Transformers are not mine except for Nightsky and Eloise.
Anyway here is chapter 2. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Escape.
Optimus Prime entered the ops room and looked around, it was noisy as mechs chatted amongst themselves wondering what could be so urgent. The only two who really had any idea of what was going on were Sunny and Sides, who knew because his brother told him. Most of the Autobots were there apart from the odd few who had gone out to relieve those on patrol. They had been told to carry on as usual but to give a message to the Autobots returning back to base to go straight to the ops room. Optimus prime stood in front of his arm, he cleared his throat and started to address the other Autobots with authority in his voice. The whole room grew quiet as the Autobots turned to listen to him,
"Autobots, as you know a few weeks ago a young woman by the name of Eloise disappeared mysteriously on her way back to university. The police had to close the case due to lack of evidence and even we could find very little to suggest she'd fallen foul of the Decepticons. However, a message recently came through on teletraan one from a young woman who says she needs help. She says her name is Eloise and she sounds like she's in serious trouble. It has now become our duty to go and rescue her,"
"When do we go?" Nightsky called out,
"It is important that we do not let the decepticons get wind of this. Prowl I want you to work out a plan to rescue the girl. The rest of you need to go and get yourselves prepared; we go as soon as we are ready, there is no time to waste. The decepticons may have her for a reason, although I can't think of one right now, so they may not want to give her up so easily. Be prepared for a fight."
"We can't do that" Gears said defensively
"No she might be leading us into a Decepticon trap." Cliffjumper chipped in.
"I don't think so; she sounded pretty scared. Remember she's all alone and stuck in the Decepticon base." replied, Sunstreaker.
"Prime we need to go and rescue her, we can't leave her there" Jazz said.
He was very concerned for Eloise and for her safety. The decepticons would stop at nothing to get what they wanted and if that meant bringing someone to a point when they are close to death, then so be it!
"I agree" Prime said solemnly
"Yeah who knows what might happen to her if we don't go and rescue her. Besides we have to protect humans and she is a human" replied Bluestreak. "What do you think?" he asked Prowl.
"I think you're right Bluestreak" Prowl answered glaring at Gears and Cliffjumper.
Prowl went to his office and formulated a plan to rescue the young woman, the others went to the arms room and prepared themselves for rescuing Eloise and a battle. Everybody knew it wouldn't be easy, nothing ever was if decepticons were involved.
Meanwhile in the decepticon base Starscream knew he was going to have to get rid of Eloise somehow. There was no way that he could hide her in his quarters, the searches were just too thorough. Usually Soundwave and Ravage were part of the quarter search team and everybody knew how good they were at finding contraband. Starscream radioed Thundercraker,
"Yeah Screamer what do you want?" Thundercracker knew what was coming, he really didn't want to get involved with Starscream or the girl. The blue seeker knew that if he did he could end up in trouble too but he didn't want to see the girl suffer at Soundwave or Megatron's hands either.
"Thundercracker I need your help" Starscream whispered, "I know you're on patrol. I need you to take Eloise with you, so she doesn't get caught."
"What? Are you nuts?" Thundercracker found this whole idea preposterous, "There's no way I'm taking your pet with me, she's all soft and squishy. Euch! There's no way she's travelling inside me."
"Thundercracker, please." Starscream begged, "Please... do it for me? I don't…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Thundercraker abruptly interjected, "But you owe me one, you Glitch!"
"Yes, Yes anything you want Thundercracker." Starscream snarled. The mech knew that Starscream wouldn't keep his word.
Thundercracker walked to Starscream's quarters and picked up the girl, annoyed he had to get Starscream out of trouble again; he snarled in disgust as Starscream handed her to him. Eloise looked at the two mechs while they conversed in Cybertronian again. She wasn't quite sure what would happen and was feeling apprehensive about the whole scenario. Even though Eloise didn't like being with Starscream she knew the seeker and had an element of trust toward him.
Thundecracker walked to the control room but before he entered the seeker placed Eloise in his cockpit and smoked the glass so she could see out but Soundwave couldn't see in. He was grateful that Soundwave was on duty in the control room, at least until he had to do the quarter search then Skywarp was going to replace the communications officer. The last thing Thundercracker needed was for Skywarp to be teasing him about Eloise being in his cockpit,
"Not a sound!" he growled to the human.
Eloise simply nodded, she looked ahead in the direction they were going in and saw the cobalt blue mech, he looked big and scary and Eloise was glad she'd never have to come face to face with him. He turned around to look at Thundercracker who walked confidently into the control room,
"Where are you going?" Soundwave asked,
"Patrol!" Thundercracker replied.
Soundwave turned a few buttons, there was a humming noise before a door opened to a lift. Thundercraker stepped into the lift and waited for the tower to be raised out of water. Eloise felt the sensation of going up, followed by the roar of engines. The redhead felt the mech running before she heard the familiar bleeps and whirls as he transformed and took off,
"Do not touch a single thing squishy or I will make this day real uncomfortable for you." Thundercracker sneered
"Yes!" she squeaked
Even though Eloise felt intimidated by the seeker she couldn't believe that she was leaving the Decepticon base and started to think up a plan to escape Thundercracker. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the sky was blue and cloudless. The sea glistened in the sunlight as Thundercracker flew over it at breakneck speeds making Eloise feel nauseous. She looked out of the window, the sea was beginning to give way to land. It was now time for Eloise to put her plan into action, she started off by squirming in the cockpit, Thundercracker found this to be very uncomfortable and was getting agitated by this continual movement. Finally he couldn't take it any longer,
"What's the matter with you femme?" he snapped,
"I need to go to the bathroom!" she answered,
"What?" Thundercracker retorted,
"I need to go to the bathroom." Eloise huffed and repeated slowly and sarcastically,
" You won't find one out here." the mech jeered,
"Well in that case I'll just go in here, shall I?" Eloise suggested,
"Don't you dare femme!" Thundercracker yelled back savagely,
"I need to go to the toilet or don't you robots know what that means. No I guess not! Well guess what you imbecile, if you don't land soon I will go in your cockpit."
"Alright alright I will land and you can do whatever you need to do."
Thundercracker knew this was not a good idea, he grumbled and moaned as he started to make a rough descent; he knew there was the possibility that Eloise was deceiving him but what else could he do? He really didn't want to experience the humiliation of the other decepticons if they found out she'd gone to the toilet inside him. He felt sorry for the female as she struggled and whimpered with the pain in her ears, Thundercracker knew he could make things a bit more comfortable for her just by easing on the descent but he found it amusing as she tried to do all she could to relieve the pressure. Eventually they landed and came to a stop in a clearing surrounded by trees. Eloise wasted no time, she jumped out of the seeker and ran to the trees,
"Stay where you are! I'll be back!" she called back without looking behind her,
"See that you are!" the seeker warned, "Fat chance!" Eloise thought to herself as she run into the tree line.
Once she was safely behind the tree line the redhead stopped behind one of the thicker oak trees and checked to see what Thundercracker was doing, he was still in his alt mode sitting in the clearing. What Eloise didn't know was that he was scanning the area where she had run to. He had no intention of telling her that he could see her, he was beginning to find out how difficult the contrary human was.
Eloise quickly run down into a dip taking her out of Thundercracker's scanning range, but she didn't stop; she carried on running through the trees as fast as she could, putting as much distance between her and the seeker. She knew it would only be a matter of time before he would come looking for her and possibly call Starscream and Skywarp to help. The young woman wasn't as fit as she was and knew she would run out of energy quickly if she didn't find food soon, but none of that mattered right now. Eloise's body was powered by her survival instinct and the opportunity for freedom she had gained. Keeping it was going to be a whole different thing altogether.
She had no idea where the Autobot base was nor did she have any idea on how to contact them. Not that that was an option at the moment because she hadn't got far enough away from Thundercracker to worry about the rest. Even though it was early October the air was still warm and sweat was pouring off her, stinging her skin and her eyes and causing her already filthy red hair to become plastered to her head. The tired woman bent over, holding her knees while trying to catch her breath, not sure how long she could keep this up looked up through the trees, she thought she might be in the forests of New England or maybe Virginia, wherever she was didn't really matter right now; her freedom was of paramount importance...and the rescue of the injured femme coming through the space bridge.
Thundercracker sat in the clearing, the midday sun belting down on his body. He liked the feeling of the warmth from the sun on his body but he didn't like the silence, Eloise was quiet and hadn't returned. The seeker scanned the area but there was no sign of her, he transformed and scanned the area again. Nothing… she'd gone! He couldn't believe it! Starscream had told him to be careful with her, he'd warned him that she was sneaky and untrustworthy. Thundercracker swore as he took off into the trees, hoping that he wouldn't be caught by humans,
"Eloise!" he roared, "Eloise! Good game but you can come out now." but she didn't show up.
Thundercracker was angry for allowing himself to be fooled by Eloise and angry at Eloise for running off. He found footprints which looked fresh, and small enough to be the female's. He followed the footsteps all the time calling her,
"Eloise, if you come out now I won't tell Starscream. I promise!"
Eloise could just hear the faint sound of someone calling her, she also had the feeling she was being watched but when she turned around nothing was there. She pulled her jacket in closer and held her arms across her chest. A breeze blew across her face cooling her down, giving her Goosebumps, it felt good. Eloise looked up toward the sky, she noticed how the leaves on the trees were just beginning to turn from lush green to their rich Autumnal reds and yellows. She was shocked when she realised that the year was well and truly advanced and marching toward the cold winter months.
Back at the decepticon base Starscream was having a hard time. Soundwave and Ravage had entered his quarters, Ravage was crouched and searching Starscream's room, getting into all the small areas no mech would ever be able to get into but a human or other tiny organic could. He was sure he could smell something vaguely familiar and started snarling. Soundwave turned to the black Jaguar,
"Ravage report!"
"Human!" replied Ravage, "I smell human."
Soundwave turned red optics toward Starscream, "Oooohhhhh frag!" the seeker looked at the communications officer in fear of what would come next,
"Where is it?" Soundwave asked,
"Where is what?" Starscream purred with fake innocence,
"Ravage can smell it!"
"Smell what?"
"Human!" the communications officer said.
Soundwave took a step towards Starscream and grabbed him by his wings. Starscream yelped,
"Don't mess me around, you've had a human in here. Where is it?" he snarled as he pulled the seeker closer to his chest.
"I don't know what you're talking about?" Starscream sneered, but he was beginning to feel intimated by the cobalt blue mech,
"You know exactly what I'm talking about" Soundwave growled dangerously at the seeker."Find it!... Before you get in trouble"
Soundwave stopped and appeared to be thinking,
"Rumble, Laserbeak, Buzz saw. Search these quarters."
The three cassetticons leapt out of Soundwave's chest and immediately went about trying to find Eloise. Soundwave grabbed Starscream and marched him to Megatron's office. Megatron turned around as Starscream was pushed in by Soundwave,
"What is the meaning of this?" Megatron growled,
"Starscream has had a human in his quarters. Ravage could smell it." Soundwave replied.
Megatron turned to Starscream his optics burning holes into the red and blue mech,
"Is this true?" he roared,
"No Megatr…."
"Is it true?" Megatron roared even louder,
"Yes Megatron. She snuck into my cockpit the last time we were at one of the human settlements."
Megatron was not convinced, he knew Starscream was always scheming and plotting against him,
"Who is this human?" Megtron's optics glared at Starscream demanding an answer but daring him to deny Megatron's request.
"Now that I'm not going to tell you" Starscream replied smugly,
"Who. Is. It!" Megatron growled slowly moving dangerously toward the seeker,
"I can't tell you lord Megatron. If I did…"
"Soudwave, take him and get the information from him"
"Noooo not that! Don't do that! I'll tell you everything!" Starscream screamed as he started to back out of Megatron's office but he didn't see Soundwave move behind him. He walked right into the communication officer's hands. Starscream was dragged to the med bay by Soundwave where he was tied to a berth and connected to Soundwave's interface port. Starscream could feel the mech flowing through his systems, he was powerless to stop him no matter how hard he tried. Soundwave smirked at the seeker as he ejected himself from Starscream taking everything he knew of Eloise and the injured femme with him, he released Starscream then he opened his comm link to Megatron,
"Soundwave to Megatron. Information retrieved; He had the daughter of the owner of the refinery"
"Bring him to me!" Megatron growled, "Now!"
Soundwave marched Starscream back to Megatron's office, the grey giant had his back turned towards the door,
"So Starscream. Once again you have failed me." he snarled, then turned around, "Soundwave take him to the brig while I think of a punishment for this pathetic excuse for a Decepticon."
"Optimus Prime we're ready" Jazz replied.
Optimus Prime lined his troops up outside the Ark,
"I have no need to tell you that this mission is going to be dangerous, our main aim is to rescue Eloise and get her back here safely. We will be going into Decepticon territory so be alert. Any questions?"
"Yeah I have one" it was Cliffjumper. "How do we know we can trust her?" yeah piped up a few others.
"I don't know Cliffjumper but she's a human who has asked for help. We are going to answer that call for help. It's our duty!" Prime replied,
"Well I don't like it" Gears snapped,
"The girl needs help!" Ratchet yelled at the two minibots,
"Why don't you fragging mini bots leave this poor human alone. You haven't even met her" Hot Rod yelled.
He was fuming they had done nothing but oppose rescuing Eloise ever since they found out about her cry for help..
"Yeah you two" Bee continued, "You gonna help us or leave her to the fate of the Decepticons?"
The minibots stopped complaining, they knew they couldn't leave her there. The Decepticons would eventually kill her and their remit was to not harm the humans.
"Anyone else want to say anything?" the red and blue leader asked,
"No sir" every mech chimed back,
"Then roll out!"
"Yeeehaaaa" Night Sky whooped "We finally get to kick some Decepticon butt"
"Easy there soldier" Ironhide soothed.
The Autobots revved their engines and left the base, leaving Smokescreen and Inferno to take care of it; all uncertain of what lay ahead but aware of their mission.
They'd been travelling for a while when Ultra Magnus pulled up next to Prime.
"Do you think this is wise?" he asked.
There was a hint of concern in his voice. Ultra Magnus was loyal, strong and dependable, an excellent soldier to have on team and Optimus was proud to have him as part of the Autobot army. Ultra Magnus would not often question Prime unless he felt it absolutely necessary. If he did and Prime was sure of his convictions than Magnus would go ahead with the mission no matter what, such was his trust in Prime's judgement
"I don't know" Prime answered "but you can be guaranteed that if Decepticons are involved then there is something going on. It is possible Eloise does have something they want or they wouldn't be after her."
Eloise had run on a bit further and was sure she was now safe. She stopped still, all she could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, it was a peaceful sound. There was a damp moss covered log in a grassy area. Eloise looked around before deciding that this was as good a place as any to sit down and rest. She checked her clothes, they were dirty and ripped in places revealing the Decepticon symbol tattooed onto her right arm, she cringed when she looked at it, her nails which were normally neatly manicured were broken and out of shape. Her thick red hair was falling out of its neat pony tail around her face and getting knotty in places. This didn't please her; as far as her looks were concerned she was a bit of a perfectionist. Eloise was also feeling tired and loneliness would soon become a friend. She looked up, more leaves were falling off the trees floating to the ground oblivious of her struggle, she knew it wouldn't take long until they were all bare.
Eloise decided that now was a good time to ring for help. She took the mobile phone out of her pocket and scrolled down her list of contacts. First she tried her parents and her fiancé's number but there was no answer. The next number Eloise came across was a person she'd met called Nightsky. She remembered him telling her to ring, looking at the number the tired woman shrugged her shoulders, "May as well give it a try!" Eloise gingerly dialled the number remembering how she met Nightsky.
Eloise started to run for the bus, she'd just finished shopping and was looking forward to getting home and spending the evening with her boyfriend. It was a wet afternoon with the rain pouring down and the dark clouds put a drearier feel on the afternoon. Eloise put up her umbrella but because she was in such a hurry she didn't really get much protection from it. By the time the young lady made it to the crossing she was drenched and cold. It didn't help when Eloise got sprayed by a passing car so now her jeans were wet and stinging her legs, her sneakers weren't offering much more protection either; her feet squelched at every step she took.
"Yeuch! IDIOT!" she screamed at the driver.
The bus was coming, Eloise had to get across the road to catch it. She got to the crossing but was just a little bit too late; the lights had already changed in favour of the traffic. Not thinking or looking Eloise carelessly ran straight out into the road not expecting the cars to take off so quickly. She didn't see the black Mercedes sports car coming towards her until she heard the screeching of breaks.
"Oomph" Eloise went down, the car quickly stopped. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh" she started panicking as she lay on the wet road, waiting for the pain to set in, passers by stopped and watched while a couple of others ran out into the road to help her.
"Oh my goodness are you okay?" asked a man's voice which was full of concern, he spoke with a southern accent and had a raspy voice.
"Ye Yeah" she looked up to find herself staring into a gorgeous looking man. He had dark hair, high cheek bones and crystal blue eyes which she thought to be rather unusual. He was a smart man wearing a pair of dark jeans and a white shirt with a long black coat and a scent which vaguely reminded her of one her fiancé used. He held out his hand to help Eloise up which she took gratefully. Eloise stood up clumsily, grimacing as she tried to stand up straight.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked, "I know someone who can help you."
"No I'll be fine I'll get it checked if it gets any worse" she said trying to hide the pain. "Thank you for your offer Mr. uhm"
"Oh just call me Nightsky"
"Nightsky! is that your nickname or something." she chuckled, then blushed when she realised she was finding amusement in his name.
"Sorry!"
"That's okay, yeah it's my nickname. Listen d'you need a lift anywhere. I can take you home if you like"
"No I'll just catch the next bus home."
"Okay well if you need to get to a doctor or a hospital later I can take you here is my number to contact me on." he handed her a number he'd written on a piece of paper, she smiled at him. Cute she thought a little persistent... but cute.
"No I have a fiancé who can take it."
"Oh well take it anyway you never know if you'll need it or not"
He held the paper in front of her and smiled charmingly. Eloise sighed and took the number stuffing it in her pocket and blushing, then went to the bus stop wincing at every step she took.
The phone rang a couple of times then a voice answered on the other end,
"Hello?" said a raspy voice with a southern accent.
"Nightsky?" she asked,
"Yeah who's this?"
"Eloise"
"Eloise! You alright honey? We received your message does anybody know you sent it?"
"Starscream does!"
"Okay, we're coming for you." Nightsky reassured the frightened young lady.
Relief flooded Eloise and a tear came to her eye as she started to sob. At last somebody knew she was alive! Nightsky immediately opened his comm link so that the others in the group could hear Eloise talking.
"Eloise it's alright honey don't cry. We are on our way, where are you?"
"I-I don't know I escaped Thundercracker. There was a quarter search at the base so Starscream asked Thundercracker to take me on patrol with him. Starscream knows I sent the message, I also have an important message for Optimus Prime. It was sent to Megatron from Shockwave and Starscream knows I know. It's about a…"
Optimus Prime was relieved to hear her but he was concerned that Thundercracker could be looking for her. He told Nightsky to mention this to Eloise if she was to have a chance to get further away. Wheeljack was able to pick up a signal and pinpoint the location the signal came from,
"Got it!" he yelled, "Keep going in this heading."
"Eloise, Don't say any more; Decepticons can get into this frequency which means Thundercracker can find you. I'm sure that he will be looking for you and if he picks up the signal to your phone it won't take him long. We know where you are Wheeljack has pinpointed your location."
"Eloiiiiiiise" The redhead suddenly went silent when she heard Thundercracker's voice calling her,
"Eloise? Eloise talk to me honey. You still there?"
Nightsky had heard Thundercracker's voice and was concerned he'd find the girl.
"Nightsky he's calling me. It's him he's calling me. I'm scared!"
Eloise was now frantic, she didn't want to go back, she didn't want to lose her freedom. What was she to do now? Nightsky was still too far away to help her.
"Eloise I want you to end the call. Now Eloise!" Nightsky yelled, "Eloise end the call and run…" he ordered but he was too late Thudercracker came up behind her and grabbed her around her waist,
"Aaaaahhhh!"
Eloise screamed. She knew she was in trouble now. She knew that she would be taken back to the decepticons and Megatron. She screamed a blood curdling scream as she was lifted off the ground and into Thundercrackers cockpit. Her scream echoed around the forest startling flocks of birds and sending them into flight as they squawked,
"Got you! you little Flesh bag"
Thundercracker took off and headed back to the decepticons with a petrified Eloise in his cockpit.
Nightsky opened his private comm link to Prime,
"Optimus Prime!"
"Don't worry Nightsky our plan hasn't changed we will rescue her. Powerglide, Tracks, I want you two to fly on and make sure Thundercracker returns to the decepticon base with Eloise."
"Yes sir" Powerglide replied,
"Oh and Powerglide make sure you keep Spike and Carly safe. Eloise won't know who we are, so if humans are with us then it would help her to know we are her friend"
"Springer, Jetfire I want you two to be ready to take some of us to the base so we can rescue Eloise"
"Ready when you are!" Springer replied,
"Autobots we will drive to the coast. When we are there Jazz, Nightsky, Ironhide, Bluestreak, Sunny, Sides and myself will all go with Springer and Jetfire to the base to rescue Eloise. The rest of you will wait for us and give cover fire if needed."
"Yes Prime" they all answered.
Thundercracker returned to the base unaware that Powerglide was following him with the two human teenagers Spike and Carly, he was also unaware of the welcoming committee in the control room which comprised of Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave. Thundercracker landed in the tower and waited for it to bring him down to the control room. Through the glass doors he saw the four mechs standing in a line. Megatron was fuming! Thundercracker knew he was in trouble,
Eloise swallowed a big lump forming in her throat, her stomach tied itself into tight knots, she was so frightened she was rooted to the spot.
What was she going to do? She had never seen Megatron before but here she was now about to be face to face before the giant grey tyrant, who was glaring at her evilly with blood red eyes. He reached for Thundercracker's cockpit and opened it, Thundercracker felt so violated by this invasive action. He felt like he had been assaulted by his leader who was smirking at the seeker squirming in front of him as he reached into Thundercracker's cockpit and took the girl out. She found herself eye to eye in front of him, the lump in her throat growing at a rapid speed,
"Well well well! Nice to finally meet you Eloise. I believe you are a solution to our little problem."
"I will not help you!" she snarled darkly her green eyes glaring at the behemoth,
"Oh but you will my dear. You see if we can't convince you to help us then we will have to take your father and torture you in front of him until one of you give in."
"You will do no such thing!" Eloise roared, "You leave him alone he's done nothing to you"
"That's the point he has done nothing, but he soon will!" Megatron purred, "Especially when he sees you. I believe he thinks you're dead! Is that right Starscream?" Megatron said as he turned around to face the seeker, "You were very clever to leave nothing to suggest it was a Decepticon. You even have the Autobots baffled."
Megatron turned to Starscream,
"I believe you have a cage for this…this rodent. Soundwave go and get it!"
Soundwave went to Starscream's quarters and picked up the cage. He brought it out to Megatron and placed it on a shelf in the control room. He then stood Eloise next to the cage and turned to Soundwave,
"Process the prisoner!" Megatron ordered.
The cobalt blue mech walked towards Eloise. He roughly prodded her pockets,
"Empty!" he ordered.
The frightened young woman did as she was told, tears running down her face. She took out her mobile phone, drivers licence and the $10.00 bill and held onto them tightly. There was no way she was going to allow Soundwave to take them, but she was defenseless against these huge monsters and the last few remaining belongings she had disappeared into the commanding officer's hands. He went to subspace them but as he did the phone rang. Megatron turned around,
"Ooh it appears someone wants to talk to you. Who would that be?" Megatron said as he took the phone.
He looked at the small device and smirked evilly. This was going to be fun! The big grey mech tuned into the phone's signal and spoke to who was on the other end, Eloise stood and stared in horror, "Was there nothing these guys couldn't do?" she thought
"Nightsky, we finally to get to speak." Megatron sneered,
"Megatron!" Nightsky growled, "Where is Eloise? What have you done with her?"
"Your friend is here. She is okay as long as she co-operates with us."
"Let me speak to her!" the black and white warrior growled, "I want to hear for myself that she is okay."
"Oh but that's not poss…"
"Nightsky, help me!" Eloise screamed at the top of her voice.
She didn't see Soundwave produce a fine needle from one of his fingers but felt it as it pricked her in the back of her neck, causing to her to become dizzy; her body became heavy and her legs became weak, "Help me plea…" then the red head collapsed into a heap,
"Eloise! You okay babe. Eloise! Megatron what have you done to her?" Nightsky roared,
Megatron didn't answer, the line went dead as he looked at Eloise and crushed her phone in his hand,
"Lock her up." he ordered.
Nightsky's spark ran cold as he feared the worst for Eloise's well being. The warrior became frantic as he desperately tried to bring Megatron back on line. Ratchet raced up to the black Mercedes sports coupe, transformed, hit Nightsky on the roof causing the mech to transform. The red and white medic grabbed Nightsky by the helm, swung him around and grabbed his shoulders in one swift move. The rest of the Autobots stopped while they waited for Ratchet to sort out the distressed mech,
"Get a grip on yourself! You are no good to Eloise or the rescue like this. Get a grip on yourself or return to base." he barked, "We are going to rescue the girl. Just take it easy and let's get going before we're too late."
Nightsky and Ratchet both transformed back into their alt modes and drove off. The medic stayed next to Nightsky scanning his systems every now and then to make sure he was staying calm. The black and white mech really didn't appreciate this invasive approach and would try and dodge the medic but Ratchet always caught up with the young bot.
Eloise woke up to find herself back in her cage but not in the familiar surroundings of Starscream's quarters, she was on a desk next to a computer which somebody was using. When she looked around a grey arm was resting on the desk next to her cage. Megatron heard movement coming from the cage he glanced at the small form laying on the bottom before turning back to the screen on his desk.
Eloise lay there thinking about the femme coming through the space bridge. How was she going to get this message to Optimus Prime now? How was she going to get out? What will happen to the femme and the Autobots if they catch the injured being?, "You poor thing!" Eloise thought.
There was a knock at Megatron's door,
"Come in" he bellowed,
Soundwave entered his leader's office,
"Yes Soundwave" Megatron growled impatiently,
"lord Megatron. I found out some information from Starscream; he knows about an injured femme coming through the space bridge. She is believed to be Autobot. What do you want us to do?,"
Megatron smirked darkly and looked at his communications officer
"We will capture her and use her to bring down the Autobots. She will be their demise and I will be ruler of this universe. Set up a party to watch the space bridge, when she comes through bring her back here. Once she is here we will use her to draw the Autobots into a trap, they won't be able to resist rescuing her especially if she is Chromia or Elita. Once they are trapped nothing will stop us, we will kill them…all of them! Then nothing will stop me!" Megatron's face suddenly darkened,
"Bring Starscream to me!"
"Yes lord Megatron"
Soundwave left to get Starscream.
Megatron laughed loudly forgetting Eloise was there and not aware she was awake. She made sure she'd remember the conversation so she could let the Autobots know about their demise and the demise of the femme, that is, if she ever got out…alive! This was beginning to get very familiar.
Starscream walked into Megatron's office,
"Yes lord Megatron"
The leader of the Decepticons walked up to Starscream and hit him on the helm,
"You have let me down again Starscream."
"No I haven't my…"
"Go!" Megatron roared causing Starscream to stop mid sentence, "And get her father. Don't let me down Starscream or I shall be forced to take you apart piece by piece."
"No my lord."
Starscream walked off and went to find his brothers.
The Autobots continued to make their way to the coast where Jetfire and Springer would leave them with Optimus Prime, Jazz, Nightsky, Ironhide, Bluestreak, Sunny and Sides. As they were driving they saw seeker jets leaving the decepticon base. They were heading toward the refinery "Now where are they off to?" Optimus Prime wondered,
"Hey where are they going?" Jazz asked,
"I don't know Jazz let's hope they aren't going to cause trouble." Optimus answered,
"Looks like they're going to the refinery" Ironhide replied,
"That's not good. Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, Smokescreen, Wheeljack, Windcharger. Go and deal with those seekers before they get to the refinery" Prime ordered,
"Yes sir" they replied and took off.
Starscream picked up the Autobots on his scanners,
"Autobots!" he spat, "We will attack them before they get under the trees."
The seekers flew around thinking they had got behind the Autobots but when they came back they lost the Autobot's signals. The seekers, upon Starscream's instruction transformed as they landed right in the middle of the Autobots who had transformed and hid among the trees to draw the seekers out of the sky,
"Attaack" yelled Ultra Magnus.
The seekers were overwhelmed by the Autobots. Starscream was wrestled to the ground and held down by Ultra magnus and Windcharger,
"What are you doing here?" Ultra magnus demanded,
"Nothing" snapped Starscream,
"Liar" roared Magnus as he rammed his cannon into the seeker's chest, "I'll say it again." he sneered "What were you doing here?"
"We, we were just going on a little... business trip." Starscream replied,
"Not anymore! Take your sorry afts back to Megatron." the huge warrior retorted and backed away, "Now!"
"We just gonna let them go?" Hot rod asked,
"Yep! Keep your weapons on the seekers in case they try any nonsense."
Then Ultra Magnus had a better idea. He aimed his cannon at Skywarp's tail and shot it.
"Boom!"
Perfect hit,
"Aaaahhhhh!" the seeker screamed, "I'm hit"
"Where?" Thundercracker called back,
"My tail" Skywarp replied.
Thundercracker flew behind Skywarp to check the damage, it was smoking a bit and leaking energon but he'd be able to get to headquarters.
"You're okay" he replied and went back into formation,
The Autobots headed back to Optimus Prime while keeping an eye on the trine but only two could be seen. Suddenly Bluestreak called out,
"I'm hiit!"
The Autobots stopped, turned around and looked at Bluestreak. He had been hit but it only made a scratch on his chassis,
"You're fine!" Hot Rod replied, hitting his young friend on the shoulder,
"We'd better keep going before we lose the seekers." Ultra Magnus said.
Suddenly a barrage of fire opened up on them,
"Take cover!" the big blue warrior yelled, as he jumped behind a tree.
The Autobots returned the fire shooting at the mechs. Skywarp was making it very difficult, he'd shoot then warp himself to another spot. The Autobots couldn't work out where he'd reappear next. He was starting to get too cocky and reappeared right next to Windcharger and right in front of Wheeljack and Hot Rod. Both the mechs shot at the purple seeker aiming for his cockpit and destroying his ability to transform or warp himself. Smokescreen drove toward Thundercracker and Starscream and let off thick, sticky smoke which clung to the jets,
"Aahh!" they screamed bumping into each other and cursing each other as their bodies made contact,
"Fire!" yelled Ultra Magnus.
The Autobots fired at the decepticons until nothing else was heard,
"What shall we do with them?" Hot rod asked,
"Leave them here for Megatron to collect, we'll deliver Skywarp to him personally. They won't be making any business trips for a while"
Skywarp was picked up and tied to the back of Ultra Magnus, they drove off back to Optimus Prime and the rest of the group.
In the decepticon base Eloise came around to find herself tied into a chair. She started to struggle and wriggle out but her bonds were too tight,
"Let me go!" she said as she strained to get free,
"No! I am not letting you go. Any minute now you're father will be here to watch you being tortured, unless he gives us the fuel we need."
"He won't do it!" Eloise shouted back,
"Yes he will. We know about your father's feelings towards you. He couldn't bear to see his little girl hurt. He will give in." Megatron retorted,
Eloise didn't know what to say to that. She knew her father loved her dearly, but he was a wise man and wouldn't give in to any demands. But who knows what anybody would do when faced with this situation? Hook was hovering around, looking forward to shredding the girl bit by bit as her father begged for them to take what they want. Eloise looked nervously at the surgeon as he fiddled menacingly with a horrific looking piece of equipment resembling a kitchen knife.
It had been a while since Megatron had sent the seekers and he was beginning to grow impatient. He opened his comm link and asked Soundwave to send Laserbeak to find the them. Laserbeak left the headquarters and hovered around. He saw two of the seekers laying in a pile, leaking energon and the other one on the back of Ultra Magnus. Laserbeak flew back to Soundwave and showed the mech what he'd seen. Soundwave then repeated it to Megatron who was now furious,
"Kill the girl!" he snarled at Hook
Hook moved toward Eloise slowly bringing out his instruments,
"Noooooo!!!" she screamed as tears started to pour down her face and struggled furiously against her bonds, "Don't hurt me. Nooooo! Please I've done nothing, help me someone, please help me" she cried desparately to anybody who may be listening.
Megatron smirked as he heard Eloise cry out for help. A smirk which was quickly wiped off his face when he heard,
"Megatron!"
The decepticon leader turned around to see who would dare speak to him in such a way. He was astounded to see the owner of the voice standing in the doorway surrounded by 8 other mechs. Eloise stopped screaming and struggling, she sat in the chair, trembling, wondering who these new robotic giants were.
