Sorry for the slowness. Surprise caught my attention and I couldn't stop!

Onto the next chapter...


Sideswipe, watching the other's interest was curious to know why they seemed so excited about this thing. He immediately noticed that there was a problem. He saw the screen light up and watched. There, on the screen was what his brother was seeing, only it was when they were very young. "What is this?"

"Is an extraction."

"Of what? Our memories?"

"I suppose you could call it that," Starscream replied, "But this is a little different,"

"How?"

"This is going to see if you two are…" Ugh, he didn't even want to say it. "It'll tell me if Maccadam was right."

"Who's Maccadam?"

"You either will or will not remember."

Confused by the statement, Sideswipe looked back at the screen. "There's no sound,"

"I'm well aware of that, Sideswipe," Ratchet replied, "There is none. It comes with the extraction,"

That took all the fun out of it. Or what he thought may have been fun. He had no idea just how wrong he was. Boredom couldn't be put into words right now for the red twin, who had been in the bay for about 2 hours now. He could think of a lot better things to be doing that watching his and his brother's past flash before his optics on the monitor. He had even nodded off for a few minutes here and there.

Right now, it was a scene from their youngling hood. Before the wars, before anything bad had befallen their great planet. On Sunstreaker's HUD, it showed the pair in constant contact with each other with Cybertronian symbols to the left. Also, there was a spark-beat under the words. So, their ability to share went further than just the spark and a special comm. link. Ratchet made mental note to ask one of them about it, as it had never been mentioned in Twin history, and no one knew about it in these two.

Sunstreaker twitched. The twitch was immediately noticed by Sideswipe, "What was that?"

"An involuntary twitch," Ratchet said without hesitation.

"Is – is he supposed to do that?" worry crept into his voice.

"It happens," came the reply.

Memory Recall State – Gladiatorial Events

A gasp went throughout the room. This made Sideswipe look up and he frowned at seeing what he and his brother considered one of their proudest moments. 'Oh no,' he thought to himself, seeing what was coming. He wanted not only to become tiny as a flea, but to hide. No one really knew of the twins getting into the gladiatorial battles on Cybertron. It would help explain their lack of compassion on the field and their exquisite abilities, however.

Sunstreaker's body twitched violently a few times.

The screen showed numerous brutal fights, some ending in death, some not, and the twins rarely failed, always fighting as a fluid team. Ratchet eyed the HUD as it would flash a signal as to what to do, where, and Sunstreaker would do that quickly. This helped them immensely.

No one at the fights had even expected them to be twins, since they hadn't really looked alike, "Sideswipe," Optimus said calmly.

Sideswipe squeaked indignantly again, raising his head, he prepared for the onslaught of reprimands.

"This place made you into most noble Autobot warriors. I'm glad to have finally had the chance to see how you had… acquired your tactics,"

Was that a compliment for doing something underground? It was! Sideswipe let out a small smile.

"How did you ever control that psychopath's rage?" Starscream suddenly asked.

"Uh," He wasn't going to tell them that. It was delicate, although nothing like what one would regard as a merge or any of the sort, "brotherly love?"

Starscream glanced at Sideswipe then back to the monitor, motioning for Ratchet to move on.

Memory Recall State – Battle of Iacon

It wasn't that great of a battle, granted but it made Starscream twinge with a revolting growl. It was a small fight to fend off invading Starscream and his wing mates from getting into an Energon reserve. It was the first time he had been introduced to their eccentric maneuvers that gave them this idiosyncrasy, their 'jet-judo' technique.

Twitch.

His optics snapped to the red twin, who gave an indignant smile.

"I uh… you were a Decepticon then!" Sideswipe offered, putting up his hands, "bad guys – good guys, remember? No hard feelings, eh?"

Starscream looked away, then nodded towards the monitor not wanting to see more.

Memory Recall State – Unknown – view?

Ratchet pressed a button.

Although it was very fast, it showed the same HUD and a different mech standing next to Sunstreaker. It was apparent it was Sideswipe just from the HUD, as the appearances compared to them were uncanny. They were in a courtyard in a city talking.

The screen went black.

So apparently, they had lived other lives as well. Starscream looked between Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. It was becoming apparent now. "Maccadam was right. Shit. It is you two."

"What is?"

"Keep watching." Starscream nodded at the screen. "You'll find out soon enough."

Memory Recall State – Scapegoat

Sideswipe squirmed as the images played out, exposing the pair to their devious deeds. Optimus made a small sound and slowly turned his head to glimpse at the twin.

Now he wanted to shrink to the size of Sam's dead pet, Mojo.

"You know," Optimus said in mock thought as he glanced over at Sideswipe, "Jazz got the blame for that," The leader spoke, a hint of amusement in his voice. Sideswipe squeaked. If this continued, then they would find out everything. Not good. Luckily, the machine was bouncing around randomly. It showed a few other pranks the twins had pulled, again Optimus commenting on who had gotten the blame for it. By the time this view was done, Sideswipe didn't want to talk to anyone. He huddled in a corner away from them all and dropped his head into his arms, which were across his knees.

Memory Recall State – Battle of Tyger Pax

This is the one where the twins showed their best colors. They helped as snipers, and in front lines, not really knowing what was going on inside at the moment when Bee had disappeared with Megatron. They were there to fend off extras.

Twitch. Twitch.

Starscream watching curiously, not having been there for the battle much, was intrigued, "No wonder you two were front lines," he Stated and nodded for the extraction to move on.

Memory Recall State – renamed 'Downfall'

Here it showed what had happened to Starscream during his time on Earth after he had been shot down and after he was already at the base. It showed everything from Sunstreaker's point of view. Everyone cringed seeing the memory come back again. Sideswipe was willing to bet that they would see it with his own extraction.

Starscream looked away quickly, not needing to see more, "Move on," He Stated.

Then it happened. Ratchet hit the button and what Starscream had been looking for came into view. He pointed at the red words that came across the screen.

WARNING: Unknown memory found – Firewalled.

"What in the Pit is an unknown memory? How do we have memories we don't even know we have?" Sideswipe asked, even more confused.

Starscream saw the words and looked to Ratchet, who nodded. "I knew it," He internally groaned.

"Knew what?" Sideswipe asked.

"It's the same thing I had." Starscream replied. "You're next."

Sideswipe didn't believe him. It was too crazy! "So… so you're telling me we are Primes?"

"Unfortunately…"

Like Starscream had previously, Sunstreaker's body started to convulse with an unnatural violence. His back arched hard, and his arms flailed.

Optimus reached for Sunstreaker's arm. He was stronger than they thought. In an effort to protect the memory, Sunstreaker lashed out at Optimus. Optimus stumbled backwards before he could secure the twin and Sideswipe ran up to him, grabbing his arm, and held it to be secured. Sunstreaker's vocal processors let out a shrill whine.

The leader recovered quickly, glancing at Sunstreaker in surprise.

"Wh – What was that all about?" Sideswipe asked in a near monotonous voice, using all he could to hold his brother still.

Ratchet peered over the yellow warrior's body, and reached for him, holding his chest down as Wheeljack got closer. "It happened when we got to this on Starscream,"

"What is it?"

"It's a natural defense that kicks in when this particular memory block is reached," Wheeljack said as he got closer and helped hold down Sunstreaker's chest, "sort of like an ultimate security against it being breached,"

Sideswipe glanced up, then did a double take, "What the slag does that mean?"

"It means I have found what I am looking for," Starscream stepped closer after letting go of Sunstreaker's leg, eyeing the words.

"Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked expectantly. The Engineer moved quickly beside Sunstreaker's other side, near his head, "You remember from last time?"

Wheeljack nodded, reaching down on his side of the yellow twin's head and opening the panel, searching for the green port. He pulled a wire, as did Ratchet, different, luckily, from the one that Sunstreaker had messed up. It took a moment to connect, and Wheeljack looked up, "On my mark," Ratchet said with apprehensiveness.

"3… 2…1… Mark," Ratchet stated and they accessed the memory as their optics dimmed and broke down the firewall. Shortly after, both bots jerked, this time Wheeljack was prepared for the recoil, but he still pulled his wrist away painfully, unhooking unceremoniously yet undamaged.

WARNING: Silent Memory Firewall disabled – continue?

"Just you wait…" Starscream was pleased, "it gets better," the seeker hissed with a devilish tone.

Ratchet moved to his previous position near the controls and looked up. Optimus, who was in an utter state of shock, moved towards where he had been and Wheeljack took his own spot. Now was the time of truth.

It didn't take long for Starscream to recognize who he was. Why hadn't he thought of it before? Oh yeah, because it was the last thing he would ever have hoped for.

The first image to show on the monitor was the strange symbols in the HUD, only they were accompanied by infrequent and irregular symbols of their own and the sparkbeat. Sideswipe recognized it immediately as a twin HUD system. Wheeljack and Ratchet gawked a long moment. It was the same as it had been in more recent viewings, so they both wondered if it was a possibility that it may have been a trait that had always been with them.

Then a phenomenon no one ever thought they would see was coming onto the screen. At first, they didn't know who it was, but then, it became clear as most all of the other ancients had been seen. A mech no one had seen yet was standing there in view of the Sunstreaker's optics. His form was adorned with chrome, reds, blues and white. The red and blues seemed to trail down what looked like wing panels while the rest of him was decked out in chrome and white.

No, it couldn't be. "Is that you?" Ratchet asked, astonished.

Starscream nodded, "It's strange to see myself like this." He gazed at the image, remembering what was happening then. He frowned at the thought. It was the first time anyone had seen what he looked like. Instead of looking evil like they had always thought him to have been, he looked as regal as the rest of them.

The Seeker then tilted his head and his optics flashed, and suddenly from head to toe, a dull bright strip of blue went down his body, following the strip was the same color scheme that had been on the screen. Everyone noticed the blue and turned as it finished.

"Hn," Ratchet said, looking at him, "Nostalgia?"

"Nah, needed to fit the part." Starscream replied, "I just… couldn't remember how I looked then."

Their attention went back to the screen. The memory switched again to mechs talking, a few that Optimus had already seen before, but again when it got to Prima, he tilted his head inquisitively. He knew he knew that mech from somewhere, but where? Starscream noticed the questioning look on Optimus' face but said nothing.

Sideswipe was in shock. He didn't speak, he didn't move. His optics were glued to what was on the screen, "Unfortunately," Starscream turned to the twin, "You will need to go through this also,"

"W-what?" Sideswipe shook his head from his stupor. "You were serious?"

"You think I was joking? I wish I was joking. To open your memories, this must happen," Starscream looked back toward the screen, instantly he put a hand up, "Stop that a moment, can you?" he asked, Ratchet. The screen paused on one of the Primes he could not remember the name of. He seemed strangely familiar now, but he couldn't place him. He saved him to memory for further investigation, "continue,"

It went to a view of the moon in the sky, "Are you sure that is Cybertron? There's a satellite – a moon,"

'You only wish it was a moon,'

"Okay, here and now, get this right," He pointed vehemently at the screen, "That is not Cybertron... It's Primus," Starscream corrected, his voice changed to awe at seeing him in his glory again. He reached out and gently touched the screen, stroking his fingers downwardly over it in a longing manner. Those in the room gave Starscream a look. He didn't seem to care.

"Primus? What?" Three voices rang out. It was distinct that Optimus was not surprised.

"I'll explain later," Starscream backed up from the screen and continued to watch.

"So that's not… Cybertron?" Wheeljack asked, slightly confused.

"It's what you know as Cybertron," Starscream then contradicted, "It's more Primus's core."

"His core?" Ratchet asked. "Like his spark?"

"No, not his spark. It's where his power comes from." He thought about it a moment, wondering if Primus was still asleep in there. "Seeing what was done to it, I can't imagine he'll have a chance in pit at defeating what is to come."

"But… there's a satellite," Sideswipe pointed.

"Not everything is as it appears to be," Starscream said in his strange enigmatic dialect, glancing at Sides, "You'll realize this when you wake up."

"Wow…" Wheeljack muttered, and at this his optics went wide as he took in the fantastic information, "You mean Cybertron is Primus?!" Apparently, Primus was Cybertron, so their 'god' was their very own planet?

"So what is it?" Sideswipe nodded towards the moon.

Starscream took a fleeting look at Sideswipe, and then flicked his optics towards Optimus who was also curious. But he only shook his head at the leader, his optics going back to the screen.

"When you wake up, you won't need to ask anymore questions." Starscream said.

The memory kept switching, showing almost every one of the mechs there bar Sunstreaker himself and a few others here and there. Starscream counted 9 and watched until it came across another bot again and he asked for it to be stopped. He looked at Sideswipe, "That mech right there, Sideswipe," he pointed, "is you,"

Sideswipe stared with unbelieving optics. The mech that Starscream pointed at was adorned in colors that he wouldn't ever have considered having on him. He appeared to be black in color, but the obscurities of the darkness made it unfeasible to actually tell. He had a silver visor over his optics that was less pointed than Jazz' and had a distinct form that a battle mask would fit into. Down his body were indications of tan, silver and stripes of white. On his back were what appeared to be a set of wings. They appeared small in comparison to what Starscream looked like, so maybe they were an adornment? His left shoulder was mounted with a rather funny looking cannon. It appeared to be some sort of emitter, but what kind, he had no idea, since he had never seen anything like it before. The tip of it appeared to have a small pinpoint end to it and was white.

Starscream watched the monitor for a few seconds before narrowing his optics at a passing Ancient on the screen, an angry look taking over his face. The anger went unnoticed, thankfully.

The memory switched again. This time to what Sunstreaker had told Starscream. The Seeker watched as it played out. At first, he hadn't recognized it. It was a vague memory. He had only seen the place once, maybe twice, "I want to know how Sunstreaker got this dream,"

"It's a dream,"

"No, this is the bar between space and time, where all realities become as one," He watched as a mech appeared behind the bar, "Pause it please,"

Paused.

He stepped even closer, looking at the mech as he analyzed the footage, it was one of the Ancients he hadn't counted previously, "And that mech there is Maccadam,"

"Who in the Allspark is Maccadam?"

"In a little while I won't need to answer that, I am sure," Starscream said cryptically, making the red twin snort, "This is all we need, his memories have been unlocked, you can wake him," Starscream glanced at Sunstreaker. He never would have even guessed that these twins were the pair of the First Twins of Cybertron.

Sunstreaker was unhooked promptly after the machine was set to idle, and he suddenly opened his optics. To everyone but Starscream's astonishment, they were green, "Welcome back," Starscream made a strange gesture with his hand and Sunstreaker sat up. He gave a sideways glance at Starscream's colors.

Primus, there was two and soon to be 3 of those cryptic bots. Optimus wasn't sure how the base would handle 3 of them… Inwardly he groaned.

"Where is my weapon?" Everyone but Starscream glanced Sunstreaker. A combat array that his body and memory had concealed started to slowly appear. He already had his weapons. They just needed to reform.

"It'll return to you."

"Su – Sunny?" Sideswipe nearly choked out the words, looking his brother over, making Sunstreaker a bit uneasy, "Are you… alright?"

"Of course, I'm alright," The yellow warrior replied with his all-too-well known attitude, "what, you think I would come back a different mech? Frag, what are they feeding you these days?"

He hopped down off the berth, "I need to sleep, wake me when he gets his done, alright?" he said as he went to leave, his mind already flooding with new memories of every life he had ever lived and what was vital and what was not, not looking at anyone. As he disappeared around the corner, others who'd been watching him watched his colors shift from his golden yellow hue to his colors that he remembered himself being. He waved over his shoulder as he left. He was not entirely awoken, but it would come, just as it gradually was coming back to Starscream.

"So, he was always like that?" Wheeljack asked incredulously.

"Well now that I am positive of who he is, I guess his demeanor may have followed him through the ages," Starscream groaned. "Primus help us."


Primus help all of you when those two are involved...