Starlit's View:
Jazz had been able to hold off Prowl's memorial at the cyber ninja dojo until I had recovered, which I couldn't thank him enough for. It was as hard, if not harder, for him to say goodbye too. Jazz was a lot stronger than I was, he was able to give a speech about my brother, I wasn't able to bring myself to go to the potum..
"...His spark is in tight with the Allspark itself." Jazz's voice cut through the cloud of grief, I wondered how much I had missed. "And thanks to Prowl, some solar cycle soon, a brand spankin' new generation of Autobots will break out on the scene from these protoforms we sprang from the 'Cons." I noticed his hand move to the small bump that was developing on his abdomen.
I heard Sari and Arcee whisper quietly, the older femme offering to teach Sari about her Cybertronion half, while Jazz spoke, which Jazz raised an eyebrow at, but continued on.
"From protoform this shell was sparked! And to protoform, it shall return..." Prowl's body was lowered down into a forge to become a new protoform as he spoke these final words. I chose to look away, it was too much like our battle with our Sire…
As the ceremony ended and bots started leaving, I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Optimus, giving me a sad smile.
"I know it's rough…" He said softly, nodding towards the open forge. "But if you need anything we're…"
"So, what did I miss?" Sentinel saunters in like he owned the place. Optimus' face changed from that of a loving Sire to a very pissed off Prime in a nano click.
"Everything…" He held off revving his engine as he let me go and walked to the egomaniac.
"Typical…" I heard Ratchet mutter as I backed off towards Jazz.
"Hey, I have a lot of responsibilities as acting Maguns! I don't have time to mourn every glitch, detail jockey that goes offline." An orange and teal mech followed behind him, seeming to be recording everything the fragger was saying. Sentinel quickly changed his tune when he noticed. I felt myself becoming increasingly angry, no longer backing away from him, and let him back himself into a corner next to me.
"W-which is why I make it a point to attend memorials for great cybertronian heros like Pow Wow." My engine revved and I slammed my fist into his massive chin. Optimus grabbed me under my arms and pulled me away.
"How dare you disrespect Prowl!" I screamed as Optimus pulled me back, releasing all my pent up anger in that sentence.
"The frag was that for? Gee, Optimus, you can't even get control over your little glitch problem…" Jazz had to step between us, clearly pissed off as well. If he hadn't, I would have broken Optimus' hold on me and showed him exactly what I could do. "You got some explaining to do for deserting my side…" Sentinel's focus was now on Jazz, who was eerily calm.
"Dig this!" Jazz ripped off his Elite Guard stripes and threw them at Sentinel. "I ain't comin' back to the Elite Guard! From now on, I'm taking on the cyber ninja gig. That, Sentinel, is the only reason why you ain't flat on your aft right now." I felt Optimus push me to my peds and stepped in front of me as if to shield me from Jazz's wrath, which was permeating the room.
"Fine." Sentinel was pissed off now. "Seeing as we are returning things, how about you hand over the Magnus hammer to its rightful owner." He looked towards Optimus, holding out his hand as if expecting him to hand it over right now.
"Don't worry, I will." Optimus acts like he is about to hand it over, but instead walks past the fuming mech. "I'm about to go see Ultra Magnus now…I'll see the rest of you in a while."
With that the team silently split off to do their duties, leaving Jazz and me alone in the dojo's forge.
"You gotta learn to control your anger." Jazz broke the silence, but he didn't turn to face me. I could still feel his anger, which may have chased off the others, but not me.
"What? You heard what he…"
"I did! An' your reaction could 'ave landed you in the brig!" He finally turned and was hovering close to me in a blink of an optic. Oh I fragged up… "I can't lose you like that…" I was surprised that instead of receiving a punishment, he just pulled me close.
"Jazz?"
"You're like a sista to me, Sta'. The council wouldn't see me as your guardian and you'd be sent away from us." He sobbed. I'd never seen him so broken before, it hurt my spark. "Primus knows what would've happened next, I just want you to be careful."
"I'm sorry, I didn't..." I felt myself shaking at just the thought of being torn from my new found family. Jazz pulled back to look at me in the optics, raising his visor to wipe away tears from his heterochromia optics. "He just makes me so angry."
"Preaching to the choir." Jazz playfully shoved my arm. "But that doesn't mean ya can resort to violence. Why don't you stay with me here for a while? We could use new blood in the ninja corps. Heck, soon I'll need someone to step in for me for a click." He winked.
"You…want me to join?" I was shocked he wanted me to join the Ninja Corps.
"The slag do you think Prowl an' I were trainin' you for, a contest?" His smirked, his visor snapping back into place as a mech entered from the other side of the room.
"Jazz, is this our newest student?" An older, dusty blue and brown mech asked. "And a femme." The last word felt like he was spitting venom.
"I think it's high time a femme joined the ranks. We got nothin' about carrier mechs joinin', but we do about femme bots? Doesn't that seem backwards?" Jazz crossed his arms. "Dai Atlas, you and Master Yoketron made that law way back, when femmes were being captured left and right by the 'Cons."
"If you think she can cut it, we will give her a chance." Dai Atlas hadn't taken his cold blue optics off of me. His gaze felt like he was staring straight into my spark. Something told me Jazz was the only one who wanted me there. "She may have the spare room across from yours, Jazz."
"Thank you, Dai. I promise, she won't disappoint ya." Jazz seemed very confident in me, but I was feeling like a mouse about to be caught by a house cat.
—-
Jazz hadn't mentioned that there was another student, Drift, who was also staying here. He was a white mech with red racer stripes and a similar model to Jazz, but slimmer somehow. Drift had a serious attitude problem apparently, and I wasn't spared from his ill humor.
"You seriously want me to spar…that?" His monotone voice barely reached across the training room. He looked me up and down with a look you'd normally give a pile of trash.
"Her name is Starlit, an' I expect you two to get along." Jazz was short with him, having heard his complaints for what felt like vorns now. We'd only just met a few clicks ago, but he had made it very clear I wasn't wanted around here.
"Stop your complaining, what's your problem with fems anyway?" I smirked, hoping to break the tension. "Scared I'll kick you skid plates?"
Drift was fast, but I was used to sparring Prowl who was just a nano click faster. I easily blocked the powerful punch he was sending towards my face. I raised my battle mask in defense and twisted his wrist, forcing his left arm up and behind his back, surprising the white and red mech. He easily broke my hold, pushing me against the wall and sending a roundhouse kick at me. I had to go low, dodging to the left and getting some distance between us once more.
"Hold still…" I was making him angrier with every dodge and block, not letting him get close enough to land any more hits. "You little glitch!" He finally let his rage win, which made it easier to get behind him when he started taking bigger swings at me. I landed a hard kick in his back, only for him to spin and catch my leg, flinging me to the ground. He may have pinned me, but if I had had my blades out, he would have gone offline. He fell for my trap. I tapped his right side, where my blade would have gone, while he lifted his arm as if to end me with his own pretend blades.
"Well, well, looks like she's got some moves." Jazz grinned, clearly impressed at everything I had learned. Dai Atlas sat next to him, his optics seeming a little less cold.
"Slag!" Drift got off of me and punched a large hole in the wall above my head. "You tricked me! You greasy little…" For a second, I swear I saw his optic flash red.
"Enough!" Dia Atlas had stood up at this point and was glaring at his student. "She only did what she should have, using your opponent's weakness against them. She may not have gotten the upper hand if you hadn't lost focus." He motioned for both of us to come closer and follow him to a different area of the dojo.
"From what Jazz has told me, you both have similar issues with your anger. Your reasonings behind your anger are different but share a common enemy, Decepticons." Drift froze on the spot. "You must come to terms that your brethren are the ones you can trust the most, Drift. No matter your past, it is what you do now that matters." Did that mean…Drift is an ex-con?
"As for you, Starlit." He still didn't like me by the way he said my name. "You need to let go of the anger you hold against others. You weren't forged a 'Con, but you still have a piece of that coding. Fueling your anger will only bring you what you fear most." he turned to look at both of us as he stood in front of an intricately detailed door. He pushed it open to reveal a large round room with busts of different cyber ninjas around the perimeter. The one that caught my optic was one that looked new, it held a hologram of Prowl. His was now seated next to Jazz, the two of busts acting as bookends for a golden door with a strange lock.
"Beyond those doors are what we really are here for, the future." Jazz said from behind us, stepping forward to stand with Dai Atlas. Both of them hummed and used their processor of matter technique to open the strange lock, revealing a chamber that held the rescued protoforms and the Allspark.
"This is the Ninja Corps sworn duty, to protect all life across the galaxy. We are what stands between total destruction, a pillar of hope for what will eventually come. The two of you are the first new recruits in a millennia and the future of all of us will someday be in your hands." Dia Atlas didn't sound as stern as he usually did when he talked of the future, which was a refreshing thing to see. "Someday, you will both be able to open and close this door, but only if you train hard and dedicate your life to protecting life."
—-
Dia Atlas and Drift were long gone, having left to go repair the wall Drift had smashed a hole into. Apparently the old mech was very particular about the dojo and reprimanded Drift all the way down the hall until they were out of audio shot.
"You did good kiddo! You didn't let him get to you and used his anger against him." Jazz slapped the back of my shoulder, making me stumble forward with the force of it. "You migh' just be what this place needs, the start of an entirely new generation of the ninja corps!"
"You…really think I'll be able to convince Atlas that there's nothing wrong with Femmes joining the corps? What if I don't live up to him?" I looked over to the hologram of Prowl.
"You are, and you have. Sta' you know he'd be proud of you, no matter what you choose." Jazz smiled. Before he could say anything else his com rang.
"Jazz here." He mouthed that he was sorry to me. "Hey Optimus! Na, mech, we ain't seen anything on the info net." He paused, listening to whatever the Prime had to say. "I see…sounds like a rough night last night. Do you need anything? Yeah, come on by! We'd be glad to have you." Jazz hung up a moment later. "Guess they missed us after being gone for only a couple hours."
—-
When Optimus, Sari and Bumblebee arrived, we went straight back to the protoform chamber. Sari wanted to ask the Allspark what she was and why she was left on Earth.
"Thank you, Jazz. I know it's a lot to ask." Optimus thanked Jazz as Bee and Sari ran up to the Allspark; She was eager to get answers.
"Anything for the top cat!" Jazz smiled as the three of us approached the Allspark.
"Jazz, I'm not "top" anything yet. It's all speculation." Optimum seemed to be not saying something, but left it at that.
"Don't sell yourself short bossbot!" Bee nudged Prime with his elbow when he got close enough. "In case you haven't noticed, your name is everywhere around Cybertron!" It was good to see him again.
Sari took a step forward, grabbing everyone's attention as she got ready to ask her question. There was a small burst of light from the Allspark and suddenly an image started to form from the burst of energy.
"You must stop looking to the past to find your true future." My brother's voice sounded through the room as his image fully formed.
"Prowl?!" Sari was the only one that was able to voice her emotions.
"Once, you carried a key, now, you are the key." He didn't seem to be completely aware of everyone else in the room, merely a voice the Allspark used to convey answers. "You are the key to the future of Cybertron and Earth." He finally looked towards all of us. "All of you will play a key role in what is to come…"
"I don't care about any of that! I want to know what I am, who I am! Please, just make the Allspark tell me!" Sari balled her fists, unaware of how much this meant to the rest of us.
"I cannot control the Allspark, I am merely now a part of it, fulfilling its will." Prowl explained to her.
"So, what is its will?" Sari crossed her arms, annoyed with the answer. "What does it want?"
"What the Allspark has always, and will always, want; Life." The Allspark then projects five different images, one in front of each of us.
Sari's is a spark merging with a double helix dna strand; Optimus is shown to have grown larger and was grappling optic to optic with Megatron; Bumblebee was shown an image of himself with an elite guard symbol on a new paint job; I was shown a lab that looked to be on Earth with a strange, green upgrade container that seemed to hooked up to another one that was glowing; Jazz was shown an image of him holding a small gray bundle of thermal blankets and smiling happily.
"What the heck is that supposed to be?!" Sari and I seemed to have the same question about our images.
"I don't know…but I kinda like it." Bumblebee smirked. "Look at that new paint job!" The images faded, but Prowl didn't answer Sari's question.
"I cannot control fate or have answers on what the Allspark wants from you, I can only give you these images on what the future may hold." Prowl's helm dipped low as he faded away as well, leaving us with more unanswered questions.
—-
Later that night, Bumblebee dropped by again, looking flustered and on edge. I quietly let him in; Jazz, Atlas and Drift were recharging which meant we had to keep it down in the living area.
"I-I didn't think you were gonna be up." Bumblebee whispered as he sat on one of the pillows on the floor.
"Couldn't sleep, I just kept seeing that image from the Allspark over and over." I told him as I sat across from him. What did those things mean? And why was there an upgrade station on Earth?
"Yeah…I uh…kinda wanted to ask about that." Bee looked at the floor nervously again. "Do you think that is our destiny? Like, we should be doing everything we can to become that image?" He was talking about his, not concerned at all what the implications of mine, Sari's or Prime's were. Jazz's image was a bit more obvious to what his future held.
"I…don't know what you mean." The way Bee squirmed in his seat made me think he had done something he shouldn't have.
"What if, and big what if, the best thing to do is go with what feels wrong?" This made me glare at him. "Look…Sentinel…"
"Sentinel?!" I yelled, forcing him to leap up and cover my mouth to keep me from waking everyone up. "What does this have to do with him?" I angrily whispered, ripping his hand off of me.
"He offered me Jazz's place in the Elite Guard…" I pushed him away and stood up, backing up a few steps as I processed what he was saying. "But I'd have to endorse him as Prime. I don't think he's Prime material, but the image from the Allspark made me wonder…what if that's my future."
"You really would do that to us? To Optimus?" He looked so ashamed, but he didn't say no. "If you choose that…I don't think I could forgive you, let alone be with you." At my harsh words, Bee took a step forward but I stepped back from him again, brushing his hand away.
"Star…" The sadness in his voice was matched by what I was feeling.
"It's your choice in the end." I turned away and started back for my room, but Bee didn't follow me like he normally would have. I didn't even feel his EM field reach out to mine, which broke my spark, but now I knew what his plan for the future was. I heard the front doors open and close, the lock clicking back into place as I reached the hall that held the recharge quarters.
Tears burned my optics as I shut my door, sliding down it as the realization that we had just broken up hit. After everything, he was choosing the path that would tear everyone, including us, apart.
—-
Jazz wasn't too pleased with Bee's visit last night. It wasn't completely against the rules to have visitors, but it was apparently past visiting hours. As punishment, I had to balance on a pole for at least two mega cycles. It was so boring and difficult, but at least I wasn't on house repairs like Drift was.
"How goes it up there?" I opened my optics and looked down at Jazz from the balancing pole.
"Fragging great…" I rolled my optics at him, shifting my weight to stay balanced. "What is this even for?"
"An exercise in balance and stealth. Come on down, we gotta talk." Jazz didn't sound like his usual self which worried me. "It's about Bulkhead…" He said while I was mid jump, causing me to land wrong and fall right back into the free standing pole. Jazz caught the pole, saving me from getting hit in the head.
"Is he ok? What happened?" I quickly stood back up, worried about the big guy.
"Woh, slow down, he's in transport now with Ratchet looking after him." Jazz put his hand on my shoulders. "The energon farms were attacked apparently. Suspiciously, the shields went down just before the attack. I don't know about you, but som'thin' ain't feelin' right."
—-
We met the rest of the team at the Iacon medical center, which included Bumblebee. I stood on the opposite side of Prime and refused to make any optic contact with him.
"You really didn't have to come all this way. He'll make it just fine on his own the ol' fashion way." Ratchet seemed more grumpy than usual. Bulkhead was sitting up on the medical berth, a medical weld on his arm seemed to be the only thing wrong with him. Ratchet excused himself, mumbling about some project that he was forced to work on, when Bulkhead turned up the volume on the vid screen.
"Hey little buddy! Look, it's you!" Bulkhead exclaimed as the volume turned up.
"I, Bumblebee, one of the heroes of Earth, endorse Sentinel Prime to be our Magnus..." Instantly Bulkhead muted it as everyone turned to the yellow mech.
"How could you?" Bulkhead's tone was dark, but before anyone else could say anything, Sentinel barged in. Jazz held my arm, grounding both of us to where we stood.
"He's a big bot now, he can make his own choices." Sentinel put the Elite Guard stripes on Bee's chassis, making him an official Elite Guard officer.
"You sold out Prime for some Elite Guard stripes!?" Ratchet yelled, stopping in his tracks and glaring daggers at Bumblebee.
"I-it's not what it looks like. Come on! This is what the Allspark wants! You saw it!" Bumblebee tried to insist, looking at me for a moment before looking back up at Optimus. "We're still friends…right?" No one said anything.
"You choose your path, Bumblebee." Optimus' voice was even, but I could see he was clearly hurt. On Earth, we were all a family and Prime saw Bee as his own. "I suggest you follow it."
Bee looked just as hurt, even ashamed of himself, as he skulked away. Sentinel stepped aside to let him pass and turned to Bulkhead.
"I promise you, the 'Cons will pay for what they did." With that he followed after Bumblebee. We were all silent once again, reeling on the fact that Bumblebee had truly left the team.
"Ugh! I can't believe him!" Sari broke the silence, throwing her arms up in the air. I almost had forgotten she was on Prime's shoulder. "After everything we have been through together…" She paused as tears streamed down her face. "I…I…" she broke down, crying. Bulkhead took her off Prime's shoulder and let her cry into his chassis. I wanted to cry too, I wanted to break down with her, but at the same time I felt numb.
"You knew…didn't you?" Jazz whispered to me, letting my arm go.
"What do you mean you knew?!" Now Ratchet was glaring at me, having overheard Jazz. "Starlit, what did he tell you!?" Jazz stepped between us to keep his wrath at bay.
"I…had no idea he'd actually go through with it." I had made it clear to Bee about what my opinion was, but it hadn't been enough.
"There's nothing you could have done, Starlit." Prime's voice still held that even tone. "Once his mind is set, it's hard to change it. You know that." He aimed the last sentence at Ratchet. Prime turned to me, he tried to smile, but it came off sad. "How's training going?"
—-
Back at the dojo, I tried to meditate in the meditation room. Everytime my optics shut off, all I saw was Bee's hurt look, along with Prime's voice ringing through my helm that Bee had chosen his path. I sighed, giving up and getting ready to leave when Drift walked in.
"What's wrong?" he asked, not really caring about the fact he had walked into me. "Is it that mech again? What's his name…Bumbler?"
"Close enough…sort of, I guess." I couldn't understand why my spark hurt so much when I thought of him. I wanted to ask Jazz, but he had to discuss with Dia Alpha and the rest of the Ninja Corps about the attacks.
"And you expect to commune with the Allspark with your helm full of doubts?" Drift enjoyed teasing me on the fact that I hadn't had as much training as him. "Just let him go, move on." He walked past me, leaving me with nothing to really say.
"Drift?" He stopped, but I hadn't come up with a coherent sentence. He raised an eyebrow at me, annoyed I was interrupting his time for meditation. "Um…never mind." But he was already standing right in front of me, arms crossed over his chassis.
We said nothing for a few clicks, before he stunned me by cupping my face and pulling me into a deep kiss, holding me close as if I'd run away from him. I didn't pull away, instead I complied and wrapped my arms around his neck. Why am I doing this? I couldn't say, but it felt good to have someone holding me like this again. He grabbed my aft, pulling a startled moan from me.
"Wanna take this elsewhere?" He purred into my right audial. I agreed and willingly let him guide me to his room.
—-
Drift's lap felt a little less inviting than Bee's, but right now I wanted to forget about him. Drift's hands roamed around my thighs and aft, pulling my hips closer to his and grinding our closed panels together. He moved to nip at the cabling on my neck as I rolled my hips forward to meet his thrusts.
"Open up." He always sounded like he was commanding someone, and right now it was driving me crazy. I instantly obeyed, rewarded by two of his fingers pushing into my valve. His were slimmer than Bee's, so much longer and we're able to stroke different nodes deep inside. I got a little lost in pleasure, collapsing against his shoulder as I rode his fingers while his other hand held my hips in place.
"Frag…" Drift growled, pulling away for a moment to flip me over onto my knees. "Hold yourself up." He revved as he lifted my aft up. I cried out when I felt his glossa push past my valve lips, forcing me to steady myself on my knees and elbows. All I could do was grip his thermal sheets while he pleasured me, keening each time he chose to suck on my outer node. It didn't take long for me to overload, flooding his mouth with lubricant. I tried to catch my breath, but Drift had a different plan. I heard an all telling click and knew he'd released his spike, I just wasn't expecting him to thrust right in a nanosecond after.
"Good…you're not sealed. I can take this as fast as I want." I didn't care he was practically using me as a pleasure bot right now, too focused on how long his spike was.
"Haaaahhh…please…" my valve was still overly sensitive from overload and his spike was soundly hitting my innermost node with each brutal thrust. I moaned loudly, pushing my hips back into him, finding I was loving this hard pace.
Apparently I was being too loud and felt his hand cover my mouth. Soon, he moved his hand to press two fingers into my mouth, the same fingers he just used to spread me open. The taste of my own lubricant on his fingers was bitter, but everything felt so good I didn't mind when he pushed my glossa down with one finger while petting it lightly with the other. My helm felt fuzzy, the new position and him forcing me to suck his fingers had me seeing stars. With one last hard thrust, I felt his transfluid explode inside of me, throwing me into a second more powerful overload.
Drift collapsed over me, pinning me under him after an intense overload. As we calmed down, a sudden sadness washed over me. I felt a little dirty for what we had done, but also felt extremely relaxed. Drift moved to lay next to me, allowing me to roll to my side to face him. He gave me a smirk and pulled me into his lap, his spike rubbing once more at my entrance. No other words were spoken between us as I lifted my hips and let him slide inside one more. I rode him hard, using his shoulders as leverage and meeting his hard thrusts with my own.
Something deep inside me clicked open, allowing him to go deeper than before causing both of us to collapse into each other as pleasure surged through us. A code came up in my hub, but I dismissed it, thinking nothing of it until Drift once more filled me with his transfluids. This time, it felt like it was being held inside of me.
—
We were not a couple, I knew that much. This had been what humans called a one night stand, which I still didn't know if I was comfortable with. Drift obviously had a few before, being completely indifferent when I left his room when he got up to get cleaned off. I snuck into my room to use my own shower, thanking Primus I didn't run into Jazz or Dia Alpha.
The warm water helped me think a little straighter about what just happened. The dried fluids on my lower back and the feeling of fullness told me this was very real and I hadn't just imagined it all. Drift had fragged me, I had fragged Drift, there was no going back. Why do I feel dirty though? Drift wasn't the worst mech, stoic and rude at times, but by no means was disgusting. I finished scrubbing off, turning the water off as numbness took over my body. I quickly remembered there being a code I had ignored and pulled it back up.
GESTATION CHAMBER: ONLINE
WARNING: GESTATION CHAMBER OPENING
WARNING: INTERFACE SPIKE LOCKED IN
I blushed at what that had meant…it meant I had been so turned on I allowed his spike into my gestation chamber's entrance. That explained why I felt so full deep inside, his transfluis would be stored there until my systems realized there wasn't a sparkling forming in my spark chamber.
I realized then why it felt dirty as I dried off, my spark felt like it was cheating on Bee, and my gestation tank was filled with another mechs transfluids. I sat on my berth, not caring I was still damp and stared at the floor for a moment, my spark was heavy with regret.
"Look alive everyone! It's time to go!" I heard Jazz call from down the hallway. Now wasn't the time to sort out my feelings, I'd just have to deal for now.
—-
The moment we warped on the energon farm, we were bombarded by laser fire and had to dodge the cons fire. They hadn't noticed us yet, which gave us a huge advantage. I saw a mech with a green glass helmet over his head, grinning over a pinned Optimus. He held a vile in his hand ready to toss it at the Prime and the team behind him.
"Frag off!" I yelled, kicking the vile out of the mechs hand, Jazz landing on the other side of the Con and nailing him in the helm with his nunchucks, cracking the eerie green glass.
"Get them into the energon refinery…" Optimus ordered as he got back to his feet. The other Ninjas followed suit and cornered the cons in the refinery. Optimus grabbed the forgotten vile, attached it to a piece of raw energon and threw it as hard as he could into the refinery. This caused a chain reaction with the raw energon inside, causing a massive explosion that took out the cons.
"Get down!" Was all I heard before getting knocked to the ground by Drift as the explosion happened. The smoke cleared and the cons were reduced to ash and chunks of metal.
"Good thinking', Prime. That took them out in one go!" Jazz called out once things were settling down. I noticed that teal and orange reporter bot was near Optimus once more, apparently having been recording this whole time.
—-
We returned with Optimus' crew back to Iacon City where, in the square, bots were cheering and chanting Optimus' name. It felt just like when we first came back from Earth, only this time everybot was excited to see all of us, including Sari.
The council is there along with the Elite Guard just past the platform, who saluted us and Prime. The Council had presented Optimus with the highest honor, The Eternal Flame, which seemed to be just a fiery paint job that ran up his legs. To be honest, Prime looked better without them, the yellow flames clashed with his blue and red armor and made him look very clownish.
"Thank you, truly it's an honor to be here." Someone in the crowd yelled for him to be Magnus, exciting the crowd once more. "Please, settle down! Sentinel is still your acting Magnus, not me." Optimus settled the crowd and continued talking to them.
I was looking for Sentinel, who seemed to have run off after the attack. It was suspicious how fast he'd left his team. I saw Bee, who looked at me for a nanosecond before looking back down, shame written all over his frame. He was between the twins, who both grinned when I made optic contact with them. Jetfire nudged Bee to look up at me, but the yellow mech just made a face and refused to wave with the twins. I sheepishly waved at them, not wanting the crowd to turn focus on us, but I noticed a reporter snapping a photo of them waving to me.
—-
The next day, all of Team Optimus was called to the High Tribunal for the trial against Megatron. Jazz wasn't called in, but wished me the best of luck before heading there alone.
Our Earth team was in the gallery, waiting for it all to begin. Bee was seated at the farthest end, only a few chairs away from Optimus. He looked more nervous than anyone here, and he wasn't the one on trial. I sat on the other side of Prime, next to Bulkhead and Sari, who were both glaring at the yellow traitor.
"So…I like your new paint job. Those flames look really cool." I heard Bee try to make small talk with Prime. Sari rolled her eyes and huffed, looking out towards the crowd.
"I think the flames look stupid." Prime shut him down, turning away from him to ignore him further. I gave him one quick glance to see he was stewing in his remorse, which for some reason made me happy.
"Order to the Court." Alpha Trion, the oldest mech I had ever seen, and the rest of the council, which included Dai Atlas, took their seats to signal the opening of the trial. The old mech signaled to bring in Megatron. He was wheeled in on an upright gurney, his mouth clamped and stasis cuffs holding his wrists together. Something felt very wrong.
Sentinel had a huge stack of vids and data pads in front of him, all accounting for every crime Megatron had ever done. He stepped forward to speak his opening statements when…
"All records from the Great Wars between Autobot and Decepticons should be stricken from the trial! On the article of the Decipticons surrender, which states that they will be banned from Cybertron instead of standing trial for their crimes!" A sleazy mech named Rattletrap interrupted Sentinel before he had started talking. This was off to a bad start, this mech seemed slimy enough that he could lessen Megatron's sentence.
"What half wit Autobot came up with the stupid rule!" Sentinel shot back.
"That would have been me." Alpha Trion glared down at Sentinel. "Only testimony of events after the Great War will be permitted." A collective gasp came from the gallery, this meant only what Megatron had done on Earth would be on trial. A sinking feeling set over me, refusing to go away the rest of the trial.
"I'm calling a recess on account of this new information!" Sentinel declared, and the court agreed. Sentinel rushes down the court ailes toward Optimus and tells him to meet him out in the hall with the rest of his team.
"Optimus, you and your losers…I mean team, have to testify on the witness stand! You're all I've got now!" The egotistical mech pleaded with Optimus.
Ratchet grumbled about him being able to buy out Bumblebee, but couldn't buy the rest of us so easily. Optimus of course chose the high road and agreed, but we'd be telling our truth, not Sentinels.
"We're not skipping over anything to cover your aft." Optimus makes it very clear, much to the egotistical mech's dismay.
Sentinel waved us off, telling us to go get ready for our testimonies. Bumblebee tried to follow the rest of us, but everyone, but Prime, glared at him for trying. Optimus didn't even notice what we had done. I was the only one who glanced back to see Sentinel putting an arm around the traitor, which only made me angrier at him.
—
The pressure was now on all of us, making my fuel tank lurch from the nerves. Everyone was going to be individually interrogated by this sleazy defense mech, one wrong word and he'd twist it in Megatron's favor.
While one of us was on the bench, the rest of us had to wait in the back of the gallery for our turn. We were far enough away that the bot on the bench couldn't make optic contact with the others, that way we wouldn't feed each other information, in theory.
Optimus was first, detailing the attack on their ship before crashing on Earth. I remember the story, Optimus had told me once before how they had crashed, but I didn't know Megatron did get ahold of the Allspark for a few clicks.
Sari was next, she told how the Allspark had given her her key and how Optimus used the Allspark against Megatron before shattering it into pieces.
Bulkhead went after her and explained how he was forced to use pieces of the Allspark to make Megatron a space bridge. This was new to me, apparently happening just before I arrived on Earth. He explained that Megatron had taken Sari's father and used him to build most of the bridge before kidnapping Bulkhead as well.
Ratchet was after the large green mech and continued on where Bulkhead left off, just before Megatron took Omega Supreme and duplicated him, he explained how Omega had absorbed transwarp energy that teleported the 'Cons randomly through the cosmos. That explained why I hadn't met the giant mech until much later.
"Next to the stand, Starlit." Dread filled my spark as I went up. Ratchet put a hand on my shoulder as he passed by, giving me an uncharacteristically soft smile before leaving the stand. I desperately wished I could see my friends, but the back of the gallery was all in shadows from here.
"So, miss Starlit." Rattletrap leaned against the stand and towards me, a flirty expression on his face. "You weren't around for very long while all these supposed war crimes were happening. In fact, if I heard right, you got yourself a memory glitch." He smirked.
"Yes, caused by one of Megatron's subordinates." I wanted him to stop leaning closer to me, so I leaned forward towards him which did the trick. He got a worried look with how close he now was to my face. "He wanted to reprogram me to join their cause, which nearly caused me to go offline. If not for Ratchet and Optimus, I would have." I didn't mention Bumblebee's involvement.
"Did Megatron ever even threaten you? Cause it sounds like…"
"He's the one who gave Sideways the reprogramming halo and coding." I said coldly, cutting the annoying sleaze ball off. "I saw him on vid calls with Sideways, praising how this could make Decepticons stronger. I think…no, I was the first test subject for a re-programing project." Everyone in the gallery gasped, Alpha Trion shook his helm in disbelief.
"Er…and you're sure you're remembering correctly?" Rattletrap had backed off now, no longer trying to creepily flirt with me. "Seeing as you know, your memory is all…"
"Fragged?" I glared at him and what he was insinuating. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly fine now. I remember everything he did." His whole play was to have my report stricken from the record because of my faulty memory core. Question was, who told this mech about it? Only my team and Jazz were aware of it, unless…Sentinel. I glared towards him, to which he raised an optic ridge and a drop of condensation rolled down his forhelm. Oh I was gonna tear into him when I got the chance!
"N-no more questions from the defense." Rattletrap stepped back to his desk and Sentinel stepped forward.
"That's all I need. Thank you, er…Spotlight." Sentinel got my name wrong.
"It's Starlit." I harshly corrected.
"Next to the stand, Bumblebee." Alpha cut in, freeing me from the stand, but now I had to pass the mech who I had extremely mixed feelings about. I looked away from his big blue optics, that seemed hopeful I'd say something. We passed in silence, my spark fluttering the entire time.
Once I was back by Optimus, I chose to finally look at the mech. He looked nervous, his optics showing clearly how he was feeling. He took a deep intake before Rattletrap descended on him. Bee started explaining the fight between Megatron and Optimus, pausing for a moment and looking at Sentinel. Something flashed in his optics, his face becoming stern for once as he stated how heroic Optimus was in sparring Megatron's life and pulled a complete 180 on Sentinel by declaring our Prime would be a better Magnus.
"I'm with Optimus Prime all the way…even if he and my other friends never speak to me again." He looked down when he spoke the last sentence. I smiled softly at his words, hoping that maybe he'd finally gotten it through his helm that this wasn't the path for him just yet.
Rattletrap wasn't done though, pulling up a holo map and asking Bee to find Earth on the map. I noticed it wasn't Earth's galaxy he was showing, but Cybertron's. I wanted to shout that Bee should hold off, but he spoke before he realized what was being pulled.
"I…I don't see Earth." Bee confessed, Rattletrap snapping the holo map closed with a smirk.
"So, "Oith'' isn't in Cybertronian jurisdiction, which means, henceforth Megatron cannot be tried for the crimes on Oith." The entire court was in an uproar, Sentinel stepping forward and getting into Rattlettrap's face to tell him off.
Alpha Trion had no choice but to rule in favor and told the blue and orange mech to back down, or he'd throw it all out now. All we had on the Decepticon now was the attack on the ship. The grin hidden under the mouth clamp was hardly contained as Megatron was wheeled out of the room.
Sentinel was seething as he followed after the 'Con to lock him back into his cell. Bumblebee looked absolutely defeated and close to a total breakdown when the entire building shook. Optimus grabbed me to keep me from falling over while Bee went flying over the podium, helm first onto the floor.
"What in the slag was that?" Bee asked, rubbing his helm and the ground trembled once more. Bots scrambled around us, leaving the building as emergency alarms rang.
"It appears Kaon has pulled itself off of the rest of Cybertron!" Alpha Trion alerted Prime.
"How are we supposed to seal a creator that big?!" Someone shouted as they left the room. Soon, it was just the council and Team Optimus left in the gallery, none of us quite sure what to do.
"What if we used the Allspark like we did on Earth? To create a shield around the crater " I asked Prime.
"Good thinking, I had the same thought." Prime turned to the council. "Dai Atlas, gather the ninja corps and bring the Allspark to the disaster site to form a shield around it."
"Is that even possible?" Alpha Trion was skeptical but seemed willing to try anything to save Cybertron.
"Trust me, my team was able to do it once before." Optimus looked towards me, but I knew I hadn't been the one to do anything. If only I had been able to keep up…would I have made a difference? "Put Jazz on it, he will know what to do. Once the shield is up, Proceptor and his team can start stabilizing the sonic canyons. Alpha Trion, you need to get on the information network and tell the public that things are under control and not to panic."
"And what about Trypticon prison? Sentinel Prime is still trapped inside with all of the Decepticon prisoners!"
"Mobilize all Elite Guard units in pursuit, but keep regular troops here for planetary defense." Optimus took charge with ease. "Try to open up a communication with Trypticon and find out what's going on in there. My team will lead the search and rescue relief effort. Now, Transform and roll out!" He told us, all of us quickly falling in line.
Ratchet meets us outside, having informed Omega Supreme of what was going on and had him ready in ship mode. Ratchet, Bulkhead and Sair boarded the ship but I stopped when I noticed Optimus stop, turning around to see what was wrong.
Bumblebee had paused, trying to figure out which team to follow, looking between Omega and the Elite Guard ship.
"Aren't you coming, Bumblebee?" Optimus called to him
"You know what, I don't think this is my calling." Bumblebee said, ripping off the Elite Guard stripes and tossing them behind him as he rejoined us. Optimus smiled, looking down at the flames on his legs.
"These are pretty tacky…" Prime ripped off the flames, revealing they were also just decals. Honestly, flames and stripes meant absolutely nothing to me, only coming off as hokey and cheap. Bee grinned, happy to be back with us but also knowing he had a lot of making up to do.
—-
I joined up with Jazz at the site, helping the rest of the ninja team with the processor over matter chant to make a force field around the lava spewing creator. There was a tug on my spark, making me open my optics to see a projection of a smiling Prowl in front of us. Jazz took my hand, silently acknowledging that he saw him too. Prowl reached forward, taking our free hands and somehow linked the three of our sparks together for a moment.
"I'm proud of you both, never forget that." He told us through this connection. "That planet has stabilized, for now, thanks to you."
"Wouldn't know how to do this without you…" Jazz said fondly.
"You know I'm here, right?" I sighed, to which both of them laughed. I only wished he was actually here.
—-
Once things were secure, Jazz and I went to join the rescue effort team to find Optimus on a com link call with someone named Rodimus Prime.
"Did Megatron say anything on where he might be headed?" Optimus asked the other Prime. We weren't close enough to hear the response, but Bulkhead's response worried me.
"I think I know where they're going, Earth."
"What are the coordinates so we can pursue?" I heard a disembodied voice via Prime's com link.
"No, it's too far away…" Optimus looks up when the sound of an airship coming in resounded nearby. Omega was returning from a transport run at just the right time. "Thankfully, I happen to know a shortcut." He ended his call with Rodimus. "Autobots, roll out!"
—-
Sari was the first to board the ship, worried about her father back on Earth. Jazz followed after, stating he'd take any chance to dig the scene back on Earth. Secretly, I knew he wanted to raise his sparkling there rather than on Cybertron, as it was.
"What are you waiting for, let's go!" Bumblebee took a hold of my arm and Bulkhead's and started for the ship, but Bulkhead didn't move.
"Sorry, little buddy, not this time." he said sadly. "There's too much work to be done here and they need me back on the energon farm." Bee and I couldn't believe what we were hearing, but the big guy pulled us into a hug. "Oh come on, I'm only a space bridge transport away!" He squeezed, a warning that he was about to crush both of us flashed through my HUD as he let go.
"I hate long goodbyes…" Bee sighs as we recover from the hug. Before we could say anything else, Prime interrupts.
"That's good, we're short on time. Let's go." Optimus is curt with us, pushing us forward to leave. "Good luck Bulkhead." He says over his shoulder.
"I insist on going too!" Ironhide rounds a corner, transforming just before boarding the ship behind us. "My orders are to protect Optimus Prime!" He pushed past me to walk between Prime and Bumblebee, forcing Bee back into me.
"I told you I don't…"Optimus sighed in irritation. "Never mind, just…come on." the doors close behind us and Omega takes off into space before transwarping.
—-
We transwarped to Tryoticon's location, which loomed in front of us, Omega transformed and began his attack. According to the trajectory of Kaon city, it was bound for Earth and would crash land there if not stopped. Everyone was highly aware of what would happen to the little blue planet if that happened, Earth would be destroyed. The little planet was just beyond, growing larger as we approached.
"I still prefer saving lives more than destroying them." Omega told us, but Ratchet was quick to tell him everything was ok.
"These about seven billion on Earth you'd be saving. They need your help, big guy." The medic assured him, which thankfully motivated him further. Some of Kaon city buildings transformed into cannons and began firing back at us, nearly hitting Omega.
"How do we battle an entire city?!" Bumblebee cried as we were thrown to the ground by a bomb going off too close to the ship.
"We can't, but we can deplete its power supply. Remember team, the fireworks are only a distraction." Optimus replied.
"Then why don't we take things up a notch." Ratchet led us to the storage bay, revealing he had a power master suit he had originally made for Sentinel. "The…kid figured out how to fix it." He pointed to Sari.
"Alright, let's do this." Ratchet had me help him get Optimus into the suit, which sprouts wings and bulks him up to the size of a decepticon. "Let's roll…erm…fly!"
We forgot to check if Prime would fit through the doors, which he smashed through with ease. I didn't hear his comment about it, but he was annoyed it was slowing him down.
—-
Optimus was able to carry Ironhide and Jazz with him with the new upgrade while Sari, Bee and I used our jetpack/boosters to fly through space. Ratchet stays behind to assist Omega while they create cover fire to distract the city's cannons.
All of us had a rough landing outside of the city, only Prime landed on his feet, but he ended up dropping Jazz and Ironhide unceremoniously when the city rumbled as Omega battled the cannons.
"Ok, City, talk to me….." Sari touched the side of one of the buildings, issuing her telepathic powers to figure out where to go. "Calibrate your internal scanners to the sublevels of the city. From there, you'll find two main surge regulators on opposite ends of the city. Take those off line and this place will be guzzling more fuel than a 1950's station wagon!" She reports as I knelt down to pick her up. We all wanted to ask what a 1950's station wagon was, but she opened an access panel and we snuck in.
"Alright, Jazz, Ironhide and Sari take the one that's closest. Bumblebee, Starlit and I will take the other. Meet back here as fast as you can. Starlit, how long till impact?" I opened my com up to Omega's trajectory output readings.
"Thirty clicks." It wasn't a lot of time, and all of us took off at high speed, Sari flying off my shoulder to join Jazz.
"I thought we had more time…" Optimus sighed as I caught up to him and Bumblebee.
Soon enough, we came upon the regular. Instead of taking the time to dismantle it properly, Optimus swung the Magnus hammer and pulverized it in one strong hit. Unfortunately the blast blocked our exit and we had to go a different way back. The lights around us flicked back on, revealing we were surrounded by 'Cons. We'd gone the wrong way and ended up in the cell block.
"Oh frag…" we all stood back to back, ready to take them. Blitzwing, Lugnut and a one eyed purple mech I hadn't met surrounded us. Optimus opens his com link to tell Jazz and the others to get out just before the 'Cons attack.
"OoooOooo I want to play with the pretty one!" Blitzwing changed to the random face and grinned at both Bumblebee and me. We ducked his grab as Optimus dodged the purple mech.
Optimus swings the Magnus hammer, keeping the cons at bay while Bee and I continue to slip past them. Blitzwing made a grab for Bee from behind while he was distracted by Lugnut, but I made it in time to sink my energy blade into the palm of his left hand.
"You think that hurt? I've had worst gravel stuck in my peds!" The beige mech's face turned to the angry one and took a hold of the sword still in his palm by clenching his injured hand, pinning my wrist to the back of his hand. Unable to get free, he flung me into the air and slapped a pair of stasis cuffs on me before throwing me into a cell.
"Star!" I heard Bee cry out before hearing a clank and he was thrown into the cell next to me, hands behind his back in stasis cuffs.. Soon, the three 'Cons overpowered Prime, stopping him with a third pair of cuffs and locked him in the cell with us. I was forced between them, my face uncomfortably close to Bees but we couldn't move.
"Can we keep one? I want to play…" Blitzwing was back to Random, his eyes glowing with rage.
"Ignore the Autobots for now!" Megatron's voice boomed over the intercom. "Get to the command center, now!"
We were left alone in the cell block, the 'Cons distracted by keeping the city flying.
"How did they get the power back on?" I wondered.
"I don't know…but I got a feeling we don't want to find out." Optimus tried to move but to no avail. Suddenly, Megatron bursts in and opens the cell, plasma cannon aimed right at us. I heard Bee gasp as I closed my optics, not wanting to see the end coming, when Ironhide rushed into the scene, using his armor to deflect the blast. Jazz was a blur as he tackled Megatron with a spin kick while Sari flew in and blasted the cuffs off of us.
"Go, get out of here, I'll cover you!" Optimus orders us, as we were freed.
"This way!" Sari flies in front of us and takes the lead. As we come to a wall, Sari opens another access panel when suddenly the city lurches, powering down for the final time.
This nearly causes Bee to fall out, but I was able to pull him back in just in time. Prime rushes up behind us, scooping all four of us up in his arms and leaping out of the falling city, flying us through Earth's atmosphere. Sari followed behind with her jet pack, laughing with joy..
"Isn't that the island those dino bots live on over there?" I asked as Kaon swayed in the air towards the half moon shaped island.
"Eh…not any more?" Bee quipped as Omega Supreme flew over us in ship mode towards the city.
"Thanks again, Ironhide, for saving our shells back there. You did your job well." Prime smiled at the orange mech. Ironhide replied with a salute and a smile as well.
We landed where Dinobot Island was, which was now mostly under the prison city. Optimus swung his hammer at the gates, but they didn't budge. Sari touched the gates, using her power again to see if she could do anything.
"The city is completely powered down an sealed tight. Nothing can get in, or out." She grinned.
"Still…there's no telling what Megatron is up to inside." Optimus sighed.
"And the battle took a toll on Omega, he'll have to just be a ship until I can fix him up! We're not going anywhere for a while." Ratchet didn't seem as mad as he put off, almost glad to be back here.
"That's just as well. I think we should stay on Earth to monitor the situation." Optimus looked at all of us, a smile on his face. "I'll admit though, it's good to be back."
"It's gonna be weird without Bulkhead though." Bee sighed, but it felt much weirder for me. Earth was where I met everyone, so it was more home to me than anything, but without Prowl…it was strange.
Ironhide was near the shore, staring at everything, seeing Earth for the first time.
"Trust me, you're gonna dig Earth, big time." Jazz reassured him, but I didn't hear what else was said between them. Something in my spark was telling me we were closer to our destinies than we all thought, which scared me.