Protectors Of The Young.
Summary: Plot bunny based heavily upon the TF Bunny farm on Livejournal by Sanjuno. What if Seekers were programmed to protect sparklings above all else? What would happen if they found sparklings in the midst of a battle or mission?
Rating: Probably T, but M for safety.
Disclaimer: All hail Michael Bay and Paramount who brought us the Transformers 07 movie, itself begat by G1. (In other words, it ain't mine.)
Protectors Of the Young.
Prologue.
They had known it had to happen one day, they had known the Autobots would make a mistake, or let their guard down, or just get unlucky.
For seven long years the Decepticons had tried at various times to storm, sneak in, and remote-spy on the Autobot Base, but the thick walls with anti-warp fields and sensor scrambling technology, door-mounted optic scans, vocal recognition, and security software that seemed immune even to Frenzy's skills, had confounded them at every attempt. Twice they had come close, only to be thwarted by being discovered, once by internal scans and once by being unlucky enough to be seen. The speed and manner with which they had been removed suggested just one thing: there was something in that Base the Autobots didn't want the Decepticons to see.
It was the Command Trine who were relieving the boredom of their useless surveillance of the Base by riding the storm winds who were fortuitous enough to see lightning strike a nearby pylon. It was Starscream and Skywarp who realised the potential significance when the lights in the Autobot Base flickered and died. It was Skywarp who took the risk of trying to warp inside the building before the Autobot's emergency generator started up.
Skywarp's risk was a calculated one, and it paid off. For a few seconds between the main power failing and the emergency generator coming online, the anti-warp field faltered and died. It was only for five seconds, but that was enough time for Skywarp to get inside. Once inside he could warp within the base wherever he pleased. He warped to the security office, startling Red Alert so fast that he didn't even get a chance to call the alarm before Skywarp hit him on heavy stun. Skywarp was no computer scientist, but had learned enough to alter the Autobot Base's sensors to be blind to the presence of three extra Sparks. Then he warped to the Base entrance, and peered out of the door. Taking careful aim, he stunned Ironhide, using two blasts to be certain, and watched the big mech collapse, having never seen what had hit him, with a certain satisfaction. Skywarp ran over to the gatehouse and scanned the controls, noting with satisfaction that not only were they simple switches, but that each switch was labelled with its function.
He switched off all the security cameras, turned off the system failure alarms, and then he turned off, one by one, all the security features. He activated his comm system, calling to Starscream and Thundercracker, who were still circling above.
'Come on down, you are clear for landing, repeat, green, you are cleared for landing,' he chuckled, and then, in an attempt to avoid detection for as long as possible, warped to a random location within the Autobot base, a room on a map labelled as empty that he had located earlier.
Starscream and Thundercracker circled down, and landed in the courtyard silently, running for the Base entrance, and running quietly down the corridors. When the corridor bifurcated, Starscream took one offshoot and Thundercracker the other, both slightly puzzled that they had not been contacted by Skywarp to arrange to meet up and plan a course of action.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
There was a reason for this, a very good reason. The supposedly 'empty' room that Skywarp had warped to was very definitely not empty. It was full, full of berths, adult berths. These were not at all unusual, in fact they were standard, unremarkable plastic pallets, but the way they were divided up, and what lay within the divisions, was very definitely not standard. Skywarp now knew what the Autobots had been so desperate to hide.
Little servos whined as small forms turned, and set upon set of tiny blue optics unshuttered to regard him with a wide, curious, and innocent gaze. As the sparklings all became aware of his presence, they clicked and whirred in curiosity, some raising claws or hands towards him.
Skywarp had been told, long ago, about the unalterable and unbypassable circuitry and programming built in to all Seekers that, due to the need for its activation being rarely encountered, was almost never triggered into activity. He had almost forgotten about it as the war proceeded and spread across the galaxy. However, at the sight of all of those defenceless, unprotected sparklings, the buried programming deep within his processors kicked in.
Starscream and Thundercracker were unimportant right now. The war and the reasons for it were pushed to the back of his processors. The antipathy he was supposed to feel towards any and all Autobots was forgotten as the ancient but inviolable programming pushed to the fore.
Skywarp, heedless of all else except the sparklings, dropped to a crouch. Extending his arms invitingly, he began to emit a calming, melodic, cooing sound.
