The primeval waters below heaved and surged below. Waves reached impossible heights, before crashing back down to the ocean. The surface formed a new shape every second. Up above, gray clouds crackled with lightning, the thunder screaming its rage at the primitive world. Two dark shapes could be made out in the seething sky. One appeared as a sort of arrow shaped jet with three fins; two out to the side and one facing upwards. The other shape was much larger. It appeared as a large, sleek space shuttle, with two large red engines mounted on its back. The two shapes sped across the sky, dancing and wheeling around each other, almost playfully. Suddenly, the smaller jet, for want of a better word, transformed. The cockpit swung down, whilst two of the fins flipped on the back. Two arms and legs emerged from the chassis and a face rose up from the centre, it was dark gray, with a sort of black helmet. Its eyes glowed red. “I tire of this world, Jets, it’s nothing but messy organic life. It feels…wrong” The shuttle transformed in a similar fashion, however, the result was much larger than its comparatively diminutive companion. It smiled. “Don’t be like that, Lightwing. Organic life is interesting. So fragile, yet braving the elements and surviving! We’re lucky, we’re made of metal, but we number so few whilst the organics, multiply and spread across the world. I believe a great partnership could be formed between Cybertro-“ “Jets, you’re ranting…besides, we’ve been here for two weeks. The most intelligent thing we’ve seen eats dirt! Let’s do something interesting!” Lightwing poked his friend playfully in the shoulder, “Bet I could beat you to that volcano!” “Lightwing, we’re supposed to be conducting scientific research!” “…. It is scientific!” “How?!?!?” “It’s proving I’m faster than you!” “HA! Alright, it’s on!” Lightwing and Jets transformed into a jet and a shuttle respectively and shot across the sky. At first, the race seemed even, but Lightwing steadily gained the lead. “Are you watching? Watching me win?!” “Yeah, sure…it’s just the weather it’s messing with my engine…hold up for a second,” “Come off it! I ain’t falling for that trick!” With another burst of speed, Lightwing reached the volcano and transformed. “BAM! I win! Well, I guess that proves my point!” Silence greeted him. “Jets?” He slowly turned around to look at the ocean. He could not see his friend. “JETS!!!” Lightwing transformed and began searching the waters, peering into the murky depths for any sign of his fellow scientist. For hours he scanned the ocean, up and down, up and down…..nothing. A few hours later, Lightwing sat, brooding, on the mountain. He was wallowing in despair for the lost scientist, the lost explorer and his lost friend. He would have sat there forever, if a claxon had not begun sounding from his chest mounted radio. He distractedly hit the receive button. >This is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of the Autobots. All Cybertronions must report back. This is an emergency. The D---< Crackle and white noise began to cover up the transmission. Lightwing thumped his chest. >---In short, We are at War< *** The journey back to Cybertron passed by in a blur. Lightwing hurtled through the cosmos, almost oblivious to the impossibly huge red giants and blazing comets. Fiery orange planets flashed by. Azure blue ocean worlds passed by without even a glance. Without Jets, they were just coloured rocks. After a few days later the shining metal form of Cybertron appeared, a glittering, planet wide metropolis of iron and steel bathed in golden light. Massive skyscrapers reached to the heavens, whilst in the depths, tunnels lead down almost to the mysterious power source at Cybertron’s heart. However, it was different. The golden hue of an energy rich environment had faded. The skyscrapers were shattered and broken. The tunnels had been collapsed and blocked, locking away Cybertron’s power. Grimly, Lightwing saw his shattered home reflect his own life; faded and desolate. He wondered as to what had happened to break his home so. He thought back to the transmission…what was this war? He had heard of wars in the past, but none of them had wrecked the planet like this! He landed on a cracked and broken landing strip and transformed. He cautiously walked down the runway. As he neared the end, he heard a voice behind him, “Hey, geek whatcha think you’re doing? This is Decepticon land!” “Deceptiwhat? What happened here?” Lightwing turned around. The figure looked like him, except blue and bulkier. Another difference was the presence of two large guns mounted on his biceps. Pointing directly at Lightwing. “Don’t play dumb with me geek, I ain’t got time for games today. Are you some kinda Autobot spy?” Lightwing began to back away, “What??? I don’t know what you’re talking about…. what happened?” There was a fizzing noise behind him and he collided with something hard. Two hands reached down and pulled his arms back behind his back. Lightwing winced and tried to pull them away, but the grip was too strong. “Looks like we caught ourselves a little Autobot twerp to play with, eh Thundercracker? Hehe” “That’s right Skywarp! Do you know what we do to Autobots like you?” The one in front of him, Thundercracker, leaned down to stare Lightwing directly in the optic. He grinned, “We pound them to slag!” And with that, he punched Lightwing hard in the stomach. Lightwing coughed, winded. Thundercracker punched him over and over, and Lightwing faded into the welcoming darkness. *** Jets stood smiling in front of him, in a dark corridor. He stared at his lost friend. “Jets?” he asked, hopefully. Jets’ smile faded and he began to frown. He slowly shook his head. He turned and walked out a door, closing it behind him. Lightwing chased after him down the corridor. He reached out and opened the door. He was greeted with the raging oceans of the primeval world. He looked around desperately for his friend, the despair building up inside him. “JETS!!!!!!!!!” he screamed to the seething seas. There was no reply. The world seemed empty. This life filled world, with things living even in the very air and on every explored landmass, was empty. Why should he explore it? What was the point? There was no point to any of it! No meaning for any of his actions… Without Jets, they meant nothing. Why had Jets left him?! *** His fist broke free and smashed Thundercracker hard in the face. The Decepticon stumbled back, clutching his broken nose, as oil leaked out. Lightwing brought his elbow back to collide with Skywarp’s gut. He winced and released his grip on Lightwing's other hand. Not wasting a second, Lightwing sprinted down the runway, quickly transforming back into a jet. Midway through transformation, a massive blast smashed his side. The forced knocked him along the ground and he lay there, screaming in pain. Oil was rapidly leaking out onto the hard concrete, forming a pool around him. Clutching his side, he saw a large gray figure walking towards him, an almost comically large, black gun mounted on its forearm. “What have we here? Two wounded Decepticon warriors and a lowly, unarmed civilian…Why we have yet to conquer Cybertron is a mystery to me. Who are you, civilian?” Lightwing gritted his teeth in pain and attempted to step back, but the two Decepticons who had attacked him, rushed up and grabbed his arms, holding him in place. “K-keep back…or I’ll…”he stuttered, “Or you’ what? Your in no position to make threats!” Lightwing attempted to break free from his captors. He thrashed wildly, but to no avail, their grip was too strong. The gray figure grinned, “You’ve got spirit. That could prove useful,” He glanced up at Skywarp, “Take him to the reformatting chambers. Make a Decepticon out of him!” Skywarp began to drag Lightwing back down the alley, chuckling all the while. “What? I don’t want to be a Decepticon! I’m a scientist, not a warrior! You can’t do this to m-“ He was brought low by a blow to the head. *** He was not aware of what happened next, only that there was pain. Pain right down to his spark, burning him away. Once more, he fell into the calm, painless darkness. *** Once more, he was on that primitive world, above the tumultuous seas. He looked down. There! Something moving above the water! He flew down, and saw it was Jets’ hand. He reached down to grab it, but by the time his hand reached it, it was no longer there. He hovered, alone, staring up at the night sky, at all the stars. He screamed. Gradually, his despair turned to anger. Jets had left him. He had dragged Lightwing to this desolate world. This world of organics. This world of filth. And he had abandoned him, to fend for his own. Damn him. Damn this world. Damn Cybertron. He remembered the gray figure that had shot him. He would pay. *** He opened his eyes. He felt…different. Stronger. He looked at his torso. The red and silver paint now seemed fresh on his new, tougher body. He looked at his arms. The light glinted off the familiar blue as well as the long guns attached to them. He stared at it and felt the power surge through him. “Admiring your new weapon? I call it the nullray. It can stop electric fields. You should enjoy using them on the Autobots,” Lightwing raised his weapon at the figure that spoke. The figure from the runway, “Who are you?” “I am Lord Megatron, leader of the Decepticons!” Lightwing was taken aback, “You are no leader of mine!” “You forget your place! I am your lord! I saved you! You would be slag right now, if it weren’t for me!” If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t need to be saved, Lightwing looked into the glowing red eyes of his new leader. He would play along, for now. He got down on one knee and bowed his head. “What is your command, Lord Megatron?” Megatron smiled, “I have given you weapons, so you may be a warrior. I have given you rank, so you may have meaning. I have given you enemies, so you may have purpose. Now go forth Air Commander Lightwing-“ “No,” “What?” Megatron looked confused. “Not Lightwing. He’s dead. You killed him on that runway. No, now I am something more. I have shouted my defiance at the heavens and so shall be my name. So, as Lightwing falls, so rises Starscream!”
