please comment and review, i love feedback Things would never be the same again. Atop the roof of Darkmount, the former command center of the decepticon army, the last of Galvatron’s elite stood silently. Demolishor, Cyclonus, Wheeljack and Tidal Wave no longer knew what the future held for them. It had been 6 months since the defeat of Unicron and the death of the Decepticon leader. They all believed in him and his vision of conquest;it was all they’d ever had. This was the first time they realized that would never again be a reality. What was once a display table for battle plans now held 3 cups of energon oil and a large barrel for the larger 4th bot. Optimus prime had recently been found alive and taken command of all of Cybertron. In honor of Galvatron’s sacrifice, he declared that all but the worst of the Decepticons would be granted amnesty and accepted to work with them moving forward. Some were treated as equals, others, like themselves, seemed to be given less hospitality; they felt like second class citizens. They knew there was no hope of restarting the war and, at least, the Autobots were willing to forgive most of their conflict. Only the worst and most dangerous decepticons had been denied freedom. The group had been periodically reminiscing on past escapades in between silent drinks of their energon. Demolishor had his back to the table and stared silently out across the desolate horizon of the kaon wasteland. The fortress of Darkmount was the last remnant of Galvatron’s legacy; the rest of the Decepticons and their territory and resources had already been absorbed by the Autobots. Per their request, prime agreed to leave the fortress be, standing as a heaven for those not ready to accept the social change. This of course was just a façade so the Decepticons could just hold tight to one last shred of their former heritage. “Maybe peace won’t be THAT terrible” Cyclonus shrugged half-heartedly. Tidal wave simply grunted in agreement. “I suppose, but I ain’t wearing not Autobot badge. That ain’t what I fought for!” Demolishor spun around with a frown. “No one is saying you have to. Prime said we were free to wear our insignias still if we choose” Wheeljack spoke up. “I don’t need his permission!” Demolishor growled. “Well, you know how you’ll bet treated then right?” “I don’t care what they think. I am a Decepticon, and I’ll never be ashamed of it; Never!” “Cheers buddy” cyclonus grinned. The four all drank again. “And what of you, are you going to be flying the red flag again?” Cyclonus turned to Wheeljack. The others all eyed the ex-Autobot skeptically, anxious for his answer. “No. I hate to say this to you all but I was loyal to Megatron…not to the Decepticons” The other three cons continued to glare at him intently, curious at what would be said next. “Heh…you are such a toxic lot after all. No, I’ve spent time in both armies and neither I truly find a worthy cause. I plan on leaving Cybertron” “To do what?” tidal wave piped up in a bellow. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out when I get out there among the stars” “HAHAHAHA, well power to ya’ Jackie” Cyclonus cheered. “And you all?” he asked. The others looked about silently for a minute, not sure how to answer. “Tidal wave will do as Galvatron commanded” “Tidal Wave?” “Galvatron commanded the Decepticons to work with the Autobots; his last command to us. That is what Tidal Wave shall do” The words hung heavy in the air. Though it was only to stop Unicron, that was what he had ordered of them, and according to the account of Optimus Prime, reliable as they may or may not be, Galavtron gave his life to end the war and thus Unicron. Logically, tidal wave was correct in his assumption; a truly peculiar circumstance. Still, the idea of knuckling under their former enemies left a bad taste in their mouths. Cyclonus, reserved and humorless for once, turned to his close friend, who was far more dedicated and wise them him. “Eh Demolishor old buddy, what do you think?” The tank bot looked down into the void of his drink for a few seconds, then at himself, then looked back up. “I think…I want my old color scheme back” he frowned. After a few moments of silence, the four broke out into laughter over the comment. “I get you buddy, look at that…all that red, you look like an Autobot” Cyclonus cackled “I know right; maybe not exactly my old colors but definitely something different than this” “Ugly” tidal wave smirked. “Haha, there was this cranky old veteran bot when I was an autobot. You look just like him. Oh, right there you even have the same scowl” Wheeljack smirked. “Oh scrap this, I’m definitely hitting the body shop later!” “Hehe, maybe I’ll join ‘ya. What you say Tidal Wave?” “Heard worse ideas” he growled After the laughter died down the sting of contemplative silence returned. “Y’know what else, I’m done calling him Galavtron. I been calling the big bot Megatron for stellar cycles and he thinks he renames himself and its gonna stick after a few days. Uh uh, don’t think so” Cyclonus rambled. “Agreed; Megatron forever” demolsher cheered “Megatroooon” Tidal Wave chanted “You know what I really, really hate to say? You know who I’m gonna actually miss…Starscream” Demolishor spoke up. “That attention craving traitor” Cyclonus spat. “Yes he was a pain and his voice was like scraplets singing but…we wouldn’t be here without him” “True, had it not been for him, for his sacrifice, Galv…Megatron may never have made the alliance with Optimus” Wheeljack added. “Oh that is scrap, we owe him nothing. Tidal Wave, you gotta agree with me right?” Tidal wave was silent, looking down at the others when he raised his drink. “Starscream…was true Decepticon” he said flatly. “Oh for the love of… your all insane” Cyclonus groaned. “At least he wasn’t as bad as that wretched, cowardly traitor Thrust, or that spawn of the inferno, Sideways” Wheeljack countered. “Grrr, do you know how many recharge dreams I’ve had of tearing that slagging Thrust apart” Demolishor groaned. “Hahahahaha, did you guys see the footage from that autobot ship? It caught the recording of Thrust going pop on Unicron. Hahahaha, I love watching it over and over and over!” Cyclonus laughed There was the sudden sound of turbines and a streak that whizzed over the edge of the roof. It was a jet that flew out wide and came about to transform and land adjacent to the other bots. The bot was nearly identical in build to the recently mentioned Starscream. However, his colors were primarily purple and black, and his face bore a black faceplate and a large fin atop his head. This was in fact Skywarp, Starscreams immature cousin, and a far less respected member of the Decepticon army. Being nothing more than prankster and goon, his high ranking was only due to his familial relations. This was why he had been left on Cybertron rather than taken as a troop to earth, which the seeker had always resented, “Speak of the devil” Cyclonus moaned. “I thought you would be here when you were not in the lower levels with the others” he commented nonchalantly. “Who else is even left?” Wheeljack asked. “Hmm, Predacon, Thundercracker, Terrorsaur, I saw Dirge, Cop-Tur and Cy-kill too I think and probably a few dozen others” “That’s it?! That’s depressing. Heck, even our mini-cons have abandoned us” Wheeljack grimaced. “And didn’t Astrotrain go AWOL?” Cyclonus added. “Yeah, I think so; Shockblast and Sixshot seemed to have off too” he reported. There was a collective uneasy at the mention of the deadly, murderous twins; even other decepticons found them to be utter monsters. With the end of the war, and Megatron not around to keep them in line anymore, who knows what reckless havoc the tow would reap simply for the sake of havoc. “Good riddance” Tidal Waved growled. “Yeah, bet that’s the last we’ll see of those wastes of metal” Skywarp chirped, attempting to initiate himself more. “Why are you here Skywarp? I thought you had gone with the others to work with the Autobots” Demolishor had asked the question genuinely, but with tinge of contempt as well towards the younger bots choice. “Easy guys, I didn’t like working with the Autobots either but it’s the only option a lot of us have now. Besides, it’s a little nice having a commander that doesn’t beat or shoot at you” Skywarp defended. The others all just glared at him. He squirmed nervously under their gaze for a moment before piping up again. At the slightest twitch of aggression from the others, he suddenly vanished in a flash of distorted energy, teleporting to the other side of the platform for safety. “Listen, Optimus Prime sent me with a message for you. Are you even going to listen or just blast me?” The others looked amongst themselves briefly, unsure of which was preferable, before turning back to him. “What is the message?” Wheeljack spoke first. “Optimus Prime wishes you to aid in a new project, a “new future” he calls it” “What kind of project?” Demolishor asked skeptically. Skywarp felt a bit more comfortable and cautiously approached them as comrades again. Like them he had also chosen to still wear his Decepticon insignia with pride, especially in honor of Starscream. He moved to stand between Demolishor and Tidal Wave and the colossal con slid his drink for the jet to have, oblivious to his inability to lift it. The jet simply nodded thankfully and turned back to the others. “The war is over but Cybertron is still kinda messed up. The Autobots are looking for energon, and they found it…on earth” The other Decepticons all groaned in unison. “Oh slag, not there, what is it about that planet. I am not going back” Cyclonus whined. “Well good news, it’s not just earth. They found energon all over the galaxy; Planets, asteroids and the like” “And they are just now discovering this” Wheeljack wondered skeptically. “Well with the war no one really had time to look” “True” tidal wave growled. “So yeah, they are reforming the military into branches and building all these new colonies and mines on all these places to get the energon” “So where do we come in? As miners, laborers; I don’t think so” Demolishor asked. “Optimus Prime asked if you would all be willing to join the project for added security. He wants to utilize our hardened battle skills to protect their little operations” Skywarp mocked. The others all looked amongst themselves with mixed feelings on the decision. Wheeljack backed away from the table raising his hands in a surrender gesture before crossing them. “Hey, I’m out and gone so this is all up to you guys” he admitted. “It IS work” Demolishor admitted weakly. “And security means we’re allowed to shoot people” Cyclonus smiled. “Megatron ordered us to work with Autobots. Tidal wave will obey. Tidal wave will go” “Well I guess its decided then. To the end of our time” The others all raised their cups, and wheeljack poured Skywarp a regular sized one as well. “What do we toast to; Galavtron, Megatron?” Wheeljack asked. “Starscream?” skywarp added hopefully. “Energon?” Tidal Wave asked. “Future battles?” cyclone smiled. “To the Decepticons” Demolishor responded. “To the Decepticons!” they all shouted to the stars.
I like that you've reached some of the most essential elements of every character featured and the dialogue seems pretty natural for the most part. It's definitely pretty well in line with the Armada cartoon/beginning of Energon, but with a bit more focus and calmer pace - that's a good thing! I think you brought up some nice details that add depth to the thing. Maybe even calmer approach with little bit of more focus on characters' settling with the situation and more detailed overview would have benefited the story even more... Hard to say. It's pretty dialogue heavy as it is, but it does outline the "personal" essence of it very well though! But yeah, I like the idea of a decepticon-centered short story about the events right after the end of Armada cartoon and I like the flow of the dialogue here.
fic has been updated and expanded; i wanted to throw some more obscure armada references in there plus some more to energon