The beam of light was harder to follow than one would think. As Megatron attempted to right his course, he found it much easier to use his own weight to lean to one side or another. It was a hard lesson though as one minor move and he was going too far right unable to correct and out of the bridge he fell.
The fight previous that landed him in the bridge to begin with had knocked his thrusters offline. Flat on his back he landed a system wide reboot shut him down. Unaware of where exactly he was, he knew though he had landed on Cybertron.
"IN COMING!" Firestar yelled as something impacted a few short blocks from where the femmebots had took up post.
"I tracked it as best I could but it was moving fast, and just seemed to appear out of nowhere." Chromia answered.
"I'll go have a look." Elita-One said with an authoritative voice. "If it is a danger, I will make certain it doesn't find the base. Stay here."
Moonracer nodded. "We'll track you from here just incase."
Elita came out of a hatch that the rest of the group didn't use often. And after rounding the far corner she could finally see the crater which the object had left. It was deeper than she thought it would be, and as she crept up to the side she finally put optics on the cause. There lay Megatron offline. Out of instinct she ducked out of sight, but when there was no sound, or movement she peeked back over the edge. He still lay there. Not moving, not doing.. Anything. Getting up she contacted the base. "Chromia, send Arcee out here, and bring the sensor pack."
"What is it?" the voice on her comm spoke up.
"Megatron. But.. he looks offline. I want to be sure." Elita glanced back at the inert Decepticon still lying in the same position.
"We'll send Arcee right up." Chromia chimed back.
Elita gets up and stands over the prone form of Megatron watching it critically as she waits for Arcee. Still there was no movement, not lit optics, no sound at all.
Arcee cautiously comes up and meets Elita. "He still hasn't moved?"
"No, but I don't think he's deactivated. Megatron can stand more than that." Elita says. "Here give him a scan let's see."
Arcee held it up and the beam scanned over the large frame before them. "He isn't dead." Arcee says with a pang of sadness.
"As disappointing as it seems this is our chance to catch him." Elita says.
"If we move him he might wake up." Arcee shook her head.
"We have to take the chance. Besides if he fell that hard he is likely hurt. I don't want to wait for his self repair systems to bring him back up." Elita said. "This might be the only chance we get. We need peace."
"Can we just exchange him for energon? Give Shockwave a call?" Arcee asks.
"No, but that's not a bad back up plan." Elita said.
A few moments later the other females come out to help.
"Scan him one more time." Elita pointed at Megatron.
Arcee nodded and did as told. "Still the same."
"Alright, Chromia transform, and we'll load him up." Elita walked down to Megatron and gave him a bit of a kick to the leg. Nothing happened. "Let's do it."
Chromia transformed into her truck mode and backed up to the lip of the crater.
Moonracer, Firestar and Arcee came down to help Elita as she began to pull the larger mech up the embankment to the edge. The Decepticon leader out weighed nearly all four of them, though with some effort they managed to get him loaded up and on to Chromia.
"I'd be lying if I said that I was happy to do this." Chromia called.
"I know, but the sooner we get him behind bars and a inhibitor on him the easier this will be." Elita said.
"Absolutely." Arcee nodded.
Only about an hour later they finally got the base. Elita opened the door and let Chromia drive in. "Careful."
"He's got think armor, it isn't going to hurt him." Chromia said trying to be mindful of the corridors walls.
"Even so, do you want him to wake?" Elita reminded her second in command.
"No, not on me not like this." Chromia answered.
"Let's get him to the cell then." Elita leaded on.
As Megatron's systems started to repair themselves his optics began to scroll the damages.
*Warning power low*
*Warning motor systems unresponsive*
*Warning System Repairs incapacitated*
Other warning also scrolled which the Decepticon leader dismissed as his frame's ache drew his attention. His arms were pulled taunt, and as he thought about it one of the warnings was the inhibitor engaged into his transformation. He listened for a few moments, his gyros told him he was upright, and at that point he assumed he was in a cell without powering up his optics. Whomever was watching didn't need to be alerted any sooner than necessary.
A light on the console began to blink, then a soft beep alerted Firestar. "Oh." She silenced the alarm then opened the comm. "Firestar to Elita-one." After a pause she began again. "Something's happening, he hasn't moved but scanner is showing activity." She listened to the comm for a moment. "Alright. Understood."
He knew these voices, not well, but knew this one the Autobot Firestar. Slowly to allow his vision to adjust he powered his optics on. Just as he thought, in a cell, his arms chained to the wall behind him. Not just any chains electro shock chains. He growled at himself. No one knew where he was, thus it would take some time before they located him. At the moment that didn't matter, he was fully capable of getting himself out of most situations it was just a matter of time. He could hear more coming and the sound of Elita-one's voice. His ankles were also chained he noticed same chains. That would make things a bit more difficult. Seems the females were much more thorough about how they held their prisoners unlike their counterparts. This train of thought amused him. This is why Shockwave had been unable to find them and detain them.
"Anything else?" Elita asked as she passed Firestar.
"He is alert." Firestar nodded.
Elita cames to the front of the cell. "I see. Well Megatron, decided to just drop in?"
Megatron narrowed his optics, his processor in high gear deciding which fiber-optic he wanted to pull. "Elita-One, what a pleasant surprise."
"I'm sure it is." Elita shook her head. "Comfortable."
"I've had worse in the pit." Megatron admitted. "I escaped that too."
"Of that I am certain." Elita looked over the cell. "But this will have to do for now. The rumors are true then? The Ark has been found?"
Megatron grinned. "Of course, I found it and sent it spiraling down to some primitive planet in a fireball."
Moonracer took a breath and covered her mouth. This made Megatron grin even more.
"Does that bother you?" He almost purred.
"No. We have our own communications." Elita cut Moonracer off from answering. "We know that Optimus Prime is there with the others."
"So he didn't tell you everything?" Megatron growled a laugh. "His bleeding spark let you believe that everything was okay?" This time he laughed harder.
"You can't intimidate us Megatron." Elita stared at him.
"It's too late for that." Megatron answered. "What then do you have planned?"
"Let me worry about that." Elita said.
For the moment he dared not move, the warning still scrolled through his vision, and a shock would only force them to last even longer.