Chapter 10 Back To Earth
Space was very cold. There was no other way to describe it. But at the same time, if caught in the sun's rays, it was unbearably hot. The constant change between hot and cold ground against the best of bot's nerves and circuitry, but an alt. mode provided added protection against the cold. Or, even better, resting inside another body protected much more important and delicate circuitry from the sudden drastic changes in temperature.
Carnage was curled up in Soundwave's chest compartment, her tail tucked neatly over her nose as she recharged. Two years had passed since the incident in Mission City, two long years of training with her brothers, the Seekers, and espionage missions that had molded her into an almost unidentifiable youngling. She had long since adapted to being called "Carnage" instead of "Caraden" or "Ravage"; the two of them acted as one and could switch controls without anyone realizing the difference until they caught her smirking at them. Ravage even ceased to identify himself as a mech, the mental voice picking up a very feminine tone over the course of their time together. They were Carnage, and often when speaking, said "us" or "we" instead of "me" or "I".
Starscream had recently taken his trine back to Cybertron to look after the "hatchlings"; the next generation of Decepticons. From what Soundwave had told her, the nursery was losing too many of the young protoforms to even dream of replenishing their ranks, let alone their planet. With the low-tech way of breeding failing miserably and the number of femmes loyal to the Decepticons dwindling rapidly, it truly looked as if the Cybertronians were doomed to extinction. They all knew that if worst case scenario came to life and the last of the hatchlings died, Carnage would be expected to mate with the mechs in the army, something that even Starscream had sworn would be the absolute last option.
In spite of his cold and snappy manner, Starscream had a set of morals to rival Soundwave's. He refused to let any femme under his care, now that he was leader, be used as an interface toy by the bigger and meaner mechs. He had already sent a mech into the Matrix for going after one of the other femmes; Slipstream, she believed Soundwave had called her; and had threatened the rest of the army with a cold promise to follow him swiftly should they touch any of the other femmes. Carnage was safe from their prying optics and primitive urges because of Soundwave's position in the army. He terrified the other mechs into submission and none of them dared to get on his bad side, should they end up suffering a most painful demise.
Speaking of the mech, he was currently stuck in permanent orbit around Earth, collecting data from the humans that sent their radio waves to him by mistake. When he had revealed that he had an alt. mode in the form of a Cybertronian satellite, she had been shocked speechless for several long moments before she had broken down into hysterical laughter. She had received a harsh lecture afterwards about insubordination, but the irony of the mighty Soundwave unable to do anything in his alt. mode but orbit his opponent to death was just too funny.
"Hey, you still sleeping?" Rumble called from where he was half-embedded into the side of the compartment.
"Not anymore," she yawned in reply as she slowly uncurled herself to stretch out in the confined space. "What's wrong?"
"Nothin'," he replied before she felt him shifting slightly. "Well…actually, I've been getting' restless. I wanna get out and kick some Autobutt!"
She purred in amusement before stretching herself out as far as she could go again. "You know we aren't allowed, Rumble," she replied. "The Autobots would tear us to shreds."
"I know," Rumble whined. "I'm just so bored!"
'I know how to get rid of your boredom, brother,' Lazerbeak growled down the bond; if there was one mech who hated his recharge being interrupted, it was Lazerbeak.
"Uh…I'll pass," Rumble replied before growing silent.
Carnage smirked before curling up again. She knew that she was getting a little too big to continue recharging inside of Soundwave, but a part of her was too frightened with the immense change that was coming to even suggest it to him. She would be the first and only Cassetteicon that did not have the privilege to co-mingle within Soundwave's body. The very thought sent a terrified shiver through her, making her tail stiffen and almost dig into the wall beside Frenzy's slumbering form. Soundwave's gentle presence soothed her immediately, comforting her like she was a sparkling again. She purred softly before curling up tighter, red optics focused on the back wall that protected his spark from the universe.
She became aware of Soundwave moving and she sat up quickly to look out the glass window on his chest; he must have just received orders to collect information. This was faster than an orbital movement so he must have been about to do something important, something extremely important to the Decepticon cause. She watched as her father angled himself towards one of the satellites that orbited Earth and watched as he drew nearer to it. He must have been trying to intercept the communications from the Earth military group that worked with the Autobots. She blinked several times as a panel on Soundwave's lower half slid away and several long, silver cables slid out and started to creep across the surface of the satellite. Her optics widened as she watched them push under the metal on the innocent Earth device, flowing into the circuits like many demonic snakes until Soundwave had anchored himself to the top of the satellite with a satisfied grunt.
"Holy slag!" she screamed as she reeled backwards and scrambled as far away from the glass as possible. "Soundwave's raping a satellite!"
Silence greeted her words before Rumble let out a snort of laughter and fell from where he had been attached to Soundwave. He landed in her lap and lay there clutching his stomach as he kicked his legs out, roaring with laughter. Soundwave's growl of anger rumbled through the compartment, but it was drowned out by Rumble's howling.
"And just think!" he squealed before pointing at her. "Those were the same cables that held you to the back of his alt. mode!"
Carnage's optics widened before she let out a squeal of disgust and slammed her hands over her audios. Ratbat snorted happily from where he was embedded in the ceiling, his clawed wings holding onto the metal as he threatened to fall as Soundwave pushed him out of his hold. Lazerbeak, Buzzsaw, and Frenzy landed in their robot modes beside her, snickering at the embarrassment that flooded the bond from Soundwave. It was cut off quickly, but it couldn't disguise the fact that Soundwave had let her words get to him.
It was a long time until Soundwave reopened the bond to them. They had calmed down by then, curled up around one another like a large bundle of metal blankets. At his call, Carnage raised her head, blinking recharge from her optics before he called again, his voice taking on a commanding tone as his chest plate opened up slowly. She wiggled out of her siblings and leapt through the opening into the cold vastness of space, squeaking at the sudden temperature change before she flipped herself over and dolphin kicked her way onto Soundwave's back.
"Carnage, enter Ravage suit. Operation; retrieve Allspark fragment," he ordered before he added. "Reedman will be accompanying you and is already situated in the holding tank."
"Fun, fun," she muttered sarcastically before she wiggled into her suit.
It was a larger form of what Ravage use to look like, built by Skywarp and Starscream to aid her in battle. Since the Autobots were not aware of her taking over Ravage's role, the Air Commander had decided to make her a suit that would make their enemy believe that Ravage had merely grown over the course of the countless stellar cycles lost in space. It helped give her a few more feet of height when she went on all fours, since she was just as comfortable running on them as she was on her hind legs. She fitted herself easily into the suit and let her consciousness slip into the wires now connected to her. Her optic flared for a moment before she transformed into the missile mode and started plummeting to Earth.
'Yehaw!' she crowed as she streaked through the atmosphere.
'Oh, this is quite exciting,' Ravage teased gently from where she was curled up contently in the middle of her mind, tending to all the information that was being transmitted. 'Plummeting several thousand feet to the surface of a planet where the impact could kill us.'
'Spoil sport,' she teased back before she plunged into what she believed to be a shallow lake.
She burst out of the water with a single powerful leap, snapping her jaws as she got reacquainted with the suit's functions. She turned to where a high fence was set up, the coordinates she received from Soundwave pointing her in that direction, and where she felt the gentle disturbances of high amounts of radiation identical to Allspark energy emanating. She charged forward, her paws not even making a sound in the soft dirt, and vaulted over the fence without any problems. She glanced around, the rockets on her hips whirling to life quietly as she stalked through the facility. She could feel Reedman moving around in the holding tank located in her stomach and headed quickly for a ventilation tube, wanting to dump him as soon as possible.
She clamped her mouth over the tube and started purging the skinny annoyance out of her holding tank, wincing at the sharp sound of metal striking metal as all his components fell down the tube. When the last of the Decepticon was gone from her, she slipped away and started prowling around the base, looking for something to offline and keep her busy. She knew that they would have to move fast to get the shard out of here; Soundwave was already sending new coordinates where she was to meet up with several of the other Decepticons still in hiding on Earth. They were going to revive Megatron apparently; Scalpel just got crazier every time she met him.
She heard shouting before a rocket struck the building behind her, poorly aimed by the gunner manning the gun. She snarled at him and fired off a rocket, letting Ravage take over the aiming as she set to work getting in contact with Reedman. He was already on his way out, hacking and slashing his way back to the surface while she kept the humans busy. She spotted a flash of silver metal before she felt him scrambling onto her hind leg, clutching her as his thin, frail body was rocked back and forth by the explosions around her.
She snarled again before charging away, leaping over the fence again as a clip of bullets ate the ground behind her. She roared at the humans that had gotten in her way, knocking them aside like pieces of dirt as she charged on. She crushed several beneath her giant paws and felt the sticky blood clinging to her as she ran, but she ignored it, setting her sights on shoreline. She heard humans shouting behind her, but she charged in without stopping and broke away from the shore with powerful strokes that easily carried her away from the base.
"Did you get the shard?" she asked Reedman as he crawled up onto her head.
"Yeah," he replied, waving the shard in her face. "Now what?"
"Hold onto it until we reach the freighter that the others are on," she replied, impressed that he was actually respecting her authority for once. "After that you can cling to one of the others for a while."
"Fine by me; your holding tank is way too cramped for my liking."
"Pest," she grumbled.
He didn't bother with a retort for that comment; it's best not to get the femme carrying you through the water mad. She swam easily through the water, realizing that what she thought to be a lake was actually the seashore, and started encountering huge waves. She battled against them for a short while, coughing water out of her intakes as she swallowed it, before she finally sealed them off and plunged under them. She swam easily after that, not even making a ripple above the surface, before the hull of the freighter came into sight. She swam after it, keeping close to the ship incase radar picked her up; she pretended she was a dolphin before and had not been caught when she was following a military vessel.
She easily swam up to where the other Decepticons were hiding and launched herself onto the deck, slipping behind the crates as quickly as she could. She glanced up as the sound of shifting gears and metal cut the quiet air and nodded to the mechs that were crouching amongst the cargo. Scalpel scuttled over to her and clambered onto her back beside Reedman, clucking about something or other. She glared at the others, blaming them for making her carry the obnoxious creep, before they all leapt over the side, and back into the water.
They headed for the sea floor, several hundreds of feet below them, and the other mechs' headlights illuminated the dark waters. She noticed several invertebrates swimming nearby, staring at them with huge, intelligent eyes before vanishing in a cloud of ink. She shook her head before she angled herself towards the shimmering, silver lump on the ground, landing beside Megatron's body with a gentle thump. The creatures that had been resting on his frame swam away as fast as they could, startled by their swift approach, as Scalpel landed on the fallen leader's chest.
"Kill ze little one," he called evenly over his shoulder.
Reedman clung to her for a moment, single optic huge before they watched the mechs turn on their smallest companion. He let out a weak cry of "no" before he was silenced and dragged closer for Scalpel to pull the necessary parts to repair Megatron. The Allspark shard looked huge in his pinchers as he lifted it over his head, then plunged it into Megatron's chest, making him convulse and his optics flare online.
She reeled backwards in surprise, not expecting him to snap forward so violently or fast, her single optic widening. His optics burned into hers for a moment before he spun around, making a small motion towards his back as he prepared to surface. She didn't even stop to think about what her orders were before she latched onto his back and held on as he rocketed towards the surface. She felt metal slide by her back and watched as a submarine sank past them, the humans onboard flailing helplessly in the water, their eyes wide as they tried to reach the surface.
She watched their eyes glaze over before their mouths opened in an eruption of bubbles. Their bodies went limp and sank into the darkness with their ruined submarine, every last trace of them vanishing forever. She shivered inside her suit before Megatron burst out of the water and transformed, making her scramble into his cramped cockpit so she wasn't tossed off as he suddenly catapulted through the skies and left Earth far behind.
'Um…I'll be home soon,' she called to Soundwave down the bond.
'Don't do anything stupid,' he replied gently.
She purred her amusement before curling up and keeping her head low. Megatron was unaware of who she was, probably thinking that she was Ravage since there was no way for him to differentiate between mech and femme in her suit. He didn't speak to her as he travelled through space at an astonishing speed, probably more focused on not crashing into asteroids. She had almost dozed into recharge when Megatron suddenly flipped over and dumped her onto a hard, metal surface, making her roll away under a bunch of hanging blue sacks.
"Megatron!" Starscream's voice squeaked as the Seeker came into view.
Megatron didn't waste time in beating him up, snarling something about insubordination and being the rightful leader before he moved off with a huff. She watched as one of the sacks broke and a small robot tumbled out, squeaking in a weak, pleading voice. Cold tendrils of dread encircled her spark before she watched Starscream gently pick the robot up, cradling it to his chest as his optics darkened with pain. She raced over and reached up on her hind legs, trying to get a better look at the weakly chirping thing. It stared at her with fading red optics before she let out a low moan of pain and hung her head as pain overcame her.
"There's nothing we can do for it," Starscream sighed as the little robot let out one final cry and fell silent.
"That was a hatchling, wasn't it?" she whispered.
He nodded before he stroked the dead hatchling's cheek, his optics filling with pain as it lay limp in his arms. She pressed her nose to its chest before she fell back on her haunches and hung her head, her tail curling around her as Ravage let out her own internal wail of pain. Voices reached her after a few minutes and Starscream stormed off with the dead hatchling still held tightly to his chest, a look of rebellion in his optics. She didn't move from her spot, staring up at the hanging sacks. Which one would die next, which one wouldn't receive the energon it needed to survive and drop from its sack? Wasn't there something they could do? Wasn't there anything in the universe that could protect these little ones from dying?
A sudden wave of hopelessness overcame her before she staggered to her feet and padded unsteadily over to where one of the sacks leant against the ground. She lay down beside it and stared through the blue membrane that kept the hatchling inside safe from the harsh environment of Cybertron. She could see a small outline inside, shifting around while its body developed in its cocoon, and a small red optic blinked momentarily out at her. She pressed herself closer, carefully, and leant her head against the sack.
"I'll do everything I can," she whispered, almost hearing a soft purr of happiness from within. "I swear I'll try to protect you with every fiber of my being, little one."
She lay there for a while until she heard Starscream summon her. She lifted her head, ears perked, and reluctantly pulled away from the hatchling, giving it one last stare before she turned and trotted over to where Starscream had disappeared. She noticed all the large fuel lines that were crawling along the ground, making her jump just to keep going, and wondered where they led. She spotted Starscream crouching beside a throne, his red optics flickering nervously about, and Megatron half bowed over, his optics staring at something in the throne with admiration and fear. She tilted her head curiously before she trotted over to Starscream and leant against his leg, blinking up at him before meowing.
"So, this is the Carnage you told me of, Starscream?" a dark voice asked from the throne, making her jump in surprise. "Hardly more than a hatchling herself."
She stared at the black mech sitting in the throne, her optic widening in surprise and fear as she took in the terrifying face. It looked like a mutated human pharaoh, full of spines that rose and fell as it breathed. She pressed herself closer to Starscream's leg, shaking slightly as the red optics narrowed as it lifted a clawed hand and beckoned her closer, ignoring Megatron's incredulous look.
"Come here, little Carnage," the mech growled.
She swallowed before padding forward, bringing herself within reach of the slim mech. One of his hands travelled over her back and she shivered at the cold tendrils that spread through her body at the touch. He let out a low chuckle before he looped his hand under her haunches and scooped her up onto his lap, making her squeal in surprise. Ravage let out a furious hiss inside her head, snarling and pacing within the confines of her consciousness, letting her know just how much this was unacceptable. She glared up at the mech even as his hand travelled over her back again in a slow rhythm, soothing her terrified nerves enough to make her curl up and purr in contentment. She always did love a good petting.
"Such a delicate little thing, Starscream," the mech chuckled as his hand continued to stroke her. "I can see why you are so protective of her."
"She is not going to be a brood mare," Starscream growled.
"I shouldn't think so," the mech grunted before he rubbed behind her ears. "She is a soldier, am I correct? Soldiers are not treated with ill respect."
'Should we trust him?' she asked nervously.
'Wait and see,' Ravage replied, her voice just as uneasy. 'I don't like him, not in the least.'
His fingers slid down her back on last time before he stopped petting her. She lifted her head up and looked at Starscream, wondering what he would tell her to do now. He averted his gaze, mouth twisting into a sneer as Megatron let out a growl. She winced, realizing her mistake a little late, and looked over at him. His optics were dark with outrage but he ignored her before turning to the mech again.
"How will we harvest the energy we need?" Megatron asked.
"There is a harvester on Earth, hidden somewhere on the miserable mudball," the mech replied before snorting. "Use that to extract the energy from the sun. With that gone, we will have enough energy to replenish our ranks."
"What about Earth?" Starscream asked curiously.
"It will cease to exist," the mech laughed.
"No!" Carnage shouted without thinking, spinning around to hiss at the mech.
The three of them stared at her, her metal bristling in outrage. He couldn't destroy Earth! That was her home! She lived there, it sheltered her, it sheltered all the Decepticons that had come to answer Starscream's call. Her family was there, they lived there and relied on the sun for their planet to survive. To think of the Earth just ceasing to exist made her spark stop pulsing inside of her.
"Excuse me?" the mech growled, optics flashing.
"You can't destroy Earth!" she replied bitterly, her tail curving over her head.
"Why not, wench?" Megatron demanded.
"Earth is our home," she replied, so use to talking about herself and Ravage at the same time that she didn't notice Megatron and the other mech's confused expressions. "We rely on it and call it home."
"Cybertron is the birthplace of all Transformers," Starscream stated calmly. "You will adjust."
"Who's side are you on?" she demanded as she whipped around, lashing her tail angrily around behind her.
"The side that is going to save all of the hatchlings," he replied, his optics narrowing.
She winced backwards and hung her head, remembering her promise to the little hatchling still nestled safely away in its sack. Was that what she was going to do to make sure it lived, give up her home? Was it worth it? She gave her head an angry shake before she leapt down and stalked away, leaving them to deliberate more without her. Her tail dragged behind her as she headed back to the incubation chamber, her head spinning with the thought of destroying Earth so that these young ones could live.
'Why must it be so hard?' she whispered to herself.
'No decision in life is ever easy,' Ravage murmured gently before she sighed.
She walked over to the same nursing sack as before and curled up, staring through the membrane at the little sparkling inside. Is that what this little one wanted? Did it want her to give up her home so it could live? It sounded selfish, but she knew that it would want to live rather than fade away before its time. Would humans be so different? Wouldn't they put their own selfish desires first as opposed to care for another creature's home? Everything seemed to make sense then, but what about the other innocent people on Earth? What about the ones that did care for others, who never put their lives first? None of them would get a say in what happened, not after the Decepticons found that harvester.
But it wasn't her choice. She would have to follow orders, just like every other soldier. Soundwave wouldn't bat an optic shutter as Earth died, letting Megatron do what he wished. The Autobots would save as many humans as they could, the ones that lived anyways. But she couldn't trust that the Autobots would even protect them all; what good was a dying race to them when their own kind was on the brink of extinction? There would be no sense of camaraderie; they would only see them as another mouth to feed, another person to look after on top of their problems. Humans would cease to exist, one strong species forced into extinction by another; the cruel circle of life.
It wasn't fair though; why shouldn't they be able to defend themselves? They weren't stupid animals like the ones that ancient humans hunted. They could think on their own and make life-shaping decisions, why couldn't they have a say? She closed her optics and covered her face, wondering what would happen now? She had openly attacked the decision and would be punished for her words; would Megatron terminate her?
Her thoughts were cut short by the sounds of feet stopping nearby. She lifted her head up and looked up at Starscream, who looked sympathetic. He reached down and stroked her helm gently before he transformed into his Earth mode, opening the cockpit for her to clamber into. She easily leapt up into it, curling up against the pilot's chair as he took off into space.
"That was a foolish thing to say," he commented after a while. "Megatron wanted your head mounted for saying that to The Fallen."
"Earth is my home, Starscream," she mewed sadly, pressing her head into her front leg. "What else am I suppose to do?"
"Remain silent," he replied before sighing. "Carnage, what do you expect from us? To leave your homeworld alone when we could use it to save ours?"
"There are hundreds of other stars out there!" she snapped in reply, turning her optic on his steering wheel. "Why must you pick on Earth?!"
Starscream was silent for a long time, leaving her to believe that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. She bit back her snarl before she curled up again, wanting nothing more than to stick her tail into his circuits and make him as uncomfortable as possible. She was half-way through flipping her bladed tail over and stabbing it into the floor beneath her when Starscream's voice cooed at her.
"Earth is the most fertile planet we've come across to date," he replied gently. "It is only natural for us to want to take that to save ourselves."
She had to agree with that, but she still didn't like it. "You'll be killing another race," she murmured. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Darling, we're Decepticons; we believe in survival of the fittest," he replied. "One species slags another so that they can survive."
She growled to herself before she snorted at him. "That theory died in civilized cultures," she sneered.
"It's reborn, now stop complaining; you're hurting my audios," he snorted in reply.
"I'm hurting your audios?!" she asked in outrage before she flipped her tail straight into the ground beneath her to evoke a scream of pain from the Seeker. "At least my voice doesn't sound like nails on a God damn chalkboard!"
They screamed and yelled at each other the rest of the way to Earth, neither backing down. Several more times she stabbed Starscream's interior with her tail-blade, and he continued to scream as loud as he could to grind against her audios. Soundwave's curiosity spiked for a moment until he figured out what the two of them were up to, then he very quickly shut out all of their mental waves and dragged his satellite as far away from them as he could get.
"What…is he doing to that thing?" Starscream asked as they streaked by.
"Raping it," she replied before stabbing him again. "And you're still a coward!"
"I should throw you out!" he snarled.
"You wouldn't want to face Soundwave's wrath," she snapped.
He fell silent after that, concentrating on not plowing into the ground as he streaked across the sky. She prepared for impact since Starscream just loved to run into things when entering an atmosphere. There was a loud thud as Starscream touched down, sending shockwaves throughout his entire frame, and shaking her as she clung to his interior, digging her claws in as painfully as she could. His cockpit opened quickly as she was out just as fast, pelting across the open space in search of a hiding place; she was in trouble now that Starscream could transform.
She heard his bellow of rage behind her before she darted behind a building, slipping out of her suit faster than the blink of an eye. It stood motionless where she left it, distracting Starscream long enough for her to slide into a building and clamber up behind one of the Decepticons waiting inside. She received several cusses thrown at her, but ignored them as she quickly dove for cover as Starscream stormed in.
"CARNAGE!" he bellowed. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I'LL TEAR YOUR TAIL RIGHT OFF!"
"You have to catch me first, Screech!" she shot back before she raced towards the door, slipping out through it.
She heard his steps following her amidst the laughter of the others. She flicked her tail before taking off, her tail streaming out behind her as she darted for cover. Starscream's bellow reached her seconds before his hand came down on her shoulders and pinned her to the ground. She squeaked in surprise and started wiggling desperately, her tail waving around behind her as she tried to slice into Starscream's arm. He picked her up off the ground and snarled at her as she dangled in his grip, her tail flailing around uselessly.
"You care to repeat that last statement?" he growled.
"Slag off!" she spat before wiggling again.
He let out a low growl before he gave her a shake, just like he use to when she didn't do something right. She hissed at him before reaching over her head to claw at his hand, spitting in rage at being handled like a sparkling. He stopped shaking her and glared down at her before dropping her unceremoniously onto her aft, earning a squeak of pain in return. She glared up at him and stuck out her glossa before she got to her feet and dusted herself off, muttering about pig-headed Seekers.
She glanced up as a very feminine laugh reached her, grimacing at the annoying tone. A slim silver figure not much taller than a human was smirking at her, tentacle-like hair billowing around her head. She strode forward until she was looking up into Carnage's face, leaning in too close for comfort and it was taking everything she had not to lash out to drive the smaller femme away.
"Didn't you look cute, dangling from his hand," the femme sneered.
"Slag off," Carnage snorted before twisting her head away. "Starscream's an aft anyways."
"Aw, is the little femme getting defensive?" the femme sneered.
"Little?!" she demanded as she rounded on the silver femme, shoving her face into hers. "Who're you calling little, you midget?!"
The femme let out a hiss before she pulled her fist back to punch her. Ravage leapt forward and took control of their body, twisting them away from the blow before raking her claws across the other's face. She let out an audio-splitting scream as she staggered away, clutching her face as energon oozed out of the wound. She let out another screech before she lunged at her, landing a blow to the side of Carnage's head. They went down in a tangle of limbs, throwing punches and clawing at each other, Ravage's battle-cry roaring through the air as she tried to fasten their jaws onto the other's throat.
She could hear others shouting at them, some cheering them on while others shouted at them to stop the horseplay. She didn't care who was talking at the moment; she was ten feet tall now and was going to lay a sound whooping on this femme's aft for insulting her. The other femme's hair started tightening around her throat, cutting off her air supply in an attempt to get her to stop fighting. However, running training sessions in space with Soundwave had helped her grow use to fighting without air; she merely turned her intakes off and kept wailing away, the slight discomfort of having her throat crushed the only indication that something was wrong.
She flipped her tail up and stabbed it deep into the other femme's shoulder, earning a scream of pain. The tentacles slackened around her neck long enough for her to gather her feet under the other's stomach and kicked out as hard as she could. She was sent flying off of her at the same time Carnage yanked her tail out of the other's shoulder, sending a spray of energon all over the ground. She landed in a heap not far away, her red optics narrowed in rage as they settled on her. Carnage smirked before gathering her feet under her and preparing to spring on the injured femme, ready to teach her a lesson, when Starscream's hand closed around her scruff again.
"Enough!" Megatron's voice bellowed. "Starscream, control that femme!"
"I'm trying!" Starscream shouted as she started struggling in his grasp, clawing his hand in a mad attempt to escape. "Ow! Carnage, stop that!"
"Let me go!" she snarled as she wiggled, her optics never leaving the other femme as she was delicately picked up by one of the other mechs. "I'll rip that femme's head off of her shoulders!"
"Be still!" Starscream snapped before he gave her a small shake to snap her out of her bloodlust.
She let out one final hiss before going limp under Starscream's claws, panting heavily as she tried to draw air in around her damaged throat. His grip relaxed before he picked her up and lifted her head up to get a good look at the damage the other femme had inflicted. His fingers ran along a large gash in her cheek that she hadn't noticed was there and she winced away as pain flared up. His red optics filled with sympathy for her as he held her close to his chest when he finished looking for injuries.
She purred weakly before she leant on his chest, offlining her optics as she relaxed. She could hear Megatron shouting something nearby, but she chose to ignore him as she settled down to rest. Ravage let out a yawn as she curled up in her confines, purr echoing around in the depth of her mind. She wasn't aware of Starscream poking around her circuits as he started to repair her, muttering about female dominance issues, nor was she aware when the other femme showed up to insult her, only to get kicked out of the room by an annoyed Starscream. She woke up to find Starscream poking something into her arm, his gaze on the needle in his hand.
"What the slag is that?" she demanded as she managed to lift her head up.
"An adrenaline boost," he replied as he rubbed the spot where he had injected the needle. "It's to help you get back on your feet sooner."
She purred her amusement before she sat up, realizing that she had been resting on her stomach the whole time. She gave herself a shake before she licked her hand and drew it over her ears, purring more at the sight of Starscream rolling his optics at her. She gave herself a shake again before she stood up, staggering slightly as she tried to get her balance back. His hand steadied her before she leapt down and waved her tail at him.
"If anyone asks, I've gone for a ride," she called before she raced off towards the exit.
She heard Starscream yell something about avoiding Autobots and rolled her optics at how obvious that idea was. She wasn't dumb enough to let herself get caught, in case he forgot, and she only was ever almost caught once and it had not been her fault. It had been her tail's; how was she supposed to know it was going to get stuck in that input slot? Rumble had been three seconds away from just cutting it off so that they could get out of the Autobots' temporary headquarters when she had finally just manually turned the blade and ripped it out. That had been the most embarrassing moment in her short life of a Cybertronian and she wasn't planning on going through it again.
She transformed as she streaked out of the base, hitting the highway just as her hologram materialized, and headed for Mission City. She went flying down the highway, going well over the speed limit, and weaved through the traffic that got in her way. Drivers honked their horns at her, cussing at her for her daredevil tricks, but she ignored them, as per usual.
'Dad,' she called down the bound, rousing Soundwave from his recharge, 'can you get a hold of Camren for me?'
Soundwave was silent for a few minutes before he replied. 'He's not home,' he stated. 'Answering machine picked up.'
'Dang it!' she whined before zooming around a huge transport truck that was slowing down traffic. 'Then can you find Val's cell?'
He was silent again before he patched the call through her com. link. "Hello?" Valerie's voice asked, a little garbled from the reception.
"Hey Val," she greeted. "You in class?"
"Caraden!?" she gasped before letting out a shout of delight. "What are you doing?"
"Going to see you, obviously," she laughed before taking a turn into to bypass Mission City. "Where are you?"
"College," she replied. "I just got out of my bio class."
"That's real informative," she sighed. "Where are you?"
"Oh, right, forgot you weren't there when I left this summer," Valerie apologized. She proceeded to tell her where her college was.
It turned out that she and Sam Witwicky had ended up at the same place. She had seen him earlier that day, complaining about his roommate being a complete nut. When Carnage asked her where Prowl was, Valerie's voice became painful and sad.
"Freshmen aren't allowed cars," Valerie explained. "I had to leave him at home."
"That's too bad," Carnage replied before she started heading for the college that was half-way across the country. "At least you know he's waiting for you back home, right?"
"Prime called him out a few days ago," she replied bitterly. "Some covert secret mission or something stupid like that. It's a pain in the ass!"
"Hence why I love my Decepticons more," she laughed as she crossed over a border into another state. "It's best if we stop talking, in case someone taps into the line. I'll see you in a bit, Val."
"Later Caraden," she replied before hanging up.
The drive was quiet as she set out across the country. She was faster than any of the vehicles around her and didn't run into any police cruisers along the way. That was strange considering most people always get caught the moment they get one point over the limit. Before the sun began to set, she was already pulling into the parking lot of the college. She wasn't expecting to see Valerie waiting for her, knowing that she probably had classes. However, at the sight of her friend's beaming face as she swung her hologram off of her frame, she was surprised and delighted.
"Val!" she called before she solidified her hologram and hugged her friend. "You're looking healthy."
"It's good to see you too!" Valerie agreed before beaming. "God, you don't know how lonely it's been the past few years! Sure, Sam and Mikeala still talk to me, but it wasn't the same, you know, like when we use to hang out all the time."
Carnage blinked several times before poking Valerie. "Sweetheart, you're rambling."
"I am?" Valerie blinked before cursing. "Damn it! I've gotten so bad lately!"
Carnage laughed before she looked around her. "Shouldn't you be in class still?"
"No," Valerie replied. "I was in Bio today to get to know where my classes were. There's a party going on if you want to attend; I'll say you're a friend of mine."
She nodded in agreement, following her best friend away from the parking lot. Ravage let her know that she would be remaining with their frame, intending to get some much needed peaceful recharge, while she went off to party. "Caraden" followed Valerie into what looked like a small house set just off campus, where loud music and shouts drifted out into the street. Excitement coursed through her before she subtly changed her appearance; the last thing she needed was someone from Tranquility recognizing her after she had been "dead" for two years.
The music met them like a tidal wave as they walked in through the front doors, several of the other students nodding to them as Valerie waved. No one bothered to stop them as they wandered around, finding the buffet fast enough and Valerie grabbed a few little snacks to munch on as they caught up with each other. It didn't take long to cover everything and they lapsed into comfortable silence as they watched the other students interact around them.
"Sam!" Valerie called, waving at the boy as he appeared through the doorway.
His head came up and he blinked several times before he realized who was waving at him. He walked over, glancing over his shoulder as if looking for a stalker before he sat down beside Valerie.
"Hey," he greeted before looking at Carnage and blinking. "Do I know you?"
"Carline," she replied with a smile. "I live off rez."
"Oh, that's why I don't recognize you," Sam laughed before clearing his throat. "So, uh, what, what courses are you taking?"
"Nursing," she replied. "Costs an arm and a leg to get in here, but I managed."
"Cool, cool," he replied before rubbing his head. "So, uh, Val…wasn't expecting you to be at the party, you know? Not after…well…you know."
"Yeah, I know," Valerie sighed before smiling. "But, I can't let that slow me down, right? Caraden would have my hide if she knew I wasn't living life to the fullest."
"True enough," Sam agreed.
They started talking about the newest music, something that she knew very well because she forced Soundwave to upload everything for her to keep her from getting bored. It broke off abruptly when a blonde girl suddenly dropped onto Sam's lap and began to make some very obvious advances. She bristled immediately, not really believing what she was seeing, and Valerie was gawking at the girl in horrified disbelief. Sam, for the most part, look highly disturbed and terrified as the girl leant in too close for comfort.
"How about, tonight, you pretend that I'm your girlfriend," the girl purred.
Carnage had to lock her jaw together to stop herself from screeching in fury; that girl sounded exactly like the femme from the base. But that was impossible, unless…. She quickly sent a message to Ravage to scan the girl in front of them, who was trying to claw Sam's shirt off at the moment, and got the results fairly quickly; it was indeed the exact same femme. Looks like the shorty took on a human alt. mode instead of a vehicle; she wasn't aware that they could do that.
Sam made a hasty retreat at the sound of a car horn going off, racing away to see what was wrong. The girl hissed after his retreating form, eyes narrowed in outrage at being brushed off. Valerie's cell phone went off and she quickly headed outside to answer it, leaving her alone with the femme.
"What are you playing at?" she hissed bitterly.
"Excuse me?" the girl sneered, eyes glaring into her now. "Where you talking to me?"
"No, I was talking to the other robot behind you," she replied sarcastically before standing up to shove her face in the other girl's. "Now I want to know why you're here."
"Autobot?" the femme squeaked.
"Hardly," she snarled in reply before taking a step closer. "I'm the one that stabbed you through the shoulder this morning; ring any bells?"
"You," the femme growled before turning away. "If you stuck around to listen to orders, you'd know why I'm here, you waste of metal!"
"Look who's talking!" she snarled after her before she vanished around the corner.
She was boiling below the collar now, wanting nothing more than to rip something apart. She glanced around before heading for the door, planning on going to talk to Valerie and warn her about the Decepticon that was hanging around campus and after Sam, when she spotted a yellow Camaro with black racing stripes parked just outside the door, not to mention in the flower bed. She gasped and hid from sight, staring wide-eyed at the Autobot now that Sam had gotten in. Two very big boys stalked past her, grumbling about freshmen, and she watched as the other Decepticon femme climbed into the passenger seat, looking around the interior with fake interest. Just by the look on Sam's face, he had not invited her in. She waited until they were gone to sprint across the grass to where she saw Valerie standing.
"Hey Val, I," she cut off mid-sentence in a horrified gasp as she caught sight of the black Ford Mustang parked right beside her. "Sonova bitch!"
"Hello, Caraden," Prowl greeted casually as his hologram appeared beside her friend, pretending to step out of the car. "How odd it is to run into you here, especially when your guardian is not on Earth."
"Prowl," she greeted through grit teeth; she was in deep slag if he had figured out her secret. "Good to see you too."
"Where is Soundwave these days?" Prowl asked.
"That's really none of your business," she replied coldly, the faintest grimace gracing her face. "But I'm touched by your concern for my guardian."
"It's hardly concern," Prowl replied curtly. "I'm sure you are of the increased Decepticon activity?"
'Duh,' she thought before smiling. "How could I not know?"
Prowl's eyes narrowed for a moment before he looked down at Valerie. "I picked up a Decepticon signature while Bumblebee was here; you'd best keep a sharp eye out for anything unusual," he stated gently, running his hand over Valerie's head.
She couldn't help but smile at the sweet display of affection that the Autobot Second in Command had for Valerie. It appeared that their relationship had evolved similar to hers and Soundwave's. With any luck, Prowl will adopted the role of her father-figure swiftly and with no complications. That is, if he survived the war.
"Yeah, and don't trust that girl that was putting the moves on Sam," she added quickly. "There's something off about her."
"Decepticon off?" Prowl asked.
"No, just…off," she replied with a shiver and a shrug. "I have to get going; it was nice to see you again, Val."
Valerie hugged her tightly in response. "Yeah, it was good to see you too, Caraden," she murmured. "Do you need anything?"
She shook her head before waving and heading back to where her frame was, making sure to let Prowl see her walk back towards the parking lot on campus. She swung herself up onto her frame and took off down the road, hoping to bypass Bumblebee and not cause a fight that she would most certainly lose; ten-foot tall robot verse fifteen-foot tall robot equaled death, end of story. She knew she was going to get an earful when she got back to base, both from the mechs at the base and Soundwave for doing something so reckless.
'Soundwave will understand,' Ravage purred before yawning. 'It wasn't so long ago that he did stupid things.'
'Ravage, think about what you just said; Soundwave doesn't DO stupid,' she chided in return.
'Meh,' she commented.
Carnage laughed as she sped down the highway, heading back to where the base had been set up. Maybe she'd get in a round of training with Starscream before she was sent out again.
Author's note: Thanks again to everyone that voted. I'm impressed and shocked at how popular this story is. I'm sure you've noticed that there will be a small gap between the ending of this story and the completion of the It Takes A Girl trilogy. Well, since Time Jumping does not have that many chapters left and the aforementioned story does, as well as Infinite Bond, I figured I should get it out of the way as soon as possible. Sorry for the troubles, but it must be done. Next chapter for this? Um, probably in a few days; nice change from a few months later, no?