re_alignment | [Broadcasting from the tallest peak he can find in the junk pile.]

[Someone has been through this before. Someone knows this drill. Someone has worked very, very hard to finally make it back to his Cybertron, only to find it all wrong. Again.

Someone probably has destroyed a few piles of junk in their anger.

However, someone also has paid attention to the communications on the network, and has ventured to the 'temples' that were mentioned, and has found them locked against him.

This someone is not surprised.]

Listen closely, and listen well.

[It is time to act. The feed opens with a closeup on Megatron's faceplates, optics blazing red, the scant remnants of gladiator paint still burned onto the metal.]

This is not where we belong, and I am done with this.

I am done with waking up to see an unfamiliar sun obscuring all-too-familiar stars. I am done with strangers being cast from world to world. I am done with mechs-who-would-be-gods so graciously patronizing us by allowing us to remain while simultaneously enforcing unethical segregation and I am done, finally, with the thwarting of destinies that I and my allies have slaved, toiled, and died to create.

You can listen to those who make the rules here if you desire to. I have heard a song like theirs, before.

Or.

[He flashes, briefly, a datapad that seems to have some sort of schematic on it--a schematic that looks (to those who are familiar with them) like a complicated space bridge.]

If you are 'done' as I am, you can help me.

I am Megatron, and I will deliver anyone that joins me to their rightful homes.

[A single, pointed tooth is visible in the smirk that finally dawns on his face. His interdimensional portal had only worked, once, but with the right mechs he would see it to completion again. Immediately.]

I guarantee it.

~~~~~

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[He hung up.]

[It was good, in a way, to know he still had that effect on Starscream. It was less pleasant having to wait for him to arrive, knowing what he intended to say next.]

[Instead, he watched the skies, his own optics narrowing when Starscream appeared, tracing the trajectory of his landing, letting his gaze wander over the sleekness of the jet's form, the way he sliced the air.]

[It was Starscream, alright.]

So is your humor. [He began, paying excruciating attention to the way his second carried himself, the sounds that gave him away. Starscream was nervous, then.]

[He wasn't the only one.]

You've been keeping yourself polished I see. A leader does have a certain standard of appearance to maintain. [Megatron smirked, reaching out to smudge off the smallest piece of dust that had adhered to Starscream's shoulder.] So.

You're in control at last. [His optics glowed, steadily, bright with intrest.] Have you found it to your liking?

[as Megatron reached out to touch him, he found himself cautiously tensing up, until he consciously slackened the joints of his wingstruts. Curious, if he stepped mentally outside himself, he could see no adoring, wide eyed seeker noble dropping to his knees in front of a vision of self-determination, but nor could he see a bitter seasoned potentate balking at old reins. He didn't know what to make of himself, and he needed all his processing power to keep up with Megatron - a young Megatron was still easily his equal.

Still easily dangerous.]

Hmn. It's tedious. There aren't as many ...benefits, as I'd like. And the responsibilities are greater than you ever showed them to be. [it hurt to admit this, even halfway grudgingly, but he didn't hate the command and the esteem and the respect he was after]

I haven't betrayed you, Megatron.

[At least... not recently. That comment--that knowledge he had of alternates... but Megatron was good at making him question himself, good at finding the little chinks in Starscream's egotistical armor and prying them wide open, and he reminded himself firmly of that fact as he met the eyes of his once-idol, his once-demon, his god and master and obstacle.]

I'm older, and wiser, and--I want to help you. You still bear marks from Kaon, while I've lived a lifetime with you.

[The words were different from what he was expecting. There was still an uncertainty to them, a tone that mimicked confidence and inclusion while still searching desperately for that which it's recipient would want to hear...

But there was also something new.]

[Sincerity.]

[The hand that wiped away the dust settled on Starscream's arm.] I think you might finally understand. [There were the smallest vestiges of a smile beneath his smirk, this time.] What it means to lead. To embody a cause. To give up nearly everything for it, and to receive little back except a title.

...the title means nothing. [The 'Lord' part. The part all Megatrons eventually adopted.] But it can give you respect. [It let others obey him, so that he might use them to do what was necessary.]

[The smirk twisted, and the hand on Starscream's shoulder clenched.] Except it is difficult, now, to believe your words, Starscream.

You did betray me. You betrayed the Decepticon cause, sometimes for your own advancement. You betrayed the ideal of the freedoms that we fought for. You, I have learned, caused a number of failed plots. A number of times when victory could have been ours.

[The hand gripping the jet pushed backward, and Megatron's foot branched out, hooking around the other's ankle, utilizing a move he'd memorized to bring his second-in-command down to his knees, a second hand joining the first on the opposite shoulder to keep Starscream there.] I have only one thing to say to that. It will be the first--and the last--time you hear it from me.

[His optics shot wide, brightened, scarlet surprise, as he suddenly felt the earth under his knees and a memory jumped to the forefront of his mind helpfully. A stuttering swell of adoration, open, naked nervousness of the uninitiated, the desire for excitement and the possibility of complete self-reinvention, and--focus. Refocus.

This could be his last moment online. He'd better appreciate it.]

Megatr--[he hated the way his voice went up, the protest of panic, an appeal for mercy, mercy he shouldn't be asking for - he shouldn't need it. He cut it off quick and brutal and stopped to listen, his knuckle joints brushing the ground by his knees as he waited.]

I'm listening.

[That name. That name, from that voice, with that flash of optics in protest but accepting...it was familiar enough to make him ache for home. For being with mechs who didn't know his future, who hadn't lived his life for him before he'd ever gotten the chance.]

[He missed it.]

[He missed it, but he needed this first--Starscream, who had survived the war on his knees before Megatron, who had not. Mentors and students, both. He could act on all he had learned, and set this right.]

Good. I'm only going to say this once.

[Crouching, he leaned forward, his lips passing the side of Starscream's helm until they waited, just over the jet's audial vents.]

I'm sorry.

[For this. For the war. For the mistakes he'd made. If there had been one thing that all the Starscreams had agreed on--it was that Megatron had taken them for granted. He would not repeat that, when he returned.]

[if the shock of being forced to kneel was strong, the shock of what he just heard was stronger, and his optics half shuttered, struggling to assimilate a square peg into the round hole of his existence up to this point.

Half of him rejoiced, internally, at this validation of purpose and rightness and vindication for that sudden sheer agonizing moment in time when he felt the fusion cannon warm against his chest and knew he was going to die for his betrayal, knew it--

And part of him laughed. Reached up to grab for the back of Megatron's helm, pressing their foreheads together.]

You only need to say that once.

[the moment was too significant, it held too much, he wanted to set it aside before he ruined it somehow, he didn't even want to look away lest he somehow make it unreal.]

--We need to see about securing you temporary lodging. The bar's not going to suffice.

Good.

[His own optics slid closed, dark for a moment, allowing one brief second of trust as his own contribution to this unspoken pact. Feeling Starscream's smooth panels underneath his fingers, the shifting of strange objects beneath his treads, the processed scents and sounds of a foreign world that bore witness to the only time he'd admit to this mistake.]

[When they opened again, they were joined by an all-too-familiar smirk.]

Then there will be no betrayals, no disobeying, and no underhanded plotting. We work together, and I give you the respect a warrior deserves.

[He stood, pulling Starscream up with him.]

I will stay with my portal. Unless you have a better suggestion?

Together. [he confirmed, with a sudden eagerness and clarity of purpose he hadn't felt for - literally - millions of years. Part of him metaphorically pushed, always pushed, hungrily, on the status quo, urging it to stretch and bend and break before him, and now was no exception. He knew Megatron was going to do as he wanted, no matter what, the force of his will was too great to be stopped: but Starscream knew as well that sometimes force could be redirected.]

The respect a leader deserves. [and his voice stays steady, only switching gears after a moment more] You're not giving yourself guard duty. Put enlisted on that. We have plenty.

[Now standing, he watched Starscream for a moment more, hands still on the other as if curious...]

A Leader? Hm. [His smirk had mirth enough.] Very well. [Almost reluctant, he let his arms drop to his sides.]

You may know I have issues with trust. If there is someone infallible to place beside the portal, I will accept your recommendation. If not...I will remain.

However, seeing as it hasn't been built yet...

[He spread his hands] What are my options?

[Broadcasting from the tallest peak he can find in the junk pile.]

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Doing a tiny bit of puppeting here, lemme know if okay!

it's more than okay bb

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