Author's Notes: First of all, sorry this update took forever and a day. You'd think this fic would be my top priority story, but my inspiration has been pretty random these days. I still love this story and still intend to finish it, but I have a lot of other ideas that need attention both from Transformers and from other franchises. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy and review this chapter of My Spark Still Shines :)
Chapter 23
The Trigger
Skywarp came out of the storage room with his arms full of energon cubes ready to start a new life away from everyone and everything. The open roads of an unexplored world were all he needed. He wanted to be able to fly again and have more out of life, but he couldn't have that now, so he would settle for the necessities.
When Skywarp came out of the storage room however he was greeted by the stern looking faces of Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Miko. This could only mean one thing...
"Traitor," VS-5000 hissed at Miko when he saw her standing there with her hands on her hips.
"Sorry dude, but if you go back to Megatron the Autobots would be in major trouble," Miko told him unapologetically, "I can't let that happen."
"Miko has informed us that you were a Decepticon before you became a Vehicon," Optimus said with a questioning tone, "Tell me, what was your name before you became a Vehicon?"
"Uh...Dreadwing?" Skywarp lied.
"Dreadwing's still alive, punk," Ironhide drawled impatiently, "Yer real name."
"Uh...well...I hate you so much right now, Miko!" Skywarp snapped, and then huffed out an intake of air before he finally said, "Skywarp. There, you happy? I'm Skywarp! I'm Starscream's brother, and I had over two hundred confirmed kills even before I turned into a drone."
"Skywarp?" Ratchet whispered; his eyes widening with shock and growing distant.
Ratchet was only too familiar with Skywarp's work. His ability to teleport had been one of Megatron's greatest assets in the early days of the war for Cybertron. The elite trine had led the charge when Praxis was destroyed, had aided in the corruption of his youngest son, and Thundercracker and Skywarp were the ones who murdered Prowl in cold energon as he bravely led his comrades to safety. He wasn't Starscream or Thundercracker, but Ratchet still hated him. Skywarp was a monster, and now he was in their base.
"What still puzzles me," Optimus said to the group, unaware that Ratchet was lost in his own processor, "Is that Megatron turned you into a mere Vehicon drone. You were considered one of his best soldiers, and you were the brother of his second in command. So the question I pose to you is, why?"
"Um, I think I know why," Skywarp replied uncertainty; all bravado lost, "But I'm not sure. I remember my last mission. I was sent to retrieve a weapon from the enemy, who had just infiltrated our territory. I flew to the top of a building in Vos while Starscream and Thundercracker kept the Autobots busy. When I got there though, there was one Autobot left. It was a member of the elite guard named Fortress Maximus. He was huge, and there was no way I could outfight him, so I tried to outmaneuver him. I teleported this way and that until I was close enough to take the weapon for myself, but he saw me and blasted me right in my turbines. Then he pushed me off the roof and I fell."
"How did you survive?" Miko asked, wrapped up in the story.
"The last thing I remember before hitting the ground was how good the air felt on my hot turbines," Skywarp recalled, "I knew I was going to die, but instead of being afraid I decided to enjoy the fall. The landing is the bad part anyway, and the pain from that only lasts a second, or so I thought. I flitted in and out of consciousness for several agonizing breems, and the last thing I remember is being in a medbay with Megatron and Shockwave hovering over me. I thought they were going to fix me, but that's where my Skywarp memories end. After that I woke up believing I was a drone, and Megatron programmed me to be a soldier class Vehicon. I think he made me a Vehicon because I failed my mission."
"Whoa, that's rough," Miko commented sympathetically, "I can't believe Megatron even betrayed his own soldiers."
"I don't care about the betrayal, not really," Skywarp shrugged, "But why did he have to take my wings? The very next drone in the Vosian line-up was an Eradicon, and they can fly! Why not me? Why?"
"Yer not gonna cry, are you?" Ironhide asked teasingly.
"No, I'm not gonna cry!" Skywarp snapped irritably, "I just don't understand! Why wasn't I good enough to save? At least if I had been given flight I would kind of get it. Megatron prefers fliers to grounders. Did Megatron not like me? I thought I was one of his favorite soldiers. I thought I mattered, but nobody matters to him."
"Optimus," Ratchet finally spoke after he came to his senses, "We should destroy Skywarp."
His quiet yet severe words were met with silent looks of shock from everyone in the room. Optimus knew Ratchet hated the elite trine, but he never thought the old medic would consider killing one when he was in such a weakened state.
"Ratchet-," Optimus began, but Ratchet cut him off by holding up his servo.
"Ep, ep, ep!" Ratchet exclaimed crossly, "No! None of your talk of the Autobot way and seeing the good in others. There is no good in Skywarp. He's just like Starscream; a monster. We don't have a brig to hold him, and we can't let him go back to Megatron. Our only option is to terminate him."
"Terminate?" Skywarp whined, "You mean I'm gonna be killed and fired? That's just kicking a mech when he's down!"
"Do you see that? He makes jokes even when his own life is on the line!" Ratchet shouted indignantly as he gestured to the Vehicon, "He doesn't care about anyone, not even himself!"
"That's not true! I do care about myself!" Skywarp defended, but for some reason that only made Ratchet angrier, "Look, Doc, I get it! This is about Prowl, isn't it? Look, you don't know what we were facing. TC didn't want to shoot him."
"Yeah right," Ratchet growled.
"No, it's true!" Skywarp continued rambling in hopes of saying something that would keep him alive, "TC respected Prowl, and he never wanted to hurt that Praxian. I even offered to do it for him, but he said no. Oh wait, I just made things worse, didn't I? Well, if it's any consolation TC didn't like it. He was upset afterward and I told him to get over it because it was just a stinking Autobot- Oh, scrap! I messed up again! Wait-"
Ratchet had heard enough excuses, and with another guttural growl he turned his servos into blades and charged for the simpering Vehicon. Skywarp saw this just in time to scoot to one side to avoid Ratchet's attack. Ratchet turned back around and sliced down, but Skywarp dove between Ratchet's legs and slid through them to get behind the medic.
Ratchet turned around to strike again, but Optimus held him back. Skywarp tried to escape but Ironhide grabbed him and held him in place. Miko watched all this with wide enthralled eyes. She knew she should be upset at Ratchet, but there was still that part of her that enjoyed watching giant robots duke it out.
"Enough!" Optimus boomed, forcing Ratchet to cool off and Skywarp to freeze in place, "Now Ratchet, we promised the Vehicons protection-"
"That was before we knew who he was!" Ratchet cut Prime off, "We promised protection for former civilians and Autobots. Skywarp is neither of those things. He has killed innocents and aided in the murder of my oldest son. I can never forgive him for that."
"No one's asking you to," Skywarp spat as he hung limply in Ironhide's grip, "I know what we did was wrong, but it was a war. If Thundercracker didn't kill Prowl, well...I couldn't let him back out. I would rather see some random Autobot die than my own brother."
"What are you talkin' about?" Ironhide asked, "Prowl didn't have his weapon when you creeps shot him in cold energon. You two morons weren't in any danger from him at all."
"I know," Skywarp replied; his voice suddenly sullen and subdued, "It wasn't Prowl that had TC's cockpit in a vice. It was Megatron."
"What is that thing?" Starscream asked as he and his trine looked at the cables snaking around a medical berth like a garden of parasitic vines.
"It kinda looks like a torture table," Skywarp commented.
The elite trine were in Shockwave's lab after being summoned by Megatron, but the warlord and his SIC Shockwave weren't there yet. Apparently this was supposed to be some sort of demonstration, but what type of...thing...Shockwave invented was not yet clear to the confused and nervous seekers.
Just then Megatron and Shockwave came into the room they had summoned the trine to, and Starscream sneered at seeing Shockwave again. That purple cyclops had become Megatron's most trusted confidant, a position Starscream himself once held, and it made the seeker's energon boil in jealousy.
"Greetings, my warriors," Megatron smiled a cunning smile as he walked toward the strange device the seekers had been eyeing, "I see you have already had a glimpse of Shockwave's latest and greatest invention.
"This is his greatest invention?" Starscream asked derisively, "It looks like a junk computer and reject parts."
"That is an incorrect assessment, Starscream," Shockwave replied without inflection; a trait that always gave Skywarp the creeps, "This is the latest in interrogation technology. Gentlemen, I give you, the cortical psychic patch."
"Uh...so...What does it do?" Skywarp asked ignorantly.
"It tortures the prisoner, obviously!" Starscream snapped at his half-witted brother.
"Not exactly," Shockwave corrected, "The device infiltrates the processor of the subject and extrapolates their neural net so that all of their memories can be viewed by the interrogator. There is also a feature where one neural net can infiltrate another thus allowing the interrogator to question the subject while their processors are being scanned."
"That's...disturbing," Thundercracker, who had been quiet the entire time, commented.
"Something to hide, Thundercracker?" Megatron asked suspiciously.
"No sir, I merely believe that this device is an invasion of the most basic right to privacy," Thundercracker defended himself.
"Autobots have no rights," Megatron barked challengingly at being questioned, "And my followers will submit to whatever I wish. For your insubordination, I order you to be the first Decepticon to try out Shockwave's new device."
All three seekers gaped in horror at Megatron's order. This was an interrogation device meant to be used on their enemies. It was a device that shredded through the mind like a rake through sand.
"M-Master, surely Thundercracker could be forgiven just this once..." Starscream attempted to reason with Megatron, "He is after all one of your most loyal soldiers."
"We'll see about that," Megatron sneered sinisterly, "Thundercracker, get on the table."
Thundercracker really didn't want to do this, but if he didn't then Megatron might force Skywarp or Starscream to go in his place. Reluctantly the blue and grey seeker submitted to his master's will and allowed Shockwave to hook him to the device. To the surprise of the other seekers Shockwave also hooked Megatron up to the corresponding berth to serve as the interrogator.
Once inside Thundercracker's processor, Megatron asked the question that would forever force the seeker out of Megatron's good graces.
"Thundercracker, was there ever a time you helped our enemies on the battlefield? Show me if there was," Megatron ordered in a cold and calculated tone of voice.
As much as Thundercracker wanted to fight the probe he simply couldn't, and soon he was showing a memory that he himself had nearly forgotten. It was the day Praxus was conquered and the seekers were gathering survivors to either kill or convert into the very first wave of Vehicon drones. The memory then showed Thundercracker coming across a young white and black Praxian that begged for a quick death and spoke of losing his little brother. Thundercracker had felt sorry for the mech, so he let him go. Of course Megatron recognized the young mech. After all, who wouldn't? It was the mech that grew up to be Prime's own SIC; Prowl.
Thundercracker felt himself being forced awake again, and his helm hurt when he onlined back in the lab. He turned his helm and saw that Megatron was already up and standing over him with an angry look on his face plate.
"So, you allowed Prowl to escape?" Megatron stated rather than asked, "And because of your laziness he grew to become one of our greatest enemies. I hope you have your affairs in order, because I don't take treason lightly."
"No, wait! He's not a traitor!" Skywarp stepped in front of Thundercracker's berth to shield him, which meant he was uncomfortably close to Megatron, "Sir, please. That was deca-vorns ago. TC would kill Prowl in a sparkbeat now, wouldn't you bro?"
"Uh, of course," Thundercracker was still dazed, but he knew he needed to say whatever it took to survive Megatron's wrath, "I'm loyal to the Decepticons one hundred percent."
"That's good to hear," Megatron replied in a deceptively agreeable tone, "But words alone will not sway me. You have twenty orns to find and kill Prowl. By that time I will have a spark chamber in my servos. It will either be Prowls, or yours."
"Yes, M-M-Master," Thundercracker replied shakily, "I w-won't let you down."
"Good," Megatron nodded as he turned to leave the room, "Oh, and Shockwave? Save the recording of this session. I think there was some lag time between request and retrieval of information."
"Yes, Lord Megatron," Shockwave replied dutifully as he set about working on improving his invention.
Starscream led the trine away from that horrid room with its snaking tentacles. They all knew Megatron wasn't lying. They would have to find Prowl, and they would have to do it soon.
It had been 15 orns since Megatron's threat on Thundercracker's life. They had only 5 orns left to find the Praxian, and the trine was working tirelessly to search for him. Even Starscream, who had many responsibilities on board the flagship, took time off to aid Thundercracker and Skywarp in their search.
"Maybe I should just take the punishment like a mech," Thundercracker said miserably as he sat in the control room with his brothers; their claws clacking away on keyboards searching for the elusive Autobot SIC, "Maybe I should face Megatron and try to reason with him."
"Megatron cannot be reasoned with," Starscream dismissed the idea outright, "I have worked with him long enough to know that trying to use logic on Megatron is a fool's errand."
"Don't worry, TC. We'll find that Autobot slagger," Skywarp reassured his trine brother, "You'll rip through his spark and then present his head to Megatron yourself. That'll show how loyal you are, and no one will ever question you again."
Thundercracker sighed, and Skywarp realized his pep talk didn't have quite the effect he had hoped. After a few minutes of silence, TC finally told them why.
"I don't think we should kill Prowl," Thundercracker explained, and Starscream sneered at him while Skywarp looked shocked, "I'm serious, guys. I've looked into the reports of Praxian deaths since the destruction of their city-state. A few missing mechs dropped off the map, but as far as those verified to be alive, there are only two: Prowl and Ratchet. Ratchet is old and will likely never build another creation. If anything of the legacy of Praxus is to survive, then Prowl must survive. I just...I don't feel worthy of deciding whether or not an entire race and culture deserves to die. If I kill Prowl, then it's genocide."
"So?" Skywarp asked with less gravity than Thundercracker, "It won't be the first time. We Decepticons survive because we are strong. We seekers grow in numbers because we are strong. If Prowl can't kill you, then it'll be his fault when you kill him. It's as simple as that."
Thundercracker glared at Skywarp, and the black and purple seeker realized he had said the wrong thing again.
"If you're done shoving your pede into your mouth," Starscream growled at Skywarp, "I have a visual on the New Polyhex Space Station. It was recently reclaimed by Autobots, and according to the roster Prowl is their commander. Gentlemechs, we have found our target..."
The scene in the space station was pure chaos from the moment the Decepticons forcibly boarded. Autobot mechs and femmes were running and screaming everywhere. There was smoke from the laser blasts firing on the hull shielding and a red blinking light that coated every room as the warning klaxon blared. Skywarp could barely see what was in front of him, but he never lost sight of Thundercracker. Starscream had separated to search on the other side of the ship for Prowl, so that left TC and Skywarp to search without him.
"We should head for the escape pods!" Thundercracker shouted over the siren.
"We can't leave now! We haven't found him yet!" Skywarp screamed back over the noise.
"No, 'Warp. The escape pods is where they'll be going! We can intercept them!" Thundercracker explained.
"Oh, okay!" Skywarp was getting really tired of that stupid klaxon, but he had to admit to himself he enjoyed yelling everything he said.
Thundercracker led the way and Skywarp stayed on his heels (which were not that girly, thank you very much). The seekers had miscalculated their speed, because by the time they got there most of the Autobots had already boarded the life pods. Fortunately for them, the one Autobot that actually mattered to them was still there ushering his comrades into the pods that remained.
They saw Bumblebee and Ratchet board a pod, which just left Prowl, Hound, and a sparkling that Hound was holding in his arms.
/You get Prowl, I'll get tall green and ugly,/ Skywarp growled over the comm as he aimed for the unsuspecting Autobot sire.
/No!/ Thundercracker quickly replied as he placed his servo on Skywarp's gun, /We only need Prowl. Let the others go. Seekers do not kill sparklings./
/Um, yeah, that attitude is what got us into this mess in the first place,/ Skywarp pointed out.
Skywarp then went to take aim on his targets again, but Hound and his son Drill Bit were already in the escape pod by the time Skywarp and Thundercracker had stopped arguing. That only left Prowl, and Thundercracker steeled himself for his grisly deed. Skywarp could tell from the stiff way Thundercracker walked that he wasn't ready to do this.
"Prowl," Thundercracker softly growled his name, and Prowl turned around calmly to look at the Decepticon.
"Do not attempt to go after my friends," Prowl warned Thundercracker as he gave the blue seeker a cold glare, "I will not let you pass this threshold, Decepticon."
"I know," Thundercracker replied ruefully, "And I will not allow you to pass either. You asked me for a quick death when you were a youngling, and now I am here to grant it."
"We have fought many times before," Prowl pointed out, "What makes you think you can defeat me now?"
"Because now you are alone," Thundercracker replied as he raised his blaster to Prowl's chassis.
Prowl drew his weapon as well, and the two mechs just stood there for a few tense breems holding their weapons at each other. Nether one seemed willing to fire first, yet neither one was willing to back down. Skywarp finally got bored and shot the gun out of Prowl's servo, and as Prowl bent down to grab it Skywarp teleported and took the SIC's weapon.
"Now, TC! Either you shoot him or I will!" Skywarp shouted at Thundercracker, and the blue seeker's digit tensed on the trigger.
"I apologize to you, Autobot," Thundercracker rasped as he repositioned his blaster to aim for Prowl's helm, "Say hello to your brother in the Allspark."
Thundercracker then shot at Prowl, but Prowl moved to the side to dodge the attack. He tried to slip by them, but his bulkier body meant the seekers were faster than him. Skywarp grabbed Prowl and held him in place while Thundercracker took aim again, this time killing the SIC with two shots; one in the helm and one in the spark.
Skywarp dropped the body and let the lifeless frame fall to the ground. Thundercracker's intakes were the only sound that could be heard in the area. Starscream was somewhere in the station, but beyond that they were completely alone in the depths of space staring down at a hero who had been cut down while saving his friends.
"So you see? He didn't even wanna do it!" Skywarp finished telling the story to the present day Autobots and Miko, "He had to! It was Prowl's life or TC's, and I would have sooner shot Prowl myself than let TC die! Not that it matters, since he's dead anyway."
Skywarp, now a Vehicon and living with fresh memories that were millennia old, could do nothing more than stand beside Ironhide and hope that the Autobots didn't boil him alive or something gruesome like that. By now even more Autobots had gathered, which only served to make the atmosphere even more tense. For a moment everything was quiet in the former missile silo, but then...
"Optimus," Ratchet said slowly and softly, "I say we should snuff his spark while we still can."
"I'm with Ratchet," Arcee added, "Skywarp killed Ratchet's son and doesn't even feel remorse for it. He deserves to die."
"Et tu, Arcee?" Skywarp whined, "Miko is so much cooler than you!"
"Uh, I'm kinda with them," Miko said sheepishly.
"What!? Not you too!" Skywarp shouted desperately.
"Look Skywarp, I don't really think you should die," Miko elaborated, "But I understand if they do decide to kill you. You work for Megatron-"
"I used to work for Megatron!" Skywarp shouted defensively, "I'm not that mech anymore! Skywarp as you guys knew him died when Megatron clipped my wings. Look, I can't change the past, but I'll help you now. I don't have anything to lose. I have no family, no wings, and no home. Cybertron is dead and so am I. Just give me one more chance, please?"
Skywarp waited with stalled intakes to see if the Autobots would let him stay. He knew Optimus had the final word but at the same time he also knew Ratchet held a lot of clout among the Autobots and would likely try to sway them to kill him. He only hoped enough of the others were on his side.
[Maybe Skywarp should just leave,] Bumblebee suggested, [He doesn't have to stay here. He could just go somewhere else like he wanted to do in the first place.]
"No can do, little mech," Chromia shook her head grimly, "He knows where our base is located. That information would be too juicy for Megatron to resist, and then we'd all be in trouble."
"Yeah, Skywarp is Starscream's brother after all," Bulkhead added, "It would be just like him to try to sell us out."
"Hey, I'm insulted by that!" Skywarp yelled hotly, "Just because Starscream is a selfish backstabbing glitch doesn't mean I am! Besides, I'm never going back to Megatron. Not after what he did to me. I mean look at me! I look like a purple storm trooper with tires!"
"Hey!" Bluestreak whined, "We don't look that bad!"
"I know...it's just the principal of the thing," Skywarp muttered in discontent, "Please Prime, just let me stay. Think of all the good times we had."
Optimus thought about how the drone hadn't stopped annoying him since he showed up and half the time broke things when he was only asked to do basic chores, but Optimus patiently chose not to say any of that.
"You will be allowed to stay," Optimus informed him.
"Yes!" Skywarp pumped a metallic fist in the air.
"But," Optimus continued, and Skywarp tensed up, "Your comm system will be shut off until further notice. I must admit that it will take a while for you to prove yourself trustworthy given this new information, but I believe you can do it. You have been a valued addition to our team, and I hope that you truly have changed for the better. Our only hope for peace is to learn to cooperate, and to forgive. I have already said this to you once, but now I say this to you as Skywarp, welcome to Team Prime."