WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOO! AFTER FFFOOOUUURRRR LONG MONTHS I HAVE FFFIINNAAALLLLYYY SUBMITTED CHAPTER TTTEEENNNNN! *victory dance* and I seriously APOLOGIZE for the unnecessary LONG wait for this chapter! But it's done and I shall have the next chapter complete by this week, I just REALLY wanted to have this done for all you patient readers who love this fanfic! As for the long wait you could say I had an…emotional withdrawel? Point is Summer was lazy, I didn't feel like writing until TWO WEEKS before school started, so I began writing but then my muse went away when my sister took the laptop and I just recently got it back. I quite enjoyed writing this chapter because it has some insight on Orion's past and a bit on how he's the bot he is today, and of source a look at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, you shall soon discover how they became seperated, AANNNDDD it's a long chapter, YAY! ANYWAYS! Hope you like this chapter, I am seriously drained, having been determined to post this long overdue chapter before the weekend ends (which ends in about two hours, HA!) My mind's been distracted by school and Battleship (WHICH IS A FREAKIN AMAZING MOVIE) Erhem…sssoooooo without further audo, CHAPTER 10 OF THROUGH DYING EYES! Just scroll down, AND ENJOY!
A/N: Whoops, screwed up the chapter names, orginally chapter ten was going to be EXTREMELY long (like 30 pages) but i shortened it and originally intended to call the chapter "Only Hope" (regarding to what happens in the end of the chapter) but since it was cut off i completely forgot so now I fixed it, bye~!
DAY 5 early morning Not Too Late
"NO!"Orion screamed, desperate to reach the hole in the ground caused by the driller but only to be held back Ironhide.
"Kid, stop!" Ironhide pleaded with the younger mech.
"Let me go! I can still save him!" Orion screamed as he attempted to break free from the mech. "There's still a chance!" he yelled as the tremors continued to shake the tunnel.
Ghosts from the past flashed across Ironhide's optics, he had no doubt the same was happening to Orion. He hadn't seen the younger mech this hysterical since he had found him in Tagon Heights. The sight of the broken mech stabbed at his war-torn spark. When it came to war, not everyone could be saved. Even down in that tunnel where there was no war such thing as the one high above their heads, lives were still being lost.
"Kid!" Ironhide hissed, tightening his grip on the screaming mech. "ORION!" For a moment Orion stopped, noticing the urgency in Ironhide's voice. "It's too late!" Ironhide yelled as the tremors slowly began to cease. "He's gone..."
Orion's optics widened as he stared at the hole in the ground with dead optics as the tremors stopped completely. He was no longer kicking and screaming. He just felt hollow. What sounded to be a mix between a sob and a groan escaped Orion's voice capacitor. The next thing he knew he was laughing, which instead came out as a series of choked sobs.
Why was it that terrible things always seemed to happen when he was around? He thought. Did Primus just hate him that much? Orion wondered, not realizing that he was on his knees, his legs no longer able to support him, bringing Ironhide down with him in the process.
"I'm sorry, it's over." the weapon specialist said, his arms still securely around Orion, as if it were the only thing holding the younger mech together. In different circumstances, Orion would have felt like a sobbing sparking in Ironhide's arms, but now all he felt was nothing.
Orion took no comfort in the older mech's words. Whether he was trying to sooth him or just flat out state the obvious, Orion just didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. Not only was Bumblebee gone, so was everyone else. Now the only ones left were him and Ironhide.
But even with Ironhide beside him, Orion had never felt so alone.
"I'm sorry." Ironhide repeated, "It's too late." His words bringing the younger mech back to reality.
Orion's optics widened. His frame tensed as memories from his past flashed across his optics.
"Stop!"
"She's already gone."
"There's nothing we can do!"
"You have to let go!"
"It's too late!"
"NO! It can't be!"
"It's not too late..." Orion muttered. 'It's not too late...'
"Kid, we have to get out of here." Ironhide said as he stood, lifting up the younger mech to his feet as he did so.
"To where?" Orion muttered solemnly, having no energy to argue with the older mech.
Ironhide said nothing, for he had no idea. They were the only ones left and with nowhere to run, they were as good as dead. "There's nothing else we can do kid..." Ironhide said, noting that Orion was still staring down the hole the driller had disappeared into, his frame tensing for a moment.
Orion's optics widened as something seemed to snap inside of him. As if the flame had once again ignited within his spark.
"What did you say?" Orion said in an unnerving calm voice. Ironhide quickly sensed Orion's sudden change in demeanor as he loosened his grip on the younger bot for a moment.
"Ori-" Ironhide said, completely caught off guard as pain seemed to erupt from his faceplates. The next thing he knew he was flat on his back. Ironhide groaned as he placed a servo over a reasonably large dent on his faceplate. He sat up in time to see Orion disappear into the gaping hole.
"Kid!" Ironhide cursed as he got up and ran after the mech. "Kid!" he yelled again as he stood over the hole as the tunnel continued to shake violently due to the tremors. Ironhide struggled to keep himself from losing his footing and falling into the hole.
The ground beneath him suddenly gave way as a flash of metal suddenly surfaced several meters away, forcing Ironhide down into the hole carved by the driller as a loud curse escaped his voice capacitor. Ironhide landed with a loud crash and looked up in time to see a large chunk of ceiling above him come crashing down.
Without thinking, Ironhide quickly rolled deeper into the makeshift tunnel, moments before the large chuck of ceiling landed right where he had fallen moments ago; sealing the large hole and he's only obvious exit. With a grunt, Ironhide got to his pedes as it took his optics a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness.
He tapped the metallic material keeping him trapped with his knuckles. With a curse Ironhide punched the object, causing a loud bang to echo in the darkness. With his exit blocked, his only option was to move forward. The tunnel had to open up somewhere, Ironhide thought as he turned to the emptiness behind him.
As another tremor shook the tunnel around him, Ironhide took off running. Wherever this tunnel ended, he knew Orion was there and so was the driller. All that mattered right now was finding Orion, and hopefully Bumblebee, alive.
"Stubborn mech," Ironhide muttered as he sprinted down the dark corridor. Why couldn't he just learn to let go? Ironhide thought in sadness as memories flashed across his optics. Memories of when he had first met Orion. It wasn't a day he liked to remember.
Explosions echoed the battle field as plasma flew in all directions. The sounds of metal clashing against metal pierced his audio receptors. He continued to run, avoiding being caught in a battle and only fighting when it was necessary. He needed to get to his destination above all else.
Normally the sounds of war were music to Ironhide's audios, but not this time. Usually Ironhide welcomed a good battle, but for the first time in his life he wished he wasn't needed to fight this one. In all the places he's fought in, both on and occasionally off Cybertron, nothing could prepare Ironhide, or anyone, for this.
As Ironhide ran through the streets of Tagon Heights, one word came to mind; chaos. Hundreds of bots filled the streets, both dead and alive. Ironhide had never seen so many neutrals scattered across the city in pure panic. Screamed filled the air as smoke from the Youth Centers darkened the skies above.
Without warning the Decepticons had attacked the neutral city of Tagon Heights. And with Autobot forces already stretched thin all across Cybertron, those who were able to get to the city were outnumbered by the Decepticon forces.
Ironhide had been in Deacon at the time they had received word of the attack from several Autobots, who had been in the Youth Centers at the time. He had been able to get to the city by catching a ride with the young seeker; Skyfire. He was currently flying overhead in the blackened skies and, like Ironhide, was doing everything he could to help.
Ironhide could not understand why the Decepticons would choose to attack innocent sparklings and younglings. The city was filled with neutrals, what could the Decepticons possibly gain from attacking the innocent? At the moment Ironhide didn't care about why they were doing it, only stopping them and saving as many lives as he could. And nothing was stopping him from reaching his destination. And he was killing any Decepticon who is unfortunate enough to get in his way.
"Ironhide, please hurry!" Chromia's voice came from his comm link. /i"She doesn't have much time left!"
"I'm moving as fast as I can." Ironhide responded calmly. "I'll be there in a few klicks."
Everywhere around him was filled with the screams of the dying.
A loud explosion several feet away suddenly knocked Ironhide off his pedes as he landed gracelessly on the ground, slamming his face into the energon stained ground. A heavy thud near his helm caught Ironhide's attention as he suddenly came face to face with the barrel of a gun.
"Fancy seeing you here, Ironhide." A black and green Decepticon stood over the dark weapon specialist with a smug grin across his faceplates.
"Get fragged!" Ironhide spat. The Decepticon merely waved off his threat as he continued to keep the heating barrel of his gun inches from Ironhide's faceplates.
"Didn't know you had a soft spot for these younglings." The Decepticon said as he held a tiny silver youngling by the scruff bar on the back of his neck, his big golden optics were filled with fear as tears streaked his faceplates.
"Let him go, Sixshot!" Ironhide growled. By the youngling's size he no doubt had just recently received his second shell, indicating that he was only several orns out of sparklinghood. Energon trickled down from the youngling's neck from the punctures caused by the Decepticon's claws.
"Or what?" Sixshot challenged as he looked over the tiny youngling in his grip. Ironhide watched in horror as a blade suddenly ripped through the youngling's tiny frame, its dying screams piercing through his audios.
"Too small to make a warrior outta it." Sixshot said in almost bored manner as he carelessly tossed aside the dead youngling and retracted the blade into his wrist.
"You'll pay for that, Decepticon." Ironhide growled silently.
Sixshot smirked at Ironhide's remark. "A shame you will not live long enough to see to that."
A sharp thud several feet away caught Ironhide's attention. 'We'll see about that…' Ironhide thought. Moments later a loud explosion went off behind Sixshot. The blast merely rocked the large Decepticon on his pedes, but it was enough to momentarily distract the Decepticon. Remembering what was at stake, Ironhide took the opening.
"I don't have time for this!" Ironhide roared as he lunged for the gun, pointing it towards the sky as Sixshot recovered and attempted to fire at the weapon specialist. Several beams of plasma shot into the darkened sky, two shots hitting another Decepticon in midflight. The Decepticon let out a scream of agony as he dropped from the air and crashed to the ground, exploding on impact.
Ironhide let out a roar as he tackled a Sixshot. Before the Decepticon could recover, Ironhide placed a solid kick on Sixshot's face, sending him flying into a building. Before Sixshot could appear, Ironhide sent a volley of rockets into the hole the Decepticon had created. Without waiting for the explosion, Ironhide began to run in the opposite direction to his designated destination.
He just hoped he wasn't too late.
'I-Ironhide…' Chromia's voice came through his comm link, her voice strained as if she were injured.
'Chromia! I'm almost there, are you alright?' Ironhide asked as he ran up a flight of stairs. He received no response. For a few moments he could hear nothing but Chromia's sobbing.
'Chromia?' Ironhide asked as he stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear her voice over the comm link but couldn't hear what she said. He didn't need to.
The sight before him seemed to freeze the energon in his lines solid. In front of him were the devastated remains of what had once been someone's home. Energon stained the floors and spattered the walls and whatever furniture that had been present had been destroyed. But it wasn't even the condition of the room that would be permanently etched into his processor.
In the center of the destroyed home were the two unmoving frames of two young neutrals. Ironhide suddenly found himself walking cautiously towards them, his optics sweeping the room to make sure that no Decepticons had decided to stay behind.
As he approached them, he could see a crimson and azure mech lying lifelessly on the floor, multiple lacerations and burns were branded all over his armor and a young femme, the color of death having already consumed her, lied wrapped in the mech's arms. She bore similar injuries as the mech, but not as severe (nor as many cuts) as the mech, who's frame continued to leak energon.
Ironhide narrowed his optics as he tried to remember whatever medical knowledge he knew. Bots only leaked energon when they were still alive. How could he possibly be alive with so much energon staining the ground and walls? Ironhide thought as he knelt down beside the still mech. Had he arrived too late? He wondered, feeling as if he had failed Chromia.
'I'm sorry…'
A servo suddenly grabbed Ironhide's wrist, locking it in a death grip. Ironhide nearly jumped back in disbelief when he realized it was the mech. A faint groan emanated from the mech as his sapphire optics weakly flickered online.
"Ssss…vvvv…eeerrrr…" the mech struggled to say, energon stained his faceplates and dripped from his mouth.
Ironhide stared down at the mech in shock for a few moments before instincts took over.
"I'm calling for help. Stay down, kid." Ironhide said as he kept a servo on the mech's shoulder to keep him from getting up as he opened his comm link for the closest medic in the vicinity.
'This is Ironhide. I have two neutrals down; one of them is still hanging on. In need of immediate medical attention.' Ironhide said into his comm link before turning back to the mech.
"I'm Ironhide, a friend of Chromia's. She sent me here to find you and Ariel."
The mech's optics widened slightly at the mention of a familiar name. "Ssssaa…hhhrrrrr…"
"Don't try to move, kid." Ironhide said as he kept his optics on the mech's face and not on the femme in his arms.
'I heard your distress signal, on my way.' a voice said through Ironhide's comm link.
"You're Orion Pax, right?"
The mech nodded weakly, his optics dimming a bit.
"I need you to stay awake, kid. Got it?"
Orion nodded again as his optics flickered in and out of focus. Ironhide found himself talking to the younger mech to keep him from falling into stasis lock. Ironhide couldn't remember what he had told Orion about, but the mech had listened to every word he had spoken.
As Ironhide spoke, he kept one optic on the door, alert in case any Decepticons appeared. He was also on the lookout for the field medic, while he kept the other optic focused on Orion.
"Help will be here any minute, kid." Ironhide tried to reassure the younger mech as the klicks seemed to go by as cycles.
The sounds of pedes caught Ironhide's attention as he automatically got into a defensive stance and pointed his large cannons in the direction of the door.
"Stand down, soldier!" an Autobot behind the green and while mech standing at the door said. The mech was currently lifting his arms up in defense as he stared at the barrel of Ironhide's guns, his expression somehow remaining calm. A medical insignia was imprinted on his left shoulder. Upon seeing this, Ironhide lowered his weapons and watched as the medic quickly made his way to Orion.
"Stay out here and make sure no Decepticon gets in." a second Autobot ordered Ironhide. Ironhide looked down at Orion, whose optics seemed to be pleading for him to stay.
"I'm staying here." Ironhide said defiantly. Before the Autobot could argue, an explosion ripped through the air nearby, drawing their attention.
"Fine, but nothing comes in, got it?" The Autobot said before he and the other autobot with him ran back into battle.
Ironhide kept his cannons trained on the door as he watched the green medic as he began to talk to Orion.
"I'm Ratchet. What's your name? Can you tell me what happened to you?" the medic asked as two cables detached from his arm and connected themselves into Orion's chest.
"His name's Orion, he can't speak. I believe he and his mate have been attacked and left for dead by the Decepticons." Ironhide answered for Orion. The medic shot him a glare before turning back to Orion.
"How long have they been here?" Ratchet asked Ironhide.
"I don't know I only arrived a few breems ago. By then the cons were long gone." Ironhide said as he watched Ratchet as he attempted to remove Ariel from Orion's grip. "Help me with this; there still might be a chance to revive her spark." Ratchet ordered Ironhide.
Ironhide complied and looked down at Orion, who seemed unwilling to let his sparkmate go.
"Orion, we need you to let go of Ariel so the doc here can try to fix her up. Can you do that?"
Orion slowly nodded and released his grip on Ariel. Ironhide lifted Ariel as gently as he could, fearing that he would break her already damaged frame as he placed her on the ground where Orion could still see her. Ratchet began to run a repair diagnostic on the young mech to prevent him from falling into stasis.
Ironhide looked over the tiny femme's darkened frame. A pang of sadness crept into his spark as his optics fell onto her energon stained faceplates, her features appearing similar to that of her sister; Chromia. He bowed his helm in shame for not being able to arrive in time to save her. What could possibly give Ratchet the idea that he could save her when she was already gone?
"Scrap!" the medic cursed as Orion's optics seemed to rapidly flicker in and out of focus.
"What's wrong?" Ironhide asked.
"He's falling into stasis lock!" Ratchet said before producing an EMP generator from his subspace and set it to its lowest setting. "This may hurt a bit." Ratchet said before shooting the EMP beam into his spark chamber.
Orion's frame shuttered violently as his helm few back as a silent scream seemed to escape from his already damaged voice box.
"Is that supposed to happen?!" Ironhide asked as he stayed beside Ariel.
"It's an EMP generator, do you think this is supposed to be happening?!" Ratchet yelled at the weapon specialist as Orion's frame continued to shutter violently.
"What's wrong with him?" Ironhide demanded, determined not to let Orion die.
"I don't know!" Ratchet yelled as Orion continued to scream, "I've never seen anyone react this negatively to an EMP generator!"
"Scrap! Perhaps if I had arrived sooner…" Ratchet seemed to mutter to himself as he attempted to find a way to stop the convulsions. Finally after several klicks, Orion's frame became still as he breathed in deep intakes as his cooling systems took over. His turned his helm as his optics locked on Ariel's darkened frame. He weakly lifted extended his servo towards her as his optics flickered faintly.
"Sssssss….aaaaaa...vvvvvv…eerrrrr…" Orion struggled to say.
Ironhide narrowed his optics, having heard the younger mech attempt to say the same message again earlier. "What was that kid?" Ironhide said as he tried to comprehend what Orion was trying to tell him.
"S-s-save h-h-her…" Orion said as his optics flickered offline.
Ironhide stared down at Ariel's frame. How could he possibly believe that she was still alive? Cautiously, Ironhide placed an audio receptor over Ariel's damaged spark chamber and within moments, could hear the uneven rhythm of a spark beating.
A distance scream jerked Ironhide back into reality. For a moment he believed he had merely imagined the scream before it echoed within the tunnel once again. Bumblebee! Ironhide began to sprint towards the screams as the tunnel began to shake violently
"Kid!" Ironhide cried out as the shrieking of the driller threatened to shatter his audio receptors. Dust suddenly filled the small tunnel, obscuring Ironhide's vision as he ran in the direction of the screams. Heat suddenly tore through the air around him as Ironhide rolled out of the way to evade a blast of fire.
He took a moment to recover before jumping to his pedes and continued on. The screaming and the tremors became more and more intense as he got closer. Suddenly it all just stopped; the screaming and the tremors. Ironhide nearly tripped but caught himself as he looked around the tunnel in search of whatever had caused the tunnel to fall silent.
Ironhide suddenly found himself in what appeared to be a large cavern, though appeared to differ from the tunnel he had emerged from moments ago. Smoke seemed to come off the sizzling and still burning walls as it soon became apparent that the cavern had been created by fire, and by the size of it, a lot of fire.
As Ironhide's optics scanned the room for any signs of life until it came upon a familiar mech kneeling in the middle of it all.
"Orion!" Ironhide cried out as he ran toward the mech, whose back was turned to him and seemed to be holding himself together as what appeared to be energon stained the ground around him.
"Kid, are you alright?" Ironhide demanded as he knelt down to the younger mech, who was covered in dry energon and scourge marks. "What happened here? Where are Bumblebee and the driller?"
"He's alright…" Orion said as he revealed a terrified, but alive, Bumblebee, who currently was clinging to Orion's frame for dear life. Ironhide left out a sign of relief before rising back to his full height. "The energon doesn't belong to us…" Orion muttered as he kept his gaze on the ground.
"And the driller?" Orion said nothing as he lifted his arm in front of him.
Ironhide followed the direction Orion was pointing to. His jaw nearly fell from its hinges. What Ironhide had originally thought had been a part of the wall was the molten remains of what appeared to have been the driller.
For several breems, Ironhide remained speechless.
"What did you do?" Ironhide asked in complete astonishment as he approached the remains to closer inspect them.
"I don't know…" Orion muttered as he stayed kneeling on the ground. "Whatever I almost did to Bee I guess." Orion said as he bowed his helm in shame. "When the driller took Bee…I felt this…rage… deep inside my spark…And it just manifested into…ithat/i." Orion looked up at Ironhide, energon staining his faceplates. "What am I? A monster?" Orion's voice broke as he spoke. The placid mask he always wore seemed to crack slightly, revealing the same broken mech Ironhide had met many vorns ago.
Ironhide walked back to Orion and knelt down in front of him. Orion looked up at his guardian as Ironhide placed his servos on his still steaming shoulders.
"Orion, you're not a monster." Ironhide said as he wrapped his arms around the broken mech. "And whatever this is that you can do, we won't find out by sitting here." Orion slowly nodded and watched as Ironhide rose to his pedes and extended a servo to him.
"Ironhide," Orion said as he took Ironhide's servo.
"Yeah kid?"
"There's more than one driller."
The energon in Ironhide's lines seemed to freeze solid at Orion's words. "Come again?"
"When I took out this one…there were at least two more at showed up but they've gone to another part of the tunnel… I think they're planning to-" Orion never finished his sentence.
A loud shriek tore through the air as Ironhide was suddenly found himself in the air and being slammed into the wall as his entire left arm seemed to go numb. Orion watched as the weapon specialist hit the ground with a sickening thud before turning back to the still alive driller.
The flame within his spark having long extinguished, Orion rolled out of the way as a severely melted tentacle slammed into the ground he and Bumblebee had been moments before. The youngling's screams pierced Orion's audios as he jumped to avoid being hit by the driller's tentacle.
Suddenly two rockets flew past Orion and hit the driller, which released a loud shriek of agony. Orion spun around as watched as Ironhide managed to load a large explosive into his rocket launcher and shot it into the driller's mouth and exploding on impact.
The explosion knocked Orion off his pedes and slammed him upside down into the wall beside Ironhide.
"And STAY dead!" Ironhide growled as he propped himself up into a sitting position as Orion struggled to get himself upright as they watched as the driller suddenly disintegrated into smoke and dust.
"Did you see that?" Ironhide asked as the smoke began to clear.
Orion said nothing and nodded slowly.
"I think its best we get out of here before anymore drillers decide to show up." Ironhide said to Orion.
"You think?"
After making sure Bumblebee was unharmed, Orion helped Ironhide to his pedes and helped remove the poisonous barbs on his left arm. Having been slammed into the wall by the driller, Ironhide's already damaged leg had been somewhat dented on impact with the wall.
Ironhide looped an arm around Orion's shoulders while Orion used one servo to keep Ironhide steady as they walked while he used the other to hold onto Bumblebee.
"When they appeared, other drillers created another passage that way," Orion said, indicating to a large hole in the ground opposite to the one Ironhide had appeared from as well as another on the ceiling of the large cavern. "And since we can't climb out that way," Orion said as they stared up at the tunnel on the ceiling, "Our best bet is that way." Orion said as they began to make their way to the second tunnel.
"Fine by me." said Ironhide.
"What were you saying earlier?" Ironhide asked as they made their way through the tunnel. "Something about the drillers planning something?"
Orion nodded.
"When I found Bumblebee, he had been in the center of that cavern you found us in. When I got there he was alone, but when I finally reached him, all three drillers appeared at once. I can't remember what happened after that." Orion said as he bowed his helm. "After I came to, the drillers were gone, except for the one back there, and then you showed up."
"Where are you going with this?" Ironhide questioned the younger mech.
"Ironhide, they actually sent up a trap. It was as if they knew that I'd go after Bee. It was as if they were actually thinking." Orion explained.
"So clearly they're not normal drillers." said Ironhide, "What does that mean for us?"
"We're probably screwed." Orion said as they continued. "All I know is that the more the drillers keep tunneling underneath us, the more and more the ground is becoming unstable."
"Well then we better stop them, don't you think?" Ironhide suggested.
"We can't take them out on our own Ironhide. We'll need the others if we even want to stand a chance against the last two drillers. But first we have to get out of here and take you to Ratchet to get that leg of yours repaired." Orion said as they continued forward.
"Yeah…about that…" Ironhide began, but Orion wasn't paying attention.
"You alright, Bee?" Orion asked the yellow youngling, who hadn't seemed to have spoken a single word. Bumblebee only stared up at Orion with wide optics before burying his face in Orion's neck.
"Don't worry, we'll get out of here and find Ratchet, Arcee, and the others." Orion spoke softly. "We'll make it back."
Ironhide watched as Orion reassured the youngling and bowed his helm Orion had changed so much since the day they first met face to face. At some point while Ironhide had known Orion, he believed that there was nothing but rage and anger within Orion's spark all hidden behind a placid mask for all these vorns. But as he had soon learned over the vorns he had known the mech, there was still a caring spark somewhere deep down inside him.
Ironhide dimmed his optics as he began to recall the day he thought Orion had stopped feeling.
As Ironhide made he was through the halls of Iacon, only one thing was on his processor; guilt. In the end, he had been unable to keep his promise to Chromia and save Ariel. And after what had happened to Orion several orns ago, things weren't looking good. Ironhide signed as he dimmed his optics.
Upon realizing that his sparkmate could not be saved, the already weakened Orion had gone into stasis lock and had stayed in stasis for many orns. Ironhide had gone to visit the mech from time to time, but never when Chromia would visit him. After what happened Ironhide couldn't face his dearest friend, not after failing to save her youngest sister. He had no doubts in his mind that Chromia hated him for arriving too late. And now Ironhide was doing everything he could to avoid her.
Several orns ago Orion had awakened from stasis; his closest friends had been present at the time while he had been nearby and speaking to Ratchet. At first glance Orion had seemed fine, but it had soon become apparent that he was not the same mech. Orion had no memory of what had happened to Tagon Heights, nor did he recall the attack on him and Ariel.
Ratchet had explained that his lack of memories was the beginning steps to stasis depression and that his mind was currently in a fragile state. He had also warned his friends not to mention anything that had occurred concerning Tagon Heights or his deceased sparkmate.
They did as they were told, but Orion had remembered everything that happened to him the moment Ironhide had walked into the room and their optics locked. And due to the fragile state of his mind, Orion had panicked and yet again fallen into stasis lock.
Due to the traumatic experience his processor had gone through, Ratchet had explained that there would be a high chance that when Orion would finally awaken again, he wouldn't remember a thing. Ironhide stopped in the middle of the corridor, ignoring the looks he was receiving from Autobots forced to walk around him as well as those who were standing nearby.
For weeks Ironhide had been avoiding both Ratchet and Chromia in fear that he would learn from the medic that Orion had awakened with no memories of his past. Chromia had already lost so much, and now that her eldest sister, Arcee, was in critical condition, Orion would be the only one she had left to call family if he were ever to awaken.
Ratchet had told Ironhide that Orion had awakened earlier that morning but wasn't sure of the extent of the damage to his processor that the stasis depression had caused. All throughout the day Ironhide found himself walking toward the med bay but whenever he caught himself, he would always turn back the way he came.
Now that it was the end of his shift, Ironhide found no reason not to go check on Orion. He had been going to the med bay to check on the kid for orns so what was stopping him now? Ironhide wondered. He suddenly found himself standing in front of the med bay. What was he waiting for?
'It's now or never,' Ironhide signed. But just as he was about to enter the medbay, the doors slide open. Ironhide's optics widened as he quickly recognized the mech leaning heavily against the door frame.
"Orion?"
The crimson and azure mech looked up at Ironhide as he leaned against the frame of the door to support his weight. He narrowed his paled royal blue optics at the weapon specialist. His armor still bore the scars he had received the day Tagon Heights had been attacked, most notably a scar running along his left optic down to his lower jaw.
"What do you think you're doing? I doubt Ratchet let you out this early." Ironhide said moments before a white and red medic appeared.
"What are you doing out here?!" First Aid demanded Orion, "Ratchet will have my head if he finds out you slipped past me!" First Aid said as he attempted to guide Orion back to his private room within the medbay. But the young mech stayed where he was, his intense optics never leaving Ironhide.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke.
"Who are you?"
From that day on those three words would forever be etched within Ironhide's processor. Ratchet had later explained to him that Orion had lost a majority of his memories, including that of his closest friends and family, Dion, Arcee, Chromia, Jazz, Blaster, Tailgate, as well as his guardian and mentor; Alpha Trion. Ratchet had hopes that Orion would one day remember his lost memories, but as the years had passed, his hopes began to dwindle. Ratchet had also told Ironhide that the only memories Orion had were of the brutal attack that had left Ariel dead and him scarred for life.
Out of guilt and what he thought was obligation, Ironhide had volunteered to be Orion's guardian as he trained among the ranks of the Autobots. Ratchet was also assigned to be his guardian to keep an optic on his mental state as well as his stasis depression.
It was that day he had become Orion's guardian that Ironhide believed that Orion had lost the ability to feel anything.
But then again, a lot of things had changed since then.
"Ironhide, what happened to the others?" Orion's voice brought drew Ironhide away from his memories.
"What?" Ironhide asked as they continued to make their way through the small tunnel.
"Are the others alright?" Orion asked as he looked up at the weapon specialist.
Ironhide looked away for a moment and inhaled a deep intake before slowly exhaling it. "I don't know," Ironhide answered, "Last time I saw them they were all inside the train cart. And last time I saw that, it was being destroyed by a driller."
Orion stopped dead in his tracks as he stared at the weapon specialist with wide optics. Ironhide stopped and stared at Orion, knowing exactly what he was about to say.
"Could there still be a chance they survived? Or even possibly have escaped before the driller attacked?" Orion asked.
"I don't know, kid. Maybe. I didn't see anyone get out, but then again I was a bit distracted at the time." Ironhide answered. "We can't stay here. We should keep moving." Ironhide said before they continued forward.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence and nothingness, a sliver of light suddenly sliced through the darkness. They both looked up to see a void in the darkness above them.
"Looks like our way out." Ironhide said as charged up his cannons. "Stand back, kid."
Orion didn't argue and did what he was told as he watched as Ironhide shot plasma into the hole. Which created a loud explosion as the weakened ground broke away. Orion coughed to expel the dust in his intakes as he made his way over to Ironhide, who was currently admiring his work with a smug grin on his faceplates.
"I think you overdid it a bit." Orion commented as he stared up at the now gaping hole above them.
Ironhide brushed off Orion's comment as he locked his digits together. "Are you gonna criticize or are you gonna climb out of here?"
Orion shook his helm and placed his pede on Ironhide's interlocked digits, using the weapon specialist as a ladder as he looked for anything on the walls to grab onto. As Orion stood on Ironhide's shoulders, Ironhide cringed as his pede dug into a still healing wound.
"Watch it…" Ironhide said through gritted denta.
Orion rolled his optics as his servos reached the edge of the hole. "Give me a lift." Orion said as Ironhide stood to his full length, allowing Orion to look over the hole. He soon spotted a large rock and shot a grappling hook around it. After making sure the line was secure, Orion began to lift himself and Bumblebee out of the ground.
As Orion climbed out of the hole in the ground, he cringed as his servo bumped into the severed helm of a fallen bot. As he pulled himself and Bumblebee out, he quickly came to realize that the hole was the very same one created when Override had nearly fallen through the ground orns ago. After all that has happened since then, the incident seemed to have only been a distant dream.
"Kid, you still there?" Ironhide called from below the ground.
"Yeah," Orion called down to him as detached the grapple from the rock. He leaned over the gaping hole and sent the grapple down to the weapon specialist.
Ironhide took the grapple and used it to pull himself up to the hole. Orion extended a servo out to the older mech and with a grunt, hauled Ironhide out from the ground. This was somewhat difficult with Bumblebee clinging to him but in less than a breem Ironhide managed to get back onto ground level.
"What do we do now?" Orion asked once he caught his breath.
"I don't know." Ironhide answered truthfully as he gazed beyond the darkness to the vast emptiness. At the moment the silence seemed overwhelming. With a sign Ironhide dimmed his optics before extending a servo to Orion.
Orion took the weapon specialist's servo and rose to his full height.
"The ground is too unstable in that direction," Orion stated as he stared in the direction Ironhide had been gazing at moments ago. "Our only choice is to go that way." Orion said as he pointed to the opposite direction.
Ironhide nodded in agreement and the trio took one last glance at the dark void.
"Guys!" a familiar voice called out from behind them.
Orion spun around as several figures came running out of the nothing. One ran straight toward Orion. As the lights enveloped the three, Orion dimmed his optics as they adjusted to the sudden brightness. And for one instant he thought he could see Ariel hidden within the shadows. But as the figure finally reached him, he could see it was Arcee.
"You're alright!" Arcee said in relief as she wrapped her arms around Orion (who was still holding Bumblebee). Orion tensed slightly but accepted the embrace, wondering if what he had seen had just been an illusion. "We heard the explosion and came running." Arcee explained.
"You're not offline? But...how? The driller destroyed the train carts. You were all inside." Orion said as he stared past Arcee's shoulder. Sure enough Sideswipe and Jazz materialized out of the darkness.
"Whoa! What happened to you?!" Sideswipe exclaimed when he noticed the dried energon and scourge marks all over Orion's frame.
"Long story." said Ironhide. "What happened to you guys?"
"We were all inside the train cart when the driller was attacking, but luckily for us we got out in time." said Jazz. "You guys look like you've been through Pit and back." Jazz noted their energon stained armor as well as the numerous scratches and dents to their armor. "Ol' Ratchet's gonna throw a fit when he sees you three."
"Look who's talking." Ironhide grumbled. The silver mech had an unmistakable crack in his visor, exposing one of his rarely seen golden optic. He also appeared to have received some damage to his arm.
"We thought you were all dead." stated Ironhide.
"We thought YOU guys were dead!" exclaimed Sideswipe.
"How did you manage to survive?" Orion asked as Arcee pulled away.
"Override." Arcee explained, "She got us all out of there before the driller showed up."
"And you all listened to 'er?" Ironhide asked in disbelief.
"Hey, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I ain't persuasive." Override said as she emerged from the darkness. Her frame was covered in dents, most likely received during the rock fall while the driller been on a rampage. Other than that and several other minor injuries, Override seemed fine.
"Hmm," Ironhide smirked, "Reminds me of a femme I know."
"I'll take that as a complement." said Override. "Glad to hear you're all still in one piece, I assume."
"Same here, kinda of." the weapon specialist said with a smirk.
"Where are Ratchet and the others?" Orion asked, noticing that the medic nor the other music bot and the two Decepticons were not present.
"Down there." Override said indicating to the darkness behind her. "As far as I can tell, they- the driller hasn't been down there yet. I can't feel them anywhere near here so I assume that they're staying far underground right now. We should be safe there for a while, I think."
Orion nodded and gazed down at the youngling in his arms, who stared up at him with wide optics. Bumblebee hadn't spoken a word since Orion had rescued him from the driller. Considering the traumatic experience the youngling had just gone through, Orion doubted that Bumblebee would speak anytime soon.
"Then we should get moving." Orion said as he lifted his gaze back up at the bots watching him. "Before the drillers find us."
No one argued and they began to make their way into the darkness.
Jazz took lead while Ironhide stayed behind to cover the rear in case any drillers tried to sneak up on them as they traversed to the other side of the tunnel.
"So how exactly did you all escape?" Orion asked as he walked beside Arcee.
"I told you, Override got us out of there before things got bad." explained Arcee.
"But with Blaster down and Ratchet unable to move on his own and with the two Decepticons in stasis cuffs, how were you and Jazz able to get them and the younglings to safety?" Orion questioned curiously.
Arcee paused for a moment before continuing.
"We had to think fast to get out of there, so we temporarily released the decepticons from their cuffs so they could help us." said Arcee.
"You trusted them?" Ironhide asked, bewildered. "And they actually helped you?"
"Sunstreaker volunteered, but it was Barricade who needed a little convincing. And it's not like we had much of a choice." Arcee said before looking back at Orion, "Besides, it's like you said, we couldn't just leave them there to die."
Orion nodded. "I understand."
Arcee nodded before she continued. "Once we got everyone to safety we put the cuffs back on Sunstreaker and Barricade. They weren't too happy about it but Sideswipe convinced them to behave."
Orion nodded. "You did what you had to." He said before he felt a servo on his shoulder. Orion stopped to see it was Override.
"Hey Orion, can I talk to you for a klick." Override said, her blank optics staring straight ahead into the nothingness.
Orion nodded, only to remember that the femme was blind, "Is something wrong, Override?"
Override merely stood where she was as Ironhide walked past them.
"Hey, it's not safe to stay here, kid."
"We'll catch up with you guys." Override said before adding, "We'll be fine."
Ironhide stared at the two of them before nodding and continued with the others. Override remained silent until the sounds of pedes echoed into the distance.
"There's more than one driller, isn't there?" Override stated bluntly once the others were out of earshot.
Orion tensed for a moment, only to remember the femme's heighten sense of her surroundings. Orion sighed, seeing no point in lying to the blind femme.
"Yes, there are more." Override's already dulled optics seemed to dim at his response.
"I figured, ever since the first driller showed up."
"You knew there were more?" Orion asked, astonished. "Why did you not inform any of us?"
"I didn't want to scare anyone. Plus they hadn't been after us back then. And after all that's happened, it completely slipped my mind." Override frowned. "As far as I can tell, there were at least three. But something happened to one of them, huh?"
"Yes." Orion said calmly. "Ironhide and I will inform the others of the situation." Override nodded. She cocked her head; listening to Bumblebee's shallow intakes before switching to her private comm.
"What are we going to do?"
"Do our best to survive." said Orion.
"And if we don't get rescued? Then what?"
"We will get rescued." Orion stated before shutting off his comm link and began walking toward where the others had gone.
Override stood where she was for a few moments, opening her mouth as if to add something else. She decided against it and shut her mouth before following the mech.
As Orion made his way through the tunnel, he soon became aware of a dim glow beyond the darkness. Within moments they came upon one of the two vast walls that kept them trapped within the tunnel. Lying in a small group in front of the wall of rubble was Ratchet, Sadie, the two Decepticon prisoners, and an unconscious Blaster. Orion sighed in relief to see that everyone was still in one piece.
"Look who decided to show up." a familiar voice came from the darkness as a pair of ruby optics materialized. "Surprised you three made it out alive after all that." Barricade said from his spot against the wall.
"Well sorry to disappoint you." Ironhide grumbled as he walked past the Decepticon to find himself a place so he could tend to his wounds as well as repair the damage to one of his oversized cannons.
"Orion!" a small voice cried out as Orion felt small arms wrap around his legs. He looked down to see it was Sadie, whose optics were filled with tears.
"I thought you went away like Tailgate!" she said, almost accusingly as she stared up at him with glistening optics.
Orion knelt down to the young femme and placed a servo on her shoulder while keeping his other arm securely around Bumblebee.
"I promised I would take care of you. I told Tailgate I wouldn't break that promise." Orion said softly as he wiped away a tear from Sadie's faceplates. "Right now you have to be strong for Bee, he's been through a lot right now and he needs someone to help him feel safe when I'm not around. Can you do that for me?"
Sadie nodded determinedly, a spark returning within her icy blue optics as she wiped the rest of her tears herself.
"Good." Orion patted Sadie on her helm. "Now I need you to go to your mother while I talk to Ratchet, okay?"
Sadie nodded slowly. Orion watched as she made her way to Arcee and Override, who appeared to be in deep thought.
Bumblebee continued to cling to Orion as the older mech made his way to the disabled medic, who had been placed against the wall of rumble before them.
"I'm glad to see that you three are in one piece." Ratchet said in relief, though shot Orion and Ironhide a glare when he noticed the damage to their chassises. "We need to inform every one of the ...situation, but for now let's wait for Blaster to come to."
"Situation? What situation?"
Orion and Ironhide looked at each other. "We'd prefer to wait for everyone to hear so we don't have to repeat ourselves."
Ratchet nodded in understanding. As far as Orion knew, they hadn't felt a single tremor since they had escaped from the two remaining drillers and as Override had told him, they were remaining deep underground for the time being. Perhaps it would stay that way for a while. Or at least Orion hoped it would.
"Is Blaster alright?" Orion asked as he sat in front of the medic as he gazed at the unconscious mech who lied on the floor several feet away beside Jazz, who was busily trying to repair the damage Nightbeat had received.
"He's fine for now." Ratchet sighed. "I repaired what damage I could but without the proper tools, I don't know the extent of the damage the driller had caused to Blaster when it struck him."
"You still haven't been able to gain access to the rest of your tools?" Orion asked, somewhat surprised.
Ratchet shook his helm as he attempted to rearrange the pieces of metal in his servo into a tool but failed miserably. Orion knew Ratchet hadn't been able to transform his servos into his tools because of the spinal damage he had received on the first day of the crash, but that had been orns ago. Now that he thought about it, Orion couldn't believe that only several orns have passed. The orns had felt more like vorns. As he pondered on this, Orion began to wonder just how severely damaged Ratchet was. Ratchet flinched as he once again attempted to transform his servo, but failed again.
"Are you alright?" Orion asked, noticing the medic's discomfort.
"Yeah...I've just been able to feel a bit more lately." Ratchet said before returning back to reporting Blaster's injuries.
"Blaster might have severe damage to his processor but I can only know for sure when he wakes up." Ratchet stared at Bumblebee, who remained unnaturally silent in Orion's arms.
"Is he alright?" Ratchet asked, noticing the damage on the youngling's arms and legs. "May I?" Ratchet said, holding his arms out to take the youngling so he could repair him.
Orion nodded and loosened his grip on Bumblebee, only to have the youngling cling to him even tighter. Ratchet lifted an optic ridge as he watched the youngling.
"It's alright." Orion said softly to the frightened youngling. "Ratchet's just gonna fix you up." Bumblebee didn't move.
"I will stay with you while he repairs you, I promise."
Slowly Bumblebee loosened his grip on Orion and the mech handed him over to Ratchet, who busily began to repair the damage to his arms.
Bumblebee remained silent as he worked. His silence began to worry Orion as he held the youngling's small servo in his much larger one.
As Ratchet worked, he stole a glance at the unconscious Blaster as he began to close the tiny leaking energon lines in Bumblebee's arms.
"Is there anything else we should know?" asked Orion
"Blaster has received damage to both his audio receptors as well as his stereos."
Orion nodded in understanding. Not only was there the possibility that Blaster may have lost his hearing, but they have also lost the only thing that had kept the drillers at bay, but luckily for the moment, the drillers didn't appear to be interested in them at the moment. Orion wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
"What about you?" Ratchet suddenly asked, pulling Orion out of his thoughts.
"What about me?" Orion asked.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
The medic didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." Orion diverted his gaze away from Ratchet as his optics caught sight of Sideswipe, who had returned to his brother's side only moments ago.
Orion watched in curiosity as the youngling sat beside his older brother, who was currently lying on his stomach on the ground with his optics shut. He appeared to be using his cuffed servos as a makeshift pillow to rest his helm.
At first glance the young Decepticon appeared to be recharging but Orion could tell by his uneven intakes that he was still awake.
He watched as Sideswipe produced a nearly empty cube of energon from his subspace pocket and held it up to his brother as he gently tapped Sunstreaker's shoulder, only to receive a low moan from the mech.
"Stop that..." Sunstreaker muttered his words heavy and sluggish, as if he were trying to stay awake.
It was then that Orion noticed a large dent on Sunstreaker's back, no doubt received during the rock fall, as well as what appeared to be another smaller dent on his helm. Dried energon stained his helm as energon slowly trickled from the wound on his back down the mech's once golden armor, which has now faded into a pale amber color.
"Sunny." Sunstreaker groaned softly as Sideswipe continued to tap on his shoulder repeatedly to get his attention.
"Wwwhhhhaaaaattt?" Sunstreaker groaned sluggishly as he kept his helm on his servos.
"Ratchet says you have to stay awake or you'll fall into stasis." Sideswipe said sternly.
"Wwwwhhhhyyyyy?"
"Because you hit your helm, you idiot. Now drink this."
"I'm not thirsty." muttered Sunstreaker, keeping his optics shut but speaking a little more clearly than before.
"Yes you are. You haven't had any energon since yesterday and you're going to need more because you got hurt."
"Nnnooo, you need it mor-"
"Ah, ah, ah! I can't hear you!" Sideswipe said speaking louder than necessary. Sunstreaker let out a loud groan of annoyance.
"Okay! Okay! Fine, whatever! Just stop yelling!" Sunstreaker growled as he sat up, rather too quickly as he swayed on his knees for a moment.
Sideswipe sighed and shook his head, smiling slightly as he pushed Sunstreaker back on the floor and placed his brother's helm on his lap.
Sunstreaker said nothing as his brother fed him the remaining energon they had. Once the energon was gone, Sunstreaker, with his helm still on Sideswipe's lap, dimmed his optics. Satisfied, Sideswipe began to hum a familiar tune, not a lullaby which would lull his brother into recharge but an upbeat tune, as he watched over his brother, prepared to wake Sunstreaker up if he fell into recharge.
"Hheeeyyy…wasn't I the one who's supposed to be taking care of you?" Sunstreaker muttered drowsily.
Orion continued to watch the two siblings, who appeared so much alike, and for the first time he realized just how young Sunstreaker really was.
Despite all the young Decepticon's battle scars and his burning red optics, which have clearly seen a lot in the past few years, Sunstreaker was still only a youngling, probably no older than the red mech watching over him. It was the scars that crisscrossed all over his chassis.
The sudden realization stunned Orion. Why hadn't he realized this sooner? Sideswipe had even mentioned not that long ago that he and Sunstreaker were brothers. Orion had just never computed, due to what appeared to be age differences, that they were created from the same spark. Orion suddenly realized that the two brothers, twins, had lived completely separate lives up until now.
He began to wonder if their separation was due to the fact that Decepticons had kidnapped sparklings and younglings to recruit into the Decepticon army and if Sunstreaker could have been one of those younglings who had been taken during the attack on the youth centers.
Orion was amazed how close the two brothers were though having been separated for so long.
And despite the factions which separated them, they still found it deep within their sparks to watch out for one another.
Though Orion had not been present while the others had made their escape to this side of the tunnel, he knew for a fact that Sunstreaker hadn't just simply received those wounds during the rock fall. He had gotten those wounds while he was protecting his brother and whether Sideswipe knew it or not, he was lucky to have his brother watching out for him.
The tunnel they have been trapped in for several days now appeared to have changed the very bots that have been forced to live within its dark void.
If the tunnel could change the spark of one Decepticon, could it also change the spark of another? Orion wondered as his thoughts went to the second Decepticon cuffed only several feet away.