I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse. They belong to their owners.
Chapter 3: I tell Tristan what Cybertronian Love is... and then I Kick Some Autobot Tailpipe!
As the girl, Piper, walked inside, I couldn't help but feel guilty.
In hindsight, I should have realized it was risky to just show up in Tristan's backyard unannounced and so soon after meeting him, but I couldn't help it. I had never bonded with anyone like him before, and I had to see him as soon as possible. I even made some fake Autobot insignias to maintain the illusion that I was one of them.
As soon as possible ended up being about a week later, when I finally had a day that wasn't so busy with work for the Decepticons. So the second I was finished with my duties for the day, I rushed over to his mansion in Malibu.
We had been in a pleasant conversation about a movie offer he was interested in taking, King of Sparta, when his daughter came out and started yelling.
I had heard about Tristan's daughter, Piper. She was a young girl with chocolate brown hair and eyes that seemed to change color every time you looked at them. Everything I had read in the news about her seemed mostly negative: that she was an ungrateful kleptomaniac who was constantly getting kicked out of school after school.
But I didn't see any of that.
I just saw a little girl who was upset that her father let her down.
After she slammed the door, I looked down at Tristan.
"Tristan..." I trailed off, "I'm sorry. I didn't know that-"
"No," he said. "It's my fault. I should have remembered.".
He was hanging his head in shame. It was easy to tell that this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
"Piper's very lonely, isn't she?" I asked.
"She is." Tristan admitted, looking back up at me, "But it's better this way. I don't want her to get mixed up in all my work. She'd hate it.".
I'm not convinced that was the right call, but I wasn't really in a position to judge. Cybertronians don't really have families like humans do. I didn't know the first thing about being a parent. But something told me Tristan wasn't entirely sure he was making the right decision either.
I was silent for a minute. It occurred to me that I hadn't heard anything about Piper's mother in the news stories I'd seen.
"..Tristan." I said, "I need some clarity. It's from my understanding that in order to have a daughter, a human male-"
"You want to know where Piper's mom is, don't you?" Tristan asked with a resigned tone.
"Yes..."
Tristan hung his head again. He always had a sad aura around him, but it seemed to come on even more heavily now that this subject was in the air.
"...I don't know.".
"How can you not know?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"I just don't..." Tristan remarked sadly, as if escaping into old memories. "She just left one day after Piper was born. Never said goodbye. I don't even have a picture, and I know that shouldn't matter, but it does.".
I felt guilty. From the way he spoke about Piper's mom, it was clear Tristan still wasn't over it. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up.
I must have looked confused because Tristan put his head in my direction and asked, "What's it like on your planet?"
"Excuse me?"
"Relationships. What are they like where you're from?"
I turned the other way sadly. "It's not gonna make you feel better," I warned him.
"I still want to know.".
I paused for a bit. Then I looked back at Tristan.
"Romance for us Cybertronians. It's not as common as human romances. If I had to guess, it's because we don't reproduce the same way humans do.".
Tristan nodded. "But it still happens?".
"Yeah. We are capable of forming romantic bonds with each other. And those bonds..." I trailed off. "They don't go away easily. When we romantically bond, it's usually for life unless one partner dies."
"That must be nice."
"It's called being a conjunx endura. It's our equivalent of marriage, I suppose."
Tristan didn't say anything at first.
"...I told you it wasn't going to make you feel better.".
"No. I needed to know," Tristan said.
"If it helps, we also brought a war to your planet, so we're not completely better than you," I smirked, hoping to lighten the mood.
Tristan laughed.
There was another moment of silence after that.
"...What was she like?" I asked.
"She was gorgeous." Tristan explained, "In ways I can't even describe, it's like she never looked the same way twice, and each time you looked at her, she was more beautiful than the last."
"And she seemed to know love better than anyone I knew."
He looked down again. He put his face in one of his hands.
"I thought... I thought after Piper was born that we would have a long, happy life together.".
It might have been my imagination, but I think I saw a tear go down Tristan's face.
"...I didn't mean to pry," I remarked.
"No, it's-" Tristan paused and looked back up. "It actually feels good to talk about it," he admitted.
Indeed, Tristan was looking a bit better.
"...I should go." I said, sitting up, "You need to spend the time you can with your daughter.".
Tristan smiled and got up himself. "You're right. I do. Thanks for the visit, Thundercracker. Once again, come by anytime."
I nodded, then I turned around, transformed into my jet mode, and flew off.
I went through a ground bridge portal and reentered the Decepticon's communications and records hub in Scotland. Once there, I headed straight for my chambers. When I got there, I found Soundwave waiting for me.
"Thundercracker. This is the second time in the past week that you have gone missing for several Earth Hours."
"What?" I asked, "I can't have off time?".
"You are allowed, yes," Soundwave admitted, "but I am concerned because both times were spent in the same general location of the human state of California.".
"So?"
"...Nevermind. Megatron wants to see you."
"Understood." I nodded.
I went to one of the communication rooms. Once I entered and the door shut behind me, Megatron's hologram appeared before me. These days, after the Battle of New York City, Megatron spent most of his time in the Decepticon's orbital satellite command center. It was our first base when we came to Earth, but once we went public and Megatron called in more Decepticon reinforcements, we spread into different cells across the planet, supported by our ally Cobra.
I bowed to my leader, "Lord Megatron. I am at your service."
"Rise Thundercracker." Megatron ordered, "I have a new assignment for you.".
His voice made my mechanical exoskeleton shudder. Megatron had a way of instilling both fear and respect in someone.
"What is it, sir?"
"Bludgeon is about to lead an assault on a human and an Autobot energon refinery in South America." Megatron explained, "He's requested your assistance.".
"Understood, Lord Megatron." I saluted, "I will head there right now.".
The Energon Refinery turned out to be in a clearing deep in the heart of one of the many jungles of South America.
I ground-bridged some distance away and flew to the location Megatron gave me. Once I arrived in jet mode, I got a better look at the refinery. It wasn't anything too fancy. Just a large circular building with tubes running down, around, and inside it. Scattered in the area around the refinery were various houses and workstations for the employees.
My commlink started buzzing. "Glad to see you have arrived, Thundercracker," came the familiar voice of Bludgeon.
"My pleasure, Bludgeon," I greeted. "So what did you need me for? Where are you?"
"We're currently hidden in the tree line," Bludgeon explained. "All the preparations for the assault on the refinery have been completed, but we need a big distraction to send the humans and Autobots stationed here-"
"Say no more." I interrupted, "This is what I do best.".
Bludgeon's arrogant laugh came over the comm link: "That's why I like you, TC. No questions asked. You just do the job.".
I swooped down into the clearing and got as close as possible. I had to be quick before the Autobots picked me up on their radar.
And then I unleashed my sonic boom powers at full blast.
The sound of thunder up close sent the humans and Autobots scattering; all dazed and confused, they were in no shape for what came next.
Bludgeon came out of the jungle in his green tank form and fired several shells into the area, destroying the automated defenses. He transformed into his more orange-looking robot form and brandished his sword.
"Mayhem! Reak havoc!" he yelled.
Out of the woods came the other members of Bludgeon's personal attack squad, Mayhem, who began pouring fire onto the refinery's occupants.
As for myself, I doubled back around and started strafing the ground inside the area. But my goal was not to kill any humans; I wanted to give anyone still there a chance to flee if they didn't feel like throwing their lives away.
The other Decepticons were not so merciful, as I glimpsed one member of Mayhem, Octopunch, cut down several human soldiers. Others, like Skullgrin and Ruckus, began taking on the Autobots that were stationed here.
Someone must have seen I was distracted, because the next thing I knew, I got hit by a burning sensation that pierced my underside. The pain wracked through my body and sent me diving to the ground.
I had been shot.
Once I hit the ground, I transformed and looked up. I found a white robot with a blue visor looking down at me.
"Jazz!" I growled.
"Whoa, man. Why you Decepticons gotta be such buzzkills?" he asked in that annoying jive voice of his.
I didn't answer. I just got up and swung my fist. It made contact with his torso with a crunching sound. He swerved around and hit me with a backhand, knocking me back a few feet.
Once I regained my footing, I pointed my two wrist-mounted guns and shot at him. Jazz dodged and dipped around the shots; his movements were so elegant, it was like dancing.
"Show off!" I yelled. I activated my leg thrusters to get a better position. I flew up into the air and started firing rapidly at the Autobot.
"It's over, Jazz! I have the high ground!"
He smirked as his left hand retracted into a grappling line with a hook and then swung it. "Yo man! You underestimate my power!"
I knew he was my enemy, but I couldn't help but smile. "You got it! You got my Star Wars reference!" I laughed. I didn't even notice the grappling line wrapping itself around my arm at first.
And then Jazz tugged on his line. The sudden, sharp downward jerk snapped me out of my euphoria.
As the line pulled me closer to the jungle floor, I increased the power of my leg thrusters. I was pushing myself so hard that I could feel the heat of the engine burn coming from my feet. But Jazz was persistent. He stood his ground and kept pulling on his line. Clearly, I needed a stronger push to avoid being dragged down to Earth.
"Hold on tight, Autobot scum!" I yelled, and with a swift motion, I transformed into my jet mode. The grappling line was still attached to me as I activated maximum burn and shot into the sky.
Jazz barely had time to squeak out "Oh no-" before he was sent flying and dragged through the air behind me. As I took us up farther and farther, Jazz desperately tried to disconnect the line from his arm.
That's when I had my opening.
I rose and transformed into my robot mode. I outstretched both my arms and curled my hands into fists, and I dived straight for Jazz.
"Incoming!" I shouted
With a massive crash, my fists collided with Jazz. He strained to do or say something, but nothing came out. We started accelerating toward the ground; the wind whipped by me as we got faster and faster. I could feel the pressure building, until finally, with a massive boom, we slammed into the ground. A thunderous shockwave erupted right around us.
As my vision cleared, I got up and looked down at the critically injured Jazz. His spine was broken, his torso and waist looked close to disconnecting from each other, and out of his wounds came sparks. He gasped as if trying to say something, but the words wouldn't come out.
For a moment, I was tempted to bring out my wrist-mounted gun and shoot him in the face. It was the right tactical decision. Jazz was the head of Autobot Special Operations. Killing him would be a wise choice in the long run.
But I wouldn't. I couldn't. Not while he was helpless and in no way to fight back.
Instead, without a taunt or a word, I started walking away toward the rest of my fellow Decepticons. I could hear Jazz pathetically crawling away to fight another day.
Assuming he made it out of the jungle.
With the battle over, I found my way to Bludgeon with some of the other Mayhem members.
"Well done, Thundercracker," Bludgeon congratulated.
"Yeah!" laughed Ruckus. "I always love it when you do that sonic boom trick of yours! Hah! Gets the suckers all out into the open, ripe for the picking!"
"...Thanks," I said.
It was strange. I had helped win a battle for the faction I believed in, and once again, I had proven that despite my "quirks," I was a valuable asset to the Decepticon cause.
But the victory this time felt different.
This time, I didn't feel good about it.
Sorry if the action scene wasn't up to snuff. I'm still perfecting the way I write my action scenes.
As always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!