Chapter 10: Battling Again for the First Time

Scamp was stunned. "This is impossible!"

He looked down at his hands, and then ran an internal scan. "Oh no, my original body. Could I have slipped into the past? Maybe LONAC never existed in the first place. A massive system error or . . . "

Confused, Scamp wondered around the base aimlessly. His usual persona of coolness and confidence had been shattered. There were too many things going on that he didn’t understand.

After a few moments, someone tapped Scamp on the shoulder. "Where do you think you’re going Scamp? You’re supposed to be preparing for battle along with the others."

Scamp turned around to greet the unfamiliar Seeker. "We’re going to battle the Autobots in Maritonian Sector 2. Weren’t you at the meeting?"

"Oh, of course. I was having a virus removed from my systems, got a bit confused" Scamp replied nervously.

The Seeker stared at him. "Just get going will you? We’re gonna need all of the Cons we can get."

Scamp ran to the launch field where the other Seekers would be. As he was running, many thoughts went swimming through his head. "LONAC may have been a dream, but one thing I’m sure of is that we had many battles after this one. Somehow I’ve ended up in the past, the distant past."

Starscream stood proudly on his pedestal. "Fellow Decepticons, we are about to embark on a momentous occasion!"

"Stow the melodramatics Starscream, just get Cons in the air" Thundercracker bellowed.

Starscream scowled. "When you’re the leader you do whatever YOU want to do, but for now that’s my position."

Thundercracker shook his head and buried his face in his hand.

Starscream continued with his speech for a few more minutes. At its completion, he ordered the Seekers into giant shuttles. It was a rare occasion that only Seekers would be taken to a battle, but this was one of Starscream’s attempts to prove himself to Megatron.

A chill ran through Scamp’s internal systems. He remembered the battle that would follow. It was not one that would be warmly remembered.

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Scamp sat huddled in a corner. He couldn’t explain what was happening, and he wasn’t sure he could stop it. Scamp could no longer handle the tension.

"Enough!" Scamp shouted. "All of us need to get out of here!"

"What’s wrong with you, pre-war jitters?" one of the Seekers joked.

Scamp stood up. "If we stay and fight, we’ll all be slaughtered. We’ll never make it to the target site. We need re-enforcements!"

"Be quiet coward or we’ll make you quiet!" shouted Starscream.

"You! The most cowardly of us all calls me a coward?" Scamp shouted back. He was enraged.

Before Scamp could make any more comments, he was hit by one of Starscream’s null rays. "What say yea now?"

"Please forgive me Starscream, I… I just got a little nervous" Scamp pleaded.

"Well, alright. I’ll be watching you closely," Starscream said forgivingly.

Scamp knew the only reason he would be spared was because Starscream was low on troops. He was in such a haste to prove himself worthy as a leader that he took little into consideration, especially the number of troops.

"The shuttles themselves are old. Starscream probably couldn’t get better ones loaned to him. His shortcuts to greatness are far too costly. Why a being with such a potentially long life span would rush such things is beyond me," Scamp thought to himself. "I wish Drill Master were here. He’d have something interesting to say about all of this. If LONAC was real I’m sure they’d help me out of the mess."

"Don’t worry about it Scrap Bot" a burly Seeker sitting next to Scamp said. Many of the Seekers liked to make fun of the fact that Scamp was made out of spare parts and a simpler design simply to save on materials.

Scamp seemed surprise. Could he tell what he was thinking? "What do you mean don’t worry?"

The Con smirked. "We all get a little crazy come battle time, no matter how many times we do it. Heck, I’ve been in battle a million times, almost literally. Every time I wonder if it’ll be my last."

"Heh" Scamp thought to himself. "You don’t know how soon your wonder will be quenched."