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Silverbug stepped out to the surface of the planet, night sky vast and shimmering above him. Earth had been his home for the past couple years, and while he couldn't say it was a horrible time, it certainly wasn't the best. He missed Cybertron. And more than that he missed Eukaris. Earth was fine but it wasn't home. Wasn't any of his homes.
The past month he'd been hunting for energon deposits or leading the Autobots astray so the others can work in peace, and it left him more banged up than he'd been in a long time. His frame hurt, his legs sore and processor on the fritz. He transformed, and raced up to the open sky. He knew it was probably a bad idea given how stingy humans were about unauthorized fliers in their airspace, but at the moment he just needed to feel the wind beneath his wings.
The cool night air soothed the pain he'd been feeling, and kept him awake. He figured he should probably go back to the ship for repairs and reports, but he dreaded the thought of Knockout lecturing him again. Or coming back to Airachnid trying to get her nasty claws all up in his wires. The bomber sped up, slicing through the wind and flying upwards.
He reached above where the few clouds dotted the sky, and from there he transformed back to bot mode, jets keeping him from falling. He spun around and faced up to the stars. Staring up at them, he remembered nights just like this one that he'd spent back on his home planet Eukaris. Soaring up above the busy jungles, listening to the wildlife screech and sing and hoot and holler. Flying alongside the flocks of birds before going off on his own to scout out the next best rest spot. It all felt so distant now, and technically, it was. How long had it been— Thousands? Millions of years? He dove down, letting himself speed towards the Earth.
He caught himself, transforming back to bomber mode before ripping back up through the air. The landscape was rather barren but mountainous. If he had to guess, he figured he was in Asia now since he'd flown south from a Russian outpost, though where specifically he was, he couldn't say. His knowledge of Earth geography was shoddy at best.
The stunt made his wings ache, and he cursed his work. He loved being a scout, it's all he'd ever been after all, but ever since the war started he'd found his enjoyment waning more often. He was always a nitro junkie- it's why he loved the job- it's just that after a while, seeing the Sparkless bodies of fallen comrades can get old.
Tearing them apart for material and any energon that might be left, constantly under threat of joining them if one wrong move was made. Always in the crossfire.
It was all he could do now.
Megatron recently had been working him to his limits, and he debated for a moment if he should just quit. Then the thought of getting the Spark ripped out of him set him straight. He couldn't quit. Megatron would have his head for that. Silverbug briefly thought about joining Starscream to kill him, but he knew that'd quickly end in failure. If the great commander Starscream couldn't kill him by now, what shot did Silverbug have?
He found a suitable cliff to land on, going back to base mode and rolling over onto the cold, grassy terrain. He sighed, and stretched out.
“Primus, when's this stupid war ending?”
He stared up, not expecting an answer but still feeling mild disappointment when no one responded.
“Dedicated my life to you, tryna do the best I can to help everyone the only way I know how, but still nothing.”
He sat up and tore the grass from the dirt and threw it up into the air. Dull confetti rained down onto his pale frame.
“Primus, please. I can't keep doing this. What the hell do I have to do to get you to answer me? I'm only one mech! Please just tell me what to do!”
Silverbug smacked his fists to the ground like a petulant toddler and huffed.
“Why should I expect anything else? Who do I think I am, Optimus? Get over yourself ‘bugs…" he sighed, taking his visor off and rubbing his hands over his face.
"I'll keep trying, Primus, I promise. Just, I need some kinda sign. Some- I dunno- thing to tell me which way to go.”
He looked to the heavens above, searing red eyes scanning for anything that would give him the solace he needed. A comet then streaked through the sky, and vanished as quickly as it came. It was going east.
Silverbug's wings drooped.
“Right. I guess that tracks... Y'know, you're a real dick, man.”
He got up and shook the grass off him, kicking the ground. ‘Back to Nemesis then.’
He put his visor back on then jumped off the cliff's edge to transform, once again flying off into the quiet night.