Third chap to 'Frame By Frame', Mates! Hope you like it.
Sure, he was the new leader of the Decepticons in Megatron's optics, but even Steelscale had to work hard.
Despite Megatron's favoritism towards him, he still had to do Brig Duty like the rest of them.
Brig Duty was one of the most tedious of all the jobs the Decepticons could offer. Easy, yet boring. The only thing a body could do was speak with the prisoners, if they were assigned to points near SANE ones. If you tried to talk to the 'crazies', as the Decepicons so coarsely put it, you probably be greeted with a moan of sorrow or worse, gibberish coupled with maniacal laughter.
Unnerving, yes.
-
Steelscale happened to be assigned to Brig Duty the same day Turret was. The femme was one of the few who enjoyed Brig Duty, as it was away from others, who pretty much thought of her as a freak. Luckily, her post wasn't too far from where Steelscale had been posted. So at least they had a decent conversation for once.
However, it wasn't destined to get to anywhere good, because Steelscale brought up the number of Autobots in this place. Turret had gotten quiet for a moment, then replied, "There's a good 600 Autobots in this corridor alone." She smiled at Steelscale's look of surprise. "Trust me, most are either dead, crazy or about to break. This IS the Oblivion Ward, after all."
She explained that the Oblivion Ward was reserved for traitors and Autobots who crossed Megatron the wrong way. A few were still alive and kicking, but most had given up on hope altogether. They never got any energon rations, PERIOD, so most died within a few orns. But the ones who could survive starvation would go insane after a good seven orns. The record so far was one femme who lasted up to half a vorn, or so the usual guards said.
There were at least ten other 'wards', each for different types of Autobots. For example, the ones about to be converted to Decepticons were in the Temp Ward, and the Neutral Ward was reserved for neutrals who refused to become Decepticons. When Steelscale mentioned that they didn't have this in the Autobot base, she merely laughed and said, "Your father wouldn't want you down there. Metalfeather's been down there before, but she busted herself out, thus becoming Starscream's protégé." A pause, and then, "Hang on, I know someone who's here and is still sane enough to talk to…as far as I know." Walking down a few doors, she tapped the wall with her fist, and said, "Oi, Flood! You still alive in there?"
"Wait, Flood? Floodlight? But he was killed at least half a vorn ago!" protested Steelscale. Turret turned to him and said, "That's what everyone said? Oh, that explains a lot! Did you hear that, Flood?" "Sure did…" came a sad voice from behind the wall. "I can't believe it…everyone gave up on me…" "Chin up, Floodlight! They'll come, I'm sure." Turret said soothingly. There was a sound like a snort from behind the wall and then, "Doubt it, Turret. Bee's still mad at me fer walking in on him and Arcee when they were having a moment…He's probably glad I'm dead…or something."
"That's not true, Flood!" Steelscale said, rapping the wall. "Steelscale?" came the surprised reply. "Yes, it's me." He said. "Look, Bee was crushed when he saw your name on the casualties list and he really never got a chance to say he was sorry to you about that." Silence, the the voice replied, "Really?" "Really."
"Oh. Well, here's a thought. Why are you here? Did they catch you too?" Turret and Steelscale exchanged a glance. "Er, no. I was exiled and I had to join the Decepticons."
Another long silence, and then, "Oh. What happened?" The tone didn't suggest anger, only interested surprise. The green and black mech told his story, and Floodlight replied, "Cryos and Chainmail did it? Why don't you tell Optimus? He's your dad, after all." "Pffth. I'm in exile! Even if I wanted to tell him, I couldn't get to him. Besides, he'd never trust me again if he caught wind I joined the Decepticons…"
"Why don't you let me do it?" Flood asked. "Couldn't you let me out of here? It's cold and I'm lonely." Turret thought for a moment, then looked at Steelscale. "What do you think? We could always make it look like a prison break." Steelscale thought as well, and nodded. "But it's going to take a lot of effort…" So it's agreed. We do a prison break. But we'll need help."
-
"Why in the world would I help you frinkin' robo rats?" They had come to Metalfeather for help.
"Please, Metalfeather! I know I can't appeal to your honor, but you have to help us!" Turret said beseechingly. The Seeker femme folded her arms across her chest and responded, "What makes you think I won't turn you in to Megatron?"
"Because that'll make you worse than Starscream."
The irate femme swung her gaze to Steelscale. "And who are you to talk, traitor?" she snarled. "Let's face it, Metalfeather, you want nothing to do with Starscream. You're interests lie elsewhere, I can tell. You can do better than him, we all know it." The flattery seemed to have calmed the Seeker down. "Ok, you maybe right about that, but why should I help you? After all, I'm a Decepticon. I don't give my services so cheaply."
"You can frame Starscream for this entire mess."
"Done." She replied with a grin of malice at the thought of her mentor dishonored in such a manner. "So, what am I doing?"
"Messing with the schedules, security cameras, and Starscream."
"Oh, I'll need my team on that one. There's at least three of them, and their all easy to bend. It's a done deal."
Ah, Metalfeather, you're awesome.
MF: I know, I know. –smug smirk-
Me: If you double cross them, you're dead, you know that, right?
MF: Oo…