Author notes: Hi everyone, I finally got chapter 11 done. I'm so sorry this one took so long but I had so much trouble with it. I had a lot of college work when I started it, of which I've now complete with an A(Yay!), and then my mind kept going back and forth with how I wanted to write it, while I kept getting disrupted by my family. But anyway, here's my chapter at last, I hope you enjoy it!
Also thanks for the reviews ^^!
o0o0o
"Text" spoken dialogue
'text' bond speech or unspoken thoughts ::Text:: Comm speech Time conversions:
Astrosecond = 0.498 seconds
Breem = 8.3 minutes
Joor = 1 hour
Cycle = 1 Day
Solar Cycle = 1 year
Vorn = 83 years
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or its characters. Transformers is the property of Hasbro, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought.
This is for entertainment purposes only.
Original character, Shadeweaver, belongs to me
The Seeker Code of Honour
~Motto: Protect what is yours and respect what is ours~
Never offline trine member(s) without a valid reason
Never offline or harm kin, sparklings/younglings or bonded in our midst
Always respect our needs for open spaces and thirst for flight
Always be mindful of our winged frames; never knowingly harm them out of malice
Be ready to protect your peers and judge those who dare to disregard Seeker Code of Honour
Chapter 11 - Abduction
Shadeweaver looked on in horror as the grey Overlord walked into the main bridge. This was the first time the Femme had actually encountered Megatron, having only briefly glimpsed at him during battle a week or so ago, and he was just as intimidating as she was lead to belief. As she backed up, she could feel the two humans on her shoulders try to hide from his crimson gaze.
She spotted a Decepticon from the corner of her optics as he come into the main bridge holding the Autobot, First Aid hostage. As the Medical Assistant struggled against the Decepticon's grip, a footfall then stole the Femme's attention to another Decepticon flanking her right side. She was suddenly surrounded on all sides with no means of escape and the Decepticon Leader knew it. The Warlord then gave a silent yet wicked laugh.
"There is no escape for you now, Autobot ," Megatron stated, "You would be wise to surrender yourself peacefully to me; I am sure that your little comrades would not want to witness me extinguishing your spark," he added dangerously as he advanced on her.
As she backed up from his advance, she then felt an invisible mass behind her but before she could react, she cringed in pain as a pair of servos dug into her sensitive wings. The air then distorted before, to her horror, the Decepticon restraining her revealed himself. She then realised that the Decepticons had developed some sort of cloaking device thus sneaking past security with ease. The Femme grimaced as she was forced roughly to her knees before the warlord.
'Joe, Cathy; listen,' Shadeweaver spoke quickly through the trine bond, 'I've opened a hatch to my subspace behind my right shoulder vent; go now and get out of sight til I tell you otherwise,' she added.
'But Shade-' Joe started.
'Now!' Shadeweaver cut in with clear authority.
'C'mon Cath,' Joe said before he and his sister quickly started scrambling down her frame, taking care not to slip on her glossy, metallic finish. As Joe looked down, he then noticed a small opening just beside her wing joint and motioned his sister to follow but before either of them could get anywhere near, a crimson gaze fell upon them.
"Ah. I see you brought the little insects along for the ride," Megatron said, her optics widened at this, "Vortex, relieve her of them but do not offline them, they may yet be of further use," he ordered.
"Gladly, my Lord," the Decepticon restraining he replied with an evil smirk.
"What!? No! Let me go you-argh!" Shadeweaver cried in pain as she struggled against the iron grip.
"Shut it, Glitch!" Vortex growled as he dug his digits into a metal plate, "Now come to Papa, little Slaggers," he added as he reached for the Humans, who could only hide behind her shoulder vent.
"Over my dead body!" Joe growled in response.
"Oh. How I wish that were the case, now get here you little-!" Vortex muttered before, to Shadeweaver's horror, he finally managed to enclose a fist around them and lift the frantically struggling Humans from her chassis.
"No! Leave them out of it!" the helpless Femme bade desperately, trying and failing to shake the Decepticon off as he handed the Humans over to the Decepticon leader, "I swear, if you harm either of them I'll-!" she yelled only to he slammed hard onto the metallic floor with a kick to the side.
"Shade!" Cathy cried as her Trine Mate coughed up a glob of energon, "No! Leave our sister alone, you bastards!" she added only for her pleas to be cut off by a booming laugh.
"You'll what? Offline me?" Megatron guffawed as he knelt down on one knee in front of her and forced her to look into his scarlet optics, "Don't make me laugh, as if I could fall at the servos of a cowardly, weak Seeker like you," he added with a merciless sneer; Shadeweaver could only let out an audible snarl in response. The other Decepticons only laughed at her inconvenience.
"Onslaught if you'll please?" Megatron hinted, dropping her helm as he stood up, "I do not want to stay here any longer than necessary," he added as he walked away. A Decepticon then stepped forth with a small device.
"What? No! Get your hands off me, you-!" Shadeweaver protested before she felt something sharp pierce her main energon line. Then within astroseconds, she knew nothing as she slipped into stasis.
"Brawl, vortex; you are in charge of transporting the Femme, Onslaught; re-apply the tranquilizing unit if necessary," Megatron ordered, with each acknowledging him, "Oh! And Swindle; dispose of that piece of scrap, you don't know where it's been," the Warlord added to the Decepticon restraining First Aid, who promptly tossed him aside. The Decepticons then left the Autobot base, leaving the Main Bridge eerily quiet.
o0o0o
Meanwhile, with the orange sky of dusk with nothing but the busy, city life in the distance, the sudden, roaring sound thrusters disturbed the peaceful, serene silence. Twisting and turning, a jet angrily cut through the darkened sky with two others following close behind. Anyone within proximity would turn a deaf ear at the military jets doing their rounds but one observant enough could hear the scream of rage in the lead jet's approach; for Starscream was his name.
"Curse that blasted Megatron!" Starscream screeched to himself as he sliced through the low-lying clouds, "How in the pit am I supposed to conjure two quartex' worth of energon from this barren wasteland!? I'm a scientist, not a fraggin' magician! If I were leader, we would have won this slaggin' war long ago!" he growled before diving through another cloud.
'And like it's our fault he mouthed off at Megatron yet again,' Skywarp said tiredly to Thundercracker through the bond.
'Just let him blow off some steam, Warp,' Thundercracker said knowing that this was really the only way a Seeker could release pent up frustrations, 'We're just about done anyway.'
Starscream attacked the air furiously, dipping in and out of the blanket of cloud just revelling in the taste of utmost freedom that filled his spark. Feeling of the cool breeze rippling through his chassis, Starscream allowed the night air around him smother his senses. Losing himself in the sensation of freedom and the thrill of flight, Starscream could eventually feel his anger, frustrations and the overall tension in his frame melt away. With a long, shuddering vent of relief, Starscream allowed himself to come back to the present.
He had lost count on how many times he took his frustrations out on the sky in the past few weeks. It was like Primus was laughing at his expense, lapping up any chance to plant whatever daily misfortune on the hapless Second in Command he could think off. Then as if things couldn't get any worse, there was that blasted Autobot, Shadeweaver; a Shade-phasing Seeker just complicate things even more. Had it been any other Cybertronian, Starscream could have just launch a few null-rays and be done with them but as a Seeker with a Trine, human or not, she was under the protection of the Code of Honour as were the organics. And with being not only a Seeker himself but the Air Commander to the entire fleet, Starscream was not about to betray that Code anytime soon.
As Starscream flitted through the sky, now cruising at a semi-casual speed, his internal communications system eventually picked up on what seemed like static, followed by a garbled message.
"Hey, you two, tune into frequency alpha zeta 3," Starscream spoke up, "I seem to have stumbled upon a message," he added.
"Yeah, on it Screamer," Skywarp replied. Then as the trine tuned in, the static then cleared to reveal a very familiar voice.
"What the-! That's Megatron's frequency," Thundercracker pointed, "How in the pit did you catch that? It's normally encrypted," he asked.
"I don't know, TC," Starscream said as the conversation took place, "Now hush."
::Now Soundwave, when we arrive, I want you to keep the other Seekers at bay as we planned. If they even catch wind of our operations, all of our hard work up til now would be for nought::
::Understood, my Lord::
"So then you were right," Skywarp realised, "He is doing stuff behind our backs."
::Also, make sure to set up a signal dampener in holding cell theta-7. Should any Seekers happen to return, I would rather they could not sense her trine signal once aboard::
"Her?" Thundercracker quizzed.
::Understood, holding cell theta-7 is now operational and ready for her arrival::
"This could only mean one thing," Starscream started, "That Fragger must gone have apprehended the Seeker Femme while we were out hunting energon for his sorry Aft!" he snarled.
"So what do we do now?" Thundercracker asked, "I mean, he's going against our Code like we said he would!" he exclaimed.
"Now, TC," Starscream started, "Now, we act," he proclaimed with determination.
"Hey Screamer, maybe we're, you know, jumping the gun a bit here," Skywarp chimed in, "I mean, sure he wants the Femme and all, that's pretty obvious but how can we be sure he's actually going to kill off her trine? Maybe he won't actually go that far," he suggested.
"He does have a point there, Screamer," Thundercracker admitted.
"Not the Megatron I know," Starscream said knowingly, "That Fragger has lied and cheated behind our backs, and has known of their existence for weeks. He has intervened without our knowledge and now has the Femme under his grasp. Why in the pit would he even bother to bring the Humans over if he was only interested in the Femme? No; I believe that he has sinister intentions for them, and Human or not, he knows as well as I do that they are also under protection of the Code of Honour," he explained. Both Thundercracker and Skywarp only hummed in response as they realised that their Trine Leader was right.
"So, how are going to go about doing this?" Thundercracker asked.
"Well, I suggest we take a subtle approach as I would rather if Megatron remained oblivious to our discovery for the time being," Starscream replied, "Skywarp, engage the signal dampener and Thundercracker, see if you can isolate that frequency breach; I have a plan," he ordered.
"Alright, isolating now," Thundercracker replied before setting about his given task. Though Starscream could be difficult at times, both he and Skywarp agreed that their Trine Leader could be an excellent strategist when the situation called for it. Then within astroseconds, Thundercracker transmitted the data to his Trine Mates and the three of them warped away into the thin air.
o0o0o
In the vast desert of Oregon; following Red Alert's troubling message from earlier, the Autobots sped as fast as they could back to their base that now came into view over the horizon.
"Frag! I still can't get through!" Sunstreaker growled in frustration, "This wouldn't have happened if I'd have just snuffed Screamer's spark!" he added.
"You do not know that, Sunstreaker," Optimus said.
As they neared their base, Optimus saw it was quiet and the lighting system was non-functional. As the Autobots transformed as they drove into the eerily quiet main bridge, Optimus saw that the that Teletraan-1 had indeed been crippled with the monitor still bellowing smoke. There was a crackle in the air and his attentions were turned to a figure barely online near the monitor as First Aid tended to him. Ratchet immediately came over to help tend to the fallen Autobot's injuries.
"What in Primus' name happened?" Optimus asked with deep concern as he crouched next to the injured Autobot.
"It was the Decepticons, Prime," First Aid replied, "They stormed the base and attacked us without being detected. Th-they took Shade and the Humans, Sir; we could not do anything to prevent it," he added with shame showing.
"Those Fraggers!" Ironhide growled as he punch the wall in frustration.
"See, I told you this would happen, Prime! If I'd have just blasted Screamer's spark, she would still be here!" Sunstreaker yelled animatedly.
" Sunstreaker, " Optimus warned, patience wearing thin, "I understand your frustrations but what happened yesterday is in the past and it will do no good to dwell on it at this present. Besides I have good reason to believe that this was not Starscream's doing. Now First Aid, tell me exactly happened here," he asked.
o0o0o
Blinking her optics, a strange, grey, metallic room came into focus. As she tried to move a servo to ease the fuzziness in her helm, she found that she was restrained. Looking around, she found herself strapped to a metal slab strapped by the pedes and servos in what appeared to be holding cell.
As she checked over herself, she found that her subspace had been tampered and noted that her photon rays had been removed. She glanced at the lighting panel on the other side of the room but seeing as she was unarmed, disabling the ambient light was clearly out of the question. If there was any consolation at all, however, it was that she could still feel her Trine Mates' presences in her spark, who she knew were tucked away in a separate cell not far from where she was. She was vulnerable but she was at least fortunate that Megatron wanted to keep her alive even if for ill-reasons and she knew it would only be a matter of time before the Autobots would spring into action. Though things certainly looked bleak at this moment in time, there was at least still a glimmer of hope even if minute. Yet even the optimistic Femme could feel that glimmer of hope vastly disappear as the astroseconds passed by before wondering how her little siblings were coping, and if indeed she and they would even make it out of here alive.
'I really hope Joe and Cathy are doing alright…' Shadeweaver thought to herself but as she closed her optics for a moment, she heard voices come from outside. It was then that none other than the Decepticon Leader himself entered the room, followed by a couple of other Decepticons that she had met during battle.
"Ah. Shadeweaver, I see that you have finally came out of stasis," Megatron commented, "I trust that you are comfortable?" he hinted with a smirk.
"Oh. Yeah, I highly recommend it," Shadeweaver snorted, "It'd do you a world of good," she added with clear distaste in her voice.
"Oh. I am sure," Megatron said simply, "At any rate, I suppose you are wondering as to what you are doing here amongst our armada?" he started.
"What? Other than being your wall decoration?" Shadeweaver said sarcastically.
"Hn. Although you would make a rather fine trophy for my collection, I have much bigger plans for you," Megatron started, "In short, you are going to be part of our Armada where you belong," he stated. It took a few astroseconds for the message to sink in.
"You what?" Shadeweaver started as she processed the message, "You want me to become a Decepticon?" she said in disbelief.
"Precisely; I am sure that you may have noticed that almost all Seekers that exist serve under my rule," Megatron said, "And pretty soon, you too will join your brethren amongst our ranks as you rightfully should be," he proclaimed.
"Aye right," Shadeweaver blurted out with outright disgust at the very idea, "You must be delusional if you think I'm just going to up and become a Decepticon. I'm a Wing Commander of the Royal Air Force and an Autobot. It's my duty to serve and protect this planet, not like you lot who only want to exploit it," she added with clarity in her voice.
"No Shadeweaver, you are a Seeker and as your Lord, not do I only command the Decepticon armada, I own them including the entire Seeker fleet," Megatron corrected before he forced her to look into his optics.
"Well, you don't own me and I most certainly won't become one of you," Shadeweaver said with an audible growl; she was met with scowl before he let out a dark chuckle.
"I am afraid that you have no say in the matter, little Femme for I have many means of getting what I want. You will serve the Decepticon cause as I deem fit and once you have been fully assimilated, the outcome of this little mudball will be the very least of your concerns," Megatron stated, "You will serve under my rule, under my leadership, not flummoxing around with those two bit Autobots, and you will soon come to realise that any form of insubordination will not be tolerated," he added. Hearing the danger in his tone, it did not take a genius to figure out the hidden message. Now realising the gravity of the situation, Shadeweaver decided that if she hoped for any chance of surviving this ordeal, she had to tread more carefully, especially with her Trine Mates' lives in mind. Seeing that he had gotten through to the Femme, Megatron gave a little chuckle.
"Tell you what, Femme. Why don't we make a little deal?" Megatron started.
"Che. What could you offer me that I could possibly want?" Shadeweaver asked with clear distaste.
"Well, what if I say that if you comply with me, I may let your little comrades live to tell the tale?" Megatron coerced, gaining her attention, "For as unsentimental as I am, it would be such a shame to have you watch their little sparks extinguish due to your rashness, wouldn't you say? " he added with an evil smirk. Her optics widened at that.
"You wouldn't," Shadeweaver said, horrified at the very idea, "I swear, if you even attempt-!" she started.
"Then I suppose we have deal?" Megatron hinted but the Femme remained quiet as she slipped into deep thought about her current situation. "Hm. I will give you a joor to make up your mind as I have other matters to tend to," Megatron said as he made towards the threshold, "You there! Watch the cell, make sure she has no means of escape," he ordered to a passing Mech.
"Remember Little Femme, the clock is ticking," the Warlord added with a dark chuckle as he left before the door bolted shut. Shadeweaver then looked down with a long, tired vent as she looked around the room, strapped tight to a vertical berth with no means of escape.
"What the hell do I do now."
o0o0o
At the main bridge of the Ark, Wheeljack was still wedged squarely underneath the panel of the monitor as he worked on the singed circuitry.
"Primus, whoever blew this monitor didn't miss a transistor," Wheeljack vented, "The whole motherboard practically got done in," he added.
"Are you able to repair it?" Optimus asked.
"Oh. Yeah, of course; in fact, if I just install this last resistor…" Wheeljack said, trailing of as he screwed in a bolt before the monitor suddenly flickered to life, "Et voila, your saviour has saved the day," he added.
"Che. Makes a change from blowing stuff up," Sunstreaker commented which Wheeljack ignored.
"Ah. Well-done, Wheeljack," Optimus commended, "What is Red Alert's status?" he asked.
"So far so good, Prime," Ratchet replied and he and First Aid tended to the injured Mech, "I have stabilised his spark pulse, we shall transport him to continue repairs in the med-bay soon enough," he added.
"Good work, Old Friend," Optimus replied.
::Jazz, Mirage; what is your status?::
::Well, we're making good time, Optimus; we should be within proximity in two breems at the very most. I wager we'll get Shade out in a joor, all going well::
::Thank you, Mirage; make sure to keep as low a profile as you possibly can and keep me posted regularly::
::Will do Prime, Mirage out::
o0o0o
Venting to herself, Shadeweaver looked around the room for the umpteenth time. She had long since given up trying to loosen the restraints of her joints as not only were they practically impossible to break, her energon levels were getting low and she needed to conserve her energy if she wanted to make out of here alive. Seeing her disengaged photon rays sitting, tormenting her on the self a few feet in front of here and the reflection of her strapped into a vertical berth by the pedes and servos, she realised how vulnerable she was. Being your typical, stubborn Seeker, however, she would never allow them to assimilate her into their ranks even if her life depended on it but even as strong-willed as she was, if there was one weakness that all Seekers shared, it was their trine bonds. The last thing Shadeweaver ever wanted was for anything bad to happen to Joe or Cathy, and Megatron, of course, just had to exploit it with that 'little deal' he coined earlier. Even if she were to comply with him, however, she had good reason to believe that he would fall back on his word anyway. They weren't called Decepticons for nothing after all.
Realising that she truly was stuck between a rock and hard place, the Seeker could only close her optics in contemplation. The Femme could only hope that the Autobots would arrive soon before anything drastic happened. As she cycled many thoughts through her CPU in order to try and devise a plan to get out of the situation, she snapped her optics open to the sudden sound of glass shattering somewhere down the hall. It was then that she noticed the lights in the corridor starting to flicker out.
"Huh? It must be a power cut," Shadeweaver said to herself before the lights in her cell shut down. A metallic shink, shink could then be heard as her restraints came loose. "Huh. Now that's a miracle if I ever saw one," she said as she pried herself from the berth and got to her pedes. Then, turning to the task at hand, Shadeweaver quickly grabbed her photon rays and re-engaged them.
"Much better," Shadeweaver as her cannons whirred to life once more, "Now I better find Joe and Cathy now before the others come looking for me," she said but as she neared the door, she heard raised voices and pounding pedes heading in her direction. Shadeweaver quickly sank into a shadow produced by a small desk. It was then that the cell door burst open as Brawl came tanking in closely followed by Megatron and another Decepticon.
"Fraggit! The Femme's gone!" the constructicon yelled.
"Imbeciles! I told them to keep watch!" Megatron snarled in fury, "Brawl; get your combaticons and scour the base in it's entirety, and you; find and locate the source of the outage. If any of you shall happen to find whoever is responsible for this breach, bring them to me and I shall deal with them personally!" he ordered with the two Decepticons acknowledging him. Unbeknownst to them, however, their escapee had already sprung into action as she silently latched onto Brawl's shadow. Then as Brawl hurried out of the threshold, Shadeweaver could only watch closely as parts of the darkened hallway flitted past the rifts in the void.
"Theta-12?" Shadeweaver said to herself as she spotted the placard, "That's where Joe and Cathy are." Then seeing her chance, she flitted into another shadow before eventually ending up outside of the cell door. Hearing the voices and pedes subsiding, Shadeweaver gingerly poked her head out just enough to get a good view of the corridor. Satisfied, she quietly stepped out of the shadow and opened the cell door. To her horror, however, the only things in the room were two energon containers that lay broken on the floor.
"Dammit; where are they!?" Shadeweaver said to herself as scoured the room; it was then a static followed by an electronic zap filled the air. She then wheeled around, poising her cannons as a mech revealed himself, ready to defend her life if need be. As the he came into view, however, she recognised the winged frame of certain black and purple seeker.
"You," Shadeweaver quizzed, "What're you doing here; and where's Joe and Cathy?" she asked in an accusatory tone.
"No time to explain, and don't worry, Screamer has 'em," Skywarp cut in as he grabbed her wrist, "C'mon, we're getting ya outta here," he added and before Shadeweaver could even form a sentence, she yelped as the sensation of being sucked down a whirlpool overcame her. Then within an astrosecond, she was in a darkened corridor, showing the ocean from a porthole.
"Did you secure the Femme?" the raspy voice that was Starscream's asked.
"Yeah, Screamer," Skywarp said nonchalantly but looked over to see the Autobot in question supporting herself against the wall, "Oh! Heh-heh, happens all the time." The femme could only groan in response as she tried not to purge her tanks.
"Ok...Now," Shadeweaver balked before her head ceased spinning, "Can someone please tell me what in the hell going on?" she stressed, utterly lost and confused as she looked up at the three Decepticons.
"Simply put, we are helping you escape back to base," Starscream stated. She blinked; this she did not expect.
"So then it was you who sabotaged the power supply," Shadeweaver realised, "Why?" she asked for Starscream was the last person she expected to be her rescuer.
"Correct and to answer your question, Megatron has been continually overstepping the mark by going behind our backs and attempting to endanger your Trine," Starscream replied, "We all agreed that Megatron had got away with far too much and that action needed to be taken," he added.
"Yeah, but don't get us wrong, we are only helping because of the Code, we will revert to enemy status once we are through," Thundercracker said pointedly but then came a low rumble, "Besides we kinda owe ya for sticking up for us yesterday," he added. Shadeweaver knew he was talking about the incident at Antarctica the previous day and looked to see a faint ghost of a smirk on the the blue and black Seeker's proud, stoic features.
"Anyway, I believe these belong to you?" Starscream spoke up ; her optics widened as he produced to tiny figures from his cockpit.
"Shade!" cried the familiar female voices of her tiny siblings.
"Oh! My God," Shadeweaver gasped in surprise as she had her Human Trine Mates were suddenly in her servos once more, "Oh. Thank you," she added in a whisper full of gratitude as relief, reassurance and comfort flowed through their bond once more. The three Decepticons only blinked at the rare scene of the Seeker Femme displaying such emotion.
"Oh! Shade. We thought you weren't gonna get outta there," Cathy said, "Megatron put up some kind of signal block. We couldn't sense where you were!" she cried.
'Slag. They really are a Trine,' Thundercracker commented through the bond, seeing the obvious connection first hand as the two Humans shared a moment with the Femme. Though it did seem a ridiculous notion at first glance, Thundercracker could now see what Starscream meant. He couldn't believe how blind he was to it before.
'Meh. This is too weird for me,' Skywarp chimed in, eying the Humans with scrutiny, 'But at least they didn't puke on me, I'll give 'em that much,' he added.
"Anyway; although this little reunion is nice and all, we must bring our attentions back to the matter at hand," Starscream spoke up, gaining everyone's attention, "Although this area is rather secluded, it is still within the boundaries of the Nemesis and it will only be a matter of time before we are discovered," he added.
"Can't we just used that field breach we used earlier?" Skywarp asked.
"I'm afraid that breach collapsed in on itself when we hijacked it," Starscream said, "Instead we must move swiftly and quietly through the base. The hangar will no doubt be heavily guarded but if I'm right, the side door leading into the ocean should be relatively easy to escape from. Then once we are outside of the dispersion field, you should be free to teleport us away from here," he added.
"Alright, lead the way, Screamer," Skywarp said.
o0o0o
Two breems had passed and Shadeweaver, along with her unlikely allies moved as stealthily as they could within the confines of the Nemesis. Shadeweaver put her ability to good use by using shadows cast by the walls to scout ahead and/or pull the others into the safety of her shadow-verse of need be.
'Hey Shade, are you sure we can trust those guys?' Joe asked through their bond from within her cockpit, 'I mean they are, you know, Decepticons and all,' he hinted, glancing at Skywarp on his right.
'Well, let's put it this way, Joe; this is still much better than being strapped to a berth being interrogated by Megatron,' Shadeweaver replied, 'Besides, they did just risk a lot by releasing us. I think we should at least give them a chance,' she added.
'I guess,' Joe said, 'You know, I don't think I'll ever understand how you Seekers work,' he added.
'Yeah, me neither and that's coming from me,' Shadeweaver said with slight amusement. As the four Seekers crept past a threshold, Starscream then beckoned them forward, where they then came across an old rusted hatch. With slight difficulty, Starscream then swung the hatch open, revealing a room with a sealed door. The Seekers then entered the room, bolting the hatch shut before Starscream released the valve letting gallons of water flood the room. Within astroseconds, the four Seekers escaped and swam out into the open sea.
o0o0o
Meanwhile, at the Autobot base; the Ark, Prowl was back to working on Teletraan-1 while Ratchet and First Aid had transported Red Alert to the med bay.
"What do you have to report, Prowl," Optimus asked.
"I'm afraid there's not much to go on, Prime," Prowl vented, "According to the security logs, none of the known Decepticon frequencies triggered any of the protocols. From what I gathered from First Aid, Megatron seems to have developed some kind of cloaking device; if we are to even hope of standing a chance, we need to get a copy of those frequencies and no Decepticon I know would just willingly hand them over," he added.
"That is what I was afraid of," Optimus vented, feeling a processor ache coming on, "Very well, just do what you can, Prowl and keep me posted," Optimus replied.
::How is Red Alert, Ratchet?::
::Well, he's stable,:: Ratchet replied, ::One inch to the right, however, and it could have been very different; give me a few joors and he should be up on his pedes again::
"If you don't mind me saying, Prime, I'd say Megatron has grown bolder lately," Prowl spoke up, "This is the first time that he has knowingly attacked the Ark directly," he added.
"I would agree with you Prowl hence I will most certainly tighten security at and around the base," Optimus agreed, "I will brief all of you in due course but for now our main objective is to retrieve our young friend from Megatron's hold and to tend to the injured," he added.
"By the way, any word from Mirage and Jazz?" Bumblebee asked, "It's been nearly a joor since they left," he hinted.
"Not as of yet, Bumblebee," Optimus replied but just then his comm. System chimed.
::Go ahead, Jazz::
::Hey, OP. Just comin' into Decepticon territory now; Mirage and I are just about to get into base; we'll comm ya when get her out::
::Good work Jazz and be careful::
::Hold on, Prime; I just spotted something:: chimed the voice of mirage, ::Looks like four Seekers emerging from the lake::
::Do not engage them, Mirage:: Optimus warned, ::Remember that your main objective is to locate Shadeweaver and the Humans:: he added but as he said that, he was cut off my a yell of surprise.
::Oh! Primus, you're not gonna believe it, OP; it's the Trine alright but get this, Shade's with 'em alive and well:: the voice of Jazz suddenly chimed in. The other Autobots murmured with surprise at the sudden turn of events.
"Wait, Shadeweaver's with Starscream?" Bumblebee reiterated.
"What in the pit's she doing with that Slagger?" Sunstreaker asked with distaste.
::Ah! Slaggit; the four of them just teleported away:: Mirage cursed, ::No doubt that was Skywarp's doing; what should we do now, Prime?::
::Return to base, both of you; we will take over operations for now::
"Lock on to Shadeweaver's signal, Prowl," Optimus ordered but just then, Teletraan-1 chimed.
"Huh? There's no need to, Optimus," Prowl spoke up, "There are three Decepticon signatures outside of the Ark; and one Autobot, Sir," he added.
"Autobots: ready yourselves for possible conflict but fire only on my command," Optimus ordered and within astroseconds, the Autobots who were not indisposed joined Optimus' side before making their way over the threshold.
"I'm gonna slag those blasted Cons to the pit!" Sunstreaker growled as his blaster whirred to life.
"You and me both, Bro," Sideswipe agreed.
Then as the Autobots made their way outside, three all too familiar Decepticons revealed themselves.
"Starscream, shoulda known it'd be you," Sideswipe snorted, "You Cons went way too far this time taking Shade and almost killing Red," he added as he poised a blaster as did many of the other Autobots. It was then however that they noticed an additional figure hunched over.
"Shade? Oh! My Primus!" cried Bumblebee as he ran over to the dazed Femme, "What in the pit did you Fraggers do to her!?" he demanded as he supported her.
"'S alright, Bee; I'm just a bit-" Shadeweaver balked as clamped her servo to her intake.
"We did nothing besides give her a little motion sickness," Starscream stated, "It was thanks to us that she and her Trine made it out of there in one piece. Had we not intervened, Megatron would still be interrogating and possibly killing her right this astrosecond. So I would kindly watch your glossa, little 'bot," he sneered.
"Che. What? So you've turned good all of a sudden?" Sunstreaker scoffed, "Knowing you, Screamer, you'd do anything to catch us at a disadvantage," he added.
"This was only a one off," Starscream said, "We only ask that you take your Autobot off our servos and let us leave peacefully. We have more important things to do than entertain a bunch of Ground-Pounders like you," he added with smirk.
"Oh! I'll pound that fraggin' smirk into the ground alright!" Sunstreaker snarled as sized him up but before he could take a swing, the Femme stepped in.
"Sunstreaker, don't," Shadeweaver said quickly, earning an incredulous look from the Lamborghini. The three Decepticons only blinked in response. Did the Femme just defend them?
"Are you out or your fraggin-!?" Sunstreaker started in disbelief.
"Just... let them go," Shadeweaver said, "I mean, they did save my life after all," she hinted. Sunstreaker regarded her for a moment, with a brief glance at the Humans who were safely tucked away inside her cockpit. The Mech then obliged with much reluctance before backing off from her.
"Che. Fine, whatever," Sunstreaker snorted as he turned to join the rest of the Autobots, "But don't expect me to stop next time," he added with an extra glare to the Trine as he walked away.
As Shadeweaver turned to join the others, she briefly caught the Air Commander's unreadable expression before he turned his attentions elsewhere. Seeing his window of opportunity, Starscream then motioned his Trine Mates to follow but not before glancing back at the Femme as she rejoined her comrades. Then recollecting his thoughts, Starscream and his comrades then, with not a moment too soon, transformed and shot into the open sky.
"Good riddance," Sunstreaker grunted, "I swear I'm gonna slag those fraggin' Cons one day," he added.
"Until then, Sunstreaker, we have much more pressing matters at hand," Optimus spoke up from watching the exchange from the sidelines, "Following recent events, I now strongly believe that Starscream is the very least of our worries. I believe we should now turn our attentions to the heart of the matter with optics squarely on Megatron himself," he said knowingly.
o0o0o
After debriefing with the other Autobots of her ordeal, Shadeweaver and her tiny trine now sat, yet again, on a berth in the Med-bay.
"So, have I beaten the Twins' record yet?" the Femme half joked.
"I'm afraid you will have to wait a good few million solar cycles for that; but don't you dare, and that goes for you two as well," Ratchet said, pointing his wrench at Joe and Cathy with amusement in his voice. "Well, anyway besides your gyroscopes getting a good workout, I'd say you're good to go," Ratchet replied, "As we're still waiting for materials to finish repairs from yesterday's battle, I strongly advise against flight for at least a day or two," he warned.
"Alright, so am I free?" Shadeweaver asked.
"Yes, that'll be all for now," Ratchet replied, "I will also speak to Wheeljack about your requests so that he can get to work on them tomorrow," he added.
"Ok. Thanks a lot, Ratchet," Shadeweaver said gratefully as she headed out of the med-bay.
"Wait, requests?" Cathy quizzed, "What requests?" she asked.
"Just to improve the efficiency of your jets," Shadeweaver replied, "I had a talk with him and he said Wheeljack should be able to rebuild your jets with photon rays and a radar that can detect Decepticon frequencies," she added.
"Good call, Shade; I hate not being able to help you out being so small," Joe said, "Maybe now with weapons that can actually do damage we can have a fighting chance," he added.
"Perhaps but it's more about keeping you two safe," Shadeweaver stated, "I could have lost you today, yesterday or at even Yellowstone. I don't plan on letting that happen again if I can help it," she added with determination. Joe and Cathy merely looked at each other as their Trine Leader returned them to her quarters.
o0o0o
Standing atop a cliff face stood a lone, winged figure. Thundercracker and Skywarp had since left for the Nemesis with most of the energon in tow while Starscream opted to stay behind to collect the last few dregs of his quota. As he gazed out at the last of dusk, various thoughts and algorithms cycled through his CPU as he processed recent dealings involving the Decepticon Leader. Just what was Megatron trying to prove in abducting the Human Trine Mates; would Megatron really have risked disbanding the Code of Honour by terminating them? Whatever the case, this situation was getting out of hand and as far as he was concerned, Megatron had shown utmost disrespect towards him and his kind. He knew that from now on he would have to be extra vigilant. It was then that his audio receptors caught movement from not far behind.
"Out for a stroll, are we?" his raspy voice called out.
"I was going to ask you the same question," replied the female voice of the Seeker Femme, "Didn't think you'd be the type to watch a sunset," he added.
"Please; that oversize fusion reactor is the least of my concerns," Starscream scoffed, Shadeweaver couldn't help but roll her optics at that, "Anyway, what are you doing out here? I'd have thought you'd be on high Alert since the incident earlier," he added.
"I am; don't get me wrong but I guess I just wanted to thank you for earlier," Shadeweaver replied, "You risked a hell of lot in doing that, you know," she added.
"I only did what was necessary," Starscream said, "Megatron has become unruly of late and I am sure you know by now how important the Code is to a Seeker," he added
"Yeah, Ratchet gave me the file and explained what it meant," Shadeweaver said, "Actually, the real reason I'm here is that, well, Optimus wants to make a proposition," she admitted.
"Hmph. If you are asking me to become an Autobot then I am afraid I must decline," Starscream snorted with disgust in his voice, "I won't ever bear that insignia for as long as I live even if I were not a Decepticon, and I guess now he has you doing his dirty work," he proclaimed.
"Look, I don't what vendetta you have with the Autobots but we're not asking you to join, we're just asking for you to at least co-operate with us," Shadeweaver vented, "I don't know if you've noticed but Megatron's been unpredictable lately and Optimus thinks it'd be a good idea if we at least worked together on this," she added.
Starscream thought for a moment as this was something that he had to handle with extreme care. Megatron had indeed pushed boundaries lately by not only performing underhand dealings behind his and the other Seekers' backs, he had knowingly endangered a Seeker's Trine. To have the Autobots' behind him would certainly be an asset but if Megatron were to find out, he and his own trine would be a prime target, and not to mention the other Seekers on base. This was something that he needed to carefully consider before making rash decisions.
"I am not saying that I will accept but I will at least consider it," Starscream eventually replied, "I will have to consult Thundercracker and Skywarp first, however, as they are my main priority," he added.
"No, I understand fully," Shadeweaver replied as she was only too aware of the importance of a Seeker's trine.
"Then I will return back to base," Starscream said as he neared the cliff edge, "I daren't doubt Megatron will be becoming suspicious of my absence," he added knowingly.
"Alright but just be careful ok?" Shadeweaver said; Starscream regarded her for a moment before the Decepticon turned toward the open sky. "Starscream, wait," the Femme spoke up gaining his attention, "Take this with you," she added as she, to his surprise, whipped out a full energon cube from her subspace.
"Why are you giving me this energon?" Starscream asked, but surprised and confused by the gesture as he felt the weight of the cube in his servos.
"Well, we may be enemies but I do recognise when someone goes out of their way to save me life," Shadeweaver replied, "It's not much but it should be enough for the three of you," she added.
This was one of those rare moments when the Decepticon was truly lost for words. Though he did not say anything, Shadeweaver could almost make out the subtle mix of confusion and gratitude in his expression. Then without a word, Starscream subspaced the cube and turned back towards the open sky. Shadeweaver then, understanding, stood back to give him his space. The Decepticon then transformed, letting his thrusters roar to life as he shot into the cold, night sky.
Shadeweaver just stood and watched as the very faint red glow illuminated the Seeker's vapour trail, thinking about the events of the past few joors. If there was one thing that she could take from this whole ordeal was that she knew from this moment on that everything had to be taken with utmost, extreme care. Not only was there the ongoing battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, there was also the added complication of the Code of Honour. Not only that, there was also the relative ease in which Megatron gained access to their base without detection. The situation was now very real and she had to better protect those, especially her trine, from the evil of Megatron's clutches.
o0o0o
Meanwhile:
Smoke bellowed from the corpse of an ex-Decepticon as he lay with a wide, gaping hole in his chassis. The Overlord sat with a scowl on his features as he lowered his fusion cannon, still smoldering from recent use. The other Decepticons cringed as they eyed the eerie, silent scream still etched on its features.
"Perhaps this will be a warning for you all," Megatron started, expression dark and threatening, "This is what will happen if I shall catch whoever betrayed me today," he snarled, burning with fury.
"You! Clear this mess up!" Megatron snapped at a shaking Decepticon, "Now get out of my sight, all of you and return to your work!" he barked and the Decepticons within proximity complied without question. Megatron let out a long vent as he composed himself. As he was left, yet again, in the piece and quiet, Megatron then eyed his ever-so diligent Communications Officer working tirelessly on the main monitor. "What do you have to report, Soundwave?" he asked.
"I am afraid there has been no reported sabotage to the main power source prior to the failure," Soundwave replied, "The Femme's signal is also nonexistent; speculation: the Femme has had outside influence and has escaped capture. Autobot signals were briefly apparent nearby," he reported.
"So it was just as I thought," Megatron started, "The Autobots must have used a cloaking device of their own and taken her right under our very noses. Well that's the last time they will outsmart me and get away with it!" he growled just as the monitor chimed.
"It is Starscream, my Lord. He too has completed his energon quota and wishes to board the Nemesis," Soundwave spoke up.
"Very well, let him in but do not speak about this to him or any of the other Seekers on base," Megatron ordered, "It the must not fall into the wrong hands if this is to work in our favour," he added.
"Yes, my Lord," Soundwave replied simply as Megatron left the main bridge.
So near yet so far. Through the failure, however, came a determination to see the task through. Megatron will have that Femme as part of his armada as a Seeker should be and nothing was going to stop him now.
"Oh. Believe me, little Femme, you may have been victorious today but I swear, your day will come soon enough," Megatron stated with a knowing evil smirk that played on his faceplates.
Author notes: And that's chapter 11 finally done. As I said, I actually had a lot of trouble with getting this one the way I wanted but I'm now happy with how it turned out. I realise it was quite lengthy being over 8k words but I really didn't want to rush it too much. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :).