Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Primus has a weird way of creating a solution to a problem millions of years in the making. Stardust wasn’t sure how Primus still functioned, or if it was just his consciousness that they had encountered, similar to how Unicron’s conscience was still active after Optimus and Megatron shut his spark down. However it happened, Stardust was still under the impression this was an insanely vivid dream, but he didn’t want it to end, not when he was standing on the Cybertron . 

Stardust isn’t from this universe, or any of the Transformers universes, he’s actually from our Creatorverse, and was originally a human before he was given a Cybertronian body and a spark by Primus. The entire situation is so… absurd and farfetched that Stardust is sure he’s hallucinating, and has been since Primus showed up in his living room as a being made of pure light and told him he was the only solution to ending the war between Decepticons and Autobots. The farfetched aspect was obvious as this shouldn’t be possible, what with Transformers being a freaking TV SHOW! The absurdity came from the fact that Stardust, even as a human, was fully loyal to Megatron and the Decepticons, so the fact that Primus is sure he will end the war between the two factions, it took every ounce of willpower Stardust had not to laugh in Primus' face. 

Before he was given his current body and spark, Primus had allowed him to gather a few items to take with him. He literally only brought a single tablet with him since he wouldn’t need clothes, and he was grateful for that as when he was a human he had been born with a feminine body equipped with boobs and a vagina, which he hated with as much of a passion as he hated being human in the first place and the planet he lived on. From a young age he knew he hated his body, his species, his planet, despised them even, and from early on he was drawn to Megatron and his Decepticons. He went so far as to get a Decepticon shield tattooed on each of his biceps, and eventually started acting as he pleased which quickly lost him every person he called friend. He was disowned by his family and was fully alone for over a decade before Primus showed up and gave him the out he always wanted. 

Now, Stardust roamed the desolate surface of Cybertron in the Transformers Prime universe, stumbling over his new pedes and smacking his new wings against everything he passed by. It took him some time to orient himself to his new body, at least enough that he could walk without looking like an overgrown sparkling. His wings were sore from the abuse and he hadn’t been able to figure out most of his new body’s functions, like transformation which would be insanely helpful right now. Primus had dropped him -literally, by the way, the fragger- in the middle of a large city. Without a landmark that was shown in the show or comics, there was no way for Stardust to know where he was, so he just walked around aimlessly, exploring everything that we fans never got to see. 

It was the next solar cycle when Stardust came across a building that looked somewhat familiar. It was nearly completely destroyed, but the surrounding platforms and the general size of what the building had been looked like-

“The Iacon Hall of Records!” Stardust exclaimed excitedly, running forward before realizing he hadn’t actually attempted to run yet and was reminded that gravity still existed on Cybertron when he nearly face planted in a pile of rubble by what used to be the front entrance. Steadying himself, Stardust brushed himself off and started to climb over the debris and into the destroyed building. 

“Man, the Decepticons really did a number on this place.” Stardust poked around the building, not expecting to actually find anything useful, but he proved himself wrong when he stumbled upon a mostly intact data console. He approached it and tapped a couple buttons, jumping in surprise when the screen actually lit up.

“Huh… it has power… with Primus’ spark dormant, you would think there would be no power on this planet… though, Shockwave is here too, and his lab has to have power somehow.” Gaining a new body apparently didn’t get rid of his tendency to talk to himself, which was annoying, but Stardust knew that Shockwave would be the only other bot on this planet so he wasn’t worried about being walked in on and judged. He continued to tap on the controls, learning how to operate the console, and silently thanked Primus that he uploaded Cybertronian glyphs into his processor when he created his frame so he was able to read and understand what he was seeing on the screen. 

This console wasn’t all that special, it seemed similar to a public computer you would find at the library where you looked up the database of public records and books. There was one thing that Stardust was looking for, a map of Cybertron to allow him to better navigate the area. It was clear to him he was in Iacon, but he wanted to get to Kaon, to Megatron’s citadel there, that was his best course to be able to reach either Shockwave or Megatron himself. He had important information stored on the tablet in his subspace that Primus allowed him to bring, and he had to get it to the Decepticon warlord. 

There were a few things that Stardust was grateful that Primus gave to him or allowed him to bring. The tablet was one of them as it had the entire Transformers Prime show downloaded on it as well as other continuities, just in case Megatron was interested in other universes. The entire Cybertronian alphabet was another as he was able to find a map of Cybertron and download it to his processor with ease. His entire frame and the two Decepticon shields that adorned his shoulder pauldrons was probably his favorite change Primus gave him. Primus listened when Stardust told him he wanted certain aspects to his frame, the Decepticon symbols were one, as well as being a triple changer, his color scheme, alt modes, and the decorative finials on his helm that twitched with the changes in the air and sounds around him that he was also able to lay back flat against his helm like a cat. Triple changers were nearly non-existent in this universe, only being shown in the Rescue Bots show which was in the same continuity as the Primeverse, and Stardust wanted to stand out, he also couldn't choose between a ground mode and a flyer mode. He had asked for his flyer alt mode to be an x-wing from Star Wars since he was a nerd at heart, and he wanted his ground mode to be a Bugatti Bolide, a vehicle that is faster than Knockout’s Aston Martin One-77. He also would not compromise on his color scheme of deep maroon red with black and gold accents. 

Something else that Stardust was grateful for was a lockdown protocol that Primus had installed on his processor, one that would not allow him to go through his systems and accidentally activate random commands. He had to manually go through his system to find a certain command that he would have to enter a certain code to activate, and this was a safety precaution to ensure he wouldn’t try to do too much with his new body then what he or it could handle, for example, trying to transform into both of his alt modes at the same time. It would get annoying eventually so the protocol would have to be removed, especially if and when he ends up getting into a battle. It was a little frustrating as he wasn’t able to find the command for either of his alt modes, so he was stuck walking everywhere, and he wasn’t gifted enough with his new body and how a Cybertronian’s processor worked to be able to walk and search though his processor at the same time.

The only other information that Stardust found that he downloaded was some public access copies of Cybertron’s history as well as some of Megatron’s published poetry, which he was absolutely elated to find! A Cybertronian’s processor is not an endless pit of information, they have storage limits, which is why datapads were invented. As Stardust didn’t have access to a datapad, and he didn’t need to keep his processor’s storage empty as of this moment, he just kept the data on his processor to read later. He could always download it onto a datapad when he got to Earth. 

Earth.

He was not very excited to go to Earth, as he hated that planet and the people on it. He wished he could stay here on Cybertron. As he exited what remained of the Iacon Hall of Records, he looked around, and everywhere he looked he saw something to be done. Rubble to clean up, sections of walls that may be able to be salvaged, construction that needs to be started. While energon may not flow through the planet at the current moment, that doesn’t mean they can’t work on rebuilding the cities. However, Stardust knew this wasn’t the best way. He had to get his information to Megatron, he still had all of his memories from when he was human, and he has the tablet with the show on it. Megatron won’t even need to decode the Iacon database cause the coordinates will be on screen in the show, and they can use that to skip right through the other relics to the Omega keys. 

Stardust worked through his processor to the newly downloaded information and pulled up the map of Cybertron. It seems it was an interactive map and allowed him to locate and select Kaon. Once he did, a mini map showed up on his HUD with directions informing him to turn right.

“Sweet, my own personal Google Maps!” Stardust grinned and started to follow the directions through Iacon and past the city limits. Cybertron varied depending on the continuity, some had native organic life growing on the surface, some did not, and it seems Primeverse Cybertron does not have any native organic life, at least none that Stardust has seen yet. If it did at one point, then it is all extinct now, either from the war or from some other factor. Stardust didn’t care either way, he only cared about the fact that he was no longer organic himself. He didn’t show his thanks and gratitude to Primus in any way, and he never will as that’s not his style, but being given a Cybertronian body is what he is most grateful for. He hated being human and everything that came with it, getting sick, dealing with clothes and having to wash them, the body odors that humans have that are not present on Cybertronians, the hair for frags sake! Oh, he hated dealing with hair and having to brush it or shave it or clean it. The worst he dealt with was the monthly cycles he had to endure since he had a uterus as a human. Which, that is actually something else that he would not compromise on when Primus built his frame. He told Primus that he absolutely has to have an active and fertile gestation tank, or he refused to do what Primus said he was destined to do. He may hate humans, and he may have been impartial to human children, but he wanted sparklings at some point so badly. He really wanted to have Megatron’s sparklings since Megatron was his favorite character and was the most attractive among the Cybertronians of this world, but he was smart enough to know that was highly improbable. 

The walk to Kaon from Iacon was likely to be a long one, one thing his mini map didn’t do that Google Maps did was tell you your travel time, which is fine with Stardust, he was likely to take his time anyway to allow for better acclimation to his frame and more detailed observation of his surroundings. Despite the desolation around him, Cybertron was beautiful, and he felt a tug on his spark while looking out across the horizon. He wanted to see it restored, and he wanted to be a part of it, he wanted this to be his home, it was his home, now that he was Cybertronian. He wanted to see Megatron leading Cybertron, he wanted to see the functionalist society that the Primes created absolutely crumble . Stardust hated the caste system, and he hadn’t even been a part of it, he only saw and read about it and what Megatron and the rest of the lower caste had to endure. It infuriated him to no end… knowing what Megatron had to go through as a miner and later as a gladiator. Stardust had so many questions for Megatron and Soundwave since he had been a gladiator alongside Megatron, but they were mostly personal questions that he would refuse to ask unless Megatron was comfortable with him.

Stardust would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried what the Decepticons would think about him. When he was human, he didn’t give a shit, he lost every single family member and friend he had just by being himself, and while the pain of it and the abandonment had stung worse than a blade through the heart, he survived it and thrived without those attachments. Now, however, things would be different. There were a multitude of different ways this could go. They could completely disregard Stardust’s past as a human and accept him as a Decepticon as long as he was loyal, they could take the information he possessed then kill him as the abomination they might think he is, they could experiment on him or send him into battle with a suicide mission. The possibilities were endless, and Stardust was certain he could lie and keep his past a secret from them, but he refused. Despite siding with the Decepticons and taking their shield upon his body, Stardust still held himself in high respect. Loyalty was the most important quality one could have, in his opinion, and his loyalty was not only unmatched, but non-negotiable. He was loyal to the Decepticons, but more than that he was loyal to Megatron. He knew that lying to the warlord was unwise, even if you were able to keep the lie from coming to light, and the respect and admiration Stardust had for the Decepticon leader would not allow him to lie to the mech. His crush and both physical and romantic attraction he had for Megatron wouldn’t allow him to lie either.

Stardust felt his faceplates warm up at the thought of his 'feelings', and while he never could tell when his human body was blushing unless someone told him or he looked in a mirror, he could certainly tell now. With the fact that all of this could very much be real, and not a hallucination, his crush on Megatron wasn’t just some… infatuation anymore. Once he actually met the mech, which was 100% likely now, he knew his crush would bloom into something much stronger. He already had a deep desire to protect him, especially knowing what will happen to him at the end of the series and beginning of Predacon Rising. Just the thought of Unicron taking over Megatron’s body and changing his frame the way he did has Stardust’s energon boiling, servos clenching, and a growl to come up his vocalizer. The sound of the growl actually gave the mech pause as it reached his audials. He was able to growl in his human body, but it was weak and mid pitched due to his feminine voice. In his Cybertronian body, however, his voice had been deepened as he had told Primus he wanted a mech’s body since he wasn’t very fond of the way femmes looked. The deep voice and mechanical vocalizer he had now had the growl coming out deep, rumbling, rolling, and far too sexy. He felt his frame shudder at the sound and had to reset his vocalizer a couple times.

“Did I just turn myself on with my own fragging growl?!” Stardust felt his faceplates heat up again, and despite knowing he was alone he looked around him, turning his body 360 degrees before he continued on to Kaon, a sheepish look on his face.

The walk to Kaon would take more than a solar cycle it seems, as Cybertron’s twin moons had started to rise and the sun quickly disappeared as if banished by the force of being outnumbered by the moons. Feeling the tiredness in his joints, Stardust found a suitable outcropping to rest overnight and went about settling down. His temperature was optimal as it seems Cybertron doesn’t get all that cold at night, unless they have seasons just like Earth and they were in their warmer season, so he didn’t need to worry about a heat source. He settled down as comfortably as he could with his wings and decided to open the documents he downloaded back in Iacon. He wanted to start with Cybertron’s history, as he needed to learn about this sooner or later, but the files for Megatron’s poetry were there... just flashing at him, tempting him, and he had zero self-control when it came to anything Megatron. He found himself opening those files and reading through a surprisingly large number of Megatron’s works, though a few of them had redacted sections, which was annoying, disappointing, but not surprising since Iacon had been Autobot controlled territory up until the final days of the Great War. 

Stardust found himself falling into recharge halfway through one of Megatron’s pieces, and his last thought was about how he can’t wait to meet the mech he would undoubtedly fall in love with.

Chapter Text

It took Stardust two more solar cycles to reach Kaon since he was annoyingly still forced to walk, but every night he would lay down to recharge and spend a few kliks reading Megatron’s poetry. He had finished all of it the second night he had stopped to recharge, but instead of starting on Cybertron’s history like a responsible mech, he reread every word Megatron wrote, and then again after he finished it a second time. By the third solar cycle, he was approaching the outskirts of Kaon when an alert started to flash on his mini map. It read along the lines of 'You are nearing the Decepticon capital, turn back!’ Stardust actually laughed at that and decided to switch off the map since he could see the city in front of him. 

Kaon was about the size of Iacon, maybe a little smaller, but it was fairly easy to navigate to the center where Megatron’s citadel was. The tower was the largest structure in the city, despite being an industrial area filled with factories and warehouses so it was easy to see over the other buildings. The Kaon Prison was the second largest structure followed by the Gladiatorial Arena where the entrance to Vector Sigma was located. Stardust knew he needed to avoid that area as an Insecticon was confirmed to be in stasis there and even with Decepticon shields on his frame, he wasn’t sure how the Insecticon would react to him.

Kaon was surprisingly intact, considering the state of Iacon, though when he thought about it it actually made sense. Autobots weren’t really known for just randomly demolishing a city, Decepticon capital or not, and the Decepticons wouldn’t destroy their own capital. The citadel was situated at the end of a long bridge and the trek over the bridge allowed him to observe around him. The perimeter of the citadel had towers situated at the corners of the complex. These towers were smaller than the citadel, however they still towered over him as Stardust continued on. They were likely watch towers as this was basically Megatron's headquarters, and if that was the case they wouldn't be of any use to him. 

The citadel itself wasn't as easy to navigate as the streets of Kaon had been, and Stardust was surprised he hadn't run into any other Insecticons yet considering Megatron left some behind. If there were any here, maybe his Decepticon shield was more than a decorative symbol. It was possible there was some kind of identifier signal coming from the symbol that labeled him as a Decepticon, and thus, as an ally. Either way, Stardust made it across the bridge and into the citadel's lower hallways without a problem. The problem came when he started walking the halls without seeing any consoles or workstations. He had to walk all the way down one hall just to find a door, which thankfully led to a decent sized room with controls on the wall that Stardust found was actually an elevator. The citadel had nearly 200 floors according to the elevator's controls, which just put the tower's size into perspective and Stardust found his respect and admiration for Megatron growing at the sheer scale of it. 

The floor he had chosen had been mostly at random. He figured the lower half of the building would be storage, troop quarters, or would serve other military purposes that would not aid Stardust in his endeavors. The upper half of the tower, being closer to Megatron's throne at the top, was more likely to hold higher command functions. War rooms, training rooms, weapons vaults, communication hubs, etc.. The weapons vaults and communication hubs were what Stardust was after. Having not accessed his ability to transform yet, that also means he hasn't been able to access his built in weapons systems, and as his goal was to get to Earth, he would want a weapon or two to defend himself if and when he ran into the Autobots. The communication hubs would be how he would attempt to contact either Shockwave or Megatron. 

The first room Stardust found wasn't what he was looking for, it almost looked like a war room with its large conference table and holo projector situated in the center and a few scorch marks across the walls, most likely from Megatron's fusion cannon during a meeting that didn't go as planned. Stardust chuckled at the image but continued on until it felt like he checked every room on the upper floors. 

A few floors below Megatron's throne… room? Was it considered a room if it didn't have walls…? Whatever. Stardust found what could be a communication hub as it was a separate room where the walls were lined with consoles similar to the bridge of the Nemesis. Taking note of the room’s location, Stardust continued searching for a weapons vault but after checking the remaining floors he didn't find anything. 

“No weapons vaults, but there's probably a full armory on the lower floors.” Being on the top floor just under Megatron's throne, Stardust couldn't help himself. He found the stairs that lead up to the top and quickly made his way there. The sun was nearly hidden by the horizon, even at this height, and the barest sliver of light was shining across the open space and lighting up the throne. Stardust stood in front of it, casting a quickly disappearing shadow over the large seat. The emotions that Stardust has forced himself to ignore these last four solar cycles were demanding to be acknowledged and he felt his frame start to tremble from the exertion of keeping them at bay. 

Knowing he couldn't do this forever, Stardust allowed himself to drop down to one knee with a clenched fist against the metal floor as if he were bowing down to the Decepticon throne. He hasn't cried since he was a child, and that isn't going to change any time soon, but he did allow his emotions to flow through his circuits. The feeling was unusual as there was what felt like an electrical current running through his body, but it was so faint that he barely felt it. Cybertronian bodies process emotions very differently than humans apparently, but the only reason he felt it is because of how new his frame is and how sensitive it is at the moment. 

He stayed in that position until he felt his emotions calm down, and subsequently he felt his resolve harden. He lifted his helm with a determined glare set upon the throne before he rose up and walked back down the stairs into the tower. 

Stardust went back to the communication hub, banishing the thought of obtaining a weapon until he was able to establish contact with somebot. He inspected each console and found they all had power, but it seemed only two of them were used for communications. The other three were locked and wouldn't allow him access, which is fair and most likely means they were data terminals containing sensitive information. The two consoles he could access were a short range communications hub and a long range communications hub. He tried the long range communications first, wanting to get a hold of the Decepticons on Earth before he tried to locate Shockwave. 

The hub was difficult to figure out, but Stardust always prided himself on being able to ascertain how something functioned on his own without aid, and eventually he was able to locate the necessary controls. Being the Decepticon headquarters, and with the Nemesis being a Decepticon vessel, he was able to locate the warship's frequency. He was once again grateful he could read Cybertronian glyphs, as this would be impossible without the ability, and he was able to read the screen as easily as he would if it were in English. 

There wasn't a button that said ‘call’ or anything like that, but as soon as he selected the Nemesis’ frequency, it seemed to open a channel. Surprised for a second and suddenly nervous, Stardust shuffled his pedes and had to think about what to say before he spoke slowly and clearly. 

“Nemesis, this is the Decepticon citadel in Kaon, do you read me?” There was a pause for a good stretch of time, and Stardust thought maybe it didn't work and he had read it wrong or something. Before he could try again, the screen lit back up with an open communication line, making Stardust's stomach… or rather, his fuel tank drop and flutter at the same time. 

“Who is this? This is a secure channel! How did you get this frequency?!” Stardust rolled his optics and had to stop himself from groaning as he knew that voice all too well. 

“Commander Starscream, my name is Stardust. I am currently on Cybertron at the Decepticon citadel in Kaon. I was able to locate the Nemesis’ frequency through the communication hub here. I have vital intelligence for Lord Megatron that will aid the Decepticon cause, and may even end this war.” He was met with silence again for a few kliks, but the line remained open so he knew communication wasn't cut or lost. 

“How do you know who I am?!” Stardust smirked and had to pick his words carefully as what he wanted to say would surely get his helm blown off when he actually met Starscream in person.

“I recognize your voice, sir. We may not have met, but your voice is iconic and easily recognizable.” Stroking Starscream’s ego almost always turns a situation in your favor, and this seemed to be no different.

“Hmmm… alright then, give me your intelligence, Stardust, and make it quick, we have important work to do!” The disgust and doubt that Starscream said the word ‘intelligence’ and his name had Stardust grinding his denta together in an attempt not to tell the seeker to frag off.

“I apologize, Commander, but this intel is too sensitive to be given to anybot other than Lord Megatron himself, and it must be given to him in person as the device it is stored on is not compatible with Cybertronian technology.” There was a growl that came through the line.

“How do I know this isn’t an Autobot trick? Or a trap to lure Lord Megatron to his destruction?” ‘Because I’m not you.’, was what Stardust had wanted to say, but he refrained as it would make the situation worse.

“Unfortunately, you do not, and I have no way of proving to you that I am not only a Decepticon, but also loyal to our Lord and Master. As I cannot share any of this knowledge without Lord Megatron present, I have nothing but my word. However, whatever my word is worth, allow me to use it to say I would rather rip out my own spark than to associate with the Autobot scum.” Something in Stardust’s tone of voice must have been convincing enough, because the next voice he heard had his spark skipping a couple beats and his finials shivering from the deep rumble.

“Speak quickly, Stardust, for I do not have the time, nor the patience to deal with trivial matters.” Stardust had to mute his end of the transmission to mutter,

“Holy Primus, that’s not fair…,” at the fact that Megatron’s voice just assaulted his new and sensitive audials. He had a small voice kink when he was human, but a voice he found attractive, including Megatron’s voice, had never had the effect it did now. His finials were still shaking and he felt his wings quiver slightly when he reset his vocalizer and reopened his end of the communication.

“I assure you, Lord Megatron, this will not be a waste of your time. To better convince you of my knowledge and its usefulness, I only ask to know where you are on the timeline. I understand that is an unusual request, and what I mean by it is, have you attempted to bring your army of undead through the spacebridge yet?” There was another short pause before Megatron spoke again, his voice not giving any insight as to his reaction to Stardust’s unusual question.

“We are currently without a spacebridge, and my attempt to raise my undead army was thwarted by the Autobots.” Stardust nodded his helm, even though they couldn’t see him, and put his fingers to his chin.

“If that is the case, and if I am currently speaking with you now, that means that you have made a full recovery from the spacebridge explosion. If my memory serves, then the events to take place after your recovery was Commander Starscream attempting to revive Skyquake using Dark Energon, and then after that was Breakdown’s capture at the hands of MECH, am I correct?” The pause was longer this time, quite a bit longer, actually, but the line remained open on the screen in front of him, so Stardust was patient and waited until he was addressed once again.

“I am intrigued by your knowledge of these events, especially since you are currently on Cybertron and it does not seem we have met.” Stardust smiled, this seems to be going well so far, please don’t let him frag this up!

“We have not, my Lord, though I wish to remedy that. The small amount of knowledge I have shared with you is of past events, but it is the knowledge I have of future events that is the most prudent. My… situation is rather unique and while I could tell you over a communication line, I cannot convince you of the truth of my words. The tablet I have in my possession, as well as a cortical psychic patch would be the best course of action, as it would allow you to see for yourself where my knowledge comes from.” 

“Hmm. Very well, Stardust. You have convinced me to give you a chance at proving yourself, however, we have no way of transporting you here as our spacebridge no longer functions.” Megatron was right, and Stardust hated that he may be stranded here on Cybertron for longer than he originally wanted to be.

“If I may, my Lord, you have plans to remedy that in the near future. If you are willing to grant me a small amount of trust, I could supply limited information through interstellar communication until the new spacebridge is finished. This one, if I remember correctly, is located underground in a cavern there on Earth.” 

"Our new spacebridge is indeed under construction, and if you have knowledge of the future, as you say you do, then you will have our cooperation in getting you aboard the Nemesis as soon as possible.” Stardust couldn’t help the smile from taking over his faceplate and for it to be heard in his voice.

“Thank you, my Lord! I would like to supply you with at least a vague outline of events to take place in the immediate future. Unless it has happened already, Soundwave will soon pick up a magnetic signal from the Polarity Gauntlet which Breakdown will attempt to recover. During his mission, he will encounter Airachnid who tries to take the Gauntlet from him. If this has already happened, I would be happy to skip to the next event, my Lord.” 

“You may continue, Stardust, as these events have yet to take place.” He has been trying to ignore the way his new name sounds coming from the Decepticon leader, and the way it made his wings twitch. He will have to get that under control somehow, or he’ll be giving away his emotions and reactions to everybot in the room.

“Of course, my Liege. While Breakdown and Airachnid are battling, two Autobots show up with one of their human… pets. The Autobots join in the fight and despite the brutality with which Breakdown battles, the Autobots manage to walk away with the gauntlet, leaving Breakdown and Airachnid magnetically fused together. If Airachnid hadn’t shown up and gotten in his way, Breakdown would have walked away with the Gauntlet.” Megatron hums over the line again.

“Interesting. We will log this for future use. Do you have any more information?” Stardust couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oh, I have loads of information, Lord Megatron. The events that follow the Gauntlet involve Commander Starscream and yourself. You visit a seemingly stripped energon mine there on Earth where you discover energon that had been left behind as well as valuable mining equipment. While there, two Autobots show up with their humans and the cave collapses during the ensuing firefight. Commander Starscream manages to escape the cave through means of retreating, leaving you behind, Master.”

“Oh, he does, does he?” Judging by the tone of voice, Stardust can just imagine the side eye glare that Megatron gives Starscream, which he smirks at.

“He does. You are buried during the cave in, but manage to dig your way out and you find Commander Starscream trapped in a pocket where he is barely holding the ceiling up from collapsing on himself. A predicament he originally found the Autobot Bulkhead in, but was forced to switch places with him when he was ambushed by Arcee and outnumbered.” Stardust wasn’t fond of the way he had explained that, as it made Starscream sound like he hadn’t completely fragged up during that whole encounter, but he also wasn’t too keen on making an enemy of Starscream, at least not yet.

“That is quite enough for today, Stardust. I have important matters to attend to. It is my understanding that you currently occupy my citadel in Kaon.” 

“That is correct, Master. If you prefer, I can house myself elsewhere for the time being.” 

“That will not be necessary. Keep close to the long range communications, as you will be contacted in the near future with either a request for more information, or an update on your arrival aboard my warship.” Stardust grinned, and nodded his helm.

“Of course, my Lord, I look forward to hearing from you.” Without another word, the line was cut and there was silence in the communication hub. The grin didn’t leave Stardust’s faceplate as he was insanely pleased with himself and the fact that he hadn’t fragged up that conversation. He moved from the communication hub down to the lower floors in search of both the armory and a berthroom he could occupy for the night. He had found berthrooms on the upper levels, but those were most likely for the High Command, which he was most certainly not. He was technically alone, and nobot would know any different if he had stayed in one of the High Command’s berthrooms, unless Megatron sees it in his mind during the inevitable cortical psychic patch. He still felt wrong staying there, so he chose a lower berthroom to recharge in. 

Before settling down to recharge, Stardust had too much energy, so he decided to search for the armory on the lower levels. He found it rather quickly, which surprised him considering it took forever to find the communications hub. The armory was attached to a large training room with sparing circles, a shooting range, and even an obstacle course. Inside the armory, it was fairly sparse as a large portion of Megatron’s troops had built in weaponry, but the first item that caught his optic was a pair of twin swords. He picked one up to test the weight and found it fairly easy to handle. He noticed a contraption on the guard and upon further inspection he found it was a magnet to clip the blade to his armor. 

“Huh, neat.” He took the blades and mounted them on his back between his wings, and while he didn't know how to use them, he was certain he could learn. Maybe he could even ask Megatron to teach him a little bit. The other items that caught his optic were the blasters. The wall was lined with identical blasters, also equipped with a mounting magnet, so he took one and mounted it to his left hip. Another blaster, smaller and could be the Cybertronian equivalent of a pistol, was also hanging on the wall, so he took that and mounted it to his right thigh. He may hate humans, but he did like how human soldiers were geared up, especially how their side arms looked when strapped to their thighs. 

Satisfied with what he found, Stardust started to make his way back to his temporary berthroom to try and get some recharge. It was already the middle of the night, so this time he would forego reading and go straight into recharge. Tomorrow he will be attempting to reach Shockwave, and then the real work starts.

Chapter Text

Having no knowledge of how to set an alarm or a wakeup protocol within his processor, it was sometime after the start of the solar cycle when Stardust's systems started to come online. Seeing his chronometer throwing in his face that it was already midday, a strike of fear ran down Stardust's spinal strut. He shot out of the berth, barely remembering to grab his new weapons, and made a beeline for the upper levels. 

Not knowing whether or not the communication hub would inform him if he ‘missed a call’, Stardust had no way of knowing if the Nemesis had already tried to contact him. The only thing he could do was stay close to the hub and hope that the console would make some kind of sound when there was an incoming transmission. His list of tasks to do that day only included attempting to contact Shockwave and remaining by the communications hub to receive a call from Megatron. With his new weapons and his new frame, he decided to add ‘self acclimation’ and 'training' to that list. 

The communication room was rather decently sized, and it allowed him enough room to swing his new swords without damaging anything, unlike when he and his brother were children. His brother’s bedroom had a multitude of slash marks in the ceiling from when they would play with his swords and would swing too high. 

Stardust couldn't practice with his blasters, as he would have to go down to the shooting range for that, but he could explore his new frame, learn it, and attempt to teach himself how to use his blades. Or better yet, he could sit down and search his processor for the commands to his alt modes. His flyer alt mode he would have to wait for as it would be best to be outside for that just in case he accidently activated his thrusters. His ground mode would be the safest option to attempt, but he decided against doing all of that until he at least made an attempt to contact Shockwave. 

The short range communications hub didn't have any frequencies saved. Instead it had the option to enter a frequency code, or to open a channel to all Decepticon frequencies in the area. It looked like the range included Cybertron but didn't reach beyond the planet, which Stardust was fine with as he wanted to contact Shockwave and would prefer not to have any other Decepticons orbiting the planet or in nearby space come to his location. 

The optimal choice was obvious, so he opened a planet wide channel to all Decepticon frequencies, and after yesterday's conversation, he felt a little more confident when he spoke. 

“This is the Decepticon citadel in Kaon calling Shockwave, do you read me?” Stardust tried not to get his hopes up, Starscream may have answered him on the first 'ring’, but it is likely Shockwave will not, as he thinks things through much more thoroughly than the second in command. Stardust waited a good few kliks before he tried again. 

“This is the Decepticon citadel in Kaon. Shockwave, please respond.” After every attempt, Stardust muted the channel on his end, and just listened. 

“Come on, Shockwave, I know you're on this planet. Now is not the time to be stubborn.” He muttered the words to himself, not daring to say them over an open channel, especially considering Shockwave was still a member of the High Command. Stardust groaned after a few more kliks of silence and opened the line back up.

“Shockwave, I know you're on this planet, if you can hear me, my name is Stardust. I am communicating with Lord Megatron via interstellar transmissions, and we are attempting to establish physical contact. It would be beneficial to the Decepticon cause if our Master was reunited with his top scientist. I implore you to come to the citadel as soon as you are able to. I… could really use your help… sir.” Stardust ended the transmission and ex vented a sigh while also letting his helm hang down to his chassis. 

“Why was I able to contact Megatron on Earth, but I can't get a hold of Shockwave when we're on the same fragging planet?” The most perplexing thing about this whole situation was the fact that it was actually very easy for Stardust to use the communication console to connect to the Nemesis, so why hadn't Shockwave done the same? Did he want to be stranded on Cybertron alone? It allows him to get a fair amount of work done with his experiments, but he also seemed fairly upset - is upset the right word? - about being abandoned by Starscream. 

Whatever the reason, he hopes Shockwave got his call and would come to the citadel, preferably before Megatron comes for him. Having Shockwave by his side and being equipped with the knowledge that Stardust has, Megatron could easily end this war, hopefully without losing anymore of their troops. While Stardust wasn't for all that Autobot mushy slag about sentient life, he still valued the Sparks of his now comrades. Before, when he was human, he felt that pull to the Decepticons, he understood their anger, having been a member of the poorer class on Earth, and having been so easily abandoned by everyone he knew. Having a uterus, his rights regarding his own anatomy and his own autonomy were taken away from him. Their government had become so corrupt and downright degrading to their citizens, and no one knows what that is like better than the Decepticons. Because of this, Stardust had already been protective of Megatron and the Decepticons, or as protective as he could be over fictional characters. They weren't fictional anymore, unless this was all a dream or hallucination, but considering how many solar cycles have passed without him waking up, Stardust was beginning to come to terms with what had happened, what is happening, and what will happen. 

With an attempt to contact Shockwave checked off his list, Stardust now only had to play the waiting game until he was contacted by Megatron again. During this time, he could use the space in the communication room to train. He is joining a war, and there will be fighting that he has to be prepared for. He refuses to only be a source of information and essentially useless in any other aspect. He will be useful, and he will show Megatron that he is worth keeping around after he gets the information on this tablet. 

The type of training he could be doing ranges from learning to wield the twin swords, though without a teacher to show him proper form and movement he would basically just be swinging it around like a toddler with a baseball bat, or he could start training in hand to hand combat. He remembers seeing drones in the troop training room on the lower levels, as well as a different variant of drones in the High Command training room, but he would have to walk away from the communications console to use them.

“I wonder….” Stardust approached the long range console and started to work his way through it, familiarizing himself with the different menus and commands. He was looking for something specific, like a way to tie the console into his own personal comms, even though he hasn’t even used them yet, so he has no idea how to access it much less activate it. He spent a good joor learning as much as he could about the console and its functions, going back and forth between the long range console and the short range console. He didn’t find anything that would help him connect the console to his own comms, so his plan of going down to the training room would have to be scrapped.

“I’ll just use this space as my training room for now.” Ignoring the fact that he is, once again, talking to himself, Stardust turned away from the console and moved into the middle of the room. He started off with testing his legs first. When he had tried to run back in Iacon it hadn’t gone very well, so he hopped from pede to pede, testing his struts and stability. He moved to one end of the room and jogged to the other, feeling the difference in the action compared to his human body. He continued jogging back and forth, occasionally sprinting and basically doing suicide runs until he felt his frame heating up and saw a notification on his hud requesting to turn on his cooling fans. The simple request from his frame, as well as the sound of his fans when he accepted it and they rumbled to life had Stardust grinning. Something as simple as turning on his cooling fans had him excited beyond belief as the reality that he was in a Cybertronian body sank in even more. 

Just the thought of his cooling fans had his processor immediately going into the gutter and thinking about other activities that would cause his frame to heat up. As he had told Primus he would not back down on having an active gestation tank, it is safe to assume that he was given a valve, however, he didn’t even think to ask about getting a spike even though he has always desperately wanted one, or at least the human equivalent when he had been human. The question of whether he had a spike now was screaming in the front of his processor, but the present was not the time to be exploring his new body in that way. He had to focus on training and learning to control his body in a way that would turn it into its own weapon, even without the swords or blasters attached to his armor. 

Physical movement and getting himself used to how his frame moved and becoming aware of every aspect of his frame was his top priority, especially his wings as he didn’t want to accidentally whack somebot in the faceplate with them. His wings and his audials were the most sensitive parts of his frame, which he had expected. He may not be a Vosian seeker like Starscream, but he was still a speed and precision flyer, so his wings had trillions of sensors on them just like a seeker to allow him to feel every change in the atmosphere as he flew. His audials, while not typical for a flyer, were still something he had asked for as he loved the way they looked and how they could be flattened against his helm like a cat. Audial finials such as his weren’t just used for decoration, however, they were used for comms and they were typically more sensitive to sound than in-helm audials. He essentially had heightened hearing due to his audials, and while he hadn’t had to deal with too much sound as of yet due to being alone, he had noticed the difference when speaking with Starscream and Megatron. Firefights would be an issue if he didn’t get control over his audial input and learn to dampen the sounds he was hearing to protect his audials. This he could do while he was training with the blasters, though that will have to wait until he was aboard the Nemesis or Shockwave showed up. 

After another joor of running around the communication room to get his footing, so to speak, his frame was pleasantly warm and his fans were still working to cool him down. This is the first time he has done any ‘physical exercise’ outside of just walking, so his frame had heated up faster than, say, Megatron’s would have. He decided to stop that for now and turn his attention to working on his balance. He took even intakes to assist his fans in cooling down his frame as he went to stand on one pede in the middle of the room to see how well balanced he was. At first, he was able to stay standing on one pede for at least half a joor, which is a record for him, but as soon as he shifted one of his wings he lost his balance and had to catch himself from falling over.

“Ok, well, that’s gonna take some getting used to.” He didn’t expect the position of his wings to affect his balance, but he should have predicted it considering it was still a shift in weight, just from a different part of his body. He took up the same position he had been in, but this time he made minute twitches with his wings and adjusted his balance accordingly. He still had moments where he would nearly fall over, but after a few tries he found he could save his balance by using his wings to move his frame, similar to how some Earth birds could move their wings to nearly hover in place. 

Stardust spent the next several joors working on his balance while stationary as well as while in motion, and when the end of the solar cycle started to near, he got a message on his hud that nearly had him panicking.

“Fuel Level - 35%. Refueling recommended.” 

“Slag! I completely forgot about fuel!” The fact that his new body would require energon to continue functioning completely went over Stardust’s helm, and he felt like an absolute moron for it. He had been so excited to get to see Cybertron and walk across its surface, then to see Kaon and Megatron’s citadel, then to actually get to talk to the object of his dreams and desires that the functions of his new body slipped his processor.

“Slag, slag, slag! There has to be a refueling station around here somewhere! Oh, Primus I hope there is and it has energon! I have no idea where to find energon, especially on a dead planet!” Stardust felt his panic spike for a moment before his optics caught the short range communication’s console and he remembered he had called Shockwave earlier that solar cycle.

“If Shockwave has been on this planet, alone, for Primus knows how long, then he has to be getting his energon from somewhere.” He took a few deep intakes to calm himself, and tried to think of a solution. He was currently locked out of the other three consoles in the room, but he remembers seeing other rooms with consoles that he may be able to get into. He needs to find schematics of the citadel so he can find an energon dispenser, and if those are empty, which is likely, he will try to find the locations of Shockwave’s labs. There were a couple locked doors that he could try to get into, either by hacking the lock or trying to break in some other way. 

Stardust approached the long range communications console and started rummaging around the menus again until he came to one labeled ‘Overcomm’. The description said it would chime throughout whatever sections of the citadel that was needed, and while that means he could leave the room, and still know when he was contacted, he couldn’t go too far or risk ‘missing the call’ so to speak. Stardust activated the function and selected the entire citadel, then made his way out of the room and up two floors until he reached the other room. This room had seven consoles instead of five, and he quickly got to work checking each one. He felt luck was on his side as he was only locked out of one of these consoles, so he started to search through their functions. 

It took until the third console for him to find a schematic of the citadel, and nearly half a joor to decipher what everything on said schematic meant. If he was reading it right, there was a refueling room called a galley for the High Command three floors down. Without wasting any more time, Stardust headed to the designated floor and room, giving a hum when he entered the galley. He hadn’t realized the function of this room when he had found it before, as he just peeked in and moved on when he didn’t see any consoles. There were machines along the walls that took Stardust longer than he is comfortable admitting to learning how to operate, but once he did, he felt immense relief when the dispenser powered up and actually produced a cube. He was a little surprised to see a small cube that could fit between his fingers and looked exactly like the cube rations from the Transformers One universe. 

Taking the cube, Stardust inspected it before he just popped it into his mouth. Not really knowing what to do with it, whether he was supposed to just swallow it or bite it, he decided on the latter. He bit into the cube and his intake was immediately flooded with a cool substance that almost felt like liquid electricity. The cube itself was crushed between his denta and flowed down his intake with the energon, and Stardust found himself moaning at the taste and feeling.

“Primus, I always knew energon would taste so fragging good!” The fuel percentage that had decided to pop up on his hud and not go away climbed from 35% to 60% with just one cube, so he dispensed several more and immediately took one before putting the rest in his subspace for later. His fuel was now sitting at a comfortable 85%, and he felt safe walking away and going back to the room he had just been in. It was unusual that there was energon in the dispenser as one would think that Megatron would strip his own facilities bare of the fuel when he vacated the citadel to pursue Optimus across the galaxy. Stardust was sure he would find out eventually how every console he has walked up to has had power, and how there is still energon available on this dead planet. 

Entering the room with the seven consoles that he has now dubbed the command room, Stardust made his way to the first console he had tried and started to search through its contents for anything useful. The ‘historical records’ as Starscream likes to call them would be a good start as it would be smart to learn as much about the Decepticons as he could. For almost every continuity of Transformers, the fans got an abundance of lore for the Autobots, but only slivers of lore for the Decepticons. Megatron and Shockwave, in Stardust’s experiences, were the Decepticons they got the most lore for. Megatron being the main antagonist and Optimus’ mortal enemy, and Shockwave with his past as a Senator and the empurata performed on him. Something else about the Primes that Stardust despised. Not only did they create a functionalist society, but what they did to Shockwave was just… unacceptable, and while Optimus seemed to be a decent mech, and Stardust had to admit absolutely gorgeous - not as gorgeous as Megatron, however - the mech still represented the Primes of Old and the unjust society that treated the lower caste worse than trash. 

Stardust wasn’t sure how long he spent going through everything on the first and second console, but by the time he got to the third console where he found the schematic for the citadel, his processor was swimming with information. He couldn’t keep track of everything he was learning, but it was being stored in his memory drives so he would be able to access it later if he needed to. Luckily, Cybertronian memory works differently from human memory as long as the drives aren’t damaged, and even though his memory as a human had been terrible, it seems now he has what equates to eidetic memory or even hyperthymic syndrome. Whether this is something that is normal for Cybertronians he wasn’t sure, so he would be asking Knock Out when he gets to meet the doctor. He must have zone out on the information in front of him because the sound of the door whooshing open had him jumping a few feet in the air and had his armor flaring out like a startled cat. He spun around to face the entrance, having it to his back, and was greeted with a sight that not only gave him shivers, but excited jitters as well.

“Shockwave, sir!”

Chapter Text

Considering Shockwave isn’t the type of mech to just sit on his aft in his lab when an opportunity presents itself, Stardust should have expected to be seeing him sometime soon, however he had been hoping to establish communications first. There really wasn’t a reason for that, and Shockwave didn’t owe Stardust a damn thing, but the rapid pulsing in his spark from being startled was quite annoying. With twitching wings and flared armor that he had no idea how to soothe down, Stardust took a few steps from the console and gave Shockwave a small bow with one servo crossed over his chassis.

“Sir, it is an honor to meet you! I’m glad you received my transmission.” Shockwave stopped in front of him and Stardust took note that they were basically the same height. The scientist looked at Stardust with his single optic, then looked at the powered consoles around the room.

“How did you manage to power up these consoles?” While he expected for Shockwave to go straight into questions, he was wholly unprepared for the sound of the mech’s voice against his audials. While Megatron was the most attractive bot in this universe, or any universe if he was being honest, and Stardust knew he would gain romantic feelings for the warlord once he met him, he still had a physical attraction to pretty much every mech on the Nemesis , and yes that unfortunately includes Starscream. Though, with the seeker, Stardust would much rather have him face down, aft up and screaming just to knock the slagger down a few pegs. His front audials twitched and his rear audial fins quivered, and he knows Shockwave noticed by the way his helm tilted slightly.

“They powered up as soon as I engaged the controls, sir, I assumed they already had power.” Shockwave hummed and tilted his helm down then back up slowly as if studying his frame. Without complete control over his frame’s reactions, Stardust felt his wings tilt back as if trying to hide behind himself and the fingers on his servos twitched.

“No facility on this planet has power except my lab. The power to my lab is via solar generation, as our planet is currently dead. These consoles have not had the capacity to power up in many stellar cycles.” Stardust felt his optic ridges tighten, as if he was trying to furrow his eyebrows, and it was caused by confusion.

“I didn’t do anything special with them other than approach and press some buttons. The same thing happened in Iacon when I approached a console in the ruins of the Hall of Records. I just pressed a button, and it came online. I found that kind of odd considering the damage to the building, but I didn’t question it.” If Shockwave had the ability to cycle or narrow his optic, he probably would have, as Stardust could almost feel apprehension coming from him, and he had only half a klik to wonder if that was his EM field before the mech was speaking again.

“Why were you in Iacon?” This was where an explanation about Primus and what happened to him and where he was from would come into play. 

“That is… a bit of a story, and without a cortical psychic patch, I don’t think you will believe me.” This time, Stardust could feel confusion but also curiosity, and he was sure it was Shockwave’s EM field.

“You would willingly submit to a cortical psychic patch?” Stardust actually smiled at that.

“If it means convincing you, and Lord Megatron of where I’m from, why I’m here, and what I know, then without hesitation, sir.” Shockwave was silent and unmoving for a klik or two before he nodded.

“Very well. We will head to my lab and perform the procedure.” Shockwave went to turn around and leave, causing Stardust’s optics to widen.

“Wait! I’m waiting on Lord Megatron to contact me via the long-range communications. If I’m not here when he does, he’ll be very angry, and that is the last thing I want.” Shockwave was half facing Stardust as he hummed and seemed to think.

“We will use my lab here at the citadel. It does not have power; however, I have a theory about why consoles come online when you touch them that I would like to test. We can patch the long-range communications into your comm link before we go to the lab.” Stardust nodded and started to follow Shockwave out of the command room and down to the communications hub. 

“I would have already done that if I knew how. I honestly don’t even know how to access my own comms as my frame is only five solar cycles old.” Shockwave paused in the middle of the hallway to turn his helm toward Stardust, and the blinding curiosity that flooded his EM field had Stardust amused before a thought accrued to him. He has no idea how to control his own EM field… none whatsoever, which means that Shockwave has felt every emotion he has since he walked into the room, including the mild arousal at the sound of Shockwave’s voice. While it may be beneficial for others to feel his emotions through his EM field so that they know he is being genuine and he can use that to gain their trust, he has never had very good control over his own horniness even as a human. This means the amount of embarrassment he is going to end up feeling over the course of the next few deca-cycles, or even orbital cycles is going to be immense. Even now, Shockwave could probably feel the embarrassment through his EM field, something the scientist decides to comment on.

“That would explain why your EM field is erratic and uncontrolled.” Stardust’s finials flattened back a little and his wings sagged.

“Yeah, sorry about that. With the free time I have while waiting for Lord Megatron’s call I have been trying to teach myself about my frame, get used to it, and train myself as well, but the existence of my EM field went completely over my helm.”  Shockwave continued walking and Stardust matched his pace.

“You are a new build, correct?” 

“Essentially, yes. Primus was the one who built my frame and transferred my conscience from my old body to this body. The body I had before was, unfortunately, organic in nature, so learning a Cybertronian body has been both thrilling and a challenge.” Shockwave hummed while looking at him, but he continued to walk.

“The cortical psychic patch will give an in-depth explanation of your origins.” It wasn’t a question, but Stardust nodded anyway.

“It will, but it won’t give an explanation as to why this has happened to me. Primus himself didn’t even give a reason; he only told me that I was to be sent here to end the war between Autobots and Decepticons. I honestly don’t know what that means, or how he expects me of all beings to be able to end this war, especially when I could care less about the Autobots. If he is expecting a diplomatic solution, I would rather drink acid than sit down at a table and negotiate with the Prime.” Shockwave didn’t respond to that as they had arrived at the communication hub, so they approached the long-range communications console and Shockwave pulled up a certain menu before he started to explain Cybertronian comm systems in very simplistic terms. Stardust was able to navigate his hud and locate his comm systems, and with Shockwave’s assistance and an access code, he was patched into the long-range communications. His processor didn’t feel any different, but he trusted Shockwave to know what he was doing, so when they finished, they headed down a few levels to one of the locked doors. 

The door opened for Shockwave immediately, which means it is attuned to certain mech’s EM frequency, most likely the members of High Command, which explains why it wouldn’t open for Stardust. The lab looked similar to the ones aboard the Nemesis , only slightly larger and held large empty tanks that resembled the incubation tanks used for the Predacons. Shockwave had stopped by a console and was observing Stardust as he looked around the room in wonder, positively fascinated by everything he was seeing. There were two empty berths in the room, which were the last things that Stardust laid his optics on, and he started to approach one of them.

“Before you lay down, I would like to test my theory in regard to the console’s power.” Stardust nodded and turned fully to Shockwave who turned to the console he was standing by and attempted to online it, but nothing happened. He hummed but stepped aside to allow room for Stardust to approach.

“You try now.” Stardust did so, and without even a flicker, the console booted right up and displayed the main search screen. Shockwave hummed again and went to retrieve a scanner before moving back over and using it to scan Stardust’s frame, who was staring dumbfounded at the console screen and didn’t even notice he was being scanned until the device beeped. 

“Your frame seems to be giving off a particular type of energy that has not been recorded for thousands of stellar cycles.” The confusion in Stardust’s EM field amplified, so he didn’t need to ask Shockwave what he meant, the purple mech just went straight into an explanation.

“You said that Primus was the one who built your frame, and it seems that there is residual energy within your frame that shares the same properties as Primus himself. That would explain how you have been able to access consoles that have no active power source. Essentially, you are a power source, and a powerful one at that.” Stardust blinked his optic lids a few times while Shockwave’s explanation sank into his processor, and if it had been any other bot besides Shockwave that had told him this, he would have laughed in their face. Since it was Shockwave, who doesn’t joke, or play around, or ‘beat around the bush’, he knew the mech wasn’t bullshitting him.

“I’m… not sure what to do with that information.” 

“Have there been any adverse effects on your frame?” Stardust thought back to the last five solar cycles but couldn’t think of anything.

“Not that I’ve noticed.”

“How much energon have you used?” 

“I’m assuming Primus gave me a full tank when he built my frame, and I had to refuel today as I reached 35% on my tanks. So, I’ve been going through around 13-15% of my fuel per solar cycle.” Shockwave hummed again and set the scanned down.

“That is normal. As it seems this energy is not affecting your frame, we can categorize it as a low priority until we know more. Lay on the berth and we will get started with the cortical psychic patch.” Stardust nodded and laid down on one of the berths. Every time a patch had been done in the show, there was always a third bot involved to initiate the procedure, but they didn’t have that luxury right now as they were the only two on the planet. Shockwave initiated the patch on Stardust’s end first before he laid on the other berth and patched himself in. It took barely a klik for anything to happen, but when it did, it was like being pulled from your body and thrown onto a movie set of your memories. His visual feed glitched out and the lab was replaced with his living room, but instead of seeing it through his human eyes, he was still in his Cybertronian body and watching through his optics. Shockwave stood next to him, and they both watched as a human entered the living room and sat on the couch.

“That is me before Primus put me in this body. I was a human, which is the native species on the planet Earth where Lord Megatron is located at this moment.” Shockwave only nodded in acknowledgement as they watched the scene in front of them. Human Stardust had a plate of greasy pizza in one hand, and a Dr. Pepper soda can in the other that they set on the side table next to the couch. The human picked up a piece of pizza and went to take a bite of it when a flash of light shone through the room but was gone so quickly that the human didn’t even need to cover their eyes. Their pizza was halfway to their open mouth as they stared with wide eyes at the Cybertronian being made of pure light standing on the other side of their coffee table.

“Maria, you do not know me in this form, however, you do know me in another.” The human, now named Maria, just stared at the being, unmoving and completely silent, and the being just continued to speak as if the human wasn’t mimicking an out of water goldfish at the moment. 

“You know me by the name of Primus, and in the form of the planet, Cybertron.” Maria, still silent, blinked her eyes a few times as they lowered their pizza to the plate, then lowered the plate to her lap.

“I have an important task for you, child. I am offering to give you a Cybertronian body, and I will transport you to our universe, where you will be given the task of ending the war between the Autobots and Decepticons and restoring Cybertron.” Maria gapped a little at the Cybertronian shaped blob of light.

“Task?! You call that a task?! That’s not a task; it's a whole ass project! Not to mention completely nonsensical! How do you expect me to end a war that has been going on for… what is it 4 million years?! Oh, my god why am I even talking to you! I need to go to the hospital and get my brain checked. What the fuck is happening right now?” The being, Primus, didn’t outwardly react, he only raised one of his servos toward Maria.

“Do you accept?” Maria blinked at the servo a few times.

“What. The. Fuck, dude… more of an explanation is required! Like maybe start with how you got in here, and how you’re projecting all that light around yourself. Is this a prank? Am I being pranked? I don’t even know anyone who could prank me. I’ve gotta be hallucinating….” Primus took his outstretched servo and waved it over his shoulder. The TV behind him stuttered on and started to play the Transformers Prime TV show, specifically the episode ‘Sick Mind’, which was one of Maria’s -now Stardust- favorite episodes. The sudden sound and visual had Maria pausing in their rambling and really looking at Primus, even putting the plate down and standing up to get a closer look. 

“Prove to me you’re Primus.” Primus transformed his chest plates away to reveal the Matrix of Leadership, the light from the Matrix glowing over Maria’s skin. Their eyes widened again, and they looked from the Matrix up to Primus and back again before crossing her arms.

“Ok, I’ll play along. So, you want to give me a Cybertronian body, which, I would absolutely love cause I fucking hate being a human, it's so god damn gross being… organic. Next you wanna send me to the Transformers Prime universe so I can end the civil war and what… bring peace to Cybertron?” Primus only nodded his helm as he closed his chest plates. Maria sighed and tilted her head to the side, studying Primus for a minute before she finally spoke up.

“Fine, whatever, it’s not like I have anything better to do, and it's not like this is real anyway, I’m either dreaming or hallucinating, so I want to take one of my tablets with me, I’ll need some way of convincing the bots in your universe of what I know and where I’m from.” Primus nodded and Maria disappeared from the living room. The events in front of the two mechs seemed to fast forward until Maria came back into the room carrying a tablet. It is the one that Stardust currently has in his subspace that contains the entire Transformers Prime universe and then some.

“Alright, if you’re building me a Cybertronian body, I have requirements and things I will not compromise on.” Primus nodded his helm again to indicate he was listening.

“I’m a Decepticon, a triple changer with a flyer mode and a ground mode. My flyer mode is an x-wing from Star Wars and my ground mode is a Bugatti Bolide. My frame colors are dark maroon with black and gold accents, I have the body and voice of a mech cause I hate the way femmes look, and I have audial finials like Optimus' only better and prettier. Also, I have two Decepticon shields, one on each shoulder pauldron, and the last thing is I will have an active and fertile gestation tank.” Maria smirked, thinking they had asked way too much, and that Primus was just going to tell her never mind and leave her alone to contemplate her fucking sanity, however, that smirk quickly disappeared when Primus agreed without hesitation and the room was engulfed in light again. This time, Maria had to cover her face, and when the light vanished, Stardust and Shockwave were standing among the ruins of Iacon watching Stardust’s new frame fall from the sky and land face down on the metal street. Before Stardust got up, everything started to crumble and fade away to nothing until Stardust’s visual feed glitched out again, this time showing the lab they were situated in. 

Stardust groaned and sat up with a servo on his helm.

“Does it always feel so… weird?” Shockwave approached the berth where Stardust was sitting at, his EM field now completely unreadable.

“The function of the cortical psychic patch is to gather information from Autobot prisoners. If you had not been willing, it would be much worse.” Stardust groaned again as he swung his legs over the side of the berth, but he gasped when Shockwave suddenly appeared between his legs and grabbed his helm with his servo. Shockwave observed the mech in front of him, turning his helm from left to right, and looking down at his abdominal plating and just starring at where his gestation tank would be located. Stardust couldn’t stop the shudder he felt from rattling his armor, his finials pinned against his helm and his wings twitching every few nanokicks.

“S-sir…?” Stardust wasn’t proud of how weak and… whimpery his voice sounded, nor did he feel proud of the zap of charge that went through his body. There was no doubt that Shockwave could tell exactly what these reactions meant as his EM field was most likely going crazy with arousal at being suddenly mechhandled. 

“Interesting.” Was all Shockwave said as he released Stardust’s helm and backed away from the shivering mech. 

“Do you have the tablet?” It took a nanoklik for the words to register in Stardust’s processor, but when they did, he just gave a dumb nod. Shockwave extended his servo, and Stardust had to force his frame to move so he could pull the tablet from his subspace, something he was proud that he could do, and handed it over to the scientist.

“It’s an Earth tablet, and I have a cord for it as well to charge it if the battery gets low, but it isn’t compatible with Cybertronian technology.” Shockwave just nodded and approached his console while observing the tablet. He was able to power it up easily, and when Stardust saw the lock screen from where he was sitting, he hopped down, ignoring the wobbling in his knee joints, and walked up next to the other mech.

“7762 is the passcode.” The tablet was insanely small in their servos since it was a human tablet, but Shockwave was able to awkwardly use the pen attached to it to type in the code and unlock the device. 

“The universe I’m from that you just saw is a unique one. You bots don’t exist as real beings, you’re fictional characters in TV shows created for entertainment purposes. I downloaded every piece of media regarding this universe onto this tablet so I could give it to Lord Megatron. It shows future events, and knowing what happens in the future, Lord Megatron can adjust his plans accordingly and get ahead of the Autobots to win this war. The Decepticons will reign victorious, and Cybertron will be rebuilt in Lord Megatron’s image. That is why it is imperative that this gets to Lord Megatron as soon as possible. Our Master is currently building a space bridge, but it won’t be operational for another few Earth weeks or Earth months. I’m not sure how that translates to time measurements here on Cybertron, though.” Shockwave had looked over at Stardust when he started talking and only hummed when he finished and went back to studying the tablet.

“I’m hesitant to send the files from that tablet to Lord Megatron without us being there ourselves as Starscream is there too. There are future events that are shown on that tablet that show Starscream betraying Lord Megatron and even attempting to offline him a couple times. If Starscream gets wind of what is on that tablet, he may try to use it to his advantage.” Shockwave set the tablet down and turned to Stardust with his servo out.

“The charging cable.” Stardust removed the cable from his subspace and set it in Shockwave’s servo.

“I will download these files onto the console, and then onto a datapad. Starscream’s motives and intentions have always been questionable, and he was the one who left me stranded here, so we will find a way to get these files to Lord Megatron without making Starscream aware of his future treason. I have work to do, so for now, you are dismissed.” Stardust gave Shockwave a small smile and a bow.

“Of course, sir. I will be in the shooting range on the lower floors if you need me.” 

“I will ping you if I need you.” Just then, a notification came over Stardust’s hud that read as a comm frequency. Stardust grinned and quickly went through the process of saving the frequency as Shockwave’s and made his way out of the lab and down to the lower levels of the citadel. Now that Shockwave was here, and he had assisted Stardust with connecting to the long-range communications, he felt safe going down to the shooting range to start on his blaster training. Maybe he would run the obstacle course to dissipate the charge that had built up from having Shockwave force himself between his legs and mechhandle his helm.

Chapter Text

It was late, really late, when Stardust felt like he had enough shooting practice. He wasn’t even in the range for a joor when his audials started to protest the loud sounds. He would have to do blaster training in small increments to get his audials used to the sounds. While he was practicing, he did learn he could adjust his audials slightly, and the way he physically moved them would change the way everything sounded. He had already taken classes when he was human to get his carry license and often went to the shooting range near his apartment, so he had the basics down with both blasters. The only difference would be that the blasters use energy ammunition and not physical projectiles so they do shoot differently, but Stardust is confident he will become rather proficient quickly. 

As it was so late, Stardust was about to head to recharge, however he didn’t want a repeat of when he woke up earlier that solar cycle. He didn’t want to bother Shockwave while he was working, but he didn’t say not to bother him, so maybe he would be okay with answering a question about his processor. He was technically a new build, and Shockwave was aware of this. He went through his processor, and as Shockwave was the only frequency he had saved it was easy to pull him up and send him a ping with a short message.

“I’m sorry to bother you sir, but I have a question about one of my processor’s functions if you have a moment?” It was only a short time before he received a replay.

“Come to the lab.” Stardust grinned and headed back up to the top floors where Shockwave’s lab was. The door slipped open as he approached it, which means either Shockwave gave him access to the lab, or the door was left unlocked while occupied by the scientist. Stardust didn’t really care which was the case as he entered the lab to see Shockwave exactly where he left him. He noticed his tablet on the table next to the console and the cable connected to it that was connected to the console as well. 

“My apologies, Shockwave, I know you’re busy. I was about to head to recharge but I don’t know how to set up a certain time for my frame to come back online. Was hoping you could help me with that?” Shockwave gave a short nod toward the closest berth and Stardust hopped up onto it and settled himself. He kept his legs closed this time, not wanting a repeat of earlier as Shockwave approached him and stopped right in front of him. 

“Remember how I showed you how to pull up a search of your processor?” Stardust nodded and pulled the function up.

“Done.” 

“Good, now use that to search for ‘recharge protocols’.” Stardust shivered a little at the praise - not actually praise - and did as he was told. A few selections came up, ranging from ‘forced recharge’ to ‘timed recharge’.

“Okay, is it the ‘timed recharge’?” 

“No, that is for creating a recharge schedule. As a new build, you will most likely be recharging often, though not as much as a sparkling. When you have acclimated to your frame, you can use the ‘timed recharge’ to create a recharge schedule that works best for you. For now, you must recharge as your frame requires, but if you choose to have your processor online at a certain time, or after a certain number of joors, you will use the ‘stir protocol’.” Stardust found the protocol quickly and selected it, seeing two options coming up where he could set a certain time or a certain number of joors just as Shockwave had said.

“Hmm, okay I have it.” Shockwave nodded.

“For now, every time you recharge, I would suggest getting a full six joors.” Stardust felt his optic ridges twitch and his finials to lay back a little.

“What if Lord Megatron attempts contact? Will I miss the call if I’m in recharge?” 

“If you are worried about it, you can link your comms to your stir protocols and if you receive a comm while in recharge it will trigger the protocol and online your processor. If that happens, you will be groggy as you come out of recharge, so be wise when using that function.” One of his finials twitched back and forth, the movement catching Shockwave’s attention before he looked back at Stardust’s faceplate where he could see the mech contemplating. 

“This is too important for me to worry about sounding groggy and half asleep, how do I link the two?” Shockwave hesitated for a nanoklik before nodding his helm. He walked the new build through how to link the two functions and then sent him on his way after they were finished. This mech was very intriguing to the scientist as it has been millions of stellar cycles since there has been any new builds, and far longer since there has been even the chance of sparklings. Here this mech was who was not only a new build, but also has an active gestation tank. 

The concept of parallel universes was a controversial topic on Cybertron during the Golden Age, however it had never been tested as it wasn’t prudent and the Primes didn’t see any benefit of proving their existence. Now, this mech was proof that parallel universes existed, and Shockwave was having to control every urge he has ever had to dissect that which he finds intriguing. Lord Megatron will need this mech in one piece, and if what Stardust has said is to be believed, then they will be reunited with their leader sooner rather than later.

Shockwave went back to his work of transferring the files from the Earth tablet to a Cybertronian datapad and reviewing the contents. What he was seeing was indeed further proving Stardust’s origins, and it was fascinating to not only watch events involving his fellow Decepticons, but also the Autobots. Knowledge of future events would aid Lord Megatron in winning this war, but learning about the Autobots in a way they never have before will be helpful in predicting their moves on the battlefield. He was seeing what Stardust was referring to with Starscream’s proclivity for treason, and agreed that they should be giving this information to Megatron either in person or heavily filtered if sent via transmission. He would spend the next solar cycle going through all the data and filtering anything that would give away Starscream’s future betrayals. He could send them in two separate files, the first would be a general data file, and the second would be for Megatron’s optics only. 

Stardust had gone straight to his temporary berthroom to lay down and recharge, having already set his stir protocol to awaken him in six joors. It was annoying that he had to recharge so often, but it made sense. Full grown Cybertronians didn’t need to recharge often, only every few orbital cycles, but as a new build, Stardust would be recharging more often until his systems and processor didn’t have as much data to sort through. It is likely he will get used to being here on Cybertron with Shockwave and he will end up recharging less, but as soon as he sets pede on the Nemesis he will be back to recharging more often as his processor will have a whole new set of data to sort and process. 

~

Having recharged a full six joors without being woken up by an incoming transmission, Stardust was full of energy when his stir protocols activated and he came fully out of recharge. There wasn’t much for him to do, and Shockwave didn’t need any help with his sorting of the files on the tablet, so Stardust spent most of his time in the training room. He would work on his physical training first, get his frame nice and warm by running back and forth, jumping over some of the smaller obstacles on the obstacle course, then he would take a break and work on his blaster training. His aim while stationary was already getting considerably better, and his audials would protest less and less the more he trained with the loud blasters. It took him a couple solar cycles to figure out how to use the training drones, but eventually he had programmed one to its lowest setting and was even able to program it for either hand to hand combat or sword combat. The sword combat was quickly becoming his favorite aspect of his training, and he was getting more and more excited about the prospect of asking Megatron to spar with him and teach him some tricks. He wouldn’t do it right away, he would make sure he was established on the Nemesis first. Gave everybot time to get used to his presence and get used to being there himself before he even attempted the notion. 

While his solar cycles were spent training, Shockwave spent his solar cycles in his lab. He had already watched every episode of the show and even some of the extra videos and had compiled two separate data files, one for the High Command, and one for Megatron only, in addition to audio and video files from the cortical psychic patch. Having that done, he spent the rest of his time continuing his work on his Predacon research. He didn’t need to keep any of that from Stardust, as he knew the new build already had knowledge of the project, and even with what he knew about the future of the Predacons he continued with the work anyway. It is possible he could alter the project, maybe remove the Predacon’s t-cog so that he wouldn’t transform, but as soon as he had brought the subject up to Stardust, the mech’s EM field had soured and the debilitating rage pumping through his EM field had given Shockwave pause. While Stardust had kept quiet and not spoken out against Shockwave, the scientist could tell that he was immensely displeased with the idea, downright outraged and infuriated about the concept, and he had a suspicion it had to do with one of the other universes on his tablet where Megatron had been cogless and named D-16 before he became Megatron. He decided against it, at least for the time being, until he could speak with Megatron on the matter and let their leader decide on the best course of action. 

They spent nearly a deca-cycle doing their own things, and only occasionally Stardust would come to Shockwave with a question about his frame or processor. Eventually he had even asked Shockwave how to control his EM field, and while the scientist had explained it the best he could, the only way for Stardust to succeed was to practice and just feel his EM field. He added EM field training to his list of things to do and integrated it into his daily routine. He would spend the first couple joors after recharge sitting on his berth and playing around with his EM field, then he would get up and head to the training room where he would start his usual training regime. 

It was after the first deca-cycle that Stardust finally received a ping on his hud indicating a long-range transmission. He was in the training room doing hand to hand combat with the training drone, and he was distracted enough trying to read the message ping that the drone had landed a good hit on him, sending him sprawled across the floor with a curse.

“Frag!” Stardust sent a quick ping to the drone to shut it down, and he didn’t realize he had accidentally opened the transmission when he got hit until a rather angry voice replied,

“I beg your pardon?!” Stardust shot up to a standing position, nearly at attention, or as close to it as he could be considering he had zero military training.

“Commander Starscream! My apologies, I was caught off guard by the transmission ping while in the middle of training and must have accidentally accepted the transmission as soon as the training drone landed a hit! Again, I apologize, it will not happen again!” 

“See that it does not, as I have no use for soldiers who are so easily distracted.” Stardust felt both sets of finials lay flat against his helm and his shoulders scrunched up as much as they could with the armor there.

“Of course, Lord Megatron.” Stardust quickly sent a message ping to Shockwave stating that Megatron had contacted him, and he headed out of the training room as soon as Shockwave sent him a reply saying to meet him in the communication room. 

“It seems your knowledge of future events has proven to be correct. While we did locate the Polarity Gauntlet, events had unfolded just as you said they would.” 

“That’s a shame, the Polarity Gauntlet would have come in handy.” Stardust had already entered the elevator by now, and was just waiting for it to stop at the correct floor.

“On the contrary. While we may have lost the Gauntlet, we now know that your knowledge is more than just mere predictions as the events in the mine also played out as you said they would.” Stardust could have sworn he heard grumbling on the other end of the transmission that sounded a little like Starscream, and he had to refrain from chuckling at how it sounded like the seeker was pouting. 

“I hope this means you trust me now, at least a little?” Stardust exited the elevator and entered the communications room, Shockwave already standing by the long-range console. Stardust gave him a smile and received a nod in return before the scientist pressed a button on the console and the transmission transferred from his personal comms to the console.

“Even though these events have played out as you said, I still require proof that you are loyal to the Decepticon cause. These events did nothing to aid our endeavors, and while I find myself curious as to how you know of future events, I require more from you before I actually bring you aboard my ship.” Stardust still had a smile on his face, and was about to answer when Shockwave beat him to it.

“Perhaps I can help with that, Lord Megatron.” There was silence over the transmission for a good klik or two.

“Shockwave, what an unexpected surprise. I was under the impression you had perished on Cybertron.” 

“I am very much functional, my Lord, and I can confirm that Stardust is loyal to the Decepticons and to you. He has shared the tablet’s contents with me, and even agreed to a cortical psychic patch where I was able to ascertain what he knows, how, and where he is from, as well as what he is. It seems that Stardust is a new build constructed by Primus himself less than one orbital cycle ago.”

“Wait, he shared the tablet’s contents with you?! Why?! He said the tablet’s contents were for Lord Megatron only!” Stardust’s audials twitched and laid against his helm, something Shockwave noticed again, and felt himself huffing out a vent at the screeching sound of Starscream’s voice.

“No offense, Commander, but I trust Shockwave more than I trust you, and I believe recent events are proof enough as to why.” There was a growl over the comm from Starscream, but he didn’t argue anymore than that, especially given Megatron’s tone of voice that followed.

“Indeed. Do continue Shockwave.” 

“I have compiled data files containing the tablet’s contents. While both Stardust and myself would prefer to be aboard the Nemesis while these files are reviewed, I can send them to you now that the citadel has power.”

“Hmm, and how is it that my citadel has power? Cybertron has been dead for eons.”

“Indeed, Lord Megatron, however, Stardust was the one who powered up the consoles as when Primus created his frame he left behind a fraction of his power inside him. Essentially, Stardust’s frame is a power source equivalent to Primus himself.” There was silence again, and Stardust looked over at Shockwave in trepidation and anxiety, his finials completely flat against his helm and his wings dropping to lay against his back. Even while working on controlling his EM field, Stardust was still struggling with heavy emotions, so Shockwave could feel Stardust’s uncertainty. He put a servo on one of the new build’s shoulders as they waited for a response from their leader, which they didn’t have to wait long.

“I am sure these data files you have compiled will give an explanation, Shockwave?” 

“They will. I have added the visual and audio files from the cortical psychic patch, which will show Stardust’s exchange with Primus before his conscience was put into his current frame. I must warn you, my Lord, Stardust was human before he was Cybertronian, however, he is still loyal to the Decepticons and despises the Autobots and the human race.” It almost sounded like Shockwave was… defending Stardust, and it made the mech stare at the scientist in admiration who just continued to watch the screen above the console. He didn’t know what to do with this information as Shockwave is the last mech he expected to defend him, but it made him want to hug him. He refrained, of course, not just because he wasn’t sure how Shockwave would react, but also because Megatron was speaking again.

“That is surprising, considering humans tend to attach themself to the Autobots like parasites.” Stardust couldn’t stop himself from snorting out a laugh, gaining a side look from Shockwave, and before Megatron could say anything Stardust was already apologizing.

“My apologies, Lord Megatron. You don’t know how true that statement is, and I must admit I find it rather disgusting how humans are drawn to the Autobots. If only their pets knew who the Autobots were and who the original Primes were that the Autobots follow. Most, if not all Autobots were members of the higher caste, so they didn’t experience even a fraction of the mistreatment that the lower caste did. The humans may not idolize the Autobots as much if they knew the other side of the story.” Megatron hummed and paused again, however, instead of responding to Stardust, he spoke to Shockwave.

“I expect you to send those data files immediately, Shockwave, for I wish to learn more about Stardust as soon as possible. Now that I know you are alive, we will be accelerating the construction of the space bridge. You have been stranded on our dead planet for far too long, old friend, and it is time you returned to my ranks.”

“Of course, my Lord. I will send the files as soon as the transmission ends.” Megatron ended the transmission without another word, and while Stardust knew he was still ‘in the doghouse’, so to speak, and knew that any hospitality he was shown was because of Shockwave's presence, he knew not to take it personally. He actually felt he was being treated far better than he could have been, considering. Shockwave started to type on the console, readying the files and sending them off to the Nemesis. When he was done, he turned to Stardust and observed the mech. His finials were still flat against his helm, and while his wings weren't lying against his back anymore, they weren’t in an upright position either. 

“If you continue to remain loyal to the Decepticons,” Stardust turned to Shockwave, his finials twitching forward before resuming their position, “then it is illogical to worry. You have already convinced me of your allegiance as well as provided proof of your origins and knowledge and these files will also convince Lord Megatron.” Stardust smiled, his finials relaxing into their upright position. 

“Thank you, Shockwave, for defending me.” Shockwave merely nodded and headed toward the elevator, Stardust following him. 

“It seems you have improved your control over your EM field, however, you slipped. It is illogical to expect you to have complete control given how young your frame is, but if you continue to work on it, you should have a better handle on it before Lord Megatron sends for us. How is the rest of your training going?” They both entered the elevator, and Stardust felt himself get a little flustered and shy that Shockwave was expressing interest in his progress, but he was able to keep his EM field tight to himself just as he had practiced. 

“It is going well, however, Lord Megatron pinged me in the middle of a spar with one of the training drones and it distracted me enough that the drone knocked me to the ground, and that was on the lowest setting. So not only do I need to work on remaining focused, and not getting distracted so easily, but I also need to work on strengthening my form so I'm not so easy to knock down, even if I am caught off gaurd.” Shockwave hummed and changed the destination of the elevator. Instead of going down to his lab, the elevator was taking them to the floor where the High Command's training room was located. 

“The fact that you recognize where you need to improve and seem to have no issue with admitting when you are at fault and where you are the weakest is a strong quality to have. I will take a break from my work in the lab and will join you in the training room.” Stardust's optics widened and his wings twitched upward in interest. 

“Really?!” The door to the elevator opened and Shockwave gestured with his cannon. 

“Show me what you can do.”

Chapter Text

Control over his EM field was redundant at this point, as Stardust was certain Shockwave could hear how fast his spark was pulsing at the prospect of training with him. He couldn't tell if he was excited or nervous, or both. He knew he didn't stand a chance at beating the scientist, even though he wasn't a warrior he was still formidable on the battlefield.  

The High Command training room was similar to the lower level training room in content, however it was larger and the obstacle course looked much more complex. Stardust felt an urge to run their course as it was most likely the one Megatron would run, which means it was far more difficult and Stardust had always preferred to challenge himself. For now, the challenge standing before him would have to do, and he was certain it would be quite the challenge as he watched Shockwave power up his cannon and take up a defensive position at the edge of one of the training circles. 

“Do not hold back, and do not worry about damage to the facilities.” Stardust didn't even give Shockwave a nod, he only decided to charge the scientist, a grin on his faceplate. 

Stardust may not have any military training, and he may never have actually fought against someone, but he knew how to fight. At least, he knew the basics, and having been a fan of Transformers for 25 years before he was brought here, he knew how Cybertronians fought. He prided himself on knowing each bot very well, the Decepticons more than the Autobots if he was being honest, and Shockwave was no exception. 

Shockwave brought his cannon up to fire at Stardust, but he was able to dodge the shot, already anticipating both Shockwave's move and timing. When he got close enough, Shockwave went to swing his cannon at Stardust's head, and even though he expected this, he wasn’t ready for the speed with which he moved. Shockwave's cannon made contact with his helm and the force of it threw him farther than the training drone had.

“You are anticipating my moves.” Stardust stood up and felt the need to shake his helm but pushed that away to grin at Shockwave again. 

“I know how you fight, how all of you fight, but I didn't account for how fast you really are.”

“Do not rely on your predictions and what you think you know. If your opponent catches on that you are anticipating their moves, then you are no longer at an advantage, you are the one who becomes predictable and easily manipulated into defeat.” Stardust blinked his optics in surprise at this. 

“Huh, I never thought of it that way.”  

“Ignore whatever patterns you have learned from past battles, only observe their moves in the present.” Stardust did nod this time, and instead of charging again, he watched Shockwave as he straightened his posture and decided to draw his blades. Shockwave made no changes to his posture, only giving Stardust his own nod, to which he ran at him and started to swipe with the blades just as he had done with the training drone. Shockwave blocked or avoided every swing, and they continued to spar that way for only a handful of kliks before Shockwave landed another hit. Stardust didn't waste any time on the floor, springing back up and continuing to attack. 

They went at it for a couple of joors and Shockwave had managed to get Stardust on the ground another four times before his frame refused to stand back up.

“Damn it! Come on stupid arms….” Stardust growled as he pushed himself back up, his arms shaking, and his knees threatening to give out on him when he finally got onto his pedes.

“That is enough for today. You have overtaxed your frame with how much training you have been doing considering you are a new build.” Stardust growled again. 

“I have to be ready. I refuse to be useless to Lord Megatron! I have to be able to fight, if I can’t then he’ll just throw me away.” Stardust almost said ‘like everyone else has’, but he caught himself and tightened his EM field even more, not wanting to give Shockwave any indication of the real reason he was pushing himself so hard. He has been pushing himself hard, harder than he ever had as a human. Most days, Shockwave didn’t need him, and he had nothing else to do so he spent all solar cycle, and every solar cycle training. He was going through energon faster than he had been, something he has purposely neglected to tell Shockwave, and has felt the strain on his new body. He knew he was pushing himself too much, but like he told Shockwave, he refused to be useless and weak.

“You will rest for the next couple solar cycles. I prefer not to pull rank, as I am not Starscream, but if I have to make it an order, I will.” Stardust was suddenly slapped in the faceplate with the reminder that Shockwave was his superior, and it made him flinch, his finials flattening against his helm.

“Yes, sir.” Shockwave strode over to the new build and stopped in front of him.

“Can you walk?” Stardust nodded.

“Good, I need to go to my other lab, you will come with me.” Stardust’s optics widened and he felt his wings almost slam against his back at the shame that coursed through his veins.

“Um… I… haven’t been able to access either of my alt modes yet….” Shockwave’s helm tilted to the side as he regarded the mech in front of him. Even without feeling his EM field he could tell he was embarrassed.

“Very well, you will stay here, but you will rest until I return, understood?” Stardust shrunk in on himself a little and nodded again.

“Yes, sir.” Shockwave paused before he moved around Stardust and went to leave the citadel, leaving Stardust alone once more. He watched the scientist go, feeling both sheepish at getting too comfortable with him and also a little confused but… maybe flattered as well at how Shockwave has both defended and shown care for him. This wasn't like Shockwave at all, even this version of him, and while it has Stardust a little thrown off and maybe a little weary, he can't help but get a little familiar with him. He smiled and exited the training room to head to the galley instead. He was still a little shaky, but he was able to walk without losing his balance or wobbling too much. He was intending on getting some more energon to keep in his subspace as well as to refuel and maybe do some more reading.

He wasn't sure what to do with himself while Shockwave was gone since he wasn't allowed to train and there wasn't anything else to do. He didn't have patrols to perform or anything related to the citadel's function as he and Shockwave were the only two on the planet and the planet was essentially dead. When he got to the galley he dispensed a servo full of energon cubes, held onto two of them and put the rest into his subspace. There were tables in the galley, and he chose the closest one to sit at while he pulled up the files from Iacon and popped an energon cube into his intake. 

Megatron's poetry was the first thing he saw as it was the last thing he read, and while he had nearly eidetic memory now and had already memorized them, he found himself wanting to read it again. He was able to refrain this time, and decided that, while he can't train his body, he can train his mind, so he pulled up the history of Cybertron that he had downloaded and started to read that. It was actually a pretty lengthy file, and it took him a joor before he even got through a quarter of it. By the time he was nearing the end of it he had been sitting at that table for five joors and had already consumed his second cube of energon. 

With how long Cybertron has been in existence, he was expecting there to be more to its history, but when he reached the end of the file and the Autobots had been mentioned but the Decepticons had not, Stardust found himself infuriated. Were the Decepticons not part of Cybertron’s history? Were they not Cybertronian? Having read these files on his own processor as he didn’t have a datapad yet, Stardust’s servos were empty when he thumped one against the table in anger.

“Fragging Autobot council.” He growled and stood up with his next task in mind, to rummage through the other consoles in the command room that he hadn’t gotten to yet. He wanted to get into the consoles that were locked, cause there was most likely information there that would be very beneficial for him to know, but at the same time it could also be information for the High Command only. Even with being important to the Decepticon cause because of his knowledge and what he’s brought to the table, he still isn’t a member of High Command, and he respects those boundaries far better than somebot like Starscream would if he were in his position. 

~

The consoles didn’t really give him much to read through. They were mostly for military functions where troops would do their daily duties of ordering supplies, logging and reviewing reports, and the like. He was able to read through some of the reports, but they quickly got boring and repetitive so he moved on. He spent several joors going through each console that he had access to, trying to learn as much as he could, and seeing if he missed anything. When he was done, he didn’t feel ready to recharge yet, which he considered a plus considering his frame has gone longer than normal without telling him to recharge. 

He wasn’t allowed to train, he didn’t have anything else to read, he didn’t need to recharge or refuel, so he was just standing in the middle of the command room looking around him, seemingly lost. He huffed out a vent and dropped his frame to the floor to sit cross legged, or as cross legged as his armor would allow him, and pulled up a search of his processor. He searched up ‘alt mode’ but received nothing in return, so he changed the search to ‘transformation’ and received a couple sections back. ‘Weapons’ and ‘Vehicles’ came back so he chose vehicles and found both of his alt modes listed. His flyer mode was listed simply as ‘X-Wing’ and his ground mode was listed as ‘Bolide’. 

Now he was excited as he found the command for his alt modes and was finally about to transform for the first time. He chose the Bolide and typed in the command code when prompted since the lockdown protocol that Primus had installed was still active, but when his hud went back to his regular visual feed and nothing happened he huffed again. Going back through the same steps of searching his processor, selecting the Bolide and putting in the code, he got the same result. Nothing.

“What is going on?” Did he not have a t-cog? He had alt modes, very evident by the transformation commands he had pulled up on his hud once again, but he couldn’t get the command for the Bolide to activate. He tried the X-Wing, but got the same results, so instead he went to his weapon’s folder and tried those. It listed off two arm blasters, one in each arm, and four additional blasters, two attached to his main set of wings, and two attached to his secondary set of wings since X-Wings have two sets of them. The transformation sequence for his weapons was not responding either, which had Stardust very much perplexed. He would have to have Shockwave do another scan of his frame to see if he had a t-cog or if there was any damage to his transformation sequence or seams that wouldn’t allow him to transform. 

Stardust growled, highly annoyed and actually a little pissed off since he had finally found the commands for his alt modes but they weren’t responding. He went about saving the commands so that they were easier to access, same as his weapons, for when they figured out why his body wasn’t cooperating, and stormed out of the command room. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind, he just took the elevator to the top floor and eventually found himself standing in front of Megatron’s throne again. He ex vented a sigh and turned to approach the ledge where he sat down with his pedes hanging off the edge and looked out over Kaon. The city had originally been an industrial sector, so there wasn’t much to look at, especially as the citadel complex was so large that the actual city of Kaon was difficult to make out. 

That was where he spent another few joors, watching the horizon and searching through his processor to see what else he could find as well as familiarizing himself with how it works, the different functions he could use, and shortcuts he could create to get to certain functions quicker. After those few joors, his frame was finally ready to recharge as his processor had gathered quite a bit of data that it needed to sort, so he headed back down to his berthroom, ensuring his comm was still connected to his stir protocol, and laid down to recharge.

~

The next two solar cycles were the most boring days Stardust has ever experienced in his life, either as a Cybertornian or as a human. He literally had nothing to do as he wasn’t allowed to train, he'd already gone through every unlocked console in the citadel, he’d already read and reread everything he’d downloaded on his processor, he’d found his transformation commands but he couldn’t practice with his alt modes cause the commands weren’t working - though that would probably count as training and Shockwave wouldn’t be happy if he disobeyed him, and he wanted to be good -, and he’d explored his processor probably a million times by now and had everything sufficiently memorized. 

It was at the end of the second solar cycle that Shockwave finally returned, but he was pulling some kind of cart behind him. Stardust had been sitting at the top of the citadel again where Megatron’s throne was and was looking out over the horizon when he saw the scientist rolling over the bridge in his tank mode. The cart behind him looked like one of the energon carts he remembers from the show, only it was much larger and it looked like it had a tank of some kind in it. 

Stardust ran for the elevator with a grin on his face, excited at the fact that Shockwave had returned, and met him at the bottom of the citadel.

“Shockwave, sir! Welcome back!” Shockwave transformed as he approached the entrance and Stardust was mesmerized by the sight and sound of it. 

“Stardust.” He smiled and had to refrain from hugging the scientist, an urge that actually caught him off guard. He usually wasn’t one for physical affection, at least not anymore. As a child, he had been very affectionate with those he cared about, but after being abandoned by everyone he knew, he had kept to himself and didn’t dare touch anyone. Now, he was feeling a strong urge to wrap his arms around Shockwave and bury his helm in his neck cables and nuzzle against him. He shook his helm a little to dispel the urge and instead approached the cart Shockwave had brought back with him, his optics widening at what he saw inside the tank.

“Predaking.” Shockwave nodded and put his servo on the glass.

“I thought it beneficial to bring him to my lab here at the citadel, as this is where I will be spending all of my time until Lord Megatron sends for us. We must get him up to my lab as he has been off support for too long.” Stardust nodded and helped Shockwave pull the cart into the citadel, onto the elevator, and then into the lab. He helped with setting the tank up next to the others, and watched Shockwave connect all the necessary hoses and cabling before the Cybernucleic Acid started to aerate and move around the tank as if being filtered. When Shockwave was finished, Stardust felt it was safe to ask him a question.

“Hey, Shockwave, I was wondering if you would be willing to do another scan of my frame?” Shockwave turned to him with his helm tilted but gestured to the berth.

“What am I looking for? Has your frame malfunctioned while I was gone?”

“I’m not sure. I was able to find the transformation commands for my alt modes, but when I activated them, nothing happened. I wanted to check if I even have a t-cog. As I have alt modes and the commands for those alt modes, I’m pretty sure I have a t-cog, but I don’t know what else could be causing the commands not to work.” Shockwave hummed and retrieved his scanner before doing a full body scan and taking a klik to read the results.

“You do have a t-cog, and it does not appear to be damaged. I do not see any corrosion or damage in your transformation seams, either. There does not appear to be any physical reason as to why your frame cannot transform.” Stardust furrowed his optic ridges with a frown.

“Physical? So… it's in my head? Could it be the lockdown protocol that Primus installed on my processor?” Shockwave stared at him for a klik with his helm tilted.

“Lockdown protocol?” Stardust nodded and realized this is the first time he was mentioning it to Shockwave.

“Yes, Primus put a lockdown protocol on my processor so that I wouldn’t accidentally activate too many commands at the same time, especially with having two alt modes. When I find a command in my processor, I have to enter an activation code to be able to use that command, but even with the activation code, my transformation sequences won’t activate, even for my weapons.” 

“In your unique case, a lockdown protocol on your processor commands is logical, however it does not explain why you cannot transform after you enter the activation code. I am not a doctor, but I will do some research on transformation blockages.” Stardust nodded, a little sad that Shockwave wasn’t able to find the reasoning behind his… dysfunction, and watched the scientist as he moved over to his console and began typing. It was a few kliks of silence aside from the clicking of Shockwave’s claws on the console before he turned back to Stardust to see him staring at him.

“Do you require more assistance?” Stardust jolted, not realizing he was no longer required to stay in the lab and he hopped down off the berth, his finials and wings twitching back a little.

“No, sorry, I’ll… leave you to your work.” Shockwave watched Stardust leave and turned back to the console, not thinking anything of the other’s behavior.

“What the frag was that?!” Stardust growled at himself as he walked down the halls, not really heading anywhere but just walking. He didn’t even realize he had spaced out while staring at Shockwave until he had said something, and now he felt embarrassed to the point that he was actually blushing! He didn’t know what was going on with him at the moment, but he knew it started when he came out of recharge earlier that solar cycle. He felt a little off, but he didn’t know how to explain it, almost like his frame was… different? His body felt like it had been reformatted again, but when he had found a mirror in the wash racks his frame hadn’t changed, at least not on the outside. He also felt his frame shivering a couple times that solar cycle and then there was that urge to basically cuddle with Shockwave when he returned. It was like seeing him and having him back at the citadel made him… clingy. He wanted to stay with Shockwave in the lab, he felt the urge to drape his entire body over Shockwave’s,and he felt a desire he hadn't had since he was a child. He wanted to be held, and he wanted attention, and he didn’t realize that was what it was until he had laid optics on Shockwave again. All of this came out of nowhere, and he wasn’t sure what it meant. He was worried he may be coming down with a virus or something, but Shockwave literally just scanned him and said he didn’t find anything. Maybe he just needed to go recharge again? Yeah, that’s what he’ll do, he will go to his berthroom and force a recharge, that should fix all of this.

Chapter Text

Recharging didn’t fix a damn thing, if anything, it made it worse! He came out of recharge with a shaking frame, a foggy processor, and a deep desire for something that he couldn’t quite place. Now he knows something’s wrong, and he needs to get to Shockwave to see if he could help him somehow. Stardust threw his legs off the berth and the rest of his body followed. He felt unsteady on his pedes, but he could still walk so he made his way to the elevator and up to the lab. 

The lab doors opened for him and he immediately leaned against the frame with his helm hanging against his chassis, not even thinking about if the door might close on him.

“Shockwave… something’s wrong.” He heard movement, the sound making his audial fins twitch which made him realize they were laid flat against his helm. 

“Is it your transformation sequence?” He shook his helm and finally looked up at Shockwave when his pedes came into view. The moment he locked optics with the scientist, the desire he was feeling suddenly turned into the same one he had on the bridge outside the citadel. He reached for Shockwave before stopping himself and failed at holding back a whimper. He desperately wanted to nuzzle against the one-opticed Decepticon and had a weird impulse to start purring . Shockwave tilted his helm and observed Stardust, contemplating before he reached forward to wrap his arm around his back and led him to one of the berths. It took an immense amount of self control for Stardust not to nuzzle against his superior as he was helped up onto the berth. 

“Another scan is in order, and I may have to initiate a processor scan as well.” Stardust only nodded, not actually hearing Shockwave's words, and nearly whined like a five year old human child when the scientist pulled away to grab his scanner. 

“What do you feel?” Shockwave started scanning his frame, being more thorough this time.

“Shakey, twitchy, my processor feels… kinda foggy, and I feel… umm….” He felt his faceplates heat up and knew he was blushing, and Shockwave of course noticed this.

“It is illogical to be embarrassed.” That doesn't mean he's not going to be embarrassed!

“I feel… clingy.” 

“Clingy?” Stardust slowly nodded. 

“Yeah… I feel this… desire to just… cuddle. I felt it earlier when I greeted you on the bridge outside the citadel. As soon as I saw you, I wanted to hug you and… nuzzle my helm against you. Now though, it's a lot stronger.” Shockwave's helm tilted, and though it caused his blush to worsen as he was basically being stared at now, Stardust knew he had to be completely honest. 

Shockwave was completely silent as he looked over the scanner's results and Stardust's shaking frame. He hummed, put the scanner down, arranged Stardust’s right arm to lay over his lap and started searching his armor for something. He obviously didn't find it cause he reached up and tipped the shaking mech’s helm back, the action making Stardust gasp and shudder. He couldn't see what Shockwave was doing, but he wanted to be a good bot so he followed the command when he said ‘stay’ and walked away. When he came back, he held the new build’s helm still as he searched his neck cables with his optic, then released him. Half a nanoklik later, Stardust felt something push into his neck and click. He realized it was a cable plugging into a port on his neck, and the sensation of a connection with the lab console made him squeak as his wings twitched. 

“That is one of your medical ports.” Shockwave stepped away and approached the console he was now plugged into. 

“It will allow me to see your processor's activity as well as your hud and visual feed.” Just as he said, Stardust's visual feed and hud appeared on one side of the screen, which was trippy to say the least. The other side displayed what looked like a list of code, and while Primus gave him the ability to read and understand Cybertronian glyphs, he had no clue how to read that. Again, Shockwave was silent as he read, and while he wasn't a doctor and didn’t have a medichip, he was still a scientist so reading it was easy for him. 

“Your heat protocols are active, but they appear to be… distorted.” Stardust blinked a few times before the word ‘heat’ registered in his head and he felt his faceplates blaze blue and he practically squealed,

“My what?!” He had asked Primus for an active and fertile gestation tank, he should have known this was going to happen! He knew how Cybertronian reproduction worked, he knew how heats worked, yet he completely blanked on the fact that he would be having heats of his own considering he was a viable carrier. 

Wait… distorted?

“W-what do you mean distorted?” 

“You are in heat, and exhibiting all of the symptoms except for higher temperature, attractant pheromones, and a charge.” Stardust blinked again and went through a mental checklist of what he knew about heats. Excessive charge, high frame temperature, shaking, disorientation, attractant pheromones, a need for companionship -often times mistaken for or accompanied by a need to be ‘bred’- and he would slap himself in the back of the helm if he could. Shockwave approached the berth again and removed the cable from his neck port. 

“There is no indication in your coding as to why you are experiencing a broken heat, or a heat at all given that new builds go at least five stellar cycles before their first heat, and even longer for sparklings. Where are you recharging?” 

“In the troop quarters on the lower levels.” Shockwave stored the cable in a subspace pocket on the console and picked up the scanner once more. 

“From now on you will recharge either here in the lab or in the officers’ quarters. I am also extending your rest till this passes. Without being able to access your transformation sequence, your panels would have to be opened manually, however, your body is not building charge so overload may not be necessary.” His frame temperature may not be rising from the ‘broken heat’ as Shockwave called it, but it's certainly rising from how hard he's blushing and how embarrassed he is. One of the Decepticons was discussing overloading as if he were talking about the fragging weather. The fact that it's Shockwave is both making sense at how casual he is about it, and making Stardust even more flustered cause it's Shockwave. 

Stardust would happily bend over and present for any Decepticon, except for Airachnid, and especially the members of High Command, so talking about this with somebot he finds unfairly attractive is making his frame shake harder and his processor drop even more. Just the feeling of ‘dropping’ has him 100% sure he'll actually achieve going into sub-space with this new body around those he feels safe with. 

Given the nature of the Decepticons, one really shouldn't feel safe around them, but Stardust always felt secure and almost untouchable wearing the Decepticon shields. Being around Shockwave, he's never felt safer, and he has a feeling it's going to be the same with the others, though he isn't certain why he feels like that. He was never able to go into sub-space as a human, no matter how bad he wanted to know what it was like and if it was as amazing as everyone said. The risks though, and always feeling a sense of ‘danger’ with every one-night stand he had wouldn't allow him. 

“The officers’ quarters are for High Command only, and I'm not High Command, I'm barely even a recruit as I haven't taken the oath yet.” 

“You will remain close to the lab in case of an emergency. As we are the only two on the planet, and the war is currently in a different sector of the galaxy, your rank is of no import to where you rest. If you refuse to recharge in the officers’ quarters, you will recharge here. I will warn you, the lab berths are for dissection and operation so they are not as comfortable as a recharge berth.” Stardust pouted, his bottom derma poking out a little, something Shockwave decided he needed to ignore and avoid looking at. This mech was fragging his senses and turning his logic circuits inside out, even before his frame decided to go into heat, and it was making him uncharacteristically frustrated. Shockwave dismissed Stardust with an order to go refuel then rest, and the mech shakily walked out of the lab and headed for the galley. 

~

Four fragging solar cycles Stardust has had to deal with this broken heat. He would prefer a regular heat at this point, cause then Shockwave would have a reason to show him how to manually open his panels so he could self service and get something out of this… torture. His frame continued to shake, getting worse every solar cycle to the point that his shaking was constant and all the way to the tips of his wings. His audial fins were sore from being laid flat against his helm almost constantly along with the twitching they were doing at any sound that reached them. He was going through fuel faster and having to consume energon more often, his processor still hadn’t come up from his minor drop in the lab so he always felt like he was floating inside his own body, as if he was swimming in clothing too large for him. The only way he could get himself to recharge, even with activating the ‘forced recharge’ protocol was to wrap his frame up in one of the mesh blankets that adorned the High Command quarters, then to also wrap his arms as tight around himself as he could to simulate being held. 

Eventually he got to the point he couldn’t fall into recharge at all, so he pulled his body off the soft berth, wings down flat against his back, mesh blanket wrapped around his shoulder pauldrons, and drudged to the lab, practically dragging his pedes. When he finally reached the lab doors, they opened for him and he moved to one of the berths. As soon as the door opened, Shockwave had his optic on Stardust, watching him but not saying anything. The new build didn’t look at him, didn’t even seem to be aware of what was in front of him despite not running into anything or fumbling as he climbed up onto the berth. His blanket slipped a little and one set of wings peaked out from under it, showing Shockwave just how much his frame was shaking. 

This is the first time Shockwave has seen him since he had sent him on his way four solar cycles ago, and it was obvious he was worse now. There weren't any pheromones coming off his frame, and when he approached the berth he didn’t feel any heat either, his conclusion was that Stardust’s heat was still broken. He thought back on their conversation earlier, remembering how Stardust had said he felt the desire to cuddle, and while Shockwave didn’t… cuddle, he felt an unusual pull in his spark to do something . He used his servo and ran the tips of his claws over the edge of a wing, a sharp and shuddering intake followed. Stardust turned over slightly to look at Shockwave, and his optics had only cleared just enough for him to recognize the mech.

“Sh-Shockwave…” The scientist pulled the mesh blanket from most of Stardust’s frame, gaining a whine from the bot which was ignored.

“Sit up, facing me.” Stardust obeyed without question, pouting a little at his mesh blanket being removed from his shoulders, but it was still draped over his lap so he didn’t protest. He watched Shockwave, his dull optics staring into Shockwave’s glowing one. He didn’t know what to expect, but Shockwave reaching his servo up to the side of Stardust’s helm and running his fingers over his sore audials was definitely not it. He shuddered at the feeling and groaned, his audial fins twitched forward and Shockwave took the opportunity to thread his fingers around and in between the two fins before they laid against his helm again, like threading fingers through hair. The sensation pulled a full moan from Stardust, then a sigh from his vents as Shockwave actually caressed the sensitive fins, almost coaxing them into relaxing. 

“Shockwave?” Stardust could barely see the scientist with how close his optic lids were to closing, he was basically narrowing them at him.

“Silence. Just, feel.” Stardust would have nodded, but that would have dislodged Shockwave’s fingers from his fins and he didn’t want that, so he relaxed his frame as much as the shaking would allow and did as ordered. He felt Shockwave’s fingers move up and down his audial fins, enjoying both the pleasure and the calming feeling he got from it. Shockwave continued this for a klik before moving his fingers over the audial base, down over his neck cables, and over his shoulder to his wing. He had to move closer to reach, so he used his cannon arm to knock against Stardust’s inner thighs until he widened his legs and Shockwave could move between them. The proximity was enough to pull Stardust’s processor from the depths and he whined while reaching out to the closest thing he had to a friend. He leaned forward while grasping onto Shockwave’s frame and gave into his desire to nuzzle the scientist, tucking his helm into his neck cables. 

Shockwave allowed it as he started to run his servo over the set of wings he could reach and any wiring or cabling within his joints. Eventually the wandering of his servo turned into mere petting over plating and sensors. He continued until the shaking in Stardust’s frame calmed down and was reduced to occasional shivers. The new build was actually doing something that was making Shockwave feel something he hadn’t felt in eons, amusement, and it was at the fact that the triple changer was purring . 

“Stardust?” The mech in question barely gave a hum in response, burrowing into Shockwave’s neck cables even more.

“You have stopped shaking. What are you feeling now?” He had to think hard on that question, taking full stock of his frame and the fact that his processor actually felt clearer.

“Less miserable.” Shockwave hummed and slowed his petting until he stopped completely and pulled away from the other mech, receiving a whine in return. The scientist pulled Stardust’s mesh blanket from his lab and draped it over one of his shoulders, an indication that he was done receiving affection, cemented by the purple mech turning and walking back over to his work station. While Stardust pouted at not getting pets anymore, he also felt insanely better to the point that when he laid back down on the berth, facing Shockwave this time, he slipped into recharge almost immediately. 

~

Shockwave had to have done more than just give Stardust’s frame some physical affection, because when he came out of recharge a few joors later, all of his symptoms were completely gone and he was left with a pounding processor ache. 

“Holy slag….” He slowly sat up and threw the mesh blanket off of his frame, the feeling of it on his plating actually getting on his nerves at the moment.

“How are you feeling?” Shockwave approached him, the same cable from a few solar cycles ago held in his servo.

“Other than my helm hurting like slag, I actually feel fine.” As soon as Shockwave got close enough and Stardust realized what he was holding, he instinctively tilted his helm to the side and back to allow his substitute doctor to plug the cable into the medical port in his neck. Shockwave felt the need to say ‘good bot’ but refrained as that was entirely out of character for him, and found himself, not for the first time, wondering why this mech was making his processor throw logic out the fragging window. He moved back over the console to observe the readings from the cable’s connection as a distraction, humming at what he was seeing.

“Your heat protocols have deactivated, though they remained distorted throughout the duration of their activation and seem to have been forced offline before they naturally ran their course.” Stardust raised an optic ridge in confusion.

“What does that mean?” 

“As I am not a medical doctor, I can only hypothesize that giving your frame the attention it craved may have warded off the broken heat for now. However, without allowing it to progress and conclude naturally, or sating the heat properly and as intended, there is no way of knowing when it will come back.” Stardust thinks he has at least an idea of what Shockwave is alluding to.

“So, what you’re saying is that, because it was broken, and because it wasn’t sated like a normal heat, it could come back sooner than normal?” Shockwave nodded.

“Essentially, yes. As this heat occurred stellar cycles before what is normal to begin with, it is also likely your heat cycles will be closer together, and not giving your frame what it needs during a normal heat could make your next one arrive sooner, and possibly be worse than your first.” Stardust did not like the sound of that. Not only could he have less time in between heats, but his next one may be worse than this one, simply because this one was broken and he didn’t get fragged during it! What the frag!

“Will the next one be broken too?”

“There is no way of knowing until it happens. We will have to be vigilant with observation of your frame. One more solar cycle of rest, then you can go back to training tomorrow, however, we will be performing a processor scan twice a deca-cycle.” Stardust knew he couldn't argue with his superior, so he didn’t even try, instead only nodding his helm and remaining on the berth while Shockwave went back to work. The remainder of the solar cycle was spent with Stardust rereading Megatron’s poetry and the Autobot’s version of Cybertron’s history, to which he got equally angry about and brought it up to Shockwave who in turn gave him a datapad with the Decepticon’s version of history and many other works that Stardust should read before meeting Megatron. Stardust took to his homework well and reclined on the berth to study and learn, glad he could fully function again and very much ready to get back to training.

Chapter Text

Primus hated him, and if Stardust ever got to see the fragger again, he was going to throttle him! God and their creator or not, the mech would pay for doing whatever he did to him! Two full orbital cycles went by and Stardust had to endure two more broken heats . The only good thing about the last two, is that they discovered physical affection and cuddling made Stardust slightly less miserable. Not only did he have to deal with a broken heat every fragging orbital cycle , but he still couldn’t transform, and he was so fragging done with whatever Primus did to him. He should have known that being given a Cybertronian body was too good to be true, cause while he didn’t have to deal with the inconvenience or absolutely disgusting existence of being organic, he didn’t get to use his weapons, transform into his vehicle mods, or even send a command to pop his panels so he could jack off! Like… who fragging does that to somebot?!

By now, his training had all but evened out in terms of learning how to fight, how to handle a blaster, how to wield twin swords, and how to run the obstacle course without falling on his face. Now his training just consisted of honing those skills, sharpening his senses, quickening his reflexes, and learning tactics and strategies. Shockwave would train with him twice a deca-cycle, right after they did Stardust’s processor scans and everything would come back clear, but most of his training was done with the drones or on the High Command obstacle course. His favorite weapons were still his twin swords, but his favorite exercise was doing blaster training while running the course. The targets on the shooting range were within view of nearly the entire course, and it allowed Stardust to not only work on his long range shooting, but also on his aim while running, jumping over or ducking under objects, or avoiding being hit by the moving mechanisms of the course. 

They had been contacted by the Nemesis on numerous occasions, but each communication came with a message that boiled down to ‘the space bridge isn’t done yet’. They are forced to be stealthy for every run they make for parts so as not to raise suspicion and have a run in with the Autobots, same as in the show. When they spoke with Megatron the first time after the files had been sent, they found out they had arrived corrupted. Given their limited supply of power and the fact that Stardust was technically their only power source, it is highly probable that the files were damaged during transit. Megatron informed them that the audio and video files from the cortical psychic patch arrived intact, part of the first file was intact, but the private file for Megatron’s optics only had been beyond recovery. 

The beginning of the first file allowed them to view most of the episode ‘Partners’, the full episode ‘T.M.I.’, the full episode ‘Stronger, Faster’, but only half of ‘One Shall Fall’. The only parts of ‘Partners’ that had been left out had been Starscream’s capture at the hands of the Autobots and his following betrayal. While Megatron had asked about Starscream’s role during the rest of the episode, Shockwave was able to convince the warlord to continue the call in private. After he had dismissed everybot from the bridge, including a complaining Starscream, Shockwave and Stardust were able to fill their Master in on the rest of the episode as well as why there had been a separate file for Megatron’s optics only.

They had been lucky that the events of ‘Partners’ hadn’t happened yet, and Megatron was able to alter events to the point that both sections of the Harbinger had been located, the Immobilizer extracted without powering up any consoles, so the Autobots weren’t even informed of their actions. Due to this, Airachnid never left Starscream to the Autobots, and he still remains with the Decepticons, albeit under closer surveillance.

That communication had been an interesting conversation, to say the least. Megatron had been far more cordial with Stardust, receptive of his input, and even seemed excited to bring him on board. Or at least, as excited as Primeverse Megatron can get. Stardust considers himself somewhat of an expert on Transformers, as he’s been a fan of the franchise for 25 years. He felt he knew the Decepticons better than the Autobots since that was the faction he had aligned himself with, and he felt he knew the Primeverse characters better than any other continuity due to it being his favorite universe. 

Megatron was not an easy bot to learn, at least when it came to emotions other than anger or annoyance, as he very commonly expressed both - Starscream being the main cause, of course. However, Stardust prided himself on how closely he had watched Megatron and how he had learned the shifts in his demeanor, tone, or body language. Those subtle differences could have easily been the animators for the show, and could have ultimately meant nothing, so Stardust was hoping that all of those nuances would still be present so he could easily get a read on the warlord. 

As for their other conversations, Megatron had decided to take them in solitude so that Stardust and Shockwave could fill him in on as much as possible. In regards to the events with the spacebridge power supply and with Unicron, their Master was only partially skeptical about the fact that he wasn’t the one in the prophecy, or that he would go against Unicron. Especially given how close they were to the planetary alignment. Stardust recounted one of Megatron’s visions down to the exact pose he was in while standing over Optimus, and as Megatron had already had that vision, his doubts were quickly dispelled. 

Events had most definitely been altered, so not only did the Decepticons recover the Immobilizer, they also bagged a win retrieving the data cylinder with the formula on synthetic energon. Due to this, the entire episode ‘Stronger, Faster’ didn’t happen, which means that the Autobots didn’t commandeer their energon mine. 

The Autobots had become far more aggressive and desperate because of this due to running dangerously low on energon, so their efforts to finish the spacebridge were, again, delayed. Megatron was assured he didn’t require the spacebridge for the events involving Unicron and the alignment, so he allowed Airachnid to use her small size and tunneling abilities to sneak into the research lab containing their power source while he convinced the Autobots of what was to come. While Megatron was essentially negotiating with Optimus - and effectively keeping the Autobots busy and unaware of their activities - Starscream and the rest of his forces were able to complete the spacebridge. This meant that it was time for Stardust and Shockwave to make their appearance on the Nemesis . 

~

Stardust has never felt more nervous in his entire existence. He probably would have felt this way right before meeting Shockwave, but the scientist's sudden appearance didn't give him the chance. This situation was far more nerve wracking as he knew it was coming. It was made more real by the fact that he and Shockwave had prepared a few dozen energon storage cubes to take with them. With Stardust able to power every dead mechanism he has approached, they powered up the consoles and dispensers in the energon vault where the tanks for the galley were located. They bled the citadel dry of its remaining energon to aid their endeavors on Earth, something Stardust had suggested during their most recent conversation. 

The reason the citadel has energon in the tanks was because it was already in the system when they lost power, and without power the energon couldn't be removed without siphoning it, which is incredibly dangerous considering how volatile it can be. Megatron was pleased to know they could bring not only his head scientist and his new most important asset - his words not Stardust's, you can imagine the blush on Stardust’s faceplates at that - but also a decent amount of energon they had been forced to leave behind. 

Now they stood in the energon storage vault with a tower of cubes next to them, and Stardust was actually shaking.

“You are shaking. Are you going into heat again?” Stardust looked over at Shockwave, still unsure how he feels about being the same height as him, and shook his helm. 

“No, just nervous. I've already come to terms with everything that has happened to me, being turned into a different species, transported from my universe to a universe that only existed in fiction, meeting you, and everything in between. It's just… meeting the Megatron… I've admired and looked up to him for so long, and never imagined I would be meeting him in person. I don't want to let him down, and during times of war, no matter if you try your best, it's inevitable that you're going to fail a time or two.” These last two months, Shockwave has been far more inclined to physical affection thanks to Stardust’s broken heats, and now was no different as he put his servo on the other mech's shoulder. 

“The Decepticons already owe more wins to you and your knowledge than most of our troops. Thanks to you, we have procured the Immobilizer, halted a betrayal by our Second in Command, recovered the formula for synthetic energon, which I will be starting work on as soon as we arrive, as well as a smooth recovery of the spacebridge power source. With the knowledge on this datapad that you have supplied, it is likely we will continue to secure victories over the Autobots. Lord Megatron referred to you as his most important asset, and he does not give such praise so easily.” Stardust felt himself blush again, and a small smile took over his dermas. 

“I know. I've never received praise or flattery like that before.” 

“Evident by the blush on your face.” The amount of time he has spent with Shockwave, and how laxed the scientist has become with him, Stardust could hear the amusement in his otherwise monotone voice which made him pout at his superior and friend. 

“You try having the hottest mech in the universe give you praise like that when you've never gotten praise to begin with.” Stardust knew he fragged up when he felt Shockwave's field flare with smug amusement, and he was doing it on purpose, that fact making him blush even more and pout harder. 

“You think Lord Megatron is… hot?” His wings twitched and his finials slammed against his helm so fast his audials started to ring while simultaneously crossing his arms and bunching up his shoulders. 

“I don't want to talk about this.” If the original Primes hadn't performed empurata or Shadowplay on him, Stardust is certain Shockwave would be laughing at him with how much amusement was coming from his field. 

“I am assuming you do not want him to know?” Stardust's shoulders dropped a little, as did his pout, now replaced with embarrassment.

“Please?” 

“If I am asked, I cannot lie, but I will keep it to myself otherwise.” Stardust smiled, his blush far more mild now and his finials raised back up, though still drooping a little at the lingering embarrassment.

“You're amazing, you know that?” 

“That is a logical conclusion, yes.” That had Stardust actually laughing for the first time in a long time, nudging his shoulder with Shockwave's. The warm fuzzy feeling he was experiencing quickly disappeared and was replaced with the same anxiety and nervousness from earlier when a spacebridge portal opened up in front of them. 

“When we get to the other side, you should totally mess with Starscream the same way you did in the show. Make him shake in fear when you mention how he abandoned you here.” Shockwave's frame did a barely heard rumble, almost as if he were growling, the sound and his next words making the triple changer smirk.

“I plan to.” Stardust took a deep and unnecessary intake to center himself before he gave Shockwave a nod. Without another word, the scientist headed for the portal followed closely by the not-so-new new build, and they both stepped onto the Nemesis to be greeted by what looked like the entire Decepticon army. 

They came through the portal onto the bridge, and saw Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Knock Out, Breakdown, and Airachnid standing in front of them on the raised walkway. Around them, behind them, and below them stood a plethora of Vehicon troopers. Stardust's frame shuddered, either from the unusual feeling of the spacebridge or from having literally every optic in the room on him, he wasn't sure. 

“Shockwave, it is good to have you back amongst my officers. I am glad you did not perish on Cybertron.” Shockwave continued to approach his leader and SIC, but Stardust decided to hang back about halfway to watch the fun, even as Vehicons started moving behind him,  going in and out of the portal to bring back the energon cubes. 

“Reports of my demise were greatly premature.” Stardust had to hold back from smirking as it seemed Shockwave was going to go verbatim to what he said in the show.

“A pair of Autobots infiltrated my facility on Cybertron, sabotaging my spacebridge. I gave chase, but failed to accurately calculate the outcome. I awoke in the rubble, blinded. It soon became clear that I was marooned on our dead planet with no means of communication. In time, I repaired my wounds, and resumed my experiments. The solitude allowed me to make tremendous advances in my research. Until one day, my instruments picked up a transmission from the citadel in Kaon. I traveled to the citadel, intent on ascertaining the viability of this transmission and the promise of rescue. This was not the search party I had anticipated so long ago, leaving one unanswered question.” Shockwave had long reached Megatron, but the warlord moved out of the way to allow Shockwave to stalk up to Starscream, slowly, menacingly.

“Why was I left for scrap? Abandoned? Why?” Stardust felt a shiver go up his spinal strut at the tone of voice Shockwave had adopted, but kept his composure as he knew he would be speaking up soon and having everybot's attention on him again. He also had to hold back from smirking or chuckling at the absolute terror on Starscream’s face as well as his wings that were now pointing at the ground. 

“The explosion, it collapsed the power core chamber. The last thing anyone saw was you charging into the space bridge portal. No one saw you come back out!” Stardust couldn't hold back a small huff, one that he feels lucky nobot heard, at how high Starscream's voice got on the last word. 

“I find your reply to be… logical.” This was where Stardust felt he needed to intervene, but he waited until Starscream's frame relaxed and the jet let out a shaky vent before he took a couple steps forward. 

“Sir, if I may?” The whole room turned to him, and it took a herculean effort to force his wings not to twitch too hard. 

“You have something to add, Stardust?” 

“I do, my Lord, if you will allow it, that is.” Megatron nodded his helm with a small gesture of his servo for the triple changer to continue. 

“While Commander Starscream's reply is… logical in and of itself, there is still a factor to be had that may change Shockwave's conclusion.” Shockwave turned to him fully, and Stardust could see a glare on Starscream's faceplate that took form the moment he started to speak. 

“And that would be?” 

“Commander Starscream did not initiate a scan or search of the rubble and surrounding area of the facility. Had he been more thorough, especially considering the involvement of a member of High Command, then Shockwave would have been recovered almost immediately and would not have been separated from the war effort for so long.” There was silence on the bridge for all half a nanoklik before there was a screeching voice ringing through the room.

“How dare you accuse me of being inadequate, you… abomination! I am your commanding officer!” Stardust felt himself twitch, his finials laying back a little and his wings sagging slightly at the word ‘abomination’. Before anyone could react, Starscream screeched again, but this time it was due to having a cannon in his faceplate, one attached to a pissed off scientist. 

“Stardust's statement is accurate. Furthermore, he has been of far more value to the Decepticon cause then you have, as of late. I will not allow him to be treated with such disrespect, do I make myself clear.” 

Stardust was in shock. 

While the scientist has defended him before, he hasn't threatened anybot on his behalf. It seems this kind of behavior is as uncommon for Shockwave as Stardust believes it to be, as the rest of the bridge was dead quiet and all optics were on Shockwave and Starscream. 

“You can't be serious?! Master, are you just going to stand idly by while your 1st Lieutenant is threatened?!” Stardust didn't know what to focus on. He wanted to watch Megatron, as he could feel the amusement and curiosity coming from his field, but his optics were glued to Shockwave who still had nearly all of Starscream's helm engulfed in the opening of his charged up cannon. Stardust knew he had lost control of his EM field and even his facial expression as his mouth was hanging and his optics were wide open in shock. Luckily, the additional emotions he was feeling were amazement, confusion, wonder, affection, and endearment so he wasn't too embarrassed about others feeling his EM field. 

“Stardust, you are slipping again.” He flinched at that, being torn from his staring by the same mech he was staring at, whom of which hadn't taken his optic off of Starscream. 

“Sorry.” His voice was barely a mumble, his wings still drooping slightly, but he forced control over his EM field, realizing just how strong his emotions were coming off. Megatron looked from Stardust to Shockwave then to Starscream before he sighed out a vent, seeming almost forlorn at the prospect of losing his entertainment.

“Shockwave, desist.” Immediately Shockwave lowered and powered down his cannon, but his field still pulsed in restrained rage. Starscream slumped, his wings laying against his back before he stepped back and attempted to compose himself. 

“Let me remind you, Shockwave, that I am Commander Starscream, your superior. Threaten me again, and there will be consequences.” Stardust's servos clenched into fists, and he felt anger burn through his circuits before being replaced with smug satisfaction. 

“And let me, dear Starscream, clarify the new chain of command.” 

“M-Master?!” Starscream's voice was all but a squeak as he looked up at the warlord.

“While you remain my 1st Lieutenant in all military endeavors, Shockwave will be my 1st Lieutenant in scientific matters.” Starscream reacted much the same way he had in the show during season 3, his wings dropping down and his faceplate contorting in anxiety. 

“So, we will both report directly to you?” 

“Affirmative.” Stardust missed Starscream's reaction as Megatron was now approaching him. He straightened his posture and gave a bow of respect when Megatron stopped in front of him with his arms behind his back. 

“Lord Megatron. It is an honor to finally meet you.” Megatron didn't respond, instead he seemed to be looking over every inch of his frame, studying him, and Stardust would be lying if he said it didn't make him uneasy. He knew to keep quiet and allow his new Master to speak first. 

“You and your arrival here have made quite the buzz amongst the troops. They have many questions, as do I.” Stardust gave the warlord a smile, trying desperately to keep the blush off his face at how fragging gorgeous this mech is up close and how huge. Megatron raised an optic ridge at that but didn't comment.

“I am more than happy to answer any of those questions to the best of my abilities, my Liege. “ He hummed and gestured behind Stardust to the entrance to the bridge.

“Then by all means, allow us to get started.”

Chapter Text

"I apologize if I lose control over my EM field, especially now that I'm aboard the Nemesis . It's an absolutely gorgeous ship, my Lord, and I may fawn over it a bit!” They had been walking the halls of the Nemesis for a few kliks, likely headed toward where he was to brief High Command on literally everything about his life.

"It seems it is true that you are a new build, as your field gives off a sense of naivety and ignorance consistent with that of young age.” Stardust didn't take offense to what Megatron had said, as not only was it true, but it was actually very difficult to offend or piss him off, even when he was human. The easiest way to do so is to threaten someone he cares about -which is a very small pool-, like Starscream did on the bridge. Instead of answering Megatron himself, Shockwave had cut in from his position behind Stardust.

"I have been working with Stardust to strengthen his control over his EM field, as well as training him in servo-to-servo combat and weapons training. His control slips occasionally, but he has made considerable advancements these last two orbital cycles.” Stardust tried to keep his pride and bashfulness out of both his field and frame. He wasn't Starscream and refused to preen at the slightest of praise. 

“Yes, I'm sure Stardust is every bit the warrior you say he is. Though I fail to see how a human masquerading as a Cybertornian can be of any use on the battlefield.” Stardust understood the Commander's doubts, having his own about his current skill level. Though, he wasn't fond of the distaste the seeker clearly has for his existence. 

“I assure you, Commander, I have no delusions about my skills. While I have a grasp of the basic concepts of combat, I am by no means a warrior . If I went up against anybot at my current skill level, I am sure to lose. An inadequacy I fully intend to remedy.” Stardust looked over his shoulder at Starscream who was walking behind Megatron, offering the Commander the friendliest smile he could manage, to which the SIC sneered at. Stardust's attention was brought back to Megatron beside him, and he tried not to stare as the warlord had his servos behind his back while he walked, a posture the triple changer had always seen as attractive.

“You have integrity, a quality quite uncommon amongst my troops.” Stardust smiled, keeping his attention on Megatron, which he was grateful he did as the warlord turned right down another corridor and Stardust was able to keep pace with him without embarrassing himself by colliding with the former gladiator.

“The most important and attractive quality one can have is loyalty, and I am a firm believer that you cannot have loyalty without honesty.” Megatron hums.

“Well said, young one. I am certain you will be a fine addition to my ranks.” The Decepticon leader stopped at a door and activated the controls before gesturing for Stardust to enter.

“After you.” Stardust smiled and gave a slight bow before entering the room. He knew that Megatron was a gentlemech, but he also knew that this was not an act of chivalry but rather of tactic and caution. He still wasn't completely trusted yet, and he knew it would be like this for some time. He entered the room followed by the entirety of High Command and the medical staff. The room looked like a conference room with a large table, chairs, and a holo projector in the center of the table. This must be their current war room, though this one, unlike the one back at the citadel, was devoid of scorch marks. 

Everybot took their seats while Stardust stood near the head of the table by Megatron’s chair but off to the side, arms behind his back. 

“Let us get started. Shockwave, I assume you have the datapad with you?” 

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” The scientist pulled the pad from his subspace and started to tap at it. Whatever he did had it connected to the holo projector and it displayed the tablet's contents showing that Shockwave already had the show pulled up to the episode ‘One Shall Fall’. This was the episode that had gotten partially cut off, and all episodes following were corrupted. 

“This is the episode that was partially damaged, so we will begin here.” 

“These are the events involving the upcoming planetary alignment, correct?” Megatron had turned his helm to Stardust, expecting an answer from him instead of Shockwave.

“Yes, sir. At least, the start of it. I'm sure negotiations with the Autobots have happened differently than how they would have, as you are about to see. I would like to warn you, even though it doesn't make a difference,” Stardust’s faceplate screwed up a little, enough to be noticed, “Unicron is an aft.” Knock Out snickered, but the sound was ignored as Megatron gestured to Shockwave with his servo.

“Proceed.” Shockwave did so, pressing play and the episode begins with Optimus reciting the prophecy then moves into the Autobots conversing about said prophecy. Stardust kept to his self appointed post, watching the members of High Command. There isn't a fan alive that wouldn't be curious about a character's reaction to their own show, and Stardust was a little more than just curious. He needed to keep an optic out for their reactions to ascertain whether what he knew about their personalities and nuances were correct. He had an advantage over his new comrades, in such that he knows them better then they know him, and he is hoping to keep that advantage for as long as he can.

It was after Knock Out's line ‘Out there, Lord Megatron, just waiting for you to reach out and pluck it!’ and the resulting look on Megatron 's faceplate that was 100% done , that Stardust couldn't hide a smirk, though he was able to get it under control before anybot noticed. Megatron had the best facial expressions of the entire franchise, and Stardust's favorites where his 'bitch, please’, 'why is this my life?’, and 'I'm so fucking done’ expressions. 

The Autobot base was next, and Ratchet's laugh and following horrified look at the fact that he laughed got another snicker out of Knock Out, Breakdown joining him. Fowler’s call about Soundwave’s presence at the particle collider was next, and while the Autobots knew of their enemies intentions, it seems they still went forward with the negotiations and were kept unaware of exactly when Airachnid tunneled in to steal their required power source. The events they were watching unfold on the screen were altered already, and Stardust could only imagine how trippy it must be for the bots involved to watch what could have happened. Stardust didn’t know how negotiations went, and he didn’t need to know so he refrained from asking.

It was interesting to see the High Command’s reactions to Megatron’s fight with Optimus, as they don’t really get the chance to actually observe Megatron fighting since they are usually in the midst of a fight themselves. Stardust could see the small smirk on Starscream’s face when Megatron started to get his aft kicked. He had to hold back from growling at the SIC, though he didn’t need to hold back for long considering how Megatron turned the fight around and Starscream’s smirk was replaced by a scowl. The episode was quickly finished, and Shockwave started the next without a word. Stardust realized he was getting to see Megatron’s reaction to content he hadn't seen yet, and he was getting to see it live, this prospect excited him more than he thought it would.

When they got to Megatron’s audience with Unicron, Stardust had a feeling he knew the reaction they would have to it, at least a certain mech’s reaction. He watched Starscream like a hawk, and could see the gears in his processor turning. The moment that Megatron got on his knees and practically begged, another smirk came over Starscream’s face and this time, Stardust couldn’t hold back a low rumble. Nobot seemed to hear it over Unicron’s booming voice and the real Megatron’s own growl, but Starscream seemed to sense he was being watched as he turned his helm left and right till his optics found Stardust’s. His expression turned from confusion to anger, and Stardust easily matched him, even baring his fanged denta in a silent snarl. Stardust’s intentions were made abundantly clear that Starscream was not to take advantage of whatever weakness he perceived Megatron to be showing on screen. The look that crossed Starscream’s faceplate was that of shock and what may have even been fear or trepidation. His optics glitched out for a nanoklik before they immediately turned back to the show, almost sheepish. He avoided Stardust’s optics for the rest of the viewing. 

The end of part one of ‘One Shall Rise’ is finished quickly and Shockwave begins part two, starting off with Optimus’ solo fight against the mini Unicrons. There was an appreciative sound from Knock Out at the way Optimus fought that, judging by his terrified look afterward, he thought nobot heard, but Stardust gave him a smirk as Megatron growled in annoyance at the medic.

“Sorry, My Liege.” The red bot was ignored as they continued watching the show. When Optimus said ‘Because Megatron’s pride would never allow anyone other than himself to rule this planet’ Megatron hummed in thought.

“I see.” Stardust could hear both recognition and even resolve in Megatron’s voice, though he doubts any other bot could distinguish those qualities to his timber, except maybe Soundwave who tilted his helm toward their leader before looking back to the screen. They watched in silence until they got to the part where Airachnid said ‘I believe we must consider the possibility of a future without Megatron’ and the real warlord growled with a turn of his helm toward Airachnid. Her optics were wide, her jaw slack, and she was quick to defend herself.

“That hasn’t happened, My Lord! I would never say such a thing!” 

“Oh? Clearly, you would, as we just witnessed. There is far too much evidence to support the validity of this… show that my dear informant,” Megatron waved a servo in Stardust’s direction, “has so graciously provided us. Consider this a warning, Airachnid, should you so choose to act upon your obvious disloyalty, I will remove your… additional limbs.” Stardust felt his spark swell, and briefly felt his EM field expand in smug pride but he quickly reigned it in, grateful he had chosen to station himself far enough from the table that nobot felt it. Airachnid growled and turned to glare ato Stardust who only gave her a smirk, absolutely not caring what the femme thought of him since he despised her with a passion. 

The remainder of the episode was spent in mostly silence, though there were some snickers here and there when the Autobots did or said something foolish, or when Miko had her ‘I don’t fear the most dangerous being in the universe so I’m gonna scream a threat at him’ moment. Megatron seemed slightly surprised when Optimus flat out lied to Jack about the key to Vector Sigma.

“Optimus Prime, lying?” Megatron turned his helm to Stardust who nodded.

“The one and only time he does that I am aware of. Given the… gravity of the situation, it is understandable, though also unnecessary considering the human does not know what Vector Sigma is and thus could not have known the significance of the gesture.” Megatron hums and turns back to the screen just as Unicron’s optic cycles and the episode ends. 

“Vector Sigma? It exists?” Despite their earlier stare down, Stardust gives Starscream a nod, his earlier hostility not shown on his faceplates.

“It does, and what Optimus just gave Jack was the key to Vector Sigma. The entrance of which is actually located right under the ring at the Gladiatorial Arena in Kaon.” Megatron puts his servo to his chin, his elbow resting on the armrest of his larger chair - basically a throne. 

“So, every match I won was done so upon the entrance to Vector Sigma.” The warlord chuckled with a smirk, the same one that always seemed to make Stardust’s insides flutter when he was human, but now made his spark flutter instead.

“How very fitting.” The third part of ‘One Shall Rise’ was continuing to play, and everybot turned their attention back to watch Ratchet and Fowler verbally go at it until Ratchet started to explain Optimus and Megatron’s past. A certain hue of red took over Megatron’s optics at the sight of Orion Pax and his own past explained. Stardust wasn’t sure what that meant, but he felt a tug on his spark, one that felt like it was trying to jump out of his chassis toward the warlord. Ratchet’s explanation always pissed Stardust off, and listening to it now, he couldn’t help but growl at the insanely vague iteration. Most bots in the room actually turned to Stardust, seeing the mech glaring at the far wall.

“Something the matter, Stardust?” The triple changer looked over at his new Master, locking optics with him, his glare immediately dissipating. 

“I have always felt myself angered at Ratchet’s explanation, no matter how many times I hear it. One of the attributes of the Autobots that always managed to piss me off the most was how… closed minded and one-sided their views are. While Ratchet may be depicting Optimus’ side of the story with a fair amount of accuracy, his verbiage makes you look like you started this war over something as simple and childish as jealousy over not being chosen first. The reality is far more rooted in the functionalist society and the unfair and unjust caste system created by the original Primes that spanned a multitude of centuries.” Stardust expanded his EM field to showcase the sincerity of his words, and noticed Shockwave tilt his helm at it, though he didn’t say anything. Megatron himself was quiet for a moment, simply watching Stardust as the show continued and eventually moved on to the fight with Unicron’s antibodies. He wanted to look away, Primus he really wanted to watch that fight, the way Megatron moves and his prowess always makes him shiver, but he was ensnared by the warlord’s optics boring into his soul. His vents hitched at the calculating tilt of Megatron’s helm, the slightly brighter glow of his optics, the faint curiosity and calculation he felt coming from the mech’s EM field. 

This was Megatron regarding him with deep thought. He wasn’t angry, upset, pissed, annoyed, or anything of the sort that he would show toward Starscream or some of his other troops, he was showing interest and curiosity toward him. Having his optics on him for this long was making him feel a little warm, especially when they started to move over his frame, lingering longer than they had when he had done the same on the bridge. He didn’t speak, only finishing his visual analysis with a hum and turning back to the screen. Stardust shivered and found Shockwave’s optic from across the room. He may be completely expressionless but Stardust could tell the scientist was feeling smug about the exchange considering what he knows and Stardust just pouted at him.

Airachnid’s speech on the bridge and Soundwave’s resulting display of ‘putting her in her place’ was the next event to air, and Megatron gave a pleased sound.

“Very good, Soundwave. I can always trust my loyal Third in Command to keep the masses in line.” Airachnid growled, but Soundwave ignored her, only continuing to watch the screen. Stardust did not like seeing Megatron in pain, ever, and would even turn the show off at the last episode so he didn’t have to watch his death, and when he saw the warlord struggling on screen due to Unicron attempting to get him to terminate Optimus, he felt unsettled. When Unicron took over Megatron’s frame and rose up after Megatron had fallen offline, the real Megatron sat forward in his seat with a growl.

“He dares to take control of my frame?! Such insolence!” He growled again as he watched Optimus practically extinguish Unicron’s spark, but surprise was evident in the room when Optimus said ‘Where are we Megatronus?’. 

“So, Optimus will lose his memory.” It was a statement, not a question, and Megatron had kept his optics on the screen, so Stardust figured he wasn’t speaking to him this time, so he kept quiet. Optimus, now Orion, went through the groundbridge, followed my Megatron and the warlord gave a curious hum. 

“What an interesting turn.” The end of the episode was followed with Starscream turning to Stardust, though he still refused to make optic contact, instead looking at his shoulder pauldron.

“It has not escaped my notice that I have been absent from these… episodes.” Stardust didn’t answer, as it wasn’t his place considering his betrayal being the reason. Megatron stood from his place at the head of the table, Shockwave pausing before starting the next episode.

“That is not important, and you will be filled in on your whereabouts when I deem it necessary. Now, the planetary alignment is projected to happen within the next solar cycle. We will continue reviewing these files after Unicron is dealt with.”

“Lord Megatron, if I may?” Megatron turned to Stardust and gave him a nod. 

“When you bring Optimus back to the Nemesis , you put him to work decoding the Iacon database. The entries in the database are all sets of coordinates, except the last one which is an image, and those coordinates will be shown on screen during the show. They lead to relics carried by the original Primes, Decepticon weapons of mass destruction, and, more importantly, the Omega Keys. Having Orion decode the database wouldn’t be necessary as these files will give you access to them.” 

“Interesting. Are you telling me to spare Optimus from becoming a Decepticon?” 

“No, sir. Merely trying to save you time and give you an edge against the Autobots. You knew Orion better than anybot here, so you are best suited for ascertaining whether he would be valuable to your cause or not, given that he is no longer required to crack the Iacon database.” Megatron narrowed his optics as he stepped around the table and up to Stardust, studying him again. 

“You have been genuine and forthcoming with me since you first contacted the Nemesis , so I will give you the benefit of the doubt. However, if I discover that your intentions are to keep Optimus safe and out of my servos, then your punishment will be severe.” Megatron was caught off guard when Stardust just smiled at him, his wings perking up a little.

“Then I am lucky that I am being honest with you, My Liege, as it will save me from that punishment.” Megatron quickly gathered himself, humming with a small smirk before he moved toward the door of the war room.

“Very well. Shockwave, your old lab has not been touched since you were torn from my ranks, and I trust you remember your way around. Knock Out, a full check up is in order for our new recruit, do not leave any cable or wiring unexamined. Starscream and Soundwave, see to it that Stardust is given his own quarters, a map of the ship, and a full tour of the facilities available to him. I must prepare to meet with the Autobots as it seems I have a Prime to save.” Everybot in the room gave a slight bow to their leader as he left, except Soundwave who is probably the only bot who can get away with not doing that.

Chapter Text

Stardust startled when several pings showed up on his hud, the first couple being comm link frequencies. He sifted through them, noting they were for every bot present except Starscream and Airachnid, and saved them to his memory core with their respective names. Soundwave had also sent him a map of the warship with his comm frequency, as well as a smiley face emoji to which Stardust actually giggled. Starscream was approaching him as he let out the sound, an optic ridge raised.

“What do you find so funny?” 

“Nothing, just Soundwave being cute.” The mentioned mech was passing by when Stardust said this. He paused, turned his helm to the triple changer, who was grinning at him, then continued on as if nothing happened. Stardust’s grin dwindled to a smirk as Knock Out and Breakdown approached the two.

“Shall we do your examination before you see your quarters?” Stardust shrugged and looked over at Starscream.

“Commander?” The SIC looked between Stardust and Knock Out, growled, then shoved past the two red mechs.

“Whatever, take him to his new quarters yourself when you’re done. I have actual work to do.” Stardust rolled his optics, waiting till the jet was gone before speaking again.

“Drama queen.” Knock Out chuckled.

“That’s our Screamer. Follow us, we’ll take you to the med bay and get your check up done.” Shockwave strolled up to them, his gait slow and his steps heavy.

“I will accompany you. You will require my input as Stardust has been in my care since his arrival in our universe.” Stardust grinned at the scientist, now Commander.

“Not ready to give me up, Commander.” Shockwave exited the room without a word, the other three mechs following, Stardust still grinning as they headed for the med bay. It was how he imagined it would be, exactly as it was in the show. A medical berth directly across from the door and an additional one to the right, life support cables hanging from the ceiling, and a couple consoles along the walls.

Knock Out patted the main berth and Stardust hopped up, arranging himself so his wings were flat against the metal as he laid back. A cable was inserted into the medical port on his neck, the feeling making him flinch.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that feeling.” 

“That is illogical, you will grow accustomed to it in time and will barely notice.” Stardust rolled his optics at Shockwave with a smirk.

“Ok, smart aft.” The look he got from Knock Out and Breakdown had Stardust shuttering his optics a couple times in confusion.

“What?”

“The fact that you can get away with talking to a Commander that way is… shocking.” Stardust shrugged.

“I’m just Shockwave’s favorite.” If Shockwave could roll his optic, he would, his whole helm performing the movement instead.

“Illogical.” Stardust grinned at him.

“Uh huh, that’s exactly what your field is saying right now.” He knew he was pushing his luck, but he also knew they had grown close due to Shockwave helping him through his broken heats. He may not have gotten to frag the mech, yet, but the intimate act of practically cuddling every time his frame throws up the proverbial middle finger has given him the untouchable status of ‘baby girl’. He knows Shockwave cares for him, and now he has a better idea of how far he can actually push him thanks to his protective display on the bridge earlier.

“Your coding is interesting.” This brought Stardust’s attention back to Knock Out who was looking over his processor logs. The medic grabbed a scanner and swiped it over every inch of Stardust’s frame, humming at what it was finding before his optics widened almost comically.

“You… you have a… fully active gestation tank?!” Stardust cycled his optics in confusion.

“Yes? Lord Megatron knew this, thanks to the files containing the cortical psychic patch that Shockwave did the same solar cycle we met. That information was in there; did he not tell you about it?”

“No! Do you have any idea what this means?!” Stardust rolled his optics, again, and scuffed.

“Yes, Doctor, I’m the one who asked Primus for an active gestation tank when he gave me this body. I refused to do what he told me unless he gave me one. I have a couple reasons, one being that I just really want sparklings one day, but another is because… well, the Cybertronian species is starting to go extinct because of the war. I know where the AllSpark is, and retrieving it could change that, but my presence here and my interference could have a very different outcome than what I'm hoping for. I wanted to be prepared, just in case something happened to the AllSpark.” Something in Knock Out's optics shifted, and his field softened till it felt like a cloud was passing over his plating. The feeling made Stardust shiver, the action being noticed by all in the room, but luckily nobot said anything.

"We’ll come back to the AllSpark thing later, but you would put the fate of our entire species on your shoulders like that?” Stardust simply nodded.

"Why?” He shrugged.

“I don't really know how to explain it. I always hated being human, it was disgusting, boring, non-engaging physically, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually. I've been drawn to machines my entire life. I understand them better, and when I became a fan of the Transformers universe I fell in love with your species. I wanted to be one of you so badly, and I kept learning everything I could about both factions, the original Primes, and whatever else I could get my hands on at the time. It broke my heart knowing that in most continuities, Cybertron was dead, and you had no way of creating new Cybertronians. Especially this universe, your universe, which is my favorite. I’m glad I was brought here instead of the Bayverse or Earthspark.” Knock Out continued to perform a check up on his frame, systems, and processor logs, though he still seemed like he was listening pretty intently. 

“What are Bayverse and Earthspark?” Stardust turned to Breakdown, his gaze instinctively drawn to his optic patch, but he tore it away as soon as he realized he was doing it, allowing shame and regret to bleed into his field. The blue grounder gave him a smile, his own field brushing against his own in gratitude and forgiveness.

“Those are the names of a couple other Transformers universes. I brought the media for them and others, they are on Shockwave’s datapad, just in case Lord Megatron gets curious about them. I also really like watching them too, so I brought them with the intent to be able to enjoy other continuities whenever I feel like it.” 

“So, there really are parallel universes out there with other versions of… us?” Stardust gave Knock Out a nod and watched as his optic ridge creased in confusion as he looked at the console.

“What in the Pits is that?” Stardust didn’t like the sound of that, and tried to lean forward to see the screen but pouted when Shockwave pushed him back to the berth and went to look over Knock Out’s shoulder.

“That is the Lockdown Protocol that Primus installed on his processor when he built Stardust’s frame. It is a safety firewall of sorts. It is meant to keep him from accidentally activating the wrong command or too many commands at once while he learns how to function with a Cybertronian body and mind.” Stardust relaxed a little, huffing air from his vents.

“Oh, that. Yeah, any way you could remove that by chance? It's actually kind of annoying that every time I want to activate a command I have to put in a code to do so. I feel like I’ve been doing well with my processor functions, at least enough that I don’t need the mental training wheels anymore.” Knock Out smirked a little but then it faded as he read more of Stardust’s processor code related to the Lockdown Protocol.

“I’m afraid that’s a no can do, kid. This protocol can’t simply be deactivated, and it looks like it has a timer on it. My guess is, Primus didn’t want you getting too ahead of yourself or cocky with your own processor and gave you a minimum time-frame before the protocol deactivates on its own.” Stardust growled and smacked the back of his helm against the berth.

“Of fragging course he did. How much longer do I have to live with this… handicap?” 

“Looks like it was meant to be in place for a full stellar cycle.” The triple changer felt his optic twitch and a strange surge go through his frame, one that made him want to punch something, hard . 

“Easy now, no need to get so upset! You’ve already gone through more than two and a half orbital cycles, which means you only have seven and a half to go!” Stardust growled, he momentarily forgot how… menacing his growl sounds, as it actually has Knock Out flinching and Breakdown taking a step back.

“I’m going to kill Primus… first I can’t access either of my alt modes, even after putting in the activation code, then the fragging broken heats, and now I have to deal with this disadvantage for a whole stellar cycle! I’ve already got a shit ton of work ahead of me, what with being martially insufficient, but I’m going to continue being a liability to everyone if I can’t access my weapons or do anything with my fucking processor without putting the code in! At first I felt like this was going to be good for me so I don’t accidentally try to transform into both of my alt modes at the same time, but now its so fucking annoying cause I pretty much have to ask my processor for fucking permission to do anything!” Stardust didn’t realize he was rambling, or that he had reverted to English swear words during his verbal raging, nor had he realized he had leaned forward on the berth enough that his wings had shot up to their highest position, showcasing his ire. The last thing he failed to notice was the wide opticed looks from both medic and medical assistant as well as the fact that they had both backed off considerably. Shockwave was the only one still standing by his side, a fact that was forced into his processor when the scientist reached up and smacked him in the side of the helm with his cannon, forcing the angry triple changer to look around the room. 

All at once he realized that Knock Out and Breakdown had scurried away from him and Shockwave’s field was more irate and surprised than he’s ever felt from the purple mech. Stardust’s wings hurt from trembling and being held high, his field flared so impossibly wide that it was stifling and lashing out at everybot in the room like a caged tiger forced into the corner of its cell. Stardust slammed his EM field tight against his frame so fast and so hard that it also slammed his wings down, though instead of laying against his back like they would if he were standing, they smashed into the metal berth with a loud metallic BANG . Pain flared through his sensor net making him flinch as he let out a quiet whine and sunk in on himself, trying to pull his flared plating back and lay both sets of finials flat against his helm to appear as small as possible.

“Oh frag, I’m so sorry! I… damn it… I promise I usually have better control than that…” Knock Out slowly approached the berth again, his movements tentative and cautious, but his field flared with both surprise and a sense of calm. 

“Apologies aren’t necessary. We figured we would be dealing with erratic behavior considering how young your frame is, but I must admit… that was intense.” Breakdown also approached, but his field was unreadable and he didn’t step as though he was walking on eggshells.

“Terrifying is the word I’d use. I’ve never felt anger like that before, even from Megatron, and we’ve seen him pretty pissed, slag, we’ve been the cause of his anger at times. That was… almost impressive.” Stardust released air from his vents in a sigh and slouched against the berth.

“I… I’ve been through a lot these last couple few orbital cycles, and I thought I was processing all of it well enough, but… everything just kind of…” He searched for the right word, clenching and unclenching his servos like he could catch the thought in mid air.

“Blew up?” He looked over at Knock Out and nodded, then up at Shockwave.

“I’m sorry, Shockwave, I’ll keep better control of my field in the future.” The scientist didn’t respond verbally, only giving a tilt of his helm. One who didn’t know Shockwave would say he was upset or disappointed, but his field, which Knock Out and Breakdown may not be able to feel, but that Stardust had become acutely attuned to, gave off faint waves of both worry and curiosity. 

“There is a lot to unpack in that little explosion of yours though. Did you say you have two alt modes?” Stardust nodded, trying to get his shaking frame to calm down, but only managing to get his finials to relax to their upright position.

“I told Primus I wanted to be a triple changer. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to have a ground-based alt mode or a flier alt mode, so I decided to ask for both. At the time I didn’t think what was happening was even real so I didn’t think anything of it, I was just playing along with what I thought was a hallucination. Turns out that wasn’t the case, so now I have a flier mode and a ground mode.” Knock Out hummed before typing on his console.

“What about this ‘broken heat’ you spoke of, what’s that about?” This time Shockwave spoke up.

“Every orbital cycle, Stardust’s frame goes into heat, though, according to his processor logs, it is corrupted. His frame exhibits all the symptoms of a heat sans a charge, higher frame temperatures, and the accompanying pheromones. The presence of a heat is not unusual, though they have started far sooner than a cold construct or a sparkling’s would have, but the corrupted coding is cause for concern. Each heat is worse than the last, but it is tempered with merely platonic physical affection.” Knock Out smirks.

“No wonder you two are so close.” Stardust mirrors the smirk and turns it onto Shockwave who he then wags his optic ridges at the best he can. The scientist rolls his optic at him again - actually his whole helm - but ignores him causing the triple changer to giggle. 

“I’ve never encountered a ‘broken heat’ before, as even a normal heat is increasingly rare nowadays. I can’t remember the last recorded heat cycle, as it was most likely before the war, but I’ll go over these logs and do some research, see what I can find. There doesn’t seem to be any damage to your frame, internal systems, or processor, so until we find a solution, cuddling will have to be how your current heats will be handled.” Stardust pouts a little, having hoped Knock Out would have a solution for him cause Primus he wants to get fragged! Ever since his first heat, the burning curiosity in regard to his interface equipment has been eating at the back of his processor, and every time Shockwave holds him, pets him, or makes him purr all he wants to do is open his panels and present like a fucking whore, despite his frame not being able to build up a charge. 

The door to the medbay sliding open catches everybot’s attention, and Stardust perks up at who walks into the room.

“Soundwave!” The communications chief stops in the middle of the room and turns to Knock Out.

“Knock Out -- full check up -- for new recruit -- *static* examined.” Stardust had to put a servo over his mouth to keep from giggling at how utterly wrong the grammar of that sentence was, but it was a recording from Megatron back in the war room, so Soundwave was only working with what he had. Knock Out rolled his optics, equally humored, and waved his claws at him.

“Yes yes, we’re done, you can take him.” Stardust grinned at Knock Out and hopped off the berth, his wings still shaking a little and a dull throbbing coming from the lower edge where he had slammed them against the berth. Shockwave stayed standing next to Knock Out as Stardust approached Soundwave and started to follow him out of the room.

“We will be continuing your regular processor scans twice a deca-cycle, Stardust. I expect you back in the medbay for your next one in two solar cycles.” 

“Yes, sir.” He and Soundwave left the medbay, the former following the latter through the halls of the Nemesis until they came upon a hallway that Stardust had never seen before. They weren’t shown the troop quarters or High Command quarters in the show, so he had no idea what they would look like, but it seems they were similar to the ones back at the citadel. The only difference was that the citadel’s color scheme had been dark grey, almost black metal, whereas the Nemesis was dark purple and black. Doors lined the corridor on both sides, and Soundwave took Stardust to the far end of the corridor before stopping by a random door. The triple changer had counted how many doors they passed so he could remember which door was his, and even pulled up the map Soundwave had sent him to add a pin to his location so he would be able to find his quarters again. He already knew how to operate the doors since they were the same as the citadel, but got confused when Soundwave sent him a ping with an access code. 

“Is that the access code to my room?” Soundwave nodded, then waved his servo at the controls to the side of the door. Stardust looked at them and then back at Soundwave.

“I’ve never sent a ping to a console or to the controls for a door before. Is it the same as sending a ping to somebot’s comm system?” Soundwave nodded again, and Stardust extended his EM field until it reached the controls, found the faint signal coming from the panel, then sent the access code to that signal via his comms. A grin came over his face when the door snapped open.

“Heh, cool.” A faint trace of amusement came from Soundwave’s field as Stardust entered the room and looked around. It was exactly the same as the troop quarters he had resided in before Shockwave made him move to the officer’s quarters, though those hadn’t required an access code. There was a padded berth, a desk, and some shelving, but that was it. Soundwave had already marked several points of interest on the map he gave him, like the galley, training rooms, rec room, and wash racks, so it seemed he had everything he needed for now. He turned back to Soundwave with a small smile.

“I assume I’m to stay here until Lord Megatron returns?” Soundwave nodded before splicing together some more audio clips.

“Stardust -- need any *static* -- thing?” His small smile widened at that before he shook his helm.

“No, Soundwave, I’m good, but I appreciate it.” The communications chief nodded and walked away, the door sliding shut after him and a resounding *click* was heard. They definitely don’t trust him if Soundwave is locking his door, but he can’t really blame them. Now that he was alone, he could properly think about the events that have transpired in the last several joors. He got to meet Megatron and the rest of the Decepticons, and the thing he was focusing on was the height differences . Primus he had it bad for these mechs. He knew this was going to be a problem since he was kind of a slut already, and he was a sucker for size differences from either side of the spectrum. How much larger Megatron was than him, the fact that he was taller than Starscream , and considerably taller than Knock Out, though he wouldn’t be touching the Doctor without permission from Breakdown considering they were conjunxed. The fact that he was also a little taller than Soundwave had kept creeping up on him as the two were walking from the medbay to his new quarters. 

That mech was so much prettier in person and it just wasn’t fair! He wanted to force Soundwave against the wall and do things to him that would make Primus question his decision of bringing Stardust to this universe. Of course, he kept those thoughts to himself, and thanks to Shockwave’s training had been able to actually keep his field under control, but now that he was alone he let it all out, heaving a sigh from his vents as he felt his frame shudder. He may not be able to keep a charge right now because of… whatever Primus did, but he could still feel a charge going through his frame. Every time he has tried to chase it, it leaves pretty quickly, and only once had it lingered long enough to become troublesome but even then it quickly dissipated after he had done some training.

Chapter Text

So. Slagging. Bored!  

Stardust was currently half laying on his berth in a rather unorthodox position. His back and wings were flat on the berth, his aft was snug up against the wall, and his legs were vertically up the wall. If he tilted his helm back he would be looking upside down across the room at his desk, and if anybot came into his habsuite they would surely question his sanity. Honestly, he’s been questioning his sanity for years now, so… fair. He wasn’t sure how long he had been locked in his habsuite, having given up keeping track after the first five joors, and it's been a hefty amount of time since then. When he swore it was going on a full solar cycle, his door finally swooshed open, the mech standing there speaking before he even had a chance to move from his spot.

“What the slag are you doing?” Stardust grinned at the look on Starscream’s faceplate, confusion and almost disgust, but mostly confusion. The triple changer rocked his legs backwards and did a backflip off the berth before coming to stand in front of the SIC.

“Commander Starscream! Has Lord Megatron returned?” Starscream glared up at the new recruit before simply walking away.

“Follow me.” The taller mech shrugged but did as he was told. He may not like Starscream very much, aside from the obvious optic candy that he was, and would prefer to force the seeker against the wall or into a mating press to shut him up, but he still respected his position as Megatron’s SIC. He knew that title probably won’t last very long, depending on how things play out. Dreadwing has yet to show up, and there was still the matter of how Megatron wanted to proceed considering what he knows about Starscream’s betrayal. They walked for a few kliks taking turn after turn until they came to the bridge, to which Starscream pointed to where the Vehicons were lined up in two rows, and High Command was standing opposite the door. Stardust recognized the scene, as he knew Megatron would be coming onto the bridge any klik now, maybe even followed by Orion Pax, so he took up post where Starscream pointed for him to, fighting the urge to stick his glossa out at the seeker, and waited. 

It wasn’t terribly long, a few kliks at most, before the door to the bridge slid open and Megatron walked through. His optics scanned his troops, lingering on Stardust just a little longer, to which the triple changer smiled at him before he and everybot in the room moved to bow to their leader. He didn’t see Megatron’s reaction to the smile, the raised optic ridge or the mild amusement in the warlord’s field, keeping his helm down as Knock Out spoke.

“Welcome back, Lord Megatron.” Their Master strode forward, heading for the other members of High Command, and the fact that the door behind him slid shut without the presence of another mech had Stardust and a couple others raising an optic ridge.

“No Orion Pax, My Liege?” Megatron kept walking until he reached High Command, and while the distance would have forced Stardust to strain his ears as a human, his Cybertronian audials were able to pick up their conversation no problem.

“I have been reassured that Orion’s presence aboard this ship is not necessary, so I attempted to extinguish his spark instead.” Starscream raised an optic ridge.

“Attempted?” 

“Yes, unfortunately, the Prime’s lackeys interfered, retrieved the amnesiac, and retreated through their ground bridge.” Stardust felt his optic ridges knit together at the notion that the Autobots had retrieved Optimus far sooner than in the show, and their spacebridge was already completed, so it was only a matter of time before they attempted to commandeer it. 

“I believe it is time for another viewing, to know where to go from here.” High Command started to follow Megatron off the bridge, and Stardust knew he was to join them, but before he could even take a step, he was grabbed and pulled to Soundwave’s side. The mech just looked at him and gave him a smiley face emoji on his visor as he released his wrist and they continued to walk behind their warlord. Stardust smirked back, a faint blush coming over his faceplate as he made sure to keep his position next to the spymaster since that seemed to be what he wanted. He felt a faint brush against his field of… something he couldn’t quite place, something that almost felt like jealousy and he turned his helm to look at Shockwave behind him. He grinned at his friend, stuck his glossa out at him, then looked forward as they continued to walk. He decided to reach his right servo behind him though, and blindly grabbed at air until he felt another servo grasp onto his. His grin remained, knowing who it belonged to, and felt smugness float around his field as he basically held Shockwave’s servo from behind him like a mother with her prone to disappear child. The entire scene had Stardust feeling a small surge of power, fondness, disbelief, and even honor. His first friend in this universe, one he would actually consider to be his best friend, was Shockwave of all mechs, and they had grown close enough that the scientist was allowing himself to feel jealousy at another mech wanting Stardust’s attention, as well as deliberately holding Stardust’s servo as they walked. 

When they got to the war room, Soundwave left Stardust at the door to take his seat at Megatron’s left, and Stardust gave Shockwave a genuine smile when he let his servo go, the purple mech ignoring him as he moved around the table to take his seat next to Starscream. The triple changer took his original spot adjacent to Megatron’s throne-like seat and stood with his arms behind his back. Shockwave pulled their show back up and they started with season 2, ‘Orion Pax (Pt. 1)’. They watched through the first part, getting about halfway through before Megatron interacts with Orion, and the first three coordinates are shown on the holographic map as well as Starscream’s whereabouts. Soundwave doesn’t even need Megatron to tell him to record those coordinates, and just nods at the former gladiator when he turns to him, indicating such. When Megatron mentions Starscream is dead, the seeker predictably speaks up about it.

“Dead?! I’m not dead! What is the meaning of this?!” Stardust can see Megatron roll his optics and he smirks at that, catching Megatron’s gaze for a nanoklik before he turns to Starscream, his voice betraying how exasperated he feels. 

“At ease, Starscream. You are not dead, nor will you die any time in the near future.” Starscream huffs out an angry vent and sits back in his chair with his arms crossed, pouting like a sparkling refused energon candies. Soundwave removing Arcee from the Nemesis by use of the groundbridge brought an appreciative sound from Megatron. A laugh was brought from the same mech when the Autobots seemed to be falling apart without Optimus’ presence. 

“Maybe I should have brought him back here after all, if only to watch the Autobots fall apart without their precious leader.” Stardust smirked at that, his amusement shared with Knock Out who gave a huff of amusement and Starscream who scoffed. 

“They do seem rather lost, don’t they?” The next scenes were the important ones as it showed the Autobots conversing about their plan to send Jack to Cybertron since his biosignature was attached to the key card. Megatron watched intently, and ordered Soundwave to take note of everything they were saying in regard to their plan.

As they were watching the fully intact files, Stardust felt the next scenes might cause… unrest with a certain seeker. They watched Starscream make his way onto the Nemesis and the real Starscream threw his arms up.

“Finally! Where the slag have I been?” No one gave him an answer, simply watched as he snuck around and approached the Vehicons in front of the energon storage vault, exchanged words, then offlined both troopers.

“What?! What is going on?” Starscream stood from his position, his wings held high in a defensive manner as Shockwave paused the show. Megatron watched Starscream closely, the seeker seeming like he would bolt any moment.

“I believe it is time to fill you in on your whereabouts during these last few… episodes. Do you remember when we viewed the episode titled ‘Partners’?” Starscream twitched, but nodded.

“I remember being at the beginning of it, but the rest of the file seemed… tampered with.” 

“That’s because it was. That footage was heavily filtered,” Megatron stood now, slowly, menacingly, “and that which had been removed showed Airachnid binding you in her webbing, and leaving you behind to be captured by the Autobots.” Starscream, enraged, turned to Airachnid who hissed at the seeker when he growled at her.

“During your capture by our enemy,” Megaton continuing to speak brought Starscream’s attention back to the warlord who had taken two thundering steps toward his SIC, “you decided it was in your best interest to align yourself with the Autobots, thus betraying the Decepticon cause, and betraying me.” The last word came out as a growl from Megatron’s vox, and it seemed he was holding back a fair bit of anger from the entire situation because he lunged for Starscream. The seeker rolled under Megatron’s arm and popped back up behind him before he sprinted around the table and headed for the door with a shriek. Stardust watched this happen, not intending to do anything about it until Megatron growled out Starscream’s name. He decided to plant himself between the seeker and the door of the war room since, based on the tone Megatron had said Starscream’s name with, he wasn’t done with the traitorous jet. The SIC (former SIC? Stardust had no idea what was going on), skid to a stop in front of him with a growl.

“Get out of my way!” Stardust gave his own growl, drawing on the emotions he was feeling back in the medbay when he pretty much blew up. His wings tilted up, his plating flared out, his audial fins slicked back, and he bared his fangs while expanding his field. 

“No.” Starscream flinched, fear coming over his face and taking over his frame for a nanoklik before he righted himself and pointed one of his missiles at Stardust. The triple changer growled again while taking a step forward and put the end of the missile to his forhelm, glaring into Starscream’s optics, daring him to do it. The room was still and silent as the two faced off, Starscream unsure what to do as he was completely thrown off by the challenge brought forth by the mech in front of him. Megatron, having watched all of this go down with both surprise and amusement, came around the large table, his strides long enough and quick enough that he was able to put a servo around Starscream’s throat from behind before the mech could react. He dragged him back over to the table and slammed him face down between Soundwave and Megatron’s vacant seat, leaning down to growl in his audial.

“While these events did not actually transpire, it is no secret that you have never been truly loyal, my dear seeker.” Starscream shivered in fear, scraping his talons over the table as he struggled against Megatron’s hold.

“Master! Please, allow me to-”

“Silence!” Starscream shut his intake with a whimper, his body going limp against the table.

“The only reason I have not removed your spark from your chest, is because we were able to alter events to allow for recovery of the Immobilizer, as well as remove the Autobots from the equation. This was only possible due to Stardust and his intelligence, so,” Megatron pulled Starscream up and forced him back in front of the triple changer, who had already moved back to his previous post, “I believe you owe somebot both an apology, and gratitude as he is the only reason you still function.” Starscream glared at Stardust who just bared his fangs at him with a low growl.

“I apologize for my actions, and I… thank you for the information which… spared my life.” Stardust felt his engines rumble and he let out a deep purr of satisfaction, not able to stop himself from saying, 

“Good bot.” Starscream’s optics widened before he went to growl, but just as the sound was starting to form in his throat Megatron turned and threw the seeker to the ground.

“Get back to your seat, sit down, and be silent. ” Starscream got to his pedes and did just as he was told, and as soon as his aft hit the seat Shockwave restarted the show. They watched the rest of the ‘Orion Pax’ episodes in relative silence, Megatron occasionally telling Soundwave to record a specific moment for later, or growling at Starscream when he gave up the location of their spacebridge. The SIC (Still… maybe) shrunk in his seat, his wings drooping as dread filled his field. A ping on Stardust’s hud took his attention away from the show and he opened the message from Shockwave.

“Are you alright?” He had to fight off a smile and to keep his optics looking either at the screen or straight ahead to the opposite wall. 

“I’m fine. I was expecting Starscream to react in some way, but I wasn’t expecting him to try and flee.” 

“He is a coward. I can kill him for you, if you choose?” If he hadn’t already had over two and a half orbital cycles to learn control over his EM field and his new frame, Stardust would have snorted a laugh and his field would have blown up with endearment and fondness for this mech. He was quickly learning how absolutely adorable Shockwave could be and it was making him all giddy inside.

“Primus, you’re cute. That won’t be necessary, Shockwave, but thank you.” There wasn’t a reply to that, but he saw Shockwave turn his helm toward him briefly from his peripherals before moving back to the screen. Now that they knew how the Autobots would be taking control of their spacebridge, they could come up with a way to thwart their plans. They just didn’t know when it would be happening, thanks to the altering of events. ‘Operation Bumblebee’ was up next and Megatron allowed a faint hint of excitement to bleed into his field when the Spark Extractor was revealed, but he growled when Bumblebee was able to take it from him. 

“There must be a way to ensure the Autobots do not detect the artifacts as we unearth them!” Shockwave turned to Megatron, not bothering to pause the show.

“Stardust and I have discussed this in length, and I believe we may have a solution.” Megatron raised an optic ridge, looking at Stardust then back to his lead scientist.

“Oh?”

“Yes, I have drawn up plans for a signal dampener. As there is no way to install a dampener without unearthing the artifact to begin with, Stardust suggested turning the dampener into a force shield of sorts. One we can set up before starting excavation.” Megatron hummed in approval.

“Very good. I am making the dampener your top priority. Knock Out, you will assist Shockwave with this project. As Starscream is sitting at this table and will not be leaving our ranks any time soon,” Megatron turned his glare on the seeker who sunk in his seat even more, like a teenager in the principal’s office being scolded by his parents, “the Autobots will not be given the location of our spacebridge. We should have a fair amount of time before they come up with some other plan of action to get that puny human to Cybertron.” They continued to watch the show, getting all the way to ‘Crossfire’ before Megatron lets out yet another growl.

“I am growing quite tired of my subordinates’ disloyalty.” Stardust made sure to keep an optic on Knock Out and Breakdown, both of which had been seated on the side of the table closest to him. He saw Knock Out stiffen when Breakdown’s dismembered body had shown up on screen, and he reached under the table to grip his conjunx’s servo. Stardust frowned at that, and tried to send out reassurance to both of them through his field, to which they turned their helms to him in response. He gave a sad smile, only receiving a nod from Breakdown before they turned away. 

Stardust actually likes Breakdown, and has some very reserved feelings regarding his offlining; he directs a deep growl at Airachnid when she turns a sinister grin on the blue grounder. Airachnid hisses at Stardust, but doesn’t attempt to flee like Starscream had, she actually sat still and remained quiet, keeping her optics on the screen, but Stardust knew she was plotting something and had to hold back from directing the end of one of his blades in between her optics at the realization. He felt somebot’s field brush against his own, the feeling coming from it almost felt like a command more than an emotion. He turned his helm to his Master and found him staring at him, the look in his optics and his field both saying ‘stand down’ and ‘not yet’. He gave a minute nod, small enough to be seen by the one looking directly at him, but completely missed by those still engrossed with the happenings of the show.

The ‘Nemesis Prime’ episode had been interesting for the Decepticons to watch, as the only run in they had with MECH was when Breakdown had been taken, and seeing Silas again had the blue grounder shuddering with disgust. ‘Armada’ actually had Megatron both laughing at Starscream’s attempt to assassinate him, as well as having to hold himself back from blowing a hole in the mech’s helm. As a result of that episode, he gave Soundwave an order to have a squad dispatched to the Harbinger as soon as possible to deal with the troublesome ship. He also gave an order to implement a new protocol for bringing energon deliveries on board that would have a Vehicon present at the pickup site, or in the loading bay to inspect the shipment. This was to ensure that an incident like Bulkhead accidentally getting onboard without their knowledge would not happen in the future.

Another one of Stardust’s favorite episodes was ‘Flying Mind,’ and they all watched with both amusement and mild embarrassment on Knock Out’s part. If Megatron was embarrassed by his idea backfiring so badly, he didn’t show it. He made a mental note to never attempt to infuse his ship with Dark Energon, and ordered Soundwave to record the new sets of coordinates the ship had decoded. The next four episodes are centered around those four sets of coordinates, and Megatron finds himself eager to get to these relics quickly, though he knows that the dampeners will be required to keep the Autobots from interfering. They move through the next five episodes without incident and it is when they get to ‘Alpha/Omega’ and learn of the Omega Keys that Megatron turns to Stardust with slightly wider optics.

“So, these are the Omega Keys you spoke of?” Stardust merely nods.

“Yes sir. They are the most important relic within the database, for obvious reasons. The last four entries reference the Omega Keys. While three of those are coordinates, the final entry is a picture of Smokescreen, the new recruit from the last few episodes. As stated, he was a guard for Alpha Trion, and the Master Archivist knocked Smokescreen unconscious, and hid the last Omega Key within his frame. The Omega Lock itself is located somewhere in the Sea of Rust, though I don’t know the coordinates, but I believe they are shown on screen.” Megatron turned his helm back to the screen, looking at Stardust out of his peripherals for a nanoklik, then gave his full attention back to the show.

This mech was something else.

Chapter Text

Megatron didn’t know what to think of Stardust when he arrived on his ship. The intel he brought to him has been insurmountable to the Decepticon cause, and he quickly gained the warlord's trust, perhaps too quickly even though he refused to show it. No member of High Command has run into a situation like this before, and considering the spanning eons they have all been functioning, that’s saying something. Even during the war, Megatron always made sure his troops were trained to expect the unexpected, but this? This was so far into the realm of the unexpected that it couldn’t even be classified as unexpected, more like inconceivable. 

First contact with the new mech had started off as highly monotonous, he had just been another voice over the comm that just so happened to be calling from Megatron’s citadel in Kaon. The fact that Cybertron was dead and the citadel didn’t have any power was the only reason they had accepted the call in the first place. Everything they learned after that… let’s just say Megatron still hasn’t come to terms with the whole parallel dimension thing. Oh, he was calm and collected on the outside, he had to be, he was the leader of the Decepticons, but on the inside, not only did he have doubts, but he had questions . Burning questions that could be on par with a fledgling asking their carrier where sparklings come from. Despite his doubts, he was actually elated at how things have turned out so far, all the wins they have gathered thanks to Stardust. 

Not only have they recovered the Immobilizer, the formula for Synthetic Energon, stopped the duplicity of not one but two of his officers, prevented Unicron’s attempt to revive and take over a planet that was rightfully Megatron’s, but he also has his most prized scientist back. All of this is thanks to Stardust, and he still owes so much more to the new recruit, not that he’ll tell him that of course. This mech may be showing a level of compliance and loyalty that rivals even Soundwave , but that doesn’t mean he can’t get an inflated ego, and Megatron has to deal with enough of that from the rest of High Command. 

On the subject of his most prized scientist, what has Stardust done to Shockwave? The usually emotionless mech is… different in a way that Megatron never thought he would see. He never knew Shockwave before the empurata and shadowplay, so he can’t speak on how he may have acted before the procedures, but he knows he’s never seen or felt this level of emotion from the purple mech before. Perhaps it has something to do with Stardust’s field? As soon as Megatron laid optics on Stardust as he came through the spacebridge and felt that newly formed EM field, he felt this strange… surge. It was a sensation he hadn’t felt since… well, since Orion. 

Protectiveness. 

He knew he was ensnared in the same… spell as Shockwave had been when he witnessed his new recruit willingly walk up to Starscream’s missile without flinching or exuding fear. In fact, the only emotion that was flowing through his field at the time was anger and a challenge. Megatron, like everybot in the room, could do nothing but stare as Starscream folded to this mech in every way except physically, something that only Megatron has ever been able to achieve. Say what you want about Starscream’s loyalty and occasional cowardice, but the seeker was still dangerous in that he was exceedingly unpredictable. The air commander was also fast, the fastest bot Megatron had in his army, and the fact that Stardust not only recognized that Starscream was attempting to flee, it didn’t escape the warlord’s notice that he only moved after Megatron had called out his SIC’s name in anger. The triple changer was fast enough to block the seeker from actually making it to the door and then proceeded to ‘square up’, as the humans say, without an ounce of fear. Megatron admired that, respected it even, and the more he thought about everything they have already accomplished and everything they will accomplish thanks to Stardust, Megatron couldn’t help but feel a need to keep the mech by his side. 

So many emotions were pulling at his spark that it felt like it was bouncing off the walls of his spark chamber like the human bouncy ball that Laserbeak had brought back to the ship once. Protectiveness, admiration, pride, amusement, wonder, curiosity, but the worst of all was dread. The petrifying feeling of dread that was scorching the edges of his spark. The last time Megatron had felt this was the day he and Orion had stood before the High Council. The day his best friend, his lover, not only betrayed him, but threw him to the side as if he had meant nothing, as if every moment they spent together, every night spent crying out each other’s name had just been hollow echoes on the walls of their habsuites. 

Megatron clenched his servo hard enough to strain the cabling in his joints, the pain helped to ground him and take his mind off of the past, and off of the mech standing to his side like a personal guard ready to throw himself in front of his Master at a moment's notice. Megatron was grateful that the gesture could be written off as irritation with what was happening on screen as they were now viewing the episode called ‘Patch’. He easily brushed off the memories of Orion, as he had done many times before, turning his helm slightly to peer at Stardust and he had to hold back a smirk at the amused look on the triple changer's faceplate turned toward the screen. Starscream did look rather ridiculous swaying his hips like that to the chanting of ‘All Hail Starscream!’.  No, Stardust wasn’t anything like Orion, the loyalty this mech has shown him is far stronger than anything the warlord had with the archivist. 

It was at Dreadwing’s demise that Megatron mentally rejoined the group, having been daydreaming about red, gold, and black plating - Primus he hasn’t done that in a long time, get yourself together, mech, you’re a warlord for Pit’s sake! Starscream seemed to be preening next to him, and it took every iota of will power he had not to kick the seeker out of his chair and give the seat to Stardust.

“It would seem I am still the favorite.” Megatron growled and dragged his claws closest to Starscream over the surface of the table making the seeker flinch.

“Make no mistake, Starscream , you are most certainly not the favorite, and I will say this once for all of you to hear and only once , Dreadwing is not to find out about what Starscream did to his brother when he arrives on this planet, do I make myself clear?” Megatron had looked around the whole room at every bot there, receiving a chorus of ‘Yes, Lord Megatron’. He ignored the specific voice from the wall next to him, considering where his thoughts had just been about that particular mech, and focused back on the show. 

They finished season 2, and Megatron released a huff of air from his vents.

“Yet another reason to keep Optimus from obtaining the Star Sabre. Shockwave, how many episodes remain?”

“13, plus a one-hour long movie.” Megatron hums.

“Very well, we will finish the last episodes, but as soon as they are complete you and Knock Out are to begin work on the dampener.”

“Yes, Lord Megatron.” With that they started season 3, Megatron chuckling when Shockwave finally showed up and spoke word for word what he had said to Starscream on the bridge.

“Why did you speak this verbatim when you arrived on the bridge?” He raised an optic ridge when Stardust let out a quiet laugh, barely moving his frame, but the grin on his face gave away the sound he had made.

“Stardust and I thought it would be… funny, to mess with Starscream.” The mentioned seeker shrieked as he pointed a talon at the scientist.

“You! You did that on purpose?!” Stardust was practically vibrating now as he was trying to hold in his laughter, and Megatron couldn’t help but smirk at him with a tilt of his helm, making the mech break and cover his mouth with a servo to stifle his giggles. Starscream growled at the triple changer, which only made him shake with laughter more especially as the mighty air commander crossed his arms and started to pout. Stardust quickly got himself under control, a smirk on his derma the only evidence of his mirth as they moved to the next episode. The end of ‘Scattered’ came with the explanation of Shockwave’s experiments and then the appearance of the Predacon. Megatron slowly stood from his throne with awe on his faceplates, much as he did in the show.

“A Predacon?!” 

“Do not get too excited, My Lord. There are… complications with the Predacon that may warrant terminating the project.” Megatron looked at Shockwave, his optics glowing as the smirk on his derma turned into a scowl at the scientist’s words.

“Such as?” 

“In a later episode, the beast will display the ability to transform into bipedal mode, a facet that could challenge your rule over the Decepticons and be a threat to all Cybertronians.” Megatron hummed and sat back down, eager to see what Shockwave meant, as the story continued on. It’s at the episode ‘Evolution’ that Megatron finally gets his answer, and he has to say he agrees with Shockwave’s conclusion. 

“What if his t-cog is removed before he is brought online?” There was silence in the war room as Megatron stared at Shockwave, but the scientist's field was giving off an unusual sense of hesitation as he turned his helm to Stardust. Everybot in the room was giving Shockwave some kind of look on the spectrum of confusion or curiosity, and didn't seem to notice the rigid posture with which Stardust stood. He was staring at the far wall, trying to keep his facial expression and field under control. Megatron raised an optic ridge at that and expanded his field to encompass the triple changer, engulfing him in an exhorted demand. Stardust shuddered, his optics cycling closed before fluttering open to look at the warlord. With his own field wrapped around the smaller mech, he could feel his anger and unease.

“I require an answer, Stardust, and it seems my science Commander is hesitant to give one on your behalf.” The mech furrowed his optic ridges and squirmed a little under all the stares that turned his way.

“I… my apologies, My Liege, there is another universe where… the population of mining bots had their t-cogs secretly removed by Sentinel Prime before they came online, including D-16 and Orion Pax. Sentinel wasn't even a true Prime, he was the principal aid to the original 13, who he betrayed by luring them into a trap by the Quintessons. He personally killed Nexus Prime, Solas Prime, Zeta Prime, Alpha Trion, and Megatronus Prime before taking over as ruler of Cybertron, though he actually worked for the Quintessons. The removal of a piece of oneself without their knowledge is… just a touchy subject. It was actually the final reason I chose the Decepticons over the Autobots. There shouldn't be any scientific or medical reason that the Predacon's t-cog can't be removed. It shouldn't hinder his abilities or performance, but there's no way of telling how he will react if he finds out. The version of you from Transformers One literally tore Sentinel in half in revenge, despite being smaller than him at the time. The media for that story is on Shockwave's datapad if it interests you.” Megatron was stunned into silence, his optics boring into Stardust's own while his thoughts battled with each other. It's one thing for him to order the removal of a lesser being’s t-cog, or one he deems to be a lesser being, but it's another to learn that a version of himself from a different universe had been robbed of a vital component of their biology. The fact that Orion Pax was also a miner in this universe made him feel… Primus, he didn't know how he felt about it. He was pissed on account of the miners of this Transformers One universe, his own status as a miner before his Gladiatorial days rearing its ugly head and gouging out the innards of his spark chamber. 

Megatron came back to reality when Shockwave called out his title as their Lord and Master, and he realized he was being stared at by all of his officers and Stardust had shrunk into his plating as much as he could. It was an odd juxtaposition from his earlier display of bravery against Starscream, but not surprising considering Megatron’s field was still expanded and full of his distaste and slowly building rage.

“I see the reason for your… concern, however the decision is mine and mine alone. I will think about it and come to a resolution. In the meantime, the Predacon is to remain on Cybertron until the need for the beast arises.” Megatron pulled his field back and watched at Stardust’s shoulders and wings sagged in relief. A brief moment of regret came over the warlord’s spark before he fought it off with a mental snarl. Megatron does not regret anything, much less making somebot feel fear toward him! 

The next three episodes flew by fairly quickly, most of what happened with Soundwave and Ratchet's capture wouldn't be happening as Project Predacon was on hold and they already had the full formula for synthetic energon. Knowing they can create Cybermatter from combining Cybernucleic Acid and synthetic energon and use it in the Omega Lock if need be was another advantage they had over the Autobots. 

At the last episode, Megatron wasn't sure what would happen as the story was concluding and there still seemed so much that needed to happen. None of the Autobots had been vanquished, his Decepticons were still fighting strong, and they hadn't terraformed Earth yet, much less gotten to Cybertron. 

“Lord Megatron?” A small quiet voice beside him brought his attention over to Stardust. The triple changer had his faceplates screwed up in what looked like pain, his audial fins and wings were quivering, and his field pulsed with barely contained anguish. Megatron raised an optic ridge at the sight.

“Are you malfunctioning?” 

“No, sir… I… would like to request permission to… stand outside for the remainder of this episode… I never watch this episode anymore… and… I…” A huffed vent from next to him told Megatron that Starscream thought the request was ridiculous, and Megatron would have agreed with him had it not been for the fact that Stardust looked ready to break. For some Primus forsaken reason, that didn't sit well with the tyrant, and that was a rather annoying concept that he ignored for the sake of his dignity.

"What is your reasoning?” Stardust glanced sideways at the screen before turning back to Megatron with a pleading look.

"Something happens this episode that … I fully intend to prevent, even if it costs me my own life, but… having to watch it …” Stardust paused long enough for Megatron to make a decision. There wasn't a single thing he could think of that could cause the mech this much pain, so Megatron wanted to know what it was and he wouldn't find that out if he allowed Stardust to leave. 

"Permission denied.” Megatron didn't give Stardust a chance to rebuke his decision, turning away from him but not missing the very quiet whimper he let out.

"Yes, sir.” His voice was quiet, pained, and Megatron would have kicked himself if he were alone for wanting to turn back to comfort the mech. He would not give in to this human-turned-Cybertronian's cursed EM field like his ensnared lead science officer had, he was stronger than that. 

Starscream scoffed with a smirk, his field rolling with petty smugness until Megatron glared at him in response. The seeker faltered and turned away from his leader's blazing red optics to observe the fight between Optimus and Megatron atop the newly constructed Omega Lock. 

Not two kliks later, Megatron got his answer to what exactly Stardust was so adamant about avoiding. The gratification he felt with Bumblebee's demise quickly melted away, replaced with rapid fire emotions including shock, fear, anxiety, confusion, and bitterness. Watching his own death was surreal to say the least, but the most vexing thing about it was when he turned to Stardust slack jawed and wide-opticed only to see the other mech's helm turned the opposite direction from the view screen. Stardust's optic lids were shut so tight they were sure to be giving off pain signals, his wings and audial fins were shaking more, and his mouth was set in a snarl, fanged denta glimmering with fresh energon, a small trickle of their lifeblood flowing from the corner of his mouth. 

Now he knew, but now he was even more confused as to the reasoning behind such a strong reaction to his passing. He just met Stardust not three orbital cycles ago, and in person only two solar cycles ago, so why was he so affected by the death of somebot he barely knew? Of course Stardust knew him in his world when he had been human, but that was when he had been a fictional character. Megatron was real to him now, so perhaps that could be the cause of such a reaction? But why him? Why the leader of the Decepticons with so much blood staining his armor that it turned his red protomesh purple?

Stardust is the most vexing bot he has ever met, and Megatron wonders once again what is so different about his EM field to have trapped Shockwave, Soundwave (he saw his Communications Officer practically dragging the mech along earlier, Soundwave wasn't sneaky), and even himself. The fact that Stardust has an active gestation tank raised quite a few dormant emotions that Megatron swore he had slain eons ago before he even became a gladiator. Longing, desire, apprehension, nervousness . Megatron of Tarn, Champion of the Pits of Kaon, Tyrannical Warlord, and Leader of the Decepticons does not get nervous. Sire protocols he didn't even know he had ached , and how can a protocol ache? It's not a physical entity, it's a program for Pit’s sake! 

…what is Soundwave doing?

Megatron, still reeling from watching his own death and Stardust's reaction to it, watched in confused awe as his TIC approached Stardust and grazed his long thin digits over the other's shoulder armor. The distraught mech turned to the spymaster, his features softening slightly at Soundwave's tilted helm. The spindly bot was communicating with Stardust via comm link, Megatron knew his old friend well enough to be able to tell. Though, perhaps he didn't know him as well as he thought considering his out of character reaction to Stardust's distress. Soundwave wasn't much for physical touch, not since their gladiatorial days due to what he lost in that arena, and who he lost. 

Megatron hadn't been watching the screen, his full attention on the two mechs to his side, so the end of the episode, and thus the series, startled him out of his stupor. He glared at the screen, clenched his fist and growled out his next order.

“Out. All of you. I need to speak with Stardust, alone.”

Chapter Text

Shit, slag, frag, fuck, scrap, cazzo, merda, kuso, ssi-bal! 

What other curse words does Stardust know?! Why is this happening to him?! He's about to be alone in a room with the object of his desires after his definitely not contained reaction to said object's on-screen death. He was not subtle about how he feels about that particular event, and now Megatron wants to talk to him alone . He knows he's threatened Primus before, but he prays to their maker that he doesn't do or say anything stupid. 

The room had already been vacated, Shockwave stopping next to him to grab his servo, squeeze it, then tell him to comm him when Megatron is finished with him. Despite the encouragement and support he felt from Shockwave's field, the verbiage he used had Stardust's anxiety flying through the roof. ‘Finished with him’?! What does that even mean?! What is he going to do to him?! 

Soundwave was the last to leave, his servo remaining on Stardust's shoulder until he walked away, throwing a glance toward Megatron. The warlord only gave a single nod to the silent bot before he turned to Stardust with a hardened stare. 

Stardust felt a need to explain himself, defend himself even, but he wasn't Starscream and he wasn't a coward that would grovel at their Lord’s pedes, so he remained silent. Megatron's gaze was piercing, calculating, and demanding of every bit of Stardust's attention. 

“I will not accuse you of attempting to play a trick on me, as you have gained my trust by being completely honest thus far. The information gleaned from this show of yours, as well as the cortical psychic patch have proven you and your knowledge reliable. So, relax.” Stardust shuddered as his frame took the order to spark and loosened up, a hiss of air leaving his vents. 

“Apologies My Lord, the last thing I want is to disappoint or upset you.” Megatron just tilted his helm to the side and gestured for Stardust to approach. He did so, taking a handful of steps to be standing next to the warlord’s seat. Megatron raised his servo and used one of his talons to wipe away the small trickle of energon still staining Stardust's chin from where he had torn his glossa with his denta earlier. The former gladiator brought the digit to his own derma, his glossa snaking out to clean his talon of the glowing blue fluid. 

Oh, Primus.  

Stardust shivered, his wings twitched, and he had to swallow the pool of fluid suddenly accumulating in his mouth. So Cybertronians in the Primeverse do have salivary fluid, and it was completely tasteless. 

“Open your intake.” Stardust fought off another shudder, doing as told and trying to ignore the very small smirk on Megatron's face. 

“Show me your glossa.” This time the shudder was too strong to fight off, and Megatron's smirk grew as the smaller bot stuck his glossa out. That smirk turned into a frown though, and Megatron used the same talon that the warlord’s own glossa was wrapped around to press against Stardust's own. He flinched at the pain he felt there, startled by the sensation, the suddenness of it not even allowing him to process that Megatron had his finger pressing down his glossa . If he had realized, he probably wouldn't have been able to stop himself from curling his glossa around the talon, damage and embarrassment be damned. 

“You have damaged yourself. You will report to the medbay after our conversation concludes and have this repaired.” Megatron removed his digit with a final pet over the undamaged side of Stardust's glossa and gestured to the seat next to him. The triple changer swallowed again, a little embarrassed at the amount of salivary fluid that he was dangerously close to drooling all over Megatron’s servo. 

“Have a seat.” Stardust looked at the chair then back to Megatron.

“In Soundwave's seat, sir?” Megatron raised an optic ridge.

“Unless you would prefer to sit on my lap.” 

Yes! Primus, yes!

Stardust blushed, his audial fins twitched and so did his wings as he stood at attention. 

“Uh... I… um….” A grin was slowly forming on Megatron's face the longer Stardust continued to stammer over his words and the deeper his blush got. For a nanoklik, Megatron thought Stardust might actually say yes, he certainly wanted to, but the bot turned and ungracefully took a seat. He looked at Megatron, blush still on his faceplates, and his optics drawn to the points of the tyrant's derma peeking out from his grin. A grin that was replaced with Megatron's signature resting bitch face. 

“You had quite the reaction to my death. I assume that was the event you would have preferred not to witness?” Stardust had to fight off the urge to look down at his lap and fiddle with his fingers, a habit he hasn't had since he was a child. 

“Yes sir. I… don't like seeing you… hurt… much less,” Stardust turned to the blank screen, “that.” He turned back to his leader. 

“I know showing… care and anything akin to kindness or any emotion is viewed as a weakness amongst the Decepticons, and I apologize for my lack of control.” Megatron actually laughed, his helm thrown back, and Stardust blushed again at the sound, his spark feeling like it was choked out for a moment. 

“On the contrary! Based on what I have seen today, you are anything but weak, Stardust. Your emotions seem to make you stronger, more fierce, fearless even. You cannot feel your own field, but let me assure you, when you do not control it, your field informs those around you that you are not easily taken advantage of. I value that in a soldier, especially one of my soldiers.” Stardust's shoulders were starting to feel sore from how much his frame was shuddering at Megatron’s words, and to be referred to as his, in any capacity, was enough to make him melt. 

“I am curious as to why you don't wish to see me in pain. You almost show care for me in a way I will admit I am not used to.” Stardust gave his leader a smile, the gesture again catching Megatron slightly off guard as he tilted his helm.

“I do care for you, My Lord. Back in my world, when I was still… human… Transformers was my favorite franchise. In every iteration, be it TV show, movie, game, or comic, you were my favorite character, and this universe, dubbed the Primeverse, is my favorite universe and you are my favorite version of Megatron. In my opinion, you are the strongest, smartest, most dangerous version of Megatron, and you’re the one I have the highest respect and admiration for.” Megatron seemed to digest those words for a klik, his expression unchanging but his optics were glowing. It’s easy to stroke Megatron’s ego, but unlike Starscream, the warlord is far more reserved about showing his arrogance. Stardust knew that nobot ever verbally expressed their admiration for Megatron. Starscream doesn’t count cause his words were always laced with sarcasm or came from a place of self-preservation, and Dreadwing doesn’t count either because he admires and respects Megatron’s strength and nothing else. 

“I have not received praise like that since my gladiatorial days, unless you count Starscream.” Stardust rolled his optics with a smirk, having just been thinking about the seeker’s type of ‘praise’. It seems they had a similar thought process or were at least on the same page when it came to the military Commander. 

“Starscream only gives praise laced with sarcasm and mockery or out of a need for self-preservation.” Megatron chuckles again, and Stardust’s smirk turns into a soft smile.

“That he does. I will warn you to use caution around Starscream. While I allowed your display of defiance against one of my second in commands earlier, that was only a product of circumstances. I cannot allow it every time you and Starscream do not agree on something, he may be on thin ice, as it were, but he is still your commanding officer.” Stardust sat up straight at that, cringing a little.

“Of course, My Lord, I won’t let it happen again.” 

“You can stand up for yourself, amongst my ranks, that is a necessity, but be mindful of the difference between holding your ground and being obedient.” Stardust nodded, having an idea of what the warlord means, in other words, don’t let Starscream walk all over you.

“Yes, sir, thank you for the advice.” Megatron hummed and turned his helm to the blank screen.

“What events will we see in this final movie?” He turned back to Stardust expectantly, blinking his optic lids a few times when Stardust growled a single name.

“Unicron.” 

“He returns? How?”

“They didn’t really explain much of how, except that Unicron’s conscience is still alive, and he is able to take control of your body, bringing you back to life but keeping you trapped under his control. He changes your frame - which the mech has no taste whatsoever cause the frame you have now is gorgeous and he absolutely destroys it and makes it look… terrible  - then he flies to Cybertron. He uses Dark Energon to resurrect a graveyard of Predacons and attempts to attack the Well Of AllSparks to destroy Primus. He is stopped by Optimus who had gone to retrieve the AllSpark itself. Optimus takes the energy of the AllSpark into his own frame and then extracts Unicron from your body and traps him inside the vessel that held the AllSpark. You’re freed from his control, but because of what he did to you, you decide to disband the Decepticons, no longer wishing to inflict that which he had done to you. Optimus gives his life by joining his spark with Primus to return the AllSpark to the Well and brings forth millions of new Cybertronians.” 

“Interesting. I would still like to watch these events myself, but considering your reaction to my death, and the anger I sense from you in regard to what Unicron does to my gorgeous frame , you wish not to watch these events again?” Stardust hadn’t realized the noun that he had used to describe Megatron’s current frame, and to hear the warlord repeat it back to him in such a smug voice with his signature sexy smirk on his face has Stardust blushing again and actually burying his face in his servos.

“Oh my god… yes please.” His voice was muffled by his servos and his blush was hidden, but that didn’t stop it from getting worse when Megatron laughed again. Stardust was pouting when Megatron reached forward and removed his servos from his face, his pout getting worse when the warlord’s smirk grew.

“Do not hide from me, young one. Your words flatter me, not only have you praised my abilities and intelligence, but now my physicality. It almost seems like you like me. ” Stardust’s optics widened and he had to reset his vocalizer a few times, ‘clearing his throat’ even though he didn’t actually need to do that anymore.

“Yeah, well… I… um….” He tried to look away, he knew he was a bad liar already, but when it came to Megatron he couldn’t lie at all, and he felt a flutter in his spark chamber as realization and a smirk both formed on Megatron’s face at the same time. Luckily, he didn’t say anything about it, only released Stardust’s servos, his talons nearly caressing the triple changer’s fingers as they detangled. 

“We are done here, you may go. I will send for High Command to watch the remaining movie, but you do not need to be here for it, since it upsets you so.” Stardust wasn’t sure if he should be surprised, grateful, or confused, so all three emotions swirled around his spark all at once. Not only was Megatron allowing him to skip watching Predacon Rising because of how much his leader’s death affects him as well as his resurrection at Unicron’s hands… servos? Whatever, but the warlord was also being kind to him and wasn’t judging him either.

“Would you like me to go back to my quarters and await orders after my visit to the medbay? I don’t have any official duties as of yet.” 

“That will not be necessary. As I said, you have earned my trust, and I believe that should come with a little freedom. There are certain sections of the ship you are not allowed in, and they are marked red on the map you received from Soundwave, however, familiarize yourself with the rest of the Nemesis . You will be receiving a duty roster in due time, but I do expect to see you logging joors in the training rooms, as your combat inadequacies must be remedied.”  

Stardust stood, gave his leader a smile, nod, and a bow before exiting the room. He sent a ping to Shockwave that he was a free mech for the time being and the scientist told him not to move from outside the war room, so he just stood there and waited. He pondered on Megatron’s reaction to his emotions, explanations, and praises. When he was transported here and finally accepted his situation, he had started to think about what Megatron would think of him, as the warlord’s approval was the one he vied for the most. He has always been emotional, though he got very good at internalizing it to keep himself safe, but when he’s around those he trusts and cares about - even though that hasn’t happened in a very long time - he tends to get lax on his emotional control. He was expecting to have to really control his emotions around the Decepticons, and he has been trying, but he got so comfortable and safe with Shockwave that it's almost like he’d never trained himself to not show his emotions. 

He was expecting to be admonished by the other Decepticons, especially Megatron, for his emotions and for caring in the way that he does. When he cares about someone, he has no problem showing it, mostly physically as he is actually very affectionate, but also verbally and with acts of service. Being disowned and abandoned by literally everyone when he was human, he didn’t have anyone he felt comfortable being that way with. When Shockwave came around, and the mech seemed to take quite the liking to him, something Stardust was still pretty surprised about, that side of him came back with a vengeance and only got worse thanks to his broken heats. Stardust was beyond grateful that the only Decepticon that has shown any annoyance with his emotions and care for others is Starscream, which Stardust fully expected, and maybe Airachnid a little. 

Stardust was pulled from his pondering by a glass visor right in front of his face that had a blinking smiley face on it. It caught him so off guard that Stardust actually laughed and grabbed onto one of Soundwave’s servos to steady himself.

“Hi there, cutie.” The smiley face on Soundwave’s visor glitched out and Stardust saw the blushing emoji flashing a couple times before the smiley face came back. Stardust smirked, having just witnessed what is probably Soundwave’s version of blushing, and squeezed his servo.

“If you’re that starved for attention, pretty bot, I’d be happy to shower you with as much as you want, as much as you deserve.” It was easier to flirt with Soundwave and Shockwave than it was Megatron as the warlord just made him super flustered and seemed to always have the upper servo, but with Soundwave, it seems he could easily keep the advantage against him, at least in this respect. Soundwave’s visor glitched out again, and went blank for a klik, worrying Stardust that he may have broken the communications chief or something. 

“Soundwave?”

“That is disgusting, and I could have you disciplined for speaking to your superior like that.” Stardust turned to see Starscream standing a couple paces away, and his first reaction was to growl at the seeker, but Megatron’s words rang in his processor.

“You can stand up for yourself, amongst my ranks, that is a necessity, but be mindful of the difference between holding your ground and being obedient.” While Stardust wanted to tell Starscream off, he knew this was one of those times where he had to bite the bullet and be obedient. He dropped Soundwave’s servo and stood a little straighter.

“Commander Starscream, my apologies sir, I will be more mindful of my words.” Screamer raised an optic ridge, most likely suspicious of the complete difference from the mech he had faced off against earlier. 

“Yes, well, see to it that you are.” Starscream moved around Stardust and Soundwave to enter the war room, and Stardust waited till the door slid shut before he stuck his damaged glossa out at where the mech had gone. The action caught Soundwave’s attention, breaking him out of whatever daze he had been in, and he reached up to turn Stardust’s helm toward him, using two thin digits to lightly grab the triple changer’s glossa before he pulled it back into his mouth. Stardust made a startled sound, his faceplates heating up at having his glossa handled in such a way for the second time in the last joor. Soundwave’s visor flashed with ‘!!!’ and ‘???’ interchangeably while he gently probed at the damage with his opposite servo. Stardust smiled as best he could and grabbed both of Soundwave’s wrists in his own servos to gently pull them away from his face. 

“It’s nothing to worry about, Soundwave, I’ll be heading to the medbay to have it fixed as soon as Shockwave shows up.” Stardust didn’t realize his thumbs had started to rub circles over Soundwave’s wrist joints until the mech shuddered and his fingers twitched. The triple changer smirked again, and pulled one wrist to his derma to softly kiss a thin palm, not taking his optics off of Soundwave’s visor where the spy master’s own optics would be.

“You really are starved for attention, poor bot. You’re Lord Megatron’s most competent soldier, you deserve to be praised for what you do for our Master, you deserve to be worshiped for all the hard work you put in.” Stardust was having too much fun right now! The shivering of the lithe frame in front of him, the fact that Soundwave was even letting him do this in the first place, and seemed to like it , if the small whine of his stealth engine was anything to go by. The power trip Stardust was getting at the moment was completely squandered by a wolf whistle and a growl of a tank engine from next to them. The tri-toned bot kept his derma pressed against Soundwave’s palm, and continued to rub circles into his wrist with his thumb while he side-opticed Knock Out and Shockwave as they approached. Knock Out had been the one to whistle, and the angry rev of an engine had come from the science Commander.

“Stardust.” Shockwave’s tone was one of warning, and Stardust pouted as he released Soundwave’s wrists, but not before giving his palm one more kiss and smirking at the glitching visor. Shockwave pushed Soundwave toward the war room with his cannon, the deep blue mech entering the room in a haze. The smirk was wiped off Stardust’s face when Shockwave turned an angry optic on him, his field snapping against his own.

“What?”

“You are pushing your luck.” Stardust knew he was, but he also could feel in Shockwave’s field that it wasn’t true anger that the scientist was feeling, but something more akin to jealousy. He grinned at that while looking at Knock Out who just smirked back and entered the war room without a word. Stardust turned back to his friend and quickly pulled the officer against his frame, brushing his derma against the side of Shockwave’s helm.

“You’re jealous.” Shockwave didn’t pull back, but he didn’t move forward either, keeping completely still as Stardust vented air against his frame.

“Jealousy is illogical.” Stardust chuckled and full on pressed his derma against the side of Shockwave’s helm.

“Of course it is, every emotion is illogical, yet, that doesn’t change the fact that you’re jealous . If you want something from me, Shockwave , all you need to do is ask.” Stardust was about to put one of Shockwave’s antennae fully into his mouth and wrap his glossa around it, but another voice stopped him, making him growl instead.

“What are you doing ?” Stardust turned toward Airachnid with a glare, words slipping from his mouth before he could stop them.

“I was about to make this mech moan my name, but you just had to ruin the mood with your existence.” Airachnid hissed and Stardust growled back in response.

“Why you insolent child!” Before either bot could do anything, Shockwave powered up his cannon, the sound making the femme flinch back and making Stardust tense as the cannon was pressed against his side considering he still had the scientist pulled against his frame.

“That is enough. Airachnid, enter the war room before I offline you for being annoying.” The femme did as told, but hissed at the pair as she followed the command. Stardust actually felt a little ashamed as Shockwave pulled away from him, his cannon powering down.

“I’m sorry, Shockwave, I shouldn’t have-”

“Silence.” Stardust snapped his mouth shut, his audial fins twitching back.

“Are you coming in with me, or has Lord Megatron given you a task to complete?” 

“I am to report to the medbay to have my glossa repaired. Lord Megatron hasn’t given me any duties to perform yet, so I think I’ll head to the training room after that.” The questioning push of Shockwave’s field had Stardust opening his mouth and showing the purple mech his glossa, to which he hummed at.

“Very well. Do not overdo yourself as you did back at the citadel. I cannot oversee your training as I have been, but I will attempt to join you as often as I can.” Stardust gave his friend a smile and nodded, then watched him enter the war room. The charge Stardust felt move through his frame from what both Shockwave and Soundwave had allowed him to do to them had already disappeared. It made him rather annoyed and almost desperate to take that annoyance out on a few training drones. So, now that Shockwave had shown up, he was able to leave for the medbay, assuming Breakdown was there to patch him up since the blue mech didn’t show up with the others and was the only other medically trained bot on board. After that, he would absolutely be taking his frustrations out on the training room.

Chapter Text

Stardust's assumption was correct, Breakdown was waiting for him when he entered the medbay, even gesturing to the med berth and telling him to sit before he even said anything. The berth had been laid flat so he could just sit on the side and allow the medical assistant to shuffle up to him.

“Alright, let me see.” Stardust presented his glossa for the fourth time that cycle, wanting to pout at the amused sound Breakdown made.

“Did Megatron do that to you?” Stardust rolled his optics as Breakdown walked away to grab the necessary supplies. 

“I wish. If he was the one who did this to me that would imply I had my glossa in his mouth. No, I did this to myself.” Breakdown fumbled with the cylinder in his servos, barely catching it before it shattered on the floor and the wide opticed look he gave Stardust had the triple changer laughing. 

“You… what?! You want to kiss Megatron? Megatron?” Stardust smirked and leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs, just above his knee guards. 

“Oh, don't act like you and Knock Out haven't thought about it. It wouldn't surprise me if your conjunx has actually wanted to role play having our Master in berth with you.” Breakdown's faceplate turned a pretty shade of blue making Stardust's smirk grow, and he chuckled when the medical assistant pushed on his shoulder pauldron to get him to sit up straight. Stardust stuck his glossa out again, this time with a wag of his optic ridges that Breakdown ignored, but he flinched when the blue mech grabbed his glossa and started to apply a gel-like substance to it from the cylinder. When he was done he pulled back and put his supplies away while Stardust adjusted to the weird weight on his glossa.

“What is this stuff, nanite gel or something?” 

“That's exactly what it is. Don't poke at it, moron. It’ll speed up the healing process by a few solar cycles, and will dissolve into your systems on its own. Just don't go exchanging salivary fluid with anybot until after it runs its course.” Stardust rolled his optics, the weird feeling of the gel making his speech just a little puffy, like he was speaking with a swollen tongue. 

“That won't be a problem. Every time I've tried to get some I get interrupted.” Breakdown gave Stardust a look, one that had the triple changer raising an optic ridge at.

“What's that look for?”

“With your systems all messed up due to that lockdown protocol and your broken heats, your frame can't keep a charge, so you shouldn't be trying to ‘get some’ at all.” Stardust blinked his optic lids, his pupils cycling a couple times.

“Are you seriously spike blocking me?!” Breakdown smirked with a roll of his optic. 

“Yes, and apparently we need to make it doctor's orders. Since you can't hold a charge we don't know what it'll do to your frame if you overload, if you even can overload.” Stardust fell back on the berth with a groan, his arms spread out like an annoyed teenager.

“Dude, you suck! I had Soundwave shuddering and glitching for me earlier and now you're telling me I can't follow through with my promise! That's just cruel, mech.” Breakdown laughed at him and smacked the outside of his thigh. 

“Not my problem, now get out of my medbay.” Stardust stood and started to sulk toward the door with a pout and a mumbled,

“Technically it's Knock Out's medbay.” A random tool went flying by Stardust's helm and clattering into the hallway making the mech jog out the door with a laugh. He pulled up his map once he was safely out of range and used it to navigate toward the training room, fully intent on immersing himself in either destroying training drones, or increasing the difficulty so he gets his own aft kicked. 

~

The war room was silent as the credits rolled for Predacon Rising, every bot looking from the screen to their Master who was glaring at nothing in particular.

“Soundwave, have the location of the AllSpark recorded and send everything you have made a record of to my personal datapad. Shockwave and Knock Out get started on those dampeners. The rest of you, back to your regular duties, I will be retiring to my quarters to devise a plan of action moving forward and I am not to be disturbed.” 

“What about Stardust, Master? What is to be done with him?” Megatron didn't like what Starscream was insinuating with his tone and verbiage, and had to hold back a growl at how the seeker seemed to be implying that Stardust has become useless now that they have reviewed the footage he brought with him.

“Soundwave, where is our dear triple changer now?” Soundwave took barely a nanoklik before security footage of one of the training rooms started to air on the screen they just finished TF Prime on. The footage showed Stardust in a sword duel with two training drones and holding his own fairly well. He charged one drone with his blades ready to strike, but came to a skidding stop in front of it when the other drone leapt over its partner to attack. Stardust spun on one pede while lowering his body into a crouch, avoiding the drone from above while also ducking a side swing from the drone in front of him. He threw his body into another spiral, bringing one leg up to round house one drone in the helm and completing the move by flipping both blades in his servos and burying them in the chassis of the second drone. Stardust gave one more spin, removing the blades from the sparking drone and beheading the barely recovered first drone. 

“Wow.” Megatron, had he been any other mech, probably would have agreed with Knock Out's admiration, but he had more control and kept his awe to himself. 

“Stardust seems occupied enough. He will be given his own responsibilities, but for now he will focus on his training.” Megatron left it at that, not even bothering to glance at Starscream as he rose from his seat and exited the room. 

“That mech hasn't even been on this ship for three solar cycles, and he's already receiving special treatment? Has our Master gone soft?” Starscream scoffed at Airachnid's words, apparently he was smarter than the spider femme since he had kept his thoughts to himself considering who was still in the room. Both Shockwave and Soundwave's fields expanded at the same time, immersing the room in distaste and anger.

“It would be wise to keep those thoughts to yourself, Airachnid, since not one, but two of our superior officers are quite taken with our new recruit.” Airachnid looked at Knock Out, then, feeling the ominous fields of the blue and purple mechs, turned to see both of them staring at her. 

“It seems Stardust is a special case, since even Shockwave is enamored with the mech, but one can't blame them. Did you feel his field? There’s something special about Stardust's EM field, something that may even be affecting the Big M. Breakdown and myself feel it as well, but it doesn't affect us as much, most likely because we are conjunxed.” Shockwave broke from glaring at Airachnid, his own field still slapping a warning against the femme's to keep her in line. 

“It is highly probable that Primus’ involvement with Stardust’s creation, as well as providing Stardust with an active gestation tank, could be the cause of the abnormality. The purpose of the abnormality is, as of yet, unclear.” 

“Abnormality… purpose… enamored… conjunxed.” Every bot looked at Soundwave, but Shockwave was the only one who seemed to understand what the spy master was trying to say. 

“You believe Primus created Stardust’s EM field to purposefully enamor those around him? As a way of drawing potential sires to him?” Soundwave nodded, but something wasn't adding up with the final movie they just watched.

“If Primus created Stardust to be a sire magnet as a way to save our species, why choose a human that sided with the Decepticons? Why not one that was loyal to Primus’ precious Autobots? It is no secret that we could all have cared less about preserving our kind before Stardust showed up. To add to that, why allow Stardust to bring this show with him if it is going to lead us to the AllSpark's exact location? With the AllSpark, Stardust's gestation tank is redundant.” Half a klik of speculative silence followed Starscream's words before Shockwave spoke up.

“Perhaps our creator chose Stardust because he is a Decepticon, and Stardust admitted to wanting an active gestation tank as a back up plan should something happen to the AllSpark. The Autobots have no shortage of care for preserving our race, while we have been quite the opposite. It is possible Primus is trying to sway our ideals so we may safeguard our species as well.” That got everybot thinking. Was Shockwave right? Did Primus choose Stardust and make his EM field nearly irresistible because he wants the Decepticons to start giving a frag about whether or not their kind survives this war? Is Stardust truly the answer to ending the war as Primus had stated in the cortical psychic patch? Soundwave and Shockwave have been affected by Stardust the most, and even Megatron has started to show interest in the triple changer, while Knock Out and Breakdown could care less due to their status as conjunxes. Starscream and Airachnid are far more stubborn, both feeling the pull toward Stardust but not wanting to give in to the mech without a fight, and it seemed like Stardust didn't care for them all that much anyway. 

“An experiment may be in order to ascertain the full effects of Stardust's EM field.” 

“That may not be possible until the lockdown protocol deactivates and his broken heats are remedied. If you want the full effects, it’s best to have fully active and unhindered coding.”

“Lockdown protocol and broken heats?” Starscream hadn't heard anything about those yet, did he miss a report? He listened intently to Shockwave's answer explaining the protocol Primus installed on Stardust’s processor and his distorted heats. Starscream suddenly felt slightly guilty for the way he's treated Stardust, then caught himself and nearly growled at the fact that his stubbornness was running out and the triple changer was starting to get to him as well. He refused to like the mech… no matter what his field did to Starscream’s spark and processor. 

“Knock Out, we have work to do, we should get started.” Shockwave stood, the red medic following close behind with a scowl on his faceplate. They both disappeared out the door, the rest of High Command following, going back to their regular duties.

~

Stardust was quite enjoying himself at the moment! Not only was he taking his frustrations out on the training drones, he had increased their difficulties and was keeping up better than he thought he would, but he was also drawing a crowd of Vehicons and Eradicons. When he was human, he had never really liked being watched, too self conscious of himself, but now, as a Cybertornian with a rather beautiful frame design and two members of High Command vying for his attention, Stardust couldn't help but feel elated at the audience. His smirk hadn't left his face for the last half a joor as the floor was littered with dismantled training drones and he could feel the rolling waves of admiration, respect, and praise coming from both Vehicon classes. 

When the last drone fell, Stardust was standing with one blade pointing down and behind him and the other blade held backwards and flat against his forearm. He locked optics with the Eradicon directly in front of him, grinned, and winked at them. They twitched and tried to stand straighter, but only managed to somehow lose their balance and stumbled backward into another couple Eradicons. They caught the poor bot and playfully shoved them around a little as Stardust started to walk toward the training room door which just so happened to be behind this particular group of Eradicons. When they noticed him approaching, they all watched like hawks stalking a field mouse, it made Stardust shudder with a purr. He put his twin blades in their rightful place on his back just as he got to the Eradicons. As they made a path for him he reached up and trailed the tips of his fingers over one of the soldier's faceplates, feeling them shiver and lean forward to follow his servo. He kept walking while speaking loud enough for every trooper in the room to hear him,

“Such good bots.” He didn't stay to watch their reactions, instead sauntering out of the room, having to hold back a squealed giggle at several breathy sounding curse words that followed. 

“Primus, Vehicons are so easy.” Having trained for the last… three or four joors, Stardust felt ready to refuel, so he pulled his map up and headed for the galley with a pep in his step. 

~ 

The galley was decently full of more Vehicons and Eradicons when Stardust entered, and when most of them turned their helms toward him he couldn't hold back a smirk. He really had to get himself under control or he was absolutely going to turn into an egotistical whore, not that he wasn't a slut already, but there was no need to add to it. Just the thought of how slutty he is made him grimace at the reminder that he was under ‘doctor's orders’ to not berth anybot, and wasn't that just dandy. Maybe he could convince Megatron to rescind that command since the Decepticon Army didn't follow the whole Doctor's Orders trump our Leader's Orders stuff like the Autobots do. He grinned at that as he approached a counter with a Vehicon behind it. 

“Sir?” Stardust tilted his helm at the trooper and leaned both arms on the counter, peaking into what almost looked like a kitchen… or the Cybertronian equivalent.

“You troopers’ve been made aware of my situation, right? Who I am?” The Vehicon tilted his helm at Stardust’s use of the odd contraction.

“Yes sir. You're a new build, but you were human before, right?” Stardust growled.

“Unfortunately, that is correct. Because of that, the only energon I've tried is the small cubes at the Decepticon citadel in Kaon, High Command galley. So I'm not sure how all of this works.” The trooper seemed surprised for a moment before nodding his helm.

“Of course, sir, our rations aren't as regulated as they used to be, with raw energon being in such high supply on Earth. They aren’t the high end stuff like the cubes you're used to, but we do have options for flavors and additives. Has Doctor Knock Out given you orders for any specific additives?” Stardust almost snorted a laugh at how ‘Doctor Knock Out’ sounded, but was able to shake his helm with merely a smirk.

“Then I would suggest keeping to pure energon with copper and chromium flakes. The copper helps slow your rate of fuel consumption, and chromium maximizes your energy output.” Stardust hummed with a tilt of his own helm, then nodded. 

“Alright, ration me up then, gorgeous.” The Vehicon froze, his visor style optic just staring at Stardust who smirked, staring back. The longer Stardust grinned at the trooper, the harder he would blush. The triple changer moved to cradle his chin in his servos and blinked innocently at the Vehicon. 

“Are you going to make me beg?” The bot snapped out of it with a rev of his engine and burning faceplates. He turned and worked with a flurry of movements, then turned back and set down a larger cube than what Stardust was used to. The red mech picked the cube up and took a sip, letting out a small moan despite the flavor being nothing special, delighting in the shiver from the bot across the counter. He grinned at him then leaned against the counter again.

“Thank you. So, how am I supposed to tell you Vehicons apart?” The trooper composed himself impressively quickly and expanded his field until it brushed against Stardust’s own. The red mech blinked a couple times then tilted his helm.

“Huh, that’s interesting. Your designation is K35-T?” The Vehicon nodded, his field fluttering with satisfaction at that.

“Yes, sir. All Vehicons and Eradicons have designations instead of names, and they are built into our EM fields. If you feel the EM field of any Vehicon trooper you encounter, their field will tell you their designation.” Stardust took another sip of his energon then smiled at K35-T.

“Thanks K.T. that’s actually a huge help!” The Vehicon snapped to attention at the nickname and gave an awkward salute.

“Yes, sir, you’re welcome sir!” Stardust fully laughed at that.

“Easy now! There’s no need for saluting or even calling me sir, just Stardust is fine.” The Vehicon shrunk in on himself a little, his field flaring with embarrassment. He nodded and watched Stardust walk away before he was nearly tackled and bombarded with questions by a group of his batchmates. 

Stardust, completely aware of what was happening behind him thanks to his sensitive audials, was grinning as he moved through the galley, inspecting the tables, chairs, walls, and other troops that hadn’t gone to harass K35-T. He was being watched by nearly everybot in the room, but they were grouped together by mechs that had their fields flared impossibly wide and full of curiosity, pulled snug against their frame, or radiating contempt, disdain, and ridicule. Those last ones had Stardust stopping by a set of tables where a group of eight or so silver Eradicons sat with their energon rations and glared at the triple changer.

“It seems like we may have a problem, gentlemechs.” He walked up to them, downed what was left of his cube, and set the cube on the table before making optic contact with each of them.

“Do we have a problem?” The Eradicon sitting in the middle of the group, most likely the leader, stood, his field hitting Stardust’s plating so hard with disgust he almost flinched, almost. Instead, Stardust growled and shifted his posture, watching from his peripherals as the other elite Eradicons stood and started to circle around him.

“You don’t belong here, vermin. You’re a vile disgrace to Cybertronians.” Stardust growled again, baring his fanged denta, and decided to widen his own field, engulfing the eight elite Eradicons in his own disdain and anger. He was quickly learning his field was stronger than he anticipated it would be, and he was taking advantage of that now as he pulsed his field with every bitter emotion he could conjure. There were multiple gasps from the group, and a couple of the silver fliers even fell to their knees clutching their chest plates. The leader was still in front of Stardust, but he was now leaning heavily against the table, his claws putting gouges into his own chest. Stardust growled again, his words coming out as vile as these bots accuse him of being, 

“And what do you intend to do about it, hmm?”

Chapter Text

Stardust continued to glare at the leader of this group of elite Eradicon troopers that have a beef with him for some reason. He suspects it has to do with how he was human before he was turned into a Cybertronian. Stardust knew he would encounter bots that wouldn’t understand or accept what he was, what he used to be, and he wanted to weed those bots out as soon as possible, force them to accept his existence, or at the very least respect it.

The eight troopers were all in varying degrees of physical distress due to the intensity of Stardust’s EM field that he was still pulsing with anger, malice, hostility, and malignance, amongst others. All of these emotions were cultivated in a single wordless warning to the Eradicons that dared threaten him, as well as any other Vehicon trooper that decided to challenge him. Megatron had said it best earlier, he is not to be taken advantage of, nor is he to be underestimated. 

“Stardust!” Speaking of… Stardust immediately pulled his field tight to his own frame, releasing the Eradicons who all fell to the floor with rattling armor, groans, and other varying sounds of pain. The triple changer turned to see Megatron standing in the entrance to the galley, Soundwave and Starscream flanking him on either side.

“Lord Megatron.” The warlord entered the galley, his thundering pedesteps echoing off the walls as he approached the scene, his expression unreadable.

“I believe you have made your point.” He growled his words out, but his optics were moving over the Eradicons scattered in a broken circle around the red bot.

“If anybot wishes to challenge Stardust, they will make a formal request so that a sparring match can be arranged in the main training room. I will not have my troops fighting in the halls, do I make myself clear?” All the troopers in the room sang out a unified ‘Yes, Lord Megatron!’, and went about their off-shift activities when their leader turned and headed for the entrance.

“Come, Stardust. The rest of you report to the medbay for repairs.” When they entered the hallway, Megatron started an open comm link.

“Knock Out, a group of Elite Eradicons decided it was a good idea to threaten our new recruit, and are in need of repairs due to their incompetence.” Stardust felt smugness and pride instantly replace every negative emotion he had thrown at the troopers, but he was able to keep his field flush against his plating as he walked behind his superiors. 

“My Liege? Can Breakdown not handle the repairs? Shockwave and I have already made considerable advancements and I believe we’re on a roll!” Megatron groaned in annoyance to which Stardust smirked at, his smirk widening when he realized it was shared with Starscream who glowered at him when he also realized they were sharing amusement.

“These repairs will be beyond your assistant’s capabilities, doctor.” 

“Right, I am headed there now, Your Majesty!” Stardust actually giggled at that, putting a servo over his mouth to try and muffle it. 

“Pretty sure he said that just to be annoying.” 

“Oh, he most certainly did.” Megatron’s words were a growl and had Stardust sending a sympathetic smile up at his back plating. 

“You are to remain in Shockwave’s lab for the remainder of the shift. Soundwave, give him the datapad.” Stardust took the device when it was handed to him, giving the communications chief a smile and a quiet ‘thank you’. 

“That datapad will be your personal device, it is loaded with your shift schedule and your responsibilities while on shift. At the end of every deca-cycle your pad will be refreshed with the following deca-cycle’s schedule. Your frame’s need for recharge has been taken into account and will automatically update as your recharge sessions dwindle. Regular training sessions are included in your shifts, but you are welcome to get in additional training if you wish. Any questions?” Stardust had already had his shift schedule pulled up and was scrolling through his first shift that is scheduled for the next solar cycle.

“A couple actually. I downloaded some history passages and poetry from the Iacon Hall Of Records not long after Primus dropped me in the middle of Iacon. Since you said this is my personal datapad, I can remove those texts from my processor and put them on here, right?” Megatron looked over his shoulder with a raised optic ridge and curiosity in his field.

“That is correct. Poetry you say? Dare I ask whose?” Stardust chuckled and gave the warlord a daringly playful grin.

“You know my favorite character in this universe, so I believe your ego will enjoy exactly whose poetry I downloaded.” Megatron actually grinned back, also chuckling though it was short lived as the former gladiator turned forward, remembering where Stardust said he got his works from.

“I highly doubt my writings are very entertaining if you received them from the Hall of Records.” Stardust’s grin turned into a sad smile.

“They are incomplete, and many of them had portions that were redacted, because Autobots fragging suck, sissy lalas that they are, but what I was able to read was actually fascinating! In my world, we fans knew you wrote poetry, it was one of the biggest pieces of lore regarding you that was consistent across continuities, but we never got the chance to actually read any of your work. Even Toward Peace, while we knew it existed, we were never given even a taste of what it could have held. Because of this, any small trace of your work that I’m allowed to read is an absolute treat.” Starscream growled from Stardust’s side, rolling his optics.

“Such a flatterer. Do not think that ‘sucking up’ will get you any favors, Stardust.” Stardust smirked at the seeker who just blinked at him in confusion.

“I am aware of the reward of ‘sucking up’, Commander Starscream.” The military SIC’s optics widened but before he could lash out at Stardust, Megatron’s booming laugh from ahead of them had his helm snapping toward their leader.

“He has you on that one, Starscream.”

“Master?!” Megatron didn’t dignify Starscream with an answer, only stopping and turning around when they reached Shockwave’s lab door which opened upon their arrival.

“What is your other question?” Stardust craned his helm up to look at his Master.

“Why didn’t you reprimand me back in the galley? I was the one who started… whatever that was. Those troopers wouldn’t need repairs if I hadn’t approached them and called them out.” Megatron raised an optic ridge with a hum, crossing his arms behind his back.

“While that may be true, you also asserted yourself as a mech that won’t be pushed around, and did so without lifting a digit. Those troopers damaged themselves simply because they couldn’t handle the intensity of your field, something that you will learn to weaponize. That was a rather impressive display, and I see no reason to punish you when you did nothing wrong. Though, the fact that you recognize you are to blame for instigating is also cause for me to stay my servo as you understand and accept your part in that debacle.” Stardust nodded with a smile, feeling his faceplates heat up a little at the heavy praise. Megatron and Starscream turned to leave, but when Soundwave started walking away Stardust snatched up one of his wrists.

“Soundwave, wait!” The thin mech turned back to him with ‘?’ on his visor screen and Stardust suddenly felt nervous, the polar opposite of how he felt earlier when he had this very mech nearly at his mercy.

“I wanted to apologize, for earlier. The way I touched you and spoke to you was highly inappropriate considering both the chain of command and the fact that we just met. I hope you’ll forgive me.” Soundwave stood still for a moment, not reacting when Stardust released his wrist and started to fidget with his own fingers.

“Soundwave - forgive - Stardust! ” The triple changer’s optics widened in surprise.

“Already?! Really?” Soundwave nodded, the smiley face showing up on his visor again, a sentiment Stardust returned with excitement.

“Thank you, Sounders!” If the nickname caught the TIC off guard, he didn’t show it, only displaying a thumbs up emoji that Stardust chuckled at, then turning and walking in the same direction as their superiors. Stardust let out a vent, his frame relaxing for a nanoklik before he looked through the open door next to him. He could see Shockwave on the other side of the lab, most likely working on the dampener, and knew he had one more apology to make. Steeling his nerves, Stardust marched into the lab and headed straight for his friend, planning on giving the biggest and best apology one could ever conceive!

He didn’t even get the chance to say the scientist’s name before he was grabbed roughly and shoved face first against a nearby wall, the bulky purple mech crowding him against the surface.

“Stardust.” 

“Shockwave.” Stardust couldn’t help but grin, this close he could feel Shockwave’s field no matter how tightly he held it back, and there was no malice, anger, or residual jealousy.

“How are you?” Amusement at Stardust’s casual tone slid through Shockwave’s field before disappearing.

“You are annoying.” The triple changer chuckled but it turned into a purr when Shockwave’s single servo moved from between his wings to the back of his helm and pushed .

“I was going to apologize for my actions earlier, but it seems like you want to continue where we left off.” He punctuated his statement by rolling his hips back, and since he and Shockwave are the same height, his aft ground perfectly against Shockwave’s cod piece. Shockwave didn’t outwardly react, and Stardust would have thought him completely unaffected had he not been able to feel the hum of his tank engine and hear the slight strain in his voice.

“Stardust.” The red mech purred again, not stopping the roll of his hips, but adding a barely noticeable arch to his lower back strut that allowed him to align his next roll directly over Shockwave’s spike panel. 

“Come on Shockwave, you know you want to~” The scientist growled and rolled his own hips against Stardust. The heat the red mech felt coming from Shockwave’s spike panel startled a moan out of him and for the first time, Stardust second guessed his decision to tease his friend. He wanted to be spiked, Primus he wanted it so bad! While he had complained about Breakdown’s words, he knew the medical assistant was right and that interfacing right now was not a good idea! 

Stardust shivered when Shockwave’s servo disappeared from the back of his helm and trailed down his side then to his front, dipping into the armor seam right next to Stardust's own spike panel. His sharp claws trailed over wiring and pet over the inside lining of his armor before he found a small protrusion that he started to rub his fingers over. The bump wasn’t sensitive, but with how close Shockwave was to his interface array, he had Stardust panting and looking down his front to where the scientist's fingers had disappeared into his armor. The visual made him shudder and he had to fight off a groan just to speak.

“W-what is that?” 

“That is the manual release for your spike covering.” Stardust jerked as Shockwave continued to run his claws over it, expecting him to activate the mechanism.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Shockwave hummed and pulled his fingers from under Stardust’s plating to grip his hip hard and yank him backward to grind against him again. Stardust yelped, the new position forcing him to brace his forearms against the wall. Before he could respond or even react, Shockwave's arm came around his front and his clawed servo wrapped around Stardust’s neck cables. 

“F-frag… Shockwave…” The scientist squeezed his intake until garbled static was the only thing the triple changer was capable of producing. The pupils of Stardust’s optics rolled to the top edge of his optic lenses, his audial fins laid back, and his wings dropped in a show of complete submission. With his wings moved out of the way, Shockwave was able to lean over Stardust’s shoulder and speak directly into his audial.

“There will be consequences if you do not control your urge to flirt with or frag every mech you come into contact with. Do you understand?” Stardust couldn’t move his helm, and the servo tight around his intake didn’t let him answer until Shockwave finally let up enough. The red mech reset his vocalizer, whimpered, and finally answered.

“Yes, sir.” All at once Shockwave disappeared, leaving Stardust to slump against the wall in a pathetic attempt to keep himself upright. This time, for some reason, the charge in his frame didn’t immediately vanish, instead lingering a little longer like the first time he felt a charge; when Shockwave had been between his legs and mechhandled his helm. Shivering, Stardust stood as straight as his knee joints would allow him, wobbled over to one of the flat berths and dragged his horny aft up onto the surface. It was insanely uncomfortable, the pressure on his spike panel from being in a sitting position, the pressure on his valve panel from literally sitting on the damn thing at the moment. He was even more annoyed and frustrated now than when he had entered the training room earlier. If he didn’t have an order from Megatron to remain in Shockwave’s lab until the end of the current shift he would be going back to that training room and increasing the drone’s settings to ‘please fragging kill me’. 

Shockwave’s show of dominance had worked very well, and Stardust was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the shift as he sat and watched the purple scientist work. Usually when he would do this back at the citadel he would give Shockwave his input on whatever he was working on, even if he hadn’t been asked. That’s how he had suggested the signal dampener in the first place and how the idea of turning it into a force field of sorts was brought up. He would even ask questions about Cybertron and their history, as long as he could tell Shockwave was in a decent enough mood to answer them without getting genuinely annoyed with Stardust. Now, though, it seems the triple changer was successfully subdued, and Shockwave stored that bit of information away for later, even sending a quick data burst to Soundwave, Knock Out, and Breakdown with his discovery. The responses were as comical as would be expected.

Soundwave: “Soundwave… should have stayed at lab for observation of… experiment.”

Knock Out: “The fact that I am repairing eight of Starscream’s Elite Eradicons of damage caused by Stardust who, by the way, didn’t even touch them… I applaud your bravery, Commander.”

Breakdown: “Or stupidity.”

Knock Out: “Now Breakdown, be nice!”

Breakdown: “That was nice. It’s good that you stopped though. That mech is under Doctor’s Orders. He’s not allowed to interface, or even attempt an overload with his coding fragged up the way it is. With the fact that he can’t keep a charge and hold it long enough to reach overload, it would be dangerous for him to try.” 

Knock Out: “The Vehicons that brought in my current patients said Stardust was flirting pretty heavily with the trooper on ration duty.”

Shockwave almost growled at that, turning instead to glare at Stardust, the mech flinching and burying himself into his own plating as much as he could, despite not actually knowing about his superior’s current conversation. He didn’t say anything, only giving Shockwave a weird look of shame and want that the scientist ignored and turned back to his work before answering.

Shockwave: “Stardust is a natural flirt, and uses both his words and actions to be so. Soundwave and myself have been on the receiving end of his teasing, but this is the first time I have been able to subdue Stardust in any capacity. He usually talks at great lengths when he accompanies me in my lab, but after I subjugated him he has not spoken a word. He even seems more submissive and prone to following orders, whereas he used to talk back, albeit playfully.” 

Knock Out: “So, you found one of his submissive triggers, that’s valuable information to have, Commander, thank you!”

Shockwave could almost hear the purr of Knock Out’s engine from his spot in the lab.

Soundwave: “???!!!”

Shockwave: “Knock Out, whatever you plan to do with that information, do not.” 

Breakdown: “I’ll do my best to keep him in line, Commander, but we better get back to work cause now he’s vibrating with possibilities and the trooper he's working on is terrified he’s going to pull his spark out by accident.” 

Shockwave released a gust of hot air from his vents, mildly frustrated, and sent a private ping to Soundwave.

“Next time Stardust has you cornered like he did earlier, use your data cables on him. I assure you he will freeze up, allowing you to take the upper servo. Also, do not be afraid to get rough with him, he seems to enjoy it, and I know you do as well.” 

“Soundwave: wasn’t cornered….” 

“Of course not." Shockwave closed out the conversation and went back to work, heading for the goal of finishing the first prototype before the end of shift, despite having lost his assistant. He wasn’t complaining though, learning what Stardust had done, and even watching the recording of it when Soundwave sent it to him with an excited message that summed up to ‘look, look, look!!’. Shockwave actually felt proud of Stardust for how he had handled himself, not even feeling anger at that Eradicon’s disgusting words since he got what he deserved. 

Shockwave knew he should report to Megatron about Stardust’s broken heats and the lockdown on his processor, especially now that he knows the red mech is under Doctor’s Orders to keep his panels shut. Knowing Stardust’s feelings for their leader, it is only a matter of time before the triple changer attempts to flirt with the former gladiator. Shockwave knew that once Stardust’s EM field had Megatron completely under its control as it did with himself… the tyrant would not hold back. 

That could be dangerous for a multitude of reasons, including but not limited to: Stardust having an active gestation tank, the broken heats and lockdown protocol possibly causing actual damage to the triple changer’s systems if he were to overload, that damage could be irreversible, Stardust was correct in his assumption that Shockwave was jealous and Primus only knows what would happen if somebot attempted to take Stardust when Shockwave’s spark and field were attempting to lay claim (against his better judgement or consent), but most importantly, Stardust has an active gestation tank.

Megatron tends to get carried away, especially if his spark and EM field are the ones in the pilot’s seat, and if they go at it in the middle of a war, it is highly likely that they would attempt a merge, and a merge + an active tank = sparkling. Shockwave knows Stardust wants sparklings, and considering his feelings for their Master, he would likely be ecstatic to have Megatron’s bitlits. However, Shockwave also knows Stardust well enough that having them this soon, and in the middle of the war is not what the mech wants, and the threat on the New Spark’s life would be ever present and increasingly stressful. Despite the fact that Shockwave was certain he wouldn’t be siring any sparklings with Stardust, both out of a distaste for the role of sire as well as knowing he wasn’t emotionally right for the red mech; Shockwave still felt the pull in his field and spark to keep Stardust safe, healthy, and happy. Those sentiments, while foreign to Shockwave, also extended to Stardust’s future sparklings, he would give his life for Stardust and whatever little ones end up running around causing mayhem.

Chapter Text

The end of the shift couldn't come fast enough for Stardust. While he typically enjoys spending time with Shockwave in his lab, right now all the triple changer wanted to do was run away, crawl in a hole and offline for the next century. He has never felt more… embarrassed and ashamed didn't seem like they accurately described how he felt, but they were the only words that came to mind. He knew his flirtations were getting out of control, he knew, but despite that he still pushed Shockwave far enough that he finally snapped.

Every bot has their limit, and even with how patient Shockwave could be, Stardust finally found his, and now the scientist was mad at him. The red mech could tell Shockwave was having a conversation with some bot, and he quickly ascertained it was about him when the purple tank kept turning to glare in his direction. This was not a feeling he was enjoying. This is the first time Shockwave has been upset with him, but he knew it only came from a place of care and even worry. They had no idea what would happen to Stardust's systems if he overloaded, and considering it was a serious enough situation for him to be put under Doctor's Orders to keep his panels shut, he really didn't want to fuck around and find out. 

When his internal chronometer was blinking that it was the end of shift, Stardust was about to ask Shockwave if he was allowed to leave when the scientist spoke from his work station, not even looking at Stardust.

"You are dismissed.”

Stardust was off the berth and out the door before the science Commander even finished putting one tool down and picking up another. 

~

Stardust's first few shifts were pretty mundane. They were mostly filled with mini shifts at different stations around the Nemesis . A few joors learning and co-operating the ground bridge controls, a few joors in the belly of the ship working storage organization and inventory,and a few joors in engineering learning the inner workings of the ship. His favorite part of his shift was the last few joors spent in the training rooms with a squad of Vehicons that had been assigned to train with him. Overall, they were good 12 joor shifts.

After the first deca-cycle, his shifts changed. The last leg of each shift is still spent training, but the beginning of his shifts would start with working and learning the energon refining process and after five or six joors he would work and learn finer repair and maintenance around the ship. He did that for a couple deca-cycles till it changed again. This time he was to spend a few joors per shift on the bridge learning communications, reports, and trooper deployment. Besides his training, these mini-shifts became his favorite because it allowed him to be closer to Megatron and Soundwave. Stardust has spent the last several deca-cycles working with and learning from Vehicons and Eradicons, so a change of faces was refreshing. 

The news of Stardust's… display in the galley had spread throughout the ship pretty quickly, and any trooper that had an issue with his origins kept it to themselves. Thanks to this, Stardust was able to focus not only on his work, but also on making friends with the rest of the troopers. Most of his off shifts were spent in the recreation room conversing with the Vehicons, listening to their stories, telling his own, and answering their questions about his time as a human and his meeting with Primus. 

The recreation room was where Stardust was currently dragging his pedes across the floor, and receiving looks as he did. He had just finished the last shift of the third deca-cycle, and felt absolutely crumby. He had a recharge at the beginning of the solar cycle that he had come out of with an annoying but familiar feeling. 

A heat cycle.

This one was broken as well, but this was the first one he has had since coming aboard the Nemesis , which is unusual considering it's been more than an orbital cycle since his last. Stardust didn't have the processor power to think about the possible reasoning or the implications of this fact as he folded his wings against his back as tight as he could and curled up in the corner of one of the larger couches. A Vehicon trooper approached Stardust and sat next to him… er… actually in front of him since Stardust had settled facing down the length of the couch.

"Stardust, sir, are you alright?” The triple changer peeked out from his vertical fetal position with a pout.

"No.” The trooper tilted his helm, looked back to his batchmates, and waved them over. The group shuffled to the end of the furniture and stood in a group around the red mech.

"Are you malfunctioning? Do you need assistance to the med bay?” Stardust shook his helm, pout still on his derma.

"No. I need cuddles, and I usually get them from Shockwave but he's mad at me cause I kept flirting with everyone, and Knock Out and Breakdown have spike blocked me so I can't just find someone to hold me cause I'm not allowed to frag or flirt.” Stardust was aware of how whiny he sounded right now, but his heat was hitting rather hard at the moment, to the point his joints, wires, and cables were starting to hurt. The trooper had to keep himself from laughing at Stardust's almost child-like behavior, a feat that was made easier when he felt actual pain and discomfort in the triple change's field.

~

Megatron had decided to pay Shockwave a visit and check on his progress with the signal dampeners when Shockwave had received a comm from a random off-shift Vehicon. The scientist had let out a vent of air and asked Megatron to follow him, as he should see this and be made aware of the situation. Megatron was intrigued, there was no hiding that from his field as they grew closer to the trooper recreation room. His intrigue was replaced momentarily with confusion at the hoard of Velicons around one end of a couch.

"What is going on here?” He tried to keep his voice from growling or booming as these troopers were off duty and not doing anything wrong, but he slightly failed at that once he noticed who the red blob in the center of the group was. 

"Stardust.” The triple changer looked up and perked up when he saw them, even maneuvering himself to sit on his knees on the couch with his servos on the back of the couch. Stardust's wings came up from their folded position and fluttered a little before the mech got them under control.

"Shockwave!” Stardust had a small smile on his faceplate as Megatron and Shockwave stopped at the back of the couch after the troopers had moved to the side. Without a word Shockwave reached up and cupped Stardust's faceplate, the mech's finials relaxing to allow the scientist to thread his fingers in between the two fins. This was Stardust's favorite form of affection as he loved having his finials touched, and it always made him purr, just as it did now.

"Why did you not come to my lab the moment this started?” Stardust pouted, an odd combination with the fact that he was leaning into Shockwave's servo and still purring.

"You're mad at me….” Shockwave forced air out of his vents, a gesture that would have Stardust flinching if he weren't groaning at the strokes to his audial fins.

"I was not and am not mad Stardust, simply annoyed. You should not try dealing with this on your own considering the circumstances. You had a longer period of respite before this one started, any additional differences?” Stardust nodded a little, leaning even move into Shockwave's servo.

"Yeah, this one hurts.” Megatron was getting a little impatient at being left out, and hearing that Stardust was in pain was the last straw.

"Would either of you care to explain what in the Pit is going on?” The warlord's voice was a growl and his field matched his ire as he looked from Shockwave to Stardust then to the former's servo tangled in the latter's audial fins.

"As you know, My Lord, Stardust has a fertile gestation tank. Being fertile, Stardust experiences more frequent heat cycles than any other bot.” 

"That is common knowledge, Shockwave, as is the fact that cold constructed new builds do not experience their first heat for at least five stellar cycles.” 

"That is correct, however, Stardust has actually experienced three heats already and this would make number four.” That threw Megatron for such a sharp loop that he merely blinked at Shockwave before he got himself together.

"Are you saying Stardust is in heat? Now ?!” The troopers around the room looked at each other, then at Stardust, one trooper even taking a step forward only to be growled at by Megatron and promptly taking two steps back.

“He is. His heat coding has been distorted every time he has entered his cycle, and he displays most of the symptoms excluding charge, pheromones, and higher temperatures. His heats are easily handled by giving him physical affection and cuddles, and typically occur once every orbital cycle. This heat, however, has gone a deca-cycle longer than normal, and has never caused Stardust physical pain. We have yet to ascertain the reasoning behind these broken heats, but my theory is that they are connected to the lockdown protocol Primus installed on his processor.” Megatron had to keep from snapping at just learning all of this now, instead he slowly vented and was able to squeeze his words through gritted denta without sounding too pissed off.

“What lockdown protocol, and why am I just hearing about this now?” Stardust was completely unaware of his surroundings, and thus uncaring as Shockwave explained the protocol to their leader and defended himself and Knock Out. It hadn’t been prudent for Megatron to know yet, especially considering they didn’t have a solution for either issue, or for how Stardust doesn’t have access to his alt modes. Something else that Shockwave theorizes has to do with the lockdown protocol or the distorted coding. Megatron was, naturally, pissed at being kept in the dark, though he wasn’t sure as to why he was so upset considering how low on the totem pole Stardust was, and Megatron used to not give a frag about the lower ranks and their health. Whatever Stardust did to Shockwave that was now affecting Megatron was really starting to affect the warlord, and he was getting annoyed with it. The talk of his alt modes did pull Stardust out of his drop just enough to voice worries of his own that he has otherwise tried to keep to himself.

“Need my alt modes… don’t want to be useless… can’t be useless… can’t get thrown away, not again….” Megatron felt his frame sag for half a nanoklik at the quiet and sad voice before he composed himself and stood tall. He may not have known what it was like to be useless, as being useless in the mines and as a gladiator got you killed one way or another, but Megatron did know what it felt like to be thrown away like yesterday's trash. He could sympathize with how Stardust felt on that front, and that annoying pull toward the triple changer was forcing the former gladiator to feel emotions he hasn’t felt in eons, if ever. The protectiveness was still there, but there was a fondness he hadn’t felt since Orion that was growing with every pass through the triple changer’s field.

“I know, Stardust. You are coming to my lab so we can handle your heat.” Shockwave removed his servo, receiving a whine that made Megatron’s fingers twitch, and Stardust moved off the couch to follow the two out of the recreation room. Stardust was next to Shockwave, almost leaning on him to which the scientist leveled his cannon in front of the red mech while they walked so he could wrap his arms around the weapon. Megatron strolled along behind them, observing the two interacting. Stardust trusted Shockwave explicitly, something even Megatron didn’t do, and Shockwave actually cared for the younger bot more than he has ever cared for anything since the empurata. It was almost a relief to get to see his science Commander and old friend behaving like a mech for once, and how freely Shockwave showed his devotion to Stardust and allowed his field to flare with contentment when the younger was around. With the two in front of him, and the hallway clear of anybot else, Megatron allowed a small smile to grace his features.

That smile was gone when they reached Shockwave’s lab and Stardust climbed up onto one of the lab berths. The blind trust Stardust has in Shockwave will always amaze Megatron as he would never willingly get on one of the scientist’s dissection tables. Shockwave stood between Stardust’s legs and resumed petting the mech, allowing him to nuzzle the purple mech’s helm and drape his arms over the tank’s shoulders. Megatron watched in fascination at the closeness the two shared and when he saw Stardust shiver from the petting he found his frame moving without his permission, soon standing behind the triple changer. Since he was already here, and Shockwave was tilting his helm at the warlord, Megatron gave a mental shrug of ‘why not?’ and reached up to run his own servos over Stardust’s wings. 

The wings twitched and the moan Stardust let out had Megatron shuddering with a quiet curse.

“Is he always so responsive?” Shockwave ignored the shudder and the extra gravel in Megatron’s voice, only giving an affirmative, knowing exactly what was going on in that volatile processor of his. Stardust’s field may pull mechs toward him and tempt them, but once you lay your hands on Stardust’s plating, you’re all but imprisoned to the red mech’s whims. From now on… Megatron is going to be Stardust’s bitch just as much as Shockwave is, and it’s going to be far more difficult for Shockwave to keep the two from fragging than if the tyrant had kept his servos to himself. 

Stardust pulled his helm from Shockwave’s neck cables and looked over his shoulder with another shudder as he realized he was being touched by two mechs now, and one of them was Megatron. 

“M-My Lord….” Megatron hummed and leaned forward, touching his chestplate to Stardust’s back as well as he could with him sitting on the opposite edge of the berth and leaned his helm next to Stardust’s audials to quietly shush him.

“You’re alright, Stardust, just allow us to take care of you.” Stardust whimpered, the sound like a punch to the gut for the mechs on either side of the triple changer. Megatron gave his own growl and buried his faceplates in Stardust’s neck cables, humming in satisfaction when the bot tilted his helm for better access.

“My Lord, Stardust is under Doctor’s Orders to keep his panels shut as an overload, or even attempting an overload, could be dangerous for him considering his distorted coding.” Megatron actually wanted to pout at that, but he was a dangerous war criminal and warlord who did not pout, so he kept his face blank and just hummed.

“I will keep that in mind, Commander.” Shockwave actually doubted that when one of Megatron’s servos snaked around Stardust’s side and up to caress his chestplate. Stardust shivered with a fluttered groan, his legs widening and one pede wrapping around Shockwave’s waist to pull him closer. Shockwave knew better than anybot the amount of resistance it took not to just take Stardust whenever he was like this. He is very responsive, even when he isn’t being affected by a heat, and whatever Primus put in Stardust’s field to attract potential sires was very strong. Shockwave and Megatron may be controlling themselves now, though Megatron’s control could be debatable the longer he has his servos on Stardust, but the scientist knew that he had to keep Soundwave from touching Stardust fully. Soundwave was the least controlled of the three of them when it came to matters such as this, and with Stardust’s field being a literal aphrodisiac and frame relaxant, Shockwave was certain that once the surveillance chief is fully under Stardust’s influence, he will most likely lose himself completely to the red bot .  

Megatron was conducting himself far more reserved than Shockwave thought he would, maybe it was because Shockwave was present, but being in public never stopped the warlord from interfacing before. It could be the threat of damage to Stardust’s systems with an overload that was keeping Megatron on such a short leash. Either way, the warlord was surprisingly behaving, and Shockwave felt confident in leaving Stardust with him while he got back to work.

“Lord Megatron, if you have him, I would like to get back to work as I am close to having a prototype ready.” Megatron nodded and watched Shockwave detangle himself from Stardust’s hold, amused at the pathetic whimper the triple changer gave out when the scientist was able to free himself. The warlord also pulled back, not holding back a chuckle this time when Stardust released an open mouthed whine then pouted while watching Megatron move around the berth. His pout disappeared and was replaced with a hooded look and a tremble when the giant silver mech stepped between Stardust’s legs. 

Megatron is so much larger than Shockwave, taller, broader, thicker, and Stardust didn’t know where he wanted to grab, if he was even allowed to grab, his servos just hovering over Megatron’s chestplate. The warlord smirked and resumed his petting, having better access from the front to be able to play with seams and wires while also being able to reach the triple changers wings. With Shockwave now occupied on the other side of the lab, Megatron tangled a servo in Stardust’s audial fins, having wanted to do that since he saw Shockwave do it back in the rec room. The feeling of the mech in front of him shivering at the action was more enticing than the actual move itself, and Megatron felt his powerful engines rumble at the sight. He gripped the fins a little harder, the tightness of it making Stardust gasp, his optics shooting open before fluttering closed. He moaned when Megatron used that grip to tilt his helm to the side so he could lean down and tuck his faceplate up against his neck cables again. 

Megatron was delighting in Stardust’s reactions to his touches, no longer concerned with how the mech’s field was making him feel warm and almost hungry with how close he was. The larger mech growled when Stardust put his servos on his chest, his small fingers trying to grip at the paneling and pull. With Stardust’s heat being stronger than the last few ones, and having the mech of his fantasies between his legs, Stardust couldn’t help himself. His legs wrapped around his Master’s hips and yanked him forward at the same time his fingers finally found purchase on Megatron’s collar armor.

Megatron let out a growl when he was effectively pulled down to lean over the triple changer who was now laying back on the berth. One servo was still grappled onto Stardust’s audial fins, so he had to use his other to brace himself next to the red mech’s helm so he wouldn’t crush him. 

“Stardust is unaware when he is being too forceful during his heat. He will not break if you must put him in his place, he seems to enjoy it a little rough, but he will yield as he knows who is in charge.” Megatron was reminded they had an audience when Shockwave spoke up behind him. His voice actually broke whatever spell Megatron was under as he blinked down at Stardust and growled at him, enjoying the shiver and whimper he received from the display.

“He does not need attractant pheromones with a field like this. Frag, how do you resist him?” Megatron felt Stardust roll his hips up into his own and had to fight back a groan, instead pushing his own hips forward in an effort to pin the other down. The feel of their spike panels crushing together had Megatron gritting his denta and fighting off the same pull that dragged his processor under the first time. 

“There is no trick other than to keep your servos off of him, during his heats however, that is not possible. I would suggest putting him in a position where you can reach him, but he cannot reach you. He may not be able to build and hold a charge, but you can, and if you build enough of a charge you may not be able to stop yourself.” Megatron would have growled at Shockwave’s insinuation that he wouldn’t be strong enough to keep from popping his panels, but as Stardust continued to grind his hips up into Megatron’s, he severely started to doubt that he even knew what the word control meant anymore. The warlord growled, removed his servo from Stardust’s finials, and heaved himself up to a standing position. The triple changer stayed where he was, the image of the dark red plating splayed out before him with his legs wrapped around his waist, Megatron felt forlorn for what he was about to do. 

Megatron detangled Stardust’s legs from around his hips, took a step back, and gathered Stardust in his arms to haul him off the berth and into his arms. Stardust let out a squeak, the sound catching Shockwave’s attention who turned to watch his leader turn around while maneuvering Stardust to press the younger mech’s back to his chest. Shockwave had less than a nanoklik to react when Megatron literally plopped down on the floor with his back against the lab berth. The weight of the giant mech caused some of Shockwave’s tools to rattle on the tables and Shockwave had to almost dive to catch one before it clattered to the floor. The scientist, tool in servo, just turned his helm from his position where he saved the poor device and glared at Megatron who just smirked at him.

“Comfortable?” 

“Very.” Megatron’s smug voice and field had Shockwave puffing out a vent as he stood to his full height and went back to his work. The position Stardust was in was curled up in Megatron’s lap with his back to the tyrant's chest, Megatron’s helm over his shoulder cooing into his audials, and the warlord’s arms around his frame petting down his front. Shockwave didn’t have to worry about the two in this position as he saw Stardust close his optics, his wings drooping, and he was starting to fall into recharge.

Chapter Text

Stardust had never felt more comfortable coming out of recharge than he did right now. He could still feel the effects of his heat hammering away at his frame and processor, but his frame was so relaxed it didn’t bother him in the slightest. He can’t go back into recharge like he wants, thanks to Cybertronian frames just not working the same way human bodies do, so he had to pry his optics open to be met with the harsh light of Shockwave’s lab.

“Why do you always have it so fragging bright in here?” The frame he was cuddled up to shook in quiet laughter and Stardust almost smacked the bot thinking it was Shockwave, until he heard the scientist’s voice on the other side of the lab.

“Because I do delicate work here, and having my lab as dark as the rest of the ship would be counterproductive and illogical.” Stardust groaned and shifted to look over at his friend and pouted out the most pathetic insult he’s ever conjured.

“You’re illogical.” The chest Stardust was leaning against shook in silent mirth again and Stardust finally turned his helm to look behind him only to squeak when he came face to face with a smirking Megatron.

“Lord Megatron!” Stardust froze, not daring to move from his spot, mostly because he didn’t want to, but also because his fight or flight response has promptly morphed into the bullshit that is ‘if you don’t move, it won’t see you’ that people think would save them from a t-rex. 

“How are you feeling?” Stardust almost answered Shockwave truthfully by saying he felt like he was sitting on the lap of a slumbering dragon and didn't know what to do . Instead, he calmly assessed his condition and reported what his frame was feeling, all while still locked in a staring contest with the hottest bot he's ever seen. 

“Still a little fuzzy in the head, I don't hurt as much, though my wings are a little sore. My frame feels like it wants to start shaking again, but it's actually not, and I still feel kind of… needy.” Shockwave hummed, oblivious to the smirk on Megatron's face and Stardust's inner turmoil at sitting in the warlord’s lap . 

“With the increased time frame between this heat and your last, and the continued method of physical affection without overload, these factors could be the cause of your prolonged discomfort.” Stardust's optic ridges stitched together and he finally turned to Shockwave, ignoring how his internal temperature ticked up by two degrees at the word ‘overload’. Usually that word wouldn't bother him, but Megatron had resumed petting and caressing his plating, even dipping the tips of his talons in armor seams. 

“What kind of damage do you think would occur if I did… overload?” 

“That is difficult to speculate. Your coding is already scrambled due to the lockdown protocol, and an overload could scramble it more, or even delete some of your coding completely. If I had not theorized that your broken heats are linked to the lockdown, I would not be concerned with you popping your panels. However, I believe they are connected, and I feel more comfortable denying you overload than taking the risk.” Stardust pouted, shivering when Megatron leaned down to nibble at his neck cabling.

“You're only comfortable with it cause you're not the one barred from opening your panes. You can self-service or fr-AAGG!” Stardust cried out, his voice getting higher and trailing off into a groan when Megatron bit down on a thick cable at the back of his neck.

“Frag whenever you want to… My Lord…” Megatron chuckled and released Stardust’s neck, slithering his glossa over the wound. 

“My apologies, am I distracting you?” The fragger didn’t sound apologetic in the slightest!

“Is that a trick question?” Megatron hummed against Stardust's neck, delighting in the resulting shiver. The warlord continued tasting Stardust’s neck cables like they were an appetizer sampler at a steakhouse. 

“Shockwave, has Knock Out made any progress in his research regarding broken heats? I believe Stardust would appreciate being allowed to feel pleasure.” Stardust groaned at a particularly sensitive spot under his armor being caressed by sharp but careful talons.

“I can feel pleasure, My Lord… what you're doing feels… amazing, I just can't hold a charge for longer than a few kliks.” 

“Knock Out has not found any record of broken heats in the past, or lockdown protocols, so he is unsure how to remedy the situation. We will have to wait until Stardust's first stellar cycle is complete for the protocol to deactivate before we will know more. Being unable to hold a stable charge is the reasoning behind my theory that your broken heats are connected to the lockdown protocol.” Stardust growled at that.

“If I had known Primus would be installing this protocol and what it would be doing to my frame and coding, I would have told him to shove it.” Megatron stopped his ministrations, but kept his derma next to Stardust’s audials. He couldn't see the pout the triple changer directed down at the silver servos on his plating when they stopped moving.

“He did not inform you before hindering your function?” Stardust shook his helm, and shrugged the shoulder Megatron wasn't making into his own personal chew toy.

“He just dropped me in the middle of Iacon without explaining it, but I found it when I started playing with my hud and the functions of my processor. At first I was grateful for it cause I made quite a few mistakes within my own processor. Crisscrossing functions, activating multiple commands at once, stuff like that. Now though… it just sucks.” An alert came over Stardust’s hud, a reminder of his next shift starting in two joors. The realization that he had a shift coming up, and subsequently the realization that he has been in recharge for the last 10 joors made him jolt and try to stand up. 

“Oh my god! I just realized how long I was recharging, I have a shift in two joors! My Lord, aren't you sore from sitting here the whole time?!” Megatron gripped onto Stardust’s hips to prevent him from standing, cutting off a growl with a scoff instead.

“Your shifts have been removed from the schedule until your heat has passed. You are not going anywhere.” Shockwave tilted his helm at the possessive tone in Megatron's voice. He made a mental note to keep an optic on the two cause after 10 joors of holding Stardust and being cocooned by his aphrodisiac-like EM field, Megatron was in far deeper than the warlord probably realized. This could be dangerous as Shockwave has never seen their leader nibble on anybot before, it made a flash of jealousy seize the entirety of his field. He knows Megatron felt it when the silver mech looked up at him with a raised optic ridge and a smirk. He decided to push Shockwave by pulling Stardust as close to his frame as possible and lapping at a red and gold finial, keeping optic contact with his science Commander. 

“Oh… frag, that's not f-fair….” Megatron ignored Stardust and the shaky groan he emitted in favor of encasing the same finial within his sharp denta and applying enough pressure for the metal to creak in protest. 

“Ah! M-my Lord… please….” Megatron was still ignoring Stardust, locked in a heated stare down with one of his SIC, knowing that the purple mech's field was pulsing with both jealousy and consternation. Shockwave has never had the urge to snap at Megatron, or anybot really, so the bubbling rage in the back of his intake and the static trying to force his vox to glitch out was new for him. Megatron was testing him, he could tell, though he wasn't sure exactly what that test was. Was he trying his patience, seeing if he would be able to resist joining him, or is he evaluating whether Shockwave will tell him to knock it off before they reach the point of no return? 

"My Liege…” Before Shockwave could actually protest, a comm from Starscream interrupted them.

"Master! The Autobots have attacked one of our mines and are attempting to take control of it!” Megatron growled, almost chuckling at the whimper he got from the bot in his lap since he was still munching on a finial. 

"I must handle this matter, Shockwave, take a break from your work and attend to our precious triple changer. You have a prototype nearly ready, and your hard work deserves a recess.” While Megatron stood from his position on the floor - an immensely flushed Stardust held in his servos like a sack of weightless feathers, Shockwave would have blanched if his faceplates were capable. Stardust was deposited on the berth before the warlord departed from the lab. 

That was a very un-Megatron-like order. Typically, the warlord doesn't care about allowing his troops a break from their work, especially if they are working on a project as important as the signal dampeners. If it weren't required to allow an off-shift for productivity purposes, Megatron would have the Vehicons working every joor of every solar cycle. Just like the Megatron in the show had when they were harvesting dark energon.

Something else was happening to Megatron that Shockwave hadn't anticipated, and couldn't place exactly what it was either. He pulled up his private comm messages and pinged Soundwave with a rather… odd request.

Shockwave to Soundwave: I require your assistance with observing Lord Megatron's behaviors.

Soundwave to Shockwave: ???

Shockwave to Soundwave: He has ordered me to take an interim from my work as a reward for 'working hard’.

Soundwave to Shockwave: !!! Soundwave: Will watch Megatron for continued odd behavior.

Shockwave left their conversation at that, having more control over himself than their leader has proven to have when he felt the urge to thank Soundwave. Stardust was looking straight at the lab doors, Megatron long gone, but a look of yearning on his face. Shockwave knew the triple changer found their leader attractive, but he had started to speculate that his feelings went deeper than that. He also knew the younger bot found most of the High Command attractive, he could feel it in his field and see it in the way he shamelessly flirted with them, but his attraction toward their leader was… different. He didn’t flirt with the former gladiator, actually he seemed to avoid any kind of flirtation, and even got flustered and embarrassed when the silver mech gave him any kind of attention. 

He had a feeling things were going to start progressing rather… unusually, what with this odd shift in Megatron’s behavior that seemingly came out of nowhere. The fascination the entire crew seems to have with their triple changer, sans Starscream and Airachnid (though he feels Starscream may be coming around), has already created a transition of how the troops conduct themselves. Shockwave surmises it must have something to do with Stardust’s EM field, as he does not believe a single mech can create such a change all on their own in the span of a few deca-cycles. Nearly everybot on board has had contact with Stardust’s EM field in one way or another, some even being damaged by it, something Shockwave still found fascinating and wished to work with Stardust on turning it into something devastating and dangerous. 

“Come, Stardust, we will spend the remainder of your heat in your quarters.” Stardust turned to Shockwave, grinning once the words registered, but Shockwave already knew the thought passing through the red bot’s delinquent processor.

“You will be keeping your servos to yourself, bot , understood?” Stardust pouted, but a blush came over his faceplate at the hard tone of voice and the way Shockwave said ‘bot’ like it was an order. He gave a nod of agreement and shimmied off the lab berth to follow Shockwave to his own habsuite, wanting to cuddle close to his friend but also not feeling too terribly clingy thanks to Megatron’s ministrations. The blush on his face remained and even worsened a little at the reminder of being in Megatron’s lap not five kliks ago, and the phantom touches he still felt on and under his plating. Never in a million years/stellar cycles did Stardust think he would ever end up in Megatron’s lap, for any reason! They’ve barely spoken since his arrival on the Nemesis for frags sake! Their conversations in the war room with High Command and their private one were the most they have conversed. 

Stardust was at a loss for the reasoning behind Megatron taking a liking to him so quickly and so easily. Come to think of it… Shockwave and Soundwave both took to him far easier than he would have thought they would, and Soundwave far quicker as well. He has done things to both of them that… honestly probably should have gotten a hole blown through his spark chamber. Stardust thought he knew the Decepticons… he thought he had an accurate read on them, but Shockwave, Soundwave, and now Megatron are all proving him incredibly wrong in his assumptions based on observations. Those three don’t just… like anybot. Hell, Soundwave, despite being Megatron’s most loyal and most competent soldier (in Stardust’s option), as well as his oldest follower, hasn't been given the same attention that Stardust has. Stardust has never been one to ‘look a gift horse in the mouth’, but this development actually has him perplexed and distracted enough that he doesn’t even realize they reached his quarters until Shockwave is already pulling him down onto his own berth. Stardust found himself grateful for the advanced reaction time of Cybertronians cause he was able to tuck his wings down against his body before he hit the berth pad, saving them from damage or from thwacking Shockwave in the face. 

“Huh?” Being so thoroughly distracted, Stardust doesn’t even have the chance to stop the whimper when Shockwave easily maneuvers his frame like he weights absolutely nothing, just like Megatron had. His back is pulled against Shockwave’s chest, their hips flush, and the purple mech tangles their legs together. This position, while it flusters Stardust, is familiar. His third broken heat back in Kaon before they had come through the spacebridge had been particularly rough on his processor, not allowing him to fall into recharge, becoming restless and antsy. This position, with Shockwave practically wrapped around him like an octopus was the only way he was able to shut down and finally recharge. 

“So, you have the access code to my room?”

“Of course I do.” Stardust pouted again when Shockwave left it at that and settled in, his cannon arm under Stardust’s frame and the length of the cannon pressed down his front. Stardust wrapped his arms around the weapon like a body pillow, completely uncaring of the fact that it could and would blow his leg off at this angle if it went off. Shockwave’s servo was in motion across the red frame, petting plating, caressing wires, scratching over cables, all in an attempt to relax the mech. It worked, of course. Stardust felt his joints turn to jello, and he practically melted, molding himself to his best friend. The realization that Shockwave really was his best friend, and the first one he's had in… two decades, Stardust felt his spark shrink in on itself in an attempt to hide, then it fluttered and pulsed outward, before shrinking again. It acted as if confused on whether it should run away from these feelings to save itself from sparkbreak as Stardust has always done in the past, or drawing closer cause it knew things were different now. 

“Shockwave?” The mech's name was out of his mouth before he even thought about it, and the emotion in his voice, the vulnerability, made Stardust internally cringe. He smacked his inner self on the back of the helm when Shockwave paused his movements, clearly recognizing the fervor in his tone, and feeling the hum of his chest plating. Shockwave moved his servo right over Stardust’s spark and applied pressure, giving a silent affirmation that he was listening. 

“I really appreciate everything you've done for me since we met. I know I haven't been the… easiest to deal with, and I promise I'll try to be better, I just…” He didn't know how to say ‘you're my best friend and the only one I've had in the last 20 years, please don't abandon me!’ without sounding desperate or sensitive. It appears he doesn't even need to voice this, cause Shockwave fully wraps his arms around him and provides a light squeeze. 

“Rest, try to go back into recharge.” What remains unspoken between them, that may never be brought out into the open, leaves Stardust feeling far more relaxed and simultaneously flustered than any of the touches Shockwave or Megatron spoiled him with. That is a good word to describe how he has been treated thus far. Spoiled. He is absolutely spoiled by Shockwave and now by Megatron as well, though there is no telling how long that is going to last, or if it will ever happen again. 

Stardust took to Shockwave's words as if they had been an order, closing his optics and pulling up his recharge subroutine within his processor. He attempted to force a recharge, even though it had only been a joor or two since he came out of an extended rest. It was no surprise when it didn't immediately work, but Stardust let his frame remain stringless. The looseness in his joints, the cloud forming in his helm, the tingling across his armor, and the warmth of the frame behind him all lulled him into a relaxed state halfway between consciousness and unconsciousness. 

The longer they stayed like that, the longer it took for his recharge subroutines to kick in, the longer Stardust’s tank and tubing started to fill with dread. Cuddling with Shockwave always felt nice, probably better than cuddling with Megatron cause with the warlord he was flustered nearly the whole time, but with Shockwave it was always relaxing. Nonetheless, Stardust felt an uneasiness fall over him, and a disquiet took over his thoughts. Something was coming, something was going to happen, and Stardust felt this was the last moment of peace he was going to have for a while. That thought scared him more than he was willing to admit.