Wildstar honestly didn't love Ratchet in any way, but he was nice to her when he helped her up. "Have they got Red back? I promised I would protect her!" She growled, straining against his hold on her, wanting to fight him off and go after the fragger.
Ratchet shook his helm. "Up-bup-bup! Stay still! They are retrieving her at this precise moment, Wildstar. I know they will be able to rescue her."
Wildstar nodded, not trusting her vocalizer. Her golden optics looked out towards the mass of blue and green energy where her best friend was being taken away from them all. "I'll make sure I kill him next time we meet." she hissed to herself, claws flexing.
Soon, Arcee, Bulkhead and Optimus Prime came back. Wildstar felt her spark break when she saw they were empty handed, looking grim. So Soundwave had managed to steal their friend...
"We'll get them back, Arcee. I promise." Wildstar comforted the saddened femme as they walked through the groundbridge Bumblebee sent them.
Soundwave had swatted Arcee away with one long arm before throwing Red through the end of the space bridge, sending her right into Megatron's pedes.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" Starscream squealed in fear, claws gouging into Megatron's plating as he jolted.
"That, is our new asset." he rumbled, setting Starscream on his throne and picking Red up by her collar. "And what might you be called, techno-organic?" he asked, sharp denta inches from her face.
Red gulped, trying to squirm free. "Ya... ya better let meh go, if y'all know what's good fer ya!" She shouted at him, her toughness sparking. She was trying her best to be brave despite her current situation.
Megatron laughed softly, a dangerous sound. "Isn't she a feisty little thing! Soundwave, take her to a cell before my poor Seeker has a spark attack." he drawled, noticing how Starscream was looking ill when near the techno organic. Such a typical weakling.
Soundwave silently took Red from the other Decepticon and padded off towards her new cell, glancing over his should at Megatron and Starscream with some jealousy. He hated how he had no mate and yet they were together! Those two of all mechs! And to think, it was all because of-
Red hollered at Soundwave some more, filling in her role of being 'feisty' as Megatron had put it. It disturbed his thought process, lucky for him. "I ain't 'fraid of any of ya Cons, ya hear me?! No siree! Just ya'll wait! The bots'll come for me, ya'll see- ARE YA EVEN LISTENING 'T MEH?!" She yelled, thrashing in his grasp. Soundwave shook her a little, wanting her to be quiet. Glaring under his mask, the mech brought her into the Nemesis' prison where she was soon dropped into a holding cell. It was small since it was only built for being a temporary confinement, but to her it was still huge.
He glanced back at her to see if she was causing any trouble and decided she wouldn't. He would be back within the Earth hour to make sure. Red was a little rattled from Soundwave's shaking. But the moment she was out on the ground, she scrambled upwards and shot towards the door... Only to have it slam in her face.
"OW!" She stumbled backwards, rubbing her nose. "Aw, snap!" She grumbled. "How am ah gonna git m'self outta THIS one?!"
She began to scrambled around her cell, looking for a way out. Soundwave began to return to tell Megatron the status of the techno organic when he stopped dead in his tracks. What was he doing?! He didn't want to see any more closeness between the warlord and his traitorous second! So he huffed softly and returned to his place guarding the techno organic's cell.
Red stopped and stayed still when Soundwave returned. "Inquiry: Designation?" he asked, pointing at her as he asked. He figured he may as well get used to her. She was the only companion he could think to talk to now.
Red glared at Soundwave. "Ah ain't talk'n 't ya!" She snapped, despising ever single Decepticon after the fateful day she met the Autobots.
Soundwave merely sat down in front of the cell, watching the little half-human from behind his visor. "Inquiry: Designation?" he asked yet again, wanting to know what they would need to call her for her to respond. Designations could be a powerful thing sometimes when it came to humans and Cybertronians alike.
Red huffed, crossing her arms and glaring up at Soundwave, her green eyes snapping. "... Mah name is Red. 'An that's all ya need 't know buster!" She said flatly, her Texas drawl yet again making a grand appearance.
Soundwave stored that valuable information away in his processor before he tried another question. He had little else to do. "Inquiry: Location of residence?" he asked, wanting to start some form of conversation.
Red continued her glare. "Why? So ya an' all 'a 'em 'Cons can hurt mah family? No way!" She thrusted her arms outwards, showing her disapproval.
Soundwave shook his helm, raising a spindly servo. "Incorrect: Merely to converse." he stated, entirely honest. Deciding to try something less personal, the mech offered Red some energon. "Inquiry: Energon required for fuel?" he asked softly, offering her a small cube he had prepared before her capture.
She poked at it as he placed it in her cell. "Uh, okaaaaay..." 'What's he play'n at?' She thought. "Can't eat this 'ere stuff sorray!" She wasnt going to fall into some sort of trap. She had to be cautious. "Why are ya be'n so nice tah me? Whut? Is it 'Be Kind 't Yer Captive Day' or someth'n?!"
Soundwave almost whined aloud at her ornery nature. He had never guessed that a techno-organic would need so much care and attention! Not to mention had special human requirements as well. Rubbing his helm with his free servo, the mech set the energon cube down in the floor outside the cell. "Inquiry: What fuel is required for techno-organic?" he asked, knowing he had to keep her alive lest he lose his head to an enraged Megatron.
"Uhm... Like human fuel and watah?" She drawled.
Soundwave quickly stood, deciding he needed to fetch the techno-organic some organic food and was gone without another word, making his way out of the Nemesis and targeting the nearest human food storage-unit called a 'grocery store'.
Red watched Soundwave leave and sighed. "Terrific! Now what'm ah gonna do?" She pondered for a minute, pacing back and forth across her cell, until her eyes hit the energon cube laying outside of the cage. An idea instantly hatched, and a happy smirk spread across her face. Making sure the coast was clear, she backed up. "Hands: On!" She whispered. Her hands activated and her blasters hummed as they charged. She blasted the cube, which, in return, exploded and shattered the seal on the door.
"Yes!" Red cried in triumph, quickly dashing outside and down the corridor. She ducked and watched as two Vehicons passed by, then shot out of her hiding place and continued on her daring escape.
Meanwhile, back at the Autobot base, a new light came onto the monitor. "It's an energy signature!" Wildstar said, peering over Ratchet's shoulder to look. "Let's go see if it's Soundwave!"
Ratchet grabbed her plating. "WHOA now! " he said. "We don't know if its Decepticon or Autobot!"
"But wasn't it the same with-?" Smokescreen asked, coming from behind. Ratchet sent a harsh glare that made the warrior jump back and hold up his servos. "Sorry, I uh... I'm just going to go stand over here and be quiet.
Ratchet's optics widened as the signal became clearer. "Wheeljack!" He exclaimed. "It's Wheeljack!"
Every bot looked excited. "Haven't seen Jackie forever!" Bulkhead said happily. "Not since... Since-"
"The stellar cycle before we met Red?" Arcee sighed, ignoring Smokescreen's 'don't-say-it!' look.
Red was on everyone's processors, and how were they going to be able to tell Jack, Miko, Raf and especially Mitch that she was gone? That they'd failed to protect their friend? Wildstar glanced over her shoulder at Smokescreen, the mech she had had her optics on for a while now. He was handsome and funny despite his sometimes overly bold actions. She had to keep her processor focused on now and try not to make herself sick with guilt because of her failure, but it was harder than she knew.
"Smokescreen and I can go scouting." she said suddenly, forcing a smile onto her face.
Scouting. That one word echoed in Arcee's audio receivers. It was the same thing she had been doing when she had stumbled across Red for the first time, well, more like met, fighting off two vehicons attacking her and her brother...
Flashback...
Arcee was doing patrol with Wildstar. There had been a powerful energy surge in Jasper that had caused a blackout not too long ago, but before it could be traced it had died. So now, Decepticons were frequently patrolling the streets in hopes to find the mysterious source. They went through the outskirts of Jasper, through the last buildings of the trailer park.
-Arcee to base! No 'Cons here. Looks like Miko's sighting of that Vehicon patrol wasn't as 'extremely sure' as she thought.-
Wildstar laughed. "Yeah! Maybe so-" Just then, two purple sports cars drove into view. "Decepticons!" She cried, screeching to a halt.
Both ducked into an alley. They didn't seem to notice the two Autobots and continued to drive. "So Miko wasn't exaggerating after all." Arcee said, watching the cons drive by. Suddenly, two streets down, a dark green, rusty pickup truck came shooting out of nowhere.
"WATCH OUT!" Came a male voice. The driver t-boned the vehicon to the left and they skidded before finally halting. A young man in his early twenties leapt out of the truck and rushed over to the badly dented vehicon. "Good gollay suh! Are y'all alright?!"
He had a western accent, red hair and was well-built in human standards. A scrawny girl a bit younger than him also scrambled out of the truck, her fiery-red hair tied into two long ponytails.
"Mitch! Fer gosh darn sakes, HONK 'th next time Jess is 'bout tah drive intah 'th middle of 'th road!" She scolded him, hands on her hips. Before anyone could say anything else, the dented vehicon transformed. So did the other one. The man, Mitch, and the red-headed girl jumped back, terrified. "Mitch!" She yelped.
Arcee and Wildstar quickly sprang into action. They gunned their engines and came shooting out of their hiding place, streaking towards the cons before transforming into their robot-mode. Both took on the cons, landing numerous kicks, punches, and blasts at them, while Mitch and the girl watched wide-eyed. Then, one of the 'Cons quickly grabbed Mitch and held him up as a shield. Arcee couldn't do anything to help, and froze momentarily, until she heard it.
"HANDS: ON!"
There was a rapid fire and the Vehicon lurched forward. Arcee turned her head and her blue optics widened when she saw the young girl's hands had turned into a laser-cannon of sorts. She rapidly fired, causing the Vehicon to drop Mitch. Arcee quickly sprang into action and caught him while the girl finished off the Vehicon and Wildstar sent the other one rushing away. "HANDS: OFF!" Her hands turned back into regular human hands.
She stared up at Arcee and Arcee stared right back, both in disbelief. After a long moment of silence, Mitch spoke up. "Uh... wow... uhm... thanks ma'am."
Arcee snapped to. She put him down gently. "If you ever say a word about us, then I'll hunt you down and finish what they started. Forget you even saw us." She ordered them, transforming.
But before she and Wildstar could leave, Mitch shouted. "WAIT! Yer lahke mah sistah!"
The girl's eyes widened and she gave Mitch a look. "Mitch! Ah though' ya said-"
"Sis they can 'elp ya! Don'tchya see? They can transform exactly like ya!"
This perked Wildstar's interest. She turned to Arcee. "Arcee, she can-"
"I heard..." Arcee sighed. She knew what she had to do. -Arcee to base! I have some... tag-alongs coming back with us.-
-Who?- Ratchet boomed over the com-link.
Arcee turned to the girl. "What's your name kid?"
"It's Red."
Flashback End...
The last words echoed in her processor and she sighed. "Just... be careful you two."
"We'll be okay, Arcee. I promise." Wildstar said firmly, optics bright. "And we'll try and get a lock on Decepticon signals to track where Red is." Wildstar turned to Smokescreen, optics lingering on his handsome faceplate and determined expression. He was cute when he was focused. "Ready to go, big guy?" she asked smoothly, her voice a soft purr.
"Yeah sure just gimme a sec-"
"Come on, Smokescreen, let's go!" Wildstar said, tugging at his servo a little.
"Okay! Whoa take it easy Wild! Hah!" Smokescreen said, being dragged along.
Wildstar was pushy and insistent, always needing something. Once she got him out on the road, though, she felt a great deal better. "Do you think we'll catch any Decepticon signals?" she asked, wanting to start up conversation. After all, she had had her sights on that handsome young mech for a while now.
"Probably. You know how they are! Careful one klick, careless the next!" Smokescreen chuckled at himself.
Wildstar nodded, hoping he was right. "If you say so sweetspark." she giggled, revving her engine and speeding past him. "Catch me if you can, big guy!" she taunted.
Smokescreen followed her with a chuckle. "You're worse than Red!" He taunted back, then transformed and raced after Wildstar. The femme screeched to a halt and he realized his error. "Wildstar, I-I'm sorry."
"No, it's mine. I should have made sure we weren't being followed, that Soundwave hadn't gotten the drop on us. Megatron has her and who knows what he'll do to her!"
"I wouldn't try to worry. Knowing Red, I think we should be scared for what she'll do to the Decepticons!"
That made her chuckle. "I, guess you're right." Her charge and partner was a brave girl, and she had faith she could protect herself up there. But how were they going to find her?!
