Note: I know it has taken me far too long to finish this fic and for that I'm sorry - but at least now it's done. I hope all of you who followed the story enjoyed it and are satisfied with the ending as well. Thanks for all the comments, follows and favs!

Cleanup

Prowl directed the Autobots during the attack, while Optimus Prime had to be with the Seekers. There wasn't much time to contemplate the changes but it felt amazing to have access to his battle computer again, to be able to plan and plot ahead freely. They all luxuriated briefly in the feeling of freedom before the battle began but soon they had to act. The hidden weapons were distributed, the older ones going to the weaker shooters, while Bluestreak got the best they could scrounge up. Wheeljack gleefully put together some explosives, primitive by his standards, but adequate for the job – that is, for Bumblebee and Jazz blowing up the defense artillery so that the Seekers could come in safely.

Once Mirage reported Megatron and Soundwave collecting the remaining Decepticons in the main plaza, they all left the barracks in the agreed courses; the Aerialbots jumping into the air with a joy hardly dampened by the impending battle to join the incoming Seekers, the rest of them closing on around the Decepticons, picking off any stragglers, herding the rest into the ambush. It was easier than any of them thought, with Skyfire relaying all of them the movements of all troops and the Cons so disorganized – the whole operation was completely the opposite of that final, fatal battle vorns ago. Here, they were the focused, determined and stronger side.

Then, after some shooting and scuffles, with Megatron deactivated and Soundwave surrendering, the battle was over in mere breems. The Cons were either offline or stasis cuffed, under guard of the noncombatants and as they counted them afterwards, there was just a single casualty. Again, that long past battle came to many processors with the similarities and the mirror results; only this time they've won as decisively as the Decepticons did at that long past occasion.

There would be no slaves this time, they all knew. Optimus Prime has told that in no uncertain terms and even the most vengeful of them was tempered somewhat by their own stint in slavery. It truly didn't solve anything. Starscream's little behavioral codes, curbing aggression did more for the peacefulness of the Cons than anything they could invent – and any hurts, lost comrades and energon-baths were things of the long forgotten past. The time came when they could truly try to live together – and do meaningful work, as Cybertron needed a lot more work to clean up, rebuild and eventually to repopulate. A lot of work still for the scant few dozens of mechs they had.

So the collected, onlined and fixed Cons were brought to the main plaza, the Autobots around them, while Soundwave agreed to surrender – and in return they had gotten so favorable terms that probably no loosing army has ever got in any war on any planet before. Most of the Decepticons didn't mind it in the least, fed up by endless war and drunken peace equally; in fact mostly they needed guidance more than anything else. Their education lacking, in time it took up their spare time beside manual work that was compulsory now for every mech be it Autobot or Decepticon. The rebuilding took all of them and would do so for many vorns to come and in the meanwhile all faction symbols could scratch and fade from their plates.

A separate affair was to deal with Earth and the Humans who, after all this time, dozens of generations for them, were understandably suspicious of all Cybertronians. No matter how sincere and well-meaning Optimus Prime was, when none of the Humans who knew and trusted him were alive and the present day leaders only ever knew of Decepticons, exploiting their planet ruthlessly for as long as they remembered. Talks with them were slow, hesitant and wrought with mistrust. The energon shipments were of course stopped and there were even voices that demanded reparations as well for the damages the planet and its ecosystem suffered. Optimus Prime was sympathetic to them up to a point, but with Cybertron in an even worse shape, he could not and for a long time yet would not give such help for the Humans.

It ended the abundance of energon for Cybertron. The Decepticons had huge stockpiles of it, mostly in the form of high-grade, but it was enough for some vorns for all of them. Then the Seekers brought back the energon-producing radiation panels that Starscream had just developed, back before he was deactivated and which worked on just about any kind of radiation. The stockpiles lasted comfortably until more panels were built and installed to supply them with a strong, steady energon income. In time, as the news of a real Prime living and ruling on Cybertron again spread in the galaxy, even some Neutrals started to trickle back to see the conditions for themselves.

Things looked to be on an upward course in all matters. There was even talk of having sparklings again, returning to the old ways, but most of them decided to whip the planet in shape and not bring sparklings into the midst of a gutted planet with the still raging acid rainfalls and electric storms. The planet's ecosystem has never been strong but the eons long war destroyed even the semblance of the balance in it and it was a long process to correct. The cleanup effort was just one tiny part of things beside that.

Promise

The scientists of course took their promise to Starscream seriously and utilizing the well-stocked lab that Shockwave left behind him they started to delve into the mystery of the ghost and the possibilities of bringing him back to life. Although they had more pressing problems, like the clearing of the atmosphere so the acid rains would stop, they felt beholden to make good on their promise and the project provided the necessary break from the main research.

They quickly discovered though that none of the scanners could detect the ghost no matter what Starscream tried to do about it; it was still only Skyfire who could feel him directly and talk to him within his own processor. It was a close contest between Ratchet and Perceptor as to which one of them was more shocked by the scientifically unexplainable phenomena. The shuttle at least had the first-servo experience to prove it true to him but the others only had his words – and an occasional cold touch – to go by.

In the absence of hard facts, it was Wheeljack, who suggested a more practical approach. Since it was Starscream's will to remain alive as a ghost, he said it was reasonable to suppose that his will should be the thing enabling him to take residence in a new frame. The main problem was the spark of course, Starscream's distinctive essence that was gone and no mech, not even the Seeker had any idea how to reacquire it. But they did everything else they could, creating a spark chamber to match his old one and life support for it in case he could reinhabit it.

Starscream tried to enter and stay in the chamber for what felt like the millionth time. No matter how he willed it, how he decided that now he would succeed, how determined and single-minded he was… it never worked. The crystalline chamber sparkled coldly in the lab's lighting, throwing the white flickers around – but inside it was dark, silent and uninviting. Starscream never felt it his, no matter how he wanted it so or how he cursed it so. There were times when only his incorporeal state stopped him to destroy the thing and probably the lab too around it.

"WHY? Why doesn't it work? WHY?" – he raged futilely one dark cycle, several groons after the experiments started. Skyfire winced at the waves of fury and desperation that throbbed through him as the Seeker stormed around the lab unseen. Starscream's bad moods always made his processor ache, partly in honest sympathy, partly with the strange resonance that connected them. Too bad that he couldn't project calm onto the ghost to any effect.

"Tell me Skyfire, what do I have to do?" – his scream was tapering off to a keening cry as the anger suddenly turned into pain. Never the most stable mech, his moods were downright mercurial since the ghost-state began – "Or Primus, that fragger…"

Time seemed to stop in the lab, even Skyfire's sympathetic visage froze into a mask. The small noises and conversations all died down until only silence echoed within the walls. Starscream looked around, taking in the frozen figures of Perceptor and Ratchet, the rays of light coming from Optimus Prime's chest. The Matrix, he thought nervously, the fragging artifact that robbed him of his Trine and frame. The light rays melded into a shining sphere that floated in front of him, looking at the Seeker with no optics but still perceivable. The voice that called to him was strangely and perfectly normal and calm.

"Starscream."

"Y-you aren't…"

"Primus." – the smile was audible in the tone.

"Frag. What do you want… this time? Haven't you meddled enough?"

"I didn't meddle with you, my child."

"I'm just a fragging ghost!"

"That was not my doing. When you refused to return to the Well, you set your self outside my laws. What is it now that you ask from me?"

"I just want to live. I wasn't ready to die."

"You could have lived again. None of my children truly die."

"Reborn as a helpless, nameless sparkling, giving up everything I worked for? Never! I am Starscream. I won't, I can't let that go. I deserve a life! Everyone else got new chances, but you threw me away!"

"Starscream, you got uncountable chances." – if a God's voice could be wry, then Primus's now was.

"With Megatron? You call those… new chances?"

"It has always been up to you what to do with them."

"You owe me one more… you used me to give a new life to your favourite, Optimus. You robbed me of everything so he could triumph and I had to watch…" – Starscream was almost overflowing with bitterness. How could a god be so cruel?

"It wasn't intended so you could see it… it was you who stayed. But if you truly see it that way, then I offer you one more chance."

Starscream looked back to the godly apparition, not daring to hope yet.

"You can still return to me…" – Primus's voice was expectant, almost hopeful, but Starscream didn't seem happy about that choice still and the voice went on – "…or be given another chance to live now, as you wish it."

"Of course I choose the latter! But… I want my frame back!"

"No. That belongs to my Chosen now."

Starscream pouted a little, but didn't want to press his luck, not with Primus, a god. It rankled him to back down, but even he felt that he shouldn't press his luck. Such as it was…

"All right then… what do I do?"

"Nothing." – the smile was again audible in the voice even as the apparition disappeared, the light-show dissipating back into the Matrix.

Starscream felt a gentle but insistent force directing him towards the empty spark chamber that the scientist built him to take residence in. It didn't look very appealing, but it was better than being incorporeal. He moved towards it, peripherally noticing that Optimus Prime connected to the contraption, hopefully downloading the memories that belonged to him. As he got closer, instead of the cold, empty box that it felt like before, he suddenly sensed the chamber emitting warmth and welcome. Up close to it, he saw the familiar colour shining from it and even felt the sparkpulse through the crystalline walls, the well-known rhythm of his own old spark.

Merging with it felt like going home, a feeling so right and natural that he wanted to cry, laugh and scream at once. Starscream suddenly felt the limited extent of his present 'body', and while it was poor and next to nothing, nevertheless it was real in a way he missed things being for so long. He had his processor and memory banks back and through the hardline, he sent wordless thanks to Optimus Prime for those. Luxuriating in the emotions of living and sensing again he barely perceived the others standing around, still frozen in timelessness. Of course, they haven't heard the conversation… Starscream sought the vocalizer that was connected to the contraption and utilized it. Time started again with a lurch, like a jet taking off.

"Now. I need a frame. A Seeker frame!" – he snapped, in a near approximation of his old voice.

"Holy Primus on a bicycle!" – Ratchet reeled back from the table – "How the frag did you do that now?"

It was Optimus Prime answering him while disconnecting the leads from the spark chamber.

"Primus saw it fit to give Starscream another chance. Now we have to give him a new frame."

"Better yet…" – the disembodied vocalizer screeched – "I will design one and you will build it for me."

Skyfire smothered a smile as he turned away. Yes, it was definitely Starscream. As he circled around the table one of his servos stroked the bare spark chamber around one edge. In response the field surrounding the chamber shuddered, the shining light flickered and the vocalizer spewed static. Skyfire smirked again.

"Thanks, Fire." – the dry voice sounded like it was thanking his efforts but the shuttle knew it better. He patted the chamber openly then, catching the half-smile of Optimus Prime. The vocalizer spluttered with static again.

"Build me a cover first. I'm naked and I'm being molested!" – despite of the gruff voice, all mechs present heard the playful, amused undertones. Ratchet chuckled openly in the background.

"You want to be in a box, Star?"

"Primus forbid…!" – the tone shuddered, this time in fear. – "Just… just don't touch me like that, Fire. Not until I have servos to pay you back!"

"Should we attach your null-rays first?" – Wheeljack added to the conversation that was becoming almost giddy with success.

"Not a bad idea." – Starscream approved – "But still, servos first. Ratchet, can I overload the way I am now?"

"Primus! Barely more than a vocalizer but already wants to frag." – Ratchet ex-vented, half outraged, half amused – "Yes, you can, by the way. Sparks if you've forgotten. You don't even need servos for it."

"No, they are needed to strangle Skyfire."

"I thought you wanted to overload him?"

"Not while he is a fragging tease!"

The laughter mingled in the lab from several vocalizers. They haven't solved the mystery of Starscream's ghost, probably never would, but he was back and sounding mighty happy to be that way. To build a frame was nearly nothing compared to re-igniting a spark, even if Starscream were driving them to madness by his demands for his new form and there was always a Seeker or three underfoot in the lab, wanting to see Primus's miracle, the returned Starscream.

-o-o-o-

A decaorn later the frame was ready and Ratchet carefully lifted the spark into its new place, connecting it and closing up the chest armour. It usually took around a breem for the spark to integrate fully and now they were eagerly awaiting for Starscream's onlining. There was even a bet going round as to what his first words would be; the most mechs voting for frag, slag or variations thereof, with Skyfire's name in close second. The latter meant that many mechs noticed just how much the obnoxious Seeker and the patient shuttle came together while the first was a ghost. Some even knew their shared history from the ever-so-gossipy Seekers.

Ratchet had more worries than Starscream's first words. They built the frame from scratch and while Starscream trusted his abilities and his design implicitly, Ratchet was worried. Any number of things could go wrong when a brand new frame is constructed and the spark implanted the first time. His concern was only matched by Skyfire's who did most of the actual work on the new frame and was now hovering uncomfortably close behind the medic.

The frame was in itself a masterpiece. It resembled to Starscream's original frame, but somewhat sleeker and crammed with dozens of improvements that the Seeker invented or demanded. The grey metal slowly warmed as they looked on and the colour-nanites started to inhabit it, giving him the appearance of life. They were familiar colours, Starscream apparently wanting to be no different than before. Then the vents whirred to life, the fuel pump started to throb and the myriad of small noises rose that come with the healthy working of a frame and the onlookers started to hope that things would go fine.

Skyfire later always thought that it was quite anticlimactic how the whole thing ended after so much excitement. Starscream unshuttered his optics, focused them, opened his mouth to say something while the mechs around waited with bated vents – and crashed from a minuscule wire connected wrong. It took all of five kliks to repair it, a breem to scrape the fainted Skyfire up from the floor and the next time everything went without a hitch.

"Slagging glitches!"