Evening had fallen, and Thundercracker and Skywarp were in their room, winding down after a long day and preparing to recharge. At least, that was what Thundercracker wanted to be doing. Instead he was rubbing at his forehead and managing another Skywarp freak out.
"But TC, bears!" panicked the Seeker, gesturing wildly behind him, "They live in the woods and in caves. WE live in a cave in the woods!"
"Skywarp, you're like three times bigger than a bear," grated out Thundercracker with as much patience as he could muster, though he knew it was likely pointless. Facts and logic seemed to rarely have an effect when the anxious jet got like this. And from a nature documentary of all things! Apparently he had severely underestimated how horrifying the native organic life could be. (Or how terrifying human nature documentaries were.) "And do you really think a bear could do anything to me?"
Skywarp thought that over, but it did nothing to calm him down as he just moved on to the next horror, "What about those little bugs? They're so small you can't even see them and they crawl inside you and take over your brain!"
Thundercracker was pretty sure that wasn't what the documentary had said, but he hadn't really seen the whole thing, only snatches in passing. "We don't even have brains, we have processors," he corrected exasperatedly, pinching at the space between his optics. At this point his panicking brother was freaking out so much Thundercracker could swear it was almost making him feel nervous. Which was ridiculous, Thundercracker was never nervous about anything, he thought proudly. If only Skywarp could be half as brave as he was…~By the Allspark, Warp, just calm down already.~ he thought loudly, barely holding himself off from saying so out loud.
~But..but..~ Skywarp halfway retorted, but paused at a weird feeling. A steady confidence? Annoyance? Why would he be feeling any of that right now? But it also didn't seem like he was feeling that way, he didn't know how to describe this. It was like someone was giving him confidence. He didn't know what it was, but it was helping him feel better. Better enough to really think about what TC was trying to say to him. ~This, um, this doesn't seem like comms,~ he realized. The statement was followed by a sudden sensation of surprise and shock, and yeah ok this was really weird. "Th-thundercracker?" he asked nervously.
"Shush. I'm thinking!" the blue Seeker's expression scrunched thoughtfully, as there was no denying the sudden feelings of anxious panic that were washing over him. But he knew he wasn't feeling anything of the sort. Not once since his activation had he ever felt fear of this degree. (Or fear at all, as he believed to himself.) So there was logically only one other place it could be coming from. Pointing at his brother, he commanded, "Feel something!"
"Er, ok, what?" replied the black Seeker, and now that he was specifically looking for it there was no way of missing the sense of confusion and amusement that couldn't possibly be his own.
At the amusement, Thundercracker scowled, "What's so funny? I'm in the middle of a brilliant deduction."
"No! It's not-it's just a really weird thing to ask someone to do, you know?" then he paused, because he knew he hadn't smiled or anything, how did Thundercracker know? "How did you know I thought it was kinda funny?"
Thundercracker huffed at the explanation and the question. "That's what I'm getting to!" Anyway with his guess all but confirmed there was something way bigger to deal with than Skywarp's disrespectful amusement. Focusing on the feelings that weren't his again, Thundercracker found other connections, and he gave them an experimental mental poke to see if he could follow them. His prodding yielded a more distant puzzlement - this time it clearly didn't seem to be coming from Skywarp. Grabbing his brother's arm and shouting "C'mon!", he ignored Skywarp's confused protests as he dragged him out into the hall, the fainter, additional confusion becoming clearer the more he focused on it and the closer he got to what he assumed was the source.
He barged into Sunstorm and Ramjet's new room without a knock, similarly commanding them both as he entered, "You two, feel something!"
"Wow, it was so considerate of you to knock before going into our room," snarked Ramjet from his berth, confused and annoyed. Sunstorm on the top bunk was more confused and worried, from the feel of things.
"Them too?" questioned Skywarp, no doubt feeling the same thing as Thundercracker was, his wings flattening against his back amidst a wave of distress.
"What about us 'too'?" wondered Sunstorm, curiosity trickling in amidst his growing worry, "Is everything alright?"
"Here, just, it's-" Thundercracker's masterful word crafting was lost as he struggled to describe what was even happening right now. Instead he focused on his own feelings of pride at being correct and bewilderment, and pictured shoving them along the connections he felt. "Do you feel that?"
From the sudden shock and bafflement that he felt from connections that seemed only to be getting stronger all the while, Thundercracker knew they must have.
"What the spark is this?!" gasped Ramjet, audibly confirming it. Thundercracker was about to answer and paused when he felt what he could only attempt to describe as a tug (or maybe it was more like a poke?) on whatever the scrap was happening between them all. It was a weird feeling, like a request ping over comms but deeper. Not anything heard or transmitted, just felt. He looked over at Ramjet, knowing without knowing somehow that it had come from him. From his hiked wings and the stress coming from him, it was obvious he was freaking out about whatever he had just done just as much as Thundercracker. "Well this isn't weird at all," he quipped in a strained voice.
Suddenly, Slipstream stormed into the room, a simmering annoyance and even more confusion entering with her. "What are you glitchheads doing in here?" her voice sounded mad, but all in the room suddenly realized the feeling coming from her was worried more than anything. "What the spark is this?" she echoed Ramjet's sentiments as she assessed the situation, her feelings flickering and dimming as she analyzed everything, though even she seemed taken aback by whatever was happening. All of them in a room together were becoming a joint wave of confusion and varying degrees of nervousness.
"What's happening with us?!" Skywarp panicked aloud, hands gripping at the side of his face and his particular fear rising to more prominence through the mire of emotions.
Thundercracker's annoyance was growing in strength, and with a simultaneous tug on all of the newly discovered bonds he roared, "Everyone CALM DOWN!" Everyone didn't so much calm as be startled into shocked silence at the unexpected sensation, but the Seeker would take it because at least he could think again without dealing with everyone else's panicking. "We know what each other are feeling, I thought that would be obvious even to you all significantly less observant mechs." He'd normally get sass back for saying things like that, but there was a surprising lack of insulted feelings coming from the other clones. Probably because he wasn't actually mad at them or even really feeling that superior to them, he just said things like that. He couldn't help but feel a pang of relief at that, though he was surprised at some of the responding guilt and sympathy from his siblings. He collapsed to sit on Ramjet's berth, suddenly almost as overwhelmed as he had just pulled his siblings out of being. This - whatever this was - was an astounding ability, and he would almost have to admit he didn't have a clue what was going on or what to do with it. His head shot up as an answering force of reassurance and hope rushed towards him, locking optics with Sunstorm who was steadily emanating a calm presence.
"Obviously we're all sensing each other's feelings," agreed Slipstream, her speech far less amiable than the feeling of interest and curiosity that came off of her, "The more important question would be why, don't you think?"
"We should ask our wise creator," proposed Sunstorm, sitting up hopefully in his berth, "He would know what to do." The orange jet's sense of faith and adoration in Starscream was enough to make Slipstream roll her optics, but he wasn't wrong, and she couldn't hide the pulse of agreement she felt at the suggestion.
"Unless anyone else has any bright ideas?" asked Ramjet sarcastically, looking around the Seekers in the room with a dim defensiveness.
No one else did, so the crowd of confused Seekers rushed to Starscream's chambers, causing the startled mech to drop the datapad he had been looking over on his desk as they entered.
"For the love of- what is it now?" he griped, turning around in his seat to glare over the group of clones.
"We do humbly apologize for the intrusion-"
"-it's so weird and I'm freaking out-"
"-not that you're smarter than me but the others thought-"
The clones talked over each other in a crowd of flickering wings, all of them explaining in a way that explained absolutely squat to the older Seeker.
"We've suddenly become able to sense each other's emotions," Slipstream spoke out clearly and calmly, her voice easily piercing over the jumbled chorus of the others'.
Starscream's expression became more serious at the pronouncement, his optics sweeping over the clones thoughtfully. "How suddenly?" he asked, losing all traces of bluster and annoyance, but oddly not seeming overly confused or surprised at the sudden power.
"Like, just now," she answered, giving Starscream's reaction a skeptical look.
Shooting up to his feet, hands flat against the desktop, Starscream ordered, "Medbay, now. All of you."
The clones all fidgeted as they watched Starscream tap at their one diagnostic machine, trying to figure out their random new connections with tentative pokes as their worry and wonder resonated between them.
"Slipstream, come over here," the older Seeker beckoned the clone over firmly, though he still wasn't particularly worried or angry.
She gave him a defiant glare, though the others could feel the faintest of nerves in her hesitation. Her glare shifted briefly to Sunstorm as he attempted to reassure her with some trust and optimism that she was sure she didn't need. It didn't bother him at all, though, so she went back to glaring at Starscream as she marched up to the medbay berth.
"You better know what you're doing, old timer," she snipped at her creator as she laid down on the berth.
Starscream didn't retort, and that honestly made her almost a bit nervous. Instead he silently grabbed the one piece of diagnostic equipment he'd never used on any of them before, attaching it to the armor just above Slipstream's cockpit.
"Wh-what's that?" asked Skywarp, his wings high and tense as his posture hunched, the nervous energy from his siblings not helping any with his already existing struggle to not constantly panic- at least until he was surrounded by reassurance from several different directions. The added calm and assurance helped him center as his frame lost some of its tension, and he couldn't help but feel a rush of gratitude for that.
"Spark monitor. Never used it before because, well…" explained Starscream distractedly, waving vaguely with one hand as if that clarified anything and tapping at something on the diagnostic's control monitor with the other. He adjusted something on the device, his wings going suddenly slack with shock as he stared at the screen. He grabbed at the monitor with both hands, claws digging slightly into the metal as he drew it closer to his face. After a moment longer of shocked staring, he broke into a wide, somehow triumphant, grin.
"Well? Are you just going to leave me in suspense or are you going to tell me why I'm hooked up to a bunch of wires?"
He turned the monitor around, displaying lines of activity that lit up the device, and most obvious of all, a 3d rendered graphic of a faintly pulsing orb. Slipstream looked between the coiled wires attached to her chest and the monitor activity, realizing the significance right away. She was shocked out of her expression of vague annoyance, looking at the machine with a kind of faint wonder as her hand traced along the edge of the spark monitor on her armor. "It's…" she trailed off, too disbelieving to say it aloud.
"It's a spark," confirmed Starscream, looking no less victorious, even proud as he continued to grin at the spark monitor's readings, the picture of Slipstream's spark lightly spinning, as all sparks did.
Slipstream's incredulity at the revelation was echoed by most of her brothers - though Sunstorm was practically radiating with palpable joy instead. "A spark!" he wondered aloud to no one in particular, a hand clasped above his own cockpit, imagining he could feel his own spark's spin beneath the armored plating, his wings quivering with unsuppressed glee.
Attempting to push aside her brother's threateningly contagious happiness, she instead stared at Starscream - still too overwhelmed to quite manage to make it a glare- asking him emphatically, "How?!"
Starscream shrugged in a way Slipstream thought was entirely too casual for the situation and he replied, "Well, the Allspark's main function is creating sparks. Looks like each one of your little shards of it have still been working away this whole time developing them."
Slipstream continued to stare at the blipping monitor in wonder, her optics locked on the movement it displayed, and too amazed to bother hiding her reaction with snark. Sunstorm was grinning widely and bouncing on his pedetips joyfully while Ramjet and Skywarp shared amazed, if slightly still confused, looks. The only one who didn't seem to care much for the enormity of the moment was Thundercracker, who was instead a blistering sense of impatience.
"Cool, sparks. What does this have to do with us sharing feelings?" butt in Thundercracker, annoyed at what he had started to consider his own personal project being sidelined for so long.
Starscream settled back pensively, entirely calmer now that his suspicions were confirmed, grin lessening but refusing to fully leave his face. "There's a phenomenon on Cybertron," he started to lecture in a smug tone, always happy to have the answer when others didn't, "sometimes, if a new spark splits in two before it reaches protoform, it makes two mechs instead of one. These 'split spark' twins have reportedly had strange and powerful bonds - sensing each other, seeming to know without speaking what the other is thinking, stuff like that. It's always been hard to know what that means exactly without anyone other than the split sparks themselves being able to feel it, but with your current situation I'd say I have a few guesses," he waved towards the clones as he explained his theory.
Slipstream's optics widened in realization, her gaze darting analytically between the still blipping spark monitor, Starscream, and her fellow clones, everything seeming to fall further into place as she sensed her brothers' questioning confusion in response to her own growing understanding. "We have sparks now. And our sparks were all originally derived from the same central source," she looked at Starscream pointedly, optics still wide, "You."
Starscream nodded proudly, certain that she would have been able to come to the same conclusion as him. "Exactly. Sort of split-spark … eh, what's it - quintuplets."
A quiet sort of awe settled over the siblings, interspersed with gratitude, smugness, nervousness, all of it serving as a testament to the bond between them. For a moment it was all any of them could do to just take in the moment and share in the traded feelings that bridged between each of them.
"I always knew we were special!" bragged Thundercracker.
"Thank the Allspark for such a precious gift!" proclaimed Sunstorm passionately, hands clasped cheerfully.
"So, anything else come in this new power package?" Slipstream asked Starscream in a deceptively dry tone as she unhooked herself and stood up from the berth, the spark monitor making distressed noises of lost contact as she did.
"Hey, who said you could leave medberth, missy?" scolded Starscream, moving to turn off the annoying machine.
She scoffed, arms akimbo as she answered sassily, "I did."
"Opinionated, difficult little.." muttered her creator.
Rolling her optics, she pressed again, "So?"
Getting over his annoyance, he explained, though less gladly than before, "There are speculations that these spark bonds can be used for communication of sorts. I bet that'd be real handy if you're someplace that blocks comms…" he mused.
"We already figured that one out," informed Thundercracker loftily, arms crossed proudly.
"We did?" asked Skywarp, as he shared a confused look with Ramjet and Sunstorm. Slipstream regarded Thundercracker with a doubtfulness that was fully reflected in her emotional presence.
Thundercracker thought it over for a moment, picking at the bonds experimentally and remembering back to mere minutes before when he and Skywarp had talked without talking. Thinking he had it, he experimented with sending to all of his siblings, ~This, remember? It's what started this whole thing!~
~Oh, yeah,~ remembered Skywarp.
Sunstorm gasped, excitement rippling over their shared bond. "Ramjet!" he cried eagerly, shaking said brother's shoulder, "Ramjet! Do that! Try to say something - an opinion!" It was a testament to his excitement that he didn't even layer his request with compliments, titles, or any embellishing statements whatsoever.
"Why?" replied the white jet, too bemused at his brother's excited joy to want to try and shake him off. However even as he questioned, he made an attempt to do as his sibling had suggested. Going quiet for a moment, he tested the connections, trying to figure out how to say something before saying with a flippant air, not at all sure this would work, ~Sunstorm's my favorite sibling.~
~Aw man, I thought I had a chance.~ pouted Skywarp, ~Oh, who am I kidding, it's obvious anyway.~ It seemed to hit all of them at once that there hadn't been any need to translate, including Ramjet himself as his optics widened and his elated surprise washed over them all. Evidently bond communication wasn't affected by his linguistic shortcomings.
~RAMJET!~ "RAMJET!" cheered Sunstorm loudly, over the bond and out loud, pulling his brother into such a tight hug he nearly lifted the other off the ground, ~You spoke the truth! Also, awww, I am your favorite? I'm not deserving of such a title!~
The lying Seeker grinned, more than happy to be swept up by the other's joy, since he felt much the same himself. ~I did! And you are.~ he confirmed, and even affirming something so small, saying anything so true, made his grin even wider. ~This is amazing! I think having sparks is the best thing that ever happened to us.~
The happy occasion was cut short by a pointed fake throat clearing from their creator, "Ah-HEM, care to let others who don't have a special split-spark bond connection into the loop?"
"Spark bond communication is real and Ramjet can tell the truth with it!" exclaimed Skywarp happily, also giving the white jet a hug as soon as Sunstorm had put him down.
"Fascinating," murmured Starscream, for once the phrase not uttered sarcastically as he thoughtfully observed the clones. Shaking off his curiosity with a mental note to look into it more later, he patted at the sleeping spark monitor and gestured towards the clones, asking, "Ok, who's next?"
"Who's next, what?" asked Thundercracker, sharing a look with the others.
"For a checkup. Making sure all of your sparks developed properly."
"I gratefully volunteer!" shouted out Sunstorm immediately, raising his hand and shooting over to the medberth even before Starscream could reply.
"Ooookay," responded Starscream, not really expecting any enthusiasm for a medical checkup. Sunstorm was practically vibrating with excitement as the older Seeker went through the steps hooking up and reactivating the spark monitor. The device came to life with a constant steady beeping as he flipped it back on and looked over it analytically. Meanwhile, Sunstorm fidgeted in his seat, making an aborted reach for the screen. Staring intensely at the back of the monitor, he kept his hands close to his chassis, fiddling with his fingers. "May I see, benevolent creator?" he asked solemnly, his words heavy with awe.
Raising an optic ridge at the younger Seeker's reaction to a simple spark reading, Starscream turned the monitor screen around and handed it towards him, "Sure? Knock yourself out."
Sunstorm stared at the screen in front of him with wide optics, one hand rested around the wires attached to him, and another tracing over the screen with a nearly reverent air. "My spark…" he whispered in wonder, breaking once again into a joyful grin the longer he stared at the diagnostic rendering on the screen, his wings fluttering happily against the medical berth. The monitor beeped faster, picking up on his increased spark activity from his excitement, which only served to make him more excited as he watched the rendering of his spark shift and pulse faster.
"Ok, I didn't mean to literally knock yourself out," said Starscream sarcastically at the increasingly frantic sounding beeping of the spark monitor, taking back the device and watching it observantly for a decrease in sparkrate.
~He's right, Sunny.~ voiced Ramjet, his statement carrying with it a sense of amused fondness, ~You need to calm down a little, you're making the rest of us all fidgety.~
~I'm sorry. It's just such a momentous occasion! We have sparks!~
"Woah! What in the name of the Allspark?!" gasped Starscream as the activity on the monitor suddenly spiked and garbled with seeming over activity. He looked up to glance between Sunstorm and the other clones, lightly scowling as the activity faded and the spark readings settled back to being normal (if still elevated). "I'm gonna go ahead and guess that was some kind of bond nonsense," he stated flatly. Ramjet and Sunstorm both nodded, Sunstorm sheepishly but Ramjet still too glad to be able to speak truly to be repentant at all about using this new gift and merely grinning. "Well, no more doing whatever that was while I'm trying to look at spark readings. Unless you want this to take all night." As fascinating as the readings were, he would need a baseline for any of the clones before he could even begin to parse through whatever kind of bond activity he had just witnessed. They nodded again, and Starscream took one final lookover at the readings, before nodding decisively, "Alright, you're good. Next one, get up here."
One by one Starscream checked up each of their sparks, seeing nothing dangerously abnormal about them. One nearly couldn't have guessed the unusual origins of the clones looking just at their basic spark data. And he was glad for them. Cybertronians - proper Cybertronians - deserved sparks. His creations deserved to have sparks, to be more than just pieces of him. And clearly they were thrilled at the split-spark nature of them, whatever it was that that entailed. As happy as he was for them all, it was late in the night by the time Skywarp, the last one to get his spark checkup, finally detached himself from the medical wires and slipped off of the berth, and he couldn't help feeling relieved as he was finally able to fully shut the poor overworked spark monitor back down.
"As exciting as this has been, I'd say it's well past time to get some recharge. Unless one of you has sudden spark failure or someone that's not Sunstorm spontaneously combusts, don't come get me," waving them all off, he tiredly retreated back to his room.
The young Seekers all branched off to do the same, but recharge was a bit hard in coming. Anytime one of them started to settle, someone else would have a bout of nerves or excitement and bring the others right back fully online again. Thundercracker groaned as he was pried away from sweet recharge by a flurry of excited curiosity from Slipstream of all people. Things were easier when he thought his sister had no emotions, other than disdain and snark. ~Can all of you weak willed saps just pull yourselves together,~ he complained tiredly, his exhaustion plain for all of the others to feel.
~Oh, right, because you're so masterful at managing this powerful spark bond that we all just got,~ countered Slipstream, a bit embarrassed at her lack of control being the issue for once.
~Hnn~ he made vague tired noise, not even up to forming words on a metaphysical level, let alone arguing.
~Let's all just think tired thoughts,~ proposed Skywarp teasingly, craning his head to look up over at Thundercracker above him. The mech had his head buried as close to the berth as it could get, as if that could do anything to block out something that transmitted over spark.
~You're one to talk,~ complained Ramjet, and the other siblings radiated faint agreement. Skywarp wasn't the sole nervous perpetrator, but he was definitely one of the biggest.
~sorry~ he replied, sheepish.
~We really need to figure this thing out or we'll never get any recharge,~ mused Slipstream, despite her words very much not helping with the issue as she spiraled off into muted interest and curiosity again.
~Everyone just shut the frag up and recharge already!~ groused Thundercracker, attempting to weaponize his own exhaustion by throwing it at his siblings as aggressively as he could. That seemed to do the trick, starting a chain reaction bringing tiredness to the forefront, and soon enough they were all out like lights.
By the time they by unspoken agreement joined up in the common room to refuel late the next morning, Slipstream and Thundercracker were little more than muted presences barely transmitting a trickle of emotional reactions.
"How'd you figure that out so fast?" complained Ramjet with a stab of jealousy (which was then immediately smoothed over by concerned calm from Sunstorm).
"Because I'm amazing at everything, you should already know that," gloated Thundercracker, letting through a bit of his characteristic pride just to show off. That only earned him a glare and a full force wave of disgruntled annoyance.
"It just takes a bit of control," explained Slipstream more helpfully, though no less pridefully, "Find the connections, grab them, and focus on sending less through them."
"That's specific," scoffed the white Seeker in reply, though he was already focusing inward and trying to do as his sister advised. He at last managed to pull away, distancing himself from the bonds. As soon as he did, a sudden sense of distress and loss poured from the still unguarded Sunstorm. ~I'm still here,~ he reassured, giving his brother a pointed and confused look and his wings raising slightly in a shrug.
Sunstorm played with his hands, glancing away from his brother momentarily as his wings drooped ever so slightly, ~I know, I know, of course. I had already just gotten so used to feeling all of you with me. How were we ever without this?~ he mused. Even as Skywarp also got the hang of keeping his emotions back to himself, Sunstorm never fully faded. What was once an unrestrained wave of emotion flowing to and from each of them was now little more than a dim murmur, just enough to know the others were there but not much else. Except for Sunstorm, who let his worry and love continue to linger. At least he compromised enough to stay in the background so he wasn't immediately distracting or intrusive. That was the best any of them would get out of him, it seemed.
At that moment, Starscream stalked into the common room, pausing only a moment to look around at his creations. "Oh, good, you're all already here," he said offhandedly as he dug in the storage room and grabbed a barrel of oil with a slight grimace (having to make due with Earth scrap once again, sigh). Cracking it open, he took a sip and then held it up as he commented, "We should get flying pronto, we're running late."
"You're one to talk, you were the last one up," pointed out Slipstream dryly, who allowed a glimmer of amusement to trickle through. Amusement and something else.
~Oh, is that fondness for our creator I sense?~ teased Ramjet.
~So you aren't as tough as all that!~ joined in Thundercracker, outwardly smirking and leaning against his brother's side (and for once Ramjet allowed it in the name of teasing brother solidarity).
~Shut up,~ grated the femme, fully distancing herself in the bond, disappearing with a sharp pang of anger and regret.
~Yes,~ agreed Sunstorm, radiating unfiltered disapproval, ~We all care about our creator, it's unfair to mock Slipstream for it.~
~Wait, did Sunstorm just tell people to shut up?~ wondered Skywarp amidst his place of neutral observer.
"Umm, hello? Why are you all just staring creepily?" At the annoyed voice of Starscream, the Seekers simultaneously reset their optics, and looked around at each other.
~We need to get better at multitasking,~ commented Slipstream.
"We sincerely apologize, wonderful creator," spoke Sunstorm, giving the original Seeker a remorseful little half-bow, "It was incredibly rude of us to have a conversation you could neither hear nor participate in."
"This is gonna become a habit with you all isn't it?" muttered Starscream to the side. Sunstorm could only glance away guiltily at the remark, because his creator was probably right. He couldn't bring himself to lie and say it wouldn't happen again, either. Starscream, unaware of his creation's minor crisis of conscience, waved the whole thing aside, moving on with a dismissive, "Whatever. Had fuel? Good. Let's fly."
They took to the sky in a large v formation. It was one of the nicer flights Skywarp could ever remember. Normally even flying would be tainted by his fear of heights, or his worries about crashing into something or running into a bird and his engines locking up and falling in a fiery ball to the ground, but now instead his fears were being tempered by the steady calm enjoyment coming from Sunstorm. It was hard for even him to stay scared when his brother clearly liked flying so much. The relaxed joy was contagious and Skywarp was not going to complain. That wouldn't stop others from complaining though.
~You're really not going to mute that, are you?~ asked Ramjet, half-teasing but mostly just amused at his sunny brother's stubborn insistence at keeping his emotional bonds open.
~Nope,~ replied the orange jet with a slightly cheeky air, doing a slow sort of barrel roll just for fun and gladly sending that joy down along to his siblings.
"You know, between your special abilities and these new bond powers, we'd have a serious shot at taking over the Decepticons," mentioned Starscream over comms, completely unaware of the ongoing discussion. "Skywarp and Ramjet could easily get us into whatever hole they're hiding out in, and then…"
Starscream kept talking, laying out his dream plan of conquest, but none of them were really listening. They had no interest in the Decepticons, helping Megatron the one time had been enough for them. Ramjet's focus had instead shifted to the mountains and crevices that had started to crop up from the landscape and surround them. Some of them were coming within yards of their wing tips. It would just take a slight change in trajectory… he broadcasted his mischievousness to his siblings, dipping ever so near the next passing rock column as a wordless suggestion.
~Ramjet, no,~ said Sunstorm surprisingly sternly.
~It'd be funny. And get Starscream to drop his stupid takeover ideas,~ he pressed, giving his thrusters a boost.
~It would be funny,~ agreed Slipstream with a matching mischievous streak.
~It's not funny, it's pointless maliciousness,~ debated Sunstorm with a stubborn disapproval.
~What're we talking about?~ piped up Skywarp.
~Just a little fly-by just in front of our creator, just to spook him, nothing harmful,~ he shot this last bit with particular emphasis to the still disgruntled Sunstorm. Somehow that did nothing to lessen his nearly stifling disapproval.
~Oh, messing with that lesser me? I like the sound of that.~ inputted TC.
Not allowing any more discussion, though he could tell that Sunstorm and Skywarp still weren't fully on board, he declared, ~Ok the ayes have it!~ With a reckless, energetic yell, Ramjet put his thrusters to full speed, and shot ahead, grazing by Starscream to slam directly into a rock pillar that shot up into the air just beside their leader. Starscream shrieked as the landmark exploded into a shower of smaller rocks and dust, his flight wavering sporadically as well used fight-or-flight protocols kicked in, and he anticipated incoming enemy laser fire. Ramjet emerged from the rubble with a lazy barrel roll, snickering and without a scratch on him as he watched his creator flail midair.
~Have I ever mentioned how stressful I find your ability, brother?~ groaned Sunstorm, dialing down the spike of panic he had felt at seeing his brother run right into a giant rock and becoming faintly annoyed instead. ~And look what you did to our poor creator!~
~It's fiiinee,~ he dismissed, still snickering and joined by the raucous matching laughter of Thundercracker and Slipstream. ~And it was funny.~
"RAMJET!" roared Starscream, straightening his flight pattern immediately when he realized there was no threat, just an obnoxious and reckless young Seeker, "That's it, we're turning this formation around! And you are going to be grounded, young mech, do you hear me!?" Starscream banked around as he scolded, the others begrudgingly following behind him.
"No, I'm deaf from all your shouting," retorted the white jet as he fell back into place at the end of the formation. They were soon back in place, nosecones pointed towards home, when Thundercracker spoke up, "Skywarp's gone."
A quick check of their sensors - or their twin/quintuplet bond as the case may be - showed that the black jet wasn't in his usual spot in formation, and wasn't registering in the immediate area, either. "Frag," spat Starscream emphatically, "not again."
"Skywarp, where are you? Send coordinates," Starscream sent a comm to the nervous Seeker. As it turned out, giving an already flighty mech the powers of teleportation at will was quite often a frustrating combination. Startling him, like, with, say, a spontaneously exploding rock tower, could often lead to him panic-porting and ending up miles away.
"I .. *bzzzt* ..n't *shhhh*" was the response he received.
"Frag," he swore again, "Wherever he warped this time his comms don't work there," concluded Starscream.
"Already on it," replied Thundercracker. ~Skywarp,~ he called to the black Seeker, trying to trace his connection to his brother to follow it as he talked, ~Where'd you go?~
~Ummm a chasm of some kind?~ he replied, a blaring anxiety coming with his words, giving the blue Seeker a vague feel for his location. ~I don't know, it's dark. I couldn't hear Starscream. I don't know where I am, I can't warp out, I might go into a wall.~ His panic only grew from the presence of his old nemeses: dark and cramped.
~Hush, brave brother, we're on our way to rescue you!~ assured Sunstorm, sending calm support towards his frightened sibling as he and Thundercracker veered out of formation and towards the panicked sensation of their brother.
"We have his location," spoke Slipstream collectedly, bringing the lead Seeker into the loop as she fell into flight behind Thundercracker and Starscream was left to waffle in the air, confused.
~C'mon, Warp, the bond,~ urged Thundercracker, calmly yet firmly, ~Help us out, here. Find it, tug on it, call us. We'll find you.~
~K-kay.~ he replied shakily, and the blue Seeker sped up as he felt the pulling summons on his spark, leading him straight towards the trapped mech.
They followed their bonds to a deep cavern far out of the way of their original flight path. Transforming, they hovered over the gap, calling out for their lost brother.
"Focus on our location, warp to us!" shouted Thundercracker, cupping his hands around his mouth as he yelled.
~You're sure that will work?~ the scared mech asked nervously, twisting his fingers as he hovered in place, looking at the stark, dark walls around him anxiously.
~We're sure. Just follow the connections between us and warp.~ he answered confidently.
~You can do it, Skywarp! There's no one more talented at teleporting than you!~ reassured Sunstorm.
~Didn't know there were others to compete against,~ replied Skywarp, a shaky amusement giving rise through the fear. Shutting off his optics, and pulling on the bonds to his siblings as intensely as he could, he focused as hard as he could on the end of the connections, and with a popping vwop took a warp of faith.
"Skywarp!" came a chorus of cheers, and as he slowly reactivated his optics he saw he was hovering above the chasm and surrounded by his family.
"I made it!" he gasped, filling with a shaky relief and calming further as he found himself in a midair hug from Sunstorm.
"Was I right, or was I right?" said Thundercracker with a grin.
At the same time, Sunstorm cheered, flooding the bond with full forced pride and relief, "Phenomenally done! We knew you could do it!" His relief abated into joyful gratitude, as he declared, "Thank the Allspark for such a precious gift as our bonds," squeezing his brother a little tighter.
Skywarp grinned bemusedly, fear vanished under the collective force of so much joy and relief. Flexing his claws while his arms were trapped in his brother's hold, he commented lightheartedly, "Ok, I'm fine, you can let go now."
"Please do," drawled Starscream, who was watching the whole sappy exchange, rolling his optics and trying not to groan, "My creations are so sentimental," crossing his arms, he scoffed teasingly, "Some Decepticon clone army you all turned out to be."
"But you love us," sassed Slipstream with a sly smirk.
Starscream was going to argue, a sarcastic retort at the ready in his vocaliser, but stopped as Sunstorm was beaming at him, and the recently freed Skywarp was staring at him with another one of those shy hopeful looks, and even if they tried to look unaffected, he could feel the weight of Thundercracker and Ramjet's optics. He really…didn't want to deal with an upset Sunstorm. And Thundercracker would complain obnoxiously, and, well, Skywarp would be useless with his feelings hurt especially after a scare like he had just had… and, and, Slipstream had trapped him, that devious femme! "Um," he gulped eloquently instead, flying slightly to the side to buy time and think how best to respond. The weight of his creations' optics still fell over him as he hemmed and hawed slightly. All at once, he straightened himself pridefully as he stated imperiously, one hand palm up in front of him, waving it as he spoke,"Well! I made you, didn't I? And got you this far? You're my creations and my responsibility, so!" He let the implied 'Of course I do!' hang unspoken. He would probably purge before saying anything like that outloud. In the Decepticons, saying anything even half as sickeningly sweet would have gotten him ridiculed, scorned, and beaten for good measure. Here and now, though, his creations' optics were bright with emotions (or maybe it was more bond weirdness, or most likely a bit of both), and he shifted his wings awkwardly under the force of their stares. Pulling himself together he tightened his expression to look warningly at Sunstorm, "Don't even think about hugging me," he ordered, tilting backwards and away from his creation warily. He muttered lowly to himself, crossing his arms loosely, "Can't understand where you picked that up in the first place."
Sunstorm held himself back with visible restraint, though he smiled widely and his wings were quivering with happiness. Skywarp was grinning with no trace of his usual nerves, and Thundercracker had a gleam of a deeper kind of pride in his optics as he smirked. Even Ramjet and Slipstream looked touched. "Don't…look at me like that!" protested Starscream, turning his head away from them all and frantic to put this little moment to an end. "Let's just get back to base," he ordered in a subject change that was about as subtle as a brick, transforming and flying away.
The flight back was fortunately uneventful, with no one making a comment on the whole…emotional debacle. As soon as they landed, Starscream resisted the urge to retreat to his room, and instead rounded on Ramjet before he could make his way to Sunstorm. "You're with me, Ramjet. After that little stunt of yours I bet you've got rocks jammed in your ailerons and I don't trust Sunshine over there to be tough enough with you."
Ramjet pouted briefly, tugged away from his orange brother to moodily sit in front of his creator instead. Even though Starscream was generally considered the best at preening, and sometimes the siblings would even fight over whose turn it was to preen with him, Ramjet would still rather go with his gentle brother instead. It was the principle of the thing.
His pouting crumbled as Sunstorm sent him rueful amusement and Starscream started on cleaning his wings. There was, in fact, a good deal of debris in the joints and seams and the older Seeker had to pick deep at times to get all of it out, and each time a piece of rock came loose was a relief. Quiet relief and contentment settled over the shared bond as all the warm peaceful feelings of the Seekers being preened ricocheted through the others.
~I don't know about the rest of you, but I could get used to this,~ remarked Skywarp, his engine giving a low happy purr from the abundance of fuzzy happy feelings where he was being preened by Sunstorm, and the orange mech responding in kind.
~Easy for you to say, you're not stuck with fumble claws over here,~ mocked Slipstream, her harsh words at odds with the quiet relaxation she was feeling.
Thundercracker flicked at her wing affrontedly, retorting, ~Hey! I'm amazing at preening!~ His manufactured sense of insult couldn't stand long against the collective good feelings of the room, though, and soon fizzled out in favor of calm enjoyment.
Carefully, but firmly, picking rock chunks out of Ramjet's crooked wing, Starscream regarded the unusually quiet mechs seated around him with bemusement. Even the Seeker in front of him had settled into a quiet purr, when usually he still tended to bear preening rather than enjoy it - especially if it was anyone other than Sunstorm doing the preening. Then again, he mused, watching the other Seekers' body language more intently, they probably weren't being as quiet as he supposed, if their expressive wing flicking and facial expressions were anything to go by.
"So it took an empathic sibling bond to finally get you all to be quiet, huh?" remarked Starscream with a snort, "Guess your sparks were a gift to me, too," despite his teasing tone, his expression was soft as he carefully extracted a sizable chunk of rock from Ramjet's wing, frowning at it. The white mech in front of him let out a soft sigh while he glared at the rock, and at the same time the cavern filled with the sound of softly purring engines. He looked around the room puzzledly for a moment, but then chuckled at the chain reaction, theorizing, "Oh? So do you all feel it when I do this?" With a mischievous grin, he ran a soothing hand along the top of Ramjet's straight wing. He had always refrained from the sentimental gesture before, but he reasoned that this was for science. The purring around him revved up in pitch, including the mech under his fingers, and his grin widened. "I'll take that as a yes," he concluded with a false smugness, his hand falling back to regularly preening Ramjet's wing.
Thundercracker grunted, trying to sound annoyed but really too relaxed to quite hit the mark, and in front of him Slipstream's lips pursed in annoyance though her posture was still lax. Ramjet just shrugged slightly where his creator was just finishing up with his wing, purring barely audible but still present as he allowed it to continue to rumble through him.
The peace, the calm, the joy around the room filled Sunstorm's spark and he was moved to gush,"May I take this moment to graciously express how deeply I love you all?", the depth of the sentiment radiating powerfully through the bond as he finished up with Skywarp's wings, placing his hands thoughtfully in his lap. Skywarp looked back at him meaningfully, smiling softly, while the others startled.
"Ew,"
"Really?"
"Sap,"
Reacted Slipstream, Thundercracker, and Starscream with exaggerated grimaces, the siblings lightly pushing back against the strong tide of Sunstorm's adoration. Ramjet just shook his head fondly at his emotional brother and let his amused gratitude curl around Sunstorm's feelings.
~Protest if you like,~ retorted Sunstorm cheerfully as he switched places with Skywarp, "You are all going to be in this undeserving mech's spark, as long as Primus allows me to function," he declared, clasping his hands meaningfully against his spark. "A mech couldn't ask for a better family."
Even with their grumbling, no one could really disagree with that, and the doubters' sparks reflected it, giving something resembling the feeling of an optic roll before agreeably relenting to their brother's love. Starscream could feel none of this, but did shake his head and offered no argument.
The Seeker's switched places, and a quiet sense of calm and love settled over the ones who had once been disposable clones, but had now become a family.
And so I end as I began, family preening (and also a bunch of other self-indulgent fanon tropes I like). I went full sap for this chapter. I had so much fun writing this story, giving these one off gimmick characters individual personalities and connections, leading up to giving them their own sparks. I hope the split-spark reveal was a pleasant, yet logical, surprise, I was really excited about it when I was writing it. It made total sense to me and here's hoping I didn't jump the shark too bad with it.
This has ended up my longest solo story ever, not to mention the rare fic I actually finished and wasn't a one shot, and I could not be more proud with how it turned out. This is the end of this story, but I have a kind of sequel I've started on, which is about Jetfire and Jetstorm finding their way into this crazy family (because I feel like we always kind of glossed over the fact that they were reprogrammed and reformatted with copies of Starscream's code.) So, yeah, there might be that, and maybe other clone shenanigans if I get randomly inspired to write some (I have a decently sized plot bunny list as it is). I'll probably only post these on AO3, but IDK we'll see if I remember. I've already posted a couple of extra clone oneshots over there, so if you need more clones, check those out on AO3! All that being said, I am incredibly happy with this story, and I hope you all enjoyed it, too.