Guardians And Primes (TFP Optimus x Mech!Reader)

26: Deception

A/N this is gonna be a long boi
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Over the following week or so, I remained at the base with Ratchet, the grumpy medic, allowing me to help with the Synth-En project he had been spending a long time trying to finish. We were working on a possible solution when the Autobots returned with Soundwave in tow, strapping him down against a berth, so he was restrained. The silent mech slowly looked at me, a :) on his screen. There was something about that motion that really caused anxiety to spike in me.

"How... how in Primus?" I asked, looking over to Optimus for answers. Optimus then explained how they managed to shoot Soundwave down and capture him, my ridges furrowed. I slowly made my way over to the silent mech, his helm watching my every move. "Soundwave. Are you in pain?" I asked.

"What the scrap are you doing?" Smokescreen asked in disbelief.

"Showing mercy, it is the Palaton way." I said, looking back to Soundwave. He then nodded slightly, and I summoned my healing powers and gently ran my servos across his injuries, the bent metal reforming and going back into place.
I then slowly backed away after checking for any further injuries. I felt the stares of the others drill into me, making me extremely nervous. I shook it off and then turned to them. "I will be meditating if anyone needs me." I then made my way to the berthroom and took up a meditative state, the soft thrum of my spark the only thing I wanted to hear.

In my minds eye, I was back at the silver city I had seen with Alpha Trion, the past versions of myself wandering about.

'Palatonarus, you seemed troubled.' One of them said, a far older and more rugged looking version of myself approaching me.

'I guess I am, I healed an enemy, and the others I call family do not seem to approve of my actions.'

'You showed mercy, as is your way.'

'But was mercy the right choice?'

'I once asked myself that same question but for a djfferent reason.' I looked at him with confusion. 'Do you know why there are past versions of yourself?'

'Not really, I never thought about it.'

'It is because we all carried your spark. However, none of us were able to show mercy or restraint, and thus, we never became Palatonarus. Our memories are for you not to make our mistakes. You are Palatonarus for a reason, and you've fully awoken because you've learned restraint and mercy, something that I failed many times before.'

'Who were you?' I asked curiously.

'I was known as Bulwark, I was part of an underground crime organization that mainly did assassinations and theft. I had no restraint or mercy, and I was fairly cruel. I took many lives without even thinking of the consequences. Then, one day, it all came crashing down when I was assigned to assassinate Shellshock. When she turned the tables and ripped out my spark chamber, I asked myself the very question you did. Was mercy the answer?'

'Shellshock has tried to kill us before?'

'Yes, in fact, most of us fell at her hand. The cycle was broken when Megatron slaughtered her.'

'Thus triggering the chain of events Galacticas mentioned.' I said, my ridges furrowed as I contemplated the information. 'But why was Shellshock part of the Deciples of Unicron? And how did I know that?'

'I believe Pulsar can answer that.' He said, gesturing to a very young version of myself. I went over to the youngling and he looked up at me with a small smile.

'Hi! I'm Pulsar!' He said.

'You fell so young...' I said sadly.

'Yeah, Shellshock offlined me as some sort of ritual for the Deciples of Unicron.' Pulsar said with a sad look. 'It wasn't fair. I wanted to be a medic.'