Chapter Text
Thundercracker buried his helm in his arms. It ached, and was made even worse when he tried to get up, so he didn't bother. His chest was… uncomfortable. There wasn't any describing it. He curled in on himself, pressing his arms to his chest and squeezing his optics shut.
Skywarp stirred beside him, but didn't wake. Pedesteps alerted him to Starscream's approach. Ka hesitated before laying down beside him. Ka left frequently in the night, which bothered Thundercracker until he learned of the reason: Starscream's health issues resulted in frequent buildup of waste. With that in mind, it made sense for Starscream to sleep near the edge of the nest, and Thundercracker didn't try to keep him or retrieve him.
"You seem uncomfortable," Starscream whispered.
"My helm and chest," Thundercracker said.
Starscream wrapped an arm around Thundercracker. "Not abnormal. It'll go away."
"I hope so," Thundercracker mumbled, closing his optics.
!!!
It had lessened when Thundercracker woke, but didn't go away. He fought not to press a fist into his chest, knowing it wouldn't help. Skywarp was already on him, gently stroking his wing as wa cuddled him. Starscream was off hunting. Thundercracker didn't want to leave kan to hunt alone, but the idea of hunting and flying when he felt like scrap was unappealing, and Skywarp refused to leave his side after he admitted it.
So, Thundercracker wallowed in his discomfort. The pain patches he hid in their bedding would be overkill for this, but that didn't reduce the temptation. Anything to be slightly less miserable. But he held himself back. If he took them now, he might not have them when he really needed them.
Pedesteps followed by shuffling made Thundercracker aware of Blast's entrance. Na dipped nas helm before gently depositing nas seekerling between Thundercracker and Skywarp. Part of Thundercracker was tempted to give vam back, unwilling to deal with vam when he was so tired. But as Blast took off, Thundercracker didn't protest.
The seekerling peeped, confusion escaping into the air. Thundercracker petted vas helm. Va stared at him and trilled quietly. Then, va settled down, curling until va was nestled snugly between Thundercracker and Skywarp. With a quiet purr, the seekerling closed vas optics.
The ache in Thundercracker's helm intensified, returning to its previous strength. He squeezed his optics shut and fought not to whine. Starscream claimed it was normal, but was it really supposed to hurt this much?
Thundercracker pushed himself into Skywarp. The seekerling between them purred louder. Thundercracker forced himself to focus on the sound as it traveled through his plating. Anything but the pain. It would go away. He just had to wait it out.
He missed Prowl. And Ratchet. And Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, too. And Bulkhead and Arcee…
He didn't know what prompted the desperate wish for them in his mind. He just knew that if Prowl were there, things would be better. Ratchet would be able to find the problem. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe would play games with him to distract him.
But they weren't here. He left them behind, and might never see them again. For all he knew, they were dead. That was what Megatron wanted, wasn't it? If they ever came across his Autobots again, that would be what happened. Would Thundercracker be forced to fight?
There was no question. He would, because any refusal would be a challenge he couldn't win. Not yet, at least. He still needed to talk to Starscream about that.
A loud click startled him, dislodging his train of thought. He replayed the sound in his mind, searching for the source. It came from his chest. The seekerling trilled, stirring as it let out a questioning peep. Skywarp's optics snapped open.
"That's not what I think it was," Skywarp said, voice strained. "Was it?"
Thundercracker sat up, carefully shifting the seekerling into his lap. Va stared up at him, audials and optics now fully functional. Thundercracker fired the command to open his storage space. His primary locks disengaged, but it refused to unhitch. He felt along the edges of the glass, his claws catching on his secondary locks.
They had engaged. The knot in his chest twisted. He took the petals! Why would they engage if he hadn't split his spark?
"Scrap!" Skywarp said.
Thundercracker couldn't have a newspark right now—not when he was surrounded by enemies and needed to engage in battle. Even if he did want to keep the little spark, it likely wouldn't survive. If his spark had split, he needed to get rid of it. But how?
He remembered.
"Punch me!" Thundercracker said.
Skywarp's wings rose. Waz optics widened.
"What?" wa said. "No!"
"Do it!" Thundercracker said.
Skywarp scooted backward. "No! I don't want to hurt you!"
"Damage to the glass pauses the cycle!" Thundercracker said. "Sunstorm told me. If you break my glass, the secondary locks with disengage. No locks, no newspark."
Skywarp grimaced. Wa ran waz fingers down waz face, growling quietly.
"Okay," wa said.
Wa leaned back and struck. A hollow thunk sounded. Thundercracker fell backward. The newspark crawled onto his chest with a quiet peep. Thundercracker raised a hand to the glass.
Scrap. Still intact.
"You need to do it harder!" He said.
"I can't!" Skywarp squeaked.
"You have to—"
Thundercracker paused as the dirt near the entrance stirred. Starscream crawled through, dragging a pair of petrorabbit carcasses with kan. Ka paused, glancing between Skywarp and Thundercracker. Ka flicked kas wings.
"Did I miss something?" Ka asked.
"Nas locks engaged!" Skywarp yelled, pointing toward Thundercracker.
Starscream glanced at Thundercracker again.
"Why is that so concerning?" Ka asked.
"You said the petals would stop my spark from splitting," Thundercracker said. "But the locks—"
"Would have engaged anyway," Starscream said calmly. "If you link up at all while in Data Hunger, your frame thinks you've kindled. But the moment your frame goes to build the newspark's egg and realizes it doesn't have a sparklet to work with, it'll correct itself."
That lessened the knot of anxiety somewhat. Thundercracker's wings relaxed.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
Starscream scoffed. "How wouldn't I? I've seen Sunstorm disappointed after Data Hunger enough times at this point."
Thundercracker brushed past the implications of the remark and focused on what it meant for him: Starscream had seen this before. Ka knew how it was supposed to look. The petals must have worked if ka was so confident. All he had to do now was wait.
Thundercracker sat next to one of the petrorabbits, bringing the seekerling with him. Va chirped, excitement making the air tingle, as va caught sight of the carcass. The little thing wriggled out of his lap and clawed at the carcass. Starscream snorted and picked vam up. Holding vam in one arm, ka tore open the petrorabbit's neck.
"You're too tiny for solids," ka said, pulling the fuel line out. Ka placed the seekerling on the ground and offered va the fuel line. Va latched onto it. "There you go, you little fool."
"You seem to know a lot about seekerlings," Thundercracker said, taking a scute from the petrorabbit.
Starscream threw kas helm back and rolled kas optics. "Only because Sunstorm is obsessed. Na wants a seekerling more than anything. That's why na won't leave me alone."
Skywarp paused mid-bite of waz own scute. "Because you're—"
"Because na wants to baby something, and nas poor, defective sibling is the perfect target!" Starscream hissed.
Skywarp flicked waz wings. Tension pulled at the air. Wa glanced at Starscream before taking a large bite of waz portion. Starscream sighed and pulled a container out of kas pocket, dumping powder into kas waiting hand.
"Would you ever want a newspark?" Thundercracker asked.
Starscream downed the powder, grimacing at the taste. Ka smacked kas lips before replying.
"No," ka said. "I can't have one anyway."
"Why not?" Thundercracker asked.
Starscream glared at him, inclining kas helm toward the container of powder in kas hands. "Why do you think?"
!!!
Thundercracker's locks were still engaged when Megatron called yet another meeting, and they were still engaged when the battle began. As with before, Blast and even Thrust were forced to come along. No one was left to defend the camp, so the seekerling remained in Blast's cockpit. Ahead, Dirge and Ramjet hovered especially close to Thrust.
Thundercracker didn't like Dirge and Ramjet, but fighting while gravid was dangerous for the newspark. Anticipation and anxiety rolled off the trine ahead of him in waves, too strong to inhibit or ignore. It almost made him feel bad for them.
Scrap it. He did feel bad for them.
This battle was different from the others. Before, they were attacking Autobots that encroached on their territory. Although Thundercracker didn't enjoy it, it was justifiable. This one, on the other hand…
Starscream cackled as kas rays seared another building. Megatron's third trinemate—the large blue triplechanger—soared ahead, dropping bombs on the surrounding buildings. The Autobots inside fled, but it was no use. If the bomb itself didn't destroy them, the debris would.
Thundercracker stalled, reluctant to take aim at the Autobots scattering below. Still, they fell, taken out by the combination of Starscream and Skywarp's rays. Starscream whooped, flying ahead. As Thundercracker slowed, so did Skywarp.
"What's wrong?" Wa asked.
"These are civilians," Thundercracker said. "This is their home."
"They're doing the same to us," Skywarp said.
The Autobots as a whole were, but…
"Not these Autobots," Thundercracker said. "The ones that are hurting us are soldiers."
Skywarp flew ahead. "Follow me."
Wa weaved between other Seekers, gracefully dodging fire. The few times wa couldn't, wa teleported. Thundercracker swerved as one of the shots Skywarp avoided came particularly close to him. The air whooshed as Starscream came from behind him. Starscream lingered in front of him, shielding him from oncoming fire.
They landed before a large building. Skywarp transformed back into root mode and motioned toward it. Thundercracker stared blankly in waz direction.
"It's a weapons factory."
Thundercracker nearly jumped as Starscream spoke right next to his audial.
"So?" Thundercracker said.
Starscream ruffled kas plating. "These Autobots have been manufacturing weapons to destroy us. Who do you think shelters the bots who produce and design the weapons? Feeds them? Provides them with the metal they need? The civilians may not be shooting at us, but they are not innocent."
"They want us all dead," Skywarp said, voice trembling. "So we need to kill them first."
A boom vibrated through the air, the force of it making Thundercracker stagger. The sky screamed, a roar backing it, as it lit aflame. Above them, a ball of fire descended rapidly from the sky. Two Seekers—white and navy blue—followed it. Thundercracker's spark seized. Thrust.
He leaped, taking off toward the site of the crash. Dirge and Ramjet were already there, making their way toward Thrust. The red Seeker laid in the center of a crater, smoke surrounding nam. Thundercracker landed and broke into a sprint, reaching Thrust's side before nas trinemates could. Behind him, thrusters roared as Skywarp and Starscream landed.
Thrust opened nas optics and groaned. Then, na jolted upward, nas claws scraping across the glass of nas cockpit. Except they never scraped—because there was a massive hole in the center. The glass was gone. Thrust's claws shook.
A laser shot flew by. Thundercracker turned. Defenses had finally arrived. He whipped toward Starscream and Skywarp.
"Protect us!" He yelled.
The other two Seekers leaped into action. Starscream fired back at the approaching Autobots as Skywarp teleported behind the Autobot who made the shot. Thundercracker turned back toward Thrust.
Thrust was frozen, whining quietly. Despair saturated the air. Thundercracker knelt to get a better view. The interior of Thrust's cockpit was filled with shards of glass and debris from landing. Buried beneath them was a hint of bright red and dark blue.
"Stay still," Thundercracker said. "I'm going to check on the egg."
Cybirds incubated their eggs in nests, keeping them warm with their own bodies. If the egg was fully developed, Thrust and nas trine might be able to do the same. But that assumed the egg was intact and still had a spark. Thundercracker remembered what Sunstorm said before—damage to the glass paused the cycle. Even if the newspark was able to survive on its own, would the frame still snuff it?
Slowly and carefully, Thundercracker brushed away the debris that covered the egg. It gleamed in the light. He placed a hand on it, feeling for a spark. If it had one, he would feel the hum.
It was silent. Thundercracker's wings drooped. Thrust stared up at him.
"What is it?" Na said weakly.
"The newspark…" Thundercracker trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Thrust's optics widened. Na rolled, hissing quietly as the action aggravated nas injuries, and shoved nas hands into nas cockpit, searching for the egg. Nas claws closed around the egg. Na froze.
"No," na whispered. "Please, no."
Na curled around naz, shielding nas shattered cockpit from the world. A mournful screech pierced the air. Sorrow consumed everything around them. Without thinking, Thundercracker reached out. The moment he took Thrust in his hands, he thought better of it, but Thrust didn't push him away.
To the contrary, Thrust sprung up, nas screech quieting into a whine. Na pulled him close, claws digging into his plating. Thundercracker returned the embrace as Thrust buried naz in Thundercracker.
!!!
The battle went on for what seemed like eternity. Megatron only called a retreat after all of the buildings were husks and all stragglers were picked off. Not a single glance was spared for Thrust nor nas trine. Thundercracker flew beside Thrust on the way back, and nas trinemates let him. Skywarp and Starscream, followed by Blast, were not given the same allowance, so they trailed behind.
When they arrived, Thrust landed before sticking nas claws back into nas cockpit. With a yank, na pulled the egg free. Fluid leaked from it. Na stared at it silently. Thundercracker settled beside nam. Na leaned into him, squeezing nas optics shut. Then, na pierced the egg with nas claws.
Fluid dripped onto the ground as the egg crunched. A tiny face stared back at them, barely formed. Its limbs were all there—perfect, tiny replicas of a seekerling's. Its wings were lumpy, small, and misshapen, not yet done being made. Its spark chamber was exposed, the little bubble of glass that normally composed the cockpit not yet formed. Its entire abdomen was open, internals leaking out. Despite its incompleteness, Thrust held it to nas chest and whined.
Thundercracker didn't want to focus on himself when Thrust was in such deep despair that the air was drenched with it, but his processor latched onto the small, partially formed seekerling. If he hadn't prevented himself from kindling by taking those petals, that could have been his seekerling as well. It only showed that he did the right thing. Having a seekerling in this situation was dangerous, and not many would be as lucky as Blast's.
Thundercracker wrapped an arm around Thrust. The other Seeker leaned further into him. They had never spoken. They didn't even know each other. But Thundercracker knew Thrust needed someone, and nas trinemates were keeping their distance. So were his.
Thrust brought the seekerling to nas face and wrapped nas teeth around one of its limbs. Na bit down, severing the limb with a crunch. Thundercracker froze. Thrust continued to eat.
He should have been revolted, yet he wasn't. Sure, he hadn't expected it, but this wasn't a callous act. No one moved to stop them. Whatever this was, it was normal for Seekers.
A severed limb was offered to him. Thundercracker accepted it. He hesitated, staring down at it. Pedesteps nearly made him jolt. Dirge approached, wings held low and gaze averted. Ka sat on the other side of Thrust. Without a glance, Thrust took another piece from the seekerling and handed it to Dirge. Starscream crept toward them, settling on the other side of Thundercracker. Thrust reached over to hand ka a piece as well.
Finally, Thundercracker took a bite. It tasted no different from anything else he had eaten. Should that have distressed him?
Eventually, the seekerling was fully consumed. The only traces of it left were the egg fluid and energeon that stained their lips and hands. Ramjet and Skywarp maintained their distance, glaring at the other Seekers in the valley and growling if they came close.
Blast pushed past them, ignoring their warning growls. Skywarp quieted. Ramjet's growl faded into a hiss. Blast knelt in front of Thrust. Thrust stared up at nam, nas optics empty. Unlatching nas cockpit, Blast offered nas seekerling. The tiny thing peeped, optics wide open as va looked around in confusion.
Thrust took vam in nas arms. The seekerling peeped again, wings flicking as va stared up at nam. Na brought vam to nas face and nuzzled vam. Va trilled. Thrust tucked the seekerling against nas chest, purring. The seekerling purred back.
!!!
Dirge's trine was sullen. Ramjet and Dirge still went out to hunt, but now they were rarely outside of their burrow. Thundercracker saw Blast visiting them a few times, depositing nas seekerling with them the same way na left vam with Thundercracker. When Thundercracker and his trinemates-to-be went out hunting, they were no longer harassed.
Thrust came up to him a few times while the other two members of nas trine were out hunting, ignoring Starscream's warning hisses to curl up beside him. Whatever significance helping Thrust when na crashed held, it had completely transformed Dirge's trine's relationship with his. When Thrust cuddled with him, na didn't talk. Thundercracker never pushed nam to.
The seekerling was growing quickly. Va already went from a handful to an armful, and began to speak. It was mostly single words, but every once in a while, va would surprise them with a short string of them. Vas language systems were still developing, but it was amazing process. Since va could understand speech now, Blast had finally named vam: Windshear. Va learned to respond to the name quickly.
Thundercracker enjoyed watching vam. Luckily, Megatron considered a seekerling of Windshear's size too small to participate in battle and too large to place into one's cockpit, so at least one member of the little group was left behind whenever they went to fight. Since Blast was Windshear's dam, na was the one who stayed behind most often.
As they flew over the village, Thundercracker was silently grateful that Blast had stayed behind this time. The Autobots there had stasis nets and blasters that emitted sprays rather than singular beams, making it quite difficult to evade them. Thundercracker's plating stung in various places from where the sprays had managed to catch him, many of the injuries caused by attempts to evade the nets.
Megatron already called for them to avoid the ground. One of kas trinemates—the dark blue one—had been the first hit with a net. With a roar of fury, the Winglord descended, landing right on the Autobot that fired the net. Ka tore the net apart, freeing kas wingmate. The incident made the risks clear: unless a Seeker wanted to be brought down, the ground was to be avoided.
Despite the weaponry, the Autobots were ultimately helpless. Soon, the village was destroyed. Yet another piece of land was reclaimed for the Decepticons. Thundercracker landed as the cheers began, the flock tearing apart the carcasses of the Autobots now that all others had fled.
Thundercracker joined Starscream and Skywarp in taking a particularly large corpse apart. He didn't want to eat Autobots, but they were already dead. His fuel gauge was complaining—it always was since his bout of Data Hunger ended—and fuel was fuel. It didn't taste any different from the mechanimals they hunted.
He leaned into Skywarp. Wa returned the gesture, nuzzling him. Ever since Data Hunger, he wanted his trinemates-to-be close. Not as strongly as he wanted them while he was in the throes of Data Hunger, but the idea of being without them left him twitchy. Having them beside him was comforting.
He paused mid-bite at a weird sensation in his chest. There wasn't any describing it. He shook himself, fighting not to show any hint at how it felt. It was almost like his spark was spasming. This wasn't the first time it happened, and likely wouldn't be the last, but he figured it would stop eventually. Probably whenever his secondary locks finally disengaged.
It was fine.
!!!
Thundercracker was on the prowl. Cybirds chirped in the trees. Glitchmice—too small to be worth catching—skittered through the foliage. His fuel gauge was complaining so persistently that it woke him up far before Skywarp and Starscream. He couldn't stand it, so without waking them, he flew off to hunt.
Despite Blast's claims that the village they retook was once a lush land full of prey, Thundercracker wasn't hearing nor seeing anything worthwhile. Had the Autobots driven it all away when they built their homes? He crept deeper into the surrounding field. The grass came up to his waist, completely unmaintained. Ahead of him, it shook.
Thundercracker paused and readied himself to pounce. Before whatever creature was rustling the grass could move, he leaped. It cried as he wrapped his claws around it. He prepared to slam it down, but froze as its optics caught his.
A face stared up at him. An Autobot face, framed by a small helm. Thundercracker nearly released his catch then and there. This was a sparkling!
It was a grayish blue with cyan and dull yellow accents. There were speakers on its shoulders, and wheels hiding in the panels of its legs.
"Don't eat me!" The sparkling cried. "Don't eat me!"
Thundercracker opened his mouth to speak Common. "I won't."
The sparkling froze, his visor glinting as he stared up at Thundercracker. "Y-you…?"
"Yes," Thundercracker said. "I can talk. And I'm not going to eat you."
"But you ate everyone else!" The sparkling said.
"I don't eat sparklings." Thundercracker thought of Thrust's newspark and corrected himself. "Alive ones, anyway, and I don't want to kill you."
"You eat dead sparklings?" The sparkling squeaked.
Thundercracker flicked his wings. "You're not dead, so that doesn't matter. Where are your creators?"
The sparkling tipped his helm in the direction of the destroyed village. "You ate them."
Thundercracker really should've seen that coming. He sighed. The nearest settlement wasn't for quite a distance. This village was only established recently, and seemingly only to take space from the Seekers, if Megatron was to be believed. Still, as long as he managed to refuel, it wouldn't take that long to fly until he found another settlement…
And then he would have to avoid getting shot. He would have to leave Skywarp and Starscream without telling them, because they likely wouldn't approve of it. That was almost worse than the idea of getting shot. It shouldn't have been, but Thundercracker's processor hadn't been cooperating with him lately.
The roar of jet engines gave him pause. He traced the sound, finding the source just as Starscream and Skywarp touched down. The sparkling thrashed beneath him, attempting to free himself in Thundercracker's moment of distraction, but his grip held firm.
"What is that?" Starscream said, the calmness of kas voice making it clear that ka definitely knew what 'that' was.
"An Autobot newspark," Thundercracker said.
Starscream tilted kas helm. "Why haven't you killed it?"
Thundercracker growled. He stilled his wings before they could rattle.
"Va is a newspark!" He hissed. "Autobot or not."
Starscream tapped kas pede. Then, ka threw kas helm back and stomped kas pede. Ka sighed.
"You're not going to kill it, are you?" Ka said. "What are you going to do with it?"
"Take vam to the Autobots," Thundercracker said.
Starscream rattled kas wings. "No! You'll draw too much attention—"
"I can't just leave vam here!" Thundercracker said. "Va will die!"
Starscream huffed. "All the better, then. One less enemy for us."
Thundercracker growled.
"Va is a newspark!" He said. "I am not leaving a newspark to die."
The sparkling squirmed. Thundercracker adjusted his grip.
"Dirtball," Starscream mumbled, wings lowering as ka shook kas helm. "Take it back with us. If you don't want it to die, that's the safest thing to do."
"Why can't I just take vam to the Autobots?" Thundercracker said.
Starscream stared at him.
"Wherever you leave it, we will eventually strike," ka said. "So, if you want it to live, it's safest with us."
That… actually made a lot of sense. Thundercracker turned back toward the sparkling. The sparkling stilled, staring up at him. Thundercracker opened his mouth.
"You're coming with us," he said in Common. "It's the only way to make sure you live."
Thundercracker released the sparkling. The sparkling rolled onto his pedes. Rather than immediately turning and running like Thundercracker expected, he stood up and brushed himself off.
"Can I bring my pets?" The sparkling asked. "They'll be lonely without me."
Thundercracker glanced at Starscream. Ka rolled kas optics.
"Sure," Thundercracker said.
The sparkling whistled. Two mechanimals flew from a nearby tree—one a cybat, the other a cybird. They landed on the sparkling's shoulders. Thundercracker turned toward Skywarp and Starscream, pausing when a realization hit him: how were they going to get the sparkling back to the camp? He was too large to fit in anyone's storage space. Autobots were smaller than Seekers, but the sparkling was far from a newborn. If Thundercracker had to guess, he would say the sparkling was around four vorns. He could ask later.
For now… back to how they would bring him to the camp. He seemed small enough to carry, so that could work as long as he cooperated. For whatever reason, the sparkling was listening to him. Maybe he already knew there was nowhere else for him to go.
Thundercracker's spark spasmed. He flinched, instinctively reaching for his chestplates. Pulling his hands away, he shook himself out, forcing himself to ignore the uncomfortable sensation. It would go away.
They took off. Thundercracker ignored the complaints of his fuel gauge. It could wait. Right now, he had to bring the sparkling back. When they landed, Thundercracker shielded the sparkling until they managed to herd him inside of the burrow. Skywarp stayed as far away from the sparkling as wa could, pressing waz against the walls of the nest. Starscream stayed near the entrance, glancing outside it every once in a while—likely to ensure no one was coming.
The sparkling looked around the nest. The cybird and cybat hopped down from his shoulders and settled in his lap.
"This is cool!" He said.
"It's our nest," Thundercracker said in Common.
The sparkling hummed. He looked up at Thundercracker. His mouth was obscured by a mask, or perhaps he didn't have one at all, and his visor didn't allow for much expression. But curiosity with the slightest hint of joy reached him, and Thundercracker was grateful that emotions traveled on the air.
"I'm Soundwave!" The sparkling said. "What's your name?"
Thundercracker had been a sparkling once. Everyone had. Yet, it still surprised him how easily Soundwave went along with this. He said himself that the Seekers had killed his family, but now he was giving Thundercracker his name as if that hadn't happened.
"I'm Thundercracker," Thundercracker said. He motioned toward Skywarp and Starscream. "This is Skywarp, and this is—"
"Starscream," Starscream said in Common. "I can introduce myself."
Soundwave straightened up, excitement making the air tingle. "You can talk too?"
"Any Seeker who gets a language packet from grounders can talk," Starscream said. "We just do not have the opportunity or want."
"If you can talk," Soundwave said. "Why don't you talk to us instead of attacking us?"
Starscream snorted. "You grounders do not listen. Why speak when it's a waste?"
Soundwave went quiet after that.