Persephone.
Chapter Ten.
A/N: 'Speech like this' is commed Syn is the intellectual property of writer MeowthTwo, and is used here with permission.
ChronoSeth, this is what you have been waiting for! Happy birthday!
Sam quickly skimmed through the list of messages he had missed after the Decepticons had disabled his comms equipment, as he carefully directed healing energy to the other systems they had disabled, while simultaneously healing those mechs, femmes, and hatchlings brought to him by his Guardians. He found this ability to multitask by setting certain groups of processors aside to do tasks in the background at first unusual but very useful, but was beginning to wonder how he'd managed without it as a human. He laughed internally, because of course he had coped, and gotten along just fine. It was just so much more efficient being able to do things this way, and it was one advantage of his new form.
Unfortunately, he could not access the messages thenselves without calling to the computer on Autobot New Cybertron that had been built for that purpose, and he didn't want to send a signal that might be noticed until he was ready to move. He could, however, see how many messages he had missed, how frequent, and by whom. He noticed as the messages started out spaced apart, and then were repeated closer and closer together, and by more people, signifying when they realised he was out of communication.
He checked the status of his repairs, and checked the distance between Autobot New Cybertron and Decepticon New Cybertron, his time sense and processors meaning he could work out where the planets were in relation to each other based on the time passed and what he knew about the two systems. He was gratified to find the two planets were still within com distance, albeit at the outer edge, meaning there would be a small but noticable lag. His repairs had now all been quietly completed, and he decided it might be prudent soon to risk sending a signal to get his messages. If it were detected, he could stall for time, and if it became necessary, he could spacebridge somewhere he would not be disturbed.
Before he could do so, he received an incoming signal from Ratchet, which was alarming, but did not give enough information for Sam's liking.
'Sam, if you are getting this, please send some sign you have heard, because things could be about to go rapidly downhill, and the last thing we need is the war starting again over you.'
The content made him startle, earning a concerned look from his Guardian, and a confused look from the mech he was healing, and from Starscream. He quickly sent a reply - 'More detail, please,' - before turning back and focusing back on the mech and completing his healing, before accepting his thanks.
'Sam, what happened?' Starscream asked.
"Sorry, it won't happen again," Sam said. "Who's next?" He turned to the next person, and thought he might have got away with it until he saw Starscream straighten up, his optics brightening, signifying he had been commed. He turned to Sam.
"Your comm systems are meant to be disabled, rendered unable to transmit or recieve, so tell me, why has our mech on communications detected an unauthorised signal coming from here?" He moved towards Sam, his optics brightening, and Sam could see the Seeker was annoyed. The mechs waiting below backed off, sensing the building tension between the AllSpark-Bearer and Starscream. Sam took two steps back and to the side, not knowing what Starscream might do, and realised it must look ridiculous considering his size.
Movement from the other side caught his optics, and he realised that it obviously didn't look ridiculous to his Guardian, as Lightburst stepped between Sam and the Seeker, his own optics flashing. He raised his staff in a two handed grip in a diagonal barring pose, his stance not offensive or defensive, but conveying a clear message to Starscream: this far and no further.
The doors at the entrance opened, disgorging Speedway and three of the trainees, who ran to join Lightburst moving to either side as if practiced, to form a loose semicircle in front of Sam, with Lightburst at the apex.
Starscream looked taken aback, but took a step back: Lightburst responded by dropping the staff to a more relaxed but at-ready position, and Sam was grateful, for the actions of the Guardians had bought him enough time to come to some decisions.
"Guardians, please stand down," he said "I do not think Starscream will try to attack me, but I do think he and I need to talk."
Lightburst and the Guardians moved to allow Sam to step back towards Starscream, and Sam glared at the Seeker.
"You deliberately had my communications and ability to transport to and from places disabled, and you expect me to just accept that? You cut me off from my family and friends and expect me to passively follow your orders and dance to your tune?" He said.
"Dance to your tune?" Starscream said, looking confused. Sam didn't know if Starscream was truly confused or just acting, but he was getting too annoyed to care.
"Do as you have said, and according to your plans," Sam clarified. He gestured to the building. "This is a very nice set up, as is the building you are creating for me, but you never planned to let me have any choice, did you? There's an Earth expression that covers that, Starscream, and it goes 'a gilded cage is still a cage.' You may have treated me as an honoured guest, you and the other Decepticons, except that by restricting my freedom, in reality I am nothing more than a VIP prisoner!"
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Ratchet and Dr Syn were beginning to explain what they knew, and what they had thought of to Optimus Prime, when Ratchet, to his surprise, received a reply to the message he had sent Sam.
"It's Sam, he's responding!" Ratchet said, and both Optimus and Dr Syn stopped and turned to face him. "He's asking for clarification, so I'm giving it to him."
"Tell him -" Optimus started, but Ratchet raised a hand, and Optimus stopped speaking.
"I'm telling him the pertinent details, but in brief. His question was very brief. If he is on Decepticon New Cybertron, it is within comm range, but it's distant enough that there will be some lag time between sending and receiving. We also do not know if he will be able to keep his communications open, we do not know how he is being held, or if he is able to move, or able to stop them from disabling or jamming his signals, so brief is best, and less detectable, and has a better chance of getting through."
"If it helps, you should know that Sam will be given almost anything except free range and the option to communicate," Dr Syn said. Ratchet turned on him.
"You knew they were going to kidnap him, even if you didn't know all the details?" He demanded.
"No, but I do know that Starscream did throw the idea out for discussion. I didn't know he had confirmed it, I thought I had explained adequately why it would be a very bad idea. He tried to defend it by saying Sam would be treated with respect and dignity, and would have access to fuel and recharge facilities. He figured Sam would want to stay when he realised how many injured there were, but I pointed out Sam would be away from those he considered friends, and might worry about those injured on this world. I also pointed out that you Autobots might retaliate." His optics flickered. "Obviously it was not a sufficient deterrent."
"Not now we know Starscream sees war as an acceptable consequence of taking Sam," Ratchet said.
"Believe me, I think he is in the vast minority with that opinion," Dr Syn said. "Most of us are sick of war, and would rather there be peace. Now we've seen it possible, most of us want it more than you can imagine."
"I can imagine," Optimus stated, "because I also want peace, very, very much."
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Sam paused after his accusation, trying hard to calm himself down, and it was at that moment he received a reply from Ratchet.
'Sam, I am informed that Starscream is willing to allow the war to restart to keep you. Can you do anything your end?'
Sam was shocked, and his anger, which he had been succeeding in keeping under control, flared again.
'Ratchet, clear a space in your medical centre and send the co-ordinates. I will be with you very soon, after I have spoken of this to Starscream.' He sent the message, and then took another step towards Starscream, and this time it was the Seeker who stepped back in fear.
'You would allow the war to restart, even after what we have seen? You brought those war damaged mechs and femmes to me in the full acceptance that, with a word from you they could be put in peril of the same, or worse, again? You told me they couldn't wait, that the needed my aid, but you would give the order that would make them engage in the same activity that caused their injuries in the first place?" Sam felt his anger rise.
"The war started because the Autobots wouldn't share in the first place!" Starscream said. "They were still planning to keep you to themselves, they have learned nothing from the war!" Sam, through his anger, would not believe the gamble Starscream was willing to take, and the mistake he had made.
"No, you leaned nothing!" Sam roared, and everyone in the building took a few steps back as he brought his head down to look Starscream straight in the optics. "I'm sure I have told you before that I asked the Autobots not to let you know because I feared you would do something like this. And it seems I was right. Perhaps if, during the trade negotiations you had asked, this could have been sorted out without the risk of war, but I find it beyond belief that you would accuse the Autobots of exactly what you seem to have been planning yourself!"
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Ratchet's optics flashed again. "Sam's asking for a clear space in the medical room, so I'm going to use that big area we haven't finished yet, there are a few things to move, but we should have time," he said. He smiled tightly. "Especially as Sam said he needs to discuss Starscream's belief that war is an acceptable alternative with him."
He nodded to Optimus. "If we may be excused, Sir, and if you would assist me, we have a room to clear." This last he addressed to Dr Syn, who nodded his agreement. He looked at Optimus. "Please don't try and communicate with Sam until and unless we know he is in a position to be disturbed, and I believe that right now he is otherwise engaged with speaking to a certain Seeker of our acquaintance. Here, make yourself useful, and look after my little one," he said, transferring the hatchling he still held to one of Optimus' arms and placing a feeding bottle in the Autobot Leader's free hand. As he and Dr Syn left, Ratchet looked back over his shoulder to see Optimus beginning to feed the hatchling as requested.
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Starscream looked stricken, but Sam had only just gotten started.
"To make it worse, you are threatening to use your flawed assumptions and reasoning to reignite a conflict which has already cost billions of lives, and lasted long enough for entire civilisations to begin, flourish and die. Aren't you sick of the conflict, Starscream? I am, and I've not lived as long as you." He paused briefly before continuing, pressing home his point.
"And the AllSpark? Do you really think it is happy about the lives lost, and will welcome any more killing?" he asked. "I don't think so, in fact I would be very surprised if it wanted anything more to do with the Cybertronian race, if our greatest talent seems to be mutual destruction. Why give life for it just to be prematurely ended? Why bother healing someone if all they are going to do is go out and get injured again, or killed, fighting a war that has already gone on way...too... long!" He punctuated each of the last three words with a jab of one pointed finger at Starscream's face.
Sam felt the heat rise about him as Starscream, and even his own Guardians, suddenly backed off by several paces. He smelt burning paint, and then the scent of hot metal, even as mechs and the two other femmes in attendance fled, some crying out in terror, through the door at the far end.
He pulled back as he realised in his anger that his force-fields had dropped, and the heat from his vents, stoked by his rage, were at temperatures that would likely prove lethal if someone stayed in close proximity to him. He looked down briefly, saw all the paint applied by Ratchet and Bumblebee had turned black, shrivelled, and flaked off, and recognised the red-black burned-metal armour the Fallen had sported, lined with the orange-red venting that was rapidly making the room he was in inimical to even Cybertronian life.
He caught sight of his distorted reflection on the opposite wall, a dark form with glowing red vents and harshly burning blue optics, the difference in optic colour to the Fallen's not seeming at all reassuring. He fought with his anger briefly, then concentrated instead on control of his force-fields, letting out another bellow as he concentrated in raising the force-fields. He hadn't realised his emotional state could affect the system, something else he would ask Ratchet to try and change, assuming he got back, and that Ratchet could.
As if thinking of his name was a charm, a message from Ratchet came through.
'This room is clear' he said, and a stream of co-ordinates followed. Sam fed them into his processors, even as he managed to bring his force-fields back up. He paused, and he suddenly lunged first for Starscream, and as he pulled the frightened Seeker against his body, twisted to scoop up Lightburst in his other arm, and clasping them both to him, he spacebridged away.