Author's Notes: Well, to date, this is my oldest fic that hasn't been completed yet. That ends now! Yes, this is the final chapter of My Last Word Was Argh! I have conquered Moby Fic! This isn't the ending I had intended when I started the fic. I was going to give it a status quo ending with Megatron being exactly the same as he always was and everybody being alive and stagnant. That isn't the direction I went in, and honestly I think this ending is much better than what I originally intended. I hope you guys like it as well. Please review, and I hope you enjoy the last chapter of My Last Word Was Argh! :)

Chapter 14

Treaty

It had been over a week since the Decepticons had kidnapped Chip and Wheeljack. The Ark had returned to normal, but everyone kept on high alert just in case something went wrong. Snarl had recovered completely, and the Dinobots couldn't have been happier. They couldn't wait to get back at Thundercracker for nearly killing one of their own, and they had spent most of their time in the training room since.

Wheeljack had asked Chip why Megatron had wanted him so badly, but Chip didn't have an answer, or at least not one that made sense. Chip didn't understand why the old warlord turned to him for comfort instead of any of his own mechs. Then again, from what he understood Megatron had trusted Starscream and had been betrayed for it. He knew that wasn't new to the Decepticons, but he couldn't imagine how it must have hurt someone who had lost their very identity and just needed a friend that could guide them.

At the moment Chip was helping Spike work on a vital component for Powerglide. Chip wasn't much of a mechanic, but then again Spike wasn't that savvy when it came to coding. Together though, they made a good team.

"So Chip...What was it like?" Spike suddenly asked as he looked at Chip with open curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Chip asked uncertainly.

"Oh come on, you know what I mean," Spike pressed on, "You were stuck hanging out with a whacked-out Megatron for two days! You must've been terrified. I know I would be."

"Yeah, I was," Chip admitted, "But something else happened too. Something strange. I feel like I got to know Megatron a little better. Without the filter of bravado he was more...approachable. Every time he got a memory back he would tell me about it, and to be honest, most of his memories were awful. He led a hard life, Spike. He was a slave for most of his life until he finally stood up to the ones that allowed it to happen. I don't agree with what he's doing to earth or what he did on Cybertron, but I think I at least understand it a little better now."

"Whoa," Spike replied as he thought over how that changed the dynamic they thought they knew, "So when you say a slave, was he like, a butler or something?"

"No, he was a miner," Chip replied, "After that he was a gladiator, forced to fight for the entertainment of richer mechs. He said miners weren't allowed to learn how to read, but a medic taught him in secret. He said he didn't even have a name, Spike. They were treated as worthless. I can see why that would make someone bitter. I wonder how much of this the Autobots know."

Their conversation was interrupted by the wailing of a klaxon and the flaring of red lights! Spike and Chip stopped what they were doing and rushed to Teletran 1 to ask what was going on.

"Optimus, are we under attack?" The boys heard Sparkplug ask.

"I do not know," Optimus replied solemnly, "Megatron and his forces have surrounded the Ark, but so far they have not fired a single shot."

On the screen they could see Megatron facing the entrance to the Ark. Starscream stood at his leader's right hand, and Soundwave was to his left. The expression on Megatron's face was just as hard and calculating as they remembered. He looked just like his old self. Chip sighed morosely. He was sure this meant Megatron was back to normal and was ready for battle once again. He had hoped the gunformer would choose another path.

"Autobots, follow me," Optimus ordered with reluctant determination, "Do not fire on them unless necessary, but defend the ship at all costs. We cannot allow them to get their servos on our technology or our human allies. Move out!"

Megatron looked at the Ark and wondered if he had made the right choice in coming here. His entire army was here except for a skeleton crew he left on the Nemesis. If this was a mistake, then he was certain it would be a deadly one.

Megatron had regained the remainder of his memories 3 days prior, but had trouble coming to terms with them. He knew who he was, and he knew that sucking this planet dry of energy was the soundest solution to saving Cybertron, but he could not ignore what he had been through.

Losing his memories had taught Megatron something. He now understood who his loyal subordinates were, and who his greatest threats were. He also understood how many of his problems were his own fault.

When Megatron had returned to perfect functionality his first order was for Starscream to be brought to him at once. As usual the seeker's first instinct was to beg for mercy and hope Megatron didn't kill him this time. Due to facing his troubled past Megatron finally understood why he had allowed this behavior to go on for so long. He enjoyed tormenting the red and blue seeker because he was a reminder of those who had used Megatron when he was unable to defend himself. If he killed Starscream he wouldn't have to deal with such mockery ever again. Instead though, Megatron did something else…

"Starscream, before I pass judgment on you, I have just one question," Megatron said from his throne as Starscream knelt before him, "Do you really want to be leader of the Decepticons, or do you just want me out of your life?"

Starscream looked taken aback by the question. Out of all the things Megatron could have asked him, he never expected a question like that. It was so candid, and devoid of torment and malice. It was an actual question that demanded an answer.

"M-Megatron…" Starscream stammered and shook violently. For some reason this level of honesty scared him more than threats or beatings.

"Answer me," Megatron growled as he narrowed his red optics at the seeker.

"You're going to transfer me somewhere horrible, aren't you?" Starscream asked; his optics locked onto the ground.

"Starscream, I feel I have been unfair to you," Megatron admitted, and the seeker looked up at him in shock, "I do not regret being harsh on my troops. This is an army and discipline must be enforced, but I have treated you far worse than the rest of my Decepticons. I will not say why, but I will say I was wrong to blame you for every setback we have ever suffered. I promoted you too quickly, and watched with joy as you fell on your face plate. Despite this you have kept your place and kept yourself alive. Starscream, if I am able to end this war once and for all and get us the rightful territory we deserve, then will you stop trying to usurp my throne?"

Starscream couldn't remember the last time he had seen Megatron so reasonable. Not cold and harsh, not addled and soft, but intelligent and reasonable. It reminded him of why he had joined the Decepticons in the first place. This was the Megatron that had preached victory for the strong and a world without a caste system. This was the leader Starscream had wanted to follow, before he had become Megatron's personal whipping boy.

"Well?" Megatron prodded.

"Megatron, if you have a plan I'll follow it," Starscream relented, "But don't expect me to keep silent if I find your latest scheme is doomed to failure."

"Fair enough," Megatron nodded, "Soundwave, alert the Decepticons to meet in the hangar. We are going to Autobot Headquarters."

That had been just two hours ago, and now Megatron was here, at the Ark, and about to face down Optimus Prime once again. This time would be different though. This time he would do whatever it took to get the Decepticons what they deserved. He had read a few books on earth's history of war, and it gave the Decepticon leader some very promising ideas. He would have to thank Chip for introducing him to earth's selection of literature.

Optimus and his Autobots came out of the Ark in force, all with weapons armed and a look of guarded readiness on their face plates. It was now or never, and Megatron just hoped this plan would work.

"Optimus Prime, lower your weapon!" Megatron demanded, "I have not come to fight! Order your troops to stand down!"

"Why are you here, Megatron?" Optimus asked suspiciously.

"I am here to discuss the future of Cybertron," Megatron replied; his face hard and determined, "For millions of years our two factions have been at war, and while my side is winning, Cybertron is losing. I propose a truce between our two factions."

"Don't listen to him, Prime!" Ironhide shouted vehemently, "This is obviously a Decepticon trick!"

"I want to hear him out," Optimus replied calmly, "Megatron, how long would this truce last?"

"Until we evenly divide our territories," Megatron replied, "If all goes well it could lead to a permanent treaty between Autobots and Decepticons."

"Divide?" Optimus asked for clarification.

"Yes, Prime," Megatron replied with a wide smile, "You see, we have been fighting over an entire planet, but these past few days have made me realize something. This planet has a unique system in which hundreds of smaller territories are given sovereignty over themselves and remain separate from each other. It is not a perfect system, but at least thus far earth is still in one piece. If we divide the remaining city-states between our two factions, then we can draw up borders that clearly define who belongs where. Autobots can have their precious council, and I can rule over my Decepticons with impunity."

Optimus didn't know what to think of this line of reasoning. Cybertron had never had a separated set of governments before. Sure, there were senators, but they always answered to the Prime. To have a planet broken into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle...it seemed strange at best and detrimental to the unity of their world at worst. The Autobots always believed in making their planet a peaceful whole, but what Megatron was suggesting would go against everything they had worked so hard for.

"I will give you 24 hours to think it over, Prime," Megatron told him, "Choose wisely. The fate of our world rests in your hands."

With that Megatron took to the air, and the other Decepticons followed him without a word. Optimus and the other Autobots were left to look up at the sky and wonder about what just happened. Optimus had a difficult choice to make. Should he sacrifice the idea of a united Cybertron for the sake of ending the war? Should he refuse Megatron's offer to uphold Autobot beliefs? Were the Decepticons even being honest with them, or was this another trick to gain the advantage?

Optimus had 24 hours to make his decision, but part of him already knew what he was going to say. For the sake of peace, for the opportunity to restore Cybertron and save countless lives, he couldn't afford to turn Megatron down.

A month had passed since Megatron had offered a truce to the Autobots, and much progress had been made in that time. Optimus, Megatron, and their highest ranking officers had spent over two weeks just trying to figure out which faction would get which territories. Some were easy. The Autobot wanted Iacon because it was their capital already, and Megatron wanted Polyhex because that was where Darkmount was located. Others were more difficult, like trying to divvy up neutral territories such as Helex and Altihex.

During this time of negotiation Megatron named Chip Chase as the human liaison to the Decepticons. Since the Autobots had Sparkplug and Spike, Megatron figured his side should have a human representative as well.

It took the entire month to iron out all of the details, but eventually the Autobots and Decepticons had a map drawn out to display who got which territory. All Autobot city-states were outlined in red, and all Decepticon city-states were outlined in purple. It would be a while before word could get out to all Cybertronians on other planets, but both leaders knew this was the beginning to true peace between their peoples.

One stipulation to the peace treaty was that the Decepticons could no longer steal energy from earth. The Decepticons agreed once the Autobots agreed to use the energon ration they got from earth's governments to aid Cybertron. They readily agreed since they knew no one would try to kill them for it now.

With everything moving so quickly, Spike and Chip didn't have many chances to see each other. On this day, however, the two young men finally had a chance to spend the day together at an ice cream parlor. It was the first time they had to talk in two weeks since both had been so busy.

"So, did you hear the news?" Spike asked as he dipped his spoon into his rocky road ice cream.

"What news?" Chip asked while stirring the straw lazily around in his vanilla shake.

"The Autobots are leaving earth tomorrow," Spike replied with a casual sort of sadness, "They said they need to rebuild their world, and that soon most of them would be going back home."

"The Decepticons are leaving tomorrow as well," Chip informed Spike, "Megatron is really looking forward to building that new palace in Kaon. I gotta tell you Spike, I still get nervous hanging around the Decepticons; especially Starscream. He almost killed me, and yet I'm supposed to work with him like nothing happened."

"Well, at least they'll be gone soon," Spike replied optimistically, "A few Autobots are staying behind on earth though. Bumblebee is staying, and so are Hound, Beachcomber, and the Protectobots."

"That's cool," Chip said with a small smile, "Actually, two of the Decepticons are staying, too."

"Really?" Spike asked; surprised, "Which ones?"

"Dead End and Breakdown," Chip replied.

"The Stunticons?" Spike asked in open shock, "I thought they were part of a combiner unit. Shouldn't they, you know, stick together?"

"Breakdown says he feels safer on this planet than on Cybertron," Chip explained, "Dead End is staying here because he doesn't like Decepticon death rituals. When a Decepticon dies their body is scrapped. Dead End says he wants his intact corpse to be buried in the cold soft ground of his home planet. That, or put on display in the Louvre..." Chip added that last part in an awkward tone of voice.

"That guy is really weird," Spike commented.

"Yeah, but he's surprisingly docile," Chip observed, "You'd think all the Decepticons would be eager to kill things, especially a guy who constantly obsesses over death, but Dead End actually doesn't care all that much about destruction. Breakdown isn't that savage either. He's just always afraid of the world around him. After getting to know the Decepticons I thought Thundercracker would want to stay here, but he would rather work with the rest of his trine to uphold Decepticon rule."

"Do you really think it's over?" Spike pondered, "Do you think Cybertron is finally at peace?"

"I hope so Spike," Chip replied as he stirred his milkshake, "Both sides have a lot riding on this."

The next day, the Autobots, the Decepticons, and their human allies were standing out in the desert saying their final goodbyes before the Cybertronians left for home. Omega Supreme would shuttle the Autobots back, and Astrotrain would provide the transport for the Decepticons.

Carly went up to Ironhide and hugged his hand as he bent over to see her better.

"I'll miss you Ironhide," Carly said as tears flowed down her cheeks, "You will come back to see us, won't you?"

"I sure hope so, darlin'," Ironhide replied, "Just contact Hot Spot or Hound if ya wanna send a message. I'm sure my bondmate Chromia will be real happy to see what you look like."

Meanwhile, Raoul and Tracks were saying their goodbyes. Both boy and mech were trying to seem cool and unconcerned about the departure, but it was clear Raoul didn't want to see the flying car-former go.

"You'll take care of yourself, won't you?" Tracks asked Raoul.

"Of course I will," Raoul replied nonchalantly, "You're the one I'm worried about. Trapped on that busted up planet with Megabreath and his merry morons. Good luck!"

"You too, Raoul," Tracks replied sincerely.

Raoul had kept his cool up to that point, but when Tracks said that he broke down and hugged the blue Autobot as tight as he could. The hug was over as quickly as it started but the message was clear. They wouldn't be the same without each other.

"I can't believe you're really leaving after all this," Sparkplug commented to Wheeljack and Ratchet, "Send me a video feed whenever you can. I wanna see what inventions you make to change the world."

"Heh heh, same with you Sparkplug," Wheeljack said jovially, "I just hope the Dinobots will be able to adjust to Cybertron. They've lived here their whole lives."

"So have the Aerialbots, but they can't wait to leave," Ratchet pointed out, "What surprises me is just how many of us there are now. Why, I can think of 15, maybe 20 Transformers that were built specifically for the arms race with the Decepticons. I just hope we can give them a future now that the war is over."

Spike, meanwhile, was standing with Bumblebee saying goodbye to Optimus Prime. They knew the leader of the Autobots had a big responsibility ahead of him, but they also knew he was the perfect one to handle it.

"I'm sure going to miss you, Optimus," Bumblebee said as he looked up at the mech that had been like a father to him for so many vorns, "If there's any trouble, just know you can call me and the rest of the earth-based Autobots. Well, except for Beachcomber. I don't know where he went. He just said 'so long, cosmic brothers' and took off."

Spike chuckled at Bumblebee's last comment, but became more serious when he said "I'm really glad I met you, Optimus. Hopefully someday I'll get to visit you on Cybertron. You and the others really made our lives exciting. I hope this peacetime is everything you want it to be."

"I hope so, too," Optimus replied, and then he bent down to clasp Bumblebee on the shoulder guards, "Take care of our friends, Bumblebee. Earth is under your protection now."

"Thanks, Optimus," Bumblebee said softly, "I'll take care of Teletran 1 and the rest of the Ark for you. Tell Elita One and the other femmes I said hello."

"I will," Optimus replied, and then he hugged Bumblebee goodbye.

Chip had already said goodbye to Prowl, Jazz, Ratchet, Wheeljack, and most of the other Autobots. It was amazing to him how many friends they had made. To most humans it would still be weird to acknowledge that alien life exists, but to the humans gathered on this desert plain these were more than alien robots. These mechs had touched the lives of every human there that day.

Megatron finished telling everyone where to store the energon and various other supplies. He was so busy with planning the future that he hadn't had a lot of time to live in the moment. Soon they would be back on Cybertron, and he would begin to build his empire in earnest.

Both Megatron and Optimus had given up a lot to make this happen. Optimus had given up the idea of perfect unity. Megatron had given up the idea of universal dominance. His ideology of the mighty ruling the weak was meant to spread to every inhabited planet they came across, but now it was only going to cover part of his own planet and a few outlier territories. It wasn't what he had envisioned, but if it meant they could stop using their limited resources for war and use them for more constructive purposes then it would be worth it.

He stopped midway through lifting an energon cube when he saw Chip sitting there in his wheelchair looking at Astrotrain with a sad expression. He had been so busy with the move that he forgot to say anything to Chip.

Megatron walked over to Chip, and the young man looked up at him through dust covered glasses. Megatron picked him up chair and all, and placed him in the palm of his right servo.

"Chip, I hope you realize that we may never see each other again," Megatron stated gravely, "I'm going to be busy on Cybertron, and I know human life expectancy is very short. In case we never meet again, I want you to know how much your friendship meant to me when I was at my lowest point."

"Oh, I doubt that was your lowest point," Chip replied lightly; though the undertone of sorrow was still present, "Megatron, I'm proud of everything you've accomplished so far. I hope you and Optimus can make Cybertron a good place for your people again. More than that though, I hope you can finally find a way to be happy."

Megatron smiled and petted the top of Chip's head with a finger. He was still surprised that something so small could have so much courage.

"Oh, and one more thing," Chip added, "Watch out for Starscream."

"I always do," Megatron smirked knowingly.

He then set Chip back down on the ground and walked over to the ship. He took one last look back, and Chip waved at him. Megatron waved back; his cannon catching the light of the setting sun.

The five humans stood there as Omega Supreme and Astrotrain took off into the sky and kicked up dust into the air. Chip was happy to be wearing glasses, because everybody else got dust in their eyes. If anyone asked, they weren't crying, it was just the dust.

The End