ask-smokescreen:

mightymegatron:

She is awaiting a formal trial, so your visit would be monitored. 

But I must wonder, Smokescreen: exactly why do you feel the need?

Smokescreen still sees that shaking, his doorwings drooping- is she okay? Is she being hurt while here? He was going to have to check it out later.

“Really? Huh- it does sound a little more lenient- they haven’t done anything to hurt you, right?”

Smokescreen lets Data go on, not really sure what to say- “It was an opportunity- it’s kinda hard to think when these things come up, right?”

“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you don’t die horribly- for the record, though, I’ve really done worse than you and I haven’t gotten in trouble- I think you deserve fair treatment. After all, everyone knows Starscream’s tried what you tried, and look where he is. If Megatron offlined every bot who’s ever tried to hurt him, there would be a much smaller population.”

“What did you do while you were a bot? I can’t say I’ve heard that much ‘bout you before… I bet you’re no failure, though.”

“Heh, I appreciate that… Thanks.” Datastream’s doorwings weren’t held much higher. She’d been expecting to be killed ever since she’d driven off with Megatron in-tow, and waiting for the inevitable was fraying her nerves. She ran a servo over her worn faceplates, sighing.

“I was a communications mech. In peacetime I fixed hub towers, I knew my way around all sorts of signals. That’s why I volunteered to be a spy… I could send hidden messages using Decepticon frequencies. Of course, that looked super suspicious to high command, so I had to work hard to stay under Soundwave’s radar, “prove” I was a loyal ‘con… Could’ve gone on I guess but then I came out of stasis and everything had just…”

“…Back on the shuttle, you mentioned you were like me. What did you mean?”

ask-smokescreen:

mightymegatron:

She is awaiting a formal trial, so your visit would be monitored. 

But I must wonder, Smokescreen: exactly why do you feel the need?

He ended up watching for a little bit- she was alive, right? Maybe she was recharging, and he should come back later. Or- worst case, she–

Smokescreen is glad she’s able to talk back.

“I wanted to say hi- must be kinda lonely here, right?” Smokescreen’s giving a goofy grin, trying to lighten the mood, sitting down nearby, dropping the silly smile.

“I’m sorry Cybertron’s kind of gone to slag- that was pretty bold of you, out there- you had Megs at gunpoint. Not many bots have done that, you know!”

“Seems like he’s softened up with the war over- he hasn’t tried a cortical psychic patch on you or anything, right?”

Data watches him as he comes closer, struggling to comprehend the reality of the situation.

She was a prisoner, but she didn’t seem to be in immediate danger. She was even being allowed an Autobot visitor, though no doubt they were being watched. The shaking threatens to start up again, but she gets it under control, clamping down her plating. Dusty old memory files replayed in her mind, and she remembered her training.

“N-no… no, I haven’t been jacked into, I would know… All they did was turn my weapons off, searched me, nothing- nothing else… Slag, I really did that, didn’t I. I s-stole the Emperor of Destruction! Primus below I have never been so scared in my life…Haha.. What was I g-gonna do with him!? Kill him? Bury him in some hole where no one could find him, I just sort of ran and thought I’d figure that part out later…”

“I know I’m… probably going to die horribly now, but thanks for stopping me when you did. I’d rather be known as a failed Autobot than some nutjob assassin…”

ask-smokescreen:

mighty-megatron:

mightymegatron:

She is awaiting a formal trial, so your visit would be monitored. 

But I must wonder, Smokescreen: exactly why do you feel the need?

If you attempt to release her, you will both be confined and tried… however, I trust that you will not be so foolish. 

.

As Smokescreen approaches the cell with his escort, Megatron will be watching on a video screen. Datastream hasn’t moved from her place on the berth since she was brought in, weapons deactivated and doorwings slung low.

Megs, if I were planning on letting her do her plan, things would’ve gone differently on the ship.

/Smokescreen’s waving to Datastream, even if he might not be seen doing so./

Data? Hey, Data? You okay, there?

It’s not that the cell was cold, or dark or tiny. In fact, she hadn’t even been tortured, or really even talked to. But that was what terrified her the most. Mechs had been shot through the sparks for so much less, why wasn’t anyone at least shouting at her for Primus’ sake?? The voice startles her from her dark imagination, and she stares wide-eyed at the cadet for a long moment.

“… They let you down… What- why are you here?”

ask-smokescreen:

mightymegatron:

::…::

There is the sound of pedes hurrying back to the console.

::Negatron- NEGATIVE. Negative, Smokescreen, that won’- _ell him the truth cowa_ Won’t be necessary!. Thank you. I can handle things. I can.::

Smokescreen hesitates for a moment, before unlocking Megatron’s stasis cuffs, stepping away once unlocked, but not returning to the other Autobot. He’ll get the eradicons up again after- whatever’s going on- is figured out, one way or another.

Truthfully, he wasn’t sure what to do now- why was she shaking, exactly? They sounded upset and Smokescreen had no idea where to go from here- Should he touch her- talk to her? He’s not sure what to say now that would actually help. Smokescreen’s giving Megatron a look again, expecting Megatron to say something first.

With the cuffs undone, Megatron was easily able to extract himself from the shipping straps. However, as soon as he took a step forward from the wall, Datastream was back on alert, backing away until she stood against the console, petrified. One of her blasters was still out, but she didn’t lift it. What good would it do anyway, against a freed Megatron?

This was it. She was going to be killed, by the Emperor of Destruction himself. She deserved it, after her idiocy. Datastream tensed and waited… and nothing happened. No stab of metal, no searing plasma. Daring to peek, the frazzled captain found herself staring up at one of the most feared mech of all time, staring back down at her.

“You will return to the Nemesis, Captain Datastream. You will be confined to a holding cell until you have been tried. As we are in peacetime, your crimes no longer justify execution. If every mech who has commited a war crime was executed, we would be left with an empty planet.” Glancing over to Smokescreen for emphasis, Megatron stood at full height once more, and reached over to silence the comm channel for the ship.

ask-smokescreen:

mightymegatron:

::…::

There is the sound of pedes hurrying back to the console.

::Negatron- NEGATIVE. Negative, Smokescreen, that won’- _ell him the truth cowa_ Won’t be necessary!. Thank you. I can handle things. I can.::

“Okay- got it, Captain Kiddo!” Now he’s just doing this on purpose, and he can’t hide his silly grin.

“Ah- you slept through most of the war, too?” A sigh. He can certainly sympathize there- he won’t deny he’s thought about wanting to offline Megatron before- just melt his body into scrap, throw him into an acid pit, maybe let scraplets get to him in his recharge… It might not have been healthy to think about it that much.

“I getcha. But how’s offlining him really gonna fix anything? You offline him, and who’s gonna take care of the planet? Starscream? Soundwave? I want Optimus back- believe me, I do- but offlining Megatron’s gonna wreck the planet even further. It’s only starting to get repaired. Would Optimus want another war to happen like this?”

“Besides- Megs has survived way worse than a couple blasts. I don’t even know if he has a spark to extinguish anymore.” Maybe that wasn’t going to help his point much, thinking about it only after he says it.

Datastream’s optics squeezed shut as she listened, knowing how true it all was. There was no point to killing the warlord now, even if she could. It wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t change the fact that she had failed, and then where would that leave everyone else? Her former crew? The blasters lowered, first one, then the other.

She laughed at the sparkless comment, a choked noise, laced with static. One blaster folded away, and she used it to cover her face. She couldn’t stop shaking. She felt so small.

Not yet deigning to speak, Megatron caught Smokescreen’s attention, gesturing as best he could towards the last remaining pair of cuffs, sitting beside the stasis-locked soldiers. He returned to staring at the grounder that had been holding this in for so many centuries, and instead of anger at her deception, found pity.

ask-smokescreen:

mightymegatron:

::…::

There is the sound of pedes hurrying back to the console.

::Negatron- NEGATIVE. Negative, Smokescreen, that won’- _ell him the truth cowa_ Won’t be necessary!. Thank you. I can handle things. I can.::

“Fine, fine, kiddo.” That’s different enough, right? And the chuckling from Megs gets a small smile out of Smokescreen.

“You’re a wh-” An Autobot? That would explain the thing they said about Optimus… “… I know- I know he isn’t. It’s completely wrong, right? We had Cybertron for a little while, and I thought it was going pretty great, and- you know how that ends.” All too well, really.

“What exactly are you planning, now?” Smokescreen’s bringing down a servo to offer it. Playing along seems like the safest option.

“That’s Captain, at least!” she corrected. Again, Megatron made a derisive noise, and Data charged both her blasters. She shook even more, turning to listen to Smokescreen.

“I don’t… I don’t know how that ends because it wasn’t supposed to end this way… I was… I was in stasis… I couldn’t do anything to stop this…” She rounded on Megatron now, optics wide. “To stop him!! I don’t know what I could have done but now I have him and there is something I can do about that!! So why can’t I?! I should avenge my planet, my Prime, my Autobots and everything else we’ve lost because of him!” Both blasters focus on the thick armor of Megatron’s chest, and she has her teeth bared in a wild glare. But, she doesn’t shoot. She just shakes, and Megatron just watches.

ask-smokescreen:

mighty-megatron:

mightymegatron:

::…::

There is the sound of pedes hurrying back to the console.

::Negatron- NEGATIVE. Negative, Smokescreen, that won’- _ell him the truth cowa_ Won’t be necessary!. Thank you. I can handle things. I can.::

Data’s optics flick nervously from the warlord looming over them to Smokescreen, not lowering her weapon.

“And if it isn’t? What would you do?”

“Well, it depends on what it is, kid.” Smokescreen’s getting past his initial worries- though he’s not entirely sure who to help at this point. Pretty sure it’s not a plague ship, though.

“What exactly is going on?”

“Don’t call me that.” She wasn’t sure what it meant, but it wasn’t her name. From his place on the wall, Megatron chuckled, causing Datastream to snarl and unfold a second blaster, aimed at him. There is already a fresh singemark beside his helm. “Shut up!”

“I… I am an Autobot. I was never supposed to… He was never supposed to…” Coolant blurred her vision, and that only made her shake.