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stainlessTitle: Vigilance
Characters: Skywarp, mentions of Thundercracker
Verse: G1
Wordcount: 650+
Rating: K
Warnings: None
Summary: Set during the episode "City of Steel." Skywarp watches over New Cybertron, the city the Decepticons have turned the conquered New York City into, reflecting on what it's like to finally have a place that feels like home.
Thanks tomeaisin_caoin for beta.
Skywarp was happy.
It was, maybe, the first time since coming to this dirtball of a planet that he could say that. Oh, he didn't hate it here, really. Not as much as Thundercracker did. But his wingmate was right: organic planets were smelly and messy. And not in fun ways that made good pranks.
But now that they'd taken control of New York City and were slowly and steadily replacing the ugly, human-built skyscrapers with good Cybertronian-style towers and bridges, and even a nice little aerie for Starscream and the rest of their trine to recharge in, it wasn't quite so bad any more.
True, the towers and the aerie were made of inferior and flimsy metal, the kind of stuff you found here and not back home. But that didn't really bother Skywarp. He was a soldier, not a builder. As far as he was concerned, if it looked like home it felt like home.
And best of all, it seemed his wingmates agreed. Starscream had gone so far as to compliment Megatron - or so the other Decepticons said. Skywarp would believe that one when he heard it with his own audio receptors.
But Thundercracker's reaction, he could see. Hear, too, the deep growl of his engines deafening and proud as he circled overhead.
Skywarp's spark gave a wild lurch. He'd never say this, not to Thundercracker's face, but it felt so good just to see him out and flying. Before they'd come here, before they'd changed this city and made it their own, he'd rarely seen Thundercracker just flying like that - flying for the sake of flying, his engines roaring their joy.
He'd flown like that on Cybertron. Sometimes with his wingmates, sometimes by himself.
And sometimes just with Skywarp. The black jet's wings twitched, remembering what it was like, slicing through the air with the other by his side, matching his movements, his rumbling shaking the clouds themselves.
But that hadn't happened much on Earth. It hadn't happened at all in Skywarp's recent memory. He didn't even go flying by himself much. Skywarp had asked him why. Over and over, in fact, until he'd stored every excuse in his memory banks and could guess which one his wingmate would choose before Thundercracker decided on it himself.
The skies were choked with smog, the blue Seeker would say. Or full of human-piloted planes. Or organic flying things that he might collide with and get in his vents or his engines and never quite get all the way out again. It was disgusting, he'd say. Not worth flying in a place like this. Not until there was an enemy to fight, or until Megatron made him.
But here in this city, razed and remade in the image of home, everything was different. Here, Thundercracker could almost forget.
The enemy would come, Skywarp knew. Sooner than later, probably. That was just what they did: show up where they weren't wanted.
And once they got here, they'd try to change everything back again. Try to make it ugly again. Inferior. Dirty. Full of organic things and their slime and pollution.
He wouldn't care if they did, aside from being angry at how they always ruined everything.
But Thundercracker would.
He flicked his wings again, this time in determination. When they came, he would be ready for them. If New Cybertron did fall, some of them would go down with it. He'd make sure of that. Alone, if he had to, though he was sure some of the other Decepticons would understand.
Even if they didn't think of it in quite the same way he did, they too knew when something was real. They knew when something was worth defending.
He looked out over the city and its new, glistening metal, scanning for anything suspicious, his optics flaring as they scanned the empty streets.
Let them come, he thought, clenching his fists. Let them come.
Characters: Skywarp, mentions of Thundercracker
Verse: G1
Wordcount: 650+
Rating: K
Warnings: None
Summary: Set during the episode "City of Steel." Skywarp watches over New Cybertron, the city the Decepticons have turned the conquered New York City into, reflecting on what it's like to finally have a place that feels like home.
Thanks to
meaisin_caoin for beta.Skywarp was happy.
It was, maybe, the first time since coming to this dirtball of a planet that he could say that. Oh, he didn't hate it here, really. Not as much as Thundercracker did. But his wingmate was right: organic planets were smelly and messy. And not in fun ways that made good pranks.
But now that they'd taken control of New York City and were slowly and steadily replacing the ugly, human-built skyscrapers with good Cybertronian-style towers and bridges, and even a nice little aerie for Starscream and the rest of their trine to recharge in, it wasn't quite so bad any more.
True, the towers and the aerie were made of inferior and flimsy metal, the kind of stuff you found here and not back home. But that didn't really bother Skywarp. He was a soldier, not a builder. As far as he was concerned, if it looked like home it felt like home.
And best of all, it seemed his wingmates agreed. Starscream had gone so far as to compliment Megatron - or so the other Decepticons said. Skywarp would believe that one when he heard it with his own audio receptors.
But Thundercracker's reaction, he could see. Hear, too, the deep growl of his engines deafening and proud as he circled overhead.
Skywarp's spark gave a wild lurch. He'd never say this, not to Thundercracker's face, but it felt so good just to see him out and flying. Before they'd come here, before they'd changed this city and made it their own, he'd rarely seen Thundercracker just flying like that - flying for the sake of flying, his engines roaring their joy.
He'd flown like that on Cybertron. Sometimes with his wingmates, sometimes by himself.
And sometimes just with Skywarp. The black jet's wings twitched, remembering what it was like, slicing through the air with the other by his side, matching his movements, his rumbling shaking the clouds themselves.
But that hadn't happened much on Earth. It hadn't happened at all in Skywarp's recent memory. He didn't even go flying by himself much. Skywarp had asked him why. Over and over, in fact, until he'd stored every excuse in his memory banks and could guess which one his wingmate would choose before Thundercracker decided on it himself.
The skies were choked with smog, the blue Seeker would say. Or full of human-piloted planes. Or organic flying things that he might collide with and get in his vents or his engines and never quite get all the way out again. It was disgusting, he'd say. Not worth flying in a place like this. Not until there was an enemy to fight, or until Megatron made him.
But here in this city, razed and remade in the image of home, everything was different. Here, Thundercracker could almost forget.
The enemy would come, Skywarp knew. Sooner than later, probably. That was just what they did: show up where they weren't wanted.
And once they got here, they'd try to change everything back again. Try to make it ugly again. Inferior. Dirty. Full of organic things and their slime and pollution.
He wouldn't care if they did, aside from being angry at how they always ruined everything.
But Thundercracker would.
He flicked his wings again, this time in determination. When they came, he would be ready for them. If New Cybertron did fall, some of them would go down with it. He'd make sure of that. Alone, if he had to, though he was sure some of the other Decepticons would understand.
Even if they didn't think of it in quite the same way he did, they too knew when something was real. They knew when something was worth defending.
He looked out over the city and its new, glistening metal, scanning for anything suspicious, his optics flaring as they scanned the empty streets.
Let them come, he thought, clenching his fists. Let them come.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 03:02 am (UTC)Beautiful...
Oh, 'Warp. Oh, TC!!!
They... you know, I know they're the bad guys, but sometimes that what they want is so impossible by the show's formula makes me hurt.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 03:05 am (UTC)It's easy to see why the Autobots fight them, yeah, but it's also sometimes hard to see just why they're So Bad.