Requiem of the Primes

Chapter 6

"Megatronus?" The purple seeker asked in disbelief, leaning over.

"Yeah," M shrugged, "That's at least what the voice in the cave said."

"Is that how you got that mask and spear!?" The red seeker demanded, marching up and pushing Soundwave out of the way to poke his chassis, "Did you steal them from the sacred site?! That is the final resting place of the Primes!"

M blinked and held his servo up in defense, "That's what it is? Sorry, I didn't know. And I didn't steal these things! They were mine to begin with!"

"That doesn't make sense!" He growled accusingly, "You're a new spark, not Megatronus Prime!"

M was about to say something when Soundwave put a servo on the seekers shoulder and pulled him back, "Take it easy, Starscream," He said in a low voice, "There may be more to this than what we think."

"So what? Were going to let some sparkling desecrate Megatronus' memory and name?!"

"Hey Sounders!" The blue seeker piped up, "Didn't you send your pet to check that cave out earlier when the sensor you put in there was set off?"

"Laserbeak is not a pet," Soundwave said, glaring back at him, "He is my scout. And he has yet to return to me."

"Yeah, e's probably waiting back at New Kaon for ya!" The purple one added.

Soundwave nodded and turned to them, "We can see what information he has and decide our next course of action with the accompaniment of our Lord."

"What about Mini Megs here?" The purple one asked, pointing at M.

The blue mech turned and looked at the mechling standing, watching them wearily.

"We'll bring him with us."

"What?!" M cried and shook his helm, "Sorry but I can't do that, I need to get home! Everyone's probably worried about me by now!"

"Well they can wait," Soundwave said and titled his helm, "Besides, you will not make it back to Vos. Your energon levels are too low."

M paused and checked his tanks, spark dropping when he saw that indeed, they were close to empty while he was out of cubes.

"So, you can either walk back and power down before you get even halfway, or you come with us," Starscream sneered, looking at him, "I'd prefer you chose the first option."

The small bot hesitated, looking between them and the ground before sighing and turning to Soundwave, "Fine. I'll come along but I'm leaving right after I've refueled."

"Energon comes at a price," The blue mech droned, leaning down to his height.

"I don't have any Shanix on me."

"They are worthless to us," He said simply and straightened up, "We will find another way for you to repay us."

"Tch. Fine," M muttered, clenching his fists but putting his spear away, "Let's just get this over with."

The Decepticon nodded and snapped his digits, the seekers all transforming and flying into the air.

"Wait!" M suddenly called, making Soundwave stop and turn just before he was about to jump into the air.

"I...I can't transform yet," He admitted sheepishly, looking at the ground, "I haven't figured out how to activate my cog."

The blue mech tilted his helm and then transformed, hovering just above the ground, "Hop on."

The purple bot nodded and quickly ran over, laying down on the top of the flying vehicle and holding onto the ridges that stuck out, "Thank you."

He wasn't sure if he replied or not, but the Cybertronian jet took off, jolting him slightly as they soared into the air.

M held on tightly, staying down so he didn't go flying off but still lifting his helm curiously when they got over the fog.

"So, you guys live out here?" He called over the wind, looking down at Soundwave.

"Affirmative," He replied, "We were banished from Iacon by the false Prime so we made our new home where we saw fit."

M looked back and noticed they seemed to by flying the opposite way from where he'd come, "Hey Soundwave? How far away is New Kaon exactly?"

"Not very, but far enough," Was the reply he got as the three seekers leveled out around them.

"Great," He muttered, looking back and trying to map out where they were going. Seeing as it didn't look like they were landing soon, he turned to the planes.

"So who are you two?" He called, "I didn't get your names earlier."

"You may call me Thundercracker," The blue one said, flying closer so they wouldn't constantly be yelling to each other, "And the purple one is Skywarp."

"Well, apart from the rusty first impression I got, it's nice to meet you," M nodded.

"Rusty!?" Skywarp laughed, "Can't say it was the same for us, kid! You should have seen how Screamer tried to explain why he didn't get on the train and then got called out when someone said they saw you tackling him!"

M gave a small smile, "Well I wanted to do something. And you guys were stealing. I don't get why you don't just come and ask though. There's more than enough energon for everyone, even if you don't get along."

He heard Soundwave sigh underneath him, "There is so much more to that," He said, "Saying we don't get along is an understatement."

"Understatement of the century," Thundercracker nodded next to them.

"Oh..." He muttered, looking down at the landscape below. The fog was starting to thin out and he could feel the heat rising as glowing red and orange lines started creeping into the land, the grass being replaced with black rocks.

"What is that?" M asked, looking with wide optics at the new change in the landscape, the heat getting thicker and making his vents choke.

"These are the Badlands," Soundwave said, weaving in between the large plumes of dark smoke that rose up from vents dotted throughout the glowing cobwebs of orange liquid, "The lava makes it uninhabitable for any organic life and the Autobots prefer not to venture out here except for the few smelting pools they built."

"So naturally we built our base right in the middle of it!" Skywarp called cheerfully, flying in a circle around them.

M's optics went impossibly wide as they flew over what could only be a volcano, the massive pool of lava almost seeming unreal. He grunted and reeled back as a blast of painful heat hit his face, making his optics sting.

"Are you alright?" Soundwave asked, gently jostling him.

He nodded, rubbing his face and blinking rapidly. Though he opened them again and looked down when he felt the jet starting to descend.

Below them, the volcano sloped down into a large crevice, directing it until it flowed like a river. On the other side of that, a sharp cliff face rose up above the landscape, a ravine cut into it that retreated back into the rock.

The mechling peered forward and squinted when he saw movement, his optics soon adjusting until he could see the structures built into the cliff that had bots moving around inside, though most looked like seekers.

"Welcome brat, to New Kaon," Starscream said, swooping down ahead of them where what looked like a landing pad extended out of a cave. Soundwave followed him down, pulling in quickly and transforming after.

M jumped off while he did and landed, skidding slightly. He shook his helm and straightened up, looking around while the others walked up from behind him.

"This way," The blue mech said, turning and looking back at him briefly.

"Where are we going?" The mechling asked, turning and looking around as he hurriedly followed.

Soundwave tilted his helm slightly to look back at him, "You are going to meet our leader, and from there we shall decide what to do with you."