#chapter 0

Before.

Nightbird and her Mother, Songbird climbed the steps in the light of the setting sun. Her Mother held her hand tightly as they crossed the avenue leading to the Temple. On either side of the path stood gigantic statues of majestic figures. At the feet of the plinths were plaques with inscriptions. But Nightbird was so focused on not tripping over her own pedes, despite her desire to take a closer look, she had to watch her steps – being in the world for a few cycles had its drawbacks… Oh well.

When they made it to the Temple, they both sat down on the floor. Songbird gave Nightbird an encouraging look and began to recite a words of Pray:

Hear us, we pray:

Let there be a Guiding Light,

Prima’s guiding radiance upon us,

Let there be Stability and Order,

Vector Prime’s steady hand holds reality,

Let there be a Path to Wisdom,

Alpha Trion guide us to understanding of words that been written down,

Let there be Power of Creation,

For those who seeks Solus’s guiding hand,

Let there be a Conscience and Justice,

May Micronus not allow us to wander in the darkness of injustice,

Let there be a Knowledge,

Alchemist guide those who seek the true nature of things,

Let there be a Transformation,

Nexus help us and guide though difficulties and changes,

Let there be a Vision,

Onyx save and take care of ones unable to look away,

Let there be Forgiveness and Mercy,

Cause we sacrificed Amalgamatus’s gift of transformation,

Let there be a Quest,

For all those who want to follow in the footsteps of Quintus,

Let there be a Flair and Cunning,

Liege guide us to avoid the traps and tricks of the enemy,

Let there be a Strenght and Protection,

Megatronus guide us and share your strenght to use our powers wisely,

Let there be Will,

Thirteenth bless us with everything we need the most,

Hear us, we pray,

Today we are begging for your blessings and guidance.

In the darkest hour,

In the moment of doubt,

In the trial,

In the moment of truth,

In our everyday life,

We are begging for your blessings and guidance.

Till All Are One.

When she finished praying, her optics turned dark.

Nightbird felt worried for a moment, but then remembered what she was told: they will come when there will be silence. ‘Pray and wait,’ Father told her.

But when? How long?

Mother felt into deep recharge – out of nowhere.

I’m alone here – Nightbird realized.

But she wasn’t scared – no one could harm her here. It was a sacred place. Curious, but still and quiet, she looked around. Fireflies hovered near the ceiling. Nightbird and Songbird were in a shaft of light from a giant stained glass window on the wall. The glass masterpiece depicted figures from another world. So similar to her and Mother, yet completely different. In the center of the image was something she couldn't identify – a sphere, with two planets orbiting around it.

Two worlds. We and they.

She felt stir behind her. Discretly look back and saw big shadow at the entrance.

Now?

Without second thoughts Nightbird stood up and moved towards the door.

And there he was – stood near statue. Looking at him – powerful and majestic – Nightbird simply felt so small and shy. But at the same time deep in her spark grew fascination and curiousity. She couldn’t resist this urge to looking at him. In his eyes there was something magnetic...

Kindness. Sincerity. Honesty.

Nightbird smiled politely to him.

..............................................................................................................................

‘Wakey, wakey, Nightingale.’

‘Oh.’ Nightbird sighed. Blinked. ‘Oh – It’s… Just you.’

Rem’s face hardened.

‘Just me. Your bestie. Your sister. Your navigator. Your partner in crime. Your –’

‘Ok, ok, sorry, don’t be mad,’ Nightbird chuckled. Her friend sighed and visibly relaxed.

‘I’m never angry with you, chillax,’ Rem sat down, next to her. ‘Hope you had a sweet dreams before “just me” came to wake you up.’

‘Yeah, it was –’ young mech hesitated. ‘It was nice.’

Just a dream. One of many.

Rem without waiting for permission took pad that was lying on her friend’s lap.

‘Of course,’ screen turned on and the latest drawing was displayed. ‘Dream about Cybertron will never die.’

Nightbird smiled with shyness.

‘It’s a nice drawing, though,’ Rem nodded in approval. ‘I hope we will be able to see this city, as we planned.’

Nightbird used an old photo as a reference. The drawing showed Iacon, the city where Mother and Father had studied. Although the city was amazing and had so much to offer, her Father often mentioned that he liked the climate of Kaon and Tarn better. He has always preferred more industrial views and technology-focused environments.

Before everything just collapsed.

It was obvious – even after Space Bridge was shut down, there still was hope.

‘Have you ever wondered if they think about us as much as we do about them?’ Rem turned her optics towards the sky. ‘Maybe someone is looking at the sky and is thinking about Ceall? About people they will never met? Places they will never see? Things they will never experience?’

Nightbird also looked towards the sky.

‘… yeah.’

All the time.

Suddenly, dark clouds started to gather.

Ten vorns after the war

Greenhouse conditions were conducive to growing Chyme. Plant was very fragile – so it took time and patience to take care of it. Mother was very fond of these, treating them as precious treasures.

Nightbird couldn't count the attempts she had to make to beg for the opportunity to make a bouquet of these precious flowers – when she finally received permission, decided to mix three color variants in the bouquet: white, gray, and purple.

White – a symbol of purity and passage to another world.

Gray – a symbol of sadness and regret.

Purple, because it was main color of her frame.

Nightbird wanted them to know that she still remembered. And still mourned them.

I will never forget.

Anniversary always was the hardest cycle of the whole vorn. Everything was coming back to her… She couldn’t resist this flood of thoughts about what if – but in reality she couldn’t do anything to change what happened. This feeling of guilt was killing her. 

This sanctuary wasn’t only home for the most beautiful and valuable flowers, but also for bunch of little birds called lilleth. They looked like glass figures that were brought to life. Both species were native for Cybertron. Mother took good care of them, but sometimes Nightbird wondered if those little creatures were happy in captivity… But it was obvious, that they won’t be able to survive in wild, mostly because of their fragile and delicate bodies.

Pink and purple lilleths flew down and sat on table where Nightbird was preparing bouquet. Little creatures seemed very curious about situation. Mech stopped and looked at them.

Two birds.

Are you two are besties too? – She couldn’t ask this question out loud. She felt ache in her spark.

Songbird entered greenhouse, holding Glimmer in the crook of her arm.

‘Need some help?’ Mother approached her with polite smile.

‘I’m good, thanks.’ She looked at her work and sighed. ‘Shadow Twister asked me so many times if you would learn him how to take care of Chyme, when we will go back home… He wanted to grow a new morph – oh!’

Cybercat was calm, until it saw two lilleths sitting near bunch of flowers. Started squirm and suddenly jumped out of grip and landed on the table. Glimmer came to the birds, who clearly were not alarmed or threatened by it’s presence. Cat seemed interested by those little creatures. It's optics get larger, which was a direct sign it wanted to play. Reached little paw and tried to touch fragile, glass-like mates.

‘Luckily, you are not an apex predator.’ Nightbird took cat from the table and hugged it with. Glimmer curled in her arms and felt so comfortable, so it began to purr. Mech smiled to her little friend. 

Pixie kadiska breed was the smallest of three cybercats they kept at home and required the most attention. Not because of it’s size – but because of it’s friendly, but also very curious nature and constant need for attention.

‘Rem always liked foxes better…’ Her voice broke and optics began to blur.  She couldn’t resist it anymore. Overflowing with emotions, she felt tears begin to well up. Her servos started shaking. Nightbird carefully placed Glimmer back on table with all her remaining strength, then she fell on her knees. Her optics turned dark.

‘I can’t –’ she sobbed helpless. Mother hugged her, and then the shields fell away. Songbird released wave of energy that flooded her daughter with feelings of support, love and understanding of her grief.

I’m sorry.

‘It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself, my child,’ Songbird’s voice was soft but very firm. ‘They would never blame you.’

Nightbird’s body began to shake. Servos tightened the grip over table’s edge. Her lips were trembling. She felt as if she was choking on the words she wanted to say.

She wanted to scream.

I’m sorry.

I’m so weak.

I failed you.

I failed everyone.

But she couldn’t say a word.

Half of the millenium after the war

No anniversary was easier than the last one. It still hurt her.

Nightbird came to the Memorial Monuments to lay another bouquet of Chyme flowers. Memorial Monuments were a huge, rough blocks of dark crystal on which the names of the victims of the war were engraved.

She could find her way to the crystal with her eyes closed, where the names of her friends were written.

Nightbird touched the cold surface of the monument. She felt the grooves under the tips of her digits.

Victims of the energon mine ambush near Crystal Court:

Amaranth Torch (alias Boulder,  Sergeant, 7th Construction Brigade)

Bluebeat (Sergeant, Communications and Technical Support)

Heat Striker (alias Striker, Lieutenant, Artillery)

Heatwave (Lieutenant, Artillery)

Jadeshade (Captain, Supply and Logistics)

Powerline (alias Cord, Captain, Medic)

REM (Colonel, Deputy Brigade Commander of the Purple Lightning)

Shadow Twister (Lieutenant, Marksman)

Skylander (Colonel, Brigade Commander of the Blue Birds)

Twilightblade (Lieutenant Colonel, Marksman)

Viralshield (Mayor, Medic)

There was a lot of unidentified and missing mechs. On every stone was also written:

“And for memory of those who never came back home and were lost. We’re still waiting and mourning all of you.”

I will never stop mourning all of you.

Mech sat on the ground and sighed. Nightbird looked towards the sky. Before everything turned into dust, they were talking about Cybertron, about all of their hopes and dreams, not afraid of anything… They were so young and innocent.

Back then we were just focused on so much simpler things.

Now everything she ever desired seemed like a futile dream.

Nightbird looked towards Crystal Court. Everything was rebuild, reshaped and changed after the invasion. Some places were destroyed to the ground. Nothing was saved.

It looks like everything is going back to normal.

To normal before the war.

Suddenly, she felt something uncomfortable, very unpleasant in her chest – like ice-cold claws tightening around her spark. Her vision began to fade…  

..............................................................................................................................

‘Wake up, little bird.’

Nightbird blinked and saw Nightsaber.

‘Father’, she whispered weakly. Nightbird felt dizzy and overwhelmed. She didn’t remember what happened. ‘Where – what?’

‘Don’t rush, easy,’ he helped her sit up. His touch was gentle and caring. Nightbird clearly saw concern reflected in his eyes. ‘We were worried, you didn’t answered our calls for almost entire cycle.’

‘Entire –’ she gasped with disbelief. But Father was right – it was getting dark. ‘Oh.’

‘What happened? You were here all this time?’

‘I’m sorry. I – I’m not sure, I think I fainted, but – It just happened and– ’

She couldn’t find the right words to describe what happened. Because she didn’t know what exactly happened to her.

‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated, embarrassed. ‘I didn’t want you to feel worry.’

‘But you’re feeling good now? Should I call for medic?’

‘No, I’m fine,’ Nightbird touched her cheeks. She felt tired and wasted. ‘Just give me a moment, I need to get myself together.’

‘Fine. Take your time.’ Father sat down, and put his arm around her. It always brought comfort. ‘You know, we’ve got a big news…’

Millennium after the war

‘So it seems Galactic Council turned their backs on our case.’

Songbird was deeply concerned. Politic wasn’t Nightbird’s forte, but she understood this clearly. Looking at informations on Mother’s pad, it was obvious that Council would do nothing about their situation.

‘Do you think that this is because we are related to Cybertron or it’s because of political arrangements and connections?’

‘Both,’ Mother said with very firm tone.

Nightbird nodded.

Not sure which option is the worst right now.

Of course – it wasn’t just because of all the messes that Cybertronian race had caused long ago, but it was obviously also about internal power games, deals or appropriate rewards resulting from turning a blind eye to certain issues.

‘After all this time, this is what we have.’ Songbird shook her helm with disgust. ‘I should know better, they will never help us. It doesn’t matter that we were conflicted with Cybertron before war broke out. It doesn’t matter that we have emancipated and cut off all contact. Nothing we did for this world is enough, in their opinion… Council does not consider us enough organic to even lift a finger in our case.’

‘So they don’t care that we are the victims and that almost millenium ago genocide happened here – and it was almost unnoticed by the rest of the universe,’ Nightbird stated this with full determination. She knew it was true, after what she saw on the pad. ‘And they don't care that our tormentors move among other worlds and pose a threat.’

‘They would celebrate if this genocide had succeeded,’ Songbird’s tone left no doubt.

Nightbird felt anger about this injustice. Her Mother too, but both tried to stay composed. For now. How dare they treat citizens of Ceall like they were nothing? Has the Council even considered story of this world and what Nightbird’s ancestors did to protect this planet?

Did they know what our race sacrificed to preserve it?

But without a doubt, answer was simple: even if they knew, they didn’t care.

..............................................................................................................................

Nightbird sat on the windowsill and watched her siblings. She took a drag on her ci-gi and slowly blew out the smoke. Triplets were sitting under a tree in the garden, she could calmly watch them as they did their homework.

It’s so peaceful to know they are safe.

She enjoyed this view from far, mainly cause she didn’t want to interrupt them. She remembered clearly when she and her friends were sitting in the same spot, relaxing after a long day of classes. Sometimes Father joined them, and then they often argue and debate over music, art, movies or just listen to some nostalgic stories from Cybertron…

‘I think even on Cybertron it was considered a bad habit’, Jetfire’s voice was very calm and emphatic.

Nightbird look over her shoulder and smiled. She inhaled again.

‘Well,’ she exhaled the smoke. ‘We’re not on the Cybertron.’

But he was right – it wasn’t something she should be proud of.

‘We’re not,’ mech smiled, but suddenly became visibly sad.

Oh-uh.

‘Hey,’ Nightbird jumped down from the windowsill, and reached her hand to him. ‘Come here.’

Jetfire leaned against her and let her hug him.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be,’ his voice was soft, but she felt he was hurt. ‘You didn’t said anything wrong.’

‘I was very indelicate, I should be more careful with things I’m saying.’

‘No, it’s just me… I’m still struggle with anxiety because of state of my mind.’

‘Stop, don’t blame yourself.’

‘But…’

‘But it’s going to be okay, you remember a lot, don’t you? 

‘You know… It’s still weird that I remember how to work in the lab, but I don’t remember things about my personal life, any important informations about current state of planet… I don’t even remember people, I used to know back on Cybertron, faces and names are blurred, and…’

‘You will, of course, you will get your memories back,’ Nightbird said this with determination. She pulled away so she could look into his eyes. ‘I’m sure about it! Just… it takes time. Trust me.’

‘Ok,’ Jetfire took a deep breath and breathed sigh of relief.

‘Remember, it’s not a problem to have a spark to spark conversation, if you ever need one.’

‘We are having one right now.’

‘Yeah, we do,’ she chuckled. ‘Should we continue?’

‘I would like to, but maybe later, cause your Father is calling you to the lab.’

..............................................................................................................................

They gathered in the laboratory – all the most important people who were members of the Court Council. Nightbird felt awkward at times like these, like she was in the wrong place.

Intruder.

She wasn’t part of the Council – but she played important part in army, so sometimes she was asked to join them.

There was another role she had to play with this particular assignment – she was an observer. Her role was to learn. Draw conclusions. Gain knowledge.

Grow in wisdom.

Mother would be proud if someday she would joined the Council and became a pillar of stability for her people.

Like her.

It was a noble idea. But this would greatly limited her options of life choices – duty always comes first, above personal desires.

Sacrifice.

‘As you probably know we sent a peacekeeping expedition using the Diver to establish contact with other planets that could be potential allies for Ceall. However, contact with the crew was lost about two stellar cycles ago. Few cycles ago, completely unexpectedly we got this,’ Father turned the monitor to face the audience. ‘Message from the crew.’

He pressed the button and the recording started playing:

‘The captain of the peacekeeping mission is reporting, we are –’ the voice was interrupted by a series of murmurs and crackles. ‘During an attempt to start the Diver program occurred –’ the voice was indistinct. ‘– we have landed in Cybertron’s orbit. We are trying to establish contact, but without success.’

Nightsaber replayed message twice, so they could process it.

‘Yesterday we received files with reports, unfortunately they were incomplete. The reports contained information about the ongoing conflict on Cybertron, but unfortunately the data containing the details was corrupted or lost during transmission. Recovery was unsuccessful. And then,’ he continued, launching another file. ‘Today morning we received this.’

The next recording consisted of three sentences in the loop:

‘Cybertron is reporting. Please contact us. We need help.’

After the recording was turned off, there was silence.

‘Council, excuse my boldness, but are we sure that this is legit message from Cybertron?’ Nightbird couldn’t resist the urgent need to speak her mind. Actually, looking at everyone’s faces, she was sure they wanted to ask the same question.

Nightbird tried not to appear skeptical. It didn’t work out – she knew that. But how she was supposed to feel about this?

‘After analyzing this we are sure that this is legit, no doubt,’ Father’s tone was very firm. ‘It came from Cybertron’s official comm central.’

There was silence after what he said. What it was supposed to mean? After everything that has happened, they dared to send signal for help?

‘Council, I understand your concerns, especially in light of past events and all the misfortune that has befallen us due to the conflict with Cybertron, however I would like to appeal to you to consider the possibility of making contact and sending a peace mission using the Diver program. I volunteer.’

Nightbird almost screamed no, after her father's speech.

What kind of irrational idea was that?!

She glanced at Songbird.

Mother was visibly shaken by this situation. She tried to remain calm, but stir caused by those three sentences was unmistakable.

But mostly disturbing. Nightbird bit her lower lip. She couldn’t say it out loud.  

Cybertron never contacted them after Ceall declared independence.

‘I am calling emergency meeting of the Court Council, effective immediately,’ Songbird gave this order without waiting for an answer. Every member of the Council had to show up for the meeting.

Every official member of the Council.

She clenched her fists. She couldn’t speak on this matter.

Two stellar cycles later – after receiving message from Cybertron

From what she could read between the lines, both Mother and Father had been in favor of investigating the matter thoroughly from the beginning. After long, several-day deliberations, the decision was made to send a one-man ship on a diplomatic mission to Cybertron. No army, no escort – it must have been obvious signal that this was peacekeeping expedition.

Nightbird was against it. Her opinion wasn’t important for Council, but she thought it will be valuable for her Father.

But no.

Duty always comes first, above personal desires.

But in this peculiar case a duty and a desire – surprisingly – was one and the same thing. 

So Nightsaber was gone.

She kinda understood her parents – they never lost hope that there is a chance for peace. After all, they spent a lot of time on Cybertron, studied, made friends, saw completely different world. But when everything started to going down, they made one rational decision: they left. And then the Senate of Cybertron demanded the inhabitants of Ceall destroy their home – in the name of ambition, hunger of power and energon.

They never allowed that.

It was promise they would never break: protect this planet.

No matter the price.

Was peace with Cybertron even possible?

Nightbird was sitting on the windowsill, looking at the Crystal Court. The city was rebuilt after the war – she wondered what other cities, that she knew only from photos and stories, looked like? It was naïve to think that everything would be the same as the day her parents left.

Everything changes.

She wasn’t afraid of changes, but only about things that could change for worse. Like Cybertron. She glanced at the copy of collection of political writings she received as a gift from her Father. It was a one of books his friend had given him after they had come to Ceall in search for shelter. Then, after few cycles Space Bridge was shut down for good. She read it so many times and each time it made a great impression on her.

Towards Peace.

Whoever was hiding behind these thoughts and words was clearly a very powerful figure. But also was probably dead – Nightbird suspected that these book weren’t something that the authorities of Cybertron wanted for their readers.

She put the ci-gi between her lips and ignited it with the lighter from the little finger of her right hand. Once, during the front-line fight, three of her fingers had been torn off: the middle, ring and little. During the repairs, she could ask for some interesting mods and updates. So she asked for a lighter to be added to her little finger. She thought it was a funny gimmick and Rem agreed.

How immature.

She smirked.

That’s right: they were immature.

They once tried to smoke Cybertronian cy-gar (they wanted to smoke one together, they took it from supply cabinet in her Father’s study) and it was awful experience. No matter what they were made of, it was more like taking some cheap stimulant with hint of retrograde poison. They needed half bottle of high-grade to get rid of this horrible feeling like they were poisoned. But ci-gis were fine – not very harmful, just recreational, very pleasant.

Addictive.

She was convinced she would quit smoking after the war, but it didn’t work out. It wasn’t harmful per se, but she had a feeling it was something quiet unsettling about this habit.

Habit.

Nightbird chuckled while exhaling the smoke. Oh, Rem would be proud.

‘It’s not addiction, it’s a habit,’ she rolled her optics, looking at the ci-gi. She tried to imitate her friend’s tone, when she told this sentence for the first time. They would laugh about this stupid situation for hours… It was their gimmick.

She smiled with sadness. I miss you so much, wherever you are, my dearest second in command.

‘Yes. It is.’

Nightbird jumped at the sound of Songbird’s voice. Her Mother stepped closer.

‘May I have one?’ She looked straight to her daughter’s optics, while pointing on package of ci-gis.

‘Sure.’

It was unexpected.

Songbird took the ci-gi and leaned for fire.

‘Thanks, sweetie,’ when she took a drag and slowly blew out the smoke, she started to relax. She leaned on the windowsill, next to her daughter.

‘I– I thought you quit smoking when I was born.’ Nightbird looked at mech with suspicion.

‘I did.’

‘So… Is this a form of bonding between us, or is this just way to relieve stress?’

‘Both, little bird,’ Mother exhaled smoke. ‘I know what you’re thinking about, but…’

‘I’m not sure you do,’ Nightbird interrupted. ‘And I’m not sure you want to know what I think. I think a lot, about everything.’

‘I know, it’s dangerous topic. But I’m curious what you think about it,’ she pointed to Towards Peace. ‘How many times have you read this? You probably know every word by now. I read it and I’m surprised it was that good… Very on point.’

‘So you’re asking for my opinion?’

‘I’m asking for your point of view.’

‘Why?’

‘Just curious about it.’

She tilted her head curiously. Oh, dear Mother… Songbird had no idea what she was asking for. Nightbird had so much to say about this book.

‘I think… No,’ Nightbird sighed. She realized it suddenly. ‘In the end, it doesn’t matter. You know why? Because they won.’

‘Who?’

‘The authority of Cybertron. If those words had enough power to move people and overthrow this sick system or start a movement that could bring a change, maybe everything would be different by now,’ Nightbird pointed to the author’s name. ‘Whoever is behind this alias must have been aware of weight of these words, especially in light of events that took place after…’

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden call they received on their comm system.

‘Come quickly, we have contact with Cybertron,’ Jetfire's voice was tense and excited.

..............................................................................................................................

Afterword

I extend my deepest gratitude to the @weatherbane @weatherbane3 who allowed me to mention in this story some of the cyberfauna and cyberflora they created: the Chyme flowers and the cybercat race.

You can find them here:

Cyberflora

Cybercats

And of course, don't forget to check out @weatherbane @weatherbane3!!

Thank You so much!!

I hope this chapter provides an interesting introduction to the rest of the story, which I will try to develop here: LOST SPARKS

I apologize if there are any errors in the text or any other discomfort to the reader. My only excuse is that English is not my first language and I am actively learning to write in it.