The Good, the Bad and Starscream

Chapter 22: Regeneration

On the Nemesis, Megatron was none too happy about the current situation. He had summoned all his elites - save for the Combaticons, as they were still roaming the Earth searching for their comrades - to the command center to deliver the bad news of the Autobots having invaded the warship and stolen, not only the two Omega Keys they had had, but also the Forge of Solus Prime.

Skywarp was especially displeased by the information. "My victory..." he whined. "My glory."

Thundercracker knocked his partner on the head. "We have bigger things to worry about than your glory, Skywarp!" he hissed.

"Indeed," Megatron grumbled, gaining the 'Cons' attention. "Now that the Omega Keys are in the Autobots' possession, they have the ability to restore Cybertron. Locating their base has become more important than ever before. We cannot allow Optimus Prime to restore Cybertron in his image."

"Why not?" Skywarp asked. "Who cares who restores Cybertron, as long as it gets restored?"

Megatron glared at the black Seeker. "You are naive, Skywarp," Megatron growled. "If Optimus Prime is the one to restore Cybertron, he will use it to his political advantage, and assert himself as Cybertron's savior. And then, all Decepticons will be marked as war criminals."

The Decepticons gasped and glanced at each other.

"We wouldn't be able to go home," Thundercracker mused. "We'd have to go into hiding forever."

"Which is why we must locate the Autobots' base, invade it and steal back the Omega Keys!" Megatron said.

"I don't think we need to do that."

Megatron's gaze went to Skywarp, as did everyone else's gazes. Skywarp looked around before returning his gaze to Megatron.

"And why not, Skywarp?" Megatron asked, curious to find out what the simpleminded fool was talking about.

"They're keys, right?" Skywarp pointed out and shrugged. "Keys open locks. So if they're Omega Keys, that must mean they go into some kind of Omega Lock, right?"

Megatron fell silent for a moment, contemplating Skywarp's theory. "And where would this so-called 'Omega Lock' be, if I may ask?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"On Cybertron, of course," Skywarp replied.

Everyone stared at Skywarp in disbelief, even Thundercracker. Skywarp again glanced around at the many stares and shrugged again.

"I mean, if those key things are supposed to restore Cybertron, then it makes sense if the lock thing is on Cybertron, right?"

The entire room was in silence, the Decepticons gazing from Skywarp to Megatron. Megatron stared at Skywarp in disbelief, speechless. Thundercracker gazed back at Skywarp and cracked a smile.

"Skywarp, I never tell you this enough," Thundercracker said, "but you are a fragging genius!"

Skywarp looked puzzled at his partner and Megatron. "I thought it was obvious..."

Megatron likewise cracked a toothy smile. "In that case, set course for the Space Bridge!" he ordered the pilots and turned to the big windows. "We will wait for the Autobots to arrive, and let them lead us to this 'Omega Lock'. And then, we shall take the glory away from them..."

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"How do you know this?" Ratchet asked Optimus confused, after the latter had just revealed to them that the Omega Lock was located on Cybertron.

"Alpha Trion revealed its location to me during the message conveyed by the Star Saber," Optimus replied and turned to the GroundBridge with the Forge over his shoulder.