Archive of Our Own ^beta

Water runs down the lines on the shorter bot's Autobot symbol mask. He bears the badge of the Primal Vanguard, so Airwave sees it best to bow at him. Against reason, his spark is gripped by fear that The Prime somehow knows about his heretical thoughts.

The stranger shoves Airwave back to have room to sign "The Arisen is dead."

He opens his mouth and closes it and opens it again, but nothing comes out. He must have misheard. Misunderstood. Something. Anything.

"But the war's not over" the stranger continues, emphasizing with a distorted engine growl. He and the other one look so young, and the third is literally a sparkling "we'll unite, strike back against the 'Cons. We're still at Point Omega."

Cybertron was destroyed in an apocalyptic conflict, as The Prime had foreseen — started by The Prime Himself. It might also have been miraculously restored but not by The Prime, by somebody else (the Ascenticons?) after The Prime's death. Unless it was the last thing He did before He died? But in that case, shouldn't they have passed Point Omega and all be one already? The sparkling is proof that The Well has been reignited, cold-constructs don't have faces, those can't be just manufactured — if it was possible to just make a face, empurata wouldn't be the punishment it is.

Airwave's gaze moves back to the masked bot. What's he going to do, destroy the world again? "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter. How many of you are here?"

Airwave glances at Firestar and Zoom behind him, and lies to the Vanguard "Just us three."

"Our low numbers aren't a concern" the other older stranger speaks "we have a plan."

So they don't have an army either. Gun parts in Airwave's hand itch "How did you find us?"

"Grimlock."

Airwave stares at the stranger's hands signing the name, frozen in shock. Then he gathers himself. It doesn't matter how, but Cybertron has been restored. And these guys want to tear it all down again. He's not going to be a part of that. And, even thought he's still afraid to formulate the sentence even in his head, he's seen Optimus Prime for what He is and turned his back to Him. Airwave isn't an Autobot anymore. His devotion to is Last Spark and it's surviving citizens now. He wants, needs, to keep them hidden from the Ascenticon armies and the Autobot remnants.

What did Grimlock tell them? Does the masked stranger know he lied?

The stranger's neither The Prime nor Primus, he can be fooled. He can be fought. He can be killed. He doesn't seem to have much in the way of backup.

But if they win, they might keep going and find Last Spark. Or they might come back to attack Airwave later, with more bots and weapons and then Airwave's bots would die or have to abandon the bunkers. If Airwave pretended to agree to join the masked bot, Zoom and Firestar would also have to come because they'd been seen and the three of them would go from the fire into molten metal, so to speak. And the masked stranger could still turn out to know about Last Spark already and ruin them anyway.

Fear might be imbiding his judgement, but he only sees one way out.

"What if i say no?"