this story shares a small connection to raksha's story Nightbird the after math.

in no way am i taking any credit for her written work although the story i am posting does refference it in the form of a flash back or 2.

so 1 could think of this as being a slight continuation of her story.

for the most part though this is a story i have been working on for the past week or so.

as for why i tied it into her story well lets just say that it wil explain in part megatron's actions when it comes to his role in the death of alita 1

this is part 1 of a story subplot i have been working on with part 2 being revealed in the heart of a hero.


a simmering storm.

It is the year 2005, as humans reckoned time, Megatron and his treacherous  Decepticons, after eons of struggle, finally managed to conquer the Autobots home world of Cybertron, and have driven all of the Autobots off planet. However, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots managed to establish bases on two of Cybertron's moons. It is from these secret staging grounds, in these well defended fortresses that the Autobots work day and night, to increase their military power, so that they could free thier homeworld of Cybertron and defeat the Decepticons. Victory was within reach as the valiant Autobots prepare to retake their home world. And all that was needed was the energy to stage the attack with.

The sliding door to the control center stood open up ahead, and a rectangle of yellow light spilled out into the dark hallway. Soundwave could hear the almost sub-audial hum of the massive computer system, the intermittent tapping of touch-pads. From the sound of it, Megatron had the entire system powered up to its fullest. Soundwave thought fleetingly of the power it was sucking from their already depleted reserves, though he was sure that such concerns did not interest the Decepticon leader now. He entered the huge control chamber, twice as large as the computer center of their former land base. Three walls were taken up from floor to ceiling by banks of computer consoles, screens, interfaces, and read-out displays with a single wall that was barren of anything other then a window type viewport set in the center of it . Megatron sat before the largest of the viewscreens, rapidly running through a series of images and patterns on this and several smaller screens inset around it. He might as well have been part of the computer system himself, the way he crouched over his interactive console as though physically connected to it. He did not even acknowledge Soundwave's presence when he walked up next to his leader. Megatron's optics flickered rapidly from one screen to the other, his hands playing the dials and touchpads in an almost automated fashion. Soundwave mentally communicated with megatron as he reached out with his mind. "Any luck?" he thoughtcast to his commander knowing all too well what was on his leader's mind. Megatron shook his head. His eyes never left the screens. Soundwave knew he had not re-fueled in almost 24 hours, but any suggestion to stop and take a break would have been worse than useless.....The planet-wide communications signals were proving unproductive, and Megatron switched over into a computer assault. Infiltrating one of the scientific community's largest e-mail networks, he began to trace the connections back to prominent research labs and their databases. Finding the connections between computers was simple -- even bypassing human-designed protection systems was no problem -- but sorting through all the data dumped from all of those computers into the Decepticon mainframe -- that would take slightly short of forever.

But Megatron seemed undaunted by the massively complicated task that lay ahead of him. His eyes were fixed on the viewscreens, bright with the intensity of his concentration. Behind that overlay of brightness, Soundwave could see the deeper maroon shades of the pain and grief that Megatron was keeping tightly under control. If only he would talk about it, Soundwave thought sadly. If only he wouldn't keep it all to himself.... But then, who was he, Soundwave, to make that demand? He had done the same once, long ago.

The land base's small repair bay was adequate for such minor tasks as soldering a weakened wing-joint, which Thundercracker had received on an energy raid earlier that day. Soundwave finished up, and the ice-blue jet hopped down off the table. He moved the wing experimentally. "Feels fine," he said. "Thanks, Soundwave!"    He joined Skywarp, who had lingered around the doorway waiting for him, and the two jets left. Soundwave began to put away his tools, but almost immediately he heard other footsteps approaching. Curiously he looked up -- no one else had been damaged on the raid. Megatron strode into the small repair bay and slid the door shut behind him. "Soundwave," he began, "I think, maybe, you should run a diagnostic on me."  "A diagnostic?" Soundwave questioned. This was highly unusual. Normally Megatron could not be dragged into a repair bay unless he was severely damaged; it took a minor miracle -- or a very determined Soundwave -- to maneuver him in for routine maintenance checks. The Decepticon leader tended to resent any insinuation that he was not completely and totally invulnerable. And now he was asking for a diagnostic check? "Is there a problem?" Soundwave asked.  "Yes, I think so." Megatron's gaze traveled from Soundwave up along the walls of the room, over the examination table, and across the rows of tools and instruments in their cases. It was clear that he was not entirely comfortable with the subject.  Soundwave waited patiently until Megatron's gaze came back to him. "What sort of problem?" he prodded gently when the silver Decepticon remained silent.  "Well ... I think I have a feedback loop in my memory circuits. It keeps replaying the same subject matter. I can't seem to disengage it." "What subject matter?" Soundwave asked, when Megatron again fell silent."What difference does it make!" he snapped defensively. "Just get rid of it!"  "It makes a difference," Soundwave assured him, beginning to form a realization. "What subject matter?"  Megatron glared at him.

"Well ... Nightbird," he answered grudgingly. "But I don't see what difference that makes! It's just a mnemonic circuitry problem. And I'm having a hard time concentrating. My attention wanders. It's - disconcerting."  Soundwave nodded. "Understandable. But there is nothing I can do about it."  "What?!" Megatron demanded. "How would you know? You haven't even run the diagnostic yet! What kind of a repairs specialist are you, anyway?" "It is only my secondary function," Soundwave reminded him. "Yes - but that still puts you light-years ahead of any other repaireon I've ever met," Megatron said. It sounded more like an accusation than a compliment.  "Perhaps," Soundwave conceded. "But there is still nothing I can do." Megatron's eyes flashed brighter with growing anger. Soundwave regarded him steadily. "Megatron, I must admit, I'm a bit surprised. With all the females you've known on Cybertron - haven't you ever been in love before?" Megatron's eyes went blank with amazement - then narrowed. "Don't get insulting," he growled. Soundwave suppressed a smile.

"It's not a crime, you know." "It's crazy," Megatron countered. He spun away from Soundwave, and then back to face him. "Alright -- what do I do about it?"  "Why would you want to do anything about it?"  "Because the situation is intolerable. I can't think of anything but her. I can't keep my mind on my work. All I want to do is go off somewhere and be alone with her - to my quarters, or out among the mountains, or down to the holo-simulator ... you should see her in action in the holo-simulator! She's a walking armory - she has weapons I haven't even seen yet! And she's got hand-to-hand combat skills like you wouldn't believe. I could watch her forever--" He broke off abruptly and shot Soundwave a significant look. "See what I mean?" Soundwave leaned back against the examination table and folded his arms. "Okay, so it's distracting," he agreed. "It will be, at first. Especially since you are not accustomed to the sensation. But surely it's not all bad? Surely you are deriving some happiness from the relationship...?" Megatron opened his mouth to reflexively snap a protest, then shut it again. "I ... guess so," he agreed cautiously. "And surely, having her in your life makes things just a little bit more worthwhile - gives you just a little bit more incentive to return to Cybertron someday and rule?" "Okay ... that's a valid point," Megatron agreed, still guarded. "And? Could you imagine going back to an existence without her?" "No," Megatron stated without hesitation. "I would not want to exist without her." "Then what's so terrible about having found the perfect female and being in love?" Soundwave asked. It was little more than a rhetorical question.  Megatron met his eyes, and the last of his protests and barriers dropped away. hmm, megatron thought silently to himself. settle down with her and have a family together, actually leave a living heir to the universe whom i could intrust my empire to when i eventually pass on? the thought brought many possibilities to megatrons mind now that he had contemplated the situation from a more beneficial viewpoint Slowly a smile spread over his face. "Alright, alright," he said. "You devious old rustbucket. I guess you're going to tell me to just get on with my life and enjoy it, right?"  Soundwave smiled in return. "Exactly."  Megatron began to turn away, then paused. His eyes registered the barest shade of warning. "But not a word of this to anyone," he commanded.  "Of course," Soundwave replied. As though it hadn't been obvious to anyone who was halfway conscious at the time.

True, Megatron could be difficult to live with; he was highly demanding, with an unpredictable temper, and always quick to fling insults and curses when things didn't go his way. Yet he had his own brand of honor and fairness, always giving credit where it was due -- and though he demanded a great deal of his troops, he demanded even more of himself, and never asked a warrior to risk any danger that he himself would avoid. He was a dynamic and charismatic commander, almost always leading his troops into battle rather than sitting back in the safety of the base and sending them, like other leaders that Soundwave had known. And at odd moments, when he dropped the role of the authoritarian commander, Megatron could be personable, understanding, even compassionate, and intensely loyal to those rare individuals whom he trusted enough to consider friends. Contrary to Autobot propaganda, most of Megatron's immediate underlings were actually quite fond of him.  You wished to see me, Soundwave? Megatron heard the heavy doors to the command center of the Iacon Hub close behind him, as heavy footsteps fell across the carpeted chamber. He didn't turn to face the arrival, instead having patched the monitors into the lates battlefield victory he chose to gaze down at his latest conquest- the Autobot capital city of Iacon. It had been too easy, really. The Autobot masses huddled within the fortefied walls of Iacon had never seen the two pronged attack coming.While Shockwave could've amassed a powerful enough force to capture the Autobot capital, it had been Megatron's Earth-stationed forces that had provided the power and coordination necessary to crumple Iacon's defense systems and slaughter the ill-prepared Autobots within the city's walls. The final death count had been close to ten thousand on the Autobot side, and only a handful had escaped to Earth, crawling back to Optimus Prime like wounded dogs. Megatron preferred it that way.

Prime could be more wounded by the losses of his own than by any kind of physical firepower. He could be left wondering about the fates of the remaining pockets of Autobot resistance being encroached upon on Cybertron, being slowly devoured by his superior forces. Finally, after so many millions of years in a stalemate, Megatron could feel the sweet reality of victory lowering into his grasp. All he had to do was reach up and strangle it. "Megatron, I bear important news," Soundwave saluted his leader as Megatron turned around, cupping his hands behind his back. "It concerns the whereabouts of the Autobots." "Are you referring to the collection of Iacon survivors that escaped into space?" Megatron asked with a bit of uncertainty. It wasn't like Soundwave to be so inefficiently redundant. "That's well-known by now; they've made their way to Autobot forces on Earth." "Long range scanners and sensors have detected increased activity on the two Cybertronian moons," Soundwave continued. "Low-powered magnetic fields have been erected around specific areas of the planet to scramble normal tracking devices. I suspect Autobot covert military operations."  "You're certain about this?" Megatron was a little skeptical of Soundwave's report, mostly because of his own pride as a warrior. Autobot staging grounds, existing almost right under his nose? It couldn't have been possible.

"Can you give any indication about the size of the bases?"  "Magnetic activity covers twenty-seven percent Prafas and fifteen percent of Tyras. The most logical conclusion is that it is a beacon for an assault on Cybertron." "You need not inform me of that, Soundwave." Megatron lowered his head in thought for a moment. It appeared that he'd underestimated Optimus Prime's bravado. Obviously, Prime had counted on Decepticon technology to be behind in sophistication compared to whatever magnetic jamming devices were in use on the moons. As if Megatron would allow the Autobots to gain any kind of edge over him if he could help it. "What course of action do you advise, Megatron?" Soundwave asked. Megatron mulled it over briefly. It was awfully tempting to just send out a wave of soldiers to obliterate the Autobot presence on both moons, to eliminate a potential threat to his rule over Cybertron, but his logic told him otherwise. Why stop at the moon bases? The main Autobot force was still stationed at Earth among the flesh creatures. With Megatron's forces largely withdrawn from the planet except for several spies, Prime would certainly attempt to establish a powerful presence there.and given the way that the human politicians groveled to the Autobots' every whim, the planet's resources - which still largely overweighed Cybertron's dwindling supply of energon - would be at Prime's disposal. It was an irresolute situation to be sure. But the knowledge of the Autobots' infestation of Prafas and Tyras would be just as useful if played correctly.Reflector, Buzzsaw, Blitzwing, and the Insecticon advanc troop still remained on Earth in spy capacity, and they'd been reporting on the status of an Autobot fortress under construction in the middle of North America. If they made that their focal point on Earth. "Soundwave." Megatron began, choosing his words carefully.

"Assign Laserbeak to watch over the two moons for the moment. We will decide on an optimal course of action when it presents itself." "Megatron?" Soundwave sounded a little confused, probably expecting the obvious reaction out of his leader. When Megatron shot a contemptuous glance back toward him, Soundwave wisely nodded in obedience. "As you command." "Excellent. Dismissed, Soundwave," Megatron nodded. "I have much to reflect on." Soundwave silently saluted his master and exited the chamber, leaving Megatron to his own scheming. He strolled back to the open viewport, watching as his soldiers continued to restore the disheveled Iacon to a capable capacity. It would take a lot of time considering the pounding that the Decepticons gave to it, but once restored, it would serve as a marvelous outpost for this sector of Cybertron. Megatron grinned to himself, repeating the update report from Soundwave within his head. Laserbeak would not fail him, of that he was certain. And while he and Soundwave reported on the Autobot activities on the Cybertronian moons, he could set to the task of exterminating the remaining Autobot trash from the planet surface. Without their main base of operations, it would only be a matter of time before they succumbed to death. And after Cybertron was fully under his control, the final destruction of Optimus Prime and the Autobots could begin. with them out of the way he could finally renew his search for her, for his beloved lady.

when he had first learned of her existance megatron had every doubt as to her being made a truly sentient being seeing as she had been created by a group of advanced robotic engineers.  while these engineers would be at the top of their field amounge their fellow humans they were still as a race centuries behind cybertronian technology in the ways of  super advanced biomechanical engineering. upon later inspection though megatron had learned that nightbird was indeed partially cybertronian in origins. no doubt due to to fujiyami and his  collegues gathering and deciphering the occasional bits of bodily armor and actuel body parts each side would blast off the others warriors when they would have their daily battlefield skirmish on earth. it was scrapper and bombshell that had devised a way to fully render the robotic ninja a true cybertronian. the process had to do with an advanced form of nanotechnology. this technology when used on nightbird quite literally recreated her body on a celluler level from the inside out as her body and mind slowly adapted to it's new form as it shed it's original programming and design  like a butterfly emerging from a cacoon. over time nightbird had developed a personality and intellect all her own and had all to quickly taken to megatron as his shadow. she had followed Megatron around the land base like a dark, soundless shadow;  her unflickering, intense topaz eyes had followed Megatron's every move; Megatron would look up from his work sometimes and meet her gaze, and smile, and the shade of his eyes would soften ever-so-briefly as though he had momentarily dropped his guard ... or were flirting with her which  would most likely be the case from soundwave's personel point of view. of all the Decepticons he and he alone was able to track her in such a cunning manner as to not be caught in megatron's sight at the time.

  he had sent her to the ark with the intention for this to be the true test of her abilities as a warrior. she had been quite successful in gaining the world energy chip.  it was soundwave who had accompanied megatron in his desire to rescue her and the chip which she had pilfered from the Autobots. He'd found Nightbird, a slender, almost delicate-looking shape silhouetted against her larger, bulkier opponents, holding off an entire squad of Autobots on her own, while Megatron stood back and watched her, the trace of an odd smile playing about his lips. in the span of that single moment he slowly but surely realised that over time her presense had softened him and even made him realise that he had certain feelings for her. perhaps it was only natural that one who wanted only power in life would also want someone to share their life with as well.

Well, Starscream had ended that little scene. A well-aimed shot at Nightbird, and she was helpless in the Autobots' clutches. Megatron  had stood frozen for an instant as though stunned, then whirled on Starscream, his eyes flashing scarlet fire in rage. Starscream grinned maliciously and leapt into the air, while Megatron commanded his entire army away from the Autobots and after him. had it not been for starscreams traitorus actions he would have had her and the chip right now . 

Starscream, the thought of his once treachorous luitenant infuriated him to no end. why could he not be happy with the near role of leader that came with second in command and let megatron have his own happiness and  lifemate to enjoy?  Through a dim red haze of fury and grief, Megatron lashed out, slamming his fists into the wall. He had lost awareness of all else, and knew only how the wall's metal plating dented and tore under the incessant pounding. On some level of awareness he relished the agony he felt as he pummeled the wall with his bare hands, gorged himself like a beast at the kill on the feeling of physically tearing something apart. The image replayed itself relentlessly in his mind's eye: Starscream shooting Nightbird in the back and laughing as she collapsed lifelessly among the Autobots ... he let it nurture his hatred, let it drive him to ever-more-frenzied heights of violence. when he had finally captured starscream that day He had raked his hand like a claw across Starscream's face, catching the edge of an optic lens in doing so and had torn it off, then  had gouged his fingers into the exposed circuitry underneath. Lubricant  had seeped over his hand. He  had used the socket as a convenient grip for slamming Starscream's head repeatedly into the wall once he had forcibly dragged starscream back to their base. How he hated this creature, who had for so long tried to undermine his authority -- who had tried to turn the other Decepticons against him -- who countered and contradicted him at every turn -- but all that, he had been willing to let go, for reasons he himself did not care to specify. But this time Starscream had crossed an invisible barrier, beyond which there was no forgiveness. He had destroyed the only female Megatron had ever loved. he had openly beaten the treachorus luitenant to near death and had it not been for the mere chance intervention of skywarp and his forcing megatron away at arms length megatron would most certainly have killed starscrean that day. megatron had declared skywarps actions treason until  his brother thunderckracker had stalked forward and forcibly reminded him face to face that the decepticon cause supercedes all other personel vendetta's.  why did i go after starscream in a blind rage when instead i could have rescued her myself?  WHY, ...WHY,...WHY?. 

it was a question which haunted Megatron to this very day even now ten years later. one which ultimately filled him with guilt and greif for having abandoned her in favor of gaining vengeance on starscream Megatron tore the remaining glass out of the walls viewport and dug his fingers into the hinge, ripping it loose. He shoved the jagged edges of translucent metal back into the wall as black fuel seeped out between the wounds in his hands. his throat made a sound that was half cry and half strangled scream. he tried to raise his arms and ward off the greif he felt in his spark and his energon pump, as he screamed in greif  his hands trembling as he clenched his hands into fists. "No more, greif," Megatron gasped. "Please, Primus...!"  Megatron slammed his right fist into and through the wall burying his arm all the way up to the shoulder.He wrenched it out of the wall feeling a deep fiery pain somewhere in his right shoulder assembly. as much as it pained him to admit it, he was in his own personel hell. of what good does it do a con to gain the world when he loses that which is most preciouse to him in life. he thought to himself half lucidly as he struggled to breath and catch his breath.

this great and terrible greif was smothering him from within pulling him down like a dragging weight as he struggled to calm down enough so he could regain his sense of balance. Then he clawed at the infrastructure, grinding and mangling it together into a twisted mesh of steel wall paneling and wires. finally he could contain it no longer as he tilted back his head and screamed aloud as the anguish and sorrow of his soul tore past his lips. his audio-splitting scream shattered the silence of the night. He slammed himself against the wall , so hard that the wall cracked and sparks erupted from the deep fissure. He dug his fingers into the wall and shook it savagely. Droplets of leaking fuel and lubricant sprayed in all directions. at last the rage was leaving him as he felt control of his emotions and then his body return to him in slow measure. he spread his hands flat against the wall as he attempted to steady himself on his legs and feet. then breathing deeply for the next ten minutes he submitted himself  to his fate.  a deep pain filled growl worked it's way from his throat as he spoke."even if i must sift through the earth's entire  submoleculer mass molecule by molecule with my own two hands, i will find her again  he said through his clenched teeth as his gaurd faultered for an ever so breif moment. the mere mention of her  being painful enough for him to greive openly in private.

The evil Decepticon Laserbeak, on a misson from his master, the ruthless Megatron, flew on silent wings toward one of the moons.  His instructions were simple:  spy on the heroic Autobot forces and their leader,  Optimus Prime.  Some of Laserbeak's earlier missions had uncovered massive mobility operations Prime had thought to be secret, but Prime had greatly underestimated the Decepticons and their spies.  Now Laserbeak aimed his infrared camera through an alcove of the fortress, undetected as he slipped into the shadows to observe the Autobots as they prepared to retake their home planet. Laserbeak sailed effortlessly toward the moon, unnoticed by Autobot sensors. He was too small to be noticed. With the trained eye of an experienced spy, he surveyed the production lines of the Autobot factories. Sailing for the main control room, he activated a recorder and settled in to observe. Ironhide peers into a monitor as it shows Cybertron with a huge Decepticon symbol emblazoned on it. Optimus Prime gazed at the monitors surrounding him in the command center on moonbase-1, the Autobot's primary staging ground to take back Cybertron. Long, steel legs led up to a chrome torso. Huge arms connected to a massive red chest which had what appeared to be two glass panels molded into it. In reality, it was a special form of armor designed by Wheeljack to reflect light laser fire. His head was constructed to be resistant to damage, therefore only his eyes were visible through it's helmet like appearance. He was joined by several of his best officers in the command center, all of whom were surveying the myriad of monitors with him. Optimus sat in front of a large monitor bank and looked at the images transmitted to him from countless spy cameras on the surface of his home world. So close, he mused, yet so far away.

The images he saw fanned the rage simmering deep within him, safely locked away from where it could influence his actions. He was Autobot Leader. On his shoulders rested the fate of his people and quite possibly the safety of the entire galaxy. He could not allow himself to be guided by rage during such a precariouse and crucial stage in their efforts to retake their homeworld. If he did then this war would be lost and that must never happen. his comrades, distracted by their monitoring of their enemies  recent fortifications, did not notice as an involuntary shudder enveloped their commander as his guilt ridden mind made him relive the terrible event that had changed him so long ago. he was swept into memory, a glitch in his databanks triggered by his battlestress and grief fueled rage playing before his unblinking optics. Again he saw her cornered, battered, wounded and bloodied as she stood atop the hellish cauldron that was the smelting pool. again he saw her as they forced her towards the edge of  oblivion as she refused to surrender. NO, he bit back a scream as her feet left the narrow walkway as she hurled herself  to a fiery end with his name upon her lips. NO NO. No he thought to himself  as his left hand clenched into a fist and slowly unclenched as his lower left arm ever so slightly trembled in rage  now is not the time or place for such anger. he thought to himself.

i swear Alita, one day when i get the chance, i will make him pay for what he did to us he thought to himself.  he felt the anger leaving him at last.  he withdrew himself from the terrible memory of that day as he forcibly banished it from his mind once more like a terribly unpleasent and repulsive thought. Has it only been twenty years, he thought, since we were awakened on Earth to continue our war against the Decepticons? Such a short time when one considers that the war has lasted over 4 million years, and yet in that short span the Decepticons have managed to conquer our homeworld of Cybertron. Not the outcome he would have hoped for, but hidden as they were on Cybertron's moons at least they had a fighting chance. Lately though he had felt a bit...uneasy. He couldn't describe it, but it felt like something was about to happen, something that would affect Autobot and Decepticon both.

say what you want about the episode enter the nightbird.

me i figure if they had put a bit more thought into the episode it could have been fleshed out a bit better then it was.

after reading nightbird the aftermath and giving it some thought though i felt that the idea could have some small merit to it.

i feel at the least what megatron is going through when it comes to greif, rage, guilt, and hate that it could be used to explain in part his actions which lead to alita's demise. basicly he lashed out at prime by having shockwave bring about her death.

in doing so megatron made  prime suffer and know of the greif he had unknowingly put megatron through. 

consider this a reinterpretation of the events which lead to the final confrontation between optimus prime and megatron.