"We know little about our home world," Predaking said. "There is much we can learn while developing its most important sites."
The green Autobot replied, "Right…"
"Tell me which direction we must go, and as soon as we are repaired, we shall depart."
Once their repairs were finished, the round green Autobot directed the Predacons toward the closest city of Iacon. Leaving the Nemesis behind, the Predacons glided north as the sun rose to its peak in the sky. Quiet silver plains of metal glowed yellow wherever rust and grease did not lie, absorbing the warmth of the sun. Thin canals of energon settled in the cracks in the land, a symbol of life in contrast to the grey ruins of small cities which rolled beneath the flying Predacons. Old decapitated heads peeked out from charred buildings, impaled on metal beams.
In the silence, the Predacons could almost believe they were the only living beings in this region of the world. Until, first faintly, then loudly, the clanging of machinery shook the air. Soaring toward the source, the Predacons discovered the largest city they had yet seen. A daunting expanse of blasted buildings covered the plains, but there was movement in its heart like a swarm of purple insects. When they flew closer, they identified half-finished gold and silver buildings covered in scaffolding and toiling Vehicons. As construction machines lifted bundles of materials, the Vehicons carried other supplies and rapidly pieced the buildings together.
Landing and transforming, the Predacons looked around them in awe. The Vehicons worked like clockwork, sealing walls and building up levels before their eyes.
"Who are they?" Darksteel asked. "Why do they all look the same? Are they living bots or machines?"
A pair of dutifully marching workers carrying a metal plate halted in front of them.
"We are certainly living," one Vehicon muttered. "We have sparks."
"Oh! Sorry," Darksteel said.
"What are you Predacons doing here?" another Vehicon asked. "Are you helping the Autobots too?"
"Indeed," Predaking answered. "How might we be of use here?"
Looking around again, Predaking noticed that labour had slowed. Identical faces looked down at the Predacons. Machines quieted. The closest Vehicons on the ground snuck closer while those on the lower levels of surrounding buildings leaned in.
"You could… carry things for us…?" the first Vehicon who had spoken suggested. He readjusted his grip on the plate he and his partner were carrying. "If you could get supplies up to higher levels, that'd be a big help."
Predaking nodded. "Would you like me to relieve you of that plate?"
The Vehicon speaker let out an embarrassed cough. He and his comrade began to shuffle away. "We can handle one. We're not that weak…"
The pair ambled off. The construction around the Predacons resumed once it became clear that they were not a threat to the Vehicons.
Skylynx said, "Well, we came to offer our strength, and those plates look light enough."
The Predacons followed the trail of plate-carrying Vehicons back to the source. As they passed other clones, who stood no taller than their hips, heads turned and Predaking overheard a few whispers including the word Predacon. When the trio located the pile of metal plates, a gargantuan rusty vehicle much larger than a Predacon had just finished dropping off a load. It rumbled away with a Vehicon behind the steering wheel.
Predaking looked around curiously. Vehicons managed the scene with intelligent skill: operating cranes, wordlessly teaming up on tasks, and knowing where everything went and how to assemble it. Despite the few blunders Predaking heard when Vehicons crashed into each other, he was still impressed by the mere fact that they had minds of their own.
Predaking scooped up four plates that would have taken eight Vehicons to carry. When Skylynx and Darksteel followed his example, Predaking bent down to add another three to his load. The weight was enough to make him feel the slightest strain, but the most difficult part was balancing the slippery stack in his arms.
They marched ahead of the line of Vehicons and arrived at one of the buildings under construction. Although the Vehicons left their cargo on the lower levels, they pointed upward and urged the Predacons to take their plates even higher. Predaking puffed his chest but then struggled to climb up the stairs, his feet not fitting on the tiny steps.
After he reached the top, Predaking dropped his plates and abandoned the idea of working in bot form. He transformed and leapt off the building, sailing back to the stockpile. Vehicons dashed away, some of them so startled that they dropped their supplies. On the ground, Predaking swiped together a stack of five plates and tried to secure them in his forefeet. When they slipped out of his grasp, he stabbed the metal with frustrated claws, surmising offhandedly that the damage would be easy to mend.
Skylynx and Darksteel swooped down in beast mode to try his method. Predaking flapped his wings and rushed to the top of the building almost instantly. He slowed with strong downward flaps, keeping steady while he deposited the plates. He didn't notice the powerful gusts of his wings had blown a few Vehicons off their feet—that is, until he heard their yelps and saw them flailing in the air. One was fortunate enough to have a Seeker's build, transforming and blasting off into the air. The others, however, were ground-bound and simply fell.
Predaking dropped after their plummeting bodies, but they crashed to the ground before he could catch them. Transforming, he placed the groaning Vehicons back on their feet.
"Perhaps I should remain in bot mode," Predaking suggested, though he knew it would frustrate him. "I apolo—"
A few more hollers came from above as Skylynx and Darksteel blew the next round of Vehicons off the building.
"I apologize," Predaking finished.
He hurried over to the other Vehicons who had fallen. Skylynx and Darksteel landed beside them, transforming to bot form.
"Whoops," Darksteel said. "Sorry."
The Vehicons stood and brushed themselves off. Many workers had stopped work again to stare at the Predacons.
"Yeah," one grunted. "Well… at least you're sorry. Don't fly around like that."
"Understood," Skylynx said.
For the rest of the day, the Predacons carried materials without causing any more trouble. Turning his head all around, Predaking was awed how quickly buildings frames grew and walls wrapped around to enclose them. Trucks came and left, bringing in a constant supply of materials. Only at nightfall, the trucks stopped coming and the construction machines powered down. Vehicons lumbered down the scaffolding or came down elevators to assemble on the ground. As a crowd, the workers wandered away and left the Predacons to curiously follow them.
"Hey," Darksteel asked a Vehicon by his foot. "Where are you going?"
"It's rest time," the Vehicon replied. "So we're going to our residence."
After many battles and plenty of flying, Predaking was exhausted after the day's labour. He just was not willing to admit it. He knew his brethren felt the same, since they eagerly trudged after the Vehicons to a new, though plain, silver building. Once the Predacons stepped through the doors, a chilling blue room welcomed them. A dim light shone off highly polished walls and freshly crafted tables and chairs. From the ceiling, silver and copper decorations hung in the form of curls or wound up balls. Strange rectangular devices stood at the end of the room, which two Vehicons powered on to unleash a flood of soothing sounds.
Many Vehicons sat down around the tables, starting up mumbled conversations. Other Vehicons squeezed past and waited for their turn at the elevators. Once Predaking spotted a tank of liquid energon being rolled in, he strode into the room. He bumped into the tables, struggling to squeeze through them while his brethren followed. Already, Vehicons were passing out cups of energon to each other, and when the Predacons reached the tank, cups were handed to them as well.
"Thanks for the help today," a Vehicon told them.
The Predacons gulped down their energon and were offered instant refills.
"What happened to your eye?" a second Vehicon asked Predaking.
"Starscream," Predaking uttered.
"Is he offline?"
"I let him go," Predaking muttered.
"Huh, interesting," the Vehicon said.
"Not as interesting as them working for the Autobots," a third Vehicon commented. "Don't you hate them?"
Predaking replied, "I still hold animosity toward the Autobots, for they slaughtered the Predacon clones on Earth. However, the Decepticons orchestrated the slaughter."
Skylynx's eyed widened. "There was a Predacon army on Earth?"
"Indeed. There were to be twenty four Predacons aside from myself. After I first transformed and revealed my bot mode, the Decepticons feared the intelligence of the Predacons. And so, they lured the Autobots to Shockwave's laboratory to allow them to murder the clones in their tubes for them."
Predaking carefully watched the Vehicons' reactions. They all shrugged helplessly. One replied, "We were never made aware of that plan."
Another added, "We thought the Autobots just found the lab somehow."
Predaking pulled his mouth to the side. "I suppose I always knew you were not responsible. The Decepticon command was. However, I unjustly took out my rage upon Vehicon troopers. You stood in my way of vengeance, and perhaps, I saw you as a part of what I wanted to destroy. But for what I have done to your kind… I apologize."
A Vehicon told him, "We're used to being killed off. By our own side even. You're the first to apologize to us for anything though."
"So none of you harbour ill feelings toward me?"
The same Vehicon replied, "Probably not. We mostly just… go with the flow. What else can we do? Adapting and not putting up a fuss is how we stay safe. But we dislike the Autobots, that's for sure. We know that they made games out of killing us. At least you didn't."
"I do not comprehend why you serve the Autobots, if you despise them most of all," Predaking replied with raised brows. "Do you not have the numbers to defeat them?"
"Numbers never helped us. Those Autobots always pull out the most ridiculous weapons that wipe us out. And after they killed Megatron and revived Cybertron, there didn't seem to be a point in continuing the fight. It was better to do construction instead of dying for no gain."
The other Vehicons nodded along.
"We were probably like you Predacons," a jet Vehicon said. "We didn't have any other plans, so we were just going to settle down, see how allying with the victors would work for us."
"Why are you speaking in the past tense?" Predaking questioned.
Vehicons titled their heads; Predaking interpreted the gesture as grinning.
"Because Megatron lives again," the jet Vehicon replied. "I reported it to the workers of Iacon and other fliers have already gone on to spread the word. I'm a newscarrier. I saw the undead Predacon army led by a reformatted Megatron. I stayed at a distance. I watched the battle you fought and saw what you missed: purple energy was drawn from Megatron into a container. That was Unicron, I wager. How else could Megatron be alive? Yes, and then Megatron flew away, far too fast for me to follow him. So, he's out there."
"It was Unicron, I can confirm that," Skylynx told them.
Predaking demanded, "You mean that Megatron lives after the defeat of the Demon Lord?"
"He lives," a Vehicon replied. "So now, we await his command."
Predaking snarled and glanced around them as though Megatron might manifest at the very mention of his name. "You would follow him if he returned to continue his selfish warmongering? Why would you wish to destroy this peace? Did you not just agree that you were tired of death?"
The Vehicons jolted at his outburst.
"Did Megatron ever respect you any more than the Autobots?" Predaking continued. "Recall how you were created as simple soldiers to be tossed into the battlefield. There is nothing good in being another bot's weapon of war: a mere tool to serve their agenda. I understand you now, and I know whatever devotion you profess for Megatron comes from deep conditioning and brainwashing. At this moment in time, you all have peace; the Autobots no longer fight or torture any of us. Why would you ruin what you have now to continue your nonsensical war?"
Vehicons hung their heads over their cups. Some took small sips, tilting back their heads and letting liquid pour through a straw into a crack in their faces. Then, the Vehicons began to mumble.
"Well, that's one way of thinking about it."
"We're just tools even to the Decepticons…"
"But what will we do without Megatron's leadership?"
Predaking told them, "We Predacons and you Vehicons were created to be nothing more than weapons of the Decepticon faction. So, if Megatron tries to enlist you, refuse. You must, if respect is what you seek for your kind."
The Vehicons fell into pensive silence.