Prisoners of the Mind
Chapter 9: Rescue Mission Part Two
Starscream was in his office when he suddenly got the feeling that something was wrong. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to check on things he commed Lugnut and received no response; "Lugnut!" but there was no answer. After several minutes of trying to garner a response from the big Decepticon he gave up and commed Blitzwing instead. "Blitzwing, if you don't answer me I'm going to dismantle you," he threatened.
"Vhat do you vant?" Blitzwing asked with a loud yawn.
"Go check on Lugnut," Starscream ordered.
"Vhy?" Blitzwing wanted to know.
"Because I've been trying to get in touch with him and he has yet to answer and because I'm your leader and I told you so!" Starscream's voice had been steadily rising and by the end of his sentence he was so loud that he almost shorted out Blitzwing's audio sensors.
The triple-changer winced and said, "Fine. I'll go check on him," then terminated the conversation.
Starscream scowled then went back to what he had been doing.
Meanwhile, outside, Prowl calmly removed his shuriken from Lugnut's neck and returned it to its proper place. "He's been taken care of for now," the ninja said.
"That's good to know." Sentinel was quickly reminded of why Prowl had been chosen to participate in the experiments. Some of his former ruthlessness and cold-bloodedness was showing though. Sentinel was not the type of bot that scared easily but he had to admit; his first meeting with Prowl had greatly unnerved him. He shook his head to clear his processor of those thoughts and said, "Let's go."
They continued walking towards the base, being as quiet as possible. They had almost reached it when the door opened, light spilling onto the rocky ground. Ducking down, they hid behind the rocks, cautiously peeking out. They watched as Blitzwing closed the door then began to walk in their direction. "Lugnut," he called. "Lugnut, vhere are you? Starscream's ready to dismantle the two of us and I don't know about you but I don't vant to be dismantled. So please come out, please," he begged.
Out of the corner of his optic Sentinel could see the four Autobots exchange glances then nod. He mentally groaned as Ratchet stood up and fired his EMP at the Decepticon. A look of surprise crossed Blitzwing's faceplate before he fell to the ground with a heavy thud. "Idiots," Sentinel hissed. "Now they know that we're here."
"That was the point," Optimus whispered then stood up as well.
Sentinel could only groan once more as he followed them, wishing that he had listened to Bumblebee. Perhaps waking them up hadn't been the best course of action after all. So far the only thing that had been accomplished was that they had driven Sentinel crazy!
"Hey, Sentinel, aren't you coming?" Bulkhead yelled as he looked at the blue and orange bot lagging behind them.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Sentinel called.
Bumblebee, it seem, was having just an interesting a night as Sentinel. Despite his age Ultra Magnus, it turned out, had no idea how to play cards. So Bumblebee took full advantage of that fact and won all of the credits that Ultra Magnus had had on him when he had gotten kidnapped. Then he had lost not one but two coats of paint to Bumblebee to be delivered after their release. Having grown bored of cards Bumblebee lay stretched out on the berth while Ultra Magnus sat at the table trying to play Solitaire and failing miserably at it. Bumblebee had found that sight far too painful to watch and so he had shuttered his optics.
He had almost drifted into recharge when the sound of a loud thud could be heard from outside. He shot straight up and ignored Ultra Magnus who was asking what was wrong. Listening intently Bumblebee was soon able to make out Bulkhead's voice yelling something. Bumblebee got off of the berth and stood in the middle of the room, mentally going over his list of things that he needed to do. He relaxed ever so slightly when he realized that everything he had needed to do was already finished. All that remained to be done was rescue Ultra Magnus, avoid getting killed by the unhappy Decepticons, somehow convince Sentinel to tell the other Autobots the truth and get some rest. Piece of cake he thought to himself; piece of cake.
Having heard the same sounds as Bumblebee Starscream was forced to come to one conclusion and one conclusion only; the Autobots were here. "How did they find my base?" he roared. "Oh, wait. They probably got the information from the processor of one of my clones." He powered up his weapons and headed towards the room where Ultra Magnus was being kept. "There's no way I'm going to let them take away my leverage," he muttered.
"Aren't you in yet, Prowl?" an irate Ratchet demanded.
"Well if you would stop interrupting me then I would get done a whole lot sooner," Prowl snapped.
"Just hurry up," Optimus sighed.
Prowl continued trying to pick the lock, muttering under his breath about certain Autobots that were going to die a slow and painful death. Trying to make it seem as if time were actually moving Optimus gazed around the base in interest. The place was, unsurprisingly, bare. A few doors lined the hallways but the rest of the place was empty.
"I've almost got it," Prowl announced.
Seconds later the door opened and they peered inside. Sitting at the table was Ultra Magnus and standing in the middle of the room was Bumblebee.
"Bumblebee!" Bulkhead yelled and ran into the room, scooping the minibot up in his massive arms.
Ultra Magnus's mouth was hanging open. "Orion Pax?" he stammered. "What are you doing here?"
Optimus opened his mouth to answer but instead found himself unable to speak. A memory was playing in his processor; a memory that matched neither tale he had been told…
Realizing that Optimus wasn't going to say anything Prowl said, "We're here to rescue the two of you."
"Bet you're surprised to see that Bumblebee's still alive aren't you, Sentinel?" Bulkhead asked as he and Bumblebee walked out of the room.
"Surprised doesn't even begin to describe it," Sentinel growled, his optics shooting darts at Bumblebee who merely smiled at him cheekily.
"Sentinel," Ultra Magnus sounded calm. But not really calm; more like his voice was calm but something else bubbled underneath the surface. "When we get back we are going to have a very long talk."
"Yes, sir," Sentinel sighed reluctantly.
"I don't think that you're going to go anywhere," a voice down at the end of the hallway said.
"Of course Starscream would show up before we had a chance to leave," Optimus sighed.
"Prowl?" Starscream looked surprised. "What are you doing here? When you disappeared three years ago we all thought you were dead."
"What are you talking about?" Prowl asked in confusion.
"They must have done something screwy to you if you don't remember me," Starscream said. "Either way I'm not letting any of you leave…Bumblebee?"
"Hi, Starscream," Bumblebee waved cheerfully.
"Okay that's it. Who are you bots?" Ultra Magnus asked.
While the Autobots were distracted Starscream took advantage of the moment and fired at them before transforming and flying away.
The events of the next several minutes went by so fast that everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Optimus could only watch as Starscream's shot hit him directly above the spark chamber. As he fell to the floor he could hear muffled shouts then Bumblebee's faceplate appeared directly in his line of vision. "Don't worry, Optimus. Everything's going to be all right," the minibot assured the injured Autobot even as everything faded into black.
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