Meanwhile, on the Peaceful Truth
Part 7 of season 3 from my ongoing story set in the sentient sg/Lost Light from @cuppajj is out.
It's not much, and probably not what everyone was expecting, but it's at least something? Well, I hope I portrayed Tarn right. ^^'
Either way, enjoy!
Trigger Warning: none
',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::',::'
“An-and why should we trust your plan?”
Rodimus was inwardly groaning as Kaon asked that for the tenth time. If it weren’t for the promise he made to himself, and the fact that Dominus seemed to have a soft spot for the blind mech, Rodimus would have probably done something stupid after the second time he asked. Something very, very stupid. Like, setting fire to the poor mech and watching him turn into a small, crispy, pile of ash.
Yes, Rodimus would surely have done something like that, if there wasn’t his problem of needing help. And for Fungus who interrupted their meeting and told them lunch was ready. Rodimus was thankful for that, because while everyone was getting their rations, he took his time to wander around the ship. Distracting himself with counting the steps he made from the main meeting room towards the hangar were his, no, their ship stood. And as the prime stepped into it and stood before the painting of all the Cybertronians Phoenix called his family, he couldn’t help himself and punched the wall next to the painting.
“DAMN IT LOST LIGHT AND DAMN YOU!” Screeched the prime, as he sank to his knees. “Damn you for everything. Damn you for putting me through all of that, for killing Tankcrusher and for taking Phoenix. And damn you for everything you’re doing to him right now.” Rodimus said, as he lifted his head to look at the painting of Lightlost. “I swear, if you’re hurting him, I’m gonna… I’m gonna….. I’ll get him back. I’ll get him back!”
“I doubt that screaming at a painting is going to help you with that.” Said Tarn, as he stepped into the ship. Bending down slightly, because he was too tall for the small ship.
“But it still helps. Gets all those negative emotions out and such.” Muttered Rodimus, as he got up and walked over to the small kitchen. Rummaging through the cupboards before pulling out a bottle of Engex. “You want some too?” Was all he asked, but after receiving a shake of the head from Tarn, the prime simply shrugged, opened the bottle and sat down in the dinette. Taking one big swig from it, before letting out one long sigh afterwards. “You know… I promised Phoenix that I would take him far away. That I would protect him from Lightlost as long as my spark was beating, and yet? They have him back, doing Primus knows what to him, and I’m going to walk straight into their trap… Probably killing all of you in the process…” He mumbled, looking over at Tarn with squinted optics. “And yet, I don’t know why you’re coming with me on this suicide mission. Lightlost doesn’t care about you. They will probably kill all of you as soon as they see you. Maybe not Dominus, Phoenix probably is telling them about how much he likes him, and maybe they will let Pharma live too, because they might need a medic, but you and the Scavengers? You’re scrap metal for them. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Tarn watched the prime take another swig from his Engex, before speaking up. “I have heard better motivational speeches from rocks, and those can’t even speak.” At least that seemed to get Rodimus back into a better mood, because the black and purple speedsters let out a choked laugh. “And we’re helping you, not only because Phoenix is one of our own and it’s the DJD’s mission to save as many as our brethren and sisters as we can, but also because you have been helping us ever since you came back to the realm of the living.” Tarn raised his servo, as he saw Rodimus getting ready to talk back. “Do you really think we wouldn’t notice how some of the high ranking Autobots, who were hiding since the end of the war, would suddenly turn up in police stations. Bound and spewing things like ‘The Prime has returned’? And then there are the instances where missing Decepticons would suddenly show up again. Telling us they were captured by some rough Autobots, but then the prime safed them. Do you really think we wouldn’t notice that?”
“I actually was hoping that you wouldn’t.” Said Rodimus, after finishing his bottle. “I hoped that none of you Decepticons would notice that, because I’m just one bounty hunter who might or might not do a better job than most. And yet, I’m still failing to follow some trails. Having to stop following them, because they weren’t worth it… Lightlost would have found us easier…” He grew quiet after that. Running a servo over his face and letting out one dry laugh. “I even failed to find that one mech who could help Dominus become himself again. I was able to follow his trail, but then, it was gone. Just gone… Phoenix had to set me straight again, because…. eh… why am I even telling you all of that. You’re a Decepticon. You wouldn’t care about the regrets of an Autobot like me. Not when I still fantasize about killing some… and then there are the times where I melted some Autobots faces… or broke their arms and legs, before delivering them.” Rodimus looked up at Tarn. Giving him a smirk, as he leaned back in his seat. “Come, tell me. I’m waiting to hear what you’re going to say, now that you know I am still the same Rodimus Prime who tortures his victims, melts their faces and kills without remorse.”
“Are you though?”
“What?”
“Are you still the same Rodimus Prime though?” Asked Tarn, before squeezing himself into the opposite seat. “Because, frankly, I have seen Rodimus Prime, he was a corpse sitting in his captain seat, surrounded by death and misery. The Rodimus Prime I am looking in the optics now is not that mech. Yes he might still be brutal in the way he does his bounty hunter business, but he also shows compassion to those he cares for. I have seen it. The way you care for Phoenix, despite him being a Decepticon, proves that the Rodimus Prime you think you are, is long gone. That part of you died on that ship.” Tarn tilted his head a little bit to the side, as he watched the gears turn in Rodimus’ mind, before speaking again. “Also, if you were still the Rodimus Prime we warned our fellow Decepticons of, wouldn’t you have killed Dominus the second he entered your ship? And yet, you haven’t. On the contrary, you started looking for a way to help him become himself again. You have proven that you’re trying to help, not destroy anymore.”
“You sound like Phoenix…” Whispered Rodimus quietly. His brother had, after all, said something similar, but hearing these kinds of words coming from Tarn, someone who knew exactly what Rodimus had done, it was something else. And he didn’t like it. It made him feel guilty for something he can’t change anymore, and right now, he didn’t need that feeling.
“From what I have heard and read, he’s a clever youngling.” Said Tarn, which earned him a small chuckle from Rodimus. “He is.” Responded the prime. “He’s one of the most clever younglings I have ever met. And kind, despite everything he went through. He’s still so kind and innocent and I worry about what Lightlost is doing to him right now…”
“Don’t worry, we will rescue him. The DJD never leaves a Decepticon behind, no matter the circumstances!” Rodimus couldn’t help but laugh as he heard Tarn’s words. Primus, sometimes he forgets how lively Decepticons can be, especially those who seem to be more passionate than the others. “Thank you… for your help…. I… I didn’t think anyone would have wanted to join the rescue party. Softstreet and Fungus, maybe. Dominus, sure, but you and the Scavengers? I still think that it’s a joke and you’re going to lock me up in a cell.”
“As I said, Rodimus, the Rodimus Prime we know is dead. You might as well be a ghost, or a new mech, Ghostimus Prime.” Oh, Rodimus could hear the light teasing tone in Tarn’s voice, as he mentioned that name. He should have known that letting the people he worked for when doing bounty hunter work choose a name for him wasn’t a good idea. It would have been better if he simply told them that his name was ‘Convoy’, would have made things easier. “Tarn, listen, that name, Ghostimus Prime, it was an accident. Okay? No-one calls me that.”
“The Decepticons you saved by accident call you that.” Answered the leader of the DJD. “Some of them, at least. Most simply call you ‘The Prime’ when questioned about who saved them, but those who talked to others in the bounty hunter business learned that another name for you is ‘Ghostimus Prime’.” Tarn was about to say more, but a quick comm from Tesarus stopped him. “And Tesarus says that ‘Ghostimus Prime’ is a boo-tiful name for a bounty hunter. Gives them pumpkin to talk about.”
“... Did… did your whole team just listen to our conversation?! Did you put a microphone in my ship?!”
“No, all we did was remove a tracker hidden inside the main console.” Said Tarn, before getting up from his sitting spot. Walking over to the ship’s door and opening it fully. Revealing the rest of the DJD, the Scavengers, Pharma and Softstreet and Fungus behind it. “They were simply listening in through the open door.”
Rodimus stared at the assembly of Cybertronians, before letting out a long sigh. “I forgot how living on a ship with more than two mechs is… Either way, if all of you don’t have anything better to do, then we better get back to planning our rescue mission.”
“Because the Lost Light won’t make it easier for us.”
21 notes
·
View notes