“Mmm. My sweet weapon came back to me”
“I came back to save my friends you glitch !” Thunderstar attempted moving but Soundwave’s tentacles were holding her down, she had no energy left in her, she was close to losing the fight. Thunderstar yelled and tried getting away from the silent mech but his grip only tightened.
“You mean them ?” Megatron stepped to the side and laughed. Ratchet, Wheeljack, Bulkhead, Arcee, they were all laying on the ground, offline. Energon stained their bodies and the ground they laid on, Thunderstar’s spark ached the more she looked at the image before her.
“Where is he ? Where’s Optimus ?!” Thunderstar was fighting tears as she screamed at Megatron, she felt nothing but pain and agony but she had to push through it. Thunderstar gasped as she saw Optimus laying on the ground not far from her, he wasn’t offline but he was pretty fragging close.
Megatron shook his helm as his sword seeped deep down into Optimus’s spark chamber. He made the Prime groan as his spark was pulled out and thrown on the ground in front of Thunderstar. “You never should’ve left me,” Megatron swiftly swung his blade, killing the femme.
____________________________________________
Thunderstar shot up from the berth, she took a deep breath before laying back against the bed and attempting to calm herself down. Thunderstar had been having the same kind of dreams for the past month that she had been here at the Autobot base. Every other night she would dream about losing someone or losing herself.
Thunderstar quietly left her berthroom so she wouldn’t wake up Shadowlynx, the Cyberwolf never liked being without her but with all the training he’s been doing he needed the rest. Thunderstar made her way into the main hangar of the base to get some peace and quiet and relax. She needed to wake up so she could stop thinking about the nightmares.
“Have another bad dream ?” Thunderstar dropped the glass of energon and it shattered against the ground. Thunderstar sighed in relief as she saw it was just Ratchet but immediately started picking up the glass.
“Relax, I’ve got it.” Ratchet made the femme sit down on the medical berth while he cleaned up the energon. Ratchet could see the effects of nightmares on Thunderstar’s face, it looked like it’d been weeks since she got any sleep. Ratchet hooked Thunderstar up to check her vitals, which only aggravated the femme.
“I’m fine..Just tired”
“And you don’t seem to realize how hard you’ve been pushing yourself. You train three times a day with Shadow then you go out and search for Decepticons and you’ve been looking for Airachnid.” Ratchet lifted the girl’s helm to look her in the optics.
“I don’t try to be annoying or rude, I just want to make sure that you are okay. You don’t understand what damage you can do to your body and mind. Now please, relax.” Thunderstar nodded and let the medic run a full test over her, she had forgotten how much Ratchet cared about her wellbeing. It was something she missed, he always did treat her like one of his own, he’d raised her well and taught her so many things.
“Do you care to talk about the nightmares ?” Thunderstar’s spark sank. If she brought up her nightmares she would be questioned on why she thought about Megatron so much. She was trying to forget the warlord and move on but it hurt her more than she liked to fully admit. Thunderstar just shook her helm and looked back down at the ground.
“Ratchet what are you doing up so early ?” Thunderstar looked up as Optimus walked into the room with a concerned look. She knew how much Optimus cared about everyone on team Prime, he worried more than Ratchet sometimes. Thunderstar continued to sit on the berth, quietly. She felt bad when the rest of team Prime got up and joined them in the main hangar.
“Last night there was a strong energon signature, Thunder, I’m going to show you the location on the map if it’s anything significant tell us.” Ratchet pulled up a map, a purple dot on the map indicated where Ratchet had seen the energon spike.
The team turned their helms as Shadowlynx ran into the room and transformed at the last second. Shortly after he started his training Shadowlynx realized he could transform, he wasn’t as tall as the others but still, it was better than being a wolf all the time.
“If I’m right that’s one of Megatron’s energon mines..Ready to go hunting Shadow ?” Thunderstar smirked down at Shadowlynx but the moment didn’t last due to Ratchet worrying about everything.
“You are tired Thunder you can’t possibly think I’m letting you leave base today!” Thunderstar rolled her optics then opened a ground bridge not far from the energon mine.
“I got this doc. Me and Shadow are the stealthiest in team Prime, trust us. No fighting, we’ll scout the area then report back with what we find”
“Fine but first let me give you something,” Ratchet pressed down on Thunderstar’s shoulder then let the femme leave with Shadowlynx. “I placed a Microbug on her so we can see and hear everything she does,” Ratchet hacked into the bug and it started playing a live feed for team Prime.
Thunderstar and Shadowlynx moved down the hill to get a closer look at the energon mine. Thunderstar was hiding in a tree while Shadowlynx stayed hidden in a bush. Two guards were outside the mine guarding the entrance, Thunderstar could see a strong energy spike and knew there was plenty of energon inside.
“On my mark we attack. I go right you go left,” Thunderstar growled and leaped out of the tree. She quickly tackled the vehicon and ripped off his helm before he could speak, Shadowlynx had torn the other vehicons neck apart.
“Hide the bodies then sneak inside. Don’t get caught, meet back outside in 10.” Thunderstar snuck inside and began walking around the energon mine, she stopped as she saw Megatron walk into a back area of the energon mine. A part of her thought about getting help from Shadowlynx but that would of taken to long, she didn’t want to wait.
Thunderstar slid inside the back area, she wasn’t sure if she was going to hurt him or try and talk to him. She missed him so much but they were on opposite factions now, she knew the Autobots would kill her if they found out how she felt about the warlord.
“Hey doc what’s going on..She’s talking to thin air and we can’t hear it.” Wheeljack asked in a aggravated tone. Ratchet cut the feed then restarted it but still there wasn’t any audio coming from Thunderstar. Ratchet wasn’t sure what was going on, it was starting to worry him.
“I’ve missed you,” Thunderstar gasped as she felt cold hands on her neck. She leaned into the warlord but all she received was a chuckle before she fell onto her hands and knees. Her digits sunk into the ground and she growled to keep from making a angry, upset scream.
“Time to leave,” Shadowlynx commed. Thunderstar could hear gunshots coming from the mine. Thunderstar left the room then ran through the energon mine and out the front exit. She softly smiled as she saw Shadowlynx, the two ran back up the hill then through a ground bridge back to base.
Thunderstar had imagined Megatron, she was falling apart, she needed him but still she hated him for being nothing more than a monster. It wasn't the first time that she had illusioned the warlord, it had been happening the entire month she had been away from him.
“Thunderstar there’s someone here to see you.” Ratchet pointed towards the hallway as Wheeljack came into the room.
“Watch the paint Wrecker !” Thunderstar smiled as she heard the familiar voice, she had forgotten just how much she missed Knockout since her mind was always clouded by Megatron and her parents.
“Ah, there you are beautiful.” Knockout smirked. He gasped as Thunderstar tightly hugged him, it was the same way she would whenever she got back from a mission. The same way she always hugged Breakdown. Knockout came more to make sure she was okay rather than make small talk. Shadowlynx growled and tackled Knockout to the ground.
“Shadow no ! Get off, now.” Thunderstar placed her hand on Shadowlynx’s back and he let go within seconds. Thunderstar smiled and pet Shadow before helping Knockout off the cold floor. She couldn’t help but laugh as she saw dirt stains on his chassis and chipped paint here and there.
“I came to see how you were doing,” Thunderstar could tell that wasn’t the only thing on his processor. Knockout noticed how Thunderstar was now staring at him, he brought up a location on the screen and heavily sighed.
“They found her. Megatron isn’t going after her, he says she isn’t a threat and is a waste of our time..He wants to hunt you down instead.” Knockout heavily sighed. Thunderstar could feel his sorrow and hugged the mech.
“She is going to pay for everything she’s done. I swear. You’re going to have her helm on a platter when I’m done with her,” Thunderstar opened a ground bridge for Knockout and let a evil smirk cross her face.
“Go before he notices you’re gone. I’ll comm you once I have her spark in my hands.” Knockout smiled then quickly left through the ground bridge, Thunderstar knew revenge was never a Autobot choice but it was in her system. She watched Breakdown offline in front of her, she was not about to let his killer live another day.
“Thunderstar you must understand that I cannot allow you to leave with intentions of revenge”
“She killed Breakdown..I-..I watched him die, Optimus I am not letting her get away !” Thunderstar was beginning to growl and become angry.
“Knockout said that buckethead was hunting you, you leave this base he’ll find you. It’s not safe Cri,” Wheeljack tried to hug Thunderstar but she immediately punched the mech. Thunderstar shook her helm and panicked as Wheeljack hit the ground, she left the room and went into the washracks to try and calm down.
“Shadow..Watch over her,” Ratchet let go of Shadow and let him go find Thunderstar. Ratchet worried about Thunderstar more and more everyday, she wasn’t drinking enough energon and she wasn’t getting recharge either. Ratchet knew the femme was beginning to hallucinate but he hadn’t told the others.
Ratchet had found Thunderstar talking to ‘Megatron’ a few times in the past two weeks. She would always talk to him as if he was there, Ratchet didn’t know how to bring it up to Thunderstar without making the femme upset or angry. Ratchet knew how Thunderstar felt about Megatron due to her talking to the hallucinations of him. It frightened him in a way but he knew he couldn’t do anything to change her feelings.
“Let me help you..” Thunderstar heavily breathed as she felt cold hands on her back.
“I miss you..so much,” The cold hands moved down and wrapped around her hips. Shadowlynx was now in the corner watching over Thunderstar, just like Ratchet asked him to. Thunderstar turned around in hopes of seeing or touching Megatron again but he was gone. Thunderstar fell to her knees and broke.
“I need you..Please..I love you..” Thunderstar was a completely broken mess, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. With every day that passed she saw and heard him more often. His image was going to destroy her completely. She needed him just like Nightstar needed Stormblazer.
Shadowlynx walked over to Thunderstar and licked away what tears he could. Thunderstar shut off the water and left the washracks, she knew what she was going to do. Thunderstar grabbed a ration of energon and quickly downed it before opening a ground bridge.
“I put on another microbug..C’mon Shadow. We’ve got a spider to squash.” Thunderstar and Shadowlynx ran through the ground bridge before they could hear any disagreements about finding Airachnid. Thunderstar and Shadowlynx came out 2 miles away from the location Knockout marked, they needed time to plan out everything.
“What’s happened to Jack ? Ever since he got here with Crimson he’s completely changed ! I know he’s a different person now but doesn’t he still know I’m his mother ?” June sounded so defeated as she spoke to Ratchet and Optimus. She just missed her son.
“Jack know’s you are his mother but he is tied to Thunderstar. Emotionally. She gave Shadow her energon to wake him up. That energon is now in his system. It ties them together in a close partnership. They can speak to one another over their minds, know when one is in danger or where they are.” Ratchet explained in a calm tone.
“In other words he’s always going to be with Thunderstar”
“Yes. He has the choice to be free but emotionally they will always be connected. Let’s just hope these two are safe while out hunting Airachnid.” Ratchet was worried about how the two would fair in combat against Airachnid. A large part of him thought it wouldn’t work but he still kept a small hint of hope that maybe they’d be okay and maybe they’d live through it.
Thunderstar and Shadowlynx had been sitting outside the cave for almost four hours now. The first two hours they planned out their attack, the rest of the time they've been watching the cave. They agreed to wait till sundown to attack the spider femme.
“There’s no signal..I’m going in, watch my aft.” Thunderstar snuck into the cave but there was no one there. She was too late or Airachnid was smart and left before she could be cornered. Both were very likely. Thunderstar screamed in anger as she came out of the cave, again she was so close yet so far.
“Alright the live feed is up. The chip must be on her chassis somewhere.” Ratchet leaned against the railing and watched the live feed on screen. He could see Optimus wasn’t happy but Thunderstar was just like her father, he could easily tell that much.
“Watch out !” Thunderstar perked up and was tackled to the ground by someone. Thunderstar charged up her body and shocked whoever was on top of her making them get off and recover.
“Miss me ?”
“Oh you know it bitch,” Thunderstar ran at the spider like femme and pushed her against the rock wall of the cave. Thunderstar yelled and stabbed the femme in her lower chassis, Thunderstar went to shock the femme but she was pushed away. Airachnid used her webs to tie Thunderstar’s hands together and recover.
“Love to stay but I’ve better things to do..It was nice seeing you sweetspark !” Shadowlynx growled and leaped at Airachnid. The femme kicked Shadowlynx into a rock and left before Thunderstar could do anymore damage to her.
“Shadow ?” Thunderstar ripped the webs off her hands and slid over to Shadowlynx. She panicked as she saw him laying on the ground not moving, she wasn’t sure if he alive or dead. Thunderstar sighed in relief as she saw his chest rising and heard him breathing.
“You’re just unconscious..Thank Primus,” Thunderstar kept running her hands over Shadowlynx’s chest. It gave her some comfort and helped her calm down.
Ratchet disconnected the live feed then grabbed a spare datapad, “She took off the microchip. We’ll just have to stay in contact until she comes back to base.” Ratchet lied. He hacked into the live feed on the datapad and sat down in the med-bay. He needed to keep watch on her for his own personal reasons, he worried about her so much. As if she was his own.
“Taking care of our pet ?” Thunderstar didn’t budge, she knew it wasn’t real. It was just another hallucination due to her lack of rest. It killed her but she wasn’t moving. She closed her optics and let out a shaky breath as a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her to her pede’s. She didn’t want to open her optics or move on her own, she wanted this moment to last, even if it wasn’t real.
“Look at me”
“No..you’ll just fade away like every other time,” Thunderstar felt the urge to cry. “I hate this..I see you almost every day and lose you every time I move..I-..I can’t tell what’s real anymore and it’s tearing me apart.” Thunderstar broke yet again. She lost it as smooth hands slid over her faceplate and wiped her tears away.
“Look at me Thunderstar,” Slowly she opened her optics. She looked at the mech in front of her and slowly came to the realization it wasn’t a hallucination. Thunderstar let her helm fall against his burning chassis and she completely broke down. She didn’t care if anyone was listening to her, she didn’t care who saw, she just needed to follow her mother’s advice.
“I hate it there but I missed everyone on team Prime. I don’t want to hurt anyone I care about but..I’m killing myself staying there,” Thunderstar pulled back and looked up at Megatron. Here went nothing.
“Megatron, I love you. You are a complete monster who kills anyone in his path but I need you. Without you I have been falling apart, I can’t sleep without seeing you. I see you with me every day..I-..I don’t know what to do anymore..” Thunderstar tried backing away from Megatron but he didn’t let her move away.
Megatron picked the femme up and was quick to kiss her, he smirked as he felt her arms wrap around his neck to deepen the kiss. Megatron was afraid of the way Thunderstar made him feel but he was more afraid of the way he felt since she had been gone from the Nemesis. Megatron put Thunderstar down and made her look at him.
“Your father once told me about how he felt around Nightstar..He felt weak but also like nothing could hurt him. As if he was at his strongest with her at his side..” Thunderstar could see the struggle Megatron was going through talking about how he felt.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed you until you left me. You called me a monster and it shook my processor. Others have called me the same thing and all I’ve done is laugh but when you called me that..The last time I felt like this was before the war started.” Megatron kept a straight face while he talked to Thunderstar.
Thunderstar wanted to leap into his arms and go back to the Nemesis with him, she wanted to lay in a berth with him and be happy but she knew deep down in her spark it was wrong. She let out a painful, heavy sigh then picked Shadowlynx off the ground. “I need a ground bridge,” Thunderstar ran through without another word said to the warlord.
Thunderstar laid Shadowlynx down on the berth in the med-bay and left the main hangar of the base before someone could see the pain on her faceplate. Thunderstar ran back to her berthroom but was stopped by Ratchet, the medic pulled her into his berthroom. He had to talk to her.
“War affects everything. It changes the way we look at people, the way we think about the future and the way we treat others. It is rare to find something as special as love during times of war but if you do find love. It is something you should cherish even if it’s with someone who is encouraging the war.” Thunderstar sat down on the berth and laid her helm on Rachet’s shoulder. Ratchet could tell she was crying so he just held her against his chassis.
“He’s a monster..He’s done nothing but take lives but I love him..” Thunderstar was so lost and confused about the way she felt. She wanted to be with him yet she knew what he was, the things he’s done, it was wrong. Thunderstar looked up at Ratchet who smiled and wiped off her face. Thunderstar laid down on the berth and relaxed as Ratchet kept talking to her.
“You’re in the same position as your mother was..Do what you think is going to be happy.” Ratchet stayed with Thunderstar until she fell into recharge, he let go of her hand and left the room to let her rest. Ratchet felt bad that he couldn’t do more to help Thunderstar but he also knew her happiness was a key factor to him. He needed to know she was going to be happy even if it meant she was going to be with the enemy.
“Optimus we have a pro-.” Ratchet stopped as she saw Optimus in a video call with Megatron. Ratchet just stayed quiet as Optimus and Megatron spoke to one another.
“I know what problem you are referring to, old friend. I have seen the way Thunderstar speaks to shadows.” Optimus turned his attention back to Megatron as the warlord cleared his throat to make himself known. Optimus could tell Megatron was agitated.
“What have you done to her ?” Ratchet saw the confrontation earlier, he didn’t want to be rude and cut in on the conversation but he knew he could help Megatron see things from a different light if he spoke up. Ratchet heavily sighed and began speaking his mind.
“Megatron we haven’t done anything to Thunderstar. Thunderstar is afraid”
“Of what ?”
“The war..She cares about everyone in this base but she also cares about those on the Nemesis. Thunderstar doesn’t want to fight you or us. She loves you but doesn’t want to help you fight.” Ratchet took a step back once he was done talking, he hoped in some way he had helped Megatron see things from a leveled perspective. Ratchet was worried if Megatron didn’t see things from a different perspective Thunderstar wouldn’t be happy.
_______________________________________
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter ! I apologize if the chapter seemed rushed. I'm trying to update on a more regular basis so just hang in there ! Thanks for reading ! (: