Part One

For the most part, Cyclonus considered the concept of the Unicronians retaining any part of their former sparks preposterous. The bodies they had been created from – the individuals that had been reconfigured to suit the fledgling sparks – were nothing more than shells. Memories wiped, sparks extinguished, restored to the most basic components. All inclinations and all memories of their past lives had been extracted and disposed of.

To Cyclonus, the knowledge that his body had once belonged to an idiotic seeker failed to hold much weight. He knew the seeker he had been created from had been able to transport himself, butf Cyclonus could do no such thing. He did not have the same weapons nor the same strategies, nor the limited intellect. He felt duly superior to the individual who had existed before him, and beyond that, he did not think of it often.

That was, until Galvatron had begun to suffer.

Like most things in relation to Galvatron, the change was sudden and inexplicable. One day was perfectly fine – as fine as it could be with Galvatron, anyway – and the next was wrought with such vicious turmoil that Cyclonus’ spark felt heavy just at the thought of it. Galvatron – proud and as strong as he was – had felt weakened. A small physiological difference to most, yet to anyone who know Galvatron knew it was indicative of something far more worrisome. The fact that he was, for once, quite docile did not mean that he was necessarily improving. If anything, it only meant things were getting worse.

Galvatron was the exception of the Unicronians. While their former sparks had been extinguished before they were created, Megatron’s had not been. His choice to become Galvatron had been a coherent one, and his spark had not been destroyed entirely in the process. Reformed, certainly. His memories weren’t entirely wiped, not like the others’ were. Therefore, while being an entirely new entity, he still retained a kind of… imprint of Megatron.

An imprint – not too much, but enough to count for something, as well as contain some of Megatron’s more prominent shortcomings.

The others hadn’t understood. Some of the Decepticons figured that Galvatron was becoming… saner, but that wasn’t it. Apathetic was a more fitting word – weak, vulnerable, exhaustible. Even pathetic, although that was hardly a word that Cyclonus would utter aloud.

Only Soundwave had seemed to understand, and trying to get him to talk could be surprisingly hard. ‘Loyalty’ was rather a rather subjective, if not an carelessly offhanded term, when applied to Soundwave. It was plainly obvious that Soundwave was loyal only to his faction, but not his leader.

But Soundwave knew the truth, and Cyclonus had decided that if he was going to get anything out of the communications officer, he had to try without interruption, without Galvatron or Scourge or anyone else interrupting – or overhearing – him.

With Galvatron as indifferent as he was, it was easy to gain his permission to leave on an impromptu mission with Soundwave. As Cyclonus had to do was drop a few choice words – Rodimus Prime, Autobots, death, total destruction – and Galvatron had acquiesced. It had almost been disappointingly easy.

Once they were far enough away, Cyclonus had confronted Soundwave directly. What do you know – and why won’t you say?

The answers had been easy, but not readily obvious. Galvatron was suffering from – quite simply – a steady drain in his spark energy. A rarity, and certainly fatal in most cases, it was a condition usually afflicting the oldest of Cybertronians. However, while technically quite aged, Galvatron hadn’t yet reached that peak of age that would destroy him. The only other explanation was a deteriorating mate-bond.

This in itself was not usually fatal. When one bonded died, the drain in energy was usually quite short-lived. Devastating, but temporary. The severed spark would eventually repair the connection and self-sustain.

The problem, most pointedly, was that the drain on Galvatron was not temporary, and could only be replenished by a mutual overload with his mate. It was a concept that Cyclonus was fairly unfamiliar with, and one he was not particularly fond of. The concept of baring a spark and connecting it to another seemed needlessly dangerous, and the supposed pleasure related to such an act irrelevant. A waste of time.

To add insult to injury, it was Megatron’s past… foolishness that had left Galvatron in this state. Cyclonus felt a measure of rage at the former Decepticon leader – Megatron had been flawed, distractible, even merciful. His mate bond was proof enough of that.

‘It’s surprising to see you off Galvatron’s leash,’ said Starscream, his voice just as aggravatingly shrill as Cyclonus recalled. ‘To what do I owe the honor?’

Starscream had not shown himself, so Cyclonus was left talking to thin air. As awkward as that was, there was no one there to witness the conversation. With that thought in mind, Cyclonus squared his shoulders, gave an idle glance of his surroundings, and then spoke.

‘Are you hiding on purpose?’ asked Cyclonus. ‘Or can you not take a physical form anymore?’

Starscream scoffed audibly. ‘Who says it was physical, you idiot? I was merely projecting–’

‘Then why aren’t you?’ asked Cyclonus. ‘And why not try to control me again?’

There was a lengthy pause. ‘I don’t feel like it,’ finished Starscream sullenly.

Cyclonus didn’t respond – Starscream wasn’t going to admit the truth until he was ready to, but he would. He had to. Cyclonus had the time to spare, but Starscream didn’t.

It had been easy to find the seeker, at the very least. Starscream – pitiful as he was – had been doing his very best to track Skyfire’s movements. Cyclonus had chosen to see Starscream now for tactical reasons – in just twenty kliks, Skyfire would move on to his next scientific mission, and Starscream would be forced into a compromise before chasing his friend’s burners. Starscream didn’t have time to delay.

Perhaps Cyclonus miscalculated, however – perhaps Skyfire was leaving sooner than he thought. Starscream abruptly spoke.

‘And I can’t,’ admitted Starscream irritably. ‘Are you pleased, saboteur? Is that what you wanted to hear, that I’m going to fade away?’

Any other time, it would have been welcome news. However, given the spark bond, given the fact that Starscream wasn’t the only one fading, it was quite unpleasant news. Especially considering what would have to be done to rectify the situation.

Cyclonus suppressed a sigh. ‘You won’t,’ he said. ‘I know what can be done.’

Every word spoken was a trial, but for Galvatron, Cyclonus would endure anything that he must – even Starscream.