The red pain of Unicron's torture…

The blue light of hope in Galvatron's hand…

"My Master, with this I shall make you my slave."

Red pain… The Master, transforming from planet to Titan.

"It seems negotiations have failed," Scourge observed.

Shockwave, over the radio: We're under attack! Scramble!

Blue light… The Master, screaming, tearing at himself.

Pain… Fear…

And nothing. For the first time in hours, Cyclonus realised he was aware and alive. He did not know how long and how far he had fled, but he was not alone. An entire fleet of familiar blue spacecraft was fleeing alongside him.

Scourge? He called over the com-link to the leader of the Sweeps. Where are we? Where are we going?

Away! He could hear his own bewildered fear in Scourge's voice.

We will perish if we do not find fuel, he reminded his comrade, grounding himself in that mundane need.

Scourge slowed. Scan for signs of activity, he ordered. Where there is movement, we will find energy.

It took them less than an hour to track down a luckless mining expedition an asteroid. In plundering the ship, they passed on their fate to its organic crew. Now they were the ones doomed to perish.

"What happened?" Scourge asked Cyclonus, once they had the luxury of time.

The memories threatened to drown Cyclonus again. Red pain. Blue light. He thrust it all away. "Unicron is dead." There was a defiance in saying the words. "We are free."

"But if Cybertron and Galvatron also perished…?"

Cyclonus stared out to the stars. "We did nothing to help them. Galvatron took the Matrix to Unicron, and we hung back. Unicron and the Decepticons fought over Cybertron, and we watched."

Scourge refuted any idea of cowardice. "Unicron would only have tortured us if we had interfered. But now we are free of him. We are free of all of them!"

"By the grace of fortune, we are free," Cyclonus agreed quietly. He glanced behind them to where the Sweeps silently watched the two stronger personalities, waiting for guidance. "Free and lost… Babes adrift in space with no understanding of our existence."

Unlike Galvatron, Cyclonus and the others retained no memories of their bodies' former lives. Whoever had previously inhabited their exo-structures had been overwritten when Unicron created minions for Galvatron. Up until this point, Cyclonus' brief life had been filled by orders; failure to execute them had been met with agony.

Thinking for himself was a habit Cyclonus looked forward to acquiring.

"We know Earth," Scourge said suddenly. "We have that data."

It was true. They might not have the memories, but the Decepticon datatracks were still in their systems, and they had experienced Autobot City firsthand.

"We destroyed Autobot City." Scourge was following the same train of thought. "Earth's forces are no match for us."

"The Dinobots were a match for us," a Sweep murmured nervously. They had lost one of their number in the flames spewed by the Autobot beasts.

"The Dinobots left Earth to battle Unicron," Scourge snapped. "Perhaps He avenged our comrade. In any case, we chased those fools from Autobot City when we had only four of you. Now you number seven!" Unicron had not granted them memories, but he had recycled the Insecticons' cloning abilities into the Sweeps—and improved it. When they had lost one in their first battle, they had cloned four more fully independent (if weak-minded) soldiers.

Cyclonus had lost a doppelganger of his own in that first battle; however, he had deflected Galvatron's suggestion of replacing it. Looking at the Sweeps now, seeking safety in their herd, he did not regret his decision.

"We had a ship when we attacked Earth," another Sweep pointed out. They had left their mothership on Cybertron, and the Decepticons had taken it to destruction at the hands of Unicron. "We were more powerful then… We had power from Unicron."

"Freedom is greater than power," Cyclonus retorted. He knew the words were meaningless, yet they drew the nearest Sweep's gaze towards him, hopeful optics drinking in the maxim.

Scourge also liked the phrase. "Then let us use our freedom well."

"We would not have the element of surprise if we attacked again," Cyclonus cautioned him. "Even if the Dinobots have not returned, Earth's defences may have learned from our last encounter and prepared for a second attack."

"We know Earth," Scourge repeated stubbornly, and this time a Sweep repeated his words. Cyclonus finally nodded. They had to start somewhere, after all.

In their flight from Cybertron, they had gone further from Earth, and without the benefit of their mothership, it took them over a day to reach the solar system. Finally, the blue planet was in their sights and getting larger. Cyclonus kept a wary scan for traffic, but only satellites and diminutive spacecraft were moving ahead of them.

Instead, the threat came from behind. They were close to Saturn when the ship first appeared on Cyclonus' radar. It was large, faster than they were and heading in the same direction.

He notified Scourge, adding: Let's find a place to observe.

Scourge agreed. The nearest moon will do.

They spread themselves across the far side of Hyperion, hiding their own mass while tracking the ship as it came into visual range.

An Autobot shuttle! But we destroyed them!

Scourge's shock was ill-founded, Cyclonus thought. We destroyed the two that launched from Autobot City. This is another.

Perhaps it is carrying the Dinobots back to Earth. The nervous Sweep did not let go of his fears easily.

The idea made Cyclonus frown. The obvious theory was that it was from Cybertron, but that did not match his datatracks. No Autobot outposts survived that might have such a shuttle. Surely it could not have been built since the Fall of Unicron?

Out here it is alone with only its own defences. Scourge was already increasing power to his engines. We can destroy this ship as we did the others.

If we destroy it, we will not know where it came from. Observing it would give us more information… Cyclonus weighed out their options. Yet if we allow it to approach Earth, destroying it will be a more difficult fight.

He felt Scourge's engines cool beside him. Information is what we are most lacking. Let us wait and observe, then. If it makes a return flight, we shall have another chance at destruction.

Agreed.

However, by the time the ship had passed them, it had become apparent that it was heading not for Earth but for Mars. Cyclonus had no data for Autobot operations on Mars; as far as he knew, only the human Earth Defence Command had a base there. Scourge was as baffled as he, and after some deliberation they trailed the shuttle at a safe distance, setting their own course for the moon of Phobos. For now, they would continue to observe and learn.

Notes:

As the canon is vague about the Unicronians, I've had to make some decisions about how Galvatron's minions work. At least by saying they don't remember their former lives, I didn't have to worry about who was Thundercracker, Skywarp, Bombshell, etc. (At some point, I'm going to have to make a decision about whether or not some of the Insecticons are still alive, but I shall procrastinate on that.) In Velvet-verse, Galvatron keeps Megatron's personality, because that served Unicron's Matrix-stealing purposes; Cyclonus et al just need to provide him with extra firepower. Honestly, the less personality they have the better, as they're supposed to be obedient.

But Cyclonus and Scourge were given enough strength of mind to be some form of sub-commanders… And this story is about how that evolves once they lose their superior officers.