Arc 1: 05 Virus

by Macx

Revenge is best served cold -- or in form of a deadly virus that threatens to kill Cybertronian kind. But why are Galvatron and Hot Rod apparently immune?

Virus
by Birgit Staebler

The usual warning: everyone who read my other stories knows what I'm talking about: grammar, hiccups, German/English translation errors. The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are.....
Okay, enough talking about errors, here's the third part to 'Silent Voices' and 'Choices'. It also ties in with 'Broken Wings', which came to life after all that romance/love discussion in this newsgroup. Reading posts leaves some traces..... I posted 'Broken Wings' along with this story, in case someone's remotely interested. :)
Copyrights: Hasbro and Kenner, except for the Sentinels, which were created by my sick little brain cell. :)
Have fun. Comments welcome. Just mail me, I don't bite ... yet, anyway.

"Yeeaahaaaa!"
The blue and yellow jet, looking remotely like a Harrier, though much smoother in design, shot through a cluster of clouds, trailing two other jets, both of them differently colored and built.
One of the trailing jets gained in speed and tried to pass the first one, but suddenly the first jet disappeared toward the ground. It had cut its engines, dropping like a stone. From one second to another the engines kicked in again, propelling the jet forward like a bullet.
"What the ...." Fireflight was a bit astounded, then dove after it. The blue and yellow jet was racing back toward Autobot City. "Cheap trick!" Fireflight protested.
All he heard was laughter and this laughter made the Protectobot increase his speed even more.
"I'll get you yet, F/X!" he cried.
"Come and try," the Sentinel taunted him.
"Let's get 'em!" Voodoo, a Sentinel himself, cried, streaking past Fireflight.
Fireflight laughed, enjoying the wild maneuvers and games.

Midnight stood outside Metroplex, the large city of the Autobots on Earth, watching the three tiny dots in the sky approaching. He appeared like a deep black spot in the bright sunny day, swallowing all the light around him. It made the slim robot appear like a viscious creature out of everyone's nightmare. The softly glowing, green optic screen did nothing to make him look any more trust inspiring. But that was onyl an outside appearance. His inside, his thoughts and personality, were something completely different.
The day was slightly cloudy, which was normal for this time of year, the Sentinel had been told by one of the humans working here. It wasn't yet warm enough for all the snow to melt from the hills and mountains, but it already told of the spring approaching. And just like humans, some robots seemed to have 'spring feelings', their emotions getting slightly out of hand.

Midnight had to grin. He knew exactly who those three dots were and he also knew that he should
tell F/X to lay off and slow down. It wouldn't do to shoot over the Autobot base and scare the righteous.
He voiced his thoughts to his human Interface partner, who sat on the wall beside him, hacking away on a laptop. Steve had raided the Autobots' library, catching up on Earth's history.
"And take the fun out of it for him?" the human asked cheerfully. "You know how he gets when he's into a race. And there's also Voodoo and Fireflight. Try and stop all three of them, Mid. We'll talk again after you've picked your pieces out of the trees....."
The black Sentinel gave him a mock outraged look. "Do you want to say I can't take them on?"
"Never," Steve laughed.
Midnight chuckled. "Sure." He grew serious again. "But I'm also thinking of our still tenuous relationship with the Autobots and how dangerously speeding around the City won't really help." He gave Steve a knowing look. "And I always thought Kyle would be reasonable enough not to let Voodoo get trapped into such a race."
Steven Parker, former military fighter pilot and long-time companion of this menacing looking robot, sighed and shook his head. "Everyone enjoys getting away from real life once in a while, Mid. Kyle's as enthusiastic as Voodoo, and just loves high speed racing." A crooked smile appeared on his face. "And don't tell me you aren't tempted. I know I am."
Midnight had to confess he was tempted to join his friends, but then there was always his more cautious side. If the Sentinel leader began somersaulting and racing through the air ... hm, the impression would be rather bad.
Steve read his expression correctly and smiled. "Lighten up, okay? Everything's fine."
Yes, everything was fine. Since that very first meeting between Rodimus Prime and Midnight and today a lot had happened. The Sentinels had stepped out in the open and the Autobots had, much to Midnight's initial surprise, not shot them at first sight. They had listened, especially Optimus Prime, who, as their leader, would be a crucial asset if he were on their side. He smiled slightly. He mainly owed that to Rodimus Prime, now Hot Rod, someone who had pushed Midnight enough to make it happen.
"Incoming!" Steve yelled and immediately ducked down.
The three jets roared overhead, their engine noises deafening the human and leaving an echoing noise inside Midnight's audio sensors. Steve nearly fell off the wall as air rushed past them and he had all hands full not to let the laptop fall.
"Still think I should let them play?" Midnight asked sweetly.
Steve shot him a mock annoyed look.
"What in the blazin' hell of Alcan Five is going on?!"
Parker smoothed his ruffled hair and grinned at the Autobot running out of the City. Kup stared into the sky, his eyes narrowing at the three jets now racing away from Autobot City.
"F/X and Fireflight are ... smoothing out their relationship," Steve said, still unable to stop grinning. "And Voodoo is just along for the ride."
"Smoothing out?" Kup echoed. "Ah call that reckless racin'! Wait until they're back.... They haven't heard the last of this! Smoothing out! Hah!" He grumbled something under his breath Steve couldn't hear, and was sure he didn't want to hear, and stomped off.
Midnight and his human Interface exchanged a look, then both burst out laughing. Kup telling off F/X would be something. But that also showed how much the old Autobot had accepted the Sentinels, though he had voiced his suspicions vociferously, trying to get Optimus Prime to see what the Sentinels were in his opinion. Midnight was glad that they had been able to convince the old soldier that the Sentinels known to the Autobots were not the same as Midnight's small band of survivors.
"Back to work," Steve said and looked at the screen of the laptop again.
Midnight, still chuckling, left his friend alone and walked back into the city. He wanted to find Hot Rod and see how things were going. As he passed one of the labs assigned to the Sentinels and their Interfaces for their work he was greeted by loud music, mainly drums and some synthesizers. The lab was cluttered with equipment of all kinds and sizes, and in the middle he discovered Winterhawk and Skywolf's Interface Jill McKennan. Shaking his head at the work conditions they mostly preferred -- Jill always said she worked best with rythmic music -- he walked on. Sometimes he really wondered how anyone could get some serious work done while getting assaulted by such noise.

* * *

The room was brightly lit and appeared sterile, the metal shining in a slightly dull light. It didn't reflect the light as much as the woman in the middle of the room would have thought.
'Fascinating', she thought, her scientific mind storing the fact away for further thought when she was out of here. Right now she had to get this deal together and try to make the most out of it.
"I'll guarantee the effect," she told his buyer and possible future client. "They will die within 15 hours, all of them."
The creature, sitting on something that looked like a throne, studied her with those emotionless eyes. It wasn't really sitting down, more levitating in the air, it's green tentacles twitching restlessly. Suddenly the face that had been staring at her for some time changed into a new one as the faceplate rotated to the left. The human woman hated Quintessons. You never knew how to deal with them because they kept changing their faces and you couldn't really read their expressions anyway. 'Curse those robotic life forms.' But, well, they were also willing to pay her for her invention, and that made it bearable to work with them.
"How long does it take for the poison to take effect."
The human grimaced. Poison. "My virus infects the victim within minutes and it takes about an hour for the effects to show, but all the time the virus works inside the mind and body of the infected .... cre .... robot. It's also highly contagious from the beginning."
"What about an antidote?" the Quintesson asked.
"There is none." She sounded very pleased with herself.
The faceplate shifted again and another face stared down at him. "How will we know it works."
She smiled. "Since I anticipated your question I've prepared a test for you." Her smile widened. "I invited some guests ....which will not leave the party alive." The smile turned evil.
The Quintesson stared down at her. "Very well," it said. "If the test is successful we will ... deal with you."
She nodded, still smiling. "Of course." With that she turned and walked out of the room, back straight, steps measured. It wouldn't do to loose her cool and show her possible future customers how badly she wanted to get out of their presence. She despised machine life forms. Every single one of them.

* * *

"Okay, concentrate."
Hot Rod did as he was told. Sitting on a chair in Perceptor's lab -- and feeling suspiciously like a guinea pig -- he tried to empty his mind of everything that was unnecessary for this task, and concentrated on one specific thing -- Shanygn. His humanoid Interface partner wasn't physically present, separated from him by only one wall, but not present nevertheless.
"Anything?" Perceptor wanted to know.
Hot Rod shook his head. "No. I don't hear a thing."
"Visual?"
"Nope."
"You're too much concerned with picking it up that you can't do it," Skywolf said gently. "Don't force it." The Sentinel smiled. "It never works when forced."
"It's not working at all!" Hot Rod said after another minute had passed. He turned to look at Skywolf with frustration shining in his optics. "We told you that we are not linked like you guys."
Skywolf sighed and exchanged a quick look with Perceptor. He was the Sentinel's chief medic and also an engineer. No one knew more about the delicate and complicated Interface system of the Sentinels and no one understood the Interface problems better than him.
"I know that, Hot Rod," he finally answered. "But you are linked nevertheless and the link brings new abilities for both of you. We don't know if you will develop the same bond as, for example, I have with Jill. Maybe you are bound differently. That it doesn't work right from the start is nothing new. You have to give yourself time and you also have to have a bit of patience....." He looked pointedly at the Autobot.
Hot Rod sighed. "Okay."
Patience had never been his strong point, but he had learned to restrain himself in his time as Rodimus Prime and now as Prime's second-in-command. This 'job' demanded patience and sometimes nerves of steel, even more than being the leader. That Hot Rod had a temper was well-known, but he had it under control and only really lost in when discussing a topic with Optimus Prime. And Prime didn't seem to mind the lapses in respect..... Somehow Hot Rod had the impression that the older Autobot encouraged him to express his thoughts about a given problem. As Rodimus Prime, Hot Rod had had to repress all those temper outbursts and tantrums as much as possible because he was the one at the top and supposed to be examplary. As Hot Rod he had no such restraints, until Prime had talked with him about the second-in-command post. It had put him into a difficult situation. On one side he was still too much Rodimus Prime to become Hot Rod, on the other side he had thought he was glad that he no longer held such a responsible position. He hadn't exactly hated his leadership position, but being the leader brought more problems and worries than it brought privileges. Everyone who thought it was fun to be in command should try it once, he thought. It wasn't fun at all.
He gladly would have turned his back on every position involving such responsibilities, but .... //No, I wouldn't,// he contradicted himself. //Maybe before the Matrix changed me, but now ...// He had changed so profoundly from the Hot Rod he had been before and he viewed things differently, especially responsibilities. Now he was Prime's second and he ... liked it. He had to grin. If someone had told him that a few decades ago .... he would have laughed at him.
Midnight entered the lab, giving Skywolf a questioning look, but received only a negative shake of the head.
"Don't worry, Hot Rod," Midnight said encouragingly. "Interfaces are never perfect right from the start."
Skywolf chuckled. "Except for one, but we won't mention that, will we?" He looked pointedly at his leader.
Midnight just shrugged.
"I think we should finish this for today," Perceptor spoke up. "There's no need to press matters."
Skywolf nodded in agreement. "We'll resume the tests tomorrow. This gives you and Shanygn some time to try and work on your link a bit more. Don't push it, Hot Rod, it will come naturally."
"Or not at all," Hot Rod muttered, sounding a bit disappointed.
Skywolf smiled in sympathy. "Maybe, but I wouldn't make any bets on it. Listen, you are not a Sentinel and Shanygn isn't the typical Interface. She has never shown Interface capabilities toward any of the Sentinels, though she was able to link. Your combination is unique and might not work like any Interface link we Sentinels share with our humanoid partners."
Hot Rod nodded and then left the room. He needed some time alone now, and there was always the fact that he had problems of another kind, concerning all Autobots, to ponder. Optimus Prime had gone to an important conference and had left him in charge, and also dumping every pressing matter on him. He grinned wryly.
Outside the lab stood Shanygn. The blue-haired woman looked at him, her eyes filled with mixed emotions. He could read compassion as well as a slight disappointment in there and he knew that his whole demeanor reflected frustration and anger, though he was trying to repress those feelings and present his usual aura of cheery happiness. It didn't work.
"Ease up, Roddy," she said and smiled. "We'll work it out."
Hot Rod caught himself from telling her not to call him 'Roddy', because he knew it was a futile task. Shanygn had somehow found a liking for this abbrieviation and stayed with it.
"Maybe, maybe not," he only muttered.
Shanygn shook her head. "We will work something out," she said with conviction.
"I think I'm no good at this," Hot Rod suddenly said and immediately cursed himself for saying it.
Shanygn frowned. "You sound like you're supposed to be a cure for me." Hot Rod's head snapped up and he started to protest, but Shanygn cut in. "You're not. I've been like this since I was born, my friend. You've been yourself since the time you were created. Both of us can't change who or what we are, we just have to learn to work with what we have at our disposal. Our link isn't like those others. And it can never be like Steve's and Midnight's."
"Shanygn ...."
"Will you shut up?"
Hot Rod clamped his mouth shut and looked at his humanoid friend. Shanygn lifted one hand and pointed at him with the clawed finger of the exo-suit. She had to wear the suit to walk ... to move at all. She was paralyzed from the neck down, had been since her birth, and had developed that suit herself. She kept tinkering at it, improving it, as she called it.
"We know we are linked in strange ways and I know that we can work it out; we can work on this and we can manage it. Tell me, how do you feel since we Interfaced?"
"Eh.... good...."
"'Eh, good'? Okay, that's a start. You managed to work out your problem with the loss of the Matrix, you made your peace with your past and you've come to accept your future. If that isn't really a success, I'll be damned." Shanygn raised one blue-black eyebrow. "I know you know that and I know that Optimus Prime knows that."
"Yes, but you ... I couldn't give you anything ...." Hot Rod said weakly.
It was true that Shanygn hat eased the emptiness inside his chest where the Matrix had been before. He had felt complete in a physical way when she had Interfaced, though he couldn't really tell when the Interface had happened. The only problem that had remained after the Interface had been his emotional side, and with this problem Shanygn had not been able to help. But he thought he was working through this very well.
"What about your friendship?" she asked simply.
"You had friends before.... The Sentinels and the Interfaces."
"Yes, they are friends, but it's not the same." She smiled at him. "You are special."
"Uh, thanks...."
"Good for you robots don't blush," Shanygn remarked with a grin.
Hot Rod chuckled. "Guess so."
Shanygn gave him a friendly pat. "C'mon, big guy, let's get out and a breath of fresh air." She opened the wings of her suit and ignited the thruster.
Hot Rod smiled, aware that he should meet with Ultra Magnus to discuss some new features they wanted to install for Metroplex, and then there were a few problems with Earth government concerning the land around Metroplex ..... but he decided that he needed some off time, even if it was only for a ride through the immediate countryside. He transformed and followed Shanygn, who was speeding away from Autobot City.

* * *

The space station had been built around a lifeless piece of a planet that was hardly worthy to be called a 'planet' at all. Winds raged down on the surface and the acid air made life impossible. The seismic activities were tremendous and the continents shifted ceaselessly. But the station had not been built to study the planet; it was a quarantine station, built to study rare diseases, away from all known inhabited planets so that in case of a deadly disease it could be studied without endangering anyone. The scientists working here had been hand chosen and had mainly been attracted by the very fact that they were paid handsomely for their life threatening work in this lonely part of space.
The station wasn't used anymore, though. It had been closed down years ago. The reason was unknown. All the warning beacons surrounding it, telling every ship flying by that it was off limits and dangerous to come closer, had been shut down or destroyed. The lab had been sealed, the scientists whisked off to other assignments. It was an abandoned place in space.
But not for very long. One person had chosen this place to be perfect for her research and development purposes. Alone, no one to disturb her, a secret and long forgotten place. Perfect. Perfect for a devilish plan to kill the life forms she hated the most and to strike a marvelous deal that would get her a hell lot of money.
Of all that the group of robots approaching the lab didn't know anything. They only knew that this was a place to get energon, and energon was what they badly needed. Galvatron looked at the space station with suspicion creeping up inside of him. This was going too smooth for his liking. But still, the outlook of getting energon was enough to make him take the risk. They needed the energon, there was no way around it.
"I don't like it," Dead End muttered as they landed in the outer docking bay.
"No one's here to stop us," Ramjet added, looking around. Everything was quiet and calm.
"Open the doors," Galvatron ordered briskly, not wanting the Decepticons to think about this too long. He didn't like it either, but what they needed was energon. And it was here.
A few seconds later the door lay in blasted ruins and the Decepticons swarmed into the base, lead by Galvatron. They came only a few feet when the alarm started to blare. Galvatron smirked, feeling rather pleased. An alarm meant a security system, though it was a rather bad one if it hadn't registered them before their entry, and it also meant that this wasn't such an abandoned place as it looked. He aimed at the loudspeaker and fired a shot, silencing the blaring siren.
"Decepticons, find the energon and get it back here! Astrotrain, transform and open the cargo doors! We will take every single cube of energon we find in this rathole!"
With their orders given the Decepticons swarmed out.

* * *

"Hot Rod?"
The brightly colored Autobot turned to look at the one who had addressed him. "What is it, Goldbug?" Hot Rod had returned a few hours ago, feeling good and refreshed, ready to take on his job as second-in-command again. Even Ultra Magnus pointy remark that they had wanted to discuss something important hadn't shaken his good mood.
"We're receiving a rather weak signal," the smaller Autobot answered. "It's on all frequencies."
"Punch it through."
The screen flickered to life. The picture they received was bad and he could barely recognize the person. Everything was fuzzy and vertical lines disturbed a clearer study of who was calling them.
" .... repeat," the voice crackled through the loudspeakers. "We ar... ....er attack...... Decepticons ... worse ........help.... wounded." The signal faded and picture disappeared. Goldbug worked furiously, but couldn't restore it.
Hot Rod stared at the empty screen, then at the golden colored Autobot. "Sounds like they have massive trouble. Could you pinpoint the source of the signal?"
Goldbug nodded. "It's far away from every colonized planet we know," he explained as he gave Hot Rod the coordinates, punching them up on the screen.
The second-in-command nodded thoughtfully. "Any identification of where exactly it came from? Any IDs on the caller?"
"Nothing," Goldbug shook his head.
"Okay, call the others and try to find out where it came from nevertheless. I'll take a reckon team out there to see what this is all about." Hot Rod stared at the screen. "The guy mentioned the Decepticons, but I can't imagine for the life of it what they'd want in such a lonely part of space," he mused out aloud.

"There's nothin' there," Kup said after Hot Rod had told them about the message requesting help. He looked at the screen. "It's a completely empty part of space, if ya don't count the planets and asteroids. No life whatsoever that's worth mentionin'."
"Looks like the Decepticons find it worth attacking," Blaster said grimly.
Hot Rod nodded. "That's why we'll take a look at it. The shuttle's ready and I want you remain here and tell Optimus about it when he returns and asks where we are," he told Kup.
The older Autobot nodded, accepting the order without questioning it, which kept on astounding Hot Rod. Since he had been announced to be second-in-command a lot had changed. Not only did Hot Rod finally begin to feel like he had a place within the ranks of the Autobots, a rank not merely defined by a title, but also by acceptance, he also found he no longer felt so lost since loosing the Matrix.
"Okay, team, let's go!" Hot Rod called.
Minutes later the shuttle was on its way.

* * *

She was watching with a satisfied smile on her lips. They had swallowed the bait, not seeing the hook attached to the brilliantly shining fly.
'Dumb', she thought. And people thought these machines were so intelligent, so perfect.
She chuckled and scanned the screen for a sign of the second party. Oh, there they were, right on time. Leaning back into her chair she waited for the battle to start, waited for them to be so distracted by their petty fighting that they didn't see her pulling in the hook and bait......

* * *

"It's a space station," Jazz said unnecessarily as he stared at the picture on the screen.
"Yeah, we all can see that," Springer muttered. "Wonder what makes it so interesting to the Decepticons...."
"Especially when it's not on any records and looks like it has been abandoned years ago," Jazz added. "I don't like it."
Hot Rod, facing the forward screen that showed them the old station in every detail, nodded carefully. He didn't like it either. They hadn't heard any more of the mysterious caller and the emergency signal had disappeared. All they had was this station ....
"Anything on whether the station has been damaged? Any breaches?"
"Scanning...." Jazz' fingers danced over the keyboard as he took the shuttle a bit closer and simultaneously worked on the requested data.
"The hangar doors have been blasted only recently," Jazz finally said. "The energy pattern is fresh enough to tell that it was Decepticon fire. They are in."
"And I can't reach anyone," Springer added.
"All right, then we have our job outlined for us," Hot Rod said and looked at his team, then at Shanygn, who had been standing silently at the communications console, knowing what was to come. "You will stay in the shuttle, Shanygn." She started to protest, but he held up one hand. "You -- will -- stay -- here," he repeated. "No good showing them we have some aces left." A quick smile touched his features. "It's our advantage if they have no idea what the connection between us is, okay? And someone needs to take care of the shuttle."
"While we wipe the Cons off the station," Roadbuster said with a grin of anticipation. He loved nothing more than a good fight with Decepticons.
Shanygn nodded in agreement, though reluctantly. She knew he was right and she knew that if Hot Rod was in trouble she'd be there in no time flat, but she hated nothing more than being treated like an infant, unable to protect herself. And the excuse with the shuttle was a cheap one, and Hot Rod knew it.
Hot Rod opened the shuttle's doors and launched himself into space, aiming for the space station. His team followed him. Shanygn sighed and sat down on the much too large pilot's chair.
"Wish I had brought my crossword puzzle along....." she muttered.

* * *

Galvatron stared at the dusty and blatantly obvious long abandoned rows of lab equipment, computers and rooms. By and by reports came in that none of his troops had found a single trace of energon. He smashed his hand into the next available wall.
"We've been had," Dirge commented, only to move quickly away from his leader as Galvatron turned, his eyes blazing with barely suppressed anger.
"Yes," ground out. "We've been had. And whoever made this information available to us will soon wish he hadn't! Call the others, we're leaving!"
He turned and stomped out of the room. He came as far as three steps when his communicator beeped.
"Galvatron, I just saw some Autobots coming through the hangar....."
Galvatron's mouth showed a cruel smile. "Then let's have some fun after all," he said with a chuckle, raising his weapon.

*

Raven was going through the ancient computer system of the space station. On one hand she was fascinated by the old system, which was so different from all the ones she had access to on Char, and which held data files she would have loved to browse. On the other hand it was so old that it was missing a lot of important links and threatened to break down every few moves. She had just accessed the lab files when she heard the noise. Steps. She turned and caught sight of a shadow approaching the place she worked. Her mind quickly told her that this wasn't any robot she knew and she activated her holographic generator. Seconds later an unknown robot entered, unknown to her except for the symbol on his chest. It was an Autobot, larger than her and with more mass. He had his weapon ready.
The female robot resisted the urge to shrink away. Her holographic generator worked only for so long, drawing on her reserves, but right now she was safe. Suddenly shots rang and the Autobot turned, a grim expression on his face. Then he ran out of the room. Raven gave a sigh of relief and transformed into her more agile and much smaller form, a black bird. Then she flew toward where the battle noises were coming from.

*

Hot Rod sought cover behind some crates which might have once been destined to ship equipment out of the station, but which now lay abandoned in the room. They had encountered the Decepticons fairly early and he guessed that one of them had spotted their entry and had warned his friends. The battle was in full force and Roadbuster seemed to enjoy it immensely. Hot Rod had to smile involuntarily at his friend's enthusiasm at fighting the enemy.
Something close to him exploded and he made a jump behind the next crate to evade the rain of metal and debris. Then suddenly a low rumble passed through the station, as if something heavy had fallen down or if something had exploded far away.
"What the hell was that?" Springer wondered, equally searching for cover and incidentally coming up behind the same crate Hot Rod had chosen.
"Didn't sound like blaster fire," Hot Rod said and fired some more shots at their enemy.
"More like a detonation charge," Springer agreed. "Think they've bugged the place with explosives?"
Hot Rod smiled grimly. "Would be just like them, but why? They're still inside, pretty deep inside from the way I judge our position. Why detonate parts of the station? Too risky."
Springer mulled it over, keeping a wary eye on their back while Hot Rod searched for new cover. "Well," he said and shrugged, "you know Galvatron. He's mad, what do you expect?"
Hot Rod shook his head. "His brain circuits might be severely damaged where the reasoning department is concerned, but he isn't suicidal enough to risk his own life just to kill a few of us. Especially since we're not important."
The triple changer smiled humorlessly. "You keep forgetting that you're Prime's second, my friend."
The other Autobot grimaced. "Which means nothing since this job can always be given to someone else. There are quite a few candidates back in Autobot City."
Springer shook his head. "If it were so easy to find replacements then Prime wouldn't have waited so long to appoint one."
Hot Rod was about to ask what the hell Springer was talking about when the Decepticons pulled back a bit, obviously concluding correctly that they were outnumbered. Hot Rod was made aware of this fact because the blaster fire was suddenly reduced to his team being the only one firing. He peeked over the crate, then gave Springer and the others a sign to follow the Decepticons. He didn't intend on letting them get away!
The team of Autobots entered a rather large room, which looked very much like a research lab, though long time abandoned, like the whole station. Laser fire greeted them and they quickly returned it, again searching for cover.
"Damn! Should have guessed that they were only leading us somewhere they would find tactically more to their advantage," Hot Rod muttered, trying to find some decent cover, which was pretty sparse here.
Springer and Roadbuster got some good shots at Galvatron, who was thrown back by their fire. Then they were forced to retreat by return fire from the Decepticon troops.
All of a sudden something dropped right in their middle; something that had fallen from the ceiling. Hot Rod stared at the little ball in the middle of the room, lying innocently between them and enemy lines. It had been attached to what looked like a release mechanism. As he stared at it and was just about to call out to Springer, to point out the little ball, the said ball sprung open and a gaseous cloud erupted from it with a hiss. It's sickly orange color did nothing to give Hot Rod a good feeling about it.
"Fall back!" he ordered as he watched the cloud drift through the room.
It came in contact with Roadbuster, who didn't show any sign of feeling pain or something else. He merely retreated, acting normal. Part of the cloud was now touching the ranks of the Decepticons and as with Roadbuster no one showed a reaction. Hot Rod, who had stopped firing completely and was only watching the gas drift through the room, was shaken out of his thoughts by Jazz' urgent voice.
"What's wrong? We have 'em!"
"I don't like that stuff," Hot Rod answered and indicated the now mostly vanished cloud of orange gas.
"Decepticon weapon?" Jazz mused. "If so it isn't very effective. Isn't an acid or something like it. It touched me and I feel fine. No burns, no nothing."
Hot Rod gave him a sharp look-over, but Jazz was right. He looked fine -- on the outside.
"Nevertheless, let's get out of here. I don't want to risk anything." Hot Rod looked over to where the Decepticons were hiding and discovered that they were retreating as well. Maybe it had been a weapon and the effects would come later. That had to be why they were retreating -- to wait for the Autobots to fall victim to the gas. They had to get out of here.
"Retreat!" he called and his team obeyed, some giving him astonished looks.
"But ...." Roadbuster started to protest.
One sharp look from Hot Rod silenced him. He didn't care if this looked like cowardice on his part or not. Their safety was more important than chasing a bunch or Decepticons, who had apparently decided to wreck an old space station, whatever it gained them.

*

She smiled, his smile nearly stretching all the way to her ears.
"Gotcha!" she whispered. "And now be nice little robots and ... die!"

* * *

Shanygn was bored. She had done a complete sensor scan of the immediate space around her, had made pictures and scans of the station and so on. Now she felt pretty much bored. And then the early warning sensors of the shuttle beeped. Shanygn jumped and stared at the radar screen.
"Oh, damn," she muttered as the computer told her what was coming her way. "Decepticons!"
She opened a com line to Hot Rod and tried to reach him. No answer. She changed frequencies - with the same effect.
"Damn!" she cursed. "Something's blocking me!"
And the Deceptions were closing in. Taking the initiative she took the shuttle away from the station, aiming for the small cluster of asteroids close by.

* * *

Galvatron lay on the floor of the storage room the Decepticons had retreated to. There was a large hole in his shoulder and he had several burn marks all over his chest plate. Raven knelt beside him and purposefully dealt with the worst of the injuries. The other Decepticons either discussed their chances to get out of here in one piece or were scouting for an escape route. Ramjet was just returning from such a scouting mission when Raven had finished her work. Galvatron would live, but he needed time to let the internal repair system work.
"We're locked in," the Decepticon jet said and it produced an immediate silence.
"What?" Dead End finally said, his voice a bit too high. "We're all gonna die!"
"Shut up!" Onslaught growled and the other Decepticon shrank away a bit.
"Every exit I could find is sealed shut. No way to open it. The doors are reinforced," Ramjet reported. "We can't get out."
Onslaught stared at him. "It's an Autobot trap!" he finally hissed in fury. "Let's trash 'em and then blow our way out of here."
"If it's super-structure metal alloy you won't get far," Raven spoke up. Her voice was calm and reasonable.
The Constructicon turned to the slim, black female. "And what do you know about it?" he asked in a dangerous voice.
"Nothing," she said, "as long as I can't get a look at it myself. But I trust Ramjet has tried to blow the doors out and hasn't succeeded." Ramjet nodded. "And if we kill the Autobots we won't have anyone to let us out."
Onslaught stared her down, but she wasn't the least impressed. "Then let's find those Autobots and make 'em open the doors," he finally ground out. "But you will stay here with our leader in case he comes around."
Raven felt a slight anger rise inside of her. She wasn't quick to loose her temper, but the way Onslaught treated her, had treated her from the first time she had met him, made her want to blast him.... She squelched those thoughts and merely nodded, though her eyes expressed those very feelings quite clearly.
"Let's round up the Autobots," Onslaught called and the other Decepticons nodded eagerly. They hadn't found energon, the station had been a hoax and a trap, and it looked like now the Autobots were sealing them into what could very well turn out to be their tomb. No one was in a very good mood.
As they left Raven knelt down beside Galvatron and checked on the repair program's progress. Somehow, in a part of her mind, she doubted that the Autobots were responsible for locking the doors, especially indestructible doors. Why would they do it? What would they gain from locking not only the Decepticons, but also themselves, in here? With those thoughts she leaned against the wall, watching her leader, waiting.....

* * *

Optimus Prime walked out of the Autobot ship and was surprised when he was greeted by Ultra Magnus and Kup. Normally it was only Magnus giving him a brief welcome summary of what had gone on while he had been away, but today Kup had accompanied him. Either something had happened or was about to happen.
"Prime, we have a problem," Kup started without a greeting and Magnus only nodded in agreement.
It had to be a rather serious problem for Kup to spill it without something like 'Prime, you won't like it, but ...' or 'There was a screw-up and it's not really nice to look at'.
"What is it? And where's Hot Rod?" That was the third thing that had Optimus Prime on his toes. Hot Rod wasn't always there when he arrived, but the meeting Prime had attended had been rather important and he knew that Hot Rod wanted to know about the outcome. It wasn't like his young second-in-command to not show up. Hot Rod could be called a lot of things, but he knew what responsibilities he had and he was pretty accurate what his new role as second-in-command concerned.
"That is part of the problem," Magnus said gravely.
Prime wished he hadn't said that. He knew for sure that Hot Rod was no longer the hothead who always got into trouble because he acted first and thought later. He had changed a great deal since those days and he was a reliable Autobot. So this problem could either be something really serious or only a disagreement between either two of his welcome-committee and Hot Rod. He hoped it was the latter.
"We received a call requestin' help from a space station," Kup said, adding the coordinates of the station. Prime recognized the quadrant as very remote and completely empty. "They said Decepticons attacked them and Hot Rod took a shuttle to take a look."
"Alone?" Prime asked immediately, hoping it wasn't the fact.
"No, he has a team with him, including Shanygn, but the problem is," Ultra Magnus answered uneasily, "we haven't heard from either him or the station for several hours. Calling the shuttle has proven equally unsuccessful. Something's blocking our signals."
Prime walked along the corridor to the main control room where Goldbug was busily hacking away at the computer. This sounded bad.
"We did some more research concernin' that station and found out it was abandoned several decades ago. We had to dig quite deeply into the archives because most of the data concernin' the station was destroyed. There's no one there, officially, who could be attacked by the Cons," Kup continued. "And there wasn't anythin' left on the station that Ah could say is really interestin', especially to the Decepticons."
"And no word from Hot Rod," Optimus thought out aloud.
"No, Optimus Prime," Goldbug spoke up. "It looks like something or someone is jamming our signal very thoroughly. I can't get through and I tried every decoder we know of. This scrambler is very complex and totally unknown."
Prime rubbed his chin and stared at the screen which showed the remote quadrant, the likely position of the space station highlighted in red.
"Do we have a ship we could use?" he asked finally.
"Yes. We prepared it already for lift-off," Magnus reported.
Prime's eyes reflected a brief, though tight smile. "Then let's go. If the Decepticons managed to lure a team of us there, and then blocked every signal coming out or going in, Hot Rod could be in serious trouble."
"Isn't he always," Kup muttered, which earned him a warning glance from Prime.
Kup smiled disarmingly. "Well, ya gotta confess that the boy's always able to find trouble around the next corner, Prime, even if he isn't lookin' for it."
Prime had to agree, though only silently for himself, not aloud. Hot Rod had more than once proven to be like a magnet for trouble. And most of the times he thoroughly enjoyed the action. Optimus was saved a reply by the black robot standing beside the lowered ramp of the ship.
"Midnight," he greeted the Sentinel leader.
"Welcome back, Prime," Midnight answered and smiled briefly. "And before you ask, yes, I'll come with you. You might need us."
"Us?" Prime asked carefully, knowing then whenever Midnight spoke of 'us' it didn't mean his Interfaced state with Steve.
"F/X is already inside."
The Autobot leader nodded and tried not to tell Midnight to stay here and keep an eye on Autobot City or something like it. Midnight wasn't an Autobot and, so, could make his own decisions. It just wasn't exactly high on Prime's list to endanger the Sentinel leader, specifically him, because the relationship between Autobots and Sentinels was still fragile. But then there was Midnight's often proven stubbornness, combined with the hardheadedness of his human Interface. If Prime denied him the place on the ship, the Sentinel would simply fly after them.
"All right," he said after a second.
Midnight gave a smile, but it showed no triumph, only satisfaction.
Minutes later they lifted off.

* * *

"Smokescreen?"
The Autobot looked up, momentarily wondering who the one addressing him was. Then the mist that had suddenly appeared in front of his optics disappeared.
"Hot Rod?"
The second-in-command nodded, his eyes filling with worry. "What's wrong, Smokescreen?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
Smokescreen wanted to assure him that everything was just dandy, but when the room around him once again turned misty he shook his head.
"I don't know...," he muttered and touched his optics. "Looks like my optics have a bit of a malfunction...."
"First Aid!"
"I'm okay, Hot Rod," Smokescreen immediately said.
"No, you're not. Fireflight has complained about visual loss as well," his team leader informed him and Smokescreen heard the worry in his voice.
First Aid appeared, his optic's showing the same worry Hot Rod had expressed. He made Smokescreen sit down and then started a first analysis.
"Hot Rod?"
The young Autobot turned and discovered Springer approaching. The green/silver triple-changer looked worried. He had been scouting a bit and Hot Rod was sure he didn't like what Springer had to say.
"What is it?" he asked nevertheless.
"Big trouble. All the exits of this station are locked. I'm no specialist, but I gues it's reinforced. Couldn't even dent it."
Hot Rod felt something inside of him tighten. They were locked in?
"And that's not all," Springer continued, though reluctantly. "Communications are down."
"Are you sure?"
Springer nodded. "I tried all frequencies. We can't get out, we can't call anyone and ...." he looked at the others, especially at Roadbuster and Smokescreen, "something's wrong."
Hot Rod nodded, the gravity of the situation suddenly settling on his shoulders. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"Pretty good," the triple-changer answered.
"Pretty good?"
"I had some balance problems while scouting," Springer confessed. "But I'm okay now."
"Talk to First Aid about it," Hot Rod instructed. "I want to know what's wrong here, beside the fact that we walked right into a trap!"
As if he had heard him First Aid joined them, glancing worriedly at the others.
"Springer's got problems, too," Hot Rod told him.
"Visual?" the medic wanted to know.
"Balance. I nearly fell over my own feet," Springer explained. "Seconds later I was okay again. And I think I'm getting a .... headache?"
Headaches were a new concept to a robot since there was nothing but circuit boards and chips in his head. Humans got headaches, but not mechanical life forms.
First Aid looked shocked for just a second, but he merely nodded and gestured for Springer to follow him. Hot Rod wondered what the medic had found out. He wanted to ask, but he also knew he wouldn't get an answer before First Aid didn't have all the facts and a sound theory, maybe even a solution. Walking over to the door he wondered when he would feel these strange symptoms of whatever it was they had been infected with.....
Infected.
His mind replayed the scene with the little ball dropping from the ceiling and then the gaseous cloud emerging from it. Could it be that the Decepticons had developed some kind of gas that infected Autobots with some kind of virus, to make them disoriented and weaken them? If they had ....
"Powerglide," he addressed the nearest member of his team, "I'll take a look around and try to find out where the Decepticons are."
Powerglide nodded, one hand rubbing over his optics. "Okay. Be careful." His voice sounded strained, as if it took a great deal out of him to even speak.
Hot Rod felt the tightness inside of him again. Everyone seemed to show signs now, except maybe First Aid and he himself. But he knew it was only a matter of time until they, too, would be affected by whatever it was. He left the room, his weapon drawn. Whatever the Decepticons had done, he'd find a way to make them reverse it!

* * *

Raven didn't know what to do. Every single Decepticon around her was obviously sick, but she had never seen anything like it. Their optics were crusted with an alien substance, making it hard for them to see. She had tried to scratch some of it off, with the result that the spot she had removed it from was blind. And the crust had grown back again -- fast. On top of getting blind they were suffering from loss of balance, headaches and loss of vocal communication. Swindle had even complained about stiff joints.
"What are you looking at?!" Breakdown exploded and glared at Dirge.
Raven looked up for a moment, but when no fighting broke out she continued her work. "Hold still," she told Ramjet and took a sample of the grainy substance staining his skin.
"What's going on here? What's happening to us?" Onslaught demanded. He was still a bit better off than most of his friends, but it wouldn't take long until he, too, would show those advanced stages of whatever it was they suffered from.
"I don't know," Raven answered, more calmly than she felt. "I only know that it's like a virus, spreading faster than I can work on an antidote."
The Combaticon glowered at her. They had never been on best of terms and she knew that Cyclonus and Onslaught had had their share of fights because of her presence. Maybe it was because she was a female, maybe because she was different ... maybe just because he treated every new member like that. She didn't know and had made it her policy not to get into any arguments with him.
"Why aren't you infected?" he growled.
"I don't know." She had a theory, but it wouldn't exactly help if she told him.
"We're all gonna die!" Dead End muttered. He had moved into the farthest corner of the room, unwilling to talk to anyone. All he had done was muttering about how fast they were going to die and perish.
Onslaught whirled around, well, as far as he was able with his stiffening joints, and walked over to the other Decepticons, staring at them.
"It's the Autobots!" he finally declared.
"You don't know that," Raven dared to point out.
"They dropped that gas and then ran. They knew what would happen!" Onslaught rubbed at his optics again.
She sighed, shaking her head ever so slightly. "I don't believe they did it."
Onslaught didn't listen to her. "I'll flush them out and kill them one by one until they tell me how to cure this!" he raged.
Raven watched him check his weapons, shaking her head again. She knew she couldn't keep him from leaving -- the virus would see to that itself --, but she could work on the cure, except that she needed more lab equipment for it.
"I'll have a look at the labs," she declared and rose from her half sitting, half kneeling position.
Onslaught didn't even look at her; he was much too concerned with staying upright. Raven walked quickly over to him as the larger Combaticon keeled over. She wasn't able to catch him perfectly and he proved to be quite heavy, but she managed to settle him down on the ground.
Damn!
His optics were covered with the same substance as everyone's and the grainy stains Ramjet had shown were all over his back. She had to find a way to stop this!
Dead End muttered darkly to himself and received a glare from Breakdown, who had his own problems and paranoias.
Raven left the room, after reassuring herself that no one was any worse -- how could it get any worse? -- and that Galvatron was healing nicely. His wounds had been the easiest of her tasks. She wished she could help the others just as easily.

* * *

The Autobot ship arrived at the space station to find they were not alone. A troop of Decepticons was flying straight at the station as well. Kup sounded the alarm and the Aerialbots got ready to disembark from the ship. The Decepticons changed their course the moment they became aware of their enemies' approach and began firing upon the ship.
"So there are Decepticons here," Kup said darkly as he held on to his seat because Ultra Magnus was flying evasive patterns, returning fire. "Now all we need to know is where the hell is our team!"
"There is no trace of the shuttle anywhere near the station," Perceptor reported. "And there's no debris either."
"Keep on searching," Prime ordered. "Maybe Hot Rod took it into the asteroid belt," he pointed at the cluster of rocks. "Aerialbots, get ready. We will chase the Decepticons off the station."
"We're in on that one too," Midnight said calmly and F/X nodded.
Prime only gave an affirmative nod, and the two Sentinels transformed, following the Aerialbots outside.
"All right!" Kup called, ready for some serious action. "Let's trash some Decepticreeps!"
The ship went in.

* * *

Cyclonus cursed the Autobots as he fired volley upon volley at the approaching ship. The ship fired back and he evaded the blasts with ease. The ship was too heavy and too bulky to maneuver as fast as he was able to. But it was also better shielded than him and so he had no chance puncturing the hull in the vital places.
"Sweeps, keep the Autobot shuttle busy!" he ordered and saw the Sweeps follow the order.
With the ship out of his hair he turned his attention back to the battle around the space station. The number of Autobots and Decepticons were about equal, but the Decepticons had the disadvantage of energon shortage. They had not enough power to last long and the Autobots knew that. Cyclonus cursed again and opened a com channel to Galvatron.
He had come here because Galvatron had not returned after a preset amount of time. Cyclonus had been worried, especially since the location of the space station was so remote. He had argued with his leader that this was most likely either false information or a trap, but Galvatron had not wanted to hear such talk. He had simply carried out his plan. And now it was up to Cyclonus to find out what had happened. With the presence of the Autobots he guessed he knew half of what had gone wrong.
"Galvatron, this is Cyclonus," he started, then noticed that he had no com line. Something blocked him. Could the Autobots have already established a communications blockade? No, normally not. And it wasn't their style to cut communications just like that when a victory was imminent.
The second-in-command of the Decepticons stared at the battle in front of him. He hated to admit that they were outnumbered by the simple fact that they didn't have the energon to really plunge into the fight, but it was the truth. And Cyclonus was a realist, which made him different from his leader. Galvatron could be so taken away by the heat of the battle that he ignored the danger he put himself and the others in.
He shook his head, chasing those thoughts away. Right now he had a problem, and it wasn't only the firepower of the Autobots. A laser blast nearly hit home and he whirled around, discovering that one of the Aerialbots had chosen him for a target.
"Not today," he muttered and aimed, firing in return. The Aerialbot evaded the fire and had to change course. Cyclonus ignited his thrusters and flew toward the space station, al the time sending the com signal, but never receiving an answer. Something was going on ... and he didn't like it.

* * *

The station was eerily silent and dark. Only a few lights worked and cast strange shadows. Hot Rod passed a few more empty rooms, bunk rooms from the look of it, and then climbed to the next level. Whoever had lived here seemed to have been twice as tall as an average human, as far as the Autobot could guess this from what he saw. Walking through the next level he wondered where the Decepticons had disappeared to. Of course, he had thought more than once, taking on the whole troop of Decepticons was a ridiculous idea, but except for First Aid no Autobot was left to help him. And First Aid was needed more urgently with the sick.
A sound drew his attention to one of the many rooms ahead. It sounded like ... someone using a keyboard. Readying his weapon Hot Rod sneaked closer.
The room the sound had come from was a large lab, as he saw seconds later. It was lit and there were several probe containers on the table closest to some kind of machine. No one was inside the lab. Hot Rod was a bit puzzled and stepped inside, keeping an eye out for anything or anyone, but nothing moved. Walking over to the lit computer screen he scanned what was written on the screen.
And then something slammed into him.

* * *

"I found the shuttle!"
Perceptor's call alerted Optimus Prime and he walked over to the station.
"Where?"
"It's hiding in the asteroid field. I already called it twice, but haven't received an answer so far. I ...."
The com unit gave a crackle and a female voice could be heard. "Autobot ship, this is Shanygn. Perceptor, is that you?"
Prime felt relieved, but only for a second. That Shanygn was okay didn't mean the others were as well.
"Shanygn, this is Optimus Prime," he answered her call. "Where are Hot Rod and the others?"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," the humanoid muttered, then continued, "Roddy and the others entered the station because there were signs that the Decepticons had already breached it. I don't know what's happened, but I can't reach them. Something's blocking me."
Optimus couldn't say that these were encouraging news. "Stay where you are, Shanygn. We'll handle the Decepticons outside the station. Then we can think about how we get our friends out of there."
"Read you." With that she cut the communication.
"I don't like this," the Autobot leader muttered.
"You can say that again," Kup growled.
Prime stared at the fierce fight outside. The Aerialbots and the two Sentinels were well able to defend themselves and the Decepticons knew that sooner or later they had to retreat. Their energon wouldn't last much longer if they kept blasting away like this. Something bugged Prime about this. Somehow the behavior of the Decepticons wasn't right. Why trap Autobots and part of their own troops inside a space station and then defend it? The station was worthless and risking so much energon supplies for a single fight seemed unreasonable.
"The Cons never needed a good reason to fight us," Magnus said as Optimus told his thoughts to his friends.
"Still it's not like them to hang onto a worthless piece of junk like this, risking their destruction. Something's wrong here and we just don't see it." The Autobot leader shook his head, staring at the view screen. "Even the scrambler isn't the Decepticon way. Something's very wrong......"

* * *

Hot Rod fell forward, stretching out both hands to catch himself at the computer console, then whirled around, ducking in the same motion. He raised his weapon to shoot whoever had attacked him, but no one was there. Out of the corners of his optics he saw movement and turned and caught sight of a black figure moving quickly toward the exit. He fired. The shot chipped some metal off the door frame, melting some more. The black figure stopped.
"Hold it!" he commanded. "Turn around, hands raised, no quick moves!"
The figure obeyed and Hot Rod could do nothing more than stare. It was a female, completely colored in black with only her yellow eyes presenting a bit of a different spot of color. Wings stretched out behind her back. He had never seen her before and even though she wore a Decepticon symbol on her chest he somehow doubted she was one by birth.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
She was silent, her eyes glowing in yellow.
"I asked who you are!" Hot Rod hissed.
"Raven," she finally answered and she sounded afraid. A Decepticon afraid of an Autobot? Hot Rod couldn't believe it.
"What are you doing here?" He gestured at the probes and the computer screen.
"Nothing."
The Autobot frowned. "The information on the screen is about some kind of .... virus...." Realization dawned on him. "You are watching how it develops, right? You want to know how much longer until they are all dead!" Rage burned inside of him, expressed through his optics.
"Yes," Raven confessed. "But ...."
Hot Rod trembled with fury, feeling the urge to shoot her right here and now rise inside.
"I should kill you right here and now," he whispered in a barely stable voice, "but since I need you to tell me how to cure my friends ...."
"I don't....."
"You will cure them!" he demanded, not willing to listen to her arguments against it.
The female Decepticon nodded, apparently resigned to his superior fire power. She walked toward him, hands still over her head. Hot Rod kept a close eye on her, ready for every move. Every move but one.....
Her wings suddenly lashed out and the razor sharp edge of her left wing cut deeply into his right forearm. He gave a cry of surprise and his hand opened reflexively, letting the weapon fall to the ground. Instead of using her advantage and try to take him out, Raven simply turned on her heels and fled. In mid movement she transformed into a smaller, sleek bird and gained speed. But Hot Rod wasn't that easy to take out. He levelled his weapon at the fleeing Decepticon and fired.
Raven gave a cry of pain and was thrown against the corridor's wall by the shere force of the blast. She transformed again, getting unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled forward, but Hot Rod was faster. He lunged af her, tackling her around the waist and both crashed to the ground. One wing sliced through the metal skin of his left shoulder, but he ignored the twitch of pain, grabbing her wrists, pinning her down. She was lightly built and his weight was enough to secure her. Raven's wings flapped, helplessly trying to dislodge him from her while her eyes glowed brightly with what he now finally saw as genuine, real fear.
"What did you do to my friends?" he demanded, his hands closing hard around her slender wrists, ready to break them if necessary.
"Nothing!" she cried. "It wasn't my doing!"
"Then which Decepticon is responsible?" he yelled.
"No one!" She tried to wriggle free again and he slammed his left knee into her stomach area. She groaned. "The Decepticons are infected as well!"
"What?" For a second Hot Rod was stunned, then he caught himself. "That's a lie!"
"It isn't!" she protested, looking right at him. "They are all dying! As are your friends, the Autobots. Both are infected and both will die if I can't find an antidote! We didn't do it, believe me! If we had, why would we still be here? Why risk this?"
He stared at the female, his logic circuits telling him that this was true. Why risk an infection themselves? They weren't that much different from the Autobots. Except maybe ....
"So you have an antidote," he growled.
"I'm telling you...." she said, "Everyone here is infected." Her optics seemed to narrow, "except you. You.... you don't show any signs of the virus."
He hesitated. That was true. He felt just fine and had no visual or balance problems at all. Not so far, anyway.
"What about you?" he asked suspiciously. "You look just fine as well."
"I'm no Decepticon....." He looked at her symbol and she added, "By origin."
"So what are you?"
Raven turned her head away, unwilling to discuss this. Hot Rod had to come to a decision. Either he trusted this Decepticon to tell the truth or he had to disable her somehow. After a few more seconds he released her wrists, then rose, letting her go. Raven remained on the ground, looking slightly puzzled. Then she rose too.
"You trust me?" she asked.
"I believe you," he corrected.
A smile crossed her delicately sculptured face. "That's a beginning."
"Are you a medic?" Hot Rod asked when they had returned to the lab and he looked at the probe containers again.
Raven nodded. "I am," she said nevertheless.
"But you are not a Decepticon by birth?"
"No." She turned toward the computer, straightening her shoulders, dismissing his further inquiries through her posture. "Now, the virus."
"It's a virus?" Hot Rod asked, knowing he wouldn't get any further information out of her if she didn't want to answer.
"It is. I isolated several strains, but they are quite resistant to everything I've thrown at them so far. The virus first attacks the visual sensors, clotting them with a crystalline substance. The substance comes from the victim's own body. It's a mixture of optic fluids and fibers. Next thing to go is any sense of balance, then the joints stiffen and the brain circuits start to go; if I don't find any antidote I guess the virus will finally paralyze the primary fuel pump and crash every vital system."
"Everyone will die," Hot Rod whispered in painful realization of their predicament.
"Exactly." Raven looked at him. "Every Autobot, every Decepticon. My guess is that the virus is infectious from the very first moment, which also means we can't allow anyone on board this station, unless he wants to die."
"No outside help." The Autobot second-in-command clenched his hands into fists. "But why aren't I infected?"
"That's what I need to find out. You are an Autobot by birth, aren't you?" He nodded. "Then you have to be special in some way, and it can't be rank or position."
Hot Rod looked at her. Raven looked serious and radiated an aura of professional calm. He still wondered how she had come to the Decepticons. "What now?"
"I want to check your systems, try and find what keeps the virus from infecting you. Then I need to go back and check on the others."
"We should do that first," Hot Rod decided. "And I will go with you."
"No way. If anyone is still able to aim and fire his weapon we'll have a full fledged fight on our hands. I don't want to risk this." She thought hard. "You should check on your friends as well. Let's say we meet here again, then I'll check you and continue the work?"
Hot Rod knew it was risky, but they had no other choice. He had no other choice. "All right," he finally agreed.

* * *

The battle was slowly coming to a stalemate. The Decepticons were running out of energon and the Autobots were careful not to hit the station.
"This is getting ridiculous," Silverbolt muttered as he dodged some half-hearted shots, then loosened his own rounds to chase back his attacker.
Optimus Prime had the same thoughts. The Decepticons were stalling and he was unable to strike with all necessary force because of the closeness of the station. And somehow he felt something was wrong here. Something didn't fit, not the least bit. But what? Maybe it was the fact that blocking every single com line to and from the station was completely unlike the Decepticons. Then there was the way the Decepticons fought them. .... as if they thought the Autobots were responsible for the predicament of their own team. Optimus believed that they were just as cut off from their team as the Autobots were from theirs. He came to a decision, his ill feeling of the wrongness of the situation taking over.
"Cyclonus, this is Optimus Prime....."
The Autobots in the shuttle stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
"Prime, what ....." Kup started, but the Autobot leader waved him off.
"I know you can hear me and I know you are nearly out of energon," he continued. "This fight leads to nothing. Both of our people are trapped in this space station and someone is playing with us."
"Don't even try to cover your attempts to lure us into a trap, Optimus Prime," Cyclonus voice came over the loudspeakers. "We won't just surrender so you can take over the station!"
"I'm not talking about surrender and I'm also not talking about taking over. The station is a trap. We have friends there, as do you. Can you reach them with your communicators or are your signals blocked?"
There was a brief silence in which not even the Autobots on board the shuttle spoke. The fight had stopped more or less, both parties drifting in space, ready, but waiting.
"This is a trick," Cyclonus finally said, though he sounded a bit more hesitant.
"No, it's the truth. Our friends were lured into a trap and are unable to get out." Prime hoped he could get through to the Deception second. He knew Cyclonus was a more reasonable minded being than Galvatron and he hoped he would see the truth in what Prime had told him.
"How do I know you don't shoot us if we agree to this cease fire?" Cyclonus asked.
"I can only give you my word. We have a common enemy as it seems and if we don't work together on this one, the ones on the station might be lost," Prime answered.
Another silence.
"He'll never agree to it," Ultra Magnus muttered.
He was immediately proven otherwise. "All right, Optimus Prime, I agree to this. But only on one condition: pull back the ship and allow my troops to retreat further back."
"Agreed," Prime said immediately. "We have a shuttle located in the asteroid belt. I will leave the ship and rendezvous with it. The ship will leave, as will your troops."
"Agreed."
Optimus cut the communication, satisfied with the outcome. Kup didn't quite see it his way.
"Are you completely out of your mind?" he exclaimed the second Prime was finished. "This could be a trap! You can't trust that Decepticreep!"
"I can and I will, Kup. Whatever happened on that station, both our parties are concerned. Someone's playing with us and I will find out who and why." The Autobot leader turned to the airlock. "Magnus, call back the Aerialbots. Let Midnight and F/X stay outside as watchers. And get me in touch with Shanygn."
Ultra Magnus, who had only stared at him, nodded and did as he had been ordered. Prime knew that he was endangering Shanygn through this maneuver, but he needed the shuttle as a base. He'd just have to convince her to leave before he and Cyclonus boarded. But that proved to be a futile attempt.
"I'm not retreating anywhere, Prime!" the blue-skinned humanoid told him firmly. "And that's my final word."
"It's too dangerous."
"It's dangerous wherever I am. And I might have a way to contact Roddy ... if it works." She smiled at him. "Maybe I can get the link to work."
He glowered at her, but to no effect. "It hasn't worked so far...." he reminded her.
"Which doesn't mean it won't work now. I'll try it and you can't stop me. Either you use this shuttle or you forget about it."
Prime gave a resigned sigh. They didn't know much about Andrea Shanygn, not her race, not her planet of origin, nothing. But they knew was that she was stubborn; highly intelligent, but stubborn. "All right. Bring the shuttle to the coordinates Ultra Magnus will give you."
"You got it." And then the vid screen went dark.
"Stubborn," he muttered.
"Something she shares with Hot Rod," Kup added.
"Unfortunately."

* * *

First Aid couldn't say he felt good. His vision was blurred and kept getting worse, his joints ached and sometimes he didn't know where exactly he was. His internal repair program, which was slightly more sophisticated than that of the other Autobots, was working overtime, but it had no real effect. When he heard the door open he straightened and rubbed at his optics. Some of the crust flaked off, giving him a better vision.
"First Aid, it's me," a well-known voice said.
"Hot Rod?"
"Yeah. How are you holding up?"
"Everyone is getting worse. All of them have lost consciousness in the last few hours and it doesn't look like anything helps." He sounded frustrated. "I can't help them, Hot Rod!"
Hot Rod clasped his shoulder. "You're doing what you can."
"But it's not enough!"
"First Aid, listen to me. We are not the only ones suffering from this infection. The Decepticons are just as bad off as we are."
"How do you know?" he asked in surprise.
"I met their medic. She told me about it."
"Their ...? She?!" First Aid stared at him and Hot Rod smiled a bit.
"Long story," he said evasively. "She said she is working on an antidote, but she needs more data. It also looks like she and I are the only ones not affected by this virus."
"Strange...." First Aid thought hard about it, but his brain circuits were working slower than usual, due to the virus, he guessed.
"Listen, I made a deal with her. I told her we'd work together on this one. Maybe we can come up with an antidote when we put our minds together."
First Aid sighed. "There isn't much left of my mind which I could put anywhere."
Hot Rod shook him slightly. "You're holding up fine, my friend."
He sighed. "Where is she?"
The other Autobot smiled. "I'll go and get her."

* * *

Cyclonus warily entered the Autobot shuttle. It had taken a lot of arguing and one final command to keep the other Decepticons from following and to get them to retreat out of the immediate range of the shuttle's weapons. He had told them not to attack the Autobot ship unless the Autobots were attacking first. Cyclonus knew he was risking a lot, putting his life into the hands of an Autobot, trusting his word. Well, he thought grimly, at least I know I can trust his word, compared to what happens when you trust Galvatron. Prime wouldn't gun him down in cold blood, but he was still the enemy.... though a respected one.
The airlock closed behind him and he stepped into the cockpit. Optimus Prime towered close to the pilot's chair, unarmed, as Cyclonus noted. The Autobot leader nodded at him.
"Thank you for coming," he said.
"Who is that?" Cyclonus asked as he discovered a smaller, almost human sized figure.
The figure was about eight feet tall and looked robotic. It was bipedal, had wings, a tail that kept it in balance, and was colored in a dark red and grey.
"That is Shanygn, someone who might be able to help us contact those trapped inside the station," Prime explained.
"In what way?" he asked suspiciously.
"I might be able to link myself to Hot Rod," the figure explained and Cyclonus noted with surprise that it was female. Since the featureless helmet didn't show much of a sex he had guessed it would be male ... whatever the reason.
"Through this Shanygn might be able to get an idea what exactly is going on inside," Prime explained. "I hesitate to enter the station without knowing what we are facing."
"You wouldn't be able to enter it anyway," Cyclonus told him, noting with satisfaction that Prime was surprised. "The Constructicons tried to break into the station while we were holding you off, but without success. The station is sealed shut, tighter than you could imagine."
That was completely new to Optimus Prime. If even the Constructicons had failed to break the doors ....
"What is going on here?" he muttered.
"That's what I hope to find out," Shanygn said and walked over to the chair and sat down. Then she relaxed.
Cyclonus leaned against the shuttle's inner hull, close to the airlock, waiting. It was all he could do.

* * *

Raven closed down the analysis program and sighed deeply. All this went far beyond her knowledge and she had always thought she knew about every possible injury and sickness. The virus taught her otherwise. It was resistant to heat, radiation, sound, cold, and every anti-virus program she had thrown at it. It seemed to be partly organic, partly program ... and all deadly.
She turned and looked at the Autobot sitting on the examination table. Hot Rod was immune. Why, she couldn't say. All her examinations told her that he was in no way different than every other Autobot -- or Decepticon. He didn't even have a special anti-virus program.
"Nothing, huh?" Hot Rod asked.
Raven shook her head. "Nothing. I can't find a single reason why you are immune!" Frustration made its way through her voice and she leaned back against the computer terminal, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Hot Rod shrugged. Apparently he had no explanation himself. "What about Galvatron?"
Another deep sigh. "Same problem."
Hot Rod jumped from the table. "Let's go back to First Aid. Maybe he's got something for us."
Raven didn't want to tell him, but she didn't think First Aid would be any further than the time they had left. Her best bet was he was even worse off than some hours ago. And she was right. The medic showed more signs of infection, his formerly red and white skin covered with dozens of grey bruises. Hot Rod ran over to his side and gently helped the Protectobot to his feet.
"First Aid?"
"I'm okay," he muttered.
Raven joined them and gently removed the crust from the optic shield. "You are not," she told him, checking him carefully. His state was getting worse and his last anti-virus programs had been eliminated now. Soon he'd fall into the same coma as the others.
"Did you find anything?" First Aid rasped.
"No. But I'd like you to go over Hot Rod's specs and tell me if you find anything that the other Autobots don't show," Raven said.
"Sure." First Aid stumbled over to a chair. Raven accompanied him and both of them began their work.

* * *

She frowned as she watched the black female work. Why hadn't she been infected? Calling up a file she tried to get her specs, but was unable to.
"So you aren't Cybertronian?" she asked the picture shown on her screen. "How unfortunate. I guess I've to dispose of you otherwise then."
She grinned. First let the virus finish off the Cybertronians, then destroy the station with the female on board. Her eyes fell on the other robot, the one the female was working on. He didn't look infected .... quite the opposite. He looked perfectly healthy.
"What the hell is going on?" she muttered angrily. "Why aren't you dying like the rest of them?"

* * *

"Ah don't like it," Kup muttered, watching the Decepticons closely. They had retreated just outside the firing range of the ship and were keeping their distance, just as Cyclonus had told Prime they would. "It's a trap."
"Yeah, but the trap's the station, not the Decepticon army," Skydive said.
"Ah don't like it that Prime's alone with that Decepticon," Kup clarified.
"And Shanygn's over there as well." Midnight shook his head. "It's suicide."
"She can watch out for herself," Steve calmed his partner. "You know that."
"Not against a Decepticon," Ultra Magnus entered the conversation. He looked at the shuttle hovering between their ship and the station. "Prime shouldn't have gone."

* * *

"Flatline!"
The call echoed through the room the infected Autobots and Decepticons lay, and jerked Hot Rod out of his thoughts. Standing at the door he had been watching the sick Cybertronians, wishing he'd come up with an idea as to what was going on. Raven had found no clue in his physiognomy that could explain why he hadn't been infected. Her own immunity was something completely different and she 'blamed' it on her different programming and her internal virus program. Unluckily her programs were incompatible with those of the Cybertronian born robots.
Another so called miracle was Galvatron. Though the Decepticon leader had been shot up pretty badly, not dangerously, but badly, he showed no signs of any infection. Hot Rod had been keeping an eye on the still unconscious Galvatron, just in case the Decepticon came around and tried to blast everything first and ask questions later. There was no such danger coming from any of the other Decepticons. Most of them were comatose.
Now, at the outcry, Hot Rod turned to where Raven and First Aid were frantically trying to revive a flatlining Decepticon. Ramjet's optics were empty, no longer flickering with the last scraps of life. Because of this he didn't see Galvatron's eyes show the first signs of returning consciousness.

* * *

Shanygn was in a kind of self-induced trance, something she had used for relaxation exercises when she had still been on her homeplanet. While being with the Sentinels she had discovered that those Interfaces, who neither had an implant to communicate directly, nor had Steve's ability to link with their Sentinel partner with ease, used a similar relaxation exercise to calm enough to link themselves. Up until now Hot Rod and Shanygn had been unable to achieve a stable link. There had been transmissions of emotions, sometimes pictures, but only very short and very hazy.
Let's see if my theory is correct, she thought and smiled wryly. Shanygn had developed her own theory as to why their link wasn't working all the time. She had thought back to those times they had been able to link, however brief and incomplete, and it had always been in times of emotional stress. Right now they had such a situation.
Sinking into a deep trance, trusting Optimus Prime to keep her safe from any harm, she reached out for the familiar presence of Hot Rod. She knew him and she knew his link's feel. Their brief contacts had left her with such an impression and all she had to do was find it in the turmoil that was all around her.
And suddenly she stood in a room. Surprised she took a second to be baffled, then her mind told her she must have made it. Her viewpoint was that of a Cybertronian and there was only one she could have linked to.
[Roddy?]
First there was a startled silence, then a tentative, [Shan?]
Shanygn gave an excited 'Whoopee!', which was greeted by an even more confused, [It is you, right?]
Shanygn laughed softly. It wasn't normally her way to get all excited about something, but this was different. She had made it! It was working .... but just for how long?
[It's me all right, Roddy. Listen, we might not have a lot of time and I don't know how good this link is.] She was already loosing visual again, the edges of the picture she saw becoming blurry. Briefly she began to tell him what had happened, trying to use a method Jill mostly used when conversing with Skywolf: she didn't really speak, she thought of what had happened and simply broadcast the pictures. It seemed to be working. After about a minute she asked, [What's going on inside the station?]
What Hot Rod then told her gave her an icy feeling of dread.
[Hell.....] she muttered.
[Nice way to put it] Hot Rod remarked dryly and she noticed that his voice was fading.
[I'm loosing the link!] she informed her partner. [I'll get back to you as fast as I can. Hold on! We'll find a way to help you!]
And then she lost him completely.

* * *

Galvatron woke to frantic and hectic voices, and immediately was wide awake. What he saw first was nothing to make him assume that everything was okay. Not far from him stood an Autobot, the second-in-command of the cursed Autobots, to be correct. He had his back to Galvatron, which the Decepticon leader judged as a grave error on Hot Rod's part, though he found out seconds later that he wasn't armed. But still, he could crush an Autobot with his bare hands!
"It's fused shut!" a female voice, which he recognized as Raven's, shouted.
Slightly confused Galvatron sat up and turned to where the hectic voices were coming from.
"No reaction," First Aid said in a scratchy voice.
Galvatron saw that the Autobot didn't exactly look good. There were dull, grey bruises all over his body and his optics were crusted with something. His hands were shaking slightly and the medic looked like he was ready to keel over any second the crises was over.
"Stand back!" Raven ordered, perched atop Ramjet, wings partly outstretched.
She lifted her hand and Galvatron saw glittering, sharp claws shoot out like a cat's. Raven wasn't a warrior, as she always said, only a medic, but she had weapons at her disposal that could kill.
Raven rammed her claws down into the chest plate of the dying Decepticon and the sound of metal tearing echoed in the room. The claws sank like a hot knife into Ramjet's chest. She tore apart the plate, throwing pieces of metal through the room without looking if she hit someone, and then grabbed some cables and tubes inside.
"Clotted," she whispered and quickly began to clean the tubes.
"Jump-start!" First Aid ordered.
Both medics worked fervently on reviving Ramjet and suddenly there was a little light flickering the dead optics.
"We got 'em!" Raven breathed, but didn't stop her work.
Galvatron felt himself relax, only now realizing he had been so tense. And now he had the first good look at the room he had woken in. Every single Decepticon who had accompanied him into the space station lay on the floor or on tables, suffering from whatever it was that had hit them. Most of them appeared comatose. And then there were also Autobots, looking equally at the brink of death. What had happened while he had been out?
Hot Rod turned to him, his optics glowing with what Galvatron identified as a mixture of barely restrained anger and frustration. Though his skin didn't show the sickly grey patches of whatever it was that had attacked the others he was injured. There were two deep cuts, not threatening, but surely annoying, in his shoulder and forearm.
"Welcome back to the world of the dying," the Autobot said calmly.
"What's going on here?" Galvatron demanded. His searching eyes found his weapon, leaning against the far wall. He measured the time and speed he needed to reach it before the Autobot could react.
"We've been infected with a virus," Hot Rod informed him, his hand lying nonchalantly on his gun. He wasn't going to take any chances. "And it's killing everyone, Autobot and Decepticon alike."
Galvatron stared at him, then hissed, "Not everyone as it seems."
The Autobot even dared to smile. "Yes, not everyone." He nodded at Galvatron and the Decepticon leader looked at his own body, which showed no sign whatsoever of an infection. "You, me and Raven are the only ones unaffected. And Raven doesn't really count because she isn't of the same origin we are."
Galvatron looked at the medic, thinking about her immunity. He didn't know much about Raven himself, except that she wasn't spelling trouble, that she was a medic and that Cyclonus had a special interest in her, which Galvatron always thought he could use one day. That she wasn't a Decepticon or Autobot by birth was also clearly obvious.
"We are not alike!" he told the Autobot, letting enough disgust at the thought filter into his voice to make his point clear.
Hot Rod smiled again. "No, but we are Cybertronians by definition, whatever party we belong to. That's something we share."
Galvatron snorted. "We share nothing, Autobot."
"Except for the fact that both of you aren't infected," Raven said and joined them. She looked tired and frustrated. First Aid had broken down after Ramjet's rescue and fallen into a coma. Now she was alone. "This is getting worse by the second. I want to run another test, this time on both of you, to compare your systems. There has to be something that both of you share and which keeps the virus from settling into your bodies."
The Decepticon leader and the Autobot second-in-command stared at each other, both unwilling to trust the other that far. Raven sighed deeply.
"Either you two bury this enmity for a few hours or we'll just sit back and watch every single Cybertronian in this room die.... and maybe the virus spreads to those outside this station. It could mean the death of everyone!"
Hot Rod was silent for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement. Galvatron's optics narrowed a bit, then he, too, nodded. Raven smiled.
"Let's start."

* * *

Optimus Prime listened to Shanygn's explanation of the situation -- more Hot Rod's explanation, since she was recalling what he had told her in an almost compressed form of communication. She had been in trance for only about fifteen minutes. Then he turned to Cyclonus, who was staring from the station to Shanygn and back again. From his expression, Prime thought, he was worried. And if this virus was really deadly then he understood exactly why.
"That's no trick....?" Cyclonus' voice held an almost hesitant tone, but he was ready to believe.
"It's not, Cyclonus. Your friends and ours are in mortal danger. They will all die if we don't find a cure," Shanygn said.
"And this cure ....." Prime muttered. "The clue to it are Galvatron and Hot Rod. They share something none of the others ever had or had access to." He looked at Cyclonus for a hint.
The Decepticon warrior looked thoughtful. There was nothing he could think of that the two shared. Nothing at all.
"Both are relatively young," Shanygn muttered.
"Not really," Cyclonus objected and shook his head. "It depends on your viewpoint. Galvatron's body was created by Unicron, but your friend Hot Rod is older than that. Of the two of them his body shell is older."
"They are not related, don't share a common background or programming, or even a common origin." Optimus Prime shook his head. "All this they found out themselves as well, as Hot Rod told Shanygn. Still, there's something they have in common with only the other ....."
Cyclonus rubbed his forehead. "It must be something they both experienced."
"And this can only start from the time of Unicron's return," Prime jumped onto this train of thought. "So we have to try and recall every event since then."
"Pretty big order," Shanygn commented.
"And our only way of even guessing what it is." Prime walked over to the computer terminal. "Let's get going and try to download everything we can come up with. We should also inform the others."
Cyclonus nodded and opened a line to his waiting troops.

*

"A virus?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"Yes. It's deadly, highly contagious and doesn't make any difference who you are. Both, Autobots and Decepticons, are infected and dying." Optimus Prime looked serious. "Only three members of the parties aboard the station are unaffected: Hot Rod, Galvatron and a Decepticon medic called Raven."
"So they are immune," Midnight said. "We should be able to use that to develop an antidote."
"That's exactly the problem. Raven and First Aid have apparently checked every single cell of the immune, but they couldn't find an explanation as to why they are not affected," Prime explained.
"That's impossible," Silverbolt jumped in. "There has to be a reason."
"Which we have to find," Optimus agreed. "We believe that it has to do with something both Hot Rod and Galvatron experienced or were exposed to. Raven isn't Cybertronian and that is her life saver. Kup, Ultra Magnus, download everything we have about any events both Decepticons and Autobots took part in after Unicron's return. And I mean everything. There must be a clue there."
"Will do, Optimus," Magnus said and set to work.
"That's all for now. We'll get back to you if we come up with a possible solution." Optimus Prime terminated the connection.

*

"What's that?"
Hot Rod turned to Raven and followed her gesture toward the screen. All he could see was a row of numbers and letters.
"What's what?" he asked.
"This." The black female pointed at the numbers and letters. "It pops up every time I scan you. It's nothing you would notice the very first time because it's weak and looks too non-descript and minor to be of importance to your programming, but it's there. And I can't find any connection to anything. It's like a superfluous component." She punched a few buttons and another row of numbers and letters appeared. "And Galvatron shows the same ... residue." She shrugged. "I can't call it anything else but a residue. In you it's stronger than in Galvatron, but it's there."
Galvatron walked up to her and stared at the screen. "The virus?" he asked.
"No. It doesn't show any viral strains. It's like leftover radiation in pattern, but not in effect. It's there but it doesn't affect you two." A hopeful smile crossed her features. "Maybe that's it."
Hot Rod looked at the screen. "Yeah, but what is it?"
"I don't know. It must be something, a kind of radiation you both were exposed to at close quarters, but which never came close enough to the others to leave any permanent traces." She looked quizzically at him. "Any ideas?"

* * *

In the shuttle Optimus Prime and Cyclonus were hard at work compiling information and comparing it. Shanygn kept back and watched them, her mind partly listening for any links from Hot Rod. There was none. With a small smile, a smile none of the two robots could see because of her helmet, she noted how smoothly the two enemies worked together. It was always amazing how they worked hand in hand in this crisis when they would normally shoot at each other first. Simply amazing.
"They don't have anything in common," Cyclonus said after some time, shaking his head. He sounded frustrated, but not yet ready to admit defeat.
"They must have," Prime insisted.
"What if they both have a trait in their programming, a different trait, that makes them immune?" Shanygn asked softly. The idea had struck her a few minutes ago.
"Then we might never find it," Optimus answered. "I still hope there's something in common."
Suddenly Shanygn stiffened. Prime looked worriedly at the humanoid in the exo-suit, who was completely still. After maybe a minute she moved again.
"They got something over there," she said without preamble or explanation what had just happened.
"What?" Cyclonus asked, who wasn't used to this kind of communication, especially since it was so erratic.
"Raven found some radiation residue she can't identify. She found it on both Galvatron and Hot Rod and believes it might be a clue as to why they're unaffected." Shanygn hopped down from the chair and walked over to the computer terminal. She keyed in what Raven had told her and a few seconds later all three saw the two coded strings.
Optimus Prime looked thoughtfully at the code. It wasn't anything he recognized from any programming he had ever known. But he wasn't an expert in this field.
"We need Perceptor," he decided. "He might know what this is."
Cyclonus nodded. "I'll transmit this to Soundwave as well."
Both opened a com line, Optimus Prime to call the ship, Cyclonus to get his own team working.

* * *

"Now all we can do is wait," Hot Rod muttered.
"Let's hope we have the time to wait," Raven added and looked darkly at the comatose patients in the room. She wanted nothing more than help, but she couldn't. This was beyond her capabilities and she hated it. She turned her back on the other two unaffected in the room and began checking her patients, trying to loose herself in her work, trying not to think how futile it was. They would die if she didn't find a solution..
"Any idea what this radiation could be?" Hot Rod asked Galvatron, echoing the question Raven had posed in the lab and which both of them where pondering.
The Decepticon shook his head. "No. There is nothing we share."
"I guess it doesn't have anything to do with sharing, but with experiencing," Hot Rod muttered and leaned against the wall. "Something we both went through, me much stronger, you only for either a brief time or further away."
Galvatron watched Raven working, barely able to restrain his anger at the situation. Someone was killing his troops and he was unable to do anything! This was intolerable! He was Galvatron, mighty leader of the Decepticons, and all he do was sit and wait while everyone died. Everyone but him and one blasted Autobot. He whirled around and left the room. If he stayed for even one more second he'd explode.
Hot Rod watched Galvatron go. He felt the same as the Decepticon leader. He wanted to do something, act instead of wait, but there was nothing he could to do. With a sigh he settled back and tried to contact Shanygn again. He had been surprised at the first contact, pleasantly surprised, even though it hadn't lasted long. The second contact he had initiated himself, though rather unwillingly. Suddenly they had been linked and he had transferred the information he had to her. He didn't know what triggered a link, but he guessed it had something to do with stress or emotional upheaval. The way he felt right now, frustrated beyond words, was the best moment to try it again.

* * *

Perceptor was working hard and fast, ignoring everything else going on around him. His optics were fixed to the computer screen which was displaying data that was too fast for anyone else to catch, but which he was very well able to read. His fingers requested more data, more files, more information.

Not very far away from the Autobot ship and Perceptor, Soundwave did the same, though without any visual aids like a computer screen. He was floating inside the computer system, oblivious to the real world around him. With the whole Decepticon computer net at his disposal through Cyberspace he accessed and left files at random, trying to find a matching code string to the one Cyclonus had transmitted.

Perceptor stopped and stared at the screen. "That can't be," he muttered and started once again. The outcome was the same. "That's impossible."
Ultra Magnus walked over to the scientist and peered over his shoulder. "Found something?"
"In a way," Perceptor mumbled and ran a third trial .... with the same effects. The outcome didn't change. "I found a matching string of radiation patterns, but it can't be it. It's impossible."
"Why, what is it?" To Ultra Magnus the numbers and letters, which were a radiation pattern, were nothing but gibberish.
The scientist ignored him. "I need to talk to Prime." Perceptor keyed in a link to the com line. "Optimus Prime, this is Perceptor."
"I hear you," the Autobot leader answered immediately.
"Optimus, I compared the information you relayed with everything we have at our disposal in the computer banks. Concluding from the strength of the radiation around Hot Rod and Galvatron I calculated an approximate date of when it happened. The radiation is about five standard years old."
"That's very recent," Prime commented. "About the time of ... Unicron."
"Yes. I was puzzled by the varying amounts of radiation both Hot Rod and Galvatron were exposed to and I think I have a theory as to what caused it. I'm transmitting the data now."

In the shuttle Optimus Prime exchanged a look with Cyclonus. Five standard years ago.... that had been the time of his death, the time of Unicron and the time of Megatron's change into Galvatron. It had also been the time when Rodimus Prime had been born. Deep inside of him a tiny spark of a suspicion was born, but he wasn't ready to believe it yet. It couldn't be ... especially in Galvatron's case!
"I'm transmitting the data now," Perceptor said and Prime turned back to the computer screen. What he then discovered on the display transformed the spark into a fire. Cyclonus gave a surprised sound and leaned forward, disbelief on his face.
"That can't be!" he whispered. "It must be a wrong calculation!"
"Perceptor, are you sure?" Optimus asked.
"Yes, Prime, I am. I checked the results three times and it's the only solution that could make some sense."
"I understand." Prime cut the com line and turned to look at Cyclonus, who appeared even more baffled and confused.
"That can't be," he repeated. "It's impossible. How could Galvatron ...?" He didn't finish the question, simply shaking his head again. "It must be wrong!"
Optimus Prime had to agree that it sounded incredible, but then again .... He turned to their only link to the station. "Shanygn, try to get in touch with Hot Rod. We might have found a way."

* * *

Galvatron smashed his fist into the defenseless apparatus. Shreds of metal and glass flew around him, and as he retrieved his fist from the innards of the machine it gave a sickening screech, sizzling and blowing sparks.
"Bwah!" He kicked the machine, then turned his rage onto the next inanimate victim: a large test tube rack. More glass flew around the confines of the lab, showering onto the floor like rain.
A virus! A simple virus was killing his warriors and there was nothing to do, no one to crush, nothing to demolish! They had been lured into a trap like lambs to the slaughter, as the Earthers always put it.
Galvatron smashed another machinery with his hands, longing for his weapon to blast this whole station to bits. Only that this didn't help.... What if destroying the station meant that the virus would be set free? There was no guarantee that it could be completely destroyed this way. Raven had tested the virus strains and had found no obvious weakness.
"Aaarrrrrr!" His furious roar echoed in the lab and he stomped outside, his eyes flashing wildly.
On his way back he calmed down a bit. Irrational as his reactions were from time to time -- most of the time, if he had to ask Cyclonus for an opinion -- he had to accept this situation. A situation that could only get better.

* * *

[You can't be serious!]
[It wasn't my idea, Roddy. Perceptor did some snooping in the files and came up with the idea.] Shanygn sighed.
[Okay, let's say it's the reason why we're immune.... how can that help us?] Hot Rod asked.
[That's something we haven't figured out yet. I'll get back to you.] With that she disconnected.
Hot Rod sank back against the wall and shook his head. The link was tiring and combined with the emotional stress he was under it made him feel a bit woozy.
"Everything okay?" Raven asked. She didn't look much better. He remembered that she was a Decepticon and as such suffered from the same energon shortage as the other warriors. Working on both a cure and her patients had clearly drained her a lot.
"Depends on how you define okay," he commented dryly.
"You had contact with your friend again?" the female Decepticon asked.
"How ....?"
"You always look a bit .... distant." She smiled. "Any new ideas?"
Hot Rod hesitated, then said, "Perceptor believes he knows what made Galvatron and me immune."
"What is it?" Galvatron's cold voice asked from the doorway.
Hot Rod's voice was dead calm when he answered. "The Matrix."

* * *

Perceptor terminated the link to Soundwave and swiveled his chair to face Optimus Prime, who was present through a vid link with the shuttle, and the others.
"Soundwave has discovered the same phenomenon," he reported. "The Matrix is the prime factor responsible for the immunity of Hot Rod and Galvatron."
"But how?" Ultra Magnus blurted. "I can understand Hot Rod, since he carried the Matrix for some time; it even changed him physically. But Galvatron? He was never chosen by the Matrix!"
"True," Kup muttered. "But remember: he stole it from you."
"And he carried it around his neck, on a chain," Cyclonus continued, his voice coming from behind Optimus Prime on the screen.
"Which means he had close contact to it for quite some time," Midnight finished the train of thought. "The radiation rubbed off and I find it very likely that it still clings to him. Didn't Raven say that his radiation patterns are much weaker than Hot Rod's? So, there's the proof. He's immune because he was in contact with the Matrix for a long time."
"Then I should be immune as well," Ultra Magnus said slowly. "I carried the Matrix for some time."
Optimus Prime nodded. "As should I myself." He looked thoughtfully at Perceptor. "Is there any way to tell if the Matrix could cure those infected?"
Perceptor used the computer again and turned back after some time. "There is an 87% probability that the Matrix could effect the virus and erase it."
"I hope you don't think about opening the Matrix," Kup began.
"That's exactly what I think," Optimus interrupted him.
"But the Matrix is empty," Ultra Magnus protested. "It doesn't have the strength anymore."
"How do we know that?" Midnight asked calmly. "It's not said that the Matrix needs to be filled to perform this healing task. It's the radiation of the Matrix that affects the virus, not the contents. And since it always has this radiation...."
"How do you know that?" Kup asked.
Midnight smiled humorlessly. "I can feel it. Some Sentinels are quite aware of the Matrix of Leadership." He didn't add the word 'painfully', because except for Hot Rod, and maybe Optimus Prime, no one knew that the Matrix was a deadly weapon against Sentinels. He looked at Prime.
The Autobot leader nodded. The Matrix had a specific pattern of radiation, an aura, if you could call that. He could feel it within himself, had always felt it, whether the Matrix had been full or empty.
"Okay, what if we cure those infected?" Cyclonus asked suddenly. "What keeps the person who did this from attacking again? The Matrix can't spread the radiation so far that it reaches everyone in every corner of the galaxy."
"If I understand this correctly," Midnight mused out aloud, "then the Matrix will attack the virus and turn it around, reversing the effects in the victims' bodies. The way the virus is programmed to work it's body-jumping and affecting everyone who is of Cybertronian origin. If it's turned into some kind of antibody it will continue with its original programming, but just do the opposite it was intended to do."
"It's its own antibody!" Ultra Magnus exclaimed. "If that's true ...."
"It might work. Those returning from the station will carry an antibody with them that jumps automatically onto a new Cybertronian host, making him or her immune," Optimus said.
"A highly contagious antibody," F/X joked.
"We have to try it," Ultra Magnus agreed.
"Then why couldn't Hot Rod initiate the healing process?" F/X entered the conversation. "Call me stupid, but wasn't he the keeper of the Matrix for some time and isn't he the one with the strongest residue aura?"
"And that's exactly the point, F/X," Midnight was ready to answer. "It's residue. It's just like a shield, keeping him safe. He doesn't actually have antibodies to spread on someone else. Same with Galvatron."
"How do we go about it?" Kup wanted to know. "The doors of that blasted station are locked tighter than the prison cells of Tat'nachal Four."
F/X suddenly grinned. "Who said we'd have to use the doors?"

* * *

She was watching with growing concern. Three robots were as to yet unaffected by the virus. Of the three only one could be excused because of her make-up, but the other two were clearly Cybertronian. What made them immune? This wasn't good. If two survived it meant back to the drawing board. And it also meant the loss of a lot of money she had counted on receiving for her virus.
And what were the others planning? There was clearly something going on. She watched as the shuttle moved closer to the station, apparently in search for an open door.
'Fools', she mocked. 'There is no way in.'

* * *

"Teleportation?" Cyclonus tried to clarify the proposal of the black Sentinel, who had joined them in the shuttle.
"In a way, yes," Midnight confirmed. "But it's not just displacing an object, this works differently. It's like opening a door and then exiting on the other side." He smiled. "Easy when you know how. I'll take Optimus through and then we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed."
"I'm coming along as well," the Decepticon second-in-command stated flatly.
"You could get infected," Optimus said immediately. "We don't know if this works as anticipated and beside me no one here on board has ever been in prolonged contact with the Matrix."
Cyclonus turned a cold stare on him. "I'm not letting you go over there alone." And it wasn't because he was worried what might happen to the Autobot leader. It was just a precaution. "If he goes," he indicated Midnight, "I'll go as well. I'm willing to take this risk."
"I don't have any other choice," the Sentinel explained calmly. "I'm the one providing the shuttle service."
"I am coming along," Cyclonus repeated.
Optimus Prime looked at him, then finally nodded. He turned to Midnight. "Can you do it?
"Sure, no problem. Whenever you're ready we can start."
"Then let's waste no more time," Cyclonus said before Prime could even say a word.
Optimus agreed with a small nod and Midnight initiated the Gating. The power output was tremendous and Shanygn moved back a bit so she wouldn't get caught in the backwash. There wasn't much of a light display, but the sizzle of energy and the flash were enough. From one second to another they were gone.

Cyclonus was a bit disoriented at first, then his optics took in his new surroundings. They had arrived in what looked like a hangar bay.
"The closer we are to the infected the better the chances that the Matrix' radiation field turns the virus around," Prime said. "We need to find them."
Cyclonus opened a com line and called Galvatron. "Mighty Galvatron, it's Cyclonus. We arrived in what looks like a hangar," he informed him. "Can you give me your position."
Galvatron gave him accurate directions to the room he and the other Decpticons were in. Cyclonus shut down the line and turned to face Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader had confirmed his own team's position as well and nodded. He was ready.

* * *

Hot Rod couldn't say he had ever felt more relief than the moment Optimus Prime entered the room. It wasn't that he thought he couldn't control the situation any longer, but the Autobot leader's presence meant that they might have found a cure. That he was accompanied by Cyclonus was nothing to worry about right now. He had had to watch out for Galvatron the whole time, so Cyclonus didn't bother him. Galvatron apparently saw the presence of the Autobot leader as not so positive, judging from his posture, but he kept still. He only nodded at Prime, acknowledging his presence, but nothing more.
Prime had explained to him in very short words what they were planning to do when he had contacted him. It was a chancy deal for the very best, but it also was their best chance of curing those infected. They had to try it, though Hot Rod didn't like it. Who was to tell if it worked as theorized?

Optimus Prime felt sick as he saw all the infected Cybertronians for the first time. Three had open chests, opened by main force as it seemed, their circuits appearing half rotten or covered by a grainy grey substance. None of them were conscious. Hot Rod, Galvatron and the strange female Raven looked just fine, though very tired. Hot Rod had a relieved expression on his face, but there was also a silent anger cooking behind his relief. Galvatron's anger wasn't that silent. His eyes blazed with hatred and for the first time it wasn't directed at the Autobots.
"What will happen when you open the Matrix?" Raven asked, her voice level and calm.
Optimus had never seen a robot like her, but then he'd never seen a Sentinel before, until a few months ago when a legend had been proven to be real and quite alive. He didn't think Raven was a Sentinel, but he had to ask Midnight when this crisis was over. She was different, she was apparently a Decepticon and she was immune. That was all he knew and all he needed to know right now. Everything else had to wait.
"The radiation will spread throughout the station and maybe a bit through the immediate space," he explained. "After that we have to wait in what way the radiation influences the virus. If it turns it into a cure, we're safe. Then it will spread to every other Cybertronian the cured will come in contact with. If it doesn't change the virus, only neutralizes it ...."
She nodded. "I understand. Those infected will be cured, but we can't produce antibodies to prevent a new infection."
"There won't be a new infection," Galvatron hissed, "because I'll crush the one responsible!"
"First you have to find him," Hot Rod pointed out.
"He won't be able to hide from Galvatron!"
Hot Rod knew that when the Decepticon leader had his mind set on something he'd most likely achieve his goal one way or another. And he couldn't say he felt terribly obliged to stop him from his revenge trip......
Optimus Prime opened his chest and took out the Matrix, carefully balancing it in his hands. It's soft blue glow sparkled in the room like a new life-form. Midnight moved back a bit, instinctively getting a safe distance between himself and the Matrix. Prime knew the Sentinels were very sensitive to the powers of the Matrix and that, if ever used against them, it could hurt them a lot. Midnight had still volunteered to make the Gating, though he knew he might not get away from the Matrix' powers unscathed. Raven's eyes held a fascinated look as she watched him take the handles of the blue orb, ready to open it. Hot Rod met Prime's eyes with a slight nod, his face solemn and calm.
And then he opened the casing of the Matrix of Leadership.

* * *

"NO!" she exclaimed, jumping from her chair. The chair fell over with a loud 'thump', but she didn't care. Hands placed beside the keyboard that gave her access to most of the known computer systems, she stared at the screen.
The space station was enveloped by a soft blue light, lancing through every crack toward the shuttle and the ship, the Decepticon troops and the Autobots. It touched the Cybertronians, blocking them from sight for several seconds. Then it retreated, vanishing into the black nothingness of space.
"This can't be!" she whispered, switching her gaze back to the monitor that showed her the situation inside the space station.
After witnessing the sudden appearance of Optimus Prime and his friends, an appearance she hadn't believed possible because the station was tightly locked, she had thought that this was only a last, desperate attempt to rescue their friends. 'Let them rescue them through their teleportation', she had thought. 'This will only spread the virus among the others outside'. She had not foretold the opening of the Matrix. She had never taken the Matrix into any account. It had never seemed important enough to consider a threat. Now she had been taught otherwise.
The infected Cybertronians looked suddenly like new. The grainy stains, the bruises on the skin, had disappeared, just like the crust on the optics. They had been cured!
She smashed her fist into the panels and cursed loudly.

* * *

"The experiment has failed."
The single sentence echoed through the room and the other Quintessons could do nothing but agree. They switched off their monitors and turned their attention to other matters.

* * *

"They are all on their way to a complete recovery," Raven reported and straightened from her last patient. "Everyone is conscious and except for a slight confusion and a bit of a balance problem, which should be solved in the next hour or so, they show no more viral infections."
First Aid, up and working despite the fact that he, too, was a bit unstable on his feet, could only agree. "The Matrix succeeded in turning the viral strain into an antibody."
The Decepticon warriors were hovering in one corner of the room, while the Autobots, watching their enemies with the same suspicion as the Decepticons watched them, hovered in another. Both parties didn't make any moves of an attack or threat, mainly because their leaders held their own, though shaky, peace.
"Don't expect me to thank you," Galvatron snarled at his counterpart.
Prime seemed to smile, though you could never be sure. His face seldom displayed emotions openly. "Never, Galvatron."
Hot Rod stood at his leader's side, keeping a wary eye on the Decepticons -- and on his own team. One false word from anyone and this would develop into a full blown fight, despite the fact that no one was in any condition to fight at all.
Galvatron turned to his warriors. "Decepticons, let's leave this worthless pile of junk! Just be thankful I won't blow it up with you still on it," he added to Prime.
Hot Rod watched the Decepticons leave the room. "And that's called thankfulness," he muttered.
Raven, who was the last to leave, turned and mouthed a silent 'thanks', then she, too, was gone.
"We should leave as well," Midnight said softly. "I don't like it here."
Optimus had to agree and gave the order. They'd have time enough back at Autobot City to go over these events of the past day.

* * *

"Perceptor and First Aid still have no idea who might have constructed the virus. The strain has been isolated and broken down into its very elements, but there is no ID trace possible. Part of the virus is a computer program, telling it what to attack. Perceptor found that the program identifies a Cybertronian's core production program, our birth certificates, if you want to put it that way. Every Cybertronian apparently has one and it's a mark you can't hide and can't erase. The organic part of the virus attacks the metal, the fluids, everything solid, and begins breaking it down and mutating it into parts of itself. Thus the skin begins to form grainy grey patterns and the optic sensors get crusted. Fluids start drying and joints stiffen."
Hot Rod looked at Optimus Prime, who was listening to his report with silence. Hot Rod had been put in charge of the research team trying to find out who had created the virus. He had done everything possible to insure an answer, but he had had to admit defeat. Just like First Aid had admitted defeat in fighting the virus. Right now the medic was busy trying to analyze the mutated, benevolent form in every Autobot's body. He wanted to try and get an antidote.
"The organic part can be developed in every research lab we know. You just need the equipment, the knowledge and the ingredients."
Prime nodded. "The key part is the knowledge. Do we have names of scientists who have that knowledge?"
Hot Rod held up a notebook. "We have. None of them have a hatred against Cybertron. And all of them lack the technical knowledge to construct the program and join the two parts into one virus." He shook his head. "Whoever did it, we don't know him. Spike, Carly, Steve and Jill are still interviewing the scientists, mainly to find out if they know someone, anyone, who could do such a thing."
Optimus nodded again, this time more thoughtful. The virus had been beaten, but the reason of this unprovoked attack, as well as the initiator, were still in the dark.
Hot Rod put down the notebook and leaned against the desk. "I don't understand it, Optimus," he said, mirroring Prime's thoughts. "I have the feeling this was all an experiment. We took the station apart piece for piece and found some surveillance equipment. Someone was watching us, but it's impossible to track him or her. This station was a trap for both Autobots and Decepticons, no one was favored. All of us were either tested or used as guinea pigs."
"Agreed, Hot Rod." Optimus shook his head. "Whoever did this, let's hope we find him or her before Galvatron does."
Hot Rod smiled wryly. "Scold me if you like, but secretly I wish he would."
The Autobot leader gave him an amused look. "And secretly I have to agree with you, but this will never leave this room."
Hot Rod smiled and shrugged. "My lips are sealed, as they always say."
"What about Raven?" Prime then wanted to know.
His second sighed. "I asked Midnight about her since she said herself she isn't a Decepticon by birth. I thought he might know if she's a Sentinel. Midnight went through the computer files on Alean, which contain information about every Sentinel ever built by the Quintessons. He came up empty. There isn't a female Sentinel who even remotely resembles her."
"So we don't know what she is or where she came from," Optimus concluded.
"Exactly. We know she's a medic and joined the Decepticons for whatever reasons. That's it." Hot Rod shrugged. "Midnight said he'll keep at it. He mentioned some old files he might be able to unlock from the data base on Alean."
Optimus Prime nodded. "You did very well on that station," he then said.
Hot Rod shrugged self-consciously. "There wasn't much I could do."
"But what you did was exactly right. And I see that Shanygn and you finally got this link worked out...?" Prime put a question into his voice.
"Uh, well, looks like it only works under stress." He grinned a bit. "But at least we know that it can work."
Optimus nodded. Maybe one day Hot Rod and Shanygn would develop all their abilities, but
until then he was very pleased with what his second-in-command had already achieved.
"Well," he finally said, "now that this is over I think we have to wrap up some other stuff."
Hot Rod looked a bit confused at first, then realized what Prime was talking about. "The conference?"
"The conference," the older Autobot confirmed.
"Oh, geez," Hot Rod muttered. He had nearly forgotten about this. And while he remembered that, there was also the fact that Ultra Magnus still wanted to talk to him about Metroplex. "Why do I suddenly wish for another crisis?"
Optimus Prime only chuckled.