Mother vs Daughter

The Battle of the Seekers

"Decepticons – attack!" Galvatron shrieked, as he descended straight towards the Autobot's base.

Cyclonus and Raptor met optics, Raptor nodding to him as she cloaked. Following his leader into battle, Cyclonus knew with certainty, that Raptor would collect what the Decepticons had come for. He and the rest of the Cons were just giving her the diversion she needed – and damaging a few Autobots in the process.

As the Autobots flooded out of the base, the cloaked Seeker slid in through the temporary opening of the base's shields. Grinning wickedly, she snickered silently, for the damned Autobots thought they could keep her from teleporting in with those damned shields – yet she could still easily get past their defenses.

The unseen Seeker made her way towards her goal, teleporting through the door to the storage room. Scanning the cases containing the Power Crystals, she decided to simply start collecting them from one end to the other. Deactivating her cloaking, she slammed her fist through the glass and grabbed the first two, dumping them into her empty side bay even as she moved to the next case.

"Stop right there," a female voice ordered her.

Spinning into a defensive crouch, Raptor locked optics with the Seeker who'd just decloaked behind her. Without a word, she spun into a roundhouse, aiming for the femme's face.

Amazingly, the black/gray Seeker countered with a sweeping high-low block, at the same instant she countered with a perfectly executed sidekick. Catching Raptor in the cockpit and slamming her against the cases.

"So the Autobots strive to create my equal, do they?" Raptor spat, as she flipped over the Seeker's head and landed lightly behind her. In an instant, she blurred with the speed of the next volley of offensive kicks and strikes.

Amazing the gray/green Seeker, the femme anticipated and blocked every single one. They spun around each other, looking for weaknesses, probing for any opening to take advantage of. Their skills perfectly in tune, the same tactics used by each, they continued the martial dance.

Raptor's quick mind noted the identical build and model of this amber-orbed femme. "So, Starscream created another, did he? Did he also tear your human soul out of your flesh?" she snarled, watching the Seeker's expression.

After blocking another round of kicks, Ice looked impassionately at her mother. "Does it really matter where I came from;" she flatly stated, causing Raptor to back away from her spinning offensive attack.

Counter-attacking in a blur, Raptor snickered, "Very true. So how do you like working for killers?"

Using a rapid successon of high and low blocks, Ice kept her mother's kicks from landing on her fuselage. "They aren't the cause of the war, Galvatron is."

Tiring of this game, Raptor suddenly had the Star Saber in her hand. Coming at IceOwl in a spinning attack, the Seeker fully intended to cut the wings right off the blasted femme. Her crimson optics widened in surprise as the femme met her blade with a pair of energized scimitars. Surprised, Raptor automatically reacted – kicking in between the locked blades. Her kick hit IceOwl full force in the cockpit, sending the femme crashing right through the wall. Spinning swiftly, Raptor managed to collect two more crystals before the Autobot Seeker was upon her again.

Darting through the opening that her opponent had made in the wall, Raptor ran down the hall. She knew she didn't have time to try and deactivate the base's shields, but if she could get out one of the access doors, she could make her escape. Hearing the Seeker's steps behind her, she knew the femme was going to catch up before she made it to the access door.

Spinning around, Raptor parried the other's blades. Then she squatted, trying to catch the other's thrusters with hers as she spun her legs. The femme anticipated this move, leaping into the air; she flipped up and over Raptor, placing herself between the Decepticon and the door.

Raptor released an AMRAAM at the femme, darting by her as IceOwl dove to the floor to avoid it. Racing ahead of her pursuer, Raptor made it to the door; right after her AMRAAM had blown it out. Leaping through the cloud of dust, she transformed and threw on her afterburners, the gray/black Seeker hot on her tail.

Roaring over the Mech battle, the combined sonic booms of the two F-22 Seekers shook the ground Mechs to their knees. Both sides briefly looked up in amazement as the two combat fighters went into a full-out dogfight. Darting and dancing around each other in the sky.

'Raptor do you have the crystals?' Cyclonus radioed to her, as he avoided a round from Ultra Magnus.

Banking tight, Raptor tried to get behind the Autobot Seeker, trying to get a lock for her Sidewinders. 'I have four,' she replied.

Cyclonus held up four fingers to Galvatron. The leader nodded, "We have enough, Decepticons retreat!" Galvatron ordered.

Raptor disappeared, getting out of IceOwl's range, teleporting with her valuable cargo.

Acceptance with Remorse

As the gray/black Seeker landed, Ultra Magnus strode up to her and put a hand on her wing. "You did a good job!" he complimented.

Her optics were looking up at the star-filled sky. "But Raptor got away with a few."

"She got away with a handful, not all of them," Perceptor reported.

Optimus strode up, putting his hand on the Seeker's other wing. "I'm glad you decided to join our team, Ice."

Looking up, Ice's felt a heaviness settle in her primary core. Yes, she had joined the honorable side in this war - but at what cost? For now, she must face her own mother in deadly battle. And only she could ever know whom her mother truly was. She fought back her tears of energon, for she knew that this was the course of Raptor's history - which was in fact - her own history! Without a further word, she turned and walked away from the Mechs.

The Autobots looked at each other, confused by the quiet Seeker's actions. She was truly impressive in combat, yet seemed filled with sorrow afterward.

Old Kup walked up, having witnessed the whole thing. He shrugged as he looked at the younger soldiers. "She's been highly trained to fight, but she's probably never been involved in much actual conflict," he explained. "Used to see this a lot back when this last war started. Lots of soldiers took their first battles pretty hard."

Nodding, the other Autobots figured that the old timer was right. For Ice had said that her Mechs had lived in peace time.

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