Author's Notes: Well, here's another long chapter! Yay! I can write long chapters again! It seemed like for the longest time all I could write were short chapters. Don't really know why. Anyway, this one has action and a few sad moments, and I'm really happy with how it turned out! I hope you like it, too! Please don't forget to review :)
Chapter 12
Precious Life
The Ark was relatively quiet on this sunny day. The four parents decided to take their sparklings outside for some fresh air and some sorely needed playtime.
Red Alert and Skyfire seemed to be the most cautious parents; Skyfire because of how fragile his sparkling was, and Red Alert because...well, he's Red Alert. Honey Venom wasn't allowed to go more than 200 yards from the Ark, and Phobia wished she was that lucky!
Terrabyte stayed near the other two sparklings to keep them company, and her Filterbots stayed near her to sit in the shade of the Ark. Q-Boom left them all in the dust as she flew high up in the sky! Wheeljack, trying to test out a long-range sensor recorder, was taping Q-Boom as she broke another personal height record. He beamed up at her like the proud papa he was!
Sunstreaker just stood there, polished his arms, and tried not to think about the dirt the sparklings were playing in. He would have to take Terrabyte straight to the wash racks after she was done playing with these little miscreants.
Phobia looked back at Red Alert and waved enthusiastically at him, and he waved back with a rare smile on his face. Honey Venom scribbled in the dirt with her nails, and Terrabyte watched. Shriek soon flew away to join Q-Boom, and Screwball went over to Sunstreaker and sat at his feet.
Sunstreaker looked down at the little silver guard dog and quirked an optic ridge. The little monster had never approached him before (unless it was trying to bite him), and it had certainly never sat at Sunstreaker's feet before! This was strange. Could it be that this Filterbot was finally starting to trust him?
The calm atmosphere was broken when Q-Boom comm'ed Wheeljack.
/Hey, Pop!/ Q-Boom said over the comm frequency, /I'm not alone up here! Advise!/
/What do you mean, sweet spark?/ Wheeljack asked, /Is it those darn buzzards again?/
/No! It's adults!/ Q-Boom said tensely, /They're comin' up pretty fast! Should I land?/
/Let me see.../ Wheeljack angled his sensor camera to get a better look, and saw a group of Decepticons led by Starscream heading straight toward their location! /Q-Boom! Evasive action! Get out of there now!/
Q-Boom could see the adults were much faster than her! If she tried to land she would never make it in time! Thinking quickly (if irrationally) she activated her timer and blew herself to smithereens! Her pieces wouldn't reassemble until she hit the ground, so it would take a minute; plenty of time for them to not notice her.
Starscream, his trine, Astrotrain, and Blitzwing all landed right in front of the Autobot fathers and drew their weapons! Astrotrain discreetly let Rumble and Frenzy out of his cargo hold and they scurried away toward the sparklings.
"Give us the prisoners, Autobot scum!" Starscream demanded as he aimed his null ray for Red Alert's helm.
"What are you talking about?" Skyfire asked as he held up his hands in a placating gesture, "We have no prisoners aboard this vessel."
"Yes you do, traitor!" Starscream shouted as he changed his aim to Skyfire's helm, "You have captured Decepticon sparklings! Give them back!"
"Those are our sparklings!" Wheeljack objected, "And you can't have them!"
"Then taste the power of Blitzwing!" Blitzwing shouted as he drew his sword and swung at Wheeljack; who ducked just in time!
Suddenly the Decepticons attacked in full force! It was 5 of them against only 4 of the Autobots, but the Decepticons knew better than to feel superior in their numbers. They were at the Ark, and soon reinforcements would arrive for the Autobots. Of course, by then it would be too late if all went according to Starscream's plan.
Meanwhile, Rumble and Frenzy approached the sparklings. There were only three, but that just meant they would be easier to carry. This was going to be tough. Two of the sparklings were the same height as Rumble and Frenzy, and the gold one was actually a little taller!
"Hey there, little sparklings," Frenzy cooed in what he hoped was a reassuring voice, "You look like you're having fun over there. Say, would you like to go on an adventure with us? We can go someplace really fun!"
The gold sparkling looked up at him, sighed, and said "Does it look like we were sparked last orn? You're Decepticons, and we are Autobots. We are enemies, you bolt brains."
"Bolt brains!?" Rumble snapped furiously, "Alright scraplet, listen up! Either you come with us or we'll weld your mouths shut!"
Phobia started crying, not because of the threat but because she thought they were ignoring her. She didn't have a mouth, and it was something she was very sensitive about.
The crying was enough to get Sunstreaker's attention. Even though Phobia wasn't his sparkling, he could see Terrabyte close to the terror twins of the Decepticons! No one stole from Sunstreaker and lived to brag about it! They were not getting his daughter!
"Hey, come on! Don't cry!" Frenzy shouted frantically as Phobia's ear piercing wail drew attention to their nefarious enterprise, "Come on, scraplet! We'll give you an energon goodie. You like energon goodies, don't ya?"
Phobia hiccoughed a couple times, looked at Frenzy miserably, and then said "I can't eat energon goodies! I'm a leech!"
Frenzy gulped, and took a few steps away from the sparklings. Rumble didn't get why Frenzy was so scared, but saw the way his brother's red visor grew wider and the way he shivered as he stared at Phobia.
"What's wrong, Frenzy?" Rumble asked; confused.
"She's an energon leech," Frenzy all but whispered, "She's a parasite that will suck us dry until there's nothing left but dead grey husks!"
"That's not true!" Phobia protested, "I won't be able to kill you until I'm an adult! Adult leeches are the ones that can drain a mech to death, not sparklings!"
"This has gone on long enough," Honey Venom said with a bored expression on her face, "Terrabyte, recall Screwball for an attack."
"YeS, HoNEy VeNom," Terrabyte replied dutifully, "SCreWBall, reTuRN!"
The Filterbot couldn't get back to Terrabyte, however. Astrotrain had the silver pug in his massive hand and was trying to squeeze the life out of it! Terrabyte tried to scream, failed, and ran out into the battlefield to get her companion! Despite the pain in her spark, Honey Venom followed, and Phobia followed after her!
Sunstreaker was busy fighting off Skywarp. Sunstreaker was so enraged that he could no longer hear anything around him! He was in full battle berserker mode, and when he got like this all he saw was the battlefield and all he felt was bloodlust! It was a scary sight to an outsider, and a type of drunkenness that meant Sunstreaker would likely not remember half of what he even did!
He ripped Skywarp's arm off, and then gnashed his denta into the seeker's left wing! Skywarp was screaming curses at the yellow lambo twin, but Sunstreaker didn't hear him! All he knew was the smell of his enemy's energon and the danger his sparkling was in!
Terrabyte made it to Astrotrain in time to see the hulking triple changer drop the silver Filterbot on the ground. Terrabyte warbled unintelligibly, a pitiful sound, and slowly picked up the prone form of her symbiote. He was alive, but barely. Screwball was losing energon fast, and he didn't have long to live.
"Terrabyte, give him to me," Honey Venom said in a weak voice as she tried to avoid passing out.
"YeS, HoNEy VeNom," Terrabyte handed over the metallic dog without question.
Honey Venom raked her claws gently along the gushing energon lines. If she could paralyze those areas and force the energon lines to close, then maybe Screwball would have more time. Maybe enough time to heal or be repaired.
The girls were so intent on fixing the Filterbot that they completely forgot about Astrotrain standing right over them!
"So…" Astrotrain said in his creepy echoing voice, "This little menace belongs to you, eh? Well I'm sorry. I thought it was an Autobot. I'm sure we can fix him aboard the Nemesis. Just climb aboard and we'll be off."
Terrabyte looked up quickly at the Decepticon. He was huge! All four of the sparklings could probably fit in his fist! Terrabyte took a single step back to get a better look at him, but didn't say anything. It was actually Phobia that broke the silent standoff.
"We don't wanna go with you!" Phobia said with absolute certainty, "I wanna stay with my daddy! Honey Venom wants to stay with her, um...What is Skyfire to you?"
"My mentor," Honey Venom replied smoothly.
"Yeah! Honey Venom wants to stay with her mental!" Phobia barked at Astrotrain, and he chuckled at how she looked when she tried to be tough, "We don't wanna go with you anywhere, so just leave!"
"What about the third sparkling?" Astrotrain asked pointedly.
"You tried to kill her cassette!" Phobia pointed out angrily, "Why would anyone trust a murderer with their best friends? Oh, sorry...I forgot…"
"It'S ALRighT," Terrabyte replied as she put a hand on Phobia's shoulder.
Then a wonderful yet ear piercing sound was heard on the battlefield...
"Decepticons! Retreat!" Starscream shouted as he fired up his thrusters and left.
The other Decepticons soon followed, including a begrudged Astrotrain. Terrabyte looked around to see the damage, and almost purged when she saw one mech in particular…
Sunstreaker was pulling the dismembered and mangled body of Skywarp behind him. The seeker was still alive, but the carrier sparkling didn't see how. She looked at the other Autobots...They were all fine for the most part. Wheeljack might need some new paint and a replacement ankle joint, but otherwise they were fine. Q-Boom was even with Wheeljack helping him limp back to the Ark.
Still, Sunstreaker was covered in the spilled energon of his conquered enemy, and he didn't even seem to notice. Terrabyte had never seen him not complain about a mess on his paint job before. This new scene, with him filthy and carrying a seeker mutilated and worn into the Ark with him, it was disturbing.
Skyfire went up to the sparklings and looked them over carefully before asking "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
"Screwball is hurt," Honey Venom handed him the Filterbot, "Terrabyte will be sparkbroken if you don't get him fixed. Please help him…"
She wasn't crying or anything, but this was the first hint of honest emotion Skyfire had ever seen from his own sparkling, and he was touched that it was for the sake of one of her friends. He picked her up along with Screwball and went back into the Ark. Red Alert was left to get Phobia and Terrabyte since Sunstreaker had to carry their newest prisoner.
It was ironic, really. The Decepticons accused them of taking prisoners where there were none, and because of that now they actually had a prisoner.
Ratchet had to work tirelessly to repair the Decepticon seeker Skywarp. He didn't know why he bothered. Skywarp would've left them for dead any day of the week. Still, he needed to save the miserable 'Con's life. If for no other reason than Skywarp might have useful information about the Decepticons and their latest plan for conquest. Why they would try to steal sparklings though was anyone's guess.
Honey Venom had to be in the medbay during part of the operation. She was still too weak to be away from the medbay for long. After Ratchet felt like he was far enough along with the surgery, he had Skywarp moved to an isolation room so he couldn't harm any of the sparklings.
Skywarp awoke to dull orange walls and dim lighting. There was no furniture in the room except for his own medical berth and a single monitor that transmitted his vital signs to the main medbay for Ratchet. He was alone, and it was quiet. He felt like he would go insane from how quiet it was!
"Hello? Hey! Can a mech get some room service here?" Skywarp shouted caustically; mostly so he could hear something, "Hey! How about getting this IV out of me and giving me some real energon? Helloooo? I know you can hear me, you Autobot slaggers! When I get my servos on you-!"
Before he could finish his threat, however, the door gently swooshed open and a tiny figure came inside. Skywarp figured it was probably one of the humans or maybe a minibot. Soon he would have to face Ratchet Jazz or Prowl, and then the torture would begin. Needless to say, Skywarp didn't feel very charitable in that moment.
"Oh, so you finally heard me, huh fragger?" Skywarp spat in contempt, "Yeah, well, when my trine comes back with reinforcements you're gonna get slagged from here all the way back to Cybertron!"
The tiny figure backed up a few steps, but then gingerly started approaching Skywarp again. When the light shone on his visitor, Skywarp could see it was one of the sparklings! It stared at him with wide but emotionless eyes, and circled his berth as if calculating its next move. Skywarp didn't expect anything so small and adorable to look so intelligent.
"So...You're little, huh?" Skywarp said awkwardly; not sure how to recover from cussing out a sparkling, "Well then...Listen sweet spark, my neck really hurts with this collar on, so could you be a dear and get the key and remove it for me? You're a big femme, right? You can do that for ol' Uncle Skywarp, can't ya?"
The collar he spoke of was put in place to keep him from teleporting, and removing it would allow him to escape. He hoped he could trick the sparkling into helping him, and then he could teleport himself and the sparkling back to the Nemesis.
The sparkling, however, was making no move to get the key or even to answer him. She was still circling the berth and moving her gaze from one restraint to the next. There were four restraints to contain his four limbs, and another one over his waist. There was the neck collar that prevented teleportation and transformation, and a final cuff on his left arm to lock his subspace pocket. The Autobots had him locked up tighter than a drum!
The sparkling circled a couple more times, cocked her head to one side for a minute as she thought about what she was looking at, and then pulled a small item out of her subspace. Skywarp craned his head to get a better look at what she was doing near his right thruster, and saw that she was holding a welding torch from Ratchet's office! The sparkling never said a word as she gently but diligently melted down the cuff holding down Skywarp's right pede!
"Hey, good job kid!" Skywarp said excitedly as he watched her go from one thruster to the other, "Just get my arms and we're home free! I'll be able to remove the other stuff myself."
The sparkling didn't listen to him though. She went to his waist next, and then to his left arm. When that was free, she set the torch down so Skywarp could free his own right arm. He smiled with unrestrained glee as he freed his final limb and then melted down the troublesome collar and subspace lock!
Skywarp pumped his fist in triumph! He then turned to his silent rescuer to teleport her back with him to the Decepticon base, but when he looked she was already gone. She was out the door and he knew if he went after her he would be spotted. Better to teleport now and report to Starscream. Sadly, he would have to make up an excuse for Megatron; who had no idea of what Starscream and the others had planned to save the sparklings. Skywarp hated going against Megatron, but those sparklings were Decepticons, and they deserved to be raised as conquerors instead of soft sparked Autobots!
He sighed in defeat and told himself this was only temporary as he disappeared from the Ark in a flicker of purple light.
There was no way to deny it. The security footage might have been difficult to see in that dark isolation room, but it was obvious that one of the sparklings freed Skywarp! The Autobots were shocked as they realized they were betrayed by one of their own, and a being that seemed so innocent at that!
The only sparkling that had an alibi was Q-Boom, who had been with Bumblebee in the rec room at that time. Honey Venom was supposedly in the medbay, but Ratchet had stepped out for a half hour to go to the supply room and find more medical grade energon for Skywarp.
"It had to be Honey Venom!" Sunstreaker said vehemently, "That femme has been nothing but trouble ever since she got here!"
"Sunstreaker please, we don't know that," Skyfire tried to dissuade his colleague's anger.
"No! No more excuses!" Sunstreaker shouted at Skyfire, "She has been waiting for an excuse to serve her Decepticon masters all this time! Can't you see it in her optics? She hates us and she's been planning to betray us from day one! She manipulates us and even her own friends for her own purposes! She's a Decepticon through and through!"
"I agree with Sunstreaker!" Red Alert said wholeheartedly, "I wouldn't be surprised if she's just been pretending to be weak so she can steal our secrets and give them to Megatron!"
"Well, I don't know about sabotage, but I can testify to her weakened physical state," Ratchet said as he scowled at Red Alert.
Skyfire hung his head. He was afraid an angry mob would go after his sparkling and it scared him, but the truth was he knew her better than any other Autobot and even he believed deep down that she was capable of switching sides. She had a smug type of superiority that Decepticons seemed to admire, and she outright admitted to him that she was only an Autobot so she could have a place to live. Still, he didn't want them to harm his daughter!
Skyfire was broken from this reverie when he saw Sunstreaker storm out of the room followed by several other Autobots that were either encouraging him or trying to stop him. Skyfire rushed to join them, hoping Sunstreaker wouldn't do anything to harm a sparkling.
Honey Venom, meanwhile, sat on her berth and read a book from the extensive collection she kept in her subspace. Ratchet was gone and had been for some time. She couldn't help but wonder what had the grouchy medic so concerned. She waved the thought away and turned back to her book; an autobiography written by none other than Megatron himself.
The door swooshed open, and Sunstreaker stormed in like the fury of the Unmaker! He was followed by Prowl, Red Alert, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Jazz, and Skyfire. Honey Venom gave the room a cursory glance, shrugged, and then returned to her book.
"Honey Venom!" Sunstreaker bellowed accusingly, "I know it was you!"
"Excuse me?" Honey Venom asked as if she were addressing a mouthy servant.
"I know you're the one who freed Skywarp! Traitor!" Sunstreaker pointed a digit at her to illustrate his point, "Just admit it!"
"You can neither prove or disprove that statement, Sunstroke," Honey Venom said with a menacing sneer, "You have no case!"
"You better watch yourself," Sunstreaker growled, "It is taking every ounce of restraint I have to not rip you apart. I would never harm a sparkling, but you need to remember that you won't be a sparkling forever."
"That's right, Sunshine, I won't," Honey Venom's voice took on a biting tone as she spoke her next words, "I'll either be a femme, or I'll be dead from spark failure. Not that it matters either way. You want me dead, and if I survive it's just more fun for you. You enjoy killing femmes, don't you Sunstreaker?"
Sunstreaker couldn't take anymore of that smug sneering Decepticon wannabe! He lunged at her, but Sideswipe pulled him back and held him down before he could even touch Honey Venom!
"Let me go, Sides! She has this coming!" Sunstreaker grunted and growled as he tried to free himself from his twin brother.
"This isn't right, Sunny!" Sideswipe shouted at his writhing brother, "We're better than the 'Cons! If she is guilty then she can't hide forever! Everything will work out, you'll see. Come on, Sunny!"
"Yes, my investigation is ongoing," Prowl said stoically as he took a twin in each hand and pried them apart, "Until such time as the truth comes out, all sparklings are to be confined to the Ark. I will determine who freed Skywarp. Until then, I suggest we take our leave."
The other Autobots left except for Ratchet, but before he let the door close behind him Sunstreaker turned back to Honey Venom and said "I know you're a traitor."
"Technically, I can't be a traitor," Honey Venom replied with a superior smile on her face, "I'm not old enough to choose a side yet and receive my sigil."
"Yeah? What is your sigil, Honey Venom?" Sunstreaker asked, and then left before she could answer.
Ratchet sighed and gave Honey Venom a forlorn look. She put away the data pad of Megatron's autobiography and was grateful they didn't try to use it against her. She gave Ratchet a smile, this time more of a simper, and then lied down to recharge. She didn't recharge, however, but instead opened a comm transmission to Terrabyte.
/Terrabyte. This is Honey Venom,/ the gold sparkling waited for the static to clear, and then said /Sunstreaker just came in and told me Skywarp was released earlier today. Know anything about that, Terrabyte?/
For a long time there was no answer, and Honey Venom wondered if she would go into stasis lock before getting an answer, but then…
/I'm SoRrY!/ Terrabyte cried out over the transmission, /SunSTrEAker...AlMoSt kiLled him. ThE AUtoBotS...WeRe GoIng to Kill hIM./
/I see,/ was all Honey Venom said at first, but then /I'll report to Optimus Prime that it was me who released Skywarp./
/NOOoo!/ Terrabyte wailed desperately, /YOu aRe iNnoCent!/
/It doesn't matter!/ Honey Venom snapped, /I'm dying, Terrabyte! It doesn't matter if they hate me! You still have a chance to survive until your upgrade, but you have to live by their rules! You are an Autobot now, and you live by the will of the Prime and Sunstreaker alone! You must never, and I mean never, show mercy to a Decepticon ever again! You are an Autobot now! You will never show sympathy to Decepticons, and you will never so much as talk to them without permission! Do you understand me?/
There was another long silence, but then…
/YeS, HoNeY, VeNom./
/Good. I'll confess to Prime as soon as I'm strong enough to stay awake,/ Honey Venom declared, /Honey Venom out./
Terrabyte hung up the comm inside her head and looked around her room. There were her toys, and the berth Sunstreaker had brought to her that first night. There were the bunks where the twins slept, and the shelves filled with their stuff. She looked around her room, and thought about the energon on Sunstreaker's body as he carried Skywarp into the Ark like a hunting trophy.
She sat down on her berth, all alone with no one but the Filterbots inside her, and she sobbed for the first time since she found herself in the foundling home. She felt the coolant flow freely from her eyes, but she didn't even care! She wailed, and hoped no one else could hear her.