Chapter Text
Barstow-Daggett Airport
December 14, 1984
The jet landed with a bump, skidding sideways along the runway until it came to a stop. Most flights across the continent were grounded- only the most skilled pilots flew, and only when necessary.
Fowler glanced at the grey, angry sky, then across the tarmac. A man, clutching his hat, ran toward him. Fowler flipped up his collar against the wind and headed down the stairs to meet him. From the wings on his coat, Fowler guessed he was the pilot.
“Lt. Col. Fowler?” The man hastily saluted.
“That would be me. What's your name, son?”
“Captain Peter Stevenson, Sir.”
“Well, Captain Stevenson, I need a pilot, a gunner, and a camera operator,” Fowler said. “Can you provide this?”
“Yes. But, sir... you plan to go to the Mojave Triangle.”
“Those are the orders,” Fowler replied.
“Sir, this is madness!” Stevenson cried. A gust of wind nearly tore his hat away. “So few return from that zone.”
“I understand that, but those who've gone before were rank amateurs. You are a skilled professional, are you not?”
“I am, sir. But she's an MD-530, not Airwolf,” he said, gesturing to his helicopter. “She can handle most things, but this weather...”
Fowler gazed at the helicopter, appraising it. Five blades, two at the back. Lightweight and agile, but likely to struggle in this weather. Still, it could carry what he needed, and it had missile launchers and a machine gun for defence.
“What about the weather?” Fowler asked absently.
“The winds and snow, sir. Ordinarily, we don't fly in this.”
“When has it been suitable for flying lately?” Fowler asked. “If we don't go now, we may never get the chance.”
“Understood, sir. I just felt that I needed to warn you.”
“We need to investigate so we can reclaim what is rightfully ours. We will not be cowed by whatever is there. Not now. Not ever.”
Realising he was completely outranked, Captain Stevenson nodded. “The helicopter is fuelled and waiting.”
Fowler nodded. “Good man.”
He followed the pilot to the helicopter. Fluffy snow clung briefly to its surfaces before the next gust blew it away. The wind caused the rotors to bounce. Inside were two men already seated in the back. They were wearing thick coats and gloves. The doors were closed, keeping the weather out of the ship.
“You boys good back there?” Fowler asked, dropping his headset onto his head.
The two men gave a curt nod.
“And names, gentlemen?” Fowler asked.
The camera operator straightened. “Master Sergeant Thomas Watts.”
“Sergeant Samuel Hawkins.”
Stevenson buckled in, fingers brushing the controls. The rotors whined and shuddered as they picked up speed. The cabin rattled, a deep clatter with each turn. Slowly, the helicopter lifted with deliberate power, tilting into the storm. Its windscreen wipers lashed at the snow, cutting only a narrow line of sight. Visibility was nearly gone.
They turned into the wind, into the direction of the Mojave Triangle.
With the amount of snow falling, Fowler wondered if he would see anything at all.
Maya Mountains, Belize
December 14, 1984
Starscream had finished briefing Steeltread and Barricade in their duties when Thundercracker approached. The blue Seeker put his hand, resting it lightly against Starscream's chest to stop him.
“We should do what I asked.”
“Now?” Starscream snapped.
“Yes, now-”
“I'm walking on eggshells around Megatron- if he finds out...”
Starscream wanted to avoid interfacing with the patch. It was invasive, and he hated the feeling of helplessness that came along with it- the inability to keep thoughts and feelings private. No- every thought would be laid bare for the whole world to see and question. The raw truth he didn't even want to witness.
“Megatron won't know.”
“No. I have a job to do.” Starscream's tone was final.
“Look, Star, we should do it before they open the back end- then we'll know no one can see it-”
“It'll get recorded and stored in the main computer.”
“It won't. I'll purge it before we leave,” Thundercracker said.
“It's a medical procedure... who in the Pit is going to oversee it if we're both inside?”
“Skywarp could-”
Starscream burst out laughing, voice sharp and harsh. “Yeah- a hard no.”
Thundercracker seized Starscream and slammed him into a nearby bulkhead, forearm pinning his wingmate's throat. His optics narrowed to angry slits.
“Listen.” His teeth clenched, voice low: a harsh, rumbling whisper. “I need you to do this. And I won't take no for an answer. The Seekers, Lord Starscream, need you to do this.” Thundercracker gave Starscream a shove and released him.
Starscream glowered, teeth gritted. “Fine- let's get it over with.” He turned to Skywarp. “Open a portal to Deck Ten,” he growled.
“Yes, sir.” Skywarp nodded, then opened a portal. He scanned ahead to ensure the way was clear; the check took only a fraction of a second. Then he grabbed his wingmates by their arms, and the three vanished in a flash of cold violet light.
Seconds later, they reappeared in water up to their shins.
Starscream wanted to be anywhere else in the world but Deck Ten of the Nemesis.
Starscream knew Deck Ten well- always the victim, never the interrogator. His tanks churned uneasily.
It held the Brig, torture machines, and the execution room- sometimes called the Blood Deck. This was where punishment was doled out, in private or public- depending on the needs at the time. So far, no executions had been carried out, though he had been dragged into the room once.
Torture was usually limited to starvation or absolute isolation- except for one special chamber: an interrogation room housing Shockwave's pride and joy, the Cortical Psychic Patch.
The last time he had been in here, it was clean and still very new. Now, after four million years and exposure to Earth's water seeping through cracks in the hull, it was degraded, dirty, and even more ominous.
Stalactites formed at the cracks, creating a jagged, tooth-like curtain that separated the main area of the interrogation room from the patch chamber- like the open jaws of some monstrous beast. Water dripped from the teeth-like points as if it were salivating for its victims.
Starscream twitched his wings, trying not to appear as distressed as he felt.
He waded to the table and gazed at the cables dangling in the water.
“This isn't a patch, it's an electric chair. Plug that thing in, and we're both going to be fried.”
“It'll be fine. I wouldn't do it if I thought it was dangerous,” Thundercracker replied.
Starscream turned back to his wingmate. “Why the patch? Why can't you just tell me face to face? What is this about?” he demanded.
“It's not so much telling you about it- I can do that- but you won't understand why. For that, I need you to experience it, feel it as I did, for you to truly comprehend what's at stake.”
Starscream locked optics with his wingmate for several minutes. Neither spoke as he chewed on his feelings. He wanted to shove Thundercracker away and leave. But deep down, he knew his wingmate was right- for him to understand whatever it was, he probably needed to feel it.
Dread crawled across his wings. He touched the grime-covered table, then shook his head, fighting his own apprehensions.
“Fine... you owe me.”
Starscream groaned, then sloshed his way through the water and sat on the table before lying down. Thundercracker did the same on the adjacent one.
“What I share with you, you are to keep to yourself. It's just the three of us; not even Rainjumper or Talon are to know. If you blab it to a single person, I will personally end your life.”
Thundercracker's tone was so intense that Starscream's wings prickled ominously. He had never threatened him in this way before.
“I swear. You have my word.”
“Good. Skywarp and I will hold you to it.”
Now committed, Starscream had to wonder what was so dire that his wingmate would threaten to kill him over it.
“There is much to understand about our distant past,” Thundercracker said. “And my memories are sketchy at best; it's harder to remember properly. The patch will refocus my mind to the true events, even things I've chosen to repress. That's why it's such an effective interrogator. I'll recall things when I see them. These are parts of the past I don't want to open, however... it has to be done- for Seeker kind.”
“Okay...” Starscream said nervously. He exhaled sharply and shuttered his optics.
“I'm going to take you to a distant point in time, long before you were a gleam in your sire's optics. To a time when our home city flew: just before the six cities fell during the Twenty-Four Hour War.” Thundercracker glanced at Skywarp. “Rig us up.”
Skywarp grinned savagely, taking a probe in each hand. He stood between the platforms and shoved the connector into the two Seekers' heads.
A jolt of pain shot through the back of Starscream's cranium, and then he found himself floating in a sea of darkness. A split second later, Thundercracker joined him. There would be no secrets from here on in- just the raw, unfiltered truth. The best way to think was to think of nothing- the sea-void, or whatever it was they were in, was it.
“Your move, Thundercracker. Where are we going?”
“Home,” Thundercracker said with longing.
A brightness developed in the center of the inky void the pair were hovering. It glowed, and scintillated with a brilliant golden fire. The sky brightened to a vivid blue, the sun shining down upon an alien landscape far below; they appeared to be flying.
It reminded Starscream of a memory safe-space: a place he sometimes retreated to in times of calamity, something he had begun using when imprisoned. A world of his imagination, though nothing as spectacular as what he was seeing now.
“This is Cybertron?” Starscream asked. “The terrain is unfamiliar.”
It was clearly not the home he remembered.
“This is Cybertron long before you hatched,” Thundercracker replied, freezing the image in place. “It was vastly different from what it is now; considering now it's virtually destroyed.”
“Yes, I can see... I just had no idea...”
“When I was young, I was told that each generation added to the work of the last, building great cities across our world. Some cities, like Iacon, are said to reach deep into the planet's stony core.”
“To the spark of Cybertron: the source of energon. That's where your brother would say Primus resides.”
Starscream snorted. “Sunstorm is a religious nut-job, of course he'd say that,” he snapped. He slapped his hands across his mouth, forgetting the Patch's candid nature.
The blue Seeker shook his head, frowning. “He's your brother, Starscream- something you always wanted in your life and now you have it- you don't like him?”
“That wasn't what I meant!”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I wanted something like you or maybe even Skywarp. Not a religious lunatic!”
“Tell me at least that you care for him.”
Starscream made a strangled sound in his throat, fighting his response. Words clawed his lips until they spilled out.
“I do! It frightens me to the core what could happen to him and the ancestors if Megatron finds out about where they're based.”
Thundercracker smiled. “At least we got that out.”
Starscream jabbed a finger at Thundercracker's chest. “You assured me you wouldn't interrogate me back- I call that betrayal! You know how I feel about that!”
“I do, and it hurts you the worst when people you care about do. But this isn't betrayal, Starscream- it's me knowing where your spark's loyalty lies. You are always so emotionally closed off.”
“I'm closed off because I don't want people to know where my spark lies.”
“Why not?”
“Stop interrogating me! It's because people who mean something to me break my spark. They die; or in the case of Skyfire; they betray me. Megatron too- he turned his back on me. He's turned me into the scapegoat. With friends like him and Skyfire, who needs enemies.”
“We haven't left you,” Thundercracker said, his tone softening.
“No, but every mission there is a chance that one of us won't be returning; when it comes down to it, I'd rather be on my own. I know I can rely upon myself.”
“I understand that you prefer to stand alone- but you should never be on your own- not with the pain you've suffered. And I know what you've gone through.”
Starscream laughed bitterly. “How can you remotely imagine what I've gone through? You aren't me. You didn't hatch into a world determined to kill you from the moment you saw daylight.”
A brief flash appeared- a cowering Seeker hatchling lay helpless at the feet of a massive Seeker plunging a sword down at him. A glint of silver; a lighter, lithe Seeker intercepted the blow meant for him. The final, pained words: “Starscream, run!” unfroze the little hatchling, sending him fleeing through the nearest exit.
Starscream swallowed hard, glancing from the scene to his wingmate, who watched in horror. “You never got to witness your dam get slaughtered by your uncle hours after you broke pod!” he said bitterly.
“No... I didn't know. However, my uncle- our uncle- also killed my dam,” Thundercracker replied with a deep frown. “Just watch. We'll discuss this past of yours later.”
Cybertron's surface revealed great islands drifting on a sea of air and cloud. Giant smokestacks pointed downward, billowing thick white vapour caught beneath the airborne landmasses.
“It was a marvel of ancient technology and metallurgy which made these cities float. Incredible to behold,” Thundercracker said. “I wish you could've seen it; lived it. You thought Vos was beautiful in your youth- it had nothing on what it was before.”
“You're saying my Vos sucked?” Starscream asked, his wings flicking defensively.
“No, it was just- I can't describe it. Just watch, the memory is coming into focus now.”
The sky was a clear, bright blue. The air was cool, crisp, but not cold; heavy with oxygen and rich with the scent of a Cybertronian summer morning. The constant rumble of passing air traffic filled the background.
They watched as a much younger version of Thundercracker stepped out into a clearing. He glanced up as a familiar drone of engines approached. He smiled at the sight of Skywarp, in his tetra-jet form, and landed gracefully on his feet, knees bending slightly. He looked about, grinning impishly.
Skywarp was slightly smaller than Thundercracker, his face very young; he could not have been more than half a million years of age, maybe a bit more. The age Starscream had been when his future still looked bright.
“So, is this the place you were telling me about?” Skywarp asked, tilting his head. He looked down, startled, as something crawled across his foot: a tiny beetle-like insect. A grimace crossed his face, and he kicked it off before crushing it absently under his heel.
Thundercracker shook his head. “Yeah, Skywarp, this is it.”
“Really? Um... nice: in a kinda boring sort of way, I guess.”
“This is far from boring; this is the future.”
Skywarp studied the unfinished geodesic dome that spanned much of the flying island. Huge, ultra-light girders were being put into place by Seekers while others welded them together.
“What is it?”
“This will be the greatest structure ever constructed on Cybertron, and I've been given the position of overseer,” he replied with a happy rumble.
“Hate to break it to you, bro, but this isn't on Cybertron- it's above...”
Thundercracker chuckled with a deep rumble. “When completed, Velox will even rival Crystal city.” He thrust his chest out with pride.
He pointed to a building and started toward it. Skywarp followed at his side. They walked along a path paved in a silvery bluish-grey metal. The tower glittered brightly from the semi-translucent crystalline matrix. Thundercracker led Skywarp inside. It was airy, bright, and clean with great windows that left the sky wide open.
At a far end, overseeing a construction site, was a large desk, neatly organised with files and papers. Along the wall stood a scale model of the city, encased in a dome of silvery glass.
Around the miniature dome was a great forest of solar power plants, arranged in an artful manner: a biosphere. Each plant had dozens of photovoltaic leaves that arranged themselves in order to get the best of the available light. Each plant had a head that hung face down and shone golden light onto the floor below.
This caught Skywarp's immediate attention, and the youthful flier smiled brightly as he leaned down to poke at the diorama. “I love toys!” he said. “And there are little action figures!” He poked at a Seeker figure standing under one of the plants; it fell over. “Do they change form too?”
“No, they don't.”
“What is the point of that if they don't?”
“They aren't toys... they are for display only... anyway, Skywarp. If you damage it, I'll have to break your fingers for sure,” Thundercracker warned. “So don't touch.”
“Meh, you're no fun,” Skywarp grumbled, stepping away. He continued to explore the space, then he grinned impishly. “Why did you want me here?”
“I want to show you the greatest achievement of Seeker architecture.” Thundercracker gestured for Skywarp to come over. He unrolled a set of blueprints onto the desk and beamed.
“What? That dome
Thundercracker nodded. “We expect it to be finished in a few months. It's completely self-sustaining with no need to go to the planet below. It has its own solar energon production and di-hydrogen monoxide recycling. The dome encasing it protects it from rapid temperature shifts- we'll have one season. If we succeed here, we'll build a dome over each of the other cities.”
“Di-hydro-what? Are you even speaking a language?” Skywarp asked, furrowing a brow.
“Water.”
“Ah- why didn't you just say that instead... So you call the dome V.O.S?” he asked, looking at the acronym. “Surely it can't be just called Vos. I mean... three letters; that's so boring.” He leaned in and looked blankly at the diagram.
“That's just an acronym of its description,” Thundercracker said with a shrug. “Skywarp, V.O.S. is short for Velox Omega Sphere,” he clarified.
“What's an omega?” Skywarp cocked his head. “Never mind, don't answer. And you wanna know what? I've decided that Vos works for me after all. Short and sweet.”
“I'm glad you like it.”
He poked the blueprints and shrugged. “Wanna know something else, bro?” Skywarp asked, shooting a glance at Thundercracker. “I dunno why you show me that stuff: those blueprints. They mean frag all to me," he added with a grin. “I don't care.”
Thundercracker shook his head with a sigh. “I don't know about you sometimes, Skywarp. I brought you here because you'll need a job.”
“I will, but this isn't it.” A mischievous glint lit Skywarp's optics as he watched Thundercracker roll the plans up.
“You're good with maths,” Thundercracker said. “We could use your skills.”
“Yeah? Because I have to be, not because I want to be. I don't want your boring job. Meh. I'm gonna jet- find something interesting to do.”
“Please keep out of trouble,” Thundercracker warned.
“Pshaw. When do I get into trouble?”
“All the time. And I bail you out; I can't keep doing that.”
“Speaking of trouble... You know, I was just down on Cybertron's surface,” Skywarp said, pointing off in the distance. “Feels like something's brewing.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, like a war or something.”
Thundercracker exhaled in relief and nodded. “I've heard those rumours. It's not our war. They argue over land on the ground, not in the sky. That's why we build up here; we're out of the way,” he said dismissively.
“Are you sure, Thunder? I saw guardians massing north-west of Iacon, the super-heavy flying type, and I'm not taking the Guardian Seekers of Uraya. And people had signs reading 'down with the sky cities.'”
“Hm,” Thundercracker looked pensive. “Praxus drifted over that region last month. Eh, they keep saying that and nothing's happened yet,” he said, trying to sound unworried.
“If there's a war, I want to fight for our cities.”
“You don't want to fight, Skywarp.”
“Why not?”
“Because war is pointless.”
“Think of the glory!”
“There is nothing glorious about being ripped apart by bullets.”
“Hah! They'd have to hit me first.” Skywarp blinked across the room in rapid succession to prove the point.
“Alright,” he laughed. “You've made your point. By the way, did you get to see Greenspire like I asked?” Thundercracker inquired, changing the subject.
“Oh, right! Yeah,” Skywarp exclaimed. “Greenspire gave me this datapad. She said your request for Cloudmetal components has been granted.” He handed the datapad over to Thundercracker.
“Thanks, Skywarp- go find lunch; you're probably hungry after that display.”
Skywarp smiled brightly. He looked to the miniature dome, then to the larger structure outside. “You want some?”
“No.”
“Good, because I wouldn't bring you any!”
“Keep out of trouble,” Thundercracker warned with a wag of his finger.
Skywarp's optics grew bright, and he grinned wickedly. “Me, into trouble? Never!” He waved, and vanished in a purple flash.
There was a lot of new information, things Starscream just did not know. He knew that the cities flew once, but he never could imagine what those flying cities looked like or how they managed to actually stay airborne. It was still a mysterious science. Somehow he felt Thundercracker knew more about it than he was letting on.
He didn't want to interrupt the memory, finding it endlessly fascinating, but there were questions he wanted to ask, things he needed to know. On top of that, Starscream found it hard to resist the tantalising urge to explore the city in the background. Its shimmering spires beckoned to him, pulling at his desire to see what this ancient Vos had to offer. If there was anywhere that was recognisable: like the area called the old district, where he used to live when Vos was static.
“Skywarp hasn't changed, has he?” Starscream said quietly, his first and most immediate observation.
The image froze in place as Thundercracker paused the memory, staring at it longingly. The city displayed before them had long since ceased to exist.
Thundercracker smiled. “He's always been that way. He had to mature fast, you'll understand why later, but he always fell back on his playful side. I know it can be annoying at times.”
“And I've learned that Vos was not always called Vos- I can't imagine that,” Starscream said, shaking his head. “I don't even know if I like the name Velox; it feels... wrong.”
“Yeah, a lot of people felt the same. Velox rapidly fell out of use in favour of Vos. Velox was an ancient name, the population wanted something modern and fresh.”
Starscream nodded, then a strange look crossed his face. “Technically, you're not Vosian then... you're- what did you call yourselves? Veloxian?”
“Veloxian. Yeah. Though technically I'm not Veloxian either. My pod was laid on Sky-One. I hatched there, then later transferred into the care of another Seeker who lived on Velox, now known as Vos. Skywarp was fostered there immediately after his pod was laid. I helped with his care- he is Veloxian.”
“And you built Vos- doesn't that make you... a Constructicon of a sort?” Starscream smiled teasingly.
Thundercracker chuckled. “No. I only oversaw its construction, Starscream. I didn't really build it- well, a little. Do I need to remind you that the Constructicons are a guild of the Grounders? Seekers were not part of the Grounder guilds or castes. We had our own system based upon personal vocation; you chose your line of work... the same system you had when you went into the world.”
“I'm grateful to be able to choose.”
“Please don't mention my previous work to Megatron... I don't want him thinking he can paint me purple and green, then have me hang out with the Constructicons.”
“I won't.”
Thundercracker exhaled. “Those memories feel like they happened only yesterday,” he said, his optics still fixed on the scene. “To clarify- the dome's construction had been ordered by Queen Northstar. It was designed by the city engineer, Greenspire. Its actual construction was overseen by me. I am not sure what happened to the previous foreman; they said he was killed in a freak accident. I had the seniority and skills to replace him.”
“Well knowing your brother, maybe he got you a promotion? Starscream joked, a playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Considering how he didn't want your job.”
“It's possible, but I doubt it,” Thundercracker replied.
Thundercracker glanced back at the memory, his face was sorrow-filled. “It was one of the most beautiful cities that had ever existed.”
“I take it was that war Skywarp pointed out?” Starscream asked. “The Twenty-Four Hour war?”
A darkness crossed Thundercracker's features, and his expression hardened “Yeah. You would need to see the rest...” Then a flash of pain entered his optics, followed by a jolt that even Starscream could feel. “I don't want to show it to you...”
“Then don't. Maybe we should leave; what if Barricade notices we're absent?” Starscream said, worriedly “He'll report our activities to Megatron.”
Thundercracker rumbled in his throat, considering cutting out: it was temping, knowing what was to come. He shook his head.
“Trust me, you need to see the rest to understand where I am going with it,” he replied firmly, determined to go through with it. He gazed at Starscream standing before him.
Thundercracker exhaled sharply. “You know, Starscream. For all of Skywarp's bizarre antics, he'll see the obvious. Listen to him sometime. You might think he's simple-minded, but he's not stupid. You don't know how often puts two and two together really quickly and comes to an accurate conclusion. Like I said, he's good at maths.”
“Such as that bad feeling he had before Megatron decommissioned the Baffin base?”
“Yeah, like that.”
“No, I don't think he's simple-minded, Thundercracker. I know he's brilliant; when he wants to be. But I find his inability to focus on the task frustrating. If he put that brain of his to use, your brother would be absolutely dangerous.”
Thundercracker nodded, he could not disagree with Starscream, and glad Starscream felt the same way. “For as long as I've known him; I've seen him observe things that most of us preferred to ignore. The war was one of them... I should've warned the Queen.”