Author's Notes: You might notice that there is mention in this chapter of the Autobots having sparklings. That is because this fic could eventually cross over with "You Wil Care For Me". Thanks to everyone for your encouraging reviews. For once I'm not the only one who cares :)


Chapter 3

Contact

Blaster and Perceptor pulled and pried at the metal until they had peeled back the hull like a banana, and what they saw caused both to step back in shock!

Sparklings! There were three little sparklings staring wide-visored up at them; all covered in melted liquid nitrogen. Blaster stepped up to get a closer look, and could see that the flame-painted one and the light blue one were cassettes. The dark blue and dark green one with the large visor and tentacles was a carrier like himself. He didn't know how a group of sparklings could've gotten into the Ark's escape pod, but his spark instantly felt pity for them.

"What's happening?" The carrier sparkling asked desperately, "Guys! Are we out? Did they find us? Come on, I can't see!"

"Shut up, slag head!" The flame colored femmeling hissed, "They're Autobots!"

"Autobots?!" The carrier squealed in terror.

Perceptor drew closer to them, and Solarflare tried to attack him with her flame cannons, only to find they didn't work because of the melted liquid still lodged in her systems.

"Hey there little ones, you don't have to be afraid of us," Blaster said in what he hoped was a comforting voice, "My name's Blaster, and this here's my friend Perceptor. We found your pod, well technically our pod, and now you're at Autobot Headquarters."

"Again?" Video Error whined.

"You should've left us in the desert!" Solarflare growled, "I'd rather be in the Sea of Rust than with you Autobutts!"

"Speak for yourself," Freezeframe muttered, "I for one am grateful that I was not forced to endure the extreme heat. Thank you."

Blaster couldn't help but chuckle. The light blue cassette was very well spoken for a sparkling. Clearly they were Decepticon sparklings, but Blaster had never seen them before, so he didn't know anything about them.

"Hey Perceptor, how old would you say these little dudes are?" Blaster asked, never taking his optics off the sparklings.

"Hm...According to my scans the carrier is about 3 vorns old, while the cassettes are somewhere between 2 to 2.5 vorns old," Perceptor informed him.

"A 3 vorn old carrier…" Blaster said with a tone of voice that sounded distant and sad, "...and 2 vorn old twins. How'd you little dudes get in there?"

"We'll never talk!" Solarflare yelled, "You can torture us, bribe us, and make us eat dirt! We'll never tell you anything!"

"We got caught in the crossfire after following the Decepticons to your ship," Freezeframe told them, earning him a vicious glare from Solarflare.

"You must be hungry," Perceptor observed, "Perhaps I could interest you in some low grade energon. You can drink it right here in the lab."

"No!" Video Error shouted, " I won't take fuel from you! You'll poison it to keep us from taking intel back to Megatron!"

"Um, Video Error, we don't work for Megatron," Freezeframe pointed out drolly.

Video Error sat down with a hard thud and pouted. He was trying to protect the group. Why did Freezeframe always have to be so lackadaisical about these things?

"Blaster, keep an optic on them," Perceptor requested, "I'll go get them some fuel and bring back Ratchet. If the carrier's visor is failing then it will need to be repaired."

With that Perceptor left the room and Blaster was soon alone with the sparklings. He wanted to get to know them, but they had other ideas…

/Alright guys, I have a plan,/ Freezeframe said over the comm.

/Yeah? Well make it quick! That Autobot is looking right at us!/ Solarflare snapped.

/He is? Aw, mech! This being blind stuff blows scrap!/ Video Error complained.

/Just keep him busy,/ Freezeframe ordered, /I'll try to contact Dad./

Solarflare and Video Error smiled at their brother's brilliant plan. Simple, yet the Autobot would never see it coming! Just a few minutes and their father would grind that Autobot into powder.

"Say Autobot, can we get some tunes around here?" Video Error asked Blaster to keep him busy, "You know we carriers and cassettes need our music, or we'll go crazy."

"Sure thing little dude," Blaster replied jovially, "Oh, and by the way, the designation's Blaster. What's yours?"

"I'm Video Error, and this is Solarflare. Our brother Freezeframe is a little shy," Video Error lied so Blaster wouldn't try to talk to Freezeframe, "So what kind of music you got from Cybertron?"

"Well let's see…" Blaster looked through his saved files, "A good chunk of my hard drive space is filled with earth music. This place has so many great types of music! Their power ballads and rock music kind of remind me of Cybertron. Let's see though if I can find...Okay, how about The Trine Song?"

"Boring!" Solarflare shouted disdainfully, "What else you got?"

"Well let's see...There's The March of Altihex, Gestalt Love, Sad Femme, The Prime's Anthem-"

"That one!" Video Error shouted, "I want to hear The Prime's Anthem!"

"Are you crazy?" Solarflare barked, "That slag is the official song of the Autobot government! It's what they play when a new Prime takes over the matrix!"

"I don't care! I think it sounds cool!" Video Error argued, "Go on Blaster, play it!"

"Alright, outta sight!" Blaster chirped as he set up the track.

After a few seconds The Prime's Anthem began to play over his loudspeakers, and Solarflare covered her audio sensors while Video Error bobbed his head to the hard pulsating tunes.

You got the touch…

You got the poweeer!

Freezeframe, meanwhile, was trying to contact Soundwave, but his long-range comm link was damaged during their stasis. He muttered under his vocalizer as he tried to diagnose the problem himself to see if he could fix it. He could not.

Realizing that they were trapped in the Autobot base with no link to the outside universe, Freezeframe deduced that the best course of action would be to trick the Autobot medic into believing the sparklings would join the Autobots, and then once the comm link was fixed try to contact the Decepticons.

The music track finished playing, and Blaster asked Solarflare what she would like to listen to since Video Error got to pick last time. She decided she wanted to give earth music a try, since that was the planet they were apparently on now, and rifled through Blaster's impressive collection of music from around the world.

"Hm...This one," Solarflare finally decided.

"Demons by Imagine Dragons. Alright then. Cool," Blaster nodded and set up the recording.

Solarflare and Video Error listened to the song, and by then Freezeframe had come to sit beside them on the lab's table as well. Solarflare noticed right away that the song blended love and guilt, and somehow felt honest. It reminded her of a few of her father's coworkers that she had met, especially that blue seeker in the elite trine. He was odd, but at the same time treated them well.

/Video Error, Solarflare,/ Freezeframe commed them, /We need medical care if we are going to repair our communications systems, Solarflare's flame cannon, and Video Error's visor. Pretend to want to join the Autobots./

/No way!/ Solarflare argued, /They're evil!/

/It doesn't matter. We're only pretending,/ Freezeframe reminded her.

/Oh, I like pretending!/ Video Error commented happily, /This'll be just like a game. We'll play super spies!/

/Yes, whatever. Just stay in character,/ Freezeframe reminded them.

They scooted closer to Blaster and tried to sound excited and friendly when he played tracks for them or spoke to them. If pretending to want to be Autobot sparklings would get them back to their dad sooner, then they would gladly do it.


Back on the Nemesis, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave awaited Rumble's return. Whatever it was the Autobots had, Megatron wanted it. The throne room of the Nemesis was surprisingly quiet. For once Starscream wasn't being annoying and for once Megatron could hear himself think.

Soundwave, as usual, was passive and gave away nothing of what he was thinking or feeling. His ability to keep his emotions in check was what made him a valuable asset to Megatron and a terrifying officer to both Decepticons and Autobots alike. It was ironic that the communications officer had some of the worst interpersonal skills on the entire ship.

/Rumble to base,/ Rumble said over the computer's comm system, /Request permission to board./

"Raise the platform, Soundwave," Megatron ordered.

"As you command, Lord Megatron," Soundwave replied in his smooth electronic monotone voice.

Soundwave typed on the keyboard and pulled a few levers until the entire ship began to rise like an elevator. It's purple spire sprung up out of the water, and it's hangar door opened to admit Rumble.

Once Rumble was on the bridge, Megatron ordered him to reveal what it was the Autobots had and whether or not he successfully brought it back for them.

"It was just a downed satellite, Megatron," Rumble replied in a calm voice that did not betray his inner fear of the Decepticon warlord, "I could've taken it, but it was worthless. I don't even think the Autobots would bother to bring that thing back to their base."

"So you failed to retrieve the item," Megatron growled in a low tone, "Remind again why I keep you around, Rumble?"

"Uh...I'm huggable?" Rumble joked, his voice rising in pitch nervously.

"Soundwave, escort your brat to the brig," Megatron ordered in a bored tone of voice, "He is to remain there for three earth days."

"As you command," Soundwave replied dutifully, and waited by the door for Rumble to join him.

Rumble looked dejected, but there was nothing Soundwave could do. It was either put Rumble in the brig or risk Megatron beating one of his beloved creations. It was only fair to punish Rumble after he ignored orders and left the item behind, or at least that was Soundwave's reasoning.

"Hey, boss," Rumble whispered once they were at the brig, "I didn't wanna say anything in front of Megatron, but I did find something out. Something important."

"Withholding information from Megatron: unwise," Soundwave admonished his son, "Relay information now."

"It was the escape pod from the Ark!" Rumble spilled the information quickly; his words running into each other, "That was what crashed, and the Autobots got to it first before I could get there to stop them! That pod has the bodies of Video Error and the others! We have to get it back before the Autobots steal their parts and use them for themselves!"

"Sparkling parts: valuable," Soundwave recalled the Autobots had sparklings on board their ship, "Course of action: scout and retrieve. I will send Ravage."

"Send Frenzy, too!" Rumble insisted, "His arms are strong enough to carry the pod back, or at least the bodies...Oh, pit!"

Rumble began to cry after he said that. He thought the pain was finally dulled, but the thought of his sparkling siblings rotting away in the den of the Autobots was too much to bear. Soundwave gently pushed Rumble into a cell and turned on the energy bars, but he didn't leave his creation's side. Soundwave hid it well, but the truth was losing his sparklings had almost destroyed him when he awoke twenty earth years prior to realize he had lived, but they had died.

He would not allow the Autobot to desecrate the memory of his fallen children.