Sunstar's Seeker Sanctuary

This WIP needs edits


Nighfall Inspection

Darkmount, Provence of Polyhex
6.5 Million Years BE (Before Earth)

Darkmount was as quiet as a military strong hold could ever be in the middle of a war. It stood over Polyhex like a guardian, protecting the Decepticon occupied territory from Autobot incursion.

The grand structure of the fortress was imposing. Huge reinforced metal wall, thick with shock absorbing beams and form of lead insulation protected it from electro-magnetic pulses as well as penetration from weapon fire. The thick walls bristled with defensive turrets and finally terminated with missile silos. These silos could fire antimatter shells that had an effect far more devastating than nuclear warheads.

The thick walls were riddled with passageways that only Minicons, Microns or Micromasters could travel. Most were maintenance workers and some were turret operators. The most frequent visitor to the walls were ever growing populations of Retro rats or Insecticons that sought out the energy that was slowly growing scare elsewhere.

Withered vines of some ancient Cybertronian plants clung to the base of the fortress, trying to hold onto life. Just barely. They were the last remnants of nature that was pushed to extinction during the bouts of acid rain fall over the centuries. They barely survived, protected in the slightest manner by the overhanging parapet wall. Their withered metallic leaves were corroded and could no longer get enough of the life giving light of the blue Cybertronian star. Even though it was midday, the sky was black; filled with the acrid clouds of dust and smoke from both war, industry and the fiery smelting pits where executions were proceeding, almost contiously.

A higher part of the fortress was a large flat area, wide open space which lacked a railing. Red and blue lights flashed and blinked along the outer rim. Larger metal halide lamps illuminated the gun metal grey surface. It was marked, a landing area for large air craft, small shuttles, even some of the larger space going cruisers. A row of battered cargo shuttles lined the western edge. They had seen better days; the outer hulls of the shuttle craft were tinted with a patina of age and corrosion. The once vibrant paint of the purple insignia had faded and flaked.

The wall of the tower still stood high above the landing platform, with openings to the inside. It was a hanger for aircraft, the non sentient types. The best way to insult a Decepticon Seeker was to ask him or her if they lived in a hangar. The person asking would likely get a fist to the nose, best case, or a shot to the face, worst case.

A large door way adjacent to the hangars lead to a section of the tower where the Seekers lived. Each of the barracks would house from six to eighteen flying Decepticons and it was not very spacious. It was kept spotless, clean and in military order. They had a small recreation room, a small Holographic simulator.

Several platforms lined the dull grey wall, each ended with a metal foot locker. Each locker was locked with a personal Identification number that only the owner knew. It was considered the only privacy that a Decepticon warrior could have. Even then his privacy was invaded by the monthly checks or the random "cell toss" as it was occasionally called. The Air Warriors stood by their platform with their lockers open. Their possessions, whether neatly stowed away or not, were unloaded and checked.

The Air Commander, black and a very dark midnight blue, strode through the barrack looking at each warrior. To his right was another Seeker, his second in command, a somewhat young and brash individual. He carried a datapad and took notes and nodded as the Air Commander remarked on each warrior's general appearance and the status of his weapons and possessions.

Megatron's personal body guards, an elite group of Air Warriors, were starting to feel the pinch of the recession that was facing the Decepticons due to the constant fighting. Their position as Megatron's guard required them to remain impeccably clean. Unfortunately regular bathing, a commodity they had enjoyed whenever they chose, was now a rare luxury. Water was precious, almost as valuable as electrum. They did what they could to maintain a level of superiority over the regular warriors who lived in the infested holes of trenches and hastily erected bunkers.

This late in the war, water rationing was in effect in the cities as well as the major bases. It was costly to treat Cybertronian water sources, which quickly became super acidic or extremely alkaline. Often it was thick with a soup of oily chemicals that could eat right through the living metal of any transformer. Only the ceramic-like bed rock of Cybertron could withstand the potency of the extreme chemical cocktail.

Even the wild life, robotic flora and fauna was suffering. Much had been driven into extinction, or thrown into dormancy until such time as Cybertron would flourish. There was little hospitality left on the planet, which once glowed gold with the living spark of the planet. War had caused the planet to suffer wounds, and like any being, if the wounds were not closed, be it with cities or roads, it festered with infection. Cybertron was dying.

Even through the fighting their appearance was extremely stressed by Megatron, and not wishing to impede upon the wrath of their leader and his high-ranking subordinates, the troops turned to the Constructicons for solutions that did not require the water that was so difficult to come across. They came up with sonic showers; blasts of ultra high sound knocked the soil off their bodies. As effective this new method was, it crippled the effectiveness of the users. The sonic shower disrupted the aural receptors. This effectively made the warriors deaf and useless in combat. Unless they could be sure they had the time to recover, it was rarely used. Megatron, gleaming to a polished perfection was cause for some discussion amongst the ranks. Did he have a secret store of water, or did the sonic showers not aggravate him as it did everyone else.

Each Air Warrior, after his personal effects were inspected was asked to stow them away and return to attention at the side of their platform. They were being rated and the results of this inspection would be put in their permanent records.

"Flight Commander, Starscream." .

"Sir!" Starscream responded sharply.

"Please stand back as I inspect your belongings."

Starscream nodded and stepped aside still maintaining a highly disciplined disposition. He knew the drill. The Air Commander picked up a bright red ruby stone from a chest and a slingshot. He looked at the silvery dark-faced Seeker who stared forward unflinchingly. "Where did these come from?" he had asked thousands of times over. The Air Commander was amused by the primitive nature of the slingshot yet was envious of the beautiful precious stone.

"I was given the ruby when I was in the Academy. The slingshot I've had as long as I have memory." the youthful Seeker replied.

"The other items?" The Air Commander demanded as he picked up several fine scientific tools. "You didn't have these during our last checks. So please, enlighten me as to where you obtained them from and their function?"

Looking over at them ever so briefly Starscream cocked his head and replied. "I was employed as a scientific explorer before the war. I scouted out various alien worlds and catalogued what forms of life existed, what metals, minerals or other potentially exploitable resources the worlds had. The tools were what I used during those days. That is a bio-scanner, the thing there with the handles is a Geiger counter, for analysing radioactive radiation, possibly locating other remote deposits of Cybertonium ore. And the thing there, with the flaps..."

"So, you are a science nerd as well," Nightfall nodded with a sharp laugh. "Where did you get these from? If they were yours before the war, would you not have had them during our other inspections?"

"They were—missing for a while. I finally tracked them down from the Decepticon storage lockers."

"Why were they there?" he said, fiddling with an instrument. There was an audible crack and Starscream cringed.

Exhaling slowly, "They had been there since I was taken prisoner by the Autobots about five hundred cycles ago."

Dropping the two halves of the now broken atmospheric sampler and locking optics with the young warrior. "These are so extremely important to our war effort that you wasted time and energy to locate them?" he inquired, his tone indicating suspicion.

Not knowing how to answer, Starscream nodded slightly."I figure they will be of use, if not now then later."

Nightfall took the datapad from his lieutenant and looked it over, scrolling back several pages and skimming it quickly. "In your file, you do not state that you were a scientist before becoming a warrior, care to explain the omitted detail?"

"I wanted to fight for our cause, not sit back and play with test tubes. There is an erroneous belief that scientists cannot fight. I do believe I have proven my point more than adequately in my many years of impeccable service to the Decepticons."

"I see. Well since I do not like your tone, Flight Commander, these scientific things, the slingshot and the jewel are now mine."

"You can't do that," Starscream started, losing his disciplined composure. "It's all I have left."

Shrugging and smiling slightly, the Air Commander patted Starscream roughly on the shoulder. "I just did, warrior." He pushed Starscream to his knees. "I want to see seven hundred push ups. That should take you about three hours. Get to it."

Starscream glowered, but complied.

Sleeping like the Dead

Seekers were fliers, designed for high speed flight across the sky or space, depending on the parameters of their build. Their bodies, made of light yet tough materials, were not designed for heavy duty work, such as what Starscream had endured as a mining prisoner. Although they were the rulers of the air, they certainly lacked grace once they touched the ground. Their huge wings slowed them down when they ran; catching the wind and creating drag. Not only was drag a problem, but the excess of upper body weight as well. In spite of the problems they faced, Seekers were reasonably well adapted to life on the surface. Unfortunately if anything unexpected unsettled them, such as a planet-quake, or concussion blast, they would easily end up on their backsides, faces or stumble around like they had over energised. So push ups for a Seeker—any Seeker was definitely a strain on their systems.

Most Decepticons, Seekers especially, found any excuse to celebrate or party. They were gregarious by nature and could be found in groups of two to two thousand or more. They enjoyed each other's company. Their rations of energon had been taken out and pooled, Skywarp had even added to the collection from some unknown source, a source they did not wish to inquire about. Better to be innocently ignorant than to be caught by the original owner.

Starscream grunted and growled as he executed each push up. Thundercracker stood by keeping count. The others urged and encouraged the young warrior as he neared the seven hundred mark. Bets were being altered and changed as the others watched Starscream as he struggled with each of the remaining twenty. His normally dark grey face was coal black from the exertion. He wore a determined grimace that was filled with strain and pain. The Seeker muttered curses and words of encouragement to himself as he neared his mark.

He was determined not to stop just short of his goal. He did not wish to prove himself a failure, he wanted to show his comrades and his commander that he could indeed work as hard as anyone in spite of being a scientist in the past. It was never an issue before, why was it an issue now? Because of the tools. the son of a shuttle had busted his priceless tool, and taken the only connection to his past. A small burst of energy fuelled his system as his mind became angry. Unfortunately as quickly as the burst came, it ebbed and Starscream shook with exhaustion as he completed the last two push ups. Just to show that he could, Starscream did one extra.

"Seven hundred and One," Thundercracker said in an impressed tone. "Well done Starscream."

The Seeker muttered something and dropped to his canopy and pushed his head against the floor. His fingers and limbs felt distant as his chest and arms burned hot. The other Decepticons cheered explosively and collected their winnings and chugged back fuel.

He watched them out the corner of his optics as he attempted to draw in strength. All his internal warnings were firing with annoying error messages. He wasn't in any life threatening danger, but his systems were wasting what little energy he had telling him he had little energy.

"You're okay, Flight Commander?" Thundercracker crouching beside the prone Decepticon.

"Yeah, fine...just a little weary. I'm trying to locate some energy reserves here." Starscream tried to push himself up, but his body did not want to budge. "Slag, I'm just going to stay here." He exhaled in a long sigh."I just hope Nightfall doesn't consider my body as clutter in the Barracks. Last I need is demerits."

"I don't think you will get any demerits," Thundercracker replied as he helped the Seeker into a sitting position and handed him a fuel bottle. "You did pretty good, Flight Commander."

"I did better than pretty good, Thundercracker," he inhaled deeply and sipped the fuel. "I excelled."

The blue Seeker shook his head. "You still have no idea how to be humble do you?"

Ignoring the comment Starscream groaned and rolled his shoulders. His optics flickered as his body started to shut down. "One of these days....I promise...Nightfall is going to pay for this." The Seeker's head lulled to the side and he went off line.

Thundercracker nodded to the others, "We better let him rest."

Skywarp and Thundercracker took his arms, the others grabbed his legs, they all heaved the worn out Seeker onto his platform. "Meh, he's a heavy one," Skywarp grunted. "Did ya have to give him the fuel before we moved him?"

Thundercracker leaned over and smacked his wingmate. "Yes. He needed it then."

The Seeker at Starscream's feet pulled the dust cover from the end and pulled it over. "He's gone, and out. Our luck Nightfall will be back this evening with some half planned mission and we won't be able to rouse Starscream. He's in stasis; dead to the world. Megatron'll be pissed off"

"Let Megatron be pissed. Anyway, when was the last time we saw Starscream take a good long break? The son of a shuttle's been hard at work for at least seventy days. A 'Con need to rest once in a while." Thundercracker countered.

Skywarp circled cocked his head and studied Starscream as he laid on the Platform. The cogs of creation were turning and Skywarp's optics were taking on a wild glint. "Hmm. Think he'll be out long?" Skywarp asked lightly.

"I don't know Skywarp, could be an hour, could be a couple days." Thundercracker shook his head then looked at his wingmate. "That look scares me. That look always scares me."

"What look?" Skywarp replied innocently, yet the glint of mischief remained.

Thundercracker shook his head sharply. "I'm stopping it with a pre-emptive no."

"It's a fraggin' shame he's so red," Skywarp remarked, ignoring Thundercracker's protest. "We can do something to make it look like Nightfall killed him...I've got an idea...."

Backing away from his wingmate. Thundercracker shook his head. "No, Skywarp. I'm not involved this time. Last time I took the fall."

"Awe, com'mon." Skywarp pulled back the dust cover and tapped Starscream. "Hey, Flight Commander, you awake? Can you hear me? Screamer? You hooo?" Skywarp glanced at Thundercracker with a broad smile. "He's as good as dead; let's get some stuff." Skywarp grabbed his wingmate by the arm and teleported him out.

A Tricky Undertaking

Two hours later, the Barracks had taken on a completely different image. The lights were dimmed to half luminance. Lavender funeral orbs lit a pair of sconces that hung on either side of Starscream's platform. The white dust cover was exchanged for a black body bag secretly removed from the Decepticon Morgue. A feat that only Skywarp could pull off.

Thundercracker reluctantly agreed to play along. The other Decepticons, bored and stressed from the fighting or the long lulls between major battles, desired just a little deviation from routine. As much as they enjoyed parties, they enjoyed a good prank. As long as the prank did not involve them as the target. But if scaring their stuffy Air Commander was the way to alleviate the frustration borne of uncertainty, then all the better.

Every Decepticon had attended at least one funeral of a friend lost in combat. It was an unfortunate fact of life. Any major conflict they could expect at least two critical injuries and usually one death. They went into battle, knowing it was possible, but looking forward to the party that immediately started once they returned.

The party served a few purposes. First one, if no one was lost in combat, it was an excellent way to unwind and celebrate their glorious victory: "Everyone survived, let's celebrate!" It would settle shaken nerves if one of their team was severely wounded: "We need to boost his moral, get well party!" Or if one of the team died: "We drink in his honour; let's have a wake now." Or it could have been that they were simply a bunch of energonaholics.

Starscream slept heavily, his body had gone into an almost complete shut down. Usually sleep would involve him in being in an alert standby; however, not tonight. His body recognised the need for intense rest to recover from the stress that had incurred.

The Decepticons worked quickly and quietly. One of their number stood by the entrance watching for Nightfall. Another gently dusted Starscream with graphite powder to hide his vibrant red body. Other Seekers brought out the traditional funerary lamps and shrouds. A large purple banner with the Decepticon insignia embroidered in gold thread was hung at the head of Starscream's platform.

Once the dusting was done, Skywarp unfolded a large black body bag that he had lifted from the Morgue. The only problem Skywarp could see was not smothering the Decepticon when he zipped the body bag up. Perhaps that part was not necessary. It was an easy fix to hide the dim glow of optics at rest; use electrical tape. Thundercracker had lots in his medical bag.

"I only hope he stays out," Skywarp remarked after applying the tape to Starscream.

Shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips. "If Starscream hasn't woken up by now, after all the moving we've done, he's going to stay out for at least half a week."

"Great! We might even get him as far as the crypt."

"And what if Starscream wakes up?" Thundercracker asked.

"It'll scare the crud right out of him as well as Nightfall." Skywarp replied grinning largely