Title: Twists & Turns - Rescue Cons?
Disclaimer: Don't own Transformers.
" - and then he launches himself over this ridge, sticks the landing, does a few donuts just to show off, and takes off! And all these cops cars, at least eleven of them, slam on their breaks, and all the organics are just staring after him with their jaws in the dirt!"
Nova was laughing so hard she thought her intakes might burst. "Oh man! That's great! I bet he caught some serious air - for a grounder. We would have gotten along great. Uh, you know, besides the whole Auto-Con thing."
"Yeah . . . " Arcee trailed off, and the laughter gave way to silence.
Arcee had never felt conflicted about fighting before. It was what she did, what she was best at, and it was for the right reasons. And it had been against strangers, or monsters. She supposed it was natural, to demonize the enemy. It was easier to kill them that way. Now she was as close to mixed up as she'd ever been. Nova had reminded her that they weren't just Decepticons, they were Cybertronians, and not all of them had chosen to be what they were. It wouldn't stop her from fighting, but it might make it a little harder to recharge at night.
Arcee glanced to her left, taking in the delicate form beside her. Nova probably would have hated the term, but it was accurate. She was barely three feet taller than Arcee, with even thinner, sharper limbs. Probably weighed half as much, even with her wingspan - it was a Seeker thing. Over the last few joors, they'd shifted so they were sitting side by side against the rocks. In contrast to Arcee, who was sitting straight with her back pressed against a rock, Nova had pulled her knees to her chest plate and wrapped her arms around them, leaning forward to avoid scraping her already scuffed wings against the rocks. Her frame shook at steady intervals, indicating her intakes were still recovering from the laughing fit, and it made Arcee wonder if their was some sort of damage to them. Or maybe it had just been too long since she'd laughed that way - Arcee hadn't done it herself since Cliffjumper offlined.
"What do you see in Starscream?" She asked abruptly, noting the way Nova's wings tensed and then dropped in defeat.
"You aren't gonna let it go, are you?" Nova asked, sounding absolutely mortified that she was being urged to actually share her feelings out loud.
"Nope." Arcee said cheerfully, "I told you all about Cliffjumper, so spill, femme."
Nova groaned, waving her arms and wings in jerky motions as she spoke, indicating her discomfort.
"I don't know! I mean, I know all the reasons I shouldn't like him, and not just because I'm told what they are constantly. His ego is so big I'm surprised his massive helm can fit on the Nemesis. He's unpredictable and unreliable and he bumbles everything. He's cowardly and paranoid and Primus, he's always up to something! Obviously, I shouldn't like him."
Nova paused, and when Arcee had nothing to say, she continued, her voice softer.
"But you know . . . I never liked Megatron. Then I got older, and I hated him. And you know what I did about it? Nothing. I was obedient, I held my tongue. Never gave him reason to look at me twice. I wasn't content, but I pretended I was and never even tried to change anything. But Starscream . . . I mean, here was this Con everyone thought of as cowardly and weak, and there he was, second in command, challenging Megatron at every turn. Maybe it was stupidity, or maybe it was bravery, or maybe he's just screw loose but . . . I wish I had what it took to act on my ambitions."
There was silence, as both femmes took a breem to mull over what had just been said, and then Nova broke it, surprisingly timid. "You know . . . you told me stories, but you didn't really tell me why you loved him."
"What can I say, he saved my aft." She tried for a chuckle, but it sounded weak and empty, so she sighed and tried again.
"He did, though. I had a partner, Tailgate, on Cybertron. He was family, and when I . . . lost him, I tried to shut people out." She was vague, avoiding going into detail and dredging up the trauma, "Cliffjumper didn't let me, and I owe him so much for that. And he was headstrong, and foolish, and brave . . . he was a great warrior, and loyal, and he could always make me laugh. He was just . . . right."
There was another brief silence, and then, "I think you should go for it."
Nova sputtered, completely thrown off by the statement, and swung her helm up to gawk at Arcee. "What?"
"Go for it." Arcee repeated, confident despite the fact she was giving her enemy relationship advice, "Don't shut what you feel out. Yeah, maybe it'll all go to pit, but whatever happens at least your life will be different. You've already said you hate where you are in life, so what've you really got to lose?"
Nova gave a disbelieving laugh. "Yeah . . . yeah, why not go for it? I mean, worse case scenario is someone offlines me, and that almost happens all the time."
Arcee slumped back against the rock, exhausted from all the energy being diverted to the developing protoform, and wondered if Nova's nonchalant attitude towards offlining should surprise her. It was probably sort of sad that it didn't, that death at a young age was almost expected now. Arcee sighed as she fought against the pull of recharge. Carrying was demanding, and one of the many reasons it could be dangerous was that it often forced bots into recharge. She may have liked Nova, but that didn't mean she trusted her. No, she was absolutely not going to -
Nova nearly jumped as Arcee's helm fell against her shoulder. She managed to curb the reaction, and turned her own helm to stare at Arcee in shock. She had fallen into recharge. Nova relaxed a little as she realized neither of them were in any danger, at least not yet. Though she didn't want to, she couldn't help but think about what would happen when they made it out of this cave. They were enemies, and Nova wasn't about to jump ship and ditch the Cons anymore than Arcee would ditch the Autobots. Still, Nova couldn't let anything happen to Arcee, not while she was carrying.
And just what would she tell the others? From what she heard, Megatron hadn't had much of a problem with slaughtering younglings, which meant there were s good number of Decepticons out there who would do it, too. Starscream had a fondness for sparklings, but she wasn't sure if that fondness would keep Arcee safe or not. If she said nothing, though, no one would even consider holding back. Of course, this was all considering she got back to the Nemesis, and wasn't taken prisoner by an Autobot rescue team. They may have fancied themselves the good guys, but they could be brutal when it suited them. She didn't much like the idea of being tortured for information.
"I am never going on an energon hunt again." Nova declared firmly, to nobody. Primus, she hoped someone got here soon.
Nova was so startled when she jerked out of recharge that she didn't even notice the weight on her shoulder until she had leap to her feet, and heard the groggy cursing behind her. She turned just in time to see Arcee swinging her canon wildly. With an undignified shriek, Nova dove to the side to avoid a wild discharge. Arcee froze, her optics widening as she realized what she'd just done.
". . . Uh, I won't tell anyone about the shriek if you don't mention the wild shot."
"Deal." Nova agreed, knowing she'd never live it down if the Vehicons heard about this.
Something crashed at the entrance of the cave, making them jump. No wonder they had woken up. They shared a nervous look.
"Sounds like the rescue party finally arrived."
"Stay here, I'll go first." Nova ordered.
"Excuse me?" Arcee asked, bristling at the order, "I don't -"
"You have a sparkling to look after." Nova reminded sharply, which stopped Arcee in her tracks, "If its Decepticons, they'll shoot first and ask questions later. Let me just see who's out there."
As much as Arcee loathed to admit it, Nova had a point, so she crossed her arms and reluctantly watched as the Seeker disappeared around the corner.
For her part, Nova was feeling less confident than she appeared. She really didn't want to be taken prisoner. As she moved closer to the entrance, she realized the rocks on top had been cleared away, and she could glimpse the night sky. Caution overpowered by excitement, Nova scrambled up the remaining rocks and stuck her helm out - only to immediately yank it back in to avoid being beheaded day a swinging silver saw.
"Score!" She yelled, torn between her annoyance and how grateful she was to see the little eight foot mech.
"Nova? Hey, its Nova! We found her!" Score shouted, before disappearing from view.
Nova stuck her head back out, and was delighted to see the little silver mech on the ground, standing beside a massive gray femme. "Ironbunker! You sure are a sight for sore optics - anyone else here?"
Ironbunker shook her helm. "Just us."
"Perfect!" Nova declared, turning her helm to shout back into the cave, "Arcee, you can come out! These guys won't - ack!"
Nova dove forward as energy blasts peppered the rocks around her, throwing herself out of the mouth of the cave and onto the ground.
"It's Bulky and the Bee! We gotta - " Whatever Score was going to say was cut off by the metallic clang of something bouncing off his helm, and he collapsed, unconscious.
Nova rolled back onto her pedes and aimed a death glare at Ratchet, who had just arrived. "Don't you pick on him! He's just a little thing!"
"Better surrender, Cons, we don't go easy just because you're femmes." Bulkhead ordered, pointing his weapon at Nova.
Ironbunker took a thundering step forward, her arm morphing into a massive canon as her expression turned stony. "Do not threaten the youngling."
Bumblebee made a series of beeps that sounded suspiciously like 'uh oh' and Nova groaned loudly.
"Bunker, I'm not a youngling anymore! Don't call me that in front of the Bots, its embarrassing!"
Arcee chose that moment to pop out of the cave. "Wait, you guys, don't!"
"Don't?" Bulkhead asked, confused.
"Four against two." Ironbunker observed, then glanced at her unconscious partner and the beat up Seeker, "Retreat?"
"Retreat." Nova agreed, transforming into a small jet and soaring away, despite the burning protest in her wings.
Ironbunker scooped up her partner, transformed into a large tank, and drove away. Bumblebee beeped, asking if they should pursue.
"No!" Arcee shouted, gaining everyone's attention a she slid, with a bit of difficulty, down the remaining rocks and to the ground, "I, uh, I'm damaged. I need repairs. And . . . "
Arcee glanced at Ratchet, who had already stomped over and started grumbling and scanning her, "I have something important you all need to know."
Woo, they finally escape! And you get to meet two of Nova's weirdo friends, fun. Score is basically a good natured bit kind of cowardly dork with way too much energy. Ironbunker is very large, pretty quiet. Intelligent but doesn't talk a lot. She's actually pretty peaceful, unless fighting is called for. Score's kind of like a brother or uncle and Ironbunker treats her like a little kid still.
Nova gets another chapter and then we stick with Arcee for a bit. Also the big reveal is coming up.
Right now I'm wrestling with a second story. And by that I mean I have two ideas and I don't know which to write first. I was going to write Seeking Haven - in which, long after the war, a restored Cybertron receives a distress signal from a planet they have not visited in centuries: Earth. They learn the full extent of their influence on Earth, and must decide whether or not they are willing to be drawn into a war they may have inspired, all while dealing with the descendants are of their charges and a new race of technorganics.
Or there's Curiosity & The Cat, which is a mechanic who stumbles across a damaged Ravage and finds herself slightly unwilling medic to a heavily damaged Soundwave and his Cassettes. Basically I need to practice Soundwave and what better way than to give him a sassy human partner/kidnapped mechanic?