12. Night Terrors
Kale awoke to violent shaking and shouting. Sitting up, he was unceremoniously tossed from his bunk as another violent explosion shook the ground.
"What the fuck is going on?" his roommate cried over the noise.
Kale's first thought was that Starscream went back on his word and was attacking the base or at least had something to do with this. The thought made him furious, but he quickly dashed the idea from his mind. He wouldn't let himself jump to conclusions. Scrambling to his feet he managed to get himself to a pair of pants and his boots before stumbling out of his bunk.
Rushing down the hall with little or no balance he ran in the direction of the exit, pushing past his disorientated and confused comrades as he did so. Tristan shot out of his own bunk and wasn't far behind him, yelling at him to stop or wait, but Kale was set on getting out onto the deck. Throwing himself through a steel door the clean, salty smell of the ocean that usually greeted him had corroded into burning oil and metal that stung the inside of his nose and the night sky illuminated by the orange glow of fire.
His view was obstructed as a massive metal form of dark armor dropped before him, staring down at him with red optics full of disgust and hate. Falling on his ass under the sheer power of the being in front of him, Kale stared slacked jawed up at Vortex in fear while the Decepticon chortled with superiority.
Starscream only saw Kale as the man emerged from within the barracks because Vortex was standing over him and Vortex was a lot more noticeable. Starscream glanced down at his injured shoulder and cursed. It hurt, but it was bearable. Perhaps he had gotten rusty while he was lazing about, hiding from his former comrades. Growling he pushed himself up and aimed a well trained missile at Vortex's back. Last minute, he aimed for the mech's shoulder, causing him to spin around and to the right. To hit him directly in the back would make him fall and crush Kale. Starscream cursed again, loudly.
Vortex turned, a ferocious look to him, but Starscream didn't back down. "Our fight isn't over, Vortex!" he called, keeping his adversary's attention on him. Out of the corner of his optic, he saw Kale scramble to get to his feet and duck for cover. "Risking my life for a human," he missed to himself, grinning bitterly, "I must be out of my slagging mind."
Vortex sprang forward in a dead charge, which Starscream countered. They met in a clash of grinding gears and scraping metal. Sparks flew between them as Vortex took the other down, pinning him on his back, only feet from where Kale had hidden. Starscream threw his weight away from the human, managing to roll them away and give Kale another chance to find more suitable cover. Starscream quickly realized that he was going to get himself killed worrying about the human's safety.
Kale stood from his hiding spot and watched the wrestling robots feeling helpless. "Starscream!"
Vortex grabbed the back of Starscream's head and delivered a large fist into the middle of his face. Dropping him onto his knee, he knocked him away. The F-22 rolled until coming to an uncomfortable heap on his side, but still managing to arrange his canon arm to aim directly at Vortex's chest. Vortex managed to dodge enough to keep the shot from striking his spark, but he didn't get away unscathed. The shot knocked him back to where Kale stood near the antenna farm. Rubble started to fall and it would've sure crushed the small human if Starscream hadn't thrown himself over him, catching all the rubble on his back.
Kale lowered the arms that he had raised for feeble protection, staring into blatantly annoyed red eyes as Starscream shook of the debris. "Why'd you do that?"
"You humans are too fragile," he spat in reply.
"That doesn't explain why you saved me."
"Shut up," Starscream ordered. "Go hide or something. You're in my way."
"Where?" Kale asked, his voice cracking.
"I don't know!" he yelled in exasperation. "You stay here and you die! Damn! You useless human! Just stay behind me!"
Kale's eyes widened further in surprise. Starscream got his feet as did Vortex. The two Decepticons stared each other down. Kale struggled to stand as the fires set off more explosions, along with destroying more planes on the deck. He watched the darker robot approach, only to have his vision blocked by Starscream's foot.
"It seems you've acquired a pet," Vortex mocked. "How can you protect something so disgusting, Starscream? This is low, even for you."
Starscream growled angrily in response, shifting into a more ready defensive stance.
"You're weaker then I could have ever imagined," Vortex added.
"I'll show you weak," Starscream spat back.
Holding up his canon his fired. As Vortex dodged, Starscream charged again, tackling the other to the ground. As they slid away, concrete buckled and bunched under the weight of their bodies. Kale was forced to watch. His fellow soldiers were running around, trying to get out of their way. Kale turned away when some didn't make it. Bodies were tossed around by explosions, jets were turned over and broken like little plastic toys. Kale had not seen much action in his still new military career, but he more then had his fill.
"Kale!"
He spun around at the sound of his name. A fist was the only thing that greeted him, striking him in the cheek and forcing him to spin around to the ground. Seeing stars, he was well aware that it was Tristan that had sent his fist rocketing at his face. He tried to push himself up as his friend ranted furiously at him.
"I fucking knew it!" he yelled over all the noise. "You should've reported him you stupid son of a bitch! You should've reported him! This is all your fault!"
"He's trying to help us!" Kale shouted back, wiping the blood from his chin from a split lip. "He's trying to save us!"
"He's one of them!"
"No, he's not! Look at him!"
But Tristan refused. Instead, he charged at Kale, intent on being the shit out of him in their apparent final moments. Kale had always been the better fighter, even when they were kids wrestling in the back yard. Grabbing his arm, he spun the younger man around the face the dueling robots, keeping him a firm headlock, applying pressure in the right places to make sure he had his attention.
"Look at him!" his whispered harshly into Tristan's ear. "They're not on the same side!"
True to that, Starscream was getting his metal ass handed to him on a silver platter. He didn't have the opportunity to completely stand before Vortex was knocking him back down, laughing manically with glee and malicious taunts. Tristan struggled as if he didn't want to be faced with a truth he didn't want to acknowledge, but Kale refused to let go.
"For fuck's sake, Tristan, look at him!"
"Fine!" he finally relented. Kale let him go and Tristan shoved away from him coldly. "But this is still your fault." He faced his best friend, eyes full of fury. "If you would've told someone about him then maybe we could have prepared ourselves for the other one."
Kale couldn't say whether Tristan was right or wrong. He didn't know how much of a difference it really would have made in the long run, but he couldn't think about that right now. Right now, Starscream needed help and since it looked like no one else would be jumping to it he was going to have to take care of it. Without a word to Tristan, kale took off in full out sprint towards the remaining fighters, hoping to snag one before the fire reached them. He didn't need to see the look on Tristan's face to know the other man was horrified by what Kale was about to do.
"KALE!" he cried desperately as he took off after him. "Kale, no!"
Kale ignored him. Dodging flying debris and stray shots he didn't look back. There was more then one close call, but either he really didn't pay attention or he just didn't care. He didn't slow down, not until she got a ladder and pushed it towards a jet. He could feel the heat of the fire raging nearby as his made his skin tight. Climbing up the ladder he climbed into the cockpit and shut himself inside before Tristan could stop him. Throwing on the helmet he didn't pay any attention to Tristan's hitting the window as he yelled at him to get out. His response was to start the engine. Tristan was forced to climb down and watch as Kale pulled out and shot down the runway.
Starscream saw the jet circling in the sky, coming around to face him and Vortex. A single missile shot away from the F-22 and hit Vortex in the back knocking him away with an aggravated scream giving Starscream the chance he needed to try and get back on his feet. The pilot flew dangerously low and Starscream was able to see who it was. While the human saved his aft, Starscream cursed Kale's stupidity.
Vortex got up roaring in anger as his gazed fixated on the pilot that was currently circling back around for another go. Aiming his canon at the jet he fired. The pilot veered left, spinning expertly and kept coming. A hail of bullets rained down, plugging into Vortex's armor. The fighter passed over head, keeping high and out of range of his short range weapons. Vortex trained his arm on the jet, aiming carefully while being aware of Starscream's sluggish movement to his right as the mech tried get himself fully upright. He locked on despite the pilot's crafty maneuvers, but he didn't the chance to fire when another blow grazed his left leg, brining him down to one knee Another jet shot overhead.
"Tristan!" Kale exclaimed in surprise.
"There is no way in hell I'm letting you do this one your own, you piece of shit," Tristan replied, his southern drawl thick. "Let's take this fucker down!"
Kale felt himself grin behind his mask as he and Tristan flew side-by-side. "Alright!"
"Bank left," Tristan suggested. "I'll go right. Yeehaw!"
The jets broke away from each other in an offensive maneuver. Starscream kept his optics on the two fighters, curing the second stupid human that showed up. He turned his attention back to the current Decepticon leader and he got his feet, his left leg leaking energon profusely. Aiming his gunner arm, his shot off a couple of rounds, forcing him to duck for cover. The two fighters swooped in and shot at Vortex while he was incapacitated. Forced back to a knee, the mech took a wild swing at Tristan, but missed by mere feet.
"Shit!" Tristan cursed, panic in his voice. "That was waaaaaay to fuckin' close."
"Get him in the water," Kale said.
Vortex was stumbling further and further back towards the edge of the base where there was a clear drop off into the water while his three enemies continued to push him back. There was a pause in the assault in which he took to aim at one of the fighter jets. A double barrel gun emerged from his armor plating and fired a single round. The targeting bullet tore through the fighter's right wing forcing it to spin out.
Kale was very aware of the huge amount of trouble he was in now. With no other choice but to eject he found himself slamming his hand against the button before he even really thought it through. As the chute deployed he looked down at the Decepticon that was trailing his decent with a gun and the cold water below.
Decisions, decisions.
Quickly detaching himself from the seat he slid off and free fell towards the water. Bracing himself for the icy sting, he was surprised to find himself coming to an abrupt halt in a large metal palm as metal, claw-like fingers encased around him. Looking up, he saw that Starscream had caught him, seemingly stuck between his true form and that of the fighter he disguised himself as.
Kale didn't get the chance to say thank you before Starscream was tossing him back into the air. Kale could hear the telltale sound of him transforming. Starscream flew under the flailing and screaming human, opened his cockpit and caught him, shutting it immediately. Kale was still screaming as he looked around his surroundings.
"Will you shut up?" Starscream hissed.
"You fucking asshole!" the pilot replied, his hoarse voice cracking.
"I just saved your pathetic life, so the least you can do is shut that hole in your face!"
Kale did as he was told, but first grumbled out a petulant, "Bastard."
"Uh, guys!" Tristan said. "As much as I don't want to interrupt your lovers spat I could use some help over here!"
Starscream shot off towards the battle, spinning to avoid any shots from Vortex. If he was capable in this form, Starscream would have grinned. One thing that he knew he had over Vortex was speed and agility. Kale had his hands on the steering, but didn't try and take control. Starscream let him because it seemed to comfort the human and he didn't need him freaking out anymore. Tristan flew in the distance, looking to come around again. Starscream shot over Vortex's head in another barrage of bullets. Tristan came in flying straight at the Decepticon, bullets firing readily. Vortex dropped low and shot forward at the incoming jet. Tristan couldn't pull up fast enough. Leaping up, Vortex grabbed one of wings throwing Tristan into a spin.
Kale watched in horror. "TRISTAN!"
Vortex raised his gun under the jet and fired a single shot that ripped through the fighter's cockpit, leaving it in pieces. The last thing Kale heard before static was Tristan's gut wrenching scream, a scream that he was sure he would never be able to erase from his mind. Kale's breaths were ragged as he watched the pieces of Tristan's fighter hit the ground in fire and smoke. Vortex stood over the wreckage and smiled up at them. Kale was vaguely aware of Starscream angry growl before the fighter about-faced and shot away from the battle.
"No! No!" Kale shouted. "Go back!"
"You're friend is dead," Starscream stated coldly. "With you in here I cannot fight to my full capability. The sheer force would kill you."
"Then let me out," he cried frantically, struggling in his seat. "I'll get another jet. We'll take him on together!"
"No," Starscream replied.
"I can't leave Tristan behind!"
Starscream was angry with the human's irrationality. "He's dead!"
"No! Go back!" he screamed, tears falling from his eyes. "Go back! Go back!"
Frantically punching and kicking within Starscream's cockpit, Kale didn't stop until he was an exhausted, limp heap, cussing vulgarly through breath choking sobs. Starscream listened as the man mourned for his fallen friend, but didn't offer any comforting words. He wouldn't even know where to begin anyways. He merely remained silent and waited until he passed out from exhaustion. He didn't think that Vortex would follow him. The Decepticon probably had his processor on other matters that needed to be attended to.
This was not over.
Vortex would undoubtedly hunt him down to the ends of the Earth. He didn't want to have a human to worry about so he decided that he would take him to the safest place he could. He was pretty sure that the Autobots hadn't left Tranquility, so he'd start there.
Sam shot up from his pillow, a choked yell dying at his lips. Scanning the room with wide and fearful eyes the fact that he was safe in his room with only the sound of his heavy breathing didn't seem to calm him down one bit. Heart pounding in his chest, lungs tight and burning with his clothes drenched with sweat that was cooling rapidly, making him shiver. Moisture ran down his cheeks and he really couldn't tell if it was more sweat or tears, but when he noted the pin-prickling sensation behind his eyes he was pretty sure he was crying.
He grumbled a curse at his own weakness and rubbed furiously at his eyes as he tried to get himself to calm down. The nightmares were becoming a regular thing but were something he didn't want anyone else to know about, especially Mikaela or Bumblebee. They always started the same and no matter what he did to change the outcome it always ended the same.
In blood and darkness.
Megatron would stare down at his, his red eyes filled with hatred and greed. He would here Optimus begging him to put the Cube in his chest, willing to sacrifice himself to destroy the All Spark and keep Megatron from getting it. What happened next was the one thing Sam never tried to change. Running at Megatron, risking his life, much to Optimus's dismay, he would stand under Megatron and push the Cube into his chest, joining it with the Decepticon's spark and killing him. Megatron would choke and convulse and drop down to the concrete. Together, Sam and Optimus would watch the red light of his optics die. But before Optimus could ever thank him like he did in real life, darkness fell over Mission City, swallowing Optimus whole and leaving Sam all alone in silence.
The Autobots, Mikaela, Will, Epps, and all the soldiers would also vanish. The city would begin to crumble and decay into ruins and then he would run. He would run in circles, calling for anyone; his parents, Mikaela, Bumblebee, anyone who cared, but no one would answer. But that doesn't mean he never found them.
Scraps of metal and leaching fluids you couldn't name.
Pools of blood under mutilated, broken corpses with faces he loved.
Everyone he cared for lying dead before his very eyes.
A soft white glow would get his attention and then he'd stare at his hands. Ridges would rise on the skin of his palms that resembled the same markings on the Cube. The lines would spread, becoming more elaborate as they traveled around to the back of his hands and crawl up his arms, leaving alien patterned embroidered in his skin until he was completely covered.
He would cry.
He would beg.
He would try to make himself believe that this wasn't happening, but in the pit of his stomach he knew that Earth had fallen.
Then a thunderous set of footsteps would come up to him from behind and he would know who it was without looking at them. A shadow would loom over him, even when the word was dark, but he would never turn around a face it, knowing that he would end up staring into a pair of familiar red optics filled with the sadistic pleasure at the carnage left in its wake. Either way, the voice would always say the same thing that made Sam's skin crawl and his heart drop.
"My…All Spark…"
He shuddered. He really didn't like think about it. But as one may well know, not wanting to think about something and actually thinking about it are two completely different things. He looked over at the dream catcher handing on the wall. It was old and tattered. He had made it in the fourth grade while doing a unit on the history of Native American culture, but as he grew older he had no need for it and put it in a box that went into the attic. The dreams started soon after the All Spark's destruction, around the same time his hands started hurting, and he found himself rummaging through the old box to drag the thing back out. He was just so desperate to be rid of the dreams he hung it back up.
Obviously, the batteries had died.
Filled with anger and frustration, Sam kicked back the covers and walked briskly towards the wall it was anchored to. Tearing it down. he savagely torn it apart. Yarn and feathers littered his bedroom floor. His mother would be disappointed. She loved to save all of his grade school projects as mementos.
His hands suddenly felt like they were on fire, forcing him to drop the remnants of his childhood creation.
This was a regular thing as well. It happened after every dream now. He didn't like to compare it, but they burned just like when he pushed the All Spark into Megatron's chest. The Cube became molten metal in his hands and though the nerves in his hands sent signals to his brain to let go of the damned thing, he didn't. He couldn't let go until it was finished. The adrenaline kept pumping and even after it disintegrated he couldn't focus on anything, but the relief of it all being over.
The burning went away as soon as Megatron was dead. He remembered eventually looking down at his hands, expecting to see permanently ruined flesh only to see healthy, but dirty skin. He just pushed it aside as nothing until the following week when he was assaulted with his first nightmare and his hands began to ache on and off.
Sam rushed from his room and down the hall to the bathroom and ran a cold tap. The water only provided a temporary relief from the burning, but eventually, as always, water would begin to steam as soon as it touched his hands. Sam bit back a cry of pain, allowing it to pass through his teeth through a loud hiss.
Falling to his knees before the sink, he kept his hands under the water even though it hardly helped as his head dropped to the cool ceramic surface of the bathroom counter. Gritting his teeth he tried to be quiet. He wasn't worried about waking his parents. His father's snoring was deafening and his mother was so used to it that she could sleep through anything. It was Bumblebee that he was concerned about. The Autobot always had his scanners going, monitoring the house.
Tears sprung to Sam's eyes as the pain grew. Damn, it never burned like this before. His hands trembled under the water, ridges rising on the palms of his hands in a very familiar alien design. Sam pulled one hand from the water and reached back to grab a dry wash cloth handing from the rack across from the sink. Shoving it into his mouth he bit down to prevent himself from screaming.
Everyone had enough problems as it was and he was not going to be the cause of another.
John Keller was, once again, sitting at his desk, fingers laced under his chin staring at Simmon's in silence. Banachek sat in one of the many chairs of the office, head in his hands as the three men seemed to really take it what had just been reported. The Marianna Trench base had been wiped out, no survivors and they knew pretty damn well who was responsible for it. Before communications were cut there were loud explosions and familiar sounds as loud as sonic booms, just like at the base n Qatar. The man on the line managed to tell them what he saw before the line went dead.
Two Decepticons.
Unlike the Autobots, the government was unable to keep tabs on the Decepticons. They only knew how many where there due to the Autobots information on them. The helicopter was designated as Vortex and he was the current leader of the Decepticons. The F22, who was already known as Starscream, had also been there, but there was something strange in the man's voice as he tried to report what he saw. They apparently weren't working together. Instead, they were fighting each other. Keller could only assume that it was for control, given that Starscream was Megatron's second in command and Vortex had come in a just took over. He supposed that there would be a lot of bad blood between them, so to speak.
"What do you make of that, Simmons?" Keller asked. "Starscream and Vortex were fighting each other, seemingly to kill."
"Power struggle," the agent responded easily enough. "NBE-A1 said that NBE-D2 was supposed to take up the leadership position, but NBE-D6 did instead."
Keller lowered his hands and stared at Simmons incredulously. "Do you really have all those acronyms memorized?
"With all do respect, sir," Simmons shot back, "I don't think that this is the current topic we should be discussing."
Keller's eyes narrowed, but he didn't press the issue given that Simmons was right. "We know why Vortex is there," he said. "Megatron's remains were not crushed by the pressure of the ocean like we had assumed."
"But Megatron is dead," Banachek said. "What could they possibly want with him?"
"Maybe there's something down there with him that they need," Simmons suggested. "As far as we know nothing was pulled from his body other then the fragment of the Cube in his chest."
"We need to get on the line with Optimus," Banachek stated.
"He's been alerted," Keller said. "But maybe he'll know what they're looking for." Rubbing a hand wearily over his face, he sighed. "This war is far from over…"
A/N: Action scenes? Not the easiest thing for me to write. I try to imagine it like a movie and hope that is comes across that way. Sorry for any grammatical errors and that this took so long to come out. In a word: work. Work, work, work. It's no fun being an adult sometimes. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!
Please Review!
-Ray