Chapter 35. debriefing

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The next few days, they were planning on what to do. Ratchet and Jolt were working on a cure or something but it was hard. Dreadraid was working on my nerves and really pushing me over the limit. I groaned and shook my head, "Skylar?" I looked up at Optimus. I had no idea where he had been. After the meeting, Optimus had left the base and obviously returned today. "Optimus?" I was surprised. He sat down, "I believe you... about what you said about Sunstreaker," he said. "You do?" I asked. He looked around for a moment before he bent closer towards me. "Dreadraid is a dangerous mech... if Sunstreaker feared him then we have no reason to trust him. Sunstreaker was crazy but not stupid. He was loyal unlike Dreadraid," he said. "So you don't trust him? You don't think he will give me the shard?" I asked. Optimus shook his head. "That doesn't have to be either," he replied. A frown spread over his face. "Where have you been?" I asked. "I owe you something, Skylar. Trust me," he said. I frowned but gave a small nod. Usually, Prime is not this mysterious. "What have you planned?" I asked. "An attack... I had to take care of a few things first," he said before he got up.

"There's a debriefing at ten... make sure you're on time, okay?" he asked. I gave him a small nod and watched him walk off. Dreadraid settled beside me. "What was that about?" he asked. "I don't know..." I lied and took a bite of my fruit. "Eyeball?" he asked, holding up a plastic ball. "No, thanks." The mech shrugged and popped one in his mouth. "You have a problem," the mech gave me a 'serious' look before swallowing the eyeball. "I can do whatever I want," he snapped. I sighed softly and sat back for a moment. "What did he say?" Dreadraid pushed. "He was just saying hello..." I muttered. He hummed and eyed me for a moment. "What are you up to?" he asked. "What do you mean? What am I up to?" I sulked, looking down at the table. "You stormed off during the last meeting because no one believed you," he snorted. "Do you?" I asked. "I do believe you... in some way but if it would be true, you would piss me off," he said. I glanced at him. "Even in the afterlife, Sunstreaker is still chasing you and that makes me want to kill you but... that means Sunstreaker will have you and I can't let that happen," he snapped. "I will make you feel pain on a whole new level," he snapped before he got up and walked off.

I tried to forget about our talk and headed for the debriefing, this time, without Dreadraid which was a relief to everyone. Optimus getured me to sit down next to him. "Where have you been?" Prowl asked. "I had to ask a friend for help," Prime replied. We all looked at each other in, mostly, surprise. "Who?" Prowl pushed, obviously dying to know what Prime had done the last four days. "It doesn't matter right now. We know where the power plant is located and we need to take it down. Lennox, you have a map of that place?" Prime asked. "I have... I asked the government for a detailed map and they gave me one,"  he said, showing it on the screen. "We don't know in which part they are operating, it could be anywhere but my guess is in section one," Lennox said. "I am working on making nano-bots as well. I will inject each one of you as soon as I finish it, but I need to test it first," he said. "You can test it on me." Ratchet glanced at me. "I don't know the side effects, it can kill you," he said. "That doesn't matter," I said. "It does, Skylar. You promised me something, didn't you?" Optimus asked. I glanced at him and sighed softly. "I know..."

"We can test it on Dreadraid," Ironhide sulked. I hated Dreadraid but in this case, I felt the urge to defend him a little bit. "You're doing it again." Ironhide looked at me. "You always see the worst parts in someone but just like Sunstreaker, Dreadraid has the right to live," I said. "You have no idea what he has done to our species, Skylar. You have a weakness for people like him," Prowl snapped. "People like him? Ah, right... of course. People like him don't have rights, I get it," I snapped. "Skylar," Optimus warned. "No, I mean... I don't like Dreadraid either and I definitely don't agree with his methods but people never wondered why he's the way he is. You'll never wonder what was going on in Sunstreaker's mind. What did you actually know about him? Do I need to tell you a story about how Whiplash raped his own child, isolated Sunny in a basement for months with limited food. He beat him up, threw him off stars, mocked him with everything he did. Sunstreaker was never good enough and sure I don't know the fine details either and he has a lot of secrets but I do know that he has been through much more than you realize. You all treated him like a monster but he's not a monster... he started killing because he didn't grow up with love and started to play own judge. His parents never supported him and hurt him the moment he was born."

"So, in conclusion, you can't judge a book by its cover. Sunstreaker carried his spark every single day and you never took a moment to stop by and listen to him. You made it worse by isolating him in the brig or shouting at him. He never felt part of the team and if you want to be seen... you get negative attention. Sunstreaker was pretty reasonable if you approached him from a different angle. He was smart and still pisses me off to this day, that I, a simple human could achieve more than any of you could in a million of years," I snapped. "You are right, we haven't treated Sunstreaker like we should've," Optimus said. "My call to kill him was wrong," he added. "But he's a psychopath," a soldier who had listened said. "Do you have any idea how many psychopaths walk this earth?" I asked, glaring at the soldier. The man looked down at the ground. "That's what I thought," I snapped and leaned back.

"Skylar?" I looked at Optimus. "I know you're upset but we need to focus on this, alright?" I nodded and leaned back. "Well, who do we test it with?" Ratchet asked and glanced at me. "I say we test it on Dreadraid," Ratchet added. I rolled my eyes. "Do you think it works or not?" I asked. "I think it does... not 100% sure," Ratchet answered. "Isn't that good enough?" I asked. "No, it's not good enough. It could kill you if I don't do it right," he snapped. Optimus raised his hand. "Enough. Ask Dreadraid if he's willing to test it," Optimus stated. "What if he says no?" Prowl asked. "He won't," Optimus stated. "How do you know that for sure?" Ratchet sulked. "Because he's selfish. He wants to be the first one to get it so he can live... by asking him you might win a bit of his trust as well," Optimus stated. Ratchet and Jolt got up,–– leaving the meeting. The meeting finished shortly after they discussed the plan and I searched for Sideswipe again.

I embraced him and we sat down for a moment. I climbed on his lap and leaned into him. "Do you know what Optimus has been doing?" I asked. "Nope, he only told me he's back and asked how I am doing," he replied. I hummed and rubbed over his chest. 'Are you feeling good? I need more time," I whispered. 'Don't worry so much about me, Skylar. I am going to be just fine and so are you, okay? You need to focus on other things right now," he added. I looked up to him and rubbed his cheek. "What are you doing! Get off his lap!" Dreadraid pulled me away from Sideswipe. "Don't you dare to fucking touch her! She doesn't belong to you!" he sneered. Sideswipe got up as well, glaring at Dreadraid. "Please, boys... stop." I came between them and pushed Dreadraid away from Sideswipe. "Don't hurt him, please. Okay, I will leave... don't hurt him. He's going through a hard time already. He was just being nice, that's all." Dreadraid growled and grabbed me.

"Stop! You hurt her!" Sideswipe hissed angrily. "One more move and you'll regret it!" Dreadraid snapped, pointing his gun at Sideswipe. "Stop, dreadraid! Please, I am begging you. Leave Sideswipe alone." Dreadraid hit me. "You idiot!" Sideswipe shouted. "No, Sideswipe... I am fine. I am okay..." I got back up on my feet. "Come on, Dreadraid... let's go." I pulled the mech with me.

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