This is an AU Transformers fanfiction, based in the MovieVerse. I am going to be differing a lot from the film series in this fanfic, I hope that you enjoy it, but if it isn't for you I understand.
I WILL ONLY BE CONTINUING IF THE STORY GETS A GOOD RESPONSE, otherwise it'll stay as a concept alone, so please if you want more review, follow and favourite. That being said, I do not own Transformers, only my OC character. ENJOY! :3
The simple bliss of nothing.
It seems much more wonderful than others make it seem. The ability to simply do, and be, nothing. What worries can you carry, what burdens or responsibilities? True there seems to be very little positive experience to be gained from living in such a state. It is so unusual for his spark to be so at peace and the absence of everything, even the good aspects of function are things that he is all too happy to sacrifice if only he can stay this way. The afterlife will be more than he ever expected if this is the extent of it.
After so many long days, or is it years? The sound of humming, albeit faint sounds like a rattling drum in his audio receptors. It unnerves him. What could this sound be, what is making it, and why? The effort of thought begins to creep back into his CPU, it was previously redundant and its return could only be brought on by one thing.
Immediately his responses conflict. Does he want to leave, isn't it simply easier to stay in this state, where there is no pain, no humiliation or servitude? To stay though, would seem cowardly, to run away from what is happening is basically a desire to keep himself as he is. Content to be simply nothing. That is not who he is. Always he strives to make himself better, to prove himself the stronger, the more intelligent! This is impossible if he does not have the courage to emerge and face whatever challenges lay in wait.
The drumming grows louder, and louder until it is a thunderous roar his sensors cannot drown away. It makes him want to howl, to pound his servos against anything he can reach to try and halt the source of the sound. A low vibration now begins, rumbling through his being. Almost shocking him with sensation after so long being deprived of it. This, like the drumming, builds until it seems to be shaking him apart at the seams.
A loud scream floods his audio equipment and he finds the stimulation of his sensors all too much after the extended period of depravation. Without warning, the newly rebooted systems crash, sending the mech into another round of unconsciousness – even such an essential stimuli after all this time seemingly too much for him to handle.
Bright, eager optics watch from the nearby cages, three neatly clustered together around the large tablet in the center of the room. For so long they have been waiting for their comrade to be resurrected, and the time is finally upon them.
Each in a separate cage, the three captives stand as close to the bars as their restraints will allow. The two mechs straining at them even now to try and reach their fallen brother – who they never thought they would see again. It is almost bitter sweet the way in which his life is being restored, only for him to be confined in this space for the rest of his days, or until Lockdown decides he is too bored and removes them for his amusement.
Watching the mercenaries working on their comrade proves to be a torturous experience for the trio, every wince and moan of pain seems to make their tensions run to new heights. True though it is that what Lockdown has ordered is painful for him, in the end it will ultimately only lead to more good than bad. He will be restored, and back among them to help them eventually escape. If such a thing is even possible.
Hearing one of the mechs curse, and struggle against his bonds once more makes the situation even worse. Something has to be done to keep the situation at hand, but what? Will anything that can be said even sway the emotions that the two mechs must be feeling right now? Regardless of the effectiveness, it has to be tried.
"Thundercracker. You need to calm down. Everything is going well." A soft voice sounds from the middle cell. The only femme on the ship, a Decepticon by the name of Shocklock, steps up to try and calm her fellow team mates. Their aggravation will only lead to a confrontation with their captor, and right now, with their comrade's resurrection imminent that is not what they need.
"He is in pain!" Thundercracker rages, straining against his bonds still, the tremor in his transmission only making his anguish all the clearer.
"This pain is only a prelude to new life, you want your trine back together do you not? Well this is a procedure required for that to happen." She continues, despite her own upset at the sight they are witnessing, her bond is not as strong as theirs to the mech laying on the slab in front of them.
"We need to help him. I need to help him." He hisses, the gestures and expressions he makes a mystery to all but himself and the mercenaries outside of his cage. For this reason alone, he holds back the distress from his facial plates, he will not give them the satisfaction of seeing what their actions are doing to him.
"Look…" a quiet voice whispers, the third member of their party since his capture has been almost silent. Much to the distress of Thundercracker. The normally teasing and joking Skywarp has barely spoken, except to reassure his team-mates when asked that he is functioning in an acceptable manner.
Attention now locks back onto the reassembled body on the table, for a brief moment the air stops circulating in Shocklock's vents as she sees a faint light coming from the spark chamber visible through the open chest plates. The light grows stronger, and stronger with each passing second and the hope within the three captives grows much in the same way. In truth Thundercracker feared that such a thing could even be done, or that his friend will be brought back but merely a sparkles shell of his former self. The pure blue light only shows how wrong he is about that assumption.
Skywarp gasps in surprise as the chest plates loudly slide back into place, closing securely against any outside influence. His trine mate is going to be coming back online any second now, and then, he knew that they will be able to escape. He always had better ideas than Thundercracker and himself combined, so he has faith that he can think of something to get all four of them off this nightmare ship.
A last red optic flickers into life, then another. Visual sensors taking in information for the first time in many months, processing them a little slower than usual but processing none the less. He is strapped down to some sort of metal workbench, those working on him are not any bot that he recognises and from the green optics, they are certainly no Decepticons either. Faintly he struggles against the strong bonds holding him down, until he realises it futile and simply takes in the surroundings, logging all data he can in case it somehow becomes useful later on. There is no doubt in his processors that he has somehow been captured, yet, what is unclear is why. Or why his captors had decided to restart his systems like this.
Whoever it is clearly wants them alive. That, is something very useful to know indeed.
Without much ceremony his restraints are removed, yet his body still too groggy and unresponsive to effectively dispatch his captors as they drag him towards the sides of the room. Growling, he bucks against their hold, digging his heeled pedes into the metal floor in an attempt to make their transport of them harder. Just because he is more than aware he cannot stop them does not mean that he intends to make their job any easier after all. His sensitive body is thrown, wings first into one of the cells making him cry out as the pain is triple what it would usually feel to his boggled sensors.
The metallic grinding noise signals not only the doors to the cell being closed, but the attachment of restraints to the seekers pedes. He isn't going anywhere, anytime soon with the strength of these binds. Cursing, and aiming a strong punch at the wall of the cell, he barely has time to notice that there is another being inside of the prison with him. His sensors only detect them, when they engage in audio with him for the first time.
"Starscream?"
Eyes narrow he turns from scowling at the wall and almost shrieks at the bot to shut the frag up, when he recognises her. Clenching a servo, Starscream cannot help but wish to punch the wall again in his anger. How can she be here? What is a more accurate question perhaps is, what events have come to pass to bring her here?
"Shocklock." He murmurs.
"It is good to see you again Starscream. There are some pleasant things to come out of our imprisonment here…for that I thank Primus." She whispers, her quiet tones are greatly accepted as he still adjusts to picking up transmissions again.
Starscream grits his dental plates, grinding them together in anger in humiliation. Not only has he been captured like a common ground mech, but he has failed in one of the most important tasks he has charged himself with! After the demise of Megatron, he took up the mantle of the leader of the Decepticons and he swore that he would ensure the safety of any femmes in the cause. That includes Shocklock. Here she sits, her optics a dull cranberry and she seems all too ready to care for him. What of her? Stuck as a prisoner, at the mercy of a ship full of mechs, without anyone to protect her. He is a failure! Nothing but a failure as a leader.
"Have you been treated respectfully?" Starscream asks, his normally high pitched whining tone, rather low and laced with malice.
Shocklock evades his query, knowing that she can inform him of what has happened on Cybertron later on and that he does not need to know what has happened on board the ship. If he does wish to know later on, there is always time to inform him. Time is one thing that they are not short upon being incarcerated, seemingly together.
"Answer my question femme!" Starscream shrieks, slamming his open servo against the heavy metal of the cell. Her silence enrages him further, taking it as a confirmation that what his processors are assuming, is correct. If the captors have violated the only Decepticon femme in their possession, he will send them to Primus without a second thought. His murderous internal monologue is interrupted unexpectedly, only furthering the anger coursing through his systems.
"Starscream!" Thundercracker shouts from his cell to the left, thumping his hand on the wall to attract his attention, "You piece of slag, leaving us alone like that. You should have brought us with you to Earth when you returned, not send us off on some fragging energon mission!"
"Thundercracker, is Skywarp here with you?" he asks, optics glinting as a smirk crawls onto his lip plates. The trine could be back together again, and if that is the case, escaping from this frag hole might not be as hard as he thought initially. His good mood even allows the insults his inferior threw his way to slip past without reprimand. Despite not knowing for sure that his 'Lord' is offlined, Starscream can take a pretty good guess at the outcome of the battle in the human city of Chicago.
"Brother you are a sight for sore optics!" Skywarp chirps up, his tone is already lifted and it does Shocklock and Thundercracker good to hear that, raising their already boosted morale further.
A devious flicker crosses Starscream's optics, and Shocklock cannot help but smirk. That is a look she has been very much hoping to see. It means that he has an idea, that might spring them from this trap of theirs. It might take a long time, and it may put them in danger but it will be worth it to escape from this prison, and continue the work of the Decepticon cause. Megatron might be dead, and their sparklings aborting but there are still Decepticons fighting the fight. With a good leader, they could still strike back against the humans. Show the insignificant beings the error of their ways for being so…irritating.
|Internal communication link, Skywarp, Thundercracker.| Starscream demands, keeping this communication secret from Shocklock. It concerns her welfare after all, something she seems keen to keep from him.
|Screamer, you have no idea how worried we were…when your communication link died we knew the worst had happened.| Skywarp buzzes in, his nickname sending a shudder of annoyance through Starscream's systems which he fights to ignore.
|What happened?| The question from Thundercracker is plain, simple, and it brings up the humiliation that he has just been successful in quashing. To have been defeated by fleshlings! Such puny weak creatures brings shame to his rank, and to his fellow trine members. They can sense his discomfort through their bond, weak though it might be, and gratefully Thundercracker diverts the conversation. |Do you have a plan, Starscream?|
|Not yet, I am working on one as we speak but I need some more intellect. You must tell me everything that you know about our situation. Fill me in on the detail.|
|We were kidnapped while on our way back to Cybertron, we were able to scavenge a good amount of energon. Shocklock had already been captured when we were brought on board the ship.| Thundercracker informs.
|She was taken from Cybertron, she told me. They had come looking for Megatron, but took her when they could not find him. Then he took us too.| Skywarp adds, a tint of shame flavours his next statement, his head bent against his chassis as he remembers the way Shocklock looked when they were first imprisoned alongside her. It had been obvious that Lockdown had been less than gentle in his capture, and it angers him still.
|Who is this, he?| Starscream inquires, his voice returning to its normal high pitched state.
|Lockdown is who has captured us. Who he is working for, we do not yet know.| Thundercracker replies, glad of the internal communications link, it draws no attention from the guards and for discussing things like this, it is almost invaluable. Of course, the reason why it is not currently a four way conversation seems to be quite obvious. Starscream is worried about Shocklock. If it isn't so inappropriate at this moment in time, he would have found his concern endearing. A step back in the right direction for the second in command.
|That slagging mercenary, I should have known he would get himself mixed up in this somehow.| Starscream growls.
The radio silence that falls after his statement only confirms what Thundercracker assumed, that Starscream had opened the discussion to at some point, ask about the femme in his cell. Yet he seems almost hesitant to do so. Rolling his optics, he cannot believe some times the childishness that his fellow trine mate portrays when it comes to emotions.
|While we have been here, we have not witnessed any maltreatment of Shocklock. Before our arrival, we do not know. But perhaps this is not the time to be worried about matters such as th-|
|Silence Thundercracker! I placed her under my protection on Cybertron, and I intend to ensure that she stays protected, any harm done to her only reflects badly on my own reputation. Do not think that it is because of any feelings I have.| Starscream scoffs, but even as he coms that thought, his optics are locked onto her, assessing her form for damage.
|What is that fleshling melody, TC?| Skywarp teases, and despite the trouble it will cause, Thundercracker allows him to continue, just glad he seems to be gradually coming back to his normal playful self |Shocklock and Starscream, kissing in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a sparkling in a-|
|SILENCE!| Starscream screeches down the communications link, before severing it completely, leaving Skywarp chuckling to himself in the adjacent cell. It is good to see that after all that has happened, his trine mate is just as easy to wind up as he has always been and has not lost that trademark shriek of his.
With a soft exhale of air through his vents, Skywarp relaxes in his binds slightly, limbs sagging inside of remaining poker straight. Ignoring the screaming pain in his joints from such an action, releasing himself after remaining so tense for such a long amount of time, he can't help but chuckle to himself quietly.
Even the sound of Starscream having a small tantrum in the cell next to him only makes his laugh grow louder, his lip plates curling up into a smile for the first time in several months. Things have happened today that he didn't even know were possible, his brother is back from the dead, and not only that, he is formulating a plan to get them all out of this Primus forsaken prison. The things that they all have heard screaming and crying out in the dark are bad enough, but, being kept in a box for so long is driving Skywarp crazy.
Yet for the first time in a long time, he feels as if there is hope for them to return to Cybertron, or even return to earth. Hope that they could be anywhere but here.
