Author notes: So. Funny story. I was thinking about how I wanted this to go for three days, musing over possibilities. My brain wasn't sure what it wanted. A particular layout came to mind that I went over for THREE DAYS, and then, the night before writing this.. My brain changed it's mind. So, here, have this thing that I saw in my dreams last night.
RESPOND TIME, YAY!
To EVERYONE who commented on Lugnut: Considering what a sparkbonded pair can feel what the other feels, I figured Lugnut would treat Bumblebee as a sort of extension of his beloved lord and master; if Bumblebee felt pain, Megatron would, in a way, feel it as well. I just went with that mentality. I also sort of saw him as more intelligent than he lets on. I mean.. Who IS the Decepticon medic? XD
DreamStoryWeaver: I'm going to assume you meant Lugnut and not Lockdown; if so, see above. If not.. I've no idea.
Wirewolf: See, I don't think Sari IS the Allspark. Didn't she just zap the rest of it's power to upgrade? I assumed she was just a Cybertronian sparkling.
Lucy Sameragui: You got it on the nose. Axion is, in fact, inspired by the Axalon of Beast Wars.
Black Dragon Queen: ..Where did you go? :(
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Life is but a dream
Drifting on a stream, a stream
Consciously it seems
All of what remains
Ego brain
Man made shame;
Shame, love after it rains
You see, my pain is real
Watch my world dissolve
And pretend that none of us saw the fall
-- "Ego Brain", System of a Down
Streamline: Chapter Twelve
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In hindsight, Sentinel Prime thought bitterly, he really should have opted for a larger crew. At the time, he had made the decision simply because he hadn't wanted to deal with the responsibilities and tribulations a larger crew would demand. The mission had been so simple, so small and, to him at the time, simply lacked reason to include more people; now that they actually had a conflict, he wished he hadn't made the decision he had.
He was still in command of the situation, although for how long remained to be seen; the cloaked Decepticon warship hadn't spotted them just yet, so things had to be done quickly before they did.
"Jazz, get everyone up here, even Jetfire and Jetstorm!" Both twins were still recovering from their wounds; they had hoped to get to Cybertron for proper repairs. "I disengaged the bounty hunters' ship, but I need people up here!"
Oh, it hurt to admit that he needed a crew; his pride was swallowed simply out of fear.
"Got it, S.P.!" Sentinel would never admit that he trusted Jazz more than any other bot; the cyber-ninja had saved his aft more than a few times.
With that much out of the way, the Prime tapped at the Elite Guard's extended comm. "Someone out there tell me I got backup coming!"
A flash of light caught his optics; a glance at a screen showed that the Nemesis had ran right in to Lockdown's ship. Both decloaked at once; the larger warship fired on the other, ravaging it apart in an impressive, terrifying display of sheer power.
"Woah." Someone he didn't recognize responded on the other end of the extended comm; seems they had seen the explosion. "Sentinel Prime, the nearest ships to your own are roughly one and one half breems from your current position." Whoever it was at least tried to be professional. "Can you maintain your trajectory at this time?"
Sentinel glanced at the screen again, barely noticing Jazz leading the group of young mechs behind him. "I'm operating on a third the standard crew size with damaged precious cargo." He hated codewords, but the more militaristic and respectful his behavior was, the faster help would arrive; his atypical yelling, he assumed, would only delay much needed assistance.
"Noted. The ships closest to your positions will be advised. Command out."
Sentinel let out an intake, looking to the group behind him; Jetfire and Jetstorm had been helped to their usual positions, but without the mobility they ordinarily had, their help was limited at best. The large blue Autobot looked to the terrified special agent and the grim-looking maintenance bot; he had never seen such an expression on Bumblebee's face before and it caused a moments' pause. Sari hovered in the air; for a short moment, he wondered when she had grown jets. "Primus, you three better know how to use our systems!"
"Sentinel Prime sir!" Jetfire tried to turn and winced; his side was barely holding together under the medical bindings. "Decepticons are being in chasings!"
"Slaggit!" Sentinel rushed back to the helmsman's controls, piloting the craft himself. "Buckle up, people!"
Bumblebee, Blurr and Sari exchanged a glance; the special agent let out a whimper before zipping to an empty console. Sari hovered by her yellow friends' side before they both sat at another, the transorganic standing on a yellow shoulder.
It wasn't entirely clear how the Nemesis had spotted their craft; they were, after all, still cloaked. However, it was obvious that they knew exactly where they were, the immense warship flying right for their steadily fleeing position.
"We got bogeys!" Jazz tapped at buttons and controls, firing Elite Guard weaponry on the incoming ships. "Holy.. There's ships coming out of the Decepticon ship bigger than we are!"
"We're going as fast as we can, Jazz!" Sentinel growled. "Less than a breem until backup gets here!"
A small rumble went through the craft. Jetstorm let out a small, strangled yelp. "..We were just in losing of back of ship. And also cloakings."
"Turbinesfourandfivearedown!" Blurr wailed, reading the flashing red texts and readouts on his screen. "Twoandsixareathalfpower! Ohslagohslagohslag.."
"Nobody panic, slaggit!" Sentinel Prime hissed, gripping his controls; he was perilously close to the same fear gripping the rest of his makeshift crew. They had slowed down incredibly with the well-aimed hits and continued damage they were receiving; despite returning fire with everything at their disposal, they were still massively outnumbered and outmatched.
A sudden hiss emerged from Bumblebee as he clutched his chest with a hand; at a concerned look from Sari, he twitched with the anger that barely covered his own mounting fears. "The fragger's real happy."
"Well, good for him!" Sentinel snarled; he glared at the screens for a moment; then, a wide grin crossed his face. "Yes! Finally!"
Reinforcements had finally arrived; half a dozen similarly sized ships to their own came from different directions, firing on enemy craft and warship alike. The Elite Guard symbol on the sides of each craft proclaimed their allegiance as they started a firefight with the swarm of Decepticon ships.
"This is Nova Prime aboard the Nexus, what's your status?"
"About time you showed up!" Sentinel grinned; he had never been so glad to hear another Prime in his life. "Half our turbines are either down and out or damaged and part of the ship's gone."
"We've also received your earlier memo. We're on our way to escort --"
A short, worried pause passed at the unexpected stop. Sentinel frowned deeply. "Nova? Come in, Nova Prime!"
A large flash went off on one screen; the Nexus blew apart with a large ball of fire and explosive debris, tendrils of flame briefly reaching through the vacuum of space before extinguishing.
Several nano-kliks passed in stunned silence.
"..Turbineonejustshutoff." Blurr whimpered. "Twoandsixarealmostgone."
"Emergency shuttle --" Jazz sputtered.
"Is gone, Jazz sir." Jetstorm whimpered. "Back of ship and escape shuttle are gone."
"So are being emergency stasis pods." Jetfire half whispered as he looked slowly to their Prime. "What are we in doing?"
---------------------------------
They had gotten so close.
The glittering beacon that was Cybertron still shone in the distance, an almost mocking witness to the destruction that lay so close to what would have been haven.
The dark whispers from the core of his spark did nothing to help the horror-driven disbelief; Megatron was close enough that he could almost hear the Decepticon lord despite not being in the depths of recharge. The joyful anticipation that came from the deep, dark echoes sent a shudder through his frame.
A soft rumble went through the ship, bringing the situation at hand back in to focus.
"What the slag was that?!" Sentinel Prime yelled in fury, but the fear in his optics was unmistakeable.
"Tractor beams!" Jazz sputtered in terror, looking to the screens. "One of ours and a Decepticon ship's both got a lock on us! They're gonna pull us apart!"
A dark, ominous creaking came from the ship itself; metal began to warp and push with the opposite forces trying to bring them to either side. A seam tore in the ceiling; steam and sparks rained down. Blurr yelped and dashed aside to avoid injury.
"Oh my god.." Sari's voice at his audio receptor caused a sudden panic. He ran to Sentinel, quickly picking up his dear friend in his hands; he knew what had to be done.
"Sari, stay with Sentinel!"
"What?!" Sari and Sentinel both sputtered in surprise.
"The ship's about to blow and we're about to get scattered!" Bumblebee gestured to the metal above them that continued to break apart. "They're going to come after me! You're safer with Sentinel!"
A loud roar of metal being torn from itself came from behind them; the entire back of their ship's command central tore apart. The deep vacuum of space pulled at the sudden hole in the hull; the crew clung to anything they could to keep from being pulled through.
A small transorganic clung to the Prime's shoulder in terror, gasping at the gaping, growing chasm. A prayer came to mind; terrified, she couldn't help but mumble it under her breath. "..Walk through the valley of the shadow of death.."
The ship tore apart.
The dual, dueling tractor beams that had gripped their ship continued their ministrations until there was nothing left of the Elite Guard vessel; the crew was sent flying through the darkness of space and furious firefight around them. Thankfully, Cybertronians had no need to actually breathe; unfortunately, they were all sent in different directions. Sound stopped entirely; there was no air in space to pass along the waves.
Bumblebee silently thanked Primus that he had thought to pass Sari to another; at once, he could spot no less than two Decepticon vessels flying in his direction.
He swore loudly, even if no one could hear it. He wished he had the booster jets Sari's father had made, relying solely on the lack of gravity and subtle pushes from his own stingers to move him along. If an Autobot ship could pick him up, then he had a chance.
He's flown through space once; he could do it again.
From the corner of his optics, he spotted a friendly ship pick up one of his scattered friends in a brightly colored tractor beam; from the distance they had been spread, he couldn't tell who it was, but at least someone was safe.
In space, direction meant nothing; there was no up and there was no down. Ships twirled and spun, an endless sea of destruction and fire as soundless laser broke other crafts apart and extinguished lives. The great warship hung ominously, protected by the fleet that came from within it.
Bumblebee noticed a familiar ship 'beneath' him; he pushed against a floating piece of what was once Sentinel Prime's ship, stingers crackling with enough electricity to give his systems an extra charge to move along. The sudden pull at his backside -- as well as a bright blue glow -- told him that the Autobot ship had spotted him and had begun to pull him in.
He managed to turn to look at the ship, grinning widely; he moved towards the ship a little too slow for his liking -- the technology behind tractor beams hadn't been perfected just yet --, but the bottom of the ship had opened in anticipation. He could actually see a few of the crew members inside.
He never made it there, nor did he see the Decepticon ship before it was too late. Neither had the Autobot craft; not until the dark, purple ship crashed right in to the white Autobot vessel. It wasn't a hard enough impact to damage either ship much, but it did stop the tractor beam's pull and caused a crewmate to fall from the opening in the ship, pulled by the vacuum of space. The Decepticon's tractor beam erupted, capturing the fallen crewmate.
Then, a firefight erupted between the two crafts. Bumblebee fired his stingers at the Decepticon craft; it didn't damage the ship, but it did push him away from it.
This time, he flew towards the glittering star that was Cybertron in the distance. It would take him months to get there on his own power, but his sole intention was to get far enough from the fight for a friendly craft to pick him up; the further he was from the ongoing fight, the better.
He knew Megatron was tracking him. A hope was clung to that, perhaps, it wouldn't matter.
For a moment, it appeared to work; the firefight became ever so slightly more distant. An Autobot craft came from behind him, from the fight, in his direction; a small smile crossed his face.
Unfortunately, so did a Decepticon ship. The purple craft fired on the other; a turbine blew apart and the ship slowed just enough for the attacker to bypass it, flying above and over. The red shine of it's own tractor beam erupted, grabbing for a frightened yellow mech.
Bumblebee fired his stingers at the ship despite knowing it would do nothing. The incapacitated Autobot vessel did nothing; likely, it couldn't, not firing it's weaponry even as more Decepticon crafts came over it like buzzards to a corpse.
Stingers were paused and charged; as the bottom of the Decepticon ship opened up to bring him in, he fired inside with everything he had.
---------------------------------
Sentinel Prime couldn't believe he was still online.
The ship had been broken apart. He had been tossed through space. Decepticon ships came right for his barely protected form. To top it off, a small semi-organic girl had clutched to him for protection the entire time.
Somehow, he was still online. It was nothing short of a miracle.
"Can you call the other ships?!" He demanded, unable to keep the shock of it all off his faceplate as he looked to the Autobot crew that had saved his life. "My men are still out there!"
"Give me a nano-klik!" A blue and yellow mech he didn't recognize tapped at a console; the ship was identical to the one he had piloted and he recognized it as the communications center. A light shone green after several seconds. "This is Nautilus aboard the Tranquility, requesting information about the rest of the Axion's crew. Tranquility out."
"This is Hot Shot aboard the Requiem. Special agent Jazz is aboard our vessel. Requiem out."
"Hey, Cryotek on the Serenity here. Special agent Blurr is on our ship and has minor injuries. We're heading for Iacon for medical care. Serenity out."
Silence came for several long seconds; Sentinel frowned deeply. "Three of my men are still missing."
The blue and yellow mech frowned in return. "Three are still unaccounted for. Advise. Tranquility out."
"Son of a..!" A mech on one of the other ships yelped, surprising at least the mech at the console. "This is Tracer on the Nebulan, we've just received information that the special target known as Bumblebee was captured by the Decepticons along with the Dreamwave and all it's crew. Nebulan slagging out."
"No!" Sari cried, covering her face with her hands. "No, no, no..!"
Sentinel winced, but still frowned, waiting; no one on any of the other ships called in with any further information. "..Where the slag are Jetfire and Jetstorm..?"
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I am just a man
Fighting other men
For land, for land
While I turn to sand,
In spite of the pain
Ego brain
Man made shame;
Shame, love after it rains
You see my pain is real,
Watch my world dissolve
And pretend that none of us see the fall
As I turn to sand,
You took me by the hand
And declared that:
Love prevails over all
-- "Ego Brain", System of a Down
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Author Notes: Yeah, my brain hasn't decided where the twins went off to. Stupid thing can't make up it's mind..
Also, those random bots at the end? Yeah, consider them NPCs. I found random bots by clicking the 'random page' button on the Transformers wikia, all except for Hot Shot. The ship names are mostly made up. Odds are, we'll never see them again. =D
Why are my chapters getting shorter? o_o
