(no subject)
Chronicus had been watching the incoming mech for some time, and the nearer the being had come the more his spark had pulsed with angry fear. He knew of that mech, the pinnacle of the Decepticon ideal. He had heard reports of the worlds that had died under the being's remorseless hand; of the cities laid waste. Every part of his being urged him to shoot now in order to defend his cargo and his drones.
But something held him back. That small spot of white against the being's left fist looked hauntingly like a flag of parley, and driven near mad by loneliness though he was, the mighty city-former could not find it in himself to fire on that forlorn emblem of temporary peace.
He watched as the impassively visored black mech wove through the barricade of his floating gun turrets, his sensors tracking the war machine as closely as they could with all the stealth technology that the mech carried. Closer, closer, came the destroyer of worlds. Till finally he lifted his empty hand and let it rest against one of Cronicus' ports. There was a rumble as a com hail was sent, and Chronicus' lights nearly blinked with surprise at the content of that message.
//Let me in, old man,// it said in tones of amiable dismay. //Before Bumblebee blows a gasket.//
Bumblebee?? The young hero of Tyger Pax? Why would Bumblebee be traveling with this one... and where was he? Chronicus scanned again as he slowly opened the port, but saw nothing other than the indistinct readings given off by the destroyer himself till that mighty mech bent his huge frame to drop to one knee and open a hatch on his chest. The next thing that the astonished city-former knew there was a tiny bright yellow and black femme racing around the destroyer's foot with her small arms uplifted with gleeful joy at being free of her padded carrying hold.
* * *
Dreadnought kept his sensors on the alert even as Bumblebee squealed happily at being able to come out and play and then proceeded to shake her tiny booty and play a snatch of the 'Hamster Dance'. "Ugh, c'mon, Bumble. There's better music than that to play."
His chibified sister razzed him pertly, and then started running again, only to stop and spin till she fell down.
"What did you do to Bumblebee?"
Dreadnought glanced toward the calm female voice, noting that the blue and silver femme was only a holographic projection. "Kept her locked up too long. But she's too little to face space unprotected."
Bumblebee razzed him again, and then squealed with glee as he paused to shift and separate from Two. "Catta! Catta! Yeeee!"
Two perked his ears and looked from Bumblebee to the blue and silver femme, unsure which lady to flirt with first, but then showed his loyalty by laying on the floor and letting the little chibi hammer on his nose with one minute fist.
"That is not what I meant," said the blue and silver femme. "Chronicus' records show that Bumblebee was sixteen foot tall. He was also recorded as male."
"Yeah. She had good signal blockers." Dreadnought put a hand near the chibi and was sternly rebuffed. "And I didn't do this. Nobody's been able to really work out what happened to her. There was an explosion, and when Jazz found her again she was chibi."
"Chibi!" cheered Bumblebee, then gave Two kissies before turning and zooming away. The big black drone followed her, his nose close to the ground as his soft brown optics sparkled with interest.
Dreadnought chuckled, then let his mirrored visor lift to show optics not unlike his drone's as his expression grew more serious. "I come in peace. Those two guys don't have to lurk over there, I just want to read and exchange information."
"What sort of information?" The femme cocked her head as the twins stepped out of their concealment to eye their largest visitor warily.
"Names, for a start." He put down his hand and let Bumblebee run into it, then caught her as she bounced off in the midst of a squeaky flaily giggle fit. "You know Bumblebee's. The drone's Two. And I'm Dreadnought, Lord High Protector of Cybertron."
"What?" Chronicus himself spoke in his surprise. "Lord High Protector? How can a Decepticon carry an Autobot title?"
Dreadnought shrugged. "Optimus pinned it on me. I figured I'd just go along with it."
"What does Megatron think of this? I remember that he didn't suffer what he saw as treachery lightly."
"Megatron's dead. So's Starscream and Shockwave." Dreadnought lifted his chin, a bit of hardness coming into his face.
Chronicus shuddered slightly as he understood. "You are the Decepticon Warlord."
"Yup." The black Decepticon ignored Two as the drone grabbed Bumblebee in his mouth and then flopped against him, purring thunderously.
"Will... you show me how that came to be?"
"Sure. If I can look at your poetry collection."
"...Poetry?" Chronicus wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.
"Yeah, poetry." Dreadnought recited a few lines of a war epic that few knew the existence of.
Chronicus was silent for a few moments, and then opened the door that led out of the bay. "Aspiria, will you lead our visitors to the appropriate collection?"
* * *
Hours later Dreadnought was still stretched out comfortably in a chair as Bumblebee snoozed in a happy little heap on the table beside him and Two tried to convince Aspiria that he was the cutest kitty in the universe. He liked this place. The echoing silence, the store of knowledge available no where else, even the art and gardens... all hit the war machine's sense of what he wished his own home could be like. Created for war though he was, this place of peace fit into his view of the world without difficulty. Even the drone, Aspiria's, questions about the war and of Earth were no interruption to his happy chip scanning and contemplation.
He blinked and looked up, however, as Chronicus once more spoke for himself.
"So... the war is over."
"Yeah." His mouth twitched. "It's over, old man."
"But Cybertron lays in ruins." Deep sadness flavored Aspiria's light voice as she put a gentle hand over the sleeping chibi.
"Primus'll heal himself," said Dreadnought confidently. "Give him time. And till then we'll hang out on Earth 'n wait, grow, 'n learn."
"Primus," Chronicus rumbled. "It has been long since I heard that name."
"He's real." Dreadnought switched chips and quirked a grin as he saw that the next one was a continuation of a poem that he owned the first and last books of but had never been able to find the center part.
"I know," said Chronicus. "It only surprises me to hear a Decepticon speak of him."
The black mech shrugged one spiky shoulder. "He made me too."
"That is true," said Aspiria, her blue optics studying him as Chronicus did the same from his sensors set around the seating area.
Then she looked down at the sleeping Bumblebee, and at the feline drone who lay comfortably at her feet. "If you need anything, please feel free to ask me."
"Thanks, old man." Dreadnought quirked a grin, then watched the femme flicker and vanish. A few moments later he sensed Chronicus' propulsion systems kick in and calculated the city-former's potential destinations. There was only one place he could be going in that direction.
Chronicus was going to Earth.
But something held him back. That small spot of white against the being's left fist looked hauntingly like a flag of parley, and driven near mad by loneliness though he was, the mighty city-former could not find it in himself to fire on that forlorn emblem of temporary peace.
He watched as the impassively visored black mech wove through the barricade of his floating gun turrets, his sensors tracking the war machine as closely as they could with all the stealth technology that the mech carried. Closer, closer, came the destroyer of worlds. Till finally he lifted his empty hand and let it rest against one of Cronicus' ports. There was a rumble as a com hail was sent, and Chronicus' lights nearly blinked with surprise at the content of that message.
//Let me in, old man,// it said in tones of amiable dismay. //Before Bumblebee blows a gasket.//
Bumblebee?? The young hero of Tyger Pax? Why would Bumblebee be traveling with this one... and where was he? Chronicus scanned again as he slowly opened the port, but saw nothing other than the indistinct readings given off by the destroyer himself till that mighty mech bent his huge frame to drop to one knee and open a hatch on his chest. The next thing that the astonished city-former knew there was a tiny bright yellow and black femme racing around the destroyer's foot with her small arms uplifted with gleeful joy at being free of her padded carrying hold.
* * *
Dreadnought kept his sensors on the alert even as Bumblebee squealed happily at being able to come out and play and then proceeded to shake her tiny booty and play a snatch of the 'Hamster Dance'. "Ugh, c'mon, Bumble. There's better music than that to play."
His chibified sister razzed him pertly, and then started running again, only to stop and spin till she fell down.
"What did you do to Bumblebee?"
Dreadnought glanced toward the calm female voice, noting that the blue and silver femme was only a holographic projection. "Kept her locked up too long. But she's too little to face space unprotected."
Bumblebee razzed him again, and then squealed with glee as he paused to shift and separate from Two. "Catta! Catta! Yeeee!"
Two perked his ears and looked from Bumblebee to the blue and silver femme, unsure which lady to flirt with first, but then showed his loyalty by laying on the floor and letting the little chibi hammer on his nose with one minute fist.
"That is not what I meant," said the blue and silver femme. "Chronicus' records show that Bumblebee was sixteen foot tall. He was also recorded as male."
"Yeah. She had good signal blockers." Dreadnought put a hand near the chibi and was sternly rebuffed. "And I didn't do this. Nobody's been able to really work out what happened to her. There was an explosion, and when Jazz found her again she was chibi."
"Chibi!" cheered Bumblebee, then gave Two kissies before turning and zooming away. The big black drone followed her, his nose close to the ground as his soft brown optics sparkled with interest.
Dreadnought chuckled, then let his mirrored visor lift to show optics not unlike his drone's as his expression grew more serious. "I come in peace. Those two guys don't have to lurk over there, I just want to read and exchange information."
"What sort of information?" The femme cocked her head as the twins stepped out of their concealment to eye their largest visitor warily.
"Names, for a start." He put down his hand and let Bumblebee run into it, then caught her as she bounced off in the midst of a squeaky flaily giggle fit. "You know Bumblebee's. The drone's Two. And I'm Dreadnought, Lord High Protector of Cybertron."
"What?" Chronicus himself spoke in his surprise. "Lord High Protector? How can a Decepticon carry an Autobot title?"
Dreadnought shrugged. "Optimus pinned it on me. I figured I'd just go along with it."
"What does Megatron think of this? I remember that he didn't suffer what he saw as treachery lightly."
"Megatron's dead. So's Starscream and Shockwave." Dreadnought lifted his chin, a bit of hardness coming into his face.
Chronicus shuddered slightly as he understood. "You are the Decepticon Warlord."
"Yup." The black Decepticon ignored Two as the drone grabbed Bumblebee in his mouth and then flopped against him, purring thunderously.
"Will... you show me how that came to be?"
"Sure. If I can look at your poetry collection."
"...Poetry?" Chronicus wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.
"Yeah, poetry." Dreadnought recited a few lines of a war epic that few knew the existence of.
Chronicus was silent for a few moments, and then opened the door that led out of the bay. "Aspiria, will you lead our visitors to the appropriate collection?"
* * *
Hours later Dreadnought was still stretched out comfortably in a chair as Bumblebee snoozed in a happy little heap on the table beside him and Two tried to convince Aspiria that he was the cutest kitty in the universe. He liked this place. The echoing silence, the store of knowledge available no where else, even the art and gardens... all hit the war machine's sense of what he wished his own home could be like. Created for war though he was, this place of peace fit into his view of the world without difficulty. Even the drone, Aspiria's, questions about the war and of Earth were no interruption to his happy chip scanning and contemplation.
He blinked and looked up, however, as Chronicus once more spoke for himself.
"So... the war is over."
"Yeah." His mouth twitched. "It's over, old man."
"But Cybertron lays in ruins." Deep sadness flavored Aspiria's light voice as she put a gentle hand over the sleeping chibi.
"Primus'll heal himself," said Dreadnought confidently. "Give him time. And till then we'll hang out on Earth 'n wait, grow, 'n learn."
"Primus," Chronicus rumbled. "It has been long since I heard that name."
"He's real." Dreadnought switched chips and quirked a grin as he saw that the next one was a continuation of a poem that he owned the first and last books of but had never been able to find the center part.
"I know," said Chronicus. "It only surprises me to hear a Decepticon speak of him."
The black mech shrugged one spiky shoulder. "He made me too."
"That is true," said Aspiria, her blue optics studying him as Chronicus did the same from his sensors set around the seating area.
Then she looked down at the sleeping Bumblebee, and at the feline drone who lay comfortably at her feet. "If you need anything, please feel free to ask me."
"Thanks, old man." Dreadnought quirked a grin, then watched the femme flicker and vanish. A few moments later he sensed Chronicus' propulsion systems kick in and calculated the city-former's potential destinations. There was only one place he could be going in that direction.
Chronicus was going to Earth.