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Unanswered Questions
by Sharon "Tut" LaBorde
In this part of Cybertron, silence could be felt. Stillness was not simply a state of being, but a palpable sensation that filled the very air around you. If absence of noise could be heard and listened to, here in the old Decepticon Hall of Conquerors it was deafening.
Tut felt for a short moment, as she often did, that intruding upon this abandoned bastion of silence were some kind of sacrilege. As she floated downward, the thrusters in her black titanium exo-suit emitted a brief echoing hum, but the instant they shut off for landing the silence regained its supremacy. She touched down gently on an altar-like stage set at one end of this immense hall and turned to view the expanse below. This place felt at once alien, eery and still as death--which is exactly why she kept coming back.
She let her eyes wander across the open floor, which bore scattered pockmarks, over to the row of larger-than-life statues lining one wall. The strident figures obviously represented Decepticons she had never seen before, who fought and died probably eons before her human ancestors even began to evolve. She did find it striking that at the end of the row was an empty pedestal, clearly awaiting its own occupant that was never commis sioned. Several statues had suffered damage, as did the matching set on the opposite wall. What had these gilded effigies witnessed over the billenia with their inlaid ruby-colored eyes? The Autobots lacked any detailed records about this area, despite ha ving gained control over it when they retook Cybertron soon after the Unicron battle. They left everything untouched, just as it must have looked the day the Decepticons finally retreated for Charr. Tut's tendency to question thoroughly supplied her with as much backstory about recent Cybertronian history as her Autobot companions could give her. But this place, appearing at once hallowed and cursed, eluded all questions.
Damaged statues and a pockmarked floor seemed to be simply the abuse of time, but at the bottom of a massive staircase leading up to the dais were telltale signs of battle. Tut could pick out individual blast marks on the sides of the staircase. Even more personal were the details under her feet. Something managed to burn a shadow into the floor, complete with the sinister effect of footprints in the middle of the scorch pattern. More cryptic were several scratch marks in the middle of the blackened metal floor panels. Tut knelt down and stretched out her hand, moving it over the scratches. Did these occur on the same day as the burn marks? What could have caused them? And who stood in those footprints? The fact that not even the Autobots could offer any solid explanations fueled Tut's curiousity all the more.
Intellectual conjectures about who did what to leave which marks was not the only force to draw her here, though. Precisely because it inspired questions that had no answers, and precisely because it brimmed with solemn silence, it was Tut's favorite place to meditate. Any time she travelled to Cybertron with an envoy from Steelcastle, she made time to come to the Hall of Conquerors. Her first visit had been by chance, but each subsequent visit was deliberate.
She laid down in her exo-suit, its wings flattening to meet the floor. She st ared at the ceiling above her and let her fingertips rest by her sides on the scorched floor. Relaxing, she tried to still her thoughts. Maybe this ancient hall would speak, in its own way, if only she knew how to listen properly.
The first to visit her thoughts was actually her most recent conversation.
"Where are you headed in your exo-suit?" came Hot Rod's voice from behind her as she floated toward the open shuttle bay.
"Oh..." A moment's hesitation followed. Often she was reluctant to explain herself when she was in the midst of a train of thought. "Usual place."
"The Decepticon Hall again?"
"Yeah," she nodded.
Ultra Magnus's voice preceded him to Hot Rod's side. "Much as I'd rather you didn't go there, if you do then stay in that one area. Don't explore anywhere else, because we haven't cleared the rest of that sector of any traps the Decepticons might have lef t in place."
She responded with a salute. "You got it, then. I'll radio you if I need anything." With that, she took off.
"Don't stay out too long," Magnus admonished after her.
"She'll be alright," Hot Rod said calmly.
What was it Starscream had told her? There's nothing in that place but death. The Autobots may have been moderately concerned about Tut being in a part of old Decepticon territory, but Starscream vehemently objected to the idea of her even setting foot in the old Hall. That struck her as particularly odd, especially considering th at he typically made great overtures about not caring whether she got into trouble. Besid es him being a Decepticon, she figured much of that was due to the circumstances of their having first met, plus his own hangups about his perceived reputation. The last thing he would ever want to admit to was being acquainted with a 'lesser' being that , worse, was even mutually useful on occasion.
So why would he act so viciously offended at just the mention of being in the Hall of Conquerors? He responded as though she were trespassing into someplace private--like she was....like she was defiling a grave.
That's why. Starscream died here.
Sure, she'd been skeptical at first when he reluctantly explained that he had actually been killed, but somehow regained a physical form. But she also had a spiritual side, so the idea made more sense as she thought about it. And as she lay on the center of the dais, over footprints and scorch patterns burned into the floor, a momentary chill ran over her. No wonder this place was always felt so still, as though it carried a weight of sadness and even regret. No wo nder he didn't want her coming back here, and absolutely refused to answer any questions about why or what made the place so significant. Realizing that, she felt a twinge of guilt at finding it such a useful place to reflect and meditate. Though perhaps she did because his having died here made the place sacred, in its own way.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted, however, by another violation of sound. She sat up and strained to listen. A long moment passed, and just as she was about to dismiss it as her imagination she heard it louder: without a doubt, that was a cannon blast. Not a good thing to hear in the middle of the former Decepticon capital. She quickly rose to her feet and took flight, stopping at the top of the back retaining wall where the open-air Hall ended and the rest of former Polyhex began. By that time she'd heard several more weapon blasts in rapid succession, so she hovered below the edge and peered over, hoping to stay out of the line of sight.
Starscream stayed just ahead of the cannon blasts, as if dancing nimbly back and forth. "I see your aim hasn't much improved, Megatron!" he taunted as he returned fire.
"Neither has your delusional state," came the cool response accompanied by further cannon blasts. The Decepticon leader seemed totally unflappable despite being engaged in a shootout. "Besides," he added, "I may have been missing intentionally."
"Ha!" Starscream immediately leapt upward and fired. Megatron simply sidestepped and unleashed a single return shot from his fusion cannon.
It was such a sadly typical reaction. "What?! I could pull a better strategy out of my afterburners! And you expect us to re-establish a front on Cybertron with this?!" Starscream's shortage of tact and overabundance of sarcasm somehow managed to survive in spite of eons of warfare, his own death and subsequent reanimation. But Megatron was well used to it by now.
"As a matter of fact, I do. And that's all you need to know." Of course the Decepticon leader wouldn't tell him that he was act ually being asked to lead a diversionary front. The perpetual bad actor, if Starscream knew the full strategy ahead of time he might blow its intended effect.
"If I were some lackey and not second-in-command, then certainly! But I am Aerospace Commander and I won't be put in charge of a suicide mission!"
Megatron anticipated this. Alright then, time for another approach. He raised his cannon arm in a threatening gesture. "Which method of suicide would you prefer?"
Starscream's optics widened, flashing bright scarlet. Then he lunged sideways, opening fire at Megatron with one arm-mounted rifle while at the same time aiming at the door with the other one. At such close range, the pelting of null rays knocked Megatron down. His subordinate took the opport unity to escape out of the blast hole in the door. "Neither!" he cried out as he exited on thruster power.
Megatron stood up. He took off after Starscream, but as he did so he activated his radio transmitter. "Soundwave, mobilize both strike teams. We're switching to the Beta plan."
"Acknowledged," crackled the response.
One point of credit had to be handed to Starscream: in some ways his run-ins with Galvatron had made him bolder. Instead of waiting for a moment of opportunity when either Megatron's back was turned or he was beaten to incapacitation by the Autobot leader , here Starscream openly engaged him in a firefight. Enjoying the chance to finally humiliate the upstart through one-on-one combat, Megatron smiled as he fired his cannon.
"Ha-unh!" T his time the shot didn't miss, and what started as an exultant laugh ended as a gasp of shock as a blast of fusion energy tore through Starscream's left wing and flank. He doubled over and dropped to the ground, his legs crumpling underneath him. This wasn't a bluff?! rushed through his mind. He can't afford to lose me! It was supposed to be a bluff!
He tried to pick himself up again. Megatron begin to laugh. Starscream hated that sound, always a knell of impending defeat. A few exposed wires began to spark as fuel dripped over them. Suddenly came a short hiss, as if something whipped through the air over his head, followed next by a small explosion. He looked up to see Megatron, his chest momentarily engulfed in a flash of light and smoke, stumble backwar d a couple of steps. He recognized the calling card immediately and tried to turn around to find its source, supporting himself on a hand and both knees.
Several hundred feet away a low, irregular-shaped perimeter wall stretched across the open expanse of metal. Tut stepped out of the shadows cast by a break in the structure, another one of her explosive-tipped arrows already drawn and set on her bow. Great, Starscream thought. That's the last person I need to show up. He watched her take a few more steps forward, her bowstring pulled taught. Was she trembling? Or, he thought as he looked down at the hand clamped over his wound, was it actually him trembling?
Megatron scowled as he recovered his balance. But that scowl split into a long, indulgent smile as he watched the human step forward. Clad in black power armor with her diminutive weapon drawn, obviously trying to keep a stern expression, she looked so amusing...for a moment, at least.
"I see incompetence not only breeds incompetence, but attracts it as well." Megatron said mockingly.
Tut sucked in a deep breath. "His life isn't yours to take." She flexed her fingers around the bowstring. "So just leave him alone."
The Decepticon leader couldn't help but laugh. Humans were the only beings he knew of that would willingly pick a fight where the odds were stacked against them, and sporadic reports suggested that this one excelled at it. Perhaps on another day he might just incinerate her on the spot, but today her presence may have been more opportun e for his diversion. Wherever she was, the Autobots were never far behind, and this would make sure that they stayed more concerned about he and Starscream blatantly crossing their perimeters than the undercover teams eluding their sensors on the other si de of Cybertron.
"His life is mine to take--and to leave. As is yours." That verbal parting shot given, Megatron took to the air again, disappearing into the night sky.
Tut flew over to Starscream, who wasted no time in reprimanding her. "I won't ask if you're stupid, you've already answered that question! What are you even doing here?!"
"Never mind that, we've gotta get you out of here." By this point he was standing on his knees, so she hovered beside him and tried to tug on his free arm, as if trying to help him stand.
"Stop wasting your time! You can't lift a Transformer in that exo-suit, and I should know!"
She let go and reached for a set of buttons under the crest shading her brow. "Then I better call the Autobots."
He grabbed her forearm between two fingers. "The Autobots?! You really have lost your mind! Just get out of here, before you get us into any more trouble!"
She shook her arm until he let go of it. "And leave you here to bleed to death? I don't think so!"
He levelled a null rifle at her head. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Leave."
"Goddammit, Starscream," she tried to lean around the null ray, which moved with her. "What're you gonna do, wait for another Decepticon to pick you up? You'll be dead by the time they find you, if they look."
Scowling, he lowered his weapon and tried to stand. "I'm fine," he said, almost standing up. Tut could see streaks of fuel running down his left leg. Before he could lock his legs straight, they buckled underneath him again and he sank to the ground. He glared at her. "Will you get out of here?"
She scowled back at him and rolled her eyes. "This is ridiculous." This time she made sure to stay at arm's length as she activated her radio transmitter. "I'm calling the Autobots. I won't let you die here, and neither will they."
Hot Rod answered the audio signal at a computer terminal within Iacon. "You what?!"
"I said I've got Starscream over here and he's shot up pretty bad! You gotta get somebody down here quick!"
"What about you, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
If Hot Rod were human himself, he would've let himself breathe again upon hearing that. "Okay. Well...look, just get back here and we'll send somebody to get Starscream."
"Negative."
He tilted his head in confusion. "Negative?"
"You send somebody for Starscream, I'll wait for you here."
He shrugged to himself--no sense in arguing. "Alright, you got it."
Brainstorm carefully applied a soldering iron to the replacement wires in Starscream's flank, allowing himself to voice a thought aloud. "It's too bad there wasn't any damage to the flight mechanisms, I'd love the chance to take those apart and see how they work."
"Well pardon me for not getting enough damage to satisfy your intellectual curiousity," Starscream hissed. He watched the procedure attentively, even suspiciously, aided by a local anesthetic. "Careful with that, you moron!" he snapped as Brainstorm dropp ed a stick of solder.
"Ease up, Starscream," Tut chided from her vantage point on the operating table next to Starscream's left air intake. Brainstorm simply ignored the insult and kept working.
" 'Ease up'?!" the Decepticon demanded. "When I get out of here I'll show you how I 'ease up'--"
"When you get done in the repair bay I'm going to have to keep you under house arrest," broke in a different voice. Optimus Prime stepped away from the wall where he had been watching silently but intently. "You know the rules of combat as well as I do."
"Oh, yes," Starscream added sarcastically, "a fabulous vacation getaway at Iacon Brig Resort!" He looked over his shoulder at Tut. "Way to go, flesh creature."
"Ordinarily I would keep out of your business, Starscream." Optimus directed a steady gaze at him. "But you should thank that 'flesh creature' for saving your life."
"And I'll thank you for continuing to stay out of my business."
Optimus walked over to the table and bent down, looking Starscream in the face. "When it involves her, it's my business."
"So how's our guest doing?" Optimus asked his two subordinates as he turned away from a computer terminal, set into the wall like so many others throughout Cybertron and their bases on Earth.
"Combative. Verbally abusive." Ultra Magnus replied flatly.
"Typical Starscream," Hot Rod finished. "Come to think of it, isn't this the first time we've ever been graced with his company?"
"Indeed it is, Hot Rod," Optimus answered calmly. He gestured to Tut, who sat on a ledge next to the computer station. "Based on her account of what happened, this seems highly unusual. Megatron wouldn't typically try to destroy a warrior that was still useful to him."
"You think he expected us to pick Starscream up?" Ultra Magnus narrowed his pale blue optics thoughtfully.
"He might've been," Tut added. "I mean, it's not like anything would've stopped him if he really wanted to kill Starscream." She didn't bother to share the other thought that ran through her head, certainly not me. No need to give her Autobot friends the equivalent of heart attacks by mentioning her stare-down attempt with the Decepticon leader himself.
"Great. Not only are they taking advantage of our generousity, but they're planning something. And our gracious guest certainly won't tell us what." Hot Rod folded his arms.
"What if he doesn't know?" Tut reasoned aloud, "I don't think Starscream would be willing to 'take one for the team' like that."
Ultra Magnus shook his head. "He's too high-level, he'd have to know something."
"Agreed," Optimus finally said. "But we should try to talk to him, even if he says nothing. We have to look at capturing a high-ranking Decepticon like this as an opportunity; the more time we spend trying to open dialogue with him, the less chance he may ultimately have of getting killed on the battlefield by one of us."
"Who knows," Tut chimed in, "maybe one day Starscream really will beat Megatron and he'll remember what we did for him today. It could end the war."
"Don't jump to those kind of conclusions," Ultra Magnus reproved, "you'll only set yourself up for disappointment."
"What she said may seem like a pipe dream," Optimus countered, "but without dreams, nothing ever changes."
Tut had to keep up a quick pace to match Optimus Prime's long strides, even though he deliberately slowed his gait to accomodate her. She had since shed her exo-suit, and her black and silver-lined cloak billowed behind her. Her habit of wearing mostly bl ack, plus her familiar presence, earned her the nickname among several Autobots as their 'shadow'.
"I plan to come back alone later," the Autobot leader explained, "but we'll see if he's willing to talk to both of us this time."
"Thinking maybe I can help you get your foot in the door?"
"But there aren't any doors--oh. Is that another Earth saying?"
She smiled. "Yup, sorry about that."
Their conversation was cut off by the pulsating wail of an alarm. A red light flashed in the hallway. Optimus activated his radio transmitter. "Status report?"
Ultra Magnus answered. "Prime, we've got a report from Viridian sector of a Decepticon attack."
His optics flashed an icy blue. "It makes sense now."
The two would-be interrogators stopped in front of Starscream's cell. He didn't waste any time in addressing them. "So, you're under attack, are you?"
"Iacon is not." Optimus carefully replied.
"You want to know what happened?" Starscream didn't give him any time to answer. "I was set up! This whole time Megatron's played all of us--you, me, and this entire planet--for fools! I should have known better."
Optimus was rather awestruck, and didn't answer. Tut simply looked on wide-eyed.
"Do you really want to wreck his plans, Prime?"
A tense pause ensued. Finally Optimus responded. "Go on."
"Let me go."
"You know I can't do that without a very good reason."
Starscream leaned close to the glowing energy bars, looking Optimus directly in his optics. He spoke through clenched jaws. "He set me up, used me for a diversion and left me for dead!" He leaned closer still, the pale green light patterns of the bars ref lecting on his face plates and in his optics. "Mark my words, I will have my revenge!"
Prime stepped back, saying nothing. Another uneasy silence followed. Starscream could see the light from the bars reflecting in the Autobot leader's optics and the windows in his chest. Tut said nothing, making it easy to all but forget she was even present.
Optimus tapped the controls at the side of Starscream's cell, and the energy bars receded into the floor. "Follow me."
An immense, unabashed smile spread across Starscream's face. "As you wish." They both turned to leave.
"Tut, wait for me at cent-com. Tell them I'm escorting the prisoner out of Iacon."
She snapped another salute. "You got it, Optimus."
Starscream turned toward her and flashed a feral grin. "And kid, stay out of the Hall next time."
He fell in place behind Optimus, and they disappeared down the hall.
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