Ghosts and Sparklings All in One Place!

“Thundercracker. Alright.” He tilted his helm slightly, “Do you remember how you got here, Thundercracker?”

“I was hitching a ride on that ferry across the sea and jumped into this island’s power structure.”

“No, I mean… Do you remember how you went offline, or at least became disconnected from your physical body?”

Thundercracker’s gaze shifted, moving to the ground as he curled up a bit more. “I… I tried to do the right thing and… I overdid it.”

“I see…The right thing.”

“Hmm. Who knew the Super Electric Lightning Thundercrackin’ Punch could blast your body to ions…? I was just trying to protect the other bots on my mission and then… then they didn’t even care.” His frame trembled a bit, “You give the war everything you have, and… everyone just acts like your life didn’t even matter to them… I was such a fool.”

Chase sat down properly, “I can’t say that there aren’t sparkless bots out there…”

“Primus, I’m so tired… You have no idea what it’s like, trying to keep yourself intact across the galaxies, hopping from ship to ship, trying so hard to get someone’s attention, just to have someone hear you… and nothing.”

“You’re right, I don’t know about all of that…”

“...What about you? You’re just a little lost spark in the electrical circuits too.”

Chase tilted his helm again, “...Sacrifice as well. I gave up my energon to keep a dome up and protect an entire city from a catastrophe.”

“Did… Did it work?”

“It did… But I paid the ultimate price.”

“...Did the citizens remember you?”

“...They did.”

“Well that’s great.” Thundercracker rolled over with a soft growl, “So happy for you.”

Chase didn’t speak, instead simply sitting beside the seeker, letting the quiet hang over them like a blanket.

“Talk to him. No, I don’t want to talk to him. He’s the first mech you’ve had to talk to in ages and you won’t talk to him…!?”

The seeker’s argument with himself was soft, but Chase didn’t blame him for it. Having gone so long without anyone hearing or seeing him, of course he’d potentially adapt to thinking aloud all the time, just to fill the void.

It could be lonely here…

“...So you fought in the war, then.”

“Pssh… Didn’t you?”

“No.”

The seeker rolled over again, facing the officer fully once more. “...No?”

“No.”

“...How in Primus’ name did you manage that?”

“Convenient misfortune. My team and I were out on assignment off-world and were attacked by an energon eater. We survived, but our ship lost power and was lost floating through space.”

“Heh!” Thundercracker looked away, “You all just… you… you missed out on… everything, huh…?”

“Most everything, yes. We were rescued by Optimus Prime eventually, but he deemed us… unsuitable to join the battle, so he hid us away out of sight instead.”

“Heh… No wonder y-you… d-d-didn’t know m-m-my—!”

“Thundercracker!?”

The seeker cried out as his frame began to splinter, little sparks of electricity pulsing out into the dark as he curled up tightly around himself. Each pulse seemed to strip his frame of distinguishing features, ripping away his wings, his helm’s unique shape. Teeth clenched and form shaking… he was fighting not to fall apart entirely into fragments of energy.

Chase moved closer, reaching his hands out as his form shifted slightly, his lightbar becoming his wings and his antenna to horns.

“D-Don’t t-touch me…!” The seeker stammered.

“Negative.” Chase replied firmly, and then rolled the seeker over onto his back before placing his hands on Thundercracker’s chest. “I’m going to help.”

“W-What’re you—Ugnnn!”

Thundercracker’s frame stiffened as Chase pushed down hard in a compression, and a jolt of blue light surged from his frame and into the seeker’s.

“Hold still.”

Thundercracker started to reach out with a resistant hand, but was knocked back still again by another compression with a pained grunt.

One jolt, two jolts, three jolts, four. One jolt, two jolts, three jolts, four. Over and over.

He only stopped when the fragmenting did, and by then, Thundercracker had stopped trying to resist it. Little by little, the shearing of his features had stopped and the details reappeared. By the time Chase settled down again, Chase could see the tiny rivets and almost the peeled paint on his joints from when he was alive.

Thundercracker groaned, his teeth clenching as he finally tried to move unhindered.

“How are your vitals?” Chase asked.

Thundercracker didn’t answer or move for a moment, and then his optics widened as he sat up. He flexed his fingers, turned his arms back and forth. “I…I haven’t felt this strong and put-together in… How did you do that…? How!?”

Chase smiled, “You and I are not so different, Thundercracker… I’ve just had more practice with it.”

“Y-You… You gave me some of your energy…!?”

“No. I merely filtered the ambient energy around us through me and into your circuits.”

Thundercracker grabbed Chase’s shoulders firmly, “P-Please… Teach me how to do that. I… I haven’t felt like this since… since I don’t know when.”

“I can teach you… but I want you to do something for me in return.”

“Anything.”

“...I want you to promise you will not use this skill to harm the native population on this planet.”

Thundercracker’s gaze shifted, and he pulled back. “I can do that… I… I never wanted to hurt bots, you know. In war, you just do what you’re told, even if you hate it… You survive by following orders. Or at least… I thought so.”

“A mech that likes to follow the rules…?” Chase chuckled, “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”

How’s it going in there, Chase?

“We’re making progress. He’s not acting hostile, so that’s an improvement.”

“What?” Thundercracker looked around, “Who are you talking to?”

“My apologies. I was responding to my brother on the outside. You are not the first spirit of a decepticon we’ve encountered in recent days, and he accompanied me to the power plant to ensure there was no… funny business.”

Thundercracker tilted his helm, “You… Can wander the planet without being torn apart?”

“I can, and I can teach you that as well. For now, though, I would like to find a way to take you to a safer place where we can assist you better without blowing the local power grid.” Chase looked out, “Heatwave, I need you to collect something that will store an electrical spirit… Oh! See if Doc Greene has an old vehicle battery.”

You’re comfortable with me leaving you alone with him?

“I was comfortable with you letting me come here to begin with. You forget who you are talking to.”

Okay… I’ll be back in a flash.