Conviction

Captain Datastream sets her shoulders, letting out a shuddering ventilation. This is possibly the most stupid thing she’s done in her entire function, but what else can she do? She had failed. She may have saved the lives of her crew members by throwing them all into stasis, but when they’d awoke, the war was over. Optimus Prime was dead, and Megatron had reclaimed a living Cybertron for himself. For the Decepticons. She had failed so utterly.

She’d never even planned on surviving this long. Double agents were usually found out within a few years, if not right away. Data had been careful, only sending transmissions to her handler when they were out in deep space, away from any ship that might be able to pinpoint where the signal came from. Triple encryptions. Being open about her defection. Even still, every double agent knew that they were going to be caught eventually, and that it was their job to gather as much critical information as they could before that happened.

But she’d been in stasis, for over 2 million years. She hadn’t been killed, she’d just been asleep… and death would have almost been preferable. The war was over, and the Decepticons had won and she didn’t know if her actions would have made a difference, but she had been robbed of a chance to act at all. It all happened while she was asleep.

So now, what else could she do? Go on pretending that she was someone else, someone who was ecstatic that the Prime was dead, joining along with all the late-night songs of victory? It was more than she could bear! This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She should have either helped the Autobots to victory, or died trying. Instead, she’d been asleep.

She checked all the stasis cuffs, made certain that the drones couldn’t break free. Then, blaster in hand, she made her way to to the still form of the mighty Megatron, a terrifying behemoth even in stasis. With her free, shaking servo, she keyed in the code that would deactivate the forced condition, but not the restraints. Stepping back, she waited for him to come to, blaster aimed to fire between his eyes.

“…We need to talk.”

Frag… This is bad, he’s going to put more focus on the shuttle if he alerts the flagship… I- Frag, frag frag slagging spawn of a GLITCH and Unicron-!

I can still do this. I can.

::Turbulent conditions. I must focus on piloting the vessel. Do not send a rescue team; I am capable. Communications will re-open when I am out of this storm. Datastream out.::

Clarification

::It has been gently suggested that I elaborate at this time.::

::I am Captain Datastream, formerly of the Black Halo, the ship recently rescued by Lord Megatron’s forces after an outbreak of disease forced us to resort to stasis lock for the entire crew.::

::As was likely reported, our Lord and I, as well as a small detail of drones were to take a small cargo ship out to the wreck, to assist in collecting salvage. There was a minor complication regarding contaminated materials. The drones have been put in a mild stasis to slow possible onset.::

::We were due to return back yesterday, but Lord Megatron has advised me to take an alternate route. He has shown no signs of infection.::

::Everything is fine.::

Loading…

Virus Scan Clean. Corrupted Data Recovered. Resuming Normal Function.

I just noticed that in your status it says, “Fractured spark.” What do you mean by that?

It is an injury, left over from our final battle on Earth. Bumblebee ran me through the chest with my own sword. Were it not for the dark energon keeping my spark aflame, and the quick aid of others, I may not have survived at all.

The fracture is like a scar. It may never fully heal.

ATTENTION, ANONYMOUS HUMANS, AND OTHERS WHO FEEL THAT MY CURRENT SIZE GIVES YOU PERMISSION TO TOUCH ME.

I will be exercising my right to ignore your asks and other advances. There will be no unsolicited hugging, pinching, touching, or whatever “glomping” is.

I am small, but I am still the same Decepticon leader that commands an army and the respect and fear of countless across the galaxy.

Just because I am a minibot does not mean that I am any less deadly.

OOC

Once again, finals week has reared its ugly head and this mun has 4 art projects all due on Tuesday. I’m going to be limiting my internet time hard this weekend, so if you see me posting asks, or even liking some of your posts, I encourage you to yell at me to get back to work. My self-control needs all the help it can get.

I also won’t be on skype nearly as often until stuff is done. If you really need to talk to me, send me an ask or a skype message, and I’ll get to it whenever I have a quick break. I’ll see you all when my projects are done, wish me luck and good luck to everyone else suffering through finals!

((I’m sorry guys, I really want to keep playing because aaaah everyone’s on and new people to talk to and fun god stuff but I am just exhausted! I’ll answer more asks and reply to stuff tomorrow. Sorry again!))

Home.

And so, the warrior returns to his ship. His people are safe once again.

Megatron watches Steve carry the limp frame of the Commander he’d so often ridiculed and beaten. He deserved death many times over from their history alone. Destroying the monster that would have killed the remaining Decepticons had been far from difficult decision. Even still, for the second time in a very short period, victory feels hollow.

He leaves the bridge to tread the path back to his suite, ghastly sword attached to his back. The heavy footsteps of the old gladiator linger behind him, outlined with cold energon.