A/N: W-woah. Like, four chapters in a week?! This is AMAZING. What is WRONG with me?! Oh, I know. I just loooove writing this story! 8D Seriously, this is so much fun, and you guys are half the fun for entertaining me with your lovely reviews... I love reading your theories about what will happen next, who Nova's creators are, and so on! You guys are the best! And so, to thank you, take another chapter!

Dancinglemur... the Ironhide incident is in here. At least in mention. Okay, this girl gets major kudos from me for getting me all hyped up and itchy-fingered to write this baby! And just for being that awesome! You guys should look for some "extras" from this fic from her once I get far enough for them not to be spoilerific. Here's to you, twin o' mine! *high fives*

6. Truth

Starscream complemented his story with databursts, transmitting memories of specific battles as well as downtime between them, memories contrasting the monotony and harshness of pre-War survival with the delicious freedom of the War. Through him I felt true hunger for the first time since activation-- it was enough to send a pang through my fuel tank, fooling my systems into sending low energon level warnings. He even shared the aftermath of Axis, how he had been separated from his wingmates and put into a crowded brig for the long journey back to Cybertron, before being chained and put on a work crew to rebuild Iacon piece by piece.

It was in Starscream's memory that I first saw Megatron. He was larger than Starscream and I, larger even than Prime, a blend of smooth curving plates and jagged edges, a study in contrasting grey and red. He was a walking weapon, terrifying and beautiful at once. Power was written into his structure-- literally, I noticed, seeing the glyphs carved into his helm. Just looking at the menacing cannon on his right arm made Starscream nervous.

In addition I received a torrent of emotions that the older Seeker related to Megatron: fear, awe, reluctant respect, bitterness, resentment, admiration, attraction, repulsion, hatred. Never had I experienced such mixed feelings; then again, he had had several million vorns to accumulate a variety of emotions towards his leader. What startled be was how close all of these memories were... the impression I got was that there were thousands of Decepticons, maybe hundreds of thousands, numbering nearly as many as the Autobots, so what were the odds that Starscream just so happened to be so near to the Supreme Commander of the Decepticons so often? Processing the databursts he'd sent me-- a small eternity in a few kliks-- I realized that there was still a great deal that I didn't know about Starscream's past.

The tumult left me reeling internally, leftover emotions raging in my Spark, a lifetime's worth of hatred directed at the Autobots. It was a dizzying rush of foreign feelings and dangerous thoughts. A weaker mech might have sworn allegiance to the Decepticon cause and vowed to avenge Megatron right there-- but if there was one thing I prided myself on it was my iron control of my own mind and Spark, and I knew at all times that these were Starscream's emotions, not mine.

That knowledge didn't help the deeper conflict. What Starscream had told me was so completely different from what I had always been taught. A part of me wanted to deny it, to declare him a liar, to call in security to dispose of him or just to rip out his vocal processors myself and silence his falsehoods forever. But the other part knew somehow that there was truth in his words and wanted to trust him-- to join him.

These two factions waged their own ferocious war inside of me. I no longer knew what was true. I no longer knew what to believe. I couldn't trust the Academy. I couldn't trust Starscream. I couldn't even trust myself at this point, with such raw emotions destabilizing me.

But there was one mech I could trust.

Without offering any reply to Starscream's tale, I stood abruptly and left his tiny room, making my way out of the slave quarters. Every face I saw had a name attached, now-- Demolisher, Scrapper, Bombshell, Lugnut, more and more Decepticons I'd seen in the memories Starscream had chosen to give me. It only added to my disorientation; mechs I'd never spoken to... slaves!... mechs that I had now indirectly seen fighting, killing Autobots, mechs I was now familiar with.

If I'd rejected the depressing gloom of the Decepticon quarters, now the light of the upper levels seemed too bright. I flinched and resisted the urge to cover my optics. A lie. This purity, this light, was a façade-- was it, or was that only Starscream planting doubt in my Spark like a virus that would spread until it corrupted my systems?

Starscream was following, not so close as to be overly obvious, but I could feel him lurking out of arm's reach at the very edge of my sensors' range, matching my pace easily. He stopped outside of Prime's study, leaving me to go on alone.

Optimus was speaking with another mech when I entered, a bulky red-and-black groundling I recognized as Ironhide, one of Prime's closest friends. He'd had a good-natured relationship with me, providing me with a rougher sort of affection than did Optimus. After my upgrade his attitude towards me had changed noticeably: he kept staring at me strangely, jumping when catching sight of me out of the edge of his range. Once, for no reason that I could fathom, he had been so jumpy that he had actually taken defensive action. Starscream, of course, had found it hilarious... I could see nothing funny about being slammed into a wall and staring down the barrel of a very large, very serious-looking cannon until Ironhide apparently realized it was me.

Optimus took one look at my face and his optics flashed with concern. “Would you excuse us, Ironhide?” he asked politely. Ironhide grumbled something but didn't seem genuinely annoyed, and left without physical violence. No sooner had the door hissed shut behind him than I stormed forward and slammed my hands down on his desk. He looked calmly across at me-- even seated, he could look me straight in the optics when I was bent forward like this. “What's the matter, Nova?” he asked, his patient, deep voice immediately letting some of the tension leak out of my frame.

I didn't tell him about the weapon Starscream was building. Primus knew I should have, but I balked. Aside from that, I told him everything that the Decepticon had told me, accompanied by several databursts. His mask was on, but I could sense his expression darkening into a frown which deepened as I explained. He read my desperation and confusion easily. When I was winding down, he gestured to my usual chair and I sank gratefully into it, feeling drained.

“I'm so confused,” I finished plaintively. “I don't want to believe it... but I want to know the truth. I trust you, Optimus. Tell me what to believe.”

He surveyed me over his mask for a moment before retracting it with a sigh. Suddenly he looked tired, more tired than I'd ever seen him.

“I can tell you the truth,” he said, “or as close to the truth as I've gotten... but which story you believe is up to you.

“Much of what Starscream told you is accurate. The Great War did indeed last so long, and Megatron may at one time have believed in justice and freedom. It is true that the Senate was... decadent, but not all Autobots were blind to the troubles of the time. Sentinel Prime led the Autobots then. He was critical of the Senate, devoted to the law and order of Cybertron. Understand that he was not perfect... none of us are. Ultimately he fought Megatron and his movement with everything he had, and that was how the War truly began. And yet, if he hadn't fought, Megatron would have covered the planet with his vision of peace... a Decepticon peace, created on the ruins of their foes.”

He sighed again through his vents, his optics taking on a distant look as he continued. “Megatron... I can't tell you much of his life before the War, but what I do know correlates with what Starscream said. I didn't know him until the War was well under way... when I first fought him, when he became more than a whispered tale to frighten the new recruits. He was a formidable opponent: a natural leader, a talented orator, and a powerful fighter. At one time, as I said, he was fighting for freedom and equality... but sometime, I couldn't pinpoint when, he lost sight of that goal. He never lacked conviction, but somehow his aims changed over the course of the long battle. Eventually, I think, he fought for the sheer thrill of fighting, for the destruction of all Autobots. I believe that he was so consumed by hate that he was beyond all chance of love.

“Axis was one of the true tragedies of the War. Many Autobots and Decepticons fought and died in that final battle, but perhaps the greatest loss was that of Megatron. My enemy he may have been, but he deserved better than that. They all deserve better than slavery.

“I led the Autobots all through the War... I have seen cruel Autobots and kind Decepticons, terrible things done by both sides. You asked me for the truth... you asked for something to believe. My answer is this: nothing is black or white. Autobots can be evil, Decepticons can be good. Starscream has some light in him, I have some darkness in me. You can choose to believe whatever you like... you can never be sure of what others tell you, but you can always be sure of what you feel in your own Spark. Take it from me-- I've been trying to find the meaning behind the War, Autobots, and Decepticons for astrocycles upon astrocycles. Maybe there is no meaning. Maybe none of us is right. Find your own truth, Nova, and whatever happens, wherever it takes you, hold onto it.”

Optimus's voice soothed me more than his words did, as it had ever since I was a protoform. As usual, he had left me stable and relaxed. I had always been able to depend on Optimus... I hoped it would always be so.

His words had calmed my roiling Spark. I was still uncertain, but I could get by. Already a new resolve was forming inside me. I smiled at him. “Thank you, Optimus.”

He returned the smile, then leaned forward as worry returned to his face. “There's something I should tell you about Starscream.”

“Something else you forgot to tell me?”

Regret flickered across his face but was gone in a moment. “I'd hoped you wouldn't need to know. But it's for your own sanity--” He chuckled before seriousness was back. “--and your own safety. Starscream is sworn under Spark-oath to obey your commands... and to protect your life force at all costs, even at the expense of his own.”

That explains a lot, was my first flippant thought even as I stared at Prime. An oath taken during Sparkmerge was the most solemn vow a Cybertronian could take. If Starscream failed to make good on his word, even once, his Spark would burn itself out in an immensely slow and painful termination.

My second thought was Who?! It took two to Sparkmerge. I voiced it awkwardly. “D-did you...?”

“Primus, no,” Optimus hurried to say, physically recoiling.

“Then who did he swear it to?”

“That is a private matter. I forbid you from asking him.”

I nodded, chastised. Optimus nodded also.

“I hope that I have been able to help you, Nova. Would you send Starscream in, please?”

He offered no explanation, so I offered no questions. Starscream was waiting just outside. He watched me warily.

“You didn't tell me you're bound to me,” I said. He flinched.

“What Decepticon in his right mind would give an Autobot that sort of power?”

Something in the way he said it made me scowl. “Prime wants to talk to you,” I told him. He huffed and entered the office, the door sliding shut behind him. I really shouldn't have, but I crept closer, turning up my audio receptors.

“What do you want, Prime?” I could hear the derisive sneer.

“I want you to stop this,” Optimus answered.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“What you're doing to Nova.”

“Doing to him? I'm doing nothing!”

“I won't let you turn him into another Megatron.”

My Spark stopped. There was a long silence inside. I tried to imagine the look on Starscream's face; Optimus would have his mask on. Finally Starscream spoke again, lazy and unperturbed-- he was smirking.

“He was Sparked that way.”

He came out looking triumphant, very much his usual self. I waited until the door shut before confronting him.

“What was that?” I demanded.

“What was what?”

“That. In there.”

He arched an optic ridge at me, still smirking. “It's called a 'conversation.' It's what Autobots do when they get bored.”

“You know something.”

“Nova, I know many things.”

“You know about me,” I persisted. “About my creators. Who are they?”

He shook his head with a laugh and made as though to pass me by. I rephrased the request into an order. “Tell me who they are.”

Starscream hesitated, narrowed optics boring into mine. After a long moment of frowning, his mouthplates twisted the other way, his expression one of delicious, teasing defiance. “I don't think I'll tell you.”

“You have to.”

“Not if telling you would result in a threat to your life force,” he replied smoothly, “and since my Spark isn't devouring me from the inside out, I'd say my logic is sound.”

“I'll get it out of you someday,” I vowed.

His optics burned even brighter with some private internal joke.

“Someday.”

A/N: Oh yes, someday. That day is not today. HA, you thought I was going to let him (and you) know this soon into the story?! Bwahaha! But I'd be happy to hear your theories on the matter...