Scattered Across The Stars

Life Begins

     Near the Pits of Kaon

   A small cry bounces off the walls as a sparkling was forced into a young mech's arms as his father gathers up the collapsed body from the bed.

  "Watch your baby brother. I'll be back," Indominus backs out of the rusting apartment and limps to the dumping grounds. A breath escapes his lips as he lays the body next to the incinerator and cups a cheek of the body.

  "What I would do to rid of that disease that took you from us so you can see our boys grow up, my darling," he mumbles and kisses the forehead before pushing the body into the incinerator and watching flames consume the metal. Realization dawned on him and he bolted back to his sons before he got into trouble with the mine master.

  "It's okay, baby brother. I got you. You're safe with me," a soft voice soothes a newborn's whimpers as the adult walks into the apartment. He leans against a wall as he watches his eldest comfort his tiny brother.

  "He might be hungry," Indominus heads over to what remains of their fridge and sorts through the contents before pulling out a bottle of lowgrade Energon, which wasn't too strong for a newborn sparkling to handle. He warms the bottle up with their dingy microwave before going to his sons.

  "Can I try feeding him, Daddy?" his eldest beams up at him, making his spark warm despite the heavy folds of grief engulfing his spark.

  "Yeah. Let me show you how alright?" he sits on the couch.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~13 years later at the Pits of Kaon~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Grunts and groans echo throughout the mine as miners dug into the ground as Indominus pushed a cart full of waste up to the surface to be transported away. He wipes gunk off his face as he steps back while other workers took the cart away when he spotted a small form racing towards him at full speed.

  "Easy there, kiddo," Indominus smiles as he gently guides his youngest son to a stop.

  "Sorry dad! I didn't want to be late for my first day of helping you and big brother!" the young mech chirps happily, optics sparkling with anticipation and excitement.

  "Husk, son. I'm sorry but you can't help us. The mines are full of dangerous gases and moving equipment that could crush you," Indominus kneels in front of him, resting his hands on the tiny shoulders in front of him.

  "But dad, both you and big brother-" Husk broke off into a coughing fit, griping onto his father who envelopes him into a hug.

  "Yes I know both of us are working in it but we're more suited for this environment than you are," the older mech tries to reason with his son as the coughing fit subsides. He closes his optics in frustration at being unable to provide the money to cover the bills to help Husk get the medical help he needs to improve his physical help.

  "Yo, Husk! Come to see what dad and I are up to?" Megatronus grins as he hands carts over to the waiting workers. He lengthen his strides to move closer to his family and gently rubs his knuckles into Husk's helm.

  "Hi big brother! I wanna help but dad says I can't cause I'm too weak," Husk smiles up at him, resting against Indominus. He tried to muffle another coughing fit but curled slightly into himself as his frame shook with the force of the coughs.

  Megatronous jogs over to a table with cups of Energon and snags a few before taking them back to his family. He gently helps Husk sip from a cup as Indominus gulps his cup's contents down.

  "You're not weak, lil' bro. You just need something to boost you up. How about I show you what we do in the mines?" Megatronous jerks a thumb towards the mine's entrance.

  "Absolutely not. He's gonna get hurt in there," Idominus shook his helm as he steadies Husk on his feet before standing up.

  "Aww, c'mon, dad. He'll be with me and I'll make sure he doesn't get hurt or get in anyone's way," Megatronous spreads his arms wide. He wraps an arm around Husk, pulling him close, as the master of the mine came towards them.

  "Scrap. Megatronous, keep an optic on your brother. This might not go well," Indominus watches the mine master walk around the workers while watching them work before going to the family of three.

  "And why aren't you working right now?" the mine master huffs, studying the mech in front of him. Husk grips onto Megatronous' arm as he shrinks behind the taller mech and peeks out at the mech facing them. The older brother wraps an arm around him as he blocked any view of his younger brother.

  "Just needed a moment to refuel before going back in," Indominus explains as he heads back into the mine with his sons following close behind him. It wasn't until some time later in the day when he realized that Husk had stuck with them when he heard coarse coughing and metal screeching against metal.

  "Husk!" Megatronous scoops his younger brother up and streaks up to the entrances, apologizing when he bumps into other miners. Once up at the surface, he rests the smaller mech on his side against a rock and rubs his back until the coughing subsided.

  "That's it. I'm taking you home," the miner huffs, rubbing his face, as he leans back. He stood up but fell back down when a whip cracked against his back.

  "Get back into the mine!" a guard yells, pointing towards the mine's entrance with the butt of the whip.

  "Please. Just let me take him home first," Megatronous protested as he raises a hand up the the guard. He grits his teeth as the guard cracks his whip against his arm and covers the smaller mech under his own body.

  "You can't leave until the bell has sounded!" the guard snaps, cracking the whip against Megatronous' back repeatedly.

  "Please stop! You're gonna kill him!" Husk struggles to get free but was held down by his elder brother. He whimpers softly as he tries to get free so he could stop the guard but ended up coughing, covering his mouth.

  "Leave my boys alone!" Indominus snaps as he caught the whip and jerks it out of the guard's hand before tossing it aside. He helps Megatrounus get up then picks Husk up, holding him close, as Megatronus wipes at the Energon streaks across his chest.

  "You are going to pay for that," the guard growls, glaring as he stalks forward. He got into Indominus' face and jabs at his chest, "I'm gonna make you pay for back talking me."

  "You could do that. Or I could get you into trouble for slacking off at your job?" Idominus didn't budge as he steadily held the guard's glare.

  The guard shakes with anger as he debated about what he wanted to do but huffs and waves them off, sulking back to his station. He watched Indominus leave with his sons, muttering to himself about what had happened.