Perspective

[niyazi-a.livejournal.com]

PG
IDW: Megatron Origin
Starscream, Thundercracker
Vaguest of spoilers for MO? 
for tf_rare_pairing  Starscream/Thundercracker 'see it my way'

 

Starscream paused, triumphant, on the landing platform, turning to watch the burning city as his engines still rippled heat from his recent flight. Kaon, in flames.  The flickering light seemed to kiss across Starscream’s sharp-edged smile. 

Thundercracker had waited this opportunity to speak to Starscream alone, but even so, he felt a tremor of unease.  Starscream had gone in, perhaps too deep to come back unmarked.  Still, Thundercracker had to try, try to voice his disquiet.

“Starscream,” he said, stepping out of the shadow of the portal arch.  A tentative beginning.

Starscream tore his gaze reluctantly away from the city burning beneath his feet. “Thundercracker.  Can you see?” He swept his hand out over the horizon. “Look! Look what we have done!”  He seemed almost giddy.

Yes, Thundercracker thought.  That’s the problem. Look what we have done.  He stepped closer to the edge, closer to Starscream. “Destruction,” he said. 

Starscream’s smile withered on one edge. “Clearing away the old,” he corrected.  As if it were merely a matter of perspective. 

“Not all of the old is bad.”

Starscream shrugged. “Then it will survive.”

So simple.  Thundercracker shook his head. It wasn’t that simple. It couldn’t be. “Is this what you wanted? All along? Is this how you thought it would turn out?”

“It’s more than I could have imagined,” Starscream said, and the orange flames seemed to glow inside his optics, burning with a zealot’s intensity.

“Yes,” Thundercracker agreed, blandly.  It was more than he had imagined, also.  He’d signed on to be a gladiator.  He’d signed on to fight, to prove himself, to test his mettle.  To be a warrior.  Not…a slaughterer.

“That just shows,” Starscream continued, breathlessly, “the limit of my initial perspective, of course. So limited.” He shook his head. 

No, Thundercracker thought. That shows you before all of this…gunk accreted onto you. Onto us.  He looked down at his own arms, laden with illicit weaponry.  He wondered if Starscream’s arms felt as heavy as his own. He’d wanted them, but hadn’t realized the power, the dark, twisting, corrupting power, that came with them. Gunk. 

He had no words that could convince Starscream.  Nothing that could penetrate the thick armor, nothing that could get beyond the fierce light in Starscream’s optics. 

“What next?  For us?”  The only question he could ask, and, in a way, the only question he cared about.  They had come together; Megatron’s first aerial force.  Even he felt the obligation there. 

“Whatever Megatron decrees,” Starscream said.  His optics crested hungrily over the burning skies, following billows of smoke as they surged toward the dark maw of the night sky.

“And if he leads us to our deaths?”  Tentative, testing the unstable ground.

“Then we can know our deaths went to the freedom of Cybertron.”  Starscream nodded, content at his decree.  Self-satisfied. Self-confident.

No: finding his confidence in Megatron, through the battered gladiator.  What pull did Megatron have for Starscream?  Was it the romance of the low-caste origin?  Was it the wanton brutality?  Was it the ambition, the only thing larger and more grand than Starscream’s own?  Or was it the mystery, those strange moments of quiet, the strange hesitations?  Thundercracker had heard that  Megatron had balked at his first arena kill.  And Thundercracker had seen him take his imprisonment, the goading of the Elite as they bound him in stasis chains, with a patient dignity that he could not understand. 

Thundercracker grunted. He regretted his folly—how could he question? How could he ask when he was so inept with words himself? “And them?” He pointed at the distant specks of refugees, a desperate black line snaking its way out of the city’s heart on the main, bomb-warped thoroughfares. “They’ve given unwillingly.”

“So much the worse for them,” Starscream said, mildly. He did not let his optics rest on the line of refugees, as if afraid of some contamination.  He frowned. “You seem…unhappy, Thundercracker.”  He said it as if he couldn’t believe such a thing was possible. As if he doubted his own perception.

Thundercracker shrugged one shoulder, unable to commit to the lie with both shoulders. “I don’t know what to make of this, that’s all. It’s…new to me.”

Starscream tilted his head, optics glinting. “New, yes.  We are the heralds, Thundercracker, of the new order.” An impassioned hand clutched at his arm.  The other hand’s blue fingers stretched out over the blighted, burning city, as though scattering  blessings.  “This is a testament to Megatron’s greatness, his vision.”

Thundercracker set his mouthplates, refusing to argue. The Trine was more important than a squabble like this. He’d find another way to free them all from Megatron’s control.

But for him, the burning city was a sign of Starscream’s burning soul. 

Comments

[evvj.livejournal.com]

This... is so sad. I never really considered how Thundercracker would feel about that situation before, but when you consider his canonical disloyalty to Megatron, he probably wasn't very happy about the slaughter going on. Beautifully written, especially that last line.

[eerian_sadow]

oh, this is amazing! more awesome than i had hoped for when i tossed this into the pot this week. :D

i love how Thundercracker just refuses to argue. he knows it won't get him anywhere at all and just isn't going to do it. i also love his conviction and determination. (too bad it's going to blow up in his face, though.)

[sneere.livejournal.com]

Oh Thundercracker, you and your tragic angst! Ha ha! Really, is there any Decepticon who angst more than TC? Not that it isn't justified mind you.

[para-xylene.livejournal.com]

Believable characters, logical motivations, great descriptive skills, and silent struggle; I could hardly ask for more. Thank you for sharing this!

[cmdrtekk.livejournal.com]

Some well written insight.

Thank you for sharing.

[playswithworms.livejournal.com]

Oooh, very nice - I love that last line.

[elycien-xiii.livejournal.com]

This. Gah. This is incredible. What a great picture of their relationship. I absolutely love TC's characterization - he's uneasy, dissatisfied, and the only thing he's sure of is that it's not his place to speak up. Which is just... his essence.

Awesome job <3