Author's Notes: This is a slightly longer chapter than I normally do on this story. Hopefully I can keep doing long chapters. Please review, favorite, and follow to see more of this story :)
Chapter 7
Welcome To The Jungle
The ice eventually wore off, but Solarflare's injury was still slightly leaking energon. Her self repair systems had done what they could, but she needed to see a medic if she was going to be okay. Her brothers searched their subspaces for anything that could help her, and Video Error came up with a roll of heat resistant tape. It wasn't much, but he put it over the small wound for the time being.
The three sparklings were lost in the forest they had flown into and weren't sure where to go from there. At first they just kept flying, but then after a few hours Video Error's energon reserves ran low, so they had to land. They found themselves in a dark and lonely place with lots of giant alien plants and creepy noises everywhere.
Video Error recorded some of the sights and sounds to use later. Because of his sigma ability he had a strange hobby of recording random footage and then using it in everyday conversation. He mostly did it because it annoyed his sister.
There was a rustling of leaves, and that caused Video Error to jump up and squeal in fright, which only served to make his siblings laugh at him.
"Oh, pit! You are such a squishy!" Solarflare taunted him as she continued to laugh.
"What? It could be a giant monster come to eat us!" Video Error argued, but then cringed when he realized what he just said.
"Nothing on this planet eats metal," Freezeframe replied calmly.
"You don't know that!" Video Error screamed, "Besides, there is something on this planet we know eats metal: Insecticons!"
"Insta-what?" Solarflare asked; confused.
"Don't you remember what Blaster said?" Video Error asked, and then played back a conversation they had with Blaster during their medical exam, "We rescued your pod from the Insecticons. They're real bad dudes. They're mutated Decepticons that eat anythin' from organic matter to metal and everythin' in between. I remember once they tried to eat Ironhide!"
"Heh heh, yeah, I remember now. That was funny," Solarflare commented, "Ironhide getting eaten alive…"
"Ah, I see now. You mean that the Insecticons could eat us," Freezeframe posited; his tone not at all conveying the horror those words should invoke.
"Exactly!" Video Error exclaimed.
Just then they heard more noise coming from up in a tree. At first the sparklings tried to ignore it, but then they heard giggling, and they stopped in their tracks!
"Is it an Instacon?" Solarflare whispered; still getting the name wrong.
"I don't know," Video Error whispered back ominously, "Should we run?"
"There is no point," Freezeframe replied grimly, "You don't have the energy to fly, and the Insecticons are fliers. They will catch us if they want us. The best course of action is to hide and hope they don't see us."
"Wow! New people!" A high pitched girly voice squealed, and the sparklings all screamed and looked up the tree to see if they could spot their doom.
What they saw wasn't an Insecticon, but it wasn't exactly welcome. In the darkness they could see a pair of tiny blue optics looking down on them, and a small body climbing down the tree to meet them. It was hard to see details, but it was clear that this was a minibot; maybe even a sparkling.
Solarflare charged her flame cannon and aimed it right at the stranger.
"Alright Autobot, talk! How did you find us?" Solarflare demanded in a harsh tone.
"Find you? I wasn't even looking for you!" The newcomer replied defensively, "Who are you anyway? I haven't seen new sparklings since arriving on earth five years ago. Say, is that a cannon? Is it attached? Do you have sigma abilities?"
"Yeah, we have sigma abilities," Solarflare replied warily, "I have the power to melt your face off with my mighty flame, and I'm not afraid to use it!"
"I have liquid nitrogen guns akin to Ironhide," Freezeframe explained, "By the way, my name is Freezeframe. That is my sister Solarflare and my brother Video Error. We're trying to find our way back to our father."
"And if you tattle on us to the other Autobots, we'll kill you!" Solarflare added gruffly.
"Cool! You were adopted, too?" The other sparkling asked; ignoring Solarflare's hostility.
"No, we mean out real father," Video Error clarified, "We're going back no matter what!"
"Wow...You have a real father?" The sparkling seemed amazed to learn this about the trio, "Can I help?"
"Help?" Video Error asked, "You want to help us return to our dad? Why?"
"Because every sparkling should be with their families," the other sparkling replied, "My name is Phobia, by the way. Have you guys met my daddy? His name is Red Alert, and he's the security chief on the Ark. Someday I'm gonna run security on a ship too! He said I could apply for the job when I'm older and complete my training. So who's your daddy? Is he nice? Do you have any more siblings? Tell me everything!"
"We should kill her," Solarflare deduced, "Her father's in charge of security, and you know what that means…"
"Interrogation," Freezeframe finished her thought for her, "Her constant questioning is proof of this fact."
"What…?" Phobia couldn't believe they were talking about her like she wasn't even there, "...You're serious? I thought attached sparklings were nicer than this! You act just like an orphan gang!"
"We don't have to kill her!" Video Error stood between his paranoid siblings and the cause of their phobia; namely Phobia, "We can just tie her to this tree and run away. The Autobots will find her eventually, but we'll be long gone by then. Say, if you weren't looking for us, then what are you doing out in this desolate wilderness?"
"Desolate?" Phobia repeated, "We're like 50 mechano-meters from the Ark! I come out here sometimes to sneak away and play in the trees. Daddy doesn't like it when I climb trees, and he doesn't like it when I'm out at night, so I have to wait until he's recharging."
"You mean we flew around in circles?" Solarflare whined, "Thanks a lot, Video Error!"
"So nobody knows you're here?" Video Error asked intently; ignoring his sister's accusations.
"No," Phobia answered honestly; not realizing the mistake she just made.
With lightning speed, Video Error used his tentacles to grab the hapless Autobot sparkling and lift her in the air! Phobia screamed and struggled, but Video Error was older and stronger than her! He slammed her against a tree and Freezeframe took a chain out of his subspace to tie her up with.
"Where did you get that chain from?" Solarflare asked when she saw it.
"I have a life outside of you two," was Freezeframe's only answer.
"Hurry up!" Video Error barked, "I can't see without my tentacles!"
Phobia struggled with the larger sparkling until she managed to pull one of her arms free. While they were distracted talking about the chain, Phobia attached the servo of her right arm onto Video Error's tentacle and started sucking out the energon!
"AAHHH! What's happening!?" Video Error shrieked in panic.
"Holy pit, it's an energon leech!" Solarflare screamed when she realized what was happening.
Video Error released his hold on the Autobot sparkling, but she continued to drain him of his vital fluids! He was small enough that she could bleed him dry! Freezeframe froze one of her legs In ice, and Phobia looked at him with frightened optics.
"Release him, or I freeze the rest of you," Freezeframe told her in a calm controlled voice.
Phobia complied wordlessly, and once he was free Video Error ran far away from the deadly Autobot; his sibling soon following him. After a few minutes they looked back, but the leech was nowhere in sight. What was in sight was an orange metallic structure. It could only be the Ark.
"The Autobots have a leech," Video Error said the last word as if it were a curse, "How are we supposed to combat that thing?"
"Well, at least it didn't look like she knew how to use energy projectiles yet," Freezeframe replied less than reassuringly, "Some leeches can produce energy from the same tubes they feed from. It is quite painful from what I hear."
The three sparklings looked up at the imposing structure of the Ark. They had a decision to make. Do they return to the place where Autobots and Optimus Prime awaited them, or do they try to find their way around an unforgiving alien world in search of their dad? Neither option seemed very appealing at the moment.
Soundwave's capture had been difficult to say the least. The Autobots had come to the aid of Blaster and his cassettes when they saw Soundwave poking around the Ark. At first they tried to be reasonable with the blue and white carrier, but when Soundwave tried to hold Steeljaw hostage in exchange for the sparklings he had gone too far. It took four Autobots to hold him down, and his sonic blast had nearly caused Ironhide to go deaf! Fortunately, Jazz and Blaster were both used to that level of noise.
At the moment Soundwave was tied down to his berth in his cell. This was a critical time for the Autobots. They knew the Decepticons had been sending a bunch of supplies off world. They were planning something, and if the Autobots didn't figure out what that something was it could spell their destruction. They were barely holding the moonbases as it was, and might have to send senior officers from earth to man them. Soundwave's intel could be crucial for them, but they didn't yet know how to get him to talk.
Jazz and Blaster walked together toward the brig, and Jazz noticed the hard stony look in Blaster's optics as well as the scowl that betrayed his hatred for the other carrier. Jazz would normally handle the questioning of a prisoner of war, but Blaster had insisted on being the one to interrogate Soundwave. Jazz wasn't sure that was a good idea.
"Hey Blaster, I'm thinkin' I should be the one ta handle this," Jazz suggested with concern in his tone.
"No way mech, Soundwave's mine," Blaster growled in a low tone of voice.
Jazz had never seen Blaster like this. There was clearly something the red and yellow stereo wasn't telling him. Just as Blaster was about to go through the door to the brig, Jazz stepped in front of him and spread his arms out to prevent him from going in there.
"Blaster, no," Jazz said firmly, "You're not goin' in there until you tell me what's goin' on. You're actin' weird."
"Jazz, I need to do this," Blaster said with an edge to his voice.
"No, you don't," Jazz argued, "If you're gonna let your emotions get in the way of your work, then you shouldn't be in there. I know Soundwave is a bad dude, but this feels personal."
"It is personal," Blaster admitted shamelessly, "You have no idea what that mech has done to me! He ruined my life, and he ruined the lives of so many innocent beings! I can't let him get away with that again. It's because of him that those sparklings are missing!"
"Hey, man! Don't worry about that. The search parties will find the sparklings. They'll be okay," Jazz said consolingly, "Now, you wanna tell me what Soundwave did ta make you this upset?"
Blaster looked down at the ground, exhaled, and looked up again to face Jazz. His gaze was troubled and far away. He looked like the perfect picture of misery. Finally he nodded to Jazz and began to tell his story.
"It all started with my radio station," Blaster explained morosely, "During the early days of the war I had a radio station where I would broadcast Autobot-friendly shock-jock freedom-fighter programming."
"I remember it," Jazz replied fondly, "You helped us keep our heads when times looked bleak and the Decepticons controlled the rest of the media."
"Yeah, well, they tried to control me too, but my voice would not be silenced by the likes of Buckethead and his merry minions," Blaster said with disdain, "I only had a small place to work out of, and only one other person to help me run the place. That was my assistant Shaboom. She was a young purple carrier with the roundest speakers I've ever seen on a femme. She was resourceful, kind, and believed in our cause. She and I weren't dating or anything, but I always wanted to ask her out. Oh, I'm gettin' off track here.
"The point is, it was durin' this time in my career that I met Soundwave. Well, at first I didn't meet him. He started spyin' on my operation and started watchin' me. He was tryin' to dig up dirt on me, and when he couldn't find any he made somethin' up. My rep was smeared, and even some of my friends turned against me. Then he went after my station. Burned it to the ground. That was when I first saw him. Soundwave and his cassette minions had torched the place and were running away. I saw them, and I will never forget the cold cruel look that mech gave me.
"I didn't give up though. Shaboom and I turned to Optimus Prime himself, and he helped us find a new place to broadcast from. For a while it was great, but Soundwave wasn't done with us yet. I returned to the station one day to find that Shaboom had been murdered. She was killed by a sonic blast to the processor. There was a card that said 'Decepticons superior, Autobots inferior'. It was signed by Soundwave. He didn't even care that I knew it was him! Shortly after that I was captured by the Decepticons and Megatron wanted to kill me. Soundwave told him that killin' me wasn't enough. That was when I was introduced to the sensory deprivation box. I was left without light or sound for 3 orns, and I just wanted to die. He had taken everythin' from me. What was left? But I survived, and now he's gonna regret not killin' me when he had the chance."
"I can't say I agree with this," Jazz told him, "But I do understand why you feel you need ta do this. Just don't kill him. We need that information, but try to be civil. We ain't Decepticons. We're better than that. Show 'im."
Blaster nodded curtly and stepped around Jazz to get through the door. He knew Jazz was just trying to help him keep his senses and his morality, but Blaster was tired of Soundwave always getting away with everything he did. Out of all the Decepticons Soundwave was not only one of the most efficient, but also one of the hardest ones to capture. He hurt others with impunity, and Blaster was tired of that being allowed to continue.
He shut down the energy bars and entered the cell where Soundwave was being held. The Decepticon communications officer stared up at the ceiling and did not acknowledge Blaster's presence.
"Hey, Soundwave! We need to talk," Blaster said forcefully.
Soundwave did not respond in any way.
"Soundwave, I know you can hear me," Blaster chided him, "Now we don't wanna hurt you. If you just answer my questions honestly then you will be given back to Megatron. I'm sure you're lookin' forward to seein' ol' slagface again. Now tell me Soundwave, why have you 'Cons been transporting so many materials from earth to Cybertron on the space bridge?"
Soundwave said nothing.
"Alright Soundwave, this isn't funny," Blaster said through gritted denta, "Just tell me what your lord and master is plannin', and you won't have to see me anymore. Okay? Where did you get your supplies?"
"Blaster: outmoded," Soundwave replied after another moment of awkward silence.
"What? That's it!" Blaster snapped, "I tried to be civil, but you've left me no choice!"
Blaster then pulled an electric prod out of his subspace. It was a tool he sometimes used to supercharge his faulty recharge berth, but today he had a much more sinister purpose for it…
Blaster pushed the prod into the crack of Soundwave's tape deck; causing the whole thing to spark and Soundwave's body to convulse! Smoke came out from the edges of Soundwave's compartment, and Blaster faintly heard the screams and moans of Soundwave's cassettes; who were still inside.
Blaster went slack as he realized what he had just done. It was one thing to harm Soundwave, but to hurt cassettes in front of their carrier was just...wrong. Blaster couldn't believe what he had just done.
Soundwave said nothing. He didn't even vent. He wouldn't give the Autobot the satisfaction of seeing how much the pain of his symbiotes hurt him. He could feel their agony over the spark bond he shared with them, and that hurt him more than any torture that could be done to him personally. If he showed that it hurt him, that would only encourage the Autobot to do it again.
"Soundwave, release your Cassetticons," Blaster ordered, "This is between you and me. I don't want to hurt them again."
"Negative," Soundwave replied through static, "You attempt to trick me. Blaster's ploy: transparent."
Blaster didn't know what to do about this situation, but soon his mind was far away from that as Hound came into the room and said "Blaster! We found them! The sparklings have been recovered!"
Soundwave paid attention to that one. He suddenly began to pull at his restraints and tried to escape his berth! His sparklings were close! He had to save them from this maniac!
"That's good news," Blaster replied with a relieved smile, "Send them to Jazz until I can tend to them."
Jazz? The saboteur? No! He was worse than Blaster! Soundwave fought with all his might to escape the berth, but unfortunately he was more equipped for surveillance than physical strength.
"Noooo!" Soundwave's voice was mixed with his sonic power, and it made the other two mechs in the room need to cover their audio sensors, "Return them to me! Give me back my sparklings! Now!"
Blaster's optics were wide as saucers when he heard that one! This was the most emotional he had ever heard Soundwave act, and the Decepticon had revealed one other crucial detail. The sparklings belonged to him.