The Darkest Hour

by TheClownPrinceofCrime

Chapter 5: Following the Star

IN OUTER SPACE

On one of Jupiter’s moons, Callisto, Skywarp was stacking what little energon cubes he had left. Feeling sad and lonely, he set aside the cubes and idly wandered across the surface of Castillo. He looked up toward the atmosphere while his wings dejectedly lowered themselves. “Is there nothing else a poor little Seeker like me can do? Why must I suffer from the wrath of others?” he asked himself.

“How is it that I am not as brave and strong as my other brothers? I... I don’t understand why I was even created in the first place! It feels like... I was destined for misery and sorrow. I guess it’s fitting for me since I’m such a coward,” Skywarp lamented.

“Megatron and Starscream could be plotting to have my spark, and I have no one to protect me except Thrust and Dirge. I don’t even know if I should trust them,” he continued, sorrowfully lowering his face. “Well, I can only hope that things will get better for me. I... really need a frie—,”

“We’re back!” a new voice shouted.

“AHH!!” Skywarp fearfully screamed. He quickly stood upright to face the arriving Seekers. As they transformed to robot mode, they were holding large stacks of energon cubes and walked over to place them next to the pile Skywarp was handling.

“Ah, I see you have gathered enough energon for yourself as well. I truly envy you for such an effort,” Thrust said, glaring at the coward.

“That’s a good thing because they will all be mine!! ALL THE ENERGON IS MINE!!” Dirge exclaimed. He unsheathed his tentacles from his chest and greedily licked his chops as he stared at the energon.

However, Thurst tackled him to the ground and tried to pin him down. “Oh no, you don’t! All the energon is for me! You fools can only have the scraps of it!”

“My desire for such delicious power compels me to refuse!” Dirge yelled, pushing his rival off him.

As the Seekers continued to bicker and fight, Skywarp could only watch them while he hid behind the energon pile. But the more he witnessed their greed, hatred, envy, and pride clashing against each other in their bitter strife, the more he felt something spark within him—a rage being pent up he needed to release. Having had enough of their bickering, he swatted the energon cubes away. The forceful impact caused them to explode.

“ENOUGH!!!” Skywarp angrily bellowed.

Both the fiery explosion and his outburst caught their attention. However, he instantly shrunk back to his cowardly self as they stared at him in shock and confusion. “I-I mean... please... stop,” he nervously whispered.

As Thrust saw all the energon they had gathered completely obliterated, he flew over to him and grabbed him by the neck in a fit of rage. “You fool! We needed that energon for our fuel! Don’t you realize how painstaking it was to scavenge all that?!”

“That could have been my energon fuel, you downgrades!” Dirge chided. “All that power could have been mine for the taking but no! You had to ruin all the fun!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Skywarp apologized.

“The next time you forget your place, I will take you offline. No one talks to me like that,” Thrust threatened. “I am in charge around here! Is that understood?!”

Skywarp fearfully nodded. Thrust dropped him on the ground.

“Now we will have to scramble for more energon across the galaxy thanks to your stupidity,” Thurst said.

“But this time, I will gain all the energon for myself! Then I will become even more powerful than ever!” Dirge said, proudly clenching his fists.

“In your dreams, you dolt. In your dreams,” Thrust spat.

Suddenly, the three Seekers heard a distant noise of aircraft above the atmosphere. They looked up to see Starscream flying across space in his jet mode. “Is... that who I think it is?” Skywarp asked, surprised.

“Ah-ha! The incompetent master himself is all alone and vulnerable,” smirked Thrust. “It is now time to get back at him for banishing us!”

“Yes, and I will drain him of his energy to fuel my own! It will be glorious!” Dirge boasted.

“Banishing you? For what?” Skywarp asked.

“Because our powerful abilities were a threat to his authority,” Thrust replied. “He knew I would prove to be a better leader than he ever was. The time has come for our revenge to be fulfilled.”

“Oh... um, I see,” Skywarp muttered. Thrust pointed his blaster at his face while glaring dangerously at him. Flames started to slowly sprout from the barrel.

“You will accompany us to destroy him. If I ever see you leave us or crawl back to that fool, you will perish with him. Do I make myself clear?” Thrust threatened again.

Skyward silently nodded in understanding. Thrust lowered his weapon and flew up into the air.

“Decepticons, transform and rise up!” he commanded. He transformed to jet mode before Dirge and Skywarp did likewise.

Thus, the three Seekers followed their former master into outer space. However, they activated a cloaking device to avoid being detected by Starscream.

ON CYBERTRON

Rodimus Prime stood before the Elite Guard Council and Ultra Magnus with the Autobot Elite Guard insignia finally stamped on his chest. As he turned to face his remaining allies, Ultra Magnus laid his hand on Rodimus’s left shoulder and stomped the floor with his hammer. “Salute your new commanding officer, Autobots. Rodimus Prime is now my lieutenant for the Elite Guard.”

The Autobots saluted Rodimus. Then they all applauded once again for him whereas Sentinel scowled in disapproval with his arms crossed.

“It is a high honor to serve as lieutenant, Commander,” said Rodimus, saluting him.

“You have truly earned it, young warrior. With your assistance, our planet will continue to survive. We must double our efforts to finish the war and destroy the remaining Decepticons for good. You are ready,” said Magnus, slightly smiling.

“Ah, man. I wish I had that kind of honor,” muttered Hot Shot.

“Don’t worry, comrade. Soon enough, we will receive our reward for our efforts. Although I do wish I was back on Earth to see nature once more,” sighed Brawn.

Suddenly, dozens of Autobot troopers broke into the room. “Ultra Magnus, Sir! Something terrible has happened!” one of them shouted.

“We have some alarming bad news!” another said.

“Calm yourselves. What exactly is the problem?” Ultra Magnus demanded.

“The Decepticon prisoners—they have all escaped!” the third guard informed.

The entire council gasped in shock. “That’s impossible. We had them under tight security! There’s no way they could have escaped!” Sentinel doubted.

“Unless... they received help from someone else or more,” Jazz added.

“But who? Who could have possibly sent them free?!” Sentinel wondered.

Ultra Magnus then remembered something else at that moment. Hoping that was not the case, he asked the top trooper, “What about the stone statues of Megatron and his lieutenants? What happened to them?”

“They... they were also gone,” he nervously replied.

“How long ago did they escape?” Magnus further asked.

“We don’t know. Probably two or three mega cycles ago.”

“Why were we not informed of this event earlier? A simple transmitted message would have sufficed,” Magnus scolded.

“We apologize, Sir, but our transmissions were somehow taken offline by the time we discovered they escaped Trypticon Prison. That’s one of the reasons why we came here.”

“What’s the other reason you have come?” Rodimus asked, arching his brow.

“There is only one prisoner left who was recently taken into custody. We have brought him over for interrogation,” the trooper finished.

After Rodimus and Magnus looked at each other for a brief moment, they nodded in approval. Then the guards brought over their smug prisoner before the Elite Guard. They forcibly pushed him to the floor before they stepped aside.

“Heeeeyyy, buddies! It’s quite a serene day we’re having on Cybertron, eh?!” Lout obnoxiously greeted.

“Spare me the meaningless pleasantries, Decepticon scum. Where are your Decepticon friends? What are they planning to do?” Rodimus demanded.

“Friends? Pfff, I barely know any of them except for a few including big old Meggy. He’s always busy with leadership business, but he never takes time to socialize with a common Decepticon like me. Although he does have a thing going on with Shockwave apparently,” Lout smirked, winking at the reader.

“Enough games! Where is Megatron? What does he intend to do?” Rodimus angrily demanded.

“How should I know? I wasn’t even there when they all escaped. Anyway, have you guys ever heard the tragedy of Vector Prime the Wise? I thought not. It’s not a story an Autobot would tell you. It’s a—,” Lout casually monologued before a guard smacked him.

“Last chance to confess. Where. Are. They?” Rodimus growled.

“Oh my goodness, chill out, dude! And I thought Megatron was impatient...” Lout said, still smirking.

Those words struck the young prime, causing him to stop glaring at the ‘Con. He instantly regretted acting so aggressive towards him as he did not want to stoop down to Megatron’s level. After that brief moment of reflection, he remained silent. Sentinel took notice of that.

“If you tell us where they are, we will let you remain online. Do not make this hard for yourself,” Ultra Magnus said.

“Ahhhh, so now we’re gonna resort to threats, eh? Nice, nice, I like that. But guess what? I don’t know where they are. What? Am I some sort of deity that knows everything or something? Soooooo... yeah. Can’t tell ya anything, buddy. But hey! I do know one thing,” Lout smiled.

“And that would be?”

“Fireworks, baby!” Lout shouted. A tiny bomb on his stasis cuffs exploded, setting him free. Then he spat more little bombs from his mouth towards the ceiling, destroying it entirely. He raised his arm-mounted blades and threw them up in the air with the chains. Getting hold of the other building, he swung away from the Autobots.

“Autobots, follow the prisoner and take him down by any means necessary!” Ultra Magnus ordered.

“Yes, Sir!” the troopers complied. They ran off to chase and engage the enemy.

“Commander, Megatron could be out there! He might seek to take over Earth! We have to stop him there!” Rodimus suggested.

“I understand your concern, lieutenant, but that duty of protecting Earth only belongs to Optimus and his team. You will remain here as previously instructed. You are needed here,” Ultra Magnus reminded.

“But Sir—,”

“That’s an order,” he sternly added.

“What about Equestria?!” Rodimus snapped.

Magnus stood in surprise at his tone and at the very mention of Equestria. He remembered the ponies and creatures who arrived here as they told him of their dire situation and the schemes of Soundwave when he was alive. Although he remembered them and knew their great deeds well, he scowled at the young prime in response. “My order still applies... even for that place.”

Sentinel smirked at Rodimus’s bewildered reaction. “Hmmm, that gives me an idea.”

*************

After he successfully escaped the guards, Lout took one of the escape pods and took off from Cybertron. “Oooooohhhh yeeeaaaaahh!! Boom, baby!! Hello, freedom!” he celebrated.

As he flew across the reaches of space, his scanner picked up an energy signal. “Oh? What do we have here? A surprise? A present? It’s not even my birthday yet!”

As the scanner zoomed into the signal, he recognized the lifeform in jet mode. “Starscream? I haven’t seen that drama queen in ages! Huh, let’s see what he’s up to this time.” With that said, Lout flew after him.

Comments

[Darth Wrex]

Hey, a 'Turncoat Skywarp' angle might not be a bad idea.

[TheClownPrinceofCrime]

10752091
Indeed.

[Darth Wrex]

10752116
He might actually be welcomed on Equestria if betrays the Decepticons.

[TheClownPrinceofCrime]

10752121
That’s what I’ve been going for.

[Darth Wrex]

10752127
Maybe the Elements of Harmony could give him a real Spark instead of having that tiny Allspark fragment in his head.

[TheClownPrinceofCrime]

10752129
It’s in his chest, not head. That’s Starscream. Also, you’ll see what will happen to Skywarp later.

[Darth Wrex]

10752132
Sorry, I'm A little rusty with the Animated Series. And awesome.

[nightshroud96]

“How should I know? I wasn’t even there when they all escaped. Anyway, have you guys ever heard the tragedy of Vector Prime the Wise? I thought not. It’s not a story an Autobot would tell you. It’s a—,” Lout casually monologued before a guard smacked him.

*Star Wars Prequel Trilogy memes intensifies*

[TheClownPrinceofCrime]

10752141

[nightshroud96]

10752145
Randomly deciding to watch Star Wars meme videos for a month or so sure helped me out there.

[TheClownPrinceofCrime]

10752149
Good.
May the High Ground be with you.

[nightshroud96]

10752160
Yee

High Ground achieved