From the Personal Data Tracks of Frostbite.
"They were drawing us in; luring us to our fate with false words and empty lies. None of us believed it at first. None of us. Especially not Fellflame, who stomped around the place flaunting her rather colourful vocabulary and cursing their name to the high heavens. She was not alone in her thoughts, either. The war had been long and tedious, and we all knew this "truce" the Decepticons were offering would not be all what they were making it out to be. A comfortable accomodation, with all the Energon we required, in exchange for our "services"? Even sweet Primus would not be able to miss the implamation in that offer.
But they kept at it, making it sound more and more elaborate each time. I was a fool to think no one would actually listen to them, to think they were as stubborn and strong-willed as I found quite a few of us to be. We held in our resolve. All of us. That was, until a couple were swayed... a couple was all it took. All they needed. Next thing you knew they had all the locations of our bases, operations, all our plans...
Everything's gone to the dogs. Femmes have disappeared at a constant rate, and anyone foolish enough to believe their claims that "any who surrender will be granted the rights to the initial promise" ... well. They've soon learnt that that agreement is well past null and void. If rumours serve correctly, all who are captured are enslaved and treated as nothing but an item of pleasure, regardless of whether or not they submit. Those femmes who are still free from the Decepticon's grasp have scattered, unintentionally breaking off into small clusters and fleeing for their lives and dignity. I do not blame them.
No place seems to be safe for us any longer. We move at a constant rate to avoid detection, but the more we relocate the longer we're out in the open for. We could stay in one place, but they always find us. Always. It is a constant cycle of cat and mouse, and it's going to break shortly if I don't get them out of here soon... the mouse cannot survive forever. I do not know what fate the other femme groups have succumbed to, but I pray that they are safe.
I will not so easily hand my femmes over, though. I will not wait like lambs to the slaughter. In battle, being on constant defence never wins, and this is what I see this struggle as. A battle. I will get my remaining femmes out of here, no matter what the cost. Anything must be better than what awaits us at the Decepticon base. Fellflame, Moonblaze, Firefly, Shadowblade and I... we will make it out of this.
I can only wish that I could say the same for any of the other free femmes. Primus bless them, for I am afraid I can no longer remain on this planet in the vain hope we may find one another again, and keep the other three safe as well. I know I will carry the guilt of leaving them behind for a long time to come, but Fellflame has spoken, and I cannot help but agree with her words. The time has come to act."
It was never dark on the Planet of Kaiba Five.
Due to it's many suns- five to be exact, each at a different distance away- the only thing even close to the darkness one might experience would be when four of the other suns rotated away, and left behind the smallest sun- Nebulus, who happened to be the ony furthest away. The most that was provided was dim lighting, similar to that that Earth may experience in the late afternoon. Unfortunately for anyone who might be, oh I don't know, perhaps trying to sneak on to an enemy's ship? Unfortunately for them, this only happened once or twice ever five years, which was a real pain in the aft. Fortunately for them, however, Primus must have been smiling down on them, because today just happened to be that day.
"C'mon, Shadowblade!" Fellflame hissed, trying to drag the younger femme into action.
There was an electronic whirr of protest, the darkly coloured femme yanking her arm out of her hold and giving her a look which clearly passed on the message of "I'm going!" Frostbite didn't bother herself with commenting, ducking behind a large metallic formation and scanning her optics over the group, checking that everybody was still with her. Moonblaze had obediently stuck to her aft the entire time, but Fellflame and Shadowblade seemed to be lagging behind. Any other day Frostbite would've allowed this, but not today. This day was serious. It was either do or die, because if they got caught... she barely suppressed a shudder at the thought.
A chirp alerted the group of Firefly's arrival, the femme dashing around the corner as if Megatron herself was after her and skidding into place behind the formation. She'd been dutifully scouting the area around the Decepticon Base for any threats or oppurtunities, and if she didn't look so relaxed Frostbite would've assumed she'd been spotted based on the way she'd sprinted towards them. Firefly glanced at Fellflame and Shadowblade, back pushed up firmly against the formation, and addressed Shadowblade.
"Shadowblade," she said, giving the young femme an imploring look as the two joined them behind the formation, "please. I know you're lacking in Energon, but we need to move. Do this and you'll have all the Energon you need on board one of their ships."
Shadowblade, the youngest femme of the group, meekly nodded and made an honest attempt to steel herself. She didn't want to be the one to cause their group getting captured, which was perfectly understandable and appreciated greatly. Frostbite sympathised for her, she truly did. Though the fastest of the group, she was also the smallest, and it meant she was a lot quicker to weaken than the older and larger femmes she was with. Only the Second-in-Command, Firefly, could even come close to matching the speed of their small scout.
Frostbite turned to mentioned Second-in-Command, straight down to business. They had no time to lose, because the amount of time they had left using the dim lights was undetermined and often unpredictable. Making haste whilst they still had the chance sounded like a very good idea.
"Well?" Frostbite demanded.
"They got a couple of guards 'round the perimeter, but the distance between them is pretty large. Easy sneak in, course. I don't think they're expecting to be attacked anytime soon."
"And the ships?"
"Unattended. No guards, no cameras, no nothing. Again, I don't think they're very worried about an attack at the moment."
"Not surprised," Fellflame snorted, folding her arms over her chestplate. "It's not like the arrogant fraggers have any reason to be afraid of us anymore."
"Only you, Fellflame," Moonblaze teased with a wink, Shadowblaze letting out an amused sound of agreement.
Even Frostbite allowed herself a brief smile, though it was very much short lived. They were wasting precious daylight, or there lack of, and there was another question pressing on her mind that she knew she must ask... even if she wasn't particularly eager to ask it.
"Are... there any femmes?"
The lighthearted humour was gone in a vanish, and the entertained look in Firefly's optics promptly died and vanished without a trace. All heads turned towards the Second-in-Command, some looking hopeful and some wary, as if they were afraid of the answer. Frostbite could've sworn the other femmes were holding their breath. Their leader (though how she had retained that title after all the shit that had gone down was beyond her) was not as optimistic as a couple of the others seemed to be, however. She was well aware that the chances of seeing the others again was pretty much next to zero, especially if one were to pay heed to the stories they heard of what the mechs did to the unfortunate femmes.
"No," Firefly admitted, looking rather deflated.
A moment of silence passed over the femmes, as if they were only just fully feeling the weight that was on their shoulders. If they got caught... if they made one tiny slip up... it would be over. And not quickly, either. Frostbite was almost certain the Decepticons had a special torture cell with her name on it, though surprisingly she was not as worried about herself as she was about the others. At least she would end up being killed, whether from the pain or from the Decepticons simply getting bored with her. The others though... Frostbite could not imagine being reduced to such a life of degradation and humiliation. Her fate seemed almost merciful in contrast to what they would have to endure for Primus knew how many years to come.
But it simply meant Frostbite had to leave no room for mistakes. No slip ups. They were going to do this, they could do this, and Primus be damned if she did not succeed. It was their last resort; their final chance to regain the freedom they had once held. No more running. No more hiding. No more cowering in the dark like frightened animals. This was it. Perhaps their last stand, on this planet at least. And if they got away, they would be back. Frostbite would do everything in her power to return with Autobot forces- guns blazing and weapons flashing- and recover the femmes she left behind. No more waiting around for help. No longer acting like the damsel in distress. Because the time had come...
"Let's do this," she said, rising to her pedes. "We've only got one shot, Autobots. Let us make the most of it."
...The time had come to act.