Sunset and New Dawn
Epilogue: The Future of Cybertron

Several vorns later…

Starscream sat in the living area of his and Optimus' quarters. He was busy going over some new flight formations for him and his trine and finishing up some paper work.

He heard a squeal, followed by glass shattering, and a voice screaming his name. "Uncle Starscream! Star broke something again!"

"I did not!"

"You did too!"

"Girls," Starscream stated, getting up to see what all the fuss was about. Star and Firecracker were in the middle of the floor with a broken energon cube. He shook his helm while he went to get some cleaning supplies.

"Don't touch that glass," he ordered as he left.

The girls obyed and remained where they were until he returned. As he swept the glass up, he asked, "Now, care to explain how this happened and where everyone else is?"

Starscream had agreed to sparkling sit for his friends since he didn't have anything planed for the day.

"We're playing hide-and-seek," Star explained.

Firecracker nodded, "Yeah, and I'm it. I found Star."

"We agreed that they energon thingy would be safe. So I ran for it."

"And I chased after her."

"I touched safe."

"But she hit the thingy too hard and a cube fell over."

Starscream chuckled amusedly and stated, "At least you didn't cut yourselves. And I'm afraid the game's over."

"Aww," Star groaned in dismay. "Why?"

"Because it's lunchtime."

Both seekerlings perked up at the mention of lunch. Starscream smiled a little then stood up and, after throwing away the broken glass, called, "Okay everyone, come out. Time to refuel."

Several sparklings came from their hiding places and stood around the adult. He went through them to make sure they were all there. Star, Firecracker, Phoenix, Orion, Sting, Hornet, Jumpstart, Aqua…

…He was missing some.

"Alright kids. I said the game's over. Now come out."

He received no answer. Starscream sighed, "Fine, you've left me no choice but to find you."

He already knew where one was.

He went to the air conditioner and turned the heating unit up to full. Not three klicks later, a sparkling was trying with all his might to remove the cover on the vent.

"Let-me-out! Let-me-out!"

Starscream snickered as he went to the vent. He easily pulled off the cover then took out a small blue and green sparkling with silver optics.

This one was Hound and Blurr's son, Wolf. He was a speedster, like his carrier, but had his father's enhanced senses.

The Seeker sat the little one down, then leaned against the wall, thinking of other places the others could be hiding.

Starscream smirked and walked towards the big screen, the sparklings right behind him. There was a small gap on the bottom shelf where he and Optimus kept their movies. He grabbed something invisible and it was putting up a fight.

"Shadow, stop it," Starscream said sternly.

Shadow obyed and made himself visible. He pouted up at the elder Cybertronian and asked, "How'd you find me?"

"You still need to work on dampening your energy signature."

"Oh."

Shadow gout up and went to the group of other sparklings.

"Two down, four to go."

He looked at the sparklings and asked, "Could you all get on the couch and sit still until I find the others?"

They nodded and obyed. He turned on the T.V. and put on a children's program for them. They all sat and watched the show as if in a trance. Starscream went into his berth room and walked into the wash racks.

There he found Code Red and Sunny. Both were just like their carriers.

"How many times have I told you two not to come into mine and Optimus' berth room?"

Code Red shrugged. "We don't know…"

"Six?" his cousin offered.

"Try thirty-two hundred. Now get out and on the couch."

Both obyed without question. They feared and hated the "carrier voice". When carriers used that voice, it meant what they said was law and not to be argued with. It meant there would be punishment for them if they even dared to disobey. And the fact that their parents gave Starscream permission to spank them if they misbehaved helped their decision as well. They knew he would do it too if he were left with no other option to get their attention and to get them to behave.

The Seeker did a once around the berth room to see if he could find the remaining two sparklings. Not finding them, he walked into the living room, where the others were giggling and laughing at their show.

He leaned against the wall again and began to think where the last two sparklings could be.

His optics came to Optimus' desk. The data-pads that had been stacked neatly were scattered. Signifying that someone had bumped into the desk or moved them. The Seeker smirked.

He walked to the desk then rested his hand ontop of it. He knocked on the top twice and waited. The sparkling hiding underneath, came out knowing he had been found.

This one was D.J., Prowl and Jazz's little one. His armor was entirely back with a few splashes of white. His helm had audio horns and a chevron. The chevron was bright red and his optics were sky blue.

D.J. looked up at the Seeker and asked, "How'd ya know?" D.J. liked talking like his carrier, even though Prowl was trying to teach him about proper grammar.

Starscream smiled and answered, "You messed up the data-pads."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Starscream chuckled amusedly and patted D.J. on the helm. "Go watch T.V. And after I find Mirra we'll have lunch."

"Okay."

The sparking joined his friends in front of the T.V. and started laughing with them. Starscream looked at the T.V. to see what was so funny. He looked in time to see a cartoon coyote get blown to ash. The coyote blinked twice, then held up a sign that read, "Ouch!"

Starscream chuckled. Couldn't beat the classics.

He thought about where his daughter might be hiding. She wasn't in the living room. She wasn't foolish enough to disobey him and go into his room without permission.

Which left only one other place. Her room.

He walked to the door that had Skymirra's name in big blue letters, and went inside. The room looked like a normal six year old's. Toys scattered everywhere, bed unmade, books on the floor instead of on the shelves. And he didn't even want to think about the condition of her wash racks.

The jet-former took a step forward and winced. He had just stepped on something gooey and sticky. He looked and saw the remains of an old energon sweet.

'That's it, she's cleaning this place up tomorrow whether she likes it or not.'

That was the only thing Starscream truly hated about parenting. The messes.

After getting the goo off his ped, he began looking for his daughter. "Come on Mirra," he called, "Game's over. You need to come out now."

He received no response.

But he did hear a shuffle.

He smirked as he looked towards the berth.

Of course.

He kneeled down beside it and lifted the blue berth spread. He looked and saw his daughter. "Hi Daddy!" The seekerling greeted happily as he crawled out from underneath the berth.

"Hi Mirra. Had fun hiding under there?"

"Not really. It's really cramped and hard to move."

"Then why didn't you come out when I called?"

"Because I thought Code Red and Sunny were trying to trick me again."

"Ah, I see. Well, how about you go into the living room and watch some T.V. while I get lunch ready?"

"Okay Daddy."

Skymirra ran to the other room, excited about lunch. Starscream smiled and got up, following her out. They were all so sweet. Even the twin cousins.

But great Primus oh mighty they could be a handful sometimes!

He got several small cubes and filled them with energon, then put them on a tray. After handing everyone a cube, he joined the sparklings in watching the Looney Tunes.

He sat in Optimus' lazy chair since the couch was occupied. Skymirra abandoned her spot on the couch in favor of crawling into her carrier's lap. The Seeker smiled as she cuddled into him and drank from her cube happily.

"Daddy," she piped up as a commercial came on.

"Yes sweet-spark?"

"How'd you get those scars on your wing?"

Starscream looked at the scars she was indicating. He sighed, "They're something I received during the war."

The sparklings all looked up, a hopeful gleam in their optics. They all loved to hear stories about the Great War all their parents fought in and were eager to hear another amazing tale about it.

"What happened?" Skymirra asked anxiously.

"…I'll tell you when you're older."

Everyone groaned in disappointment. The Seeker's infant then inquired, "Aww, why?"

Starscream smiled sadly then stroked her helm. "It isn't exactly a happy story. But I will tell you this; I got it while I was carrying you. And if it hadn't been for you…I wouldn't have made it."

Skymirra snuggled into her carrier's cockpit to soothe him and stated, "I'm glad you made it Daddy."

"Me too."

The sparklings finished their energon shortly after the episode of Looney Tunes was over.

They all began to yawn and stretched a few klicks later. The air was nice and warm, which was very pleasant because of the colder weather outside. Their tanks were filled, and they were tired from their game.

Starscream picked Skymirra up and held her as he walked to his berth room. He sat her down on his berth and gathered up some blankets and several pillows. He walked out and Skymirra followed after him sleepily.

The Seeker made a nice, big, comfy pallet for the sparklings.

"Nap time," he stated.

The little ones left the couch and each grabbed a pillow that Starscream had laid on the floor. Each found a comfortable spot on the pallet and one by one, went into recharge.

Starscream smiled, they were so cut and peaceful when in recharge.

He sat back on the couch and continued looking over his data-pads. He remained undisturbed for about two mega-cycles before someone walking in.

"Starscream?" Skyfire called.

"Shhh!" The Seeker turned in his seat to face his friend and put a finger over his lips. "They're recharging," he explained in a whisper.

Normally the sparklings could recharge through anything, but he wasn't taking any chances. "Oh, sorry," the shuttle mech apologized in a hushed tone. "I just came to pick up Auron."

Starscream nodded and said, "He's beside Shadow."

"'Kay." Skyfire went to the pallet and gently picked up his son. The mini-shuttle former wrapped his arms around his carrier's neck as he continued to recharge. Skyfire smiled and patted Auron's back. He looked at Starscream and said, "Thanks for watching him Starscream."

"Hey, what are friends for? Besides, you'd do the same for me. And Skymirra loves it when there's someone for her to play with."

Skyfire chuckled softly. "See ya around."

"Bye Skyfire."

The shuttle-mech left the Seeker's quarters to go to his own. A few klicks later, Mirage came to pick up Shadow. Shortly after that, Red Alert and Bluestreak came for their twins. Next Ratchet picked up Phoenix. Then Cliffjumper and Bumblebee came for their triplets. Hound soon came for Wolf. Then Skywarp picked up his daughters. And finally Jazz picked up his son.

Now there was only Skymirra on the pallet. Starscream looked up from his work to glance at his daughter. She had her thumb in her mouth and she was lying on her side.

The Seeker smiled.

Raising Skymirra was a joy sometimes. She was well behaved, most days. But sometimes she just had to have to last word in an argument. And one of her greatest faults was her temper. But she was also creative. She loved to play with her friends. And she never did anything that got her into serious trouble. And she was fairly intelligent for her age. She was curious about anything and everything new. She would observe it at first until she knew whether the object of her attention was safe or not. And even when it wasn't safe, she would still try her luck.

She also had several unique abilities. They were still developing, of course, but she already had a firm grasp on one. It was the one she learned when she was still in Starscream's reproductive chamber. She could enter anyone's dreams. She only used the ability to wake Starscream or Optimus up when she had a bad dream and wanted to spend the rest of the night with them.

The door opened again. Starscream knew who it was. "Hello Optimus," he greeted, not looking away from Skymirra.

"Hello Love." The Matrix bearer sat beside his mate and put his arm around his shoulders. The Seeker leaned into his side and asked, "What did I do?"

Optimus looked at his mate and asked, "What do you mean?"

"What did I do to receive this blessed life? To deserve such a wonderful and kind mate and to have a beautiful, loving daughter."

Optimus smiled and kissed the side of Starscream's helm. "I wonder the same thing, Love."

Starscream sighed contentedly. He didn't know what he did to deserve it. But he treasured this life, his mate, and his daughter with his entire spark.

Starscream looked at Optimus and asked, "Should we take her to her room?"

"Sure. If she recharges there, she'll be sore for a while."

Optimus got up and gingerly picked Skymirra up. The seekerling took her thumb from her mouth and wrapped her arms around her father's neck.

The Seeker caressed her tiny helm, getting her to purr happily in her recharge.

Both Optimus and Starscream walked into Skymirra's room. They tucked her into her berth and both kissed her on her forehead. Then they left.

When outside, Starscream wrapped his arms around Optimus' neck and kissed him passionately. When their lips parted, Starscream whispered, "I love you so much."

Optimus smiled, then nuzzled his cheek.

"I love you too. My beautiful sunset and wonderful new dawn."

THE END!

And there it is! I hoped you all enjoyed reading this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alreted, and favorited this story! I have many more projects going on, and it won't be long before I post another story. But I won't be posting anything in the next five days. I am, quit litterally, being sent to boot-camp. Explain later. But I wanted to post this last chapter before taking off. Again, I thank you all for reading this story. Oh, and there's something I forgot to put in the summary and in the rest of the story. Here it is: NONE OF THIS BELONGS TO ME! THE ONLY THINGS THAT ARE MINE ARE THE OC CHARACTERS!