=Chapter-7=
"Like a Mirror"
Starscream stared at the grey cannon in shock, and then at the mech who held the weapon. He was really big, even if he wasn't as big as the Gestalt Autobot he'd fought about a groon ago, and maybe he wasn't as big as Tidal Wave was, but the menacing figure was the same size as the combination of the Prime he knew and his lousy lieutenant, Jetfire. He was an Autobot, too… at least, he was wearing the symbol on his chest, over the cockpit, and he was mostly white with some red and blue spots: besides, he also had a pair of wings on his back… Therefore he should be a flying type, although Starscream didn't recognize him as one of the Aerialbot guys.
But it didn't matter right now; the matter was that this guy was pointing at him with his weapon, apparently one that was very powerful.
Starscream cursed to himself silently as he realized he had been careless once again. He didn't think these Autobots here would be as nice to him as they had been back on his reality. What was going to happen to him now? Would he taken as prisoner or something worse?
Meanwhile Skyfire, while still pointing at the unknown seeker with his weapon, could also observe him closely. He knew the seekers and all their variations, but this one was quite different: his form reminded him of the cannon seekers, but his face was slightly tight, his arms weren't as robust as common seekers'; his cockpit was longer, as well as his wings. His paint job reminded him of Thundercracker, except for the white wings.
But there was something weird about this seeker: his optics were blue, not red.
Starscream grunted, unable to move without suffering the consequences; he glared at the Autobot instead.
"And what if I don't move, anyway?" he answered, teasing the Autobot, "Will you shoot at me, too?"
Skyfire's optics widened; that voice was awfully familiar, even if it wasn't as screeching as the one he knew. Still, he wasn't in the mood to play games with a Decepticon.
"We'll see," he answered. "That depends on your attitude."
"As if I could move and attack you in my current condition," the blue seeker grunted. Starscream wasn't as bad if he could not defend himself, but he didn't want to irritate the Autobot; in fact, he didn't have the will to fight anymore… today, at least.
"I don't trust your words, Decepticon."
"You'd be surprised if I told you that I don't, either…"
Again, the white giant's optics widened. The tone of that Decepticon seemed to be honest in claiming his defeat, and his answers lacked insults.
"Who-who are you?" he asked in wonder.
"If I'll tell you what my name is, you won't believe me… So, let's forget that and just go away, Autobot. I don't mean you any harm," Starscream answered the big Autobot, moving his head to the side. He just wanted to get out of here and leave, or at least, to allow time to repair himself.
Skyfire tilted his head and put down his weapon; this Decepticon seemed to be more hopeless and gloomy than anything, perhaps because his companions left him behind; as he watched him, he realized his back kibble was damaged and he truly seemed to lack the will to attack him. Skyfire knew that Seekers were worthy opponents, mostly in the air… but this guy had crashed against frozen ground, was quite damaged and was certainly smaller than him. He couldn't match the Autobot. The white jet surprised himself as he realized he felt a mix of curiosity and sorrow for him, and not hatred. But he also wondered why the Decepticon hadn't addressed him by his name or some kind of insult like "Autotrash", just like his kind usually did; he was being quite quiet and polite.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that," answered Skyfire, trying to hide his confusion. "You and your companions have ruined this place. I cannot leave you behind."
Starscream jumped up and began to stare at the gigantic Autobot. "So that's it, isn't it?" he asked. Again, his voice was awfully familiar. "You blame me because the havoc we've caused here… and you're trying to keep me as your prisoner. That's what you are going to do, right?"
"Well, more or less, yes."
"Believe me, I didn't mean to do this just to keep some energon cubes. I did not mean to destroy the pipeline, either. That was an accident," Starscream answered with conviction. For some weird reason he thought that unknown Autobot wasn't about to do him any more harm and he felt free to speak. "But I understand you want to take me prisoner or fire at me."
"So you're really him!" exclaimed Skyfire as he realized something while he listened to the seeker; astonished that his pleas didn't seem to be a trick to run away, but real regret.
"I'm what?" replied the odd seeker turning towards Skyfire with a startled look in his blue optics.
"You're the strange seeker everybody's talking about, aren't you?"
Starscream looked at the gigantic Autobot in amazement, his jaw dropped.
"Seriously? I'm that popular here?" exclaimed Starscream, and began to laugh. "It never occurred to me!"
That laugh, it was an odd mix of irony and amusement. Skyfire stared at the laughing seeker as he shook… that laugh was… familiar. Still, a new thought crossed the formed Autobot's mind.
"It doesn't seem you're too worried about your current situation…. Or are you trying to cheat me with all those false speeches of regret and fly away ?"
The blue seeker stopped and looked at him.
"Fly away? As I told previously, I'm not in a condition to face up to you and fly away right now, that's for sure. And you're free to believe me or not."
Skyfire examined the condition of the seeker carefully with his optics and other sensors; he knew the seeker said the truth, not only his back structure was damaged, but it also leaked Transformers' blood, a mix of energon and oil.
"… As for worrying about myself, I've worried about very important matters in my life lately which got me into this. Being a prisoner of the Autobots here isn't a really bad thing."
"You talk as if the humans murdered weren't related to you." Skyfire's statement was harsh. "That's something I won't ever understand about you, Decepticons. And I despise your kind for that… even if you aren't able to understand it."
The blue optics of the Seeker darkened; Skyfire had the feeling the Seeker somehow felt offended.
"I just followed orders, Autobot," he replied in a defensive tone, "I just did what Megatron told me I should do. I wasn't the one that executed those humans, it doesn't make me happy either."
"That's not an excuse."
"I know… but I don't expect you to understand it either, Autobot," he replied, "You Autobots are used to working together in order to accomplish your objectives… The Decepticons just follow orders from the high ranks without questioning. That's my way."
Skyfire was amazed: the tone of the blue seeker as he spoke was respectful and non-contemptuous, as if his opinion was neutral and not deformed by the point of view of one of the Transformers' factions. He was getting more intrigued by the Seeker by the minute: the blue one was oddly familiar and alien at the same time; he wasn't a common Decepticon at all.
"…Besides, there are more important things than the war between Autobots and Decepticons," the strange seeker told him in an odd dreamful tone, as if lamenting something.
Starscream didn't understand why he felt so free to say his own opinions to the gigantic Autobot, but somehow he knew the big white guy didn't mean him any real harm, otherwise the white mech would have shot him already, so he could speak with him.
To speak of things that he badly wanted to see.
"What things are more important to a Decepticon than winning the Great War?" the Autobot wondered.
Starscream frowned; he could give that Autobot a full speech about the nonsense the war between the two factions was, he could speak him about Unicron, the Chaos Bringer from the Transformers' legends, and how it/he feeds off the hatred between the two factions, and he also could speak to him about his personal confrontation against it/him… But he didn't know what he could expect of that Autobot, and he didn't expect the Autobot or his kind would believe him. So he just decided to answer with his own personal reason.
"The existence and preservation of the Cybertronian species itself is more important…" he mused.
Skyfire gasped, he did not expect such an answer, and he didn't expect that from a Decepticon, either. Could this Decepticon somehow be different from his own kind since he had blue optics? Blue optics, like an Autobot had? Perhaps he truly was different, after all.
In spite of his alignment, the former scientist Autobot found himself extending his big servo to the bound Decepticon, a tender gesture.
Starscream jumped up and looked at the servo as he realized something: the Autobot was white, quite big and had an alternative-flying mode; he also had extended a helpful servo to him. This Autobot wast nothing like the one he thought he was, but again, Swindle wasn'tt, either.
"Jetfire…?" he mused in wonder.
Skyfire stared at the blue Decepticon, moving his servo in surprise.
"No; my name's Skyfire and not Jetfire," he replied a little confused, "although you should know who I am, Decepticon."
Starscream chuckled softly.
"Well, I'm a newcomer here," he apologized. "I just mixed you up with somebody I once knew."
"I guess so, since it's the first time we've seen you here," explained Skyfire. As the weird Decepticon talked, he felt more and more relaxed in his presence. "I also knew a former Decepticon once…"
In spite of it being night already, the blue optics of the Decepticon met the blue ones of the Autobot and stared at them, both shone with a blue glow which illuminated lightly their faces; Skyfire's face had relaxed remarkably, and now, it held a deep sad look instead of the hatred from many minutes before. Starscream had the feeling the gigantic Autobot didn't want to harm him, or even take him as prisoner, really, and he wondered what his reasons were till he heard him say:
"You're… quite similar to him."
Starscream's optics flashed, but their glow went down again.
"I also had many Autobot friends once," he answered, lifting his head to the sky. "Well… what do you think you will do with me now?" he finally asked, glaring at the Autobot.
"I-I don't know," the Autobot admitted. "You intrigue me, indeed."
Starscream laughed, again his laugh was a mix of amusement and irony. Skyfire had the deja-vú feeling again and looked at the Decepticon in wonder.
"Then, suit yourself and sit down on the ground." He waved his servo toward the ground and smiled at him.
Skyfire was amazed by the behavior of this Decepticon; since he'd switched sides, he had never met anybody of his class that hadn't shot at him, kicked him, attacked him or just called him traitor. On the contrary, this Decepticon didn't seem to hate him or think of him as a traitor or an adversary… in fact, he seemed to feel sorry for his being alienated by the war, in the same way he was. He wondered if the friendship he claimed to share with those Autobots (or at least, that Jetfire guy he mentioned) was related to what he was currently saying and attitude towards him. Or if it was the true reason his companions left him behind. An odd idea crossed his mind: his name was Skyfire, and he'd been friends with a Decepticon seeker… This seeker was friends with a former Autobot called Jetfire who seemed to be quite similar to him, and perhaps other Autobots. Was it a coincidence?
In spite of himself, Skyfire sit down and stared at him, a little in wonder because it was the first time he'd felt easy around a Decepticon since he'd learned what kind of people they were and Starscream had shot at him.
"What's your purpose?" he asked the Seeker, distrusting him.
Starscream smirked.
"At the moment, just to wait for my repairing systems to finish their job. Later, I'll see- To tell the truth, I have no control over the latest events of my life, so I don't have many choices."
"I can take you as prisoner," announced the gigantic Autobot. "But now, I can also let you go."
"In whichever case… it will be wrong."
Skyfire tilted his head and asked him in a mix of curiosity and pity:"Is it big, the control that Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons have over you?"
The seeker nodded, half absent, and stared at his pede. He crossed his arms gently and Skyfire noticed he brushed a certain odd structure on his left arm. Again, he wondered if he should tell this Autobot his full story and warn him about what he thought could happen in this reality… But it would sound too fantastical for Skyfire to take him seriously; he could use Swindle as proof since there weren't Minicons in this reality, but he didn't want to risk his little partner's life, either… although Swindle was disposed to take the risk for sure.
Finally he made up his mind about what to say; perhaps he didn't have a better choice but to do that.
"Skyfire…" he hesitated, "whether or not you take me as the Autobots' prisoner…" he turned to the gigantic flyer, and his blue optics flashed, "…Know this: tell your Prime there are things far more important than winning the War, and one of them might happen. Perhaps in the coming Orns or perhaps solar cycles, but soon."
"What-what are you talking about?" Skyfire was shocked.
"It's a warning," he replied. "I cannot tell you more at the moment… I doubt that you or any other of your kind would believe me, but I also am quite sure the Decepticons wouldn't believe me, either. But your Prime will. Please, tell him what I just said to you."
Starscream felt deeply relieved as he said that. It was the first chance he had to say how he felt and what he knew… He didn't know why he was there, in this new reality: was it one of Unicron's tricks? Or was it Primus' hopeless plan? Whatever it was, he knew what his last intention in his native reality was, and perhaps he should do it in this one, or at least try. His counterpart wanted to keep him close to him in order to control him, but if he could convince his counterpart in the same way he talked with this Skyfire guy, he could achieve his objective. Then, the recent events of his life would make sense.
"Who - what are you?" asked Skyfire again. He was so amazed that he had forgotten his initial intention of taking the odd seeker as prisoner.
"I told you already," the blue seeker answered, "I cannot tell you my name… Not yet, at least."
Starscream was afraid of what could happen if he said who he was, more so after he'd seen the behavior of his counterpart here.
Skyfire just stared at the blue seeker, who lifted his head to the night sky again, and nodded.
It had been an odd night. Skyfire had spent the night in the west of Siberia; the place was dark and cold, and sometimes a strong cold wind blew over them, but it didn't matter to him, he had spent many recharge cycles under the stars of alien worlds, so the Siberian night wasn't much different or harder than his previous experiences. The odd thing was the reason he had done it; he had been there in the company of the weird Seeker, sometimes talking softly with him, sometimes in complete silence. He had learned the guy was an enigma himself: Skyfire never was sure if all Decepticons were like the nasty guys he faced up against in the Autobots' supporting missions, but if there was a different Decepticon anywhere, the blue Seeker was it. As they spoke, Skyfire saw that the seeker seemed to regret the war, he seemed to be afraid of something, he claimed to meet several Autobots in his past that also seemed to have befriended him, and he also congratulated him on his accurate shot at Megatron… Although Skyfire wasn't sure why: sometimes Skyfire had the feeling all Decepticons hated Megatron in secret, yet the blue seeker's admiration might be genuine and honest.
Under this scenario, Skyfire decided it was better to let the seeker go. Having such a weird individual being free among Decepticon lines was worth more than being kept as prisoner. He just hoped he wouldn't regret his choice.
When the morning came, the Seeker's reparations systems had finished their job, and his back structure was working again, but something strange happened: Skyfire could have sworn it was blue, but now, it was white… silver-white, indeed. And the Seeker didn't attack him, he just chuckled and said:
"I'm getting back my old self. My launchers are white, again."
"What?"
"I wasn't always blue - I was once red and silver-white."
After several minutes of uneasy talk and farewells, they separated and flew in different directions. And now Skyfire flew over the Pacific Ocean towards North America, towards Mount Saint Hilary, where the Autobots had placed their HQ. Skyfire would pretend to have spent the day with the Russian Biologist group, but he'd just reported the attack and turned back with his kind. After the previous day's events, he should do that.
He flew for hours despite being really fast, being able to reach match.5 (1), and his flight was quite short. But, to him, it was quite long as he thought in the later events.
Finally, he reached his destination and landed softly before the main entrance of the crashed space ship that was the Ark.
When he entered the HQ, he found the main room was empty, so he walked inside the base looking for Prime. He had to speak with him about the latest events. Then, he found Hound and Bumblebee who were chatting to each other:
"… I shouldn't tell them about my quarrel with Spike," Bumblebee lamented. "They laughed at me because of that and now, Slingshot is making pranks about that every time we meet."
"Don't take him seriously, you know Slingshot can be really-oh, Skyfire! You're here!"
"Hello, Hound… Bumblebee," he greeted.
"Nice to see you here," replied Hound. "It has been a long time, 'Fire."
"Yes, I know… I've been out for a while."
"Yeah. Ironhide told us yesterday you were with them in the fight with the Decepticons, but you preferred to remain there," added the yellow Minibot as he lifted his head to speak with him. If Skyfire was big, he seemed even bigger in comparison to the little Minibot.
"That's true… I was looking for Prime, actually."
"Oh, you're looking for him?" exclaimed Hound. "He's in the repair bay with the rest of the people."
"In the repair bay?"
"Yeah, you know Prime …" added Bumblebee, "he won't separate from the wounded if there is no good reason."
"Oh, I see. Thanks, I'll look for him there."
Skyfire passed them and went ahead towards the repair bay. Behind him, Bumblebee and Hound kept chatting.
"...Yes, I know Slingshot may be mean at times, but…" mused Bumblebee's voice.
The repair bay was filled with the wounded warriors of the previous day and other fellow robots; Prime, Ironhide, the Lamborghini twins, Brawn and the Aerialbots; the only one who wasn't there was Prowl. There, Ratchet and Wheeljack tried to fix their companions: some of them only had superficial scars, like Prime, and others, like the Aerialbots, had more serious wounds; in fact Ratchet was trying to cure the deep wound in Skydive's shoulder.
"…For Primus' sake, Optimus!" Ratchet exclaimed, "how many times have I told you I'm not a mechanic, but a medic? I cannot work faster!"
Saying this, he kept welding and assembling the internal mechanism in Skydive's body. The Aerialbot grunted as he felt something nasty in his arm's joints.
"You shouldn't combine into Gestalt, young one," said Ratchet in the same neutral tone medics use when they cure their stubborn patients. "That only makes the wound nastier."
"Yeah, but we should if we want to defeat the Seekers," answered Air Raid from another repair bed.
Ratchet just grunted.
Wheeljack turned towards the entrance and his optics widened as he saw the gigantic figure of Skyfire entering the repair bay. He was one of the first who tried befriending the scientist, and he was glad to see him after a long time.
"Ah, Skyfire!" he exclaimed cheerfully, "you've come, too!"
"Yes, Wheeljack," he answered with a soft genuine smile in his smooth features. "Glad to see you, too."
The rest of the crew turned towards him and greeted him, they were all quite glad to see him after such a long time; Skyfire had been a good companion, he was nice, tender, wise and very very patient, helping then in some nasty missions. At first, none of them could find reasons to distrust or complain about him.
However, neither Sunstreaker, Sideswipe nor Brawn greeted him, they just stared at him.
"So, you finally come, Skyfire," Optimus said.
"Yes… I have to talk with you," he explained.
"Why?" asked Brawn suddenly. "What happened yesterday? Ironhide told us you remained there after the fight."
"Yes, I did," the giant in white nodded simply.
"Was it you who shot Megatron?" asked Sunstreaker walking towards him. "I'd have liked to see that," added the golden warrior. "I didn't expect such a thing for a non-warrior like you." His tone was pompous.
Skyfire stared at the golden Lamborghini twin. When they met for the first time, Skyfire hadn't realized it, but later he found out Sunstreaker had been a gladiator in the Arenas… just as Megatron was. Sunstreaker was one of those rare cases of an Autobot warrior by programming, when back in the gladiator's combats, warriors used to be Decepticons. Moreover, Sunstreaker was a very nasty warrior, he enjoyed fighting and he thought of himself as some sort of Adonis, competing with Tracks in that aspect.
Skyfire could deal with that, he was extremely patient, but sometimes Sunstreaker's mean comments hurt him. The gigantic scientist had the feeling today was going to be one of those times…
"Yes, I also did that," he answered softly and the golden warrior just smiled.
"Why do you want to talk, Skyfire?" asked Prime after they finished. "Something happened there?"
Skyfire turned to him and nodded. "Yes, that's it," he answered, "I met the weird Seeker you all mentioned yesterday."
Everybody jumped up where they stood, till Skydive cried in pain as Ratchet burned him with his soldering iron tool.
"Oooops! Sorry!" the medic apologized.
"Do you mean the guy with the Sword that sliced Skydive's shoulder?" asked Slingshot from where he stood.
"The weird seeker in blue?" added Air Raid. Skyfire nodded
"Yes, I met him after you went… That was what I wanted to say."
The Autobots looked each other.
"What he was doing there?" asked Brawn. "You guys said the Decepticons flew away after Skyfire shot Megatron."
"Yes, they did… They'd got what they wanted, so the Decepticreeps didn't dare face up against us for longah" Ironhide reasoned.
"Then, what was that guy doing there?" Silverbolt asked.
"Apparently, they left him behind," explained the giant in white.
"Again, the Decepticons never care for each other…" sighed Brawn
"Yeah," added Ratchet.
"I don't think that's the reason, Brawn," replied Skyfire, turning towards him. "To tell the truth, I've spent almost all night talking with him."
There was an annoyed silence; everybody was quiet, even Ratchet's tools. Skyfire also realized everybody was glaring at him.
"You what?" Ironhide exclaimed.
"Are you betraying us?" asked Sunstreaker, accusing him.
"What?" exclaimed Skyfire, perplexed. "Why do you say that?"
"Please, shut up and let him talk," Optimus ordered softly.
"Thanks, Prime… I found him, he was wounded and alone. The Decepticons abandoned him and he wasn't in any condition to fight me," he explained. "I guess I'm kind of big and strong to a wounded seeker." His tone was a little perplexed.
"So…?" asked Slingshot as he woke up from his repair bed.
"I was about to take him as prisoner… but I let him go this morning."
"What? You say you spend all night talking with him and later, you let him go?" Sunstreaker exclaimed. "Are you nuts?"
"Why did you do such a thing?" added Sideswipe, who had remained in silence all this time.
Skyfire turned to them and answered softly. "Because I don't think he's as mean as the rest of the Decepticons… He's different."
Of course, the Autobots exchanged looks; all of them except Prime, Ratchet (who was trying hard to do his job in spite of the current events) and Wheeljack, who still trusted his friend's judgment and wanted to hear his explanation.
"Since when are the Decepticons different?" asked Brawn, a little astonished. "They destroyed the pipeline and killed all humans there!" he spat. "And look at Skydive's shoulder… that nasty wound of his was made by that seeker you're defending!"
"Yes, I know… but he didn't seem to be happy about it."
"Really? And you let him go just for that?" Sunstreaker demanded to know.
"No. He gave me a lot of good reasons for which I did that."
"Reasons? The only reason here is I'd love to punch his face for what he and his kind did yesterday!"
"Please, Suns, take it easy," warned his twin brother, Sideswipe, from behind him.
"Oh, shut up!"
Skyfire looked at them; they didn't seem to be able to understand his reasons. They were angry with him because he let the seeker go… perhaps it wasn't a good idea, after all.
"Take note of this, big guy!" Brawn suddenly exclaimed, pointing to him with his index finger. "Perhaps you're fully aware of this, but we are in a war, a war which has destroyed Cybertron almost completely and had killed thousands of our fellow robots! You cannot allow yourself to take the luxury of letting a seeker go just because you think he's nice!"
"Yeah! You have spent such a long time in stasis inside that ice cap on the Earth's pole than you don't even know what world you are living on right now!" added Sunstreaker. "And you think you can walk around like in the past Golden Age and befriend Decepticons! ...Or was it not you who was friends with that repugnant Air Commander of the Decepticons?"
"Yes… why did you let him go?" Slingshot demanded to know from behind. "Are you plotting against us with that Seeker now?"
"Is it that you don't remember it was Starscream himself who fired at you the day you were re-activated? Why were you listening to that guy? ...He is as dangerous and evil as the rest of his kind, for Primus' sake," Brawn added. "I don't know what he told you, but who says it wasn't a trick by your kind ex-friend?"
"You have a thing for Seekers, don't you, Skyfire? ...Your lack of initiative in battle is just an excuse for not fighting with us on our side!"
Skyfire heard them, astonished. He could not believe what they were saying and accusing him of: their words fell on him like acid rain. In spite of the fact that Skyfire felt closer to the Autobots faction than Decepticons, in spite of the fact that he couldn't understand the Decepticon's logic and ideology, he had his own reasons for refusing to fight; but these accusations were hurting him deeply and he couldn't understand why he was being accused and blamed like that.
He just could not believe what his companions were shouting at him. He was able to understand them and their ideals, so why weren't they able to understand him? He couldn't see the reason why he was being bashed in such a hard way.
"ENOUGH!" he exclaimed: his usual soft voice thundered through the room.
All of the Autobots there, even Wheeljack, jumped up. The gigantic scientist never ever got this angry, they had never seen him react in this way before.
"You have no right to accuse me like that!" he replied, his blue optics turning ice cold as they flashed in anger. He pointed to the twins, Brawn and Slingshot. "You have no idea why I refuse to fight, do you?... I cannot believe none of you are able to realize that!" He took a deep breath. "You do not know what living like this means for me; you do not know what it's like to wake up one day and finding out that everything you knew has disappeared in just a recharge cycle time! You do not know how it is when the life, the aspirations, the places, and the friends I once had and love do not exist anymore!" His dental plates were gritted. "I do - I must deal with that every day of my life since I woke up from the stasis in my frozen prison! For me, time was stopped while you were fighting for hundreds of deca-vorns! You have had enough time to get used to the war, and Primus forgive me to say this, but I'd bet some of you like to fight the Deceptions!" He clenched his fists. "I am not like that! I have to watch every day how both Cybertronian factions kill each other, and destroy the world I once knew because of reasons I'm not able to understand!... And I am not about to participate in such nonsense. You cannot judge me for not fighting in your war!" He seemed to calm down a little "…Perhaps I'm an Autobot, now; perhaps you shared your crest and oil with me as a warrior (2)… But I cannot fight in such mass destruction of everything I love, even if my optics are blue and I wore the Autobot crest on my canopy." He turned towards the Prime; his angry face had turned into a sad one, now. "Optimus… I have my reasons to do what I did with that seeker. I don't expect any of you to understand them after this… Just let me explain them to you."
The Autobots remained in silence, still perplexed and surprised by Skyfire's speech and his sudden explosion of anger. Wheeljack just sighed heavily as Prime and Ratchet stared at him in wonder.
"Ok, Skyfire…" replied Prime. "Let's talk about this in private. I think it's the best option right now."
Skyfire just nodded and they both left the repair bay.
Several minutes later, Skyfire took a seat in front of Optimus, inside the main Prime's office. Courtesy and manners was a formality they both used to avoid: Prime used to do that with all his soldiers, precisely because the current war time didn't leave time for protocols… but Skyfire always had the feeling Optimus conceded him some relaxed manners.
The giant just put his elbows on his knees and stared the ground in shame.
"I am sorry, Prime…" he said quietly. "I should not have shouted at them like that. My behavior has been shameful."
"Don't worry about that, Skyfire." Prime answered softly as he took his seat. "Just tell me why you say you let the seeker go and did not take him as prisoner. I know you have your reasons for not fighting and I respect them."
"Thanks, Optimus…." he answered relieved. "Do you take Decepticons prisoners, really?" asked the scientist as he lifted his head.
"Sometimes we did back on Cybertron, not really here, on Earth… They are hard to capture, and well- I don't want to bother you right now with those details."
"It's important. I'd like to know what would happen to that Seeker if the capture were to be carried out…"
"Is it so important?" asked Prime in wonder and Skyfire just nodded. "Well, if you'd captured him, we'd interrogate him and keep him as prisoner in a cell." Prime sighed. "Although I don't think he'd be very useful since, well, the Decepticons didn't seem to care for each other… In our previous capture, we tried to use Ravage but it didn't work as we expected."
"Then, I think if I captured him, nothing will change…." Prime looked at Skyfire in wonder, "I don't think this Seeker'd be very useful… He was just a warrior."
"And you let him go just for that?"
"For that and for many other reasons."
"Which ones?"
Skyfire took a deep breath as he straightened himself up, his head still being above Optimus'.
"… He seemed to fight just because it is his function, his obligation. But he seemed to regret everything that happened yesterday in the oil station; the pipeline's explosion, the murder of all those humans… He seemed to have- some kind of honor code or nobility in battle, and he wasn't proud of those deeds at all."
"I see… I can understand it, but you cannot let a Decepticon go just for being a common warrior and having his doubts as soldier. In war, everybody's a warrior and we all have our doubts. Just think, if he's on the Decepticons' side, despite those convictions, it's because he shares their ideals somehow."
"That's what I cannot deal with, Optimus…I could blame Megatron for every disgrace which has happened to me, you or Cybertron… I could blame Soundwave, Shockwave, even Starscream… But I cannot blame just a soldier like him, or even Reflector."
"Yes, I know… But, let's forget that and tell me, was there another reason for letting him go?" Prime asked, knowing he couldn't convince Skyfire to change his mind.
"Yes, there was," answered Skyfire with a sigh. "He said he had many Autobot friends, one of them was called 'Jetfire' who seemed to be quite similar to me." The white giant could see Prime's optics widen.
"Well, I guess it is- odd. But it's just a coincidence, Skyfire."
"I know… but that isn't the only thing he said. He also asked me to tell you an important message. He said perhaps you were the only one that could understand it and persisted about how important it was."
"A message? For me?" he wondered. "What's it?"
"He said I should warn you that… He told me 'Tell your Prime there are things far more important than winning the War, and one of them might happen. Perhaps in the coming orns or perhaps solar cycles, but soon.'- That's what he wanted to say you."
Optimus' optics widened till they were huge under the helmet and the mask. This reaction didn't go unnoticed by the giant flyer.
"I don't know what he meant to say, but I thought you should know, at least," he explained. After seeing Prime's reaction, Skyfire thought he must know something.
"Did he say anything more …?" Prime asked, upset.
"No; not related directly with the warning, at least," he replied. "But I have the feeling that everything he was saying to me about his regret of the war is related to this warning somehow. He refused to give his name, as if it would be too soon for that."
"I see…" said Optimus thoughtfully.
Skyfire stared at the Autobot Prime for some long seconds; he knew he had done well letting the Seeker go, but he wanted to hear it from Optimus, or at least, to understand why he had done well.
"Optimus… Am I wrong? What do you think about this, really?"
Prime was startled as he heard the question; he gave Skyfire a confused look, and finally, he sighed heavily.
"I don't know, Skyfire. The only thing I can tell you right now is thatit may be important… But I don't get why he didn't prefer to tell me directly.."
"I don't think he had the opportunity… We met him in yesterday's battle."
"…Yes, you're right." He sighed again. "Perhaps Prowl is also right and he's related to the phenomenon from two days ago."
Skyfire's optics widened in wonder. "Say what? ...What's this? Yesterday I heard the guys talk about that, but I haven't had the chance to talk with Wheeljack or Preceptor yet."
"Hmmmm… Perhaps it'd be better if you got to talk to them; I think together, you will be able to come to some reliable conclusion," he suggested.
"Then?"
"You're dismissed, Skyfire. Don't worry anymore about letting that seeker go."
"Thanks, Optimus."
He lifted himself up from his seat, walked towards the door and it closed quietly behind him.
As soon as Optimus was alone, he sighed heavily as if he'd lost a gig load over his shoulders, and instinctively his right servo moved towards his chest and caressed it.
"He knows," he mused, "I don't know how or why, but he knows." He shivered. "That confirms my suspicions… Perhaps I should talk with that Seeker, too."
When Skyfire got out of Prime's office, he went to the laboratory where Preceptor used to be and perhaps, Wheeljack would be there as well. To his surprise, he found that Preceptor was there, indeed. Wheeljack appeared in front of him; the Autobot with shining ears had just come from the repair bay at that moment.
"Oh, 'Fire!" he exclaimed. "You here, then."
"Yes, I finished talking with Prime," he grunted. "What about the guys? Do they still think I'm some sort of traitor?"
"No, I don't think so," Wheeljack replied lowering his head. "They're still in the repair bay." He informed. "I think they were upset from yesterday's events and had to vent. Just that. I'm sorry about what just happened, people here are just very nervous about everything."
Skyfire also lowered his view, ashamed, "I also am sorry for what I said before… I behaved childishly."
"I'm sure you have your reasons and Prime understood them." He tilted his head in wonder. "What did you say?"
"It's too complicated to explain right now, Wheeljack… At the moment, he wants us to investigate the phenomenon everybody's talking about." He stared at Wheeljack, "Optimus and Prowl think that Seeker and the phenomenon may be related, and since I'm the one who was in contact with him, Prime wants us to work together."
"I see… Well, I was about to continue that work," he replied. "So, let's go ahead with this. I'm glad you're going to work with us."
And saying this, they both entered the laboratory…
Starscream followed the same path as the previous day. He flew avoiding humans' radars and activities; he knew very well how to do it, he had done it many times. He also avoided flying at maximum speed, he wanted to keep his energy reserves even if his storage compartment had plenty of energon cubes, and he knew the Megatron of this reality wanted those. But there was another reason, and it was that he wanted to have some time to himself to think about the latest events and what was going to happen.
He hadn't expected a warm welcome, but he hadn't expected to pass by unnoticed as he arrived at the base; he was angry at being abandoned like that… but he also knew in this reality everybody was distrustful of him, and he had the feeling this was a loyalty proving test. So Starscream did what the rest of the Decepticons expected of him, except for the fact that he wasn't going to say anything about his meeting with that gigantic Autobot. Again, Swindle was deeply disappointed with his master because the Seeker didn't allow him to show himself to the gigantic Autobot; the impatient Minicon just didn't get why he shouldn't show himself to the rest of people who seemed to have some sort of respect for his master, at least. Starscream had a hard time trying to explain this to his little companion as he tried to think of a good explanation about his late return to the base. The seeker knew well that his current position didn't allow him to feel free to do whatever he wanted; of course, it didn't happen in his native universe either, but at least he had a rank back in his universe, but here, he just was another soldier …A soldier who was under his counterpart's command, ironically.
As he flew over Europe, he saw again the high towers and big stone buildings, which were so different to the ones of his native world; he also found many humans were demolishing a wall in the middle of a big city surrounded by a chorus of cries and shouts. Starscream watched them from the sky and, with a certain shock, remembered he liked Earth and he didn't want its destruction even if he didn't know that much about humans, unlike the rest of the Decepticons in his reality that seemed to know humans quite well. However, nobody of his kind ever tried to show themselves to the inhabitants of this world. But in this reality, it was different: these Decepticons seemed to dislike, even despise Earth, and ignored or used humans for their purposes when the need arose. They were cruel and merciless to humans, he thought as he remembered the events of the previous day. As a warrior, Starscream just couldn't understand where was the challenge in winning against a weak creature such as humans were . From that point of view, he could understand the big white Autobot's loathing towards his kind and why the Autobots seemed to respect or even protect them from the Decepticons.
Even though he wasn't pleased by that, either, he felt relieved as he remembered he was able to tell that Skyfire mech about the danger Unicron meant towards the Cybertronian species; he was glad he got the chance to say something about his main worry to somebody. And, at least, Swindle agreed with him on this point, because sometimes Swindle could be a real pain in the ass when he did what he wanted to do and the little Minicon had been really demanding about that point.
Still, he wondered about the gigantic white Autobot. He wondered if that guy was Jetfire's counterpart in this reality… they both seemed to be quite similar, although Starscream never had a deep relationship with the Autobot Second in Command. Jetfire was lousy, arrogant and proponent, although he had to admit the flying Autobot was almost as skilled as he was in the air, and he was a fierce warrior, even for an Autobot. Not in vain, Jetfire teamed up with Optimus. Starscream knew Jetfire never trusted him completely, and he reacted accordingly. But this Skyfire was different somehow: he regretted and hated the war, it seemed he had lost much of his personal life's meaning and many loved ones because of the war, and could only hate the Decepticons for that. He also remembered what the big white mech had told him; he had a friend who was a former Decepticon, and that friend had to be a Seeker as well… A Seeker who was quite similar to him, it seemed. Starscream grunted at this thought, but his mind flew as he remembered Wheeljack… and Hot Shot.
He wasn't aware of the full story between them, but he knew Wheeljack had been a former Autobot back on Cybertron, and he was also friends with Hot Shot; but the young, yellow and naive mech had betrayed Wheeljack somehow… And in return, the grey Autobot had sworn loyalty to Megatron, and the Decepticon leader had a deep consideration for him. Starscream didn't get much chance to interact with Wheeljack; the grey mech used to be separated from the rest of the crew and kept his thoughts to himself, as he also did. Still, Wheeljack seemed to understand him somehow, and had more respect for the Seeker than the rest of the crew did. Starscream remembered the way Hot Shot and Wheeljack fought together, they were both a powerful team, and it was obvious they were deep linked to each other once upon a time… Therefore, his broken friendship as a result of betrayal was a deep wound between them. Starscream understood that fact, although he never meant to interfere between them at all; still, he wondered now about how many Autobot/Decepticon friendships had been broken by the war in his native universe as well his current reality.
He had the feeling this Skyfire mech had suffered something like that in his life. At first, he thought this reality's Wheeljack was the one who had suffered it once again: the more he thought on it, the more he was convinced than Skyfire was Wheeljack's (or Hot Shot's) counterpart in this reality, at least in the betrayal sense. The Wheeljack of this reality might be a lower rank among Decepticons and he might still be on Cybertron, or he could still be a former Autobot. But whichever it was, perhaps the gigantic white mech shared the same story of broken friendship with Wheeljack and the previous night he just got the chance to vent a little about it for some reason Starscream couldn't put his finger on.
Finally, he reached the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and his thoughts turned to thinking about the good excuse he needed to escape the Megatron of this reality's wrath. He did not want any more problems and unnecessary bashings like the ones he'd suffered back in his reality.
When he reached the point where the underwater base was located, he radioed a signal in order to advise them that he was coming. As he half-expected, a big metallic column rose out of the sea water and many furious waves splashed against the gigantic pillar; at the top, the crocodile jaws-like gate opened and waited for his approach. Starscream transformed into robot mode, and landed softly. He looked at the elevator placed inside the tower and sighed heavily as Swindle twitched on his left arm.
This was going to be hard…
When the elevator's doors opened inside the HQ, Starscream's optics widened as he recognized the guy who was waiting for his arrival: placed at the side of the tower gate's control panel was one of the Combaticon mechs, Swindle. It was the first time the seeker with blue optics had met his Minicon's counterpart on this reality: they were certainly different, asthis Swindle was dark faced and had a yellow paintjob, as well an alternative form based on a war jeep and not a race car… and, oddly, his optics were purple and not red or yellow. Starscream reprised his smirk on his glosa as he sensed his little partner on his left arm twitching; his Minicon didn't seem to be too fond of his counterpart. Of course, the short Combaticon (at least, he was shorter than his companions) stared at him in wonder; he didn't understand why this Starscream watched him with a mix of amusement and curiosity.
In fact, Swindle's twisted mind made its own conclusions.
"Oh, my!" he exclaimed in a joyful tone, "look who's here! ...We've been waiting for you. Some of us wondered where did you were."
The smirk on Starscream's glosa disappeared and his face turned towards the Combaticon.
"Seriously?" he wondered.
The dark faced guy laughed, "Well, sort of… Still, I advise you to meet with Megatron. He'd like to see you now, for sure."
Starscream glared at the guy: his joyful and smooth tone as he spoke made him suspicious. Swindle seemed to realize that and raised his servos as if he wanted to calm him down.
"Hey, take it easy! ...It's true. Just go to the main war room," he answered. "He will be glad when he sees you've come."
"Really? I am flattered…" was the seeker's mocking answer.
"It's true," replied the Combaticon. "Moreover, I'll be a good boy and I'll tell you that certain people here were afraid you'd lost the energon cubes, or you'd wasted them, or something.
Megatron will be more than pleased when he sees you've come back and you haven't lost any energon cube." He paused. "You haven't lost them, have you?" he asked with false concern. "If you have, perhaps we can make a deal and help you with this matter in front of Megatron."
The move was so fast; Swindle was barely able to see what just happened till he found his neck being menaced by the sharp blade of a white sword. It was the seeker's left wing, which could be turned into a sword.
Swindle became nervous; he didn't want to find out how a seeker's wing could be turned into such a weapon.
"What are you implying?" demanded Starscream, nailing Swindle with his blue optics as he tilted his blade lightly.
"Nothing, really... It's just some of us are suspicious about you."
"Why?" he asked. "You left me behind yesterday, and I've come back… I'm the one who should be angry to be left like that. There is no bargain that can fix that."
"Hey, I'm sorry! 'Kay?" he exclaimed. "I was just warning you! ...We didn't know what happened to you since you didn't radio any signal about your location." Starscream grunted and Swindle caught his mood. "I know, perhaps we shouldn't have left you behind, but we didn't have any chance… and that wasn't my fault. Why're you threatening me? I'm offering you some help after all."
The seeker's blue optics flashed, but finally, they seem to calm down and, with a loud grunt, and he took his sword off Swindle's neck and placed it back on his back.
"Ok! I'll see Megatron and I'll tell you what I have to say to him. Just keep yourself out of my way. I don't want to make deals about my whereabouts," Starscream warned as he turned and began to walk.
"…If you want, I can tell you where it is," Swindle offered.
"I know. There is no need of that," answered the Seeker as he disappeared by the corridor.
The Combaticon watched the blue seeker of white wings disappeared down a corridor as he massaged his neck nervously; he heard the seeker's steps resounding, but he also heard some beeping sounds which seemed quite irritated, as well as the low murmur of the seeker: he must be arguing with himself or something, Swindle thought, but the idea of a seeker beeping as he argued made Swindle smirk.
Finally, he forgot the issue, He tapped more controls on the panel, and at last the tower gate closed itself completely. Then, he laughed softly.
"This guy… Let's see what we can get out of this."
In certain ways, Swindle had to be grateful to the Air Commander since he was the one who rescued him from the Decepticon Retention Centre, along with his brothers, giving him a new life. But Swindle never really felt connected to the rest of the Combaticons, even if they were a Gestalt group… They worked well together and Starscream had given them the gift to be able to combine with themselves, to be gestalts (3). But not in the same sense as the Constructicons were, for example… And maybe that was why Bruticus, the result of the Combaticons' body and mind combination, was stupider than the rest of the Gestalts.
But Swindle never was grateful to Starscream because his gift was given to serve his own purposes... And now, he didn't see any reason to feel himself linked to this other Starscream, either, even less so since he seemed to be simpler than the Air commander but equally dangerous. Too bad making deals with him wasn't a good idea precisely because of that.
As the blue seeker walked along the corridor towards the main war room, his steps resonated with a metallic echo in the walls; fortunately, he could get Swindle to shut off as his angry beeps and noises would reveal its existence. But the rhythmical noise of his steps was soon mixed with crash sounds and cries; he recognized them as fighting sounds, but he couldn't place his finger on what exactly it was.
Finally, he entered the main war room and found out what was happening. He hadn't expected it at all…
The main war room was filled with the members of yesterday's mission, but even though there were plenty of people, there was still ample space. All the seekers were there, as well Soundwave and two of the Combaticon mechs, Scavenger and Hook, if Starscream remembered their identities correctly. But that wasn't what shocked him: in the middle of the room he found his counterpart reduced to his knees and his body powerfully battered, and in front of the Air Commander, the Decepticon Leader stood up and aimed at him with all his power. In spite of his right shoulder still being damaged from the accurate shot of the gigantic Autobot in white, it was the only serious wound Megatron had; howeverthe silver-white and red seeker was heavily damaged and it wasn't only from the previous day's battle.
The blue optics of the blue and white seeker widened as he saw how Megatron raised his left servo and punched his counterpart in his dark face; he winced and loudly crashed against the metallic ground, his wings twisted repugnantly by the blow. It was obvious now that his battered body wasn't like that because of the previous combat.
Starscream cried in pain and a big spot of oil and energon splashed against the ground; at this point, several people congregated in the room stepped back in order to not get soiled with the Seeker's blood. His counterpart noticed that the Air Commander also had his canopy broken and several open wounds and burns on his armor. The floor was dirtied by the rest of his body, but nobody seemed to care about that, not even realizing he too was there.
At this point, the Air Commander tried to rise from the floor as he looked at Megatron.
"Please, Leader," he begged, his harsh voice cracked. "It wasn't my fault… I didn't know…"
"Silence!" Megatron roared.
"But- but Leader, I-I, ghaaag-"
Starscream couldn't continue talking: a strong dark servo gripped him by his throat cutting his vocalizer's activity; he waved his azure servos trying to take off the dark one, but it was useless. Immediately, he received another strong blow on his cockpit, making him stop his servos.
"It is your fault!" exclaimed the hoarse voice of the Decepticon Leader. "It's entirely your fault I was damaged on my shoulder!"
"Gaaaaah-", was Starscream' only response as he tried to deny with his head.
"You had the idea of waking up your friend… the one who ruined yesterday's mission! ...We could have beaten the Autobots if he hadn't interfered! ...And he interfered because it was YOUR fault!"
As he said this, he kept bashing the Air Commander; the seeker's attempts to escape were futile and blow after blow, the Air Commander was losing his strength and will to fight and face up against his leader. Surprisingly, Starscream seemed to accept it.
The blue seeker was shocked: he understood his counterpart was being bashed by Megatron, he had spent only two days here since he woke up and he had seen some examples of that, some of them in front of his nose. Sometimes they were arguments, and sometimes they were the occasional vicious blow, but this time it was a hard fight. The blue seeker realized it wasn't very different to his personal situation, back in his reality; the Air Commander of this reality was also his counterpart and had a sense of mischief: both realities were the same and different at the same time, therefore the blue seeker could understand the fact this Megatron bashed his counterpart, but he couldn't understand the Deception Leader's current reason for giving such a beating to his counterpart.
He couldn't move as he watched how Megatron kept striking his counterpart without mercy, splashing the mech's blood around; he also realized that the rest of people there watched the scene without great interest, as if it was something usual and they just waited Megatron to finish, especially the two Constructicons, who seemed to be there just because they knew they should repair the Air Commander later. The blue seeker was too astonished to do anything, he didn't even realize Thundercracker had just turned towards him and was looking at him with curiosity.
Blow after blow, the red and silver-white seeker was reduced into a useless flying machine, his wings were torn and he had lost his rifles; the punches and curses were still raining over him, but the Air Commander didn't do anything to avoid them, except to beg for his life with speeches and pleas that sounded like pathetic excuses. Finally, an accurate blow made the Air Commander collapse loudly on the metallic ground, his red optics dimmed completely and a pool of his blood began to dirty the floor. Megatron just sneered and he seemed to calm down.
"Hook, Scavenger!" he exclaimed as he turned towards the two Constructicons. "Get this sorry excuse for a seeker out of here and repair it!"
"Yes, Lord Megatron." They nodded and walked towards the lying seeker; they grabbed him by his arms and dragged him out of the room. As they made their way, a trail of scattered pieces from the Seeker's body, as well his blood, was left on the ground.
Starscream watched the scene feeling totally uneasy and nauseated as his spark shook in disgust from what he just had watched; he understood now why Swindle had made the proposal to him, the Constructicon just wanted to get a prize from him if he warned the seeker what was going on. There was a sour relationship between his counterpart and Megatron, but he couldn't understand their reasons and why such a thrashing had just happened, he was upset after watching the scene and how the rest of Decepticons there just ignored what had just happened as if it was something… normal. He couldn't understand their demeanor here; at least in his universe, even that moron Demolisher tried to keep the Decepticon troops in line and avoided internal confrontations; Starscream remembered how Demolisher, as loyal as he was to Megatron, had helped him on occasion to recover when he had low morale.
Suddenly, a singsong voice woke him up from his thoughts, startling him.
"Megatron, the other Starscream has arrived," Soundwave pointed.
The Decepticon Leader turned to him, as did the rest of the people there. Everybody seemed to notice him for first time since he arrived, except for Thundercracker, who just sighed causing Skywarp to stare at him in wonder. Megatron wondered how long this loyal Starscream had been there; he seemed to be upset, therefore he might have seen what just happened. However, Megatron's face turned into an odd smile.
"Oh, you finally came," he exclaimed as he approached the blue seeker.
"Y-yes, sir." The blue seeker managed to answer politely despite the shaking of his spark. "I just came back right now," he informed him; the rest of the seekers looked each other feeling uneasy, except for Soundwave and Thundercracker who knew the truth.
Megatron ignored the Seeker's statement and his view examined his physical condition: he noticed the launchers of this Starscream had turned silver-white, too… just like his face and wings had in the previous days. It must be the strange phenomenon of turning back to its original self; Megatron found himself thinking he should find out more about the upgrade process than what this Starscream talked about in their first meeting, perhaps he could get something useful out of that.
"Your launchers have changed their color," he informed, pointing at them. "Again…"
"Eh? Yes, sir." Starscream felt uneasy. "It was their original color, sir."
Megatron seemed to accept his answer without further questions.
"I'm glad you came back to us," the Decepticon leader said in an odd polite tone, "I was wondering what happened with the Energon cubes you kept."
"I'm still keeping them in my storage compartment, sir," informed Starscream. "Shall I give them to you now, or keep them in a storage bay?"
Megatron smiled, satisfied. Certainly, this Starscream wasn't like his Air Commander… he was more like Skywarp's counterpart.
"Are you fully repaired from yesterday's combat?" he asked.
"Yes, sir… I recovered in the recharge cycle. I am fully functional now, sir."
"Good. Go to the energon warehouse D-4, then," he ordered and turned towards the other seekers, "Thundercracker… Go with him. I want you both to test the energon cubes and store them properly, understood?"
Thundercracker jumped up and looked at the Decepticon Leader and then at the other blue seeker; he also seemed to be surprised. "Yes, Lord Megatron," he answered.
"Yes, sir," Starscream answered.
Megatron smiled again. It was pleasant to see how loyal and focused they were. Thundercracker turned towards Starscream and said laconically as he began to walk, "Come with me; we'll finish the job."
Starscream just nodded and followed him, still confused and trembling.
Megatron watched them till they both disappeared through the door, then he turned to the rest of his crew, his sudden move making him grunt as he felt the pain in his shoulder.
"Soundwave, finish repairing my shoulder," he ordered. "And you, seekers. I want you, Skywarp and Thrust, to clean this mess, and you, Ramjet and Dirge, make the report of yesterday's activities and results for this afternoon, go!"
"As you command, Megatron," was Soundwave's answer, as usual.
Dirge and Ramjet just nodded and disappeared in silence through another gate, but Skywarp and Thrust remained in the room. They watched how the Decepticon Leader and his Communicators officer disappeared through another room towards the closest repair bay, then they sighed.
"Primus! I would rather do paperwork than do this!" exclaimed Thrust, disgusted. "That moron Screamer has left all his stuff scattered around the floor and consoles!" he added as he looked around. "I'm not a cleaning up drone!"
"Well, actually neither am I," Skywarp added with a crossbeam smirk on his glosa.
"Don't you dare!" exclaimed Thrust, scared. He had just understood Skywarp's intentions.
"He-he-heeee!" laughed Skywarp in a mocking tone, "of course I dare."
"No! You're going to help me!" exclaimed Thrust quite nervous; he didn't want Skywarp to teleport before he had the chance to reply. "It's Megatron's order. WE must clean this."
"Uh…?"
Skywarp thought twice and he sighed, defeated. Thrust was right and he wasn't going to disobey Megatron's direct order.
Soon, the main war room was empty, except for the two seekers who remained there cleaning spots of Transformers' blood and fragments of a certain red and white armor.
It took a long time. The three scientists, Preceptor, Wheeljack and Skyfire, talked about the events over the Grand Chaco two days ago, and after the reparations session was finished, Ratchet joined them, and finally Prime did as well.
All of them exchanged information and knowledge. Preceptor was certainly a skilled scientist in almost every science, but his strong fields were metallurgy, molecular chemistry, and electrical engineering; but Skyfire had been an explorer, therefore his strong points were cosmology, geology, biology, anthropology and climatology, and as for Wheeljack and Ratchet, they were both engineers and technicians.
Together, they were able to find out interesting things.
They found out that the warp had been opened from another dimension, a subspace one… which was the same to say nothing because the word "subspace" was the one which had the broadest meaning: there were countless dimensions, and it was almost impossible to determine which one the warp was opened in; the only thing for certain is that it wasn't the one where subspace pockets and mass-transformation were stored.
They also found out the metallic tiny blue pieces they found on the mud were made by Cybertronian alloy and they had definitely been upgraded somehow; but they couldn't find the cause of that upgrade process except for the fact that process hadn't been done by well-known Cybertronian technology, but by something different… and very powerful.
"…We cannot determine who's the owner of these samples," explained Wheeljack as the others listened to him.
Ratchet was just sitting on a chair with his arms resting on the table: he was very tired after working for such long time, first in repairing his wounded companions, and later, in a full study of the nature of Cybertronian alloys.
Wheeljack kept talking as his ears shone blue, "But one thing is certain, they are from a Decepticon's armor who was upgraded by unknown methods, making him more tough and powerful."
"So, is it official now, and not just a theory?" inquired Prime.
"Yes, it is," Preceptor corroborated. "As well as the fact that before the upgrade process, the original owner of those pieces was red and not blue, that's because…" He couldn't continue, as a sudden exclamation interrupted him.
"Say what?" exclaimed Skyfire. "You didn't tell me that!"
"Hmmm…. What's wrong with that?" mused Ratchet sleepily. "It's just a different color, nothing more than that. It isn't relevant proof…"
"You're wrong!" Skyfire spat back. "And, as the scientist you are, you should know there is no valuable information at all!" Preceptor felt ashamed at that, but still didn't get the point. "The fact that those pieces were red and not blue previously may be important."
"Why?" asked Prime.
"Because-" Skyfire hesitated as he remembered something. "Because that seeker told me… he had been blue, but his paintjob was different: it wasn't blue, but red and silver white."
=Notes:
(1) Certainly, Skyfire's profile isn't the same than Jetfire's, but since they are both kind of similar, I assume Skyfire is able to fly at twice the speed of Screamer's velocity.
(2) He did that in the comic :P
(3) I don't know if Combaticons were a Gestalt group before Earth time, but I assume Screamer turned them into Gestalts when he "rescued" them.
Re-edited by Cathleigh.