Soaring over the Oregon countryside, 
Thundercracker's circuits are awash with anxiety.

	--*Has this ever happened before?  Has anyone done this?  Am I the
first Cybertronian in billions of years to defect?  I can't think of anyone
that's tried to.  This is amazing.  I can't believe I'm doing this.  But
there's nowhere else to go anymore.  It's got to be done.*--

	As he approaches the volcano, he feels a surge of nervousness
envelop him.  His thoughts keep him on edge and wrapped in pride for what
he's had the gall to do so far, and what he still plans to do.  But his
mental ramblings are interrupted by laser fire singing his nosecone.

	"Where the hell do ya think you're goin'?"  shouts Powerglide as he
soars into view, barrel blazing.  "Take your stinkin' Deceptichassis outta
here, or I'm takin' you down!"

	Thundercracker stammers for a moment, caught offguard and unsure of
himself.  "I.... I don't mean any harm."

	"Sure ya don't,"  the Autobot spits back, spinning around the deep
blue jet.  "And I'm Fat Albert.  Get yer ass back to where you came from,
or I'm takin' you to school!"

	The defector is momentarily at a loss for what to do, wondering why
he didn't prepare a statement or something, until he decides to head
towards the ground to deal with the Autobots on their level.  He swerves
downward sharply.

	"Hey!  Where the hell are you goin'?" Powerglide barks.  "Get back
here!"  The red plane soars swiftly down after the intruder.

	Thundercracker transforms into his robot mode and alights on a rock
formation in front of the Ark's entrance.  For the first time, he gets a
chance to really look at this monstrosity, noticing the stark contrast
between it's enormous mechanical hull and the organic structure it has
embedded itself in.  This sight brings forth his first thoughts of how
truly alien his race is to this world he has found himself on.

	"Hold it right there, Decepticon!" Powerglide shouts, transforming
as he lands, a few yards away from Thundercracker.  "Don't move an inch!  I
don't know what you're doing here, but you've gotta be dumber than dumb to
try and pull a solo assault on us.  And if this was supposed to be a
STEALTH mission, boy, you've really fucked it up!"

	"I'm not here on any mission.  I want-"

	"Save it for the brig guards, punk." Powerglide snaps.  "Here come
the guys.  We're lockin' your chassis up, now."

	A group of Autobots pours out of the mammoth gateway to the Ark,
and at the sight of Thundercracker, they all raise their weapons and lock
onto their enemy.  At this, Thundercracker raises his hands compliantly
towards the sky.

	"What's the deal, Powerglide?" Trailbreaker asks, optics fixed on
his target and moving towards him.  "Did Flyboy here lose his pompoms?"

	"I don't know, Trailbreaker," comes the response.  "This must be
one of the Moronicons or somethin'.  Just flew straight into our hands."

	"Go figure," Inferno says.  "Is he just an idiot or is he up to
somethin'?"

	"Why don't you ask ME?" Thundercracker snaps in frustration.  "I do
have my own voice, you know."

	The Autobots slowly gather around him, not seeming appreciative of
the stranger's attitude, and Thundercracker immediately regrets his
terseness.  Wary of any sudden movements, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker flank
him, and while Sideswipe begins removing Thundercracker's weapons,
Sunstreaker steps in front of his foe and glares him in the optics.

	"Don't you get lippy with us, Decepticon," Sunstreaker says coolly.

	"My name is Thundercracker," he says, and his words are immediately
met with an uppercut that sends him falling backwards onto the ground, as
the Autobots move to let him land.

	"What did I just TELL you?!" Sunstreaker shouts.  "I should just
kill you right now!"

	"Whoa whoa whoa!  Ease up, Sunstreaker!" Bluestreak says, holding
him back.  "He hasn't done anything yet!"

	"Oh he's done plenty," Sunstreaker spits.  "I've watched this
bastard take out too many of my friends to spare him any longer."

	"And besides," adds Blades, "he's a Decepticon.  It's only a matter
of time before he pulls something."

	"I'm not gonna pull anything."  Thundercracker looks up at the
horde of angry and distrusting faces that surround him, wondering if he has
misjudged the forgiveness potential of the Autobots.  He rises once again
to his feet, hoping that he hasn't pinned his dreams on a fallacy.  "I want
to join you."

	"Hooboy, that tears it," Sideswipe says, amused.  "You've gotta be
a moron.  C'mon, let's take him inside."  With that, he and Blades each
grab an arm and begin to drag him away.  Thundercracker bristles a bit
instinctively, but he is quickly subdued by the butt of Sunstreaker's rifle
cracking into the back of his head, thrusting him into unconsciousness.

			**********************

	Megatron's cold, gravelly cackle echoes within Thundercracker's
head, and slowly fades away as his optics crackle back online, greeting him
with the view of an orange-gold ceiling of glistening metal.  Lifting his
head, he realizes that he is laying supine on the floor, with no one around
him.  As he rises, his groans notify those outside the brig of his
consciousness.

	Trailbreaker's head pops into sight through the invisible force
field that seals Thundercracker in his cell.

	"So, our little ramalamadingdong here is finally up and at 'em!"
he says, grinning widely.

	"What on Cybertron did you just say, Trailbreaker?" comes a voice
from out of Thundercracker's field of vision.

	"It's Earthen slang, Tailgate," the hulking black robot responds.
"You should learn some of it.  It's really fun to use."

	"Pah!" shouts the voice.  "Those human savages aren't worth any
time you spend learning their language.  You'd do better to spend that time
inciting their slaves into a rebellion against them.  Those fleshling
oppressors could be taught a much-needed lesson in humility if we could
educate these Earthen machines and lift their collective consciousness
above their defeated, hopeless mindset.  They have been so brainwashed by
their human masters that they don't fully comprehend their own plight!  If
we only had the time-"

	"Cripes, Tailgate!" Trailbreaker interjects.  "Earth machines
aren't alive!  If you'd spend any time at all studying this planet we've
been on for so long, you'd KNOW that!

	"That's just what the humans tell you!" the voice shouts back.
"It's all propaganda to get you to ignore their crimes!  We've got to-"

	"Just shut up." Trailbreaker says, sighing.  "Shut up and radio
Prime.  Tell him that our flyboy here is awake."

	The white and blue Autobot finally walks into sight and looks into
the brig at Thundercracker, who is clutching his head and trying to drive
the pain out of his cranium, and mumbles something to himself.
Trailbreaker turns back to Thundercracker and sizes him up, a slight scowl
on his face as he does so.

	"Prime says to take him down to the bridge," Tailgate reports.

	"Gotcha," Trailbreaker says, readying his weapon.  "Toss me those
shackles and let the field down."  The smaller Autobot swiftly complies,
and as the field powers down, Trailbreaker cautiously approaches the
prisoner.

	"I'm not here to cause trouble," Thundercracker says weakly, and he
offers forth his hands to be restrained.  Trailbreaker pauses for a moment,
cocks his head, and lets out a little chuckle.

	"I'll believe that when I see it," he says.  "Hands BEHIND your
back, please."  Thundercracker complies gracefully, wondering how much he
will have to do to be accepted here.  He had hoped it would be a little
easier than this.
The shackles grip his wrists tightly, almost painfully, and the cold barrel
of his guard's gun presses against his back, prompting him forward.  New
doubts surface in his mind.

	--*This does not look good.  I hope I haven't made the biggest
mistake of my life here.  Have I left the mental imprisonment of the
Decepticons only to be physically jailed here with a bunch of surly
strangers who want me dead?  I don't have a friend in the galaxy right
now...  but then again, I don't know if I've ever had one...*--

	That familiar, frightening cackle swells once again in his mind as
he approaches an enormous doorway, with Trailbreaker's gun still at his
back.  As the entrance slides open, he is captivated with the sight of the
bridge of the Ark, a monstrous chamber heavily stocked with machinery,
computers and Autobots.  A place full of mystery and intrigue to all of his
former allies; a place that seems completely foreign to him, despite the
fact that he spent four million years on its floor.  As he takes it all in,
he is momentarily oblivious to the suspicious glares that his entrance has
brought upon him.  But he quickly notices the lull in activity and becomes
extremely self-conscious.

	"Ah.  It seems that our guest has arrived."

	The voice that embodies everything he was supposed to hate breaks
through his thoughts and demands his attention.  He looks to his right and
immediately finds himself staring upwards, looking directly into the eyes
of Optimus Prime.

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