, striding around the small room to stretch his body out, taking notice of how much of the walls and ceiling was made of hard-packed ice, probably the stuff they rescued him from.
"And to answer your first question, I'm sorry to say you have been on ice for a very long time, and a great distance from our home," Magnus said, as he brought up a small holographic projector detailing a map of the galaxy, and pointing from one corner to the other. "You see, we came out to this backwater corner of the galaxy hunting down a band of rouge Decepticons, under the command of Megatron himself,"
"Starscream," Jetfire blurted out, "is he with them?"
"Ah, he is. Did you two know each other by chance?" Ultra Magnus said, feigning ignorance on the topic.
"Once, a long time ago" Jetfire said solemnly, thinking hard on the memories he didn't remember, "but, it's hard to believe, he was more of a monster than I ever thought."
Ultra Magnus did his best to hold back a sly grin, watching as his plan unfolded before him.
"Well, it's been so long, I'm certain you have plenty of questions. But for starters, let's get you better equipped, should the Decepticons attack this position."
. . . . .
Jetfire had been made familiar with the layout of the encampment, and how to navigate all the tunnels in the ice that had been mined out. But as welcoming as Ultra Magnus had been, the rest of these Autobots seemed to be gruff and off-putting. He supposed that was just how you had to be to handle it out here in this hostile environment. He had been outfitted with a heavy blaster, suitable for someone of his size, and a bandoleer of sorts that carried high-powered grenades, gifted by somebody called Wheeljack.
Ever the scientist, he took notes on fascinating animals that passed by in the distance. Strange, fur-covered beats that walked on four legs, their pelts a pale white to blend in with the snow. But all the while, something was gnawing at him from the back of his mind, as the more he thought about what had happened between him and Starscream, he noticed his memory was full of not only bad times, but holes where he could have sworne there was something there before.
But perhaps, he thought, it was just a result of prolonged stasis-lock, as this would not be the first time a bot suffered from memory loss due to it. Then again, this was far more extreme than reported cases he had heard of.
But there was other work to be done at the moment, so he set those thoughts aside for now, and got back to it.
The scouting party trudged through the ice and snow, tracking the faint signal they had picked up. The skies had cleared for now, but in the distance they could see another system of large clouds stretching beyond the horizon. There were less than a dozen of them overall, Starscream and Soundwave taking point. They had bridged in a fair distance out from the target location to reduce the risk of detection. Lazerbeak circled overhead to keep watch of what lay ahead. Whisks of kicked-up snow and frost caught against their frames as they passed ice builders and high snowbanks, as they approached the target.
Soundwave held his arm outstretched as Lazerbeak descended and perched upon it.
"We are getting close," he said as Lazerbeak transformed and compacted back into his minicon compartment. "Just over this next ridge."
The small squad crouched down, weaving through a particularly dense formation of ice structures. Soon enough, they came upon a wide clearing, with a clear mining pit in the middle, various crates of supplies and small structures formed around the outskirts.
"Hmm, whatever they thought they found, must not have been worth building up full fortifications," Starscream thought aloud, peering around for any signs of life. Aside from a few guards posted around some crates marked as energon storage, there were no Autobots around.
Splitting off into separate teams, the Decepticons slowly began to encircle the camp, using the various snow drifts and ice formations as cover. The clouds began to darken still, winds blowing ever stronger, as a fresh snowfall began to descend upon them all.
"On my mark, we strike" Starscream said over comms.
But before he could give the word, the sound of engines revving echoed around him, quickly turning to his right, he saw a heavy military truck burst through a snowbank, right into a group of vehicons, crashing into the encampment. Ultra Magnus transformed mid-air, pedes sliding against the snow as he hit the ground, eyeing down Starscream.
Rushing out to face the Wrecker commander, Starscream leveled his null-rays at the large mech, firing away as he jet-boosted over him, landing behind him and striking a well-placed jab in his lower back.
The other Autobots must have noticed the commotion, as they began to pour up and out of the pit, beginning to brawl with the intruding Decepticons.
"This whole operation, just for a few cubes of energon?" Starscream said, gesturing to the stacked crates as he ducked under an ungraceful punch from Ultra Magnus.
"Humh, maybe, but we sure found more than just that," he responded, as a null-ray blast went wide off his shoulder pauldron and ricocheted off.
"In fact, I'm glad you showed up, Starscream. I'm certain you'll love to see what we found." Ultra Magnus said in a taunting manner, as with one final swing, he grabbed onto Starscream's wings, and threw him onto the ground before transforming once more and driving off into the snowy wastes.
Confused as to what he had meant, Starscream didn't have time to get back up before he heard the sound of jet engines in the distance.
He froze in place, unsure if he was hearing things right.
The screeching grew ever closer, and he knew for certain who's thrusters it belonged to.
As he looked skywards, hoping to see where it was coming from, a shimmer of light caught his optics, and he saw him.
He hardly even registered the release of two rockets, barely rolling out of the way as they impacted the ground, the detonation sending him flying right into an ice rock. Dazed, he watched as the sleek form of a shuttle passed by overhead, and turned back around. Pressing his back against the rock to help stabilize himself, he stood up once more, optics darting between the main battle between his squad against the Autobots, and the rapidly approaching figure. Transforming, they touched down as the all-so-familiar mech strode towards Starscream, silhouetted by the plumes of smoke from the fighting, optics and bio-lights a brilliant
There were no words to describe the dread that washed over him. He stood in stunned silence as he saw his beloved Jetfire, bearing an Autobot insignia on his chest, his optics full of a fierce determination as they stared each other down.
"Skyfire? Is that really you-"
"It's Jetfire. You don't get to call me that anymore," he said, pulling out a blaster and aiming it square at his chest. "Not after all you and your Decepticons have done to Cybertron. To me…"
"What are you talking about?" Starscream stammered, "We did everything we could to save our people. Mass evacuations, just like the one you managed to get on. Even then, Cybertron was overrun, a losing battle by that point."
"By the sound of it, you gave up on saving our home, our people!" He said as he lunged at him, trying to grapple and restrain Starscream.
"Jetfire, please! We can talk this out," Starscream cried as he struggled against the larger mech's grip, managing to slip out of his hold.
"An 'evacuation'? Or just an excuse to get rid of me?" Jetfire said, letting off a volley of rounds from his blaster, but the shots were too wild, missing anything aside from the ground, kicking up fresh powder and frost.
"Please, I don't want to hurt you…" Starscream pleaded, looking like he was begging at this point.
"A long time ago, Starscream, I would have believed you," Jetfire looked back down to the gun in his hands, "But it's too late for that now."
By the time he raised his blaster again, Starscream had already transformed into his jet mode and had taken to the sky. Quickly shifting modes, Jetfire tore off after him, his bulky frame having difficulty fighting the heavy winds and snow.
. . . . .
Starscream didn't want to think, all he knew at that moment was pain. Countless years he and Jetfire had been in love, even longer still had they known each other as friends and colleagues. But why this? What caused him to take such a turn, to despise him after everything?
He couldn't dwell on that, his radar was picking up something closing in from behind, but no incoming fire of any kind. He knew it was Jetfire back there, who else would it be? But one thing he needed to know above all else, was what had the Autobots done to him?
. . . . .
This felt wrong to him.
On a deep, emotional level, Jetfire knew this was wrong. Acting on emotion like that, in such an irrational way? Unbecoming of a scientist such as himself.
Setting aside all of that, he couldn't just stand for what he had been told the Decepticons had done to ruin Cybertron. Destroyed infrastructure, burning down cities, pillaging neutrals? Even if Starscream had never wronged him personally, he couldn't abide by that. Both the Autobots and Decepticons he remembered from the start of the war were civil, respected neutrality, even allowed for civilians to evacuate. But the way Ultra Magnus had phrased everything, it was so… uniform, clean-cut… and bathed in a coating of propaganda.
But that still didn't explain why his memories made no sense, why all that used to be bittersweet was now sorrowful.
"Oh no" Jetfire thought, as his rage was replaced with panic, "This isn't right at all."
He hurriedly tried to ping Starscream over personal comms, the ones they had encoded for just the two of them. And he could only hope after all this, Starscream was willing to listen.
. . . . .
Landing was problematic to say the least, as the blizzard had begun to take full grip over the landscape, reducing visibility drastically. Starscream was the first to touchdown, huddling behind an embankment to at least partially shield himself from the bitter winds. He could not see it through the snow at first, but he heard the loud thud of Jetfire as he landed not too far off, and began to make his way slowly towards him. What worried him the most though, was the blaster still hanging by its strap over his shoulder. He hadn't noticed it before, but the way Jetfire was walking seemed stiff, as if he was injured. And the way he was gripping his helm, as though there was a constant pain, Starscream knew that something was wrong.
"Jetfire," he started, stepping towards the large mech, "whatever it is, just please, let me help you."
Jetfire did not meet his optics, all he could do was stare blankly at the ground, mulling everything over in his mind.
"Tell me your side…" he said, finally meeting Starscream's gaze.
"My side? Of what?"
"Everything. The war, Cybertron's fall, the aftermath. I need to know."
Starscream nodded, and told the story as he had to others who had not been present. About the escalation and the concerns about there not being a Cybertron left if they kept the war on and the eventual signing of the treaty. About how the peace was broken by unknown agitators who murdered Elita-1. About how their world could barely sustain life at this point, toxic chemicals poisoning the waters and skies. Planets burned, and cities lying in dust. And the Autobots, who caused so much suffering, believing all this pain was for the better.
The pair stood in silence for who knows how long after Starscream had finished, as Jetfire stared blankly at the falling snow around them.
"And what about… us?" Jetfire asked, looking away from the snow and back to Starscream.
"If you're asking how I feel? Even after all this time, I still love you, Jetfire. It's why I asked you to bond with me all those years ago. Even if we never managed to, it still felt like we were conjunx for a while, before you evacuated with the rest of the Vosian neutrals."
For a minute, Jetfire just stood there, taking it all in, before falling onto his knees, unable to take it anymore. Just as quick as he went down, Starscream swiftly went to him, holding him close in a tight embrace.
"They… they did something to me, Star," Jetfire said, optic fluid beginning to stream down his face. "The Autobots, they messed me up. Ruined my memories of you, of us."
"Is that why you acted that way before? They made you think I hurt you?"
"More than just one bad memory, they ripped and butchered so much- I know it's not right, you would never truly hurt me that way. I know that you love me, I still love you too." Jetfire stammered through the tears, as he wrapped his arms and Starscream, never wanting to let go.
They sat there huddled on the ground together for what felt like hours, but in reality it was more so a minute or two, as Starscream was snapped back to reality by a ping on his comm line.
/Autobots routed, energon stores secured. Update on your status?/ Soundwave had said.
"Yes, I'm fine, better than fine, really." Starscream spoke into his mic. "Will be coming back with a plus one. I found something I lost a long time ago."
/Understood. Meet back at Autobot's camp. Soundwave out./
Starscream put his communicator away, turning back to Jetfire. "I don't care if I hold them up, if you need more time, that's all that matters."
"No, I-" Jetfire started, as he stood up, "I think I'm going to be ok. Not right now, but I will be." And for the first time in so long, Starscream got to see him smile, and thought it the greatest sight in the galaxy.
. . . . .
They both began to trudge through the snow, making their way back to regroup with the rest of the Decepticons. On the way, Jetfire had been finding it hard to scrape away the Autobot insignia on his chest, the purple paint proving to be quite durable.
They both stopped in their tracks and turned as they heard the sound of heavy footfalls approaching them, both raising their weapons in caution. Through the snowfall they saw the figure of Ultra Magnus appear in view, a devious smile on his face as he waltzed up to the reunited couple.
"Well, I wasn't expecting this. I would have hoped you would just kill the flying rat like a loyal Autobot." Ultra Magnus sneered, "Perhaps I should have had your whole processor wiped, and start from scratch, a whole new mech with his old face. That would have really twisted the knife into your spark, wouldn't it, Starscream?"
"You glitch…" Jetfire said, quickly dashing at the Autobot commander while he was off-guard, and slamming them into the ground with a loud thud. Not letting up, he kept pummeling Ultra Magnus, who was having difficulty blocking the punches, showing that he really wasn't used to a fair fight against a mech of his size after all.
In a momentary gap in the barrage, Ultra Magnus managed to push Jetfire away, if only long enough to stand back up and take a defensive stance. What he hadn't noticed was that Starscream was now rushing him, the null-rays on his arms charged and began to fire on him.
Cornering him, the pair both grabbed onto Ultra Magnus, activated their thrusters and lifted him up into the air. Flying higher for a short time, the large mech in their arms screaming obscenities at them, they eventually reached a satisfactory altitude, and began to descend at a rapid rate. Rushing ever faster, Starscream and Jetfire gave the bot a good shove as they let go, letting Ultra Magnus plummet down into the same icy pit they had been digging out of.
Landing down where the rest of the Decepticons were, who had just witnessed the scene from the ground, stared in confusion as the large mech with a half-worn Autobot symbol.
"Stand down," Soundwave ordered, having met Jetfire before the war, knowing he was no real enemy to them.
"Soundwave, call in a ground bridge. I never wish to see this frozen hell again," Starscream said.
Soundwave gave an affirmative nod, and within a few seconds, the swirling portal came to life. The assembled group began to walk towards it to go home, when Jetfire stopped for a moment.
"I have one last thing to take care of, I'll be right back." he said, as he strode over to the pit where he had been dug up from, and where Ultra Magnus had crashed down. Starscream followed him, and watched as Jetfire began to toss as many of the Autobots' munitions crates over the edge and into the pit as he could. The belt of explosives he had came unlatched, as he primed the charges on a timer, and threw them down into the icy caverns.
They rushed back through the portal, not wanting to stick around for the fireworks.
Sat on the edge of an examination table that was not big enough for him, moreso with Starscream sitting by his side, Jetfire waited for the medic to be done with his assessment. It was comforting, at least, to finally get a look-over by somebody that wasn't trying to mess with his head.
"Well, physically it seems everything is in working order," Knockout said, disconnecting Jetfire from some sort of analyzer. "As for your amnesia, it should only be temporary. Mind you, I'm no psychologist, but I've patched up bots the Autobots have done this sort of thing to before, and after a few months of proper support, they are right as rain."
"That's good to hear," Jetfire said with a nod, looking down to where Starscream had taken hold of his hand. "And I know I have as much support as I need here."
"Which reminds me," Jetfire continued, using his free hand to reach into a compartment, he pulled out a intricately detailed gold medallion.
"Is that really...?" Starscream said in disbelief, using his other hand to trace over the engraved patterns.
"The very same one you gave me, all those years ago."
The moment took a turn, as they heard the strangest noise from outside the medbay, as Skywarp phased right through the doors and stared right at the couple.
"Holy scrap, Jetfire!? Is that you?" the seeker shouted, as he teleported right next to him, dragging him into a hug.
The doors opened, and Thundercracker stepped through normally, semi-annoyed at his brother's antics. Then his optics went wide when he saw the large mech seated next to Starscream.
"Oh, wow, ok you were not kidding when you said you had a big surprise to tell us about, Starscream." He said as he strode over, and gave Jetfire a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"Uhh, ok, a few questions first." Jeftire said with a confused look. "Why can I look right through parts of Skywarp, and does it correlate to how he just… phased through the door?"
"Ah, yes, well there is quite a bit to get caught up on. I only really mentioned what happened back on Cybertron when you asked what you had missed earlier."
"Get comfortable, this is going to take a while," Thundercracker said to Jetfire, the back and blue seeker crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
Prowl slowly strode to the precipice of the pit, following the sounds of crumbling ice and a panicked mech. Peering over the edge, he saw the twisted wreck of what remained of Ultra Magnus as they desperately tried to hold on to the ice and pull themselves back up.
He was shattered as could be, a truly pitiful sight. The thick armor that once covered his arms and upper body was shredded like scrap metal, cut so deep as to see the internal gears and circuits. His optics and bio-lights were close to as dim as they could be without going out. Below the waist, there was even less, his right leg was gone, and his left had nothing below the knee, energon leaking fast from the severity of his injuries.
He must have finally noticed Prowl's presence there, and looked up. He seemed like he would have gasped for help, but then he noticed the tactician did not come alone. To his right was Bulkhead, his left Wheeljack, and the rest of the remaining Wreckers gathered around them, staring daggers down at him.
"I don't suppose you would be willing to lend a hand to your fellow Autobot?"
"No, I don't suppose I would," Prowl said coldly. "All these schemes and plots of yours, all to better yourself, always backfiring and dragging the rest of us down with you. It's over for you."
"So," Ultra Magnus mustered through a coughing fit, "This is to be a reckoning, then?"
"Your usefulness has ended, Magnus. To me, and to Optimus Prime." Prowl said, kneeling down to get close. "For what it's worth, I did my best to keep you alive for longer, if for nothing else than to provide some amount of entertainment. But, orders are orders. I'm sure you can understand."
Standing back up, he turned and gave a nod to the Wreckers. "Do what you do best, boys. Make sure he doesn't get back up again."
Walking away, he could hear the screeching of metal of Ultra Magnus getting hauled out of the pit, and getting beaten by the assembled group of very angry mechs. Prowl wasn't one for boosters, but he thought this warranted the occasion, as he lit himself one of the special Cy-Gars that Kup had given him when the old mech had retired from duty. Were it not for the screams, from both Ultra Magnus' agony and the Wrecker's glee, it would have been a peaceful moment.
Prowl turned back around just in time to watch as the now limp and graying corpse of Ultra Magnus was hurled down into the pit one final time, the Wreckers celebrating amongst themselves.
"Starting the celebration without us, huh Prowl?" Wheeljack remarked as he walked past on the way to their ship.
In a rare moment, Prowl cracked a genuine smile. "I'm sure there will be plenty of time to celebrate tonight at Swerve's. Drinks are on me."