The Halls were crowded as always as Novablast made her way to the main hanger. Her comlink was going crazy with messages from Prowl, Optimus, and even Mirage. All urging her to meet them at once. It was unsettling to say the least, but she kept a friendly smile on her face plate so the bots in the halls wouldn't become worried. Most were not warriors, but those displaced by this cruel pointless war. And it was her job, at least one of them, to take care of their needs and mental welfare. Her official title was coordinator. She was responsible for making sure there was enough space and supplies for them, as well as handle any disputes.
She pushed the door to the hanger open and was taken aback by the negative energy flickering from the fields of her fellow autobots. She moved to stand by Jazz who simply nodded as acknowledgment, making that anxious bubble in her tank grow..
Optimus cleared his throat to get everybots attention and their eyes locked. "Novablast, it is good you were able to come this fast. Prowl received unsettling information from his source. What we thought were pit fights is really a cover for slave trade. It took them awhile but they discovered that there is a gathering tonight. It is up to you to end this monstrosity and bring these bots to justice.."
No one except Prowl and maybe Optimus knew who this secret informant was. Supposably to protect their identity. She guessed it was some poor neutral stuck in decepticon territory, but it didn't matter to her as long as their information was reliable and they were smart enough not to get caught.
Prowl took that time to speak up "We already were planning on breaking up the operation but since innocent bots are involved, it is of utmost importance that you are successful in this mission. I have sent you all the vital information you need."
She understood why breaking up the fights were low on priority. The pit fights, while cruel, were mainly free will. The bots who fought were there by choice, they either needed the coin or they flourished on violence. Low time decepticon soldiers were often found there, trying to earn a name for themselves to impress megatron.
She took a moment to go through the data pack and absorb the information. She knew decepticons were evil, but each time she set foot in this room, she was shocked. The datapack mentioned the ring leaders, Scrapheap and Slickbolt" She recognized them as lowly drug dealers. She let out a sigh and returned her gaze to optimus. Her expression hardened " Consider it done."
The tunnels under the arena were what she expected. They looked like they hadn't been cleaned in vorns and the smell of death and rust filled the air. She didn't dare focus on it though, she needed to keep her mind on track. She passed a few bots, but paid them no mind. They weren't who she was after. Her eyes were following the walls, looking for the secret tunnel she knew was there.
And there it was. Exactly where Prowls anonymous source said it would be. She pushed on the hidden door panel and smirked when it gave way to reveal another dimly lit hallway. Voices drifted from further within and she took this moment to make sure her field was under control. The last thing she needed was to reveal her presence before she needed.
She glanced into the room the noise was coming from. There were about 20 bots gathered, all obviously from rich backgrounds. Not a scratch or smudge could be found. They were all facing a platform in the back of the room, where the 2 ring leaders were, along with 7 other bots all held to the wall with electromagnetic chains. She took the sight of them in, memorising their features. There was a yellow one who was severely injured, closest to Scrapheap, who was putting up a fight whenever he got too close. Which resulted in getting shocked through the chains and a fist to the face plate. Which in turn cause the red one chained next to him to growl. The others would just glare or look away, not wanting to risk that wrath being turned on them.
Nova didn't waste anymore time formulating a plan. She took a second to find the button to release them, which happened to be on a remote in Slickbolts hand. Then reached into her subspace and pulled out smoke bombs, which made the buyers panic and run, causing a diversion, allowing her to make her way to the edge of the platform and knock the remote out of Slickbolts hand. It hit the ground and slid away from them, but before she could get to it, Scrapheap threw one of his knives at her, getting her in the arm. She winced in pain and turned toward him. He charged at her and she blocked his fist, swinging her leg out and knocking him on his aft. She took out her blaster and shot at him, missing his chassis when Slickbolt tackled her, knocking her gun from her hand, and pinned her.
A swift fist to the face had her dazed and she struggled to get out from under him. in the corner of her eye she saw one of the bots chained, the red one, trying to get the remote, which had slid over to him. Coming to her senses, she brought one of her pedes to his side and force him over, quickly standing and bringing her pede into his chest plate.
She turned to her blaster, only to find Scrapheap had managed to get back up, blocking her way with a nasty grin. " So youre the infamous little infiltrator the autobots managed to find. It'll be so good to know we were the ones who took you down."
She swung her fist at him, only to have him catch it and throw her into the wall. She pushed herself back up, only to have Slickbolts pede connect with her helm. He then grabbed her neck and hoisted her up against the wall. "Or maybe, we could keep her as a pet."
She trying to kick him away from her, only to have him backhand her and throw her on the ground beside Scrapheap, who put his pede on her chestplate, holding her down. She deployed her blade, hidden in her wrist, and swung, slicing his leg wires, causing him to fall and a curse and she rolled and grabbed her blaster. She sat up and aimed just behind Slickbolt and fired.
That caused his to laugh "You missed"
She smiled back at him "I don't think I did"
He turned to look at where she hit, only to see the remote obliterated and the would be slaves released. Most ran, not wanting to help and risk being recaptured, not that she could blame them. The yellow one was looking at them with murderous intent, his eyes red, as he slowly made his way over. A small shiver of fear ran up her back strut from the ferocity and could do nothing as she watched him and the red bot rip through the 2 slavers with unsettling ease.
When they were done, there was almost nothing left to recognize. The 2 bots turned their gaze to her and the yellow ones eyes flickered back to light blue, before going black and he collapsed from the wounds previously inflicted to him. She slowly rose to her pedes and made her way over to them
She bent down to help the yellow one up, only to stop when the red one let out a growl, warning her away. She met his eyes as he hovered, seemingly ready to attack if she so much as made a single wrong move. That's when it hit her. These bots were twins.
It's didn't surprise her to see the look of mistrust in the red twins eyes. Throughout their history, bots have only either wanted to sleep with them or to kill them. They weren't seen as bots, just objects for people to use however they wanted. Which explained why most twins, not that there were many, stay to themselves. Choosing to stay safe in this society that had failed them.
"I only want to help" she said to the red bot while slipping her arm under the yellow one and struggled to pulling him up. They were a good deal bigger than her, her being 14' while they looked to be around 20' with a frame almost double her size. The red one watched her, looking for something, before stepping forward and taking the weight of his twin from her.
They met eyes and he nodded "lead the way"
Authors note: Hey guys, I'm so happy to finally have this chapter out, I've been stressing trying to get it perfect. This story was inspired by What Once Was Lost by J. . You should definitely go read it if you haven't, its one of my favorites!