Greetings, readers! Not too much more of this story left to tell, but...there will be more set in this universe. We sort of refuse to let it die. So, without further adieu, we present chapter 14...an anomaly. This chapter is likely as safe for work as L&S ever gets. If it deserved the M rating, it's for violence.
Pairings: Yadda yadda, you know who's with who by now.
Warnings: Violence both physical and psychological, some rather disturbing threats
Disclaimer: Not ours, except the sparklings!
Reviews are great! Thank you to everyone who's reviewed us!
Sideswipe groaned as he came to, optics flickering past the painful pounding seeming to originate from the back of his head. He shifted, rebooting his optics, confused when he only met darkness. He rebooted them again, and once more until he realized that the reason he was seeing darkness was because he was /inside/ something. Full awareness jumped back at him and he struggled when he became aware of other things... Such as his wrists being bound securely behind his back and his knees bound just as securely together. He discovered his vocalizer had been shut off when he tried to yell. His spark pounded in his chassis, panic setting in as he tried his comms, and then his sparkbond with his brother... Oh Primus, he couldn't /use his bond/!
He thrashed in a panicked frenzy, trying to loosen his bonds somehow, only to curl into himself when a sharp pain echoed from his spark. Immediately, he reached through his bond with his sparklings, feeling their distress as they raced around his spark, tugging almost painfully on the tendrils that kept them there. He forced himself to relax, to avoid hurting his sparklings further.
Calm down Sideswipe. Think. What happened? There has to be something that can help you here.
He remembered, with a small pang of hurt, the words Starscream had spoken in the medbay. And then the rush to get out of an atmosphere that suddenly had been hard to breathe in as his emotions went haywire. He swallowed, trying to remember further. Yes, he'd run from the ARK, racing across the open plains of the desert. He's stopped... in the clearing. Their clearing. He remembered breaking down and crying. Something had startled him and he'd told them to leave, thinking it was Starscream coming after him or his brother and he didn't want them to see him like that... And then the blooming pain on the back of his helm and then... this. He checked his chronometer.
Cold dread swept through his systems. There was no other explanation.
As of seven earth hours ago, Sideswipe, twin of Sunstreaker, carrier of Nebula and Stormshadow, Autbot Frontline Warrior and Mate of Starscream and Skywarp was a prisoner of war.
Sunstreaker paced across their quarters, optics distressed as he tried again to reach through to his brother, coming up against a solid wall each time. It'd been too long. Something was wrong. Primus he could /kill/ Starscream right now!
Thundercracker tried again, for what had to be the fifth time that joor. "Have you been able to contact-"
"No!" Sunstreaker snarled. "Don't you think that if I /had/, I'd've gone after him by now?" The hurt and fear in his tone was unmistakable.
Thundercracker winced; he knew that Sunny was dependent on his brother...he had just never guessed how much. TC could try and try until the stars themselves exploded; he could not be Sideswipe for him, no matter how much he might wish it. It was good that Sunstreaker wasn't holding back how he really felt, though- that showed a trust in TC that warmed his spark, even through the events of this day.
Skywarp looked miserable. He picked at a splotch of paint on the table, feeling like this was all his fault. And he couldn't even go searching- he couldn't warp.
And Starscream was gone. He'd taken off shortly after Skywarp had told him to go and not come back without Sideswipe.
Normally, the air felt good. Right now it seemed as much a hindrance as anything else as a nearby electrical storm fouled Starscream's sensors, sending him ghost images across the flat landscape. He saw nothing that even remotely resembled a red sports car, let alone anything alive.
/Starscream? This is Silverbolt. There's no sign of him in the east vector quadrant./ The comm came in a bit crackly, but it was there.
/Yeah, I don't have anything southwest either./ That was Air Raid.
/Thank you./ Starscream commed back immediately. The other fliers onboard had been sympathetic, the Aerialbots most of all. It seems that they fragged each other off to the point of taking off on a regular basis, and as such, Silverbolt, Fireflight, and Air Raid had offered to help him search.
No one had found a thing, though, and he was pretty sure that his spark was going to break into a billion pieces before they did. His mouth. His fragging mouth that he could not keep shut, that said the wrong words and cut far more deeply than even Prime's energon blades.
He was wallowing in self-pity to the point that he almost missed the disturbance in the sand below him.
"Still nothing." Thundercracker asked tonelessly, and Sunny nodded. TC cursed under his breath, worried about the crimson twin...and about Starscream, though he wouldn't say THAT right now.
"We could ask Red Alert to find him." Skywarp said softly. "Red can find anything, I heard."
"Not if he doesn't know where to start /looking/!" Sunstreaker growled. "Glitchface didn't even tell me where he was going! He could fragging well be anywhere by now! Slagging aft headed two bit defunct motherboard of a slag heap!"
Sunstreaker was on the edge of an emotional breakdown. Sideswipe had been his core for so long. The mech who knew him and loved him and was his other half that he had no idea what to do without him. Sure they'd been parted longer than this, missions and what not, but not without knowing how the other was or where they were!
He made another circuit of the room, spinning around to start another before he snarled, kicking at the small corner desk with the terminal on it. "Slag it all, where is he!"
He knew this was going to likely focus Sunstreaker's rage on him, but... Thundercracker braced himself. "Sunny, you need to calm yourself. You would know if something happened to him, regardless of him blocking you off from him. That has not happened; therefore, he /is/ alive and not lost to you. He'd asked Ratchet about the twins, their bond, and some of the effects of it, so that he would know and might be able to help.
"STOP IT. JUST FRAGGING STOP IT OKAY?" Skywarp was crying again, laying on their shared berth looking worse than hopeless. He was alone here, unlike Sunny and TC. There was no one for him to talk with, to hold him, to tell him that it would be all right- there was only doubt and uncertainty, and Skywarp's keening tones reflected that. "Please." he choked out, looking away.
Starscream flew almost straight down, tranforming with a somersault in midair, landing lightly on his feet. There was a large disturbance in the sand all right, with indications that at least two mechs and two ground-mode vehicles had been here, and not very long ago either. He commed Fireflight, who was closest to his position. The tracks were heavier, and only a single set at that, heading eastward.
Toward the Nemesis.
"What do you mean?" Sunstreaker asked sharply, staring at the sabotuer intensly.
"Ya heard meh, Sunny. This search is officially a retrieval. Starscream comm'd in with info an' Red used it to watch the location several hours back. Yer brother's on the Nemesis."
Sunstreaker's fuel lines ran cold. He was beginning to shake, hands curled over his chest protectively. "No." He said forcibly, shaking his helm. "NO!"
"Oh, slag." Skywarp breathed. "I'll help! I'll go in and-"
"You must not, Sky." Thundercracker reminded him, and Skywarp's optics widened. He placed a hand protectively over his spark chamber, where the little one whose discovery had brought about this misunderstanding. It wasn't the bitlet's fault, it was never his fault. "And neither will you." TC said to Sunstreaker, bracing for the explosion.
"I will go." His tone was cold and firm.
"If you're going so am I!" Sunstreaker immediately protested. "That's my brother! You can't keep me from going! Like slag!"
Thundercracker stared at Sunstreaker. "No. You will /not/ endanger yourself. Or do you /want/ them to have both of you, the ones sparked with Seeker-kin?"
"I'm a fragging frontiliner warrior!" Sunstreaker snarled. "I know my reputation on BOTH sides and frag you if you think you're going to stop me! And frag you too, Jazz!" The TIC shook his helm with a sigh.
"Sunstreaker, ah can't let ya go. Ya already know that."
"I said FRAG OFF! They have my brother! Like pit I'll let you stop me!"
Thundercracker stared at his mate intensely. "I...I refuse...I will not allow this...they cannot have you, too!"
Skywarp kicked the wall, hard. "You make him stay, TeeCee, and he'll do somethin' stupid. Least I know better. Ratchet told me not to do anything strenuous till I knew why..." He stopped there, knowing what they knew what he was referring to.
"You can protect him best at your side, TC...and he will fight for his brother."
"But...what about..." Thundercracker couldn't finish.
Skywarp bit his lip and commed over a very private channel, one that they'd set up a very long time ago. /He'll die if Sideswipe does, anyway. Yeah, you don't wanna hear that, but you know it's true. He will. And then you wouldn't even be there to say goodbye. You won't let him die if he's with you, you'd put yourself between him and harm./ Skywarp paused, looking hard at Thundercracker. /An' you'll protect Sideswipe with all your spark because it'll keep Sunny safe./
Thundercracker's optics widened even /more/ and he answered Skywarp's rather insightful response with a short nod. Then he took a deep breath.
"Jazz, he's coming with me. I accept responsibility for my...for Sunstreaker's safety. And we /will/ bring Sideswipe home."
Jazz groaned. "TC, I know you mean the best, but Ah can't, in good conscience, let ya do that. One, Ratchet would have mah head, two, Ratchet would have mah head and three, the chances of Prime agreein' ta this are, as Prowl would say, 10.2%. Don't ask how ah know that."
Sunstreaker glared at the special ops head. "You can't stop me." He said darkly.
Thundercracker had to agree with Sunny, there.
"We will be gone by the time you manage to get there to report us...unless you intend to detain a carrying frontliner and his refugee mate, for no other reason that because you can?"
"Oh, ah'd say ah have a pretty good reason." Jazz said, his tone steely. It was easy to forget that under all of the happy, cheerful, partying third in command was a hardened, Spec Ops agent. This was a mech who had tangled with Soundwave and Shockwave and was still alive to boast about it.
"I am not bound by your orders." Thundercracker pointed out.
"Yeah, you're not. Yer bound to Prime's orders. However, Sunny here, is. And I can't let a carryin' mech out on a battle field, much less the Nemesis. This is a gigantic clusterfuck in the makin', an' is exactly what this will become. Sunstreaker is due any day. If he were to go inta labor on the battlefield, TC, what then? There would be no tools to help him. You would lose yer sparklin'... An' possibly Sunny." It was harsh, but at least Jazz didn't sugar coat it.
Sunstreaker flinched, optics turning to the floor and glaring holes into its surface.
TC winced, but stood firm. "I am going to go, regardless. Starscream cannot do this alone, and I know damned well that if he is not already on the Nemesis, he will be soon. He may be thoughtless, his words may be harmful, but he /loves/ Sideswipe with all his spark."
He was torn. He wanted to accede to Sunny's demand, but it seemed as though Jazz outranked him in this. He wasn't used to having his orders overriden, but he wasn't part of an army anymore.
"Sunstreaker. What would have have me do?" His tone was so hopeless that it almost didn't seem real.
Sunstreaker stood there, hands shaking and spark spinning. One hand was placed over his chest the other clenched into a tight fist. He knew Jazz was right. If there were a chance that Sunstreaker could go and do his part, Jazz would have backed him up. It was hard for him to say it, but he slowly reached for Thundercracker's hand and squeezed.
"Bring him back." He said firmly, forcing his voice not to waver. "Bring him back and you better as hell come back too!"
Starscream appraised the ocean with more than a little trepidation. He only had a vague idea of how he was going to get into the Nemesis, and idea that could well blow up in his face. It was all he had, though, and he stood near a concealing rock formation, trying to convince himself it was the right thing to do. This was his fault. /HIS/ fault. No one else's. Starscream's.
He swallowed what pride remained to him and opened a secure channel, encrypted with a triple-tone shifting algorithm based upon the note progression of a lyraharp, and began mentally composing his plea to Soundwave.
Sideswipe sat in the corner of the locked ICU room in the Decepticon medical bay. It wasn't clean like Ratchet's carefully sterilized rooms on the ARK. It was grimy and rusted and there were stains from past patients (victims, his mind whispered) in here. He was alive. For now, although the idea of what Megatron wanted with him and his sparklings was a terrifying one to contemplate because... He had no idea. He didn't /know/! He had been tossed in here on his aft, albeit a lot more gently than he ever expected, and then left here. For what, he didn't know.
His hands had been unbound, and he had them crossed over his chestplates protectively, the two precious little sparks hidden behind his plating. He would get home. He swore he would. He began to speak softly to his bitlets, trying to calm their gyrations in his chamber with the sound of his voice.
Thundercracker nodded firmly, and squeezed Sunstreaker's hand in return. He drew Sunny close for a deep kiss, not really giving a damn who was watching. When he broke off, he looked Skywarp in the optics. In a formal tone, his voice tinged with that Vos accent, he spoke.
"You will guard him with your spark, Second-in-flight."
"I will, First." Skywarp said with feeling in his voice, is tone echoing the same ritualistic responses, and he moved to stand protectively near Sunstreaker.
"If yer goin', you may as well take these." Jazz dangled Starscream's null rays, the connector-ports wired and strapped together, in his left hand. He'd known he wouldn't be able to stop Thundercracker from going...and had counted on it. TC nodded and carefully attached Starscream's weaponry to his arms- they were somewhat shorter than the lasers he was used to, but at the very least they were compatible with his systems...and a hell of a lot better quality than most weaponry on either side.
Before he even turned to leave, his optics focused upon his mate, fixing Sunstreaker's face in his meta. As he exited the room, he pinged Sunny with a very brief message.
/I love you. Wait for me./
Starscream though he had it figured out. Ten words should be enough, ten words not too much to trip the devices designed to stop just this. He was smart, he'd helped Soundwave create these codes...but they could have changed in the time they'd been gone. He exvented rapidly and activated the channel, hoping that Soundwave would understand. Being that he was the unparalleled master of the cryptic, Starscream rather thought he would.
/Treachery is not evident when necessary to save a life./
The channel snapped open, silence for several shaky moments and then...
/Starscream: Soundwave acknowledges./
/Is this channel secure?/ Starscream demanded. He almost considered that to be an incredibly stupid question, because Soundwave would not be risking his aft if it wasn't...
Sure enough, Soundwave's grating metallic tones sounded almost offended with his response. /Yes./
Starscream's lips trembled. This was the moment of truth. Soundwave was his only hope of getting into the Nemesis in any reasonable amount of time, and even asking Soundwave to consider doing this was an act of treason. Star no longer gave a frag, being that he was declared Neutral, but Soundwave might.
/I need to get onto the Nemesis as soon as if feasible. They have something of mine. I'd like him back./
TC flew as fact as he could toward the ocean, which thankfully wasn't very far. He wasn't dumb enough to overfly the area, though- he headed for a rock formation that they'd used as cover in several battles. That's when he heard his trineleader pacing around, the scrape of metal on rock unmistakable.
Skywarp looked sadly at Sunstreaker and opened his arms, offering a hug. That was just the way Skywarp was, these days. He figured that Sunny wouldn't take it, that he'd remain stoic especially through this...but trying counted.
"Lookit the 'Bot!" Wildrider said, snickering. "Why's he in medbay again, "Breaky?"
"Dunno, but of he don't quit staring at me I'm gonna take those pretty blue optics and hang 'em on a string around my neck! THEN they won't stare at me!" Breakdown declared, studying the frontliner.
"Go ahead, you'll perish eventually anyway." The morose sounding statement came from Dead End where he leaned against the wall on guard duty. Punishment detail was more like it really.
Wildrider snickered. "Yeah, cause we're not supposed to touch him! Why is that?"
"He's carrying."
"Carryin' what?"
Dead End sighed as if put upon. "Sparklings. Baby Cybertronians."
/Prowl to Thundercracker. Please acknowledge./
TC flickered his optics and stood very still. /Thundercracker here. What is it, Prowl? I am...busy./
/There is an alternative plan. The Autobots have had knowledge of a Decpticon supply faciity run by humans allied with Megatron. We will attempt to take it back. Statistical analysis places a 40.75% higher rate of success with the rescue should Megatron be absent from the Nemesis. This probably rises by five percent for each member of the command staff now present as well, except for Soundwave, who increases it by ten percent, and the Conehead trine, whose presence or non-presence seems to be statistically irrelevant. Therefore, giving us another breem to gather troops would be efficient-/
Thundercracker tuned Prowl out after hearing the gist of the plan. That mech was /entirely/ too wordy. He sent an acknowledgement, though, with a time of fifteen Earth minutes from now, when he would go, surprise assault or not.
Then he approached Starscream, who unsubspaced a laser pistol and was aiming for his spark chamber before he realized just who it was.
"TC!" he cried, and Thundercracker put his finger to his lips. /Shhh. We have a plan./
/I didn't, I never, Primus I can't believe.../ Starscream wasn't exactly stable during the best of times, and now was even worse.
/We /will/ get them out, Star./ he said firmly over the trine channel.
"I don' t see no babies with him."
"Why do I bother?" Dead End asked aloud although he knew he wouldn't recieve and answer. "Very well, let me put it this way. He is carrying new SPARKS within in him. And Lord Megatron has plans for them and him."
"He's still staring at me!" Breakdown growled before yelping when a maroon servo clapped firmly over his optics.
"There. You cannot see him, therefore he cannot see you."
"Thanks Enders."
Sideswipe watched the Stunticons feeling vaguely like he was watching some bad human comedy. Willdrider was looking at him with a disconcerting gaze, Dead End was firmly ignoring him to the best of his abilities and Breakdown seemed content to stand there with Dead End's servo over his optics and looking like an idiot.
Something was seriously wrong with these mechs.
/I trust you./ Starscream commed Thundercracker.
TC hurriedly explained Prowl's plan, and Starscream agreed to wait. He had to pause when Soundwave finally responded to his comm.
/Autobot prisoner: held in medbay. Condition: unknown. Guards likely. Escort: on her way./
Soundwave cut the comm abruptly, and Starscream looked at Thundercracker.
/Soundwave is sending an escort; 'she', he said. Likely Laserbeak. He didn't know...if Sides was okay./
/Then we wait./ TC said simply, rubbing Starscream's left wing for comfort. /We cannot rush this. If we do...you know what may happen, Star./
Starscream gave TC a look filled with bitterness and despair. /You have as much to lose as I do.// he reminded his trinemate, and Thundercracker's head jerked up as if he had been slapped. He removed his hand, looking at Starscream with disgust. /I do not know what has gotten into you recently, but I do /not/ like it. Sideswipe does not like it, and Skywarp does not like it. You would do well to remember that, /Commander/./
Starscream flinched, and his spark surged in pain. /I...forgive me./
/It is not /me/ who you need forgiveness from./
Breakdown felt better with Dead End's hands over his optics. It felt like nobody was looking anymore, and he let his brother lead him over to where Sideswipe sat. He reached out a hand blindly. "Wanna feel the sparklings!" he said, and Dead End almost hit him.
"Dumbaft, you can't."
"Why not?"
They're inside him! He'd have to open up to you, and you know that isn't happening anytime soon! We'll all be dead and rusted first...though, that could be in less than a joor, so don't give your hope up yet."
Soundwave petted Laserbeak gently. He'd slipped away to his quarters and instructed his youngest female creation to attend him. She understood what she was to do, and she even agreed with it. He transmitted a temporary code for her to use on the tower to get out...and to get the Seekers in.
Just as she left, he received a comm from Megatron, demanding his presence on the bridge.
"Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!"
Sunstreaker stood in the entrance, watching the large group of his comrades speed away, following Prime to a battle he knew he could take no part in. And it chafed. His fists clenched at his sides as he fought the urge to hit something, frustrated with this situation and everything about his condition.
The Autobots headed out to the location mapped and outlined by Prowl, and Skywarp looked at Sunstreaker with pity in his optics.
"I know, you wanna help. Not safe, though. You're about to have Cloudchaser, and you need his protoform when you separate..." This idea finally hits Skywarp's meta and he gasps softly, a thin wail evident in his tone. "Um, Sunny? They need to find Sides fast. The twins are gonna be here real soon, they told me, and their 'forms are HERE!"
Soundwave, as outwardly loyal as ever, acceded to his master's summons. There was an unexpected presence on the bridge, though. He reviewed the spacebridge activation records and nodded; he had only arrived that solar cycle. Behind his mask, Soundwave's lips curled in disgust- that simpering sycophant, disgusting and utterly without morals, even for a Decepticon. He worried for Sideswipe, and wondered why they'd captured one twin and not the other; they were invariably together. Megatron had not shared this plan with him, and that was odd- ever since Starscream had deserted, Soundwave had been acting as SIC.
Shockwave nodded, his single optic unblinking in the dim lighting of the bridge. "Oh good, your subordinate is here."
Soundwave's visor flashed in annoyance. "Soundwave reports as ordered, Lord Megatron."
"Finally." the warlord snarled, out of sorts even at this early hour. "I was beginning to think I would be forced to come to your quarters for a wake-up call, as the humans call it." Soundwave shuddered almost imperceptibly; he knew /exactly/ what Megatron meant by that, and the idea made him want to purge his tanks.
That single yellow optic focused on Soundwave. "The subject has been secured, and his condition verified?"
Megatron nodded. "The Autobot is is the medical bay, and it's been confirmed. He's sparked with twin Seekers, coded by Starscream and Skywarp." He bit out the names like a curse.
"Oh, good. Thank you, Lord Megatron, for giving me the opportunity to take these filthy traitor's spawn and turn them into an asset for the Decepticon empire!"
"By all means, Shockwave. Keep the Autobot alive. He has his uses." Megatron smirked. "However, before this, it has been reported that there are Autobots on the move. No doubt they want their warrior back. Shockwave, I want you out there leading the troops to keep them at bay. Soundwave, I will need you here. They have that fragging noble on their side, and don't want to lose our quarry so soon after acquiring him."
"I know." Sunstreaker said quietly, still staring at the horizon. "And I'm fragging stuck here!"
He turned and slammed his fist into the bulkhead, angry.
Skywarp watched Sunny hit the wall and nodded; that looked like a good way to relieve stress. "Me too." he offered, and even if it didn't hit him as hard as it did Sunstreaker, Skywarp wanted to go do hs duty by Sideswipe just like TC was doing.
"D'you want to go get some energon? Might as well- rec room's gonna be empty." A thought occurred to Skywarp as he walked, though. "Did he meant it? Star, I mean. I don't think he did."
At least he wouldn't be forced to stay with Shockwave, but...Soundwave replayed what they'd just said in his meta, and he felt something within him tilt.
Sparked. Twin Seekers. Sideswipe. Rumble and Frenzy squawked over their bond, both hurriedly asking their creator if he was okay, but Soundwave could not formulate a response, not yet. He sent a wordless pulse of reassurance their way...to all his creations, in fact, and his lips set in a thin line beneath his battlemask.
"Are you going to emulate a statue for the rest of the cycle, or are you coming. Soundwave?" Their leader's voice, lowered to those silken, dangerous tones that Soundwave dreaded, pierced his meta.
"Acknowledged, Lord Megatron." he headed toward medbay at a high rate of speed, grateful when Dirge stopped to ask Megatron for clarification. The Conehead's answer seemed to be his faceplate into the bulkhead, and Soundwave shuddered.
"Come here, Autobot." Hook's bored one was sounding less bored after the fourth command. "Get on this berth or I will weld you to it."
"Slag off, 'Con!" Sideswipe growled, staying right where he was even if he knew it wouldn't get him anywere. "You're not touching me!"
Hook scowled, growing far too tired of this game the Autobot seemed to want to play. He motioned for his gestaltmate to bring the Autobot since he seemed disinclined to do this the easy way. Bonecrusher was far too happy to oblige, grasping the smaller mech's arm, unworried about proper care and such slag and dragged Sideswipe to the medical berth. Although, it was more of a throw seeing as Sideswipe's pedes had actually left the ground for several moments.
Sideswipe snarled, fighting the entire way as he was strapped down, glaring up at the Constructicons with optics that promised pain should he get free.
Hook snorted. "Better."
"Remind me why you reinstated his vocalizer?" Bonecrusher asked as the red twin started in on his favorite curses and insults.
"I didn't. Our informant decided to skip the part on how the small circuit break was only temporary. However..." Sideswipe's next curse cut off into silence as Hook actually turned off his vocalizer. Ah, blessed silence.
Laserbeak swooped down, her advanced sensors easily picking Starscream and Thundercracker up near their rock formation despite its natural propensity to scramble scans. TC saw her first, and he held out his arm for her to land on. She took the offered perch, nodding at the two.
"Soundwave sends Laserbeak-to aid-you-in-retrieving-Autobot Sideswipe." she said in her odd way, words spliced from conversations taped from numerous sources. The voices were all different, too- several could be picked out and recognized by a discerning audio. "Warning. Sideswipe-under guard. Hook is present in medbay. Constructicons Bonecrusher-and-Mixmaster-also nearby." She accepted the soft caress TC gave her and shivered, both excited and afraid to be doing something so significant. "Decepticons mobilized-in-response to-Autobot attack."
Starscream nodded; everything was coming together. "Can you get us in, Laserbeak?" If she could, Starscream privately swore he'd never call her a drone again. Laserbeak nodded smugly. "Laserbeak-has-code...but hurry."
The Seekers looked at each other and then at the little cassette who held the key to rescuing Sideswipe in her tiny claws. They nodded and took off into the sky, headed over the ocean.
Shockwave stood, appraising the force of Decepticons and drones (courtesy of himself) as they moved to head off Prime and his force. That he had been tasked with something this important over Soundwave just showed that Megatron favored him and knew the logical choice. Even as he waited on the beouff for the Autobots to arrive, his mind was hald elsewhere, running thousands of calculations. He had twin seekerlet newsparks nestled against the spark of an anomaly he'd been patiently waiting to get his hands on.
Split sparked twins were extremely rare, and he had always itched to get his servos on a pair. For now he would have to settle for one, but in time the other would be in his grasp as well.
His gold optic glinted evilly. Yes. Everything was falling into place as it should be.
"Lord Megatron!" Mixmaster sounded surprised as the Decepticon Tyrant strode through the medical bay doors, Soundwave following in his wake.
Hook straightened himself visibly, and nodded in respect to the Slagmaker, who laughed when he saw Sideswipe, all spread out on the berth. One silvery finger touched his lips. "Sparked by Seekers. No /good/ Autobot lets himself be fragged by his mortal enemies...even treacherous glitches."
Soundwave slipped into the room, forbidding all six of his cassettes entry under pain of docking for a decacycle, and began recording this. Not because Megatron would like for his actions to be saved for posterity, but because this way, he would be able to see for certain. He would have /something/ over the silver tyrant, even if he were too */afraidscareddisgusted/* loyal to use such a thing. His visor flickered impassively, and he sent a very gentle, almost imperceptible brush of his mind toward Sides', a brief image of Starscream and Thundercracker in flight.
The tower, to their surprise, was already raised. Starscream cocked an optic ridge, and TC shrugged, not wanting to disbelieve a good thing when they saw it. Starscream had attached his backup null rays to his arms; not as powerful, but still as accurate. He didn't want to kill most of the residents...a few, yes, he wouldn't mind seeing them go to the Well,a nd in some cases giving them a sharp shove would be immensely satisfying. That wasn't why they were here, though. Laserbeak swooped in almost soundlessly, then back out in a circle; it was clear as far as she could tell.
They entered the Nemesis tower for the first time in quite awhile, and it was depressing- nothing had changed whatsoever.
Sideswipe's denta were bared and he snapped at the digits trailing over his lips. Belatedly it occurred to him that being defiant might not be the best idea in this situation, not with this monster's servos so close to his spark chamber and his newsparks. Even so, the rage he felt looking at this mech and /knowing/ what he'd done to his lovers, what he was doing to Soundwave, what he was doing and done and still did to who knew how many countless others just because he /could/... It left him longing for something he hadn't longed for in a very long time... To rip another mech's spark chamber from their chest.
Optimus Prime wasted no time in smacking the Combaticon to the side, searching the group for the Tyrant that was the cause of all their problems. The fact that the longer he searched and the longer the mech remained unfindable filled him with dread.
/Prowl! Locate Megatron!/ He ordered. /Notify me as soon as you have located him!/
Prowl's answer to Prime came back both far too soon...and far too late.
/Prime, Megatron is not present. The Decepticons are being led by Shockwave./ Prowl's normally even tones were colored by more than a bit of dismay. /It seems as though someone has given away our plans,/
Optimus Prime's cerulean optics brightened, and he rushed the single-opticked scientist, roaring in anger. "Where is my mech? Where do you have him! Shockwave!" Prime shifted his arm into a huge glowing blade not too soon. Loud footprints could be heard nearby, and suddenly a very large presence was near Shockwave- Bruticus.
Shockwave shifted form, then, becoming an oversized gun that usally wielded itself...until the combiner lifted Shockwave up and began firing at the stunned Autobots.
/Retreat!/ Prowl called, not even bothering to get the okay from Prime. His statistical analysis showed a less that two percent chance that they could win this, and even that carried a significant risk of casualties up to and including the Prime. Prime trusted him to do this.
"Wait!" Silverbolt and his team stood together, all five looking determined. "We'll hold him off. You need time. Superion can give you that time." Prime, optics faded, nodded his assent, and the Aerialbots soon became Superion, jumping high into the air to rain missiles down upon Bruticus's little-protected head.
Megatron slapped Sideswipe sharply across the face for his display of insolence. Then he did it again. Soundwave felt compelled to speak.
"Lord Megatron: Subject must be functional in order for sparklings to remain online." he reminded him. "Less damage: easier separation."
Megatron scowled and took his hand away, but not before trailing a finger possessively down Sideswipe's chestplate over his spark chamber.
"You stole them from me, so it stands to show that /I/ shall steal them back...after a fashion, of course." Hook just snorted. "It will be vorns before they're able to fly, and until then, they'll be dependent on you for everything, Lord Megatron."
"The strong survive." he replied cryptically..right before all hell broke loose in medbay.
Sideswipe was disoriented from the stinging pain across his cheek. Despite it only being slaps, Megatron was a strong glitch. He shook his helm to clear it, aware of a loud noise and then more disorientation as something hummed on line, his straps released and he was yanked to his feet by his collar fairing before being hoisted into the air... facing the buisness end of a fusion cannon.
"How kind of you to join us Starscream, Thundercracker. " The warlord sounded extremely smug.
"Sideswipe!" Starscream yelled, all restraint gone. Thundercracker held him back, hissing aloud and comming furiously./You are giving him what he wants! Stop this, Starscream!/
/I can't, I can't, I /did/ this to him, Oh TC, he's going to hate me, he is and I deserve it.../ Starscream's expression was that of one broken and defeated.
"Let him go. I will stand in his place." Thundercracker said simply. If Sunny had his twin, he could forget TC eventually. Without Sideswipe he was literally nothing, though- so Thundercracker had done some thinking on their trip, some long and /hard/ thinking. Megatron was unlikely to give Sideswipe up for a lot of reasons, but to have...willingly...a Seeker of his own...that might do it. TC shuddered at the thought, his tanks roiling and threatening to empty themselves with each word he spoke.
"If you...release Sideswipe...I will stay. Willingly." His wingtips shuddered, though, even if his gaze was steady.
Megatron laughed in his face. "Why would I want /you/, frigid little thing? Are /you/ carrying fliers that can expand my armies? No. You're a traitor, just like your whining and puling trineleader behind you. I'll keep you here while you watch us...experiment...and yes, you will stay...but your deal, as it's said, is slag."
Sideswipe had never wished for his voice more int this moment. He struggled in the tyrant's hold, trying desperately to meet his mate's optics, his spark pounding in his chassis. Experiment... the words sent cold chills down his spinal strut. What were they going to do to him or his sparklings? He didn't want to contemplate it.
Thundercracker's faceplates froze even as he held Starscream back with all of his strength. His trineleader was nearly frantic at the implications. "Get your fragging hands off him, you son of a glitch!" he shrieked, his optics blazing crimson fire. "You don't deserve to even cycle air in his presence, let alone touch him-"
Megatron /laughed/. "Starscream." he purred. "I know this one's yours...I'll let you watch. Bonecrusher. Take him!" The Constructicon ambled over and glared at Thundercracker, who looked as though he were willing to fight about it...until the telltale whine of a fusion cannon powering up was heard, far too close to Sideswipe's head. TC ground his denta together and stepped back, his field radiating sorrow and frustration.
Star shuddered...but allowed himself to be taken toward Megatron. An idea was forming in his meta; an idea he loathed, but if the tyrant didn't want TC, he'd definitely want /him/...Starscream had always been willing.
"My lord..." he purred, forcing himself to do this. "Surely not!" He prepared himself to beg once more, except it wasn't just for his own function he was begging for.
*Starscream, don't!* Sideswipe tried desperately to convey with his optics what he couldn't with his voice at the moment. *It won't work, he's only playing you, STARSCREAM!* He tried to struggle, but a large hand wrapped around his throat and squeezed in warning.
Star saw the desperate look and his spark nearly broke. He didn't know what to do, this was his /fault/, and now it was going to end...right when things were getting good. His form went lax as Bonecrusher none too gently chained him to a support near the berth, close enough so that he could see every reaction that Sideswipe had, but not close enough to touch.
Star never wished more for a bond now than he did in this moment. All he could do now was stare into those stricken, terrified baby blue optics and mouth the words "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" over and over and over again.
Soundwave looked hard at Sideswipe, and though his form did not move, Sideswipe could hear an ephemeral thought winding through his meta...a thought not his own.
::Sideswipe: sparklings safe?::
Skywarp looked even more terrified as the Autobots came straggling home- the Areials had not yet made it, but the main forces, along with their casualties, were already at the Ark, filling medbay to near capacity and scaring the slag out of the single Seeker remaining.
"What happened?" he asked, not getting any answer other than dirty looks from the crewmembers who deigned to acknowledge his presence at all. His wingtips drooped and he turned to Sunstreaker, ready to offer comfort that he knew would be turned down in an instant.
Sunstreaker was returning the dirty looks until they looked away, his optics scanning the incoming mechs for three in particular. He didn't see any of them and the fear in his spark was mounting.
Then Jazz limped in, supported by Mirage and Hound. "What happened." he demanded of the saboteur.
"Shockwave's on Earth. Nasty little surprise Megs had for us." Jazz scowled. "Thundercracker were able to get onto the Nemesis and then contact cut out with them... Ah'm sorry Sunny. That's all ah got for ya."
Skywarp began cursing loudly. "Shockwave, that dirty fragger, you got /no idea/ of the slag he gets up to, disgusting it is, just-plain-gross!" His voice raised with every word. "Please tell you slagged him, Jazz. Please."
Jazz shook his head, biting his lip in pain, and his visor flashed a soothing blue. "Gotta get to medbay, Warp, but if'n you wanna talk, I'll talk to ya." Mirage very, very carefully said nothing, and Hound smiled and nodded.
Skywarp looked at Sunstreaker, the mech he knew best...and that wasn't well at all. "Please come with us, Sunny. Please?"
Megatron paced around medbay as Hook prepared a number of tools, most of which looked like normal medical equipment. A large tanklike object sat near the berth.
"That." Megatron pointed out quite deliberately. "That is where the winglets will be going as soon as Hook removes them. It's safe now. Shockwave knows how to force spark development...or so he says...and within the next two solar cycles, I will have replacements for my lost command trine, sparked from the treacherous glitches themselves. If they are...up to spec, perhaps we shall allow the two of you to live, to spark more of them for my army. Wouldn't you like that, Starscream? Your lover, to remain alive...perhaps not /cognizant/, but able to bear your spark again." He moved, quick as lightning, over to his former Air Commander and hit him hard in the face, hard enough that energon flew from his lips.
"Or maybe I will allow another to perform the duty. You are flawed, Starscream. Weak. Pathetic. And certainly not worthy."
Starscream glared at Megatron, hate in his optics. "I will destroy you-"
Megatron laughed in his face. "I've heard that all before. You haven't managed it yet...and you never will. You are nothing more than a jumped-up whore, willing to frag your way to the top of whatever outfit it is that you find yourself in. Tell me, Starscream, how many have you had? I know you haven't remained /faithful/ to a /GROUNDER/."
Thundercracker bellowed. "That is /enough/!" He ripped himself free from Mixmaster's grip and punched the mech in the face hard enough to make him go flying across the room.
Sideswipe gave a soundless growl, even as Soundwave stiffened at the implications of forced spark development. The sparklings, in cases like that, were no better than drones, their minds too underdeveloped to adapt quickly enough. Forced to follow programming to a T, no deviation or a will to deviate...ever. Not knowing any better. Just as Thundercracker punched Mixmaster, Sideswipe bit into Megatron's servo, hard enough to draw energon. The warlord bellowed in surprised pain, instinctively tossing Sideswipe away and into Starscream.
Before the tyrant could recover, he staggered under the sudden force of a mental assault of pain, fear, and anger, turning with widened optics to see a very rigidly-postured, very furious Soundwave.
Sunstreaker stood silently for some time, staring at the entrance as if willing his lover back would miraculously bring him home. Then, he nodded his helm sharply once, turning and following Skywarp into the ARK and towards the medbay.
Soundwave's visor glowed a furious red, and he actually spoke, his clipped tones as visibly furious as his actions would suggest.
"Newsparks: not to be forced. Shockwave's plan: flawed. Megatron: deluded." Scorn dripped from metallic overtones as he sent a soundless something at the three Constructicons, their unshielded minds no match for a telepath on a rampage. Their forms fell into strutless heaps, twitching madly as their motor relays were disconnected, perhaps permanently, from their neural nets.
Thundecracker saw this and barely spared Soundwave a glance, freeing Starscream from the support by the simple expedient of tearing the chains apart. His anger lent him strength, and he turned on Soundwave, fully intending to make him his next target should Soundwave try anything odd toward Sides, Starscream, or himself.
Megatron stood with some difficulty, his limbs shaking with effort. "Traitor." he pronounced. "You know what will happen, now." He went to activate his comm, but found it nonfunctional. He gazed up at Soundwave sharply.
"Soundwave: /communications officer/." he spat. "Soundwave: will no longer be your toy. Seekers, Autobot: Gather Cassetticons at exit to tower. Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat, Buzzsaw, Ravage: will travel with you to the Ark. Laserbeak: already on her way." That visor blazed once more. "Megatron: /mine/."
Starscream gasped, holding Sideswipe close. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I love you, please don't hate me..." He moved to kiss Sideswipe gently, needing to know.
Sideswipe kissed him back desperately. *don't hate you! Never will!* Damn Hook for disconnecting his vocalizer. Just then, his chest echoed with a sharp pain and he gasped, yanking away from Starscream to stare down at his chest... before he doubled over with a soundless cry as another searing pain tugged at his spark. Sideswipe's hands scrabbled at his chestplates as he curled up in pain.
Sunstreaker's yell put a halt to almost everything in the medical bay as the golden warrior stumbled into a cart, knocking it over and the tools on it. His hands were clutching at his chestplates and he cried out again, falling to his knees and pressing his helm to the floor with his pain.
"Son of a- FIRST AID." Ratchet yelled, his hands deep inside Air Raid's chest plating. He'd taken a direct hit from Shockwave and needed attention /now/, but Ratchet also knew that Sunstreaker /never/ cried out in pain, not even when carrying his own limbs in for reattachment.
First Aid dropped the tray he'd been holding and rushed to Sunny's side, Skywarp on the other. "Sunstreaker." he said softly. "Can you stand? You need to get on a berth so I can see what's happening." Skywarp offered a hand up, knowing that while he wasn't TC, he at least was here.
Starscream saw that Sides' vocalizer was off, but he could see the relief and love in his optics...and he smiled. He buried his face into Sides' plating, until Sides pushed him away with a savage shove, and his mouth opened to protest...until he saw the pain written in every movement that Sideswipe made. "Sides. Love, what's- frag, you can't /speak/..." He knew how to activate Sides' vocalizer, it was a simple repair, but he didn't have time, not with Thundercracker already weaving with the strain of his systems running high almost continually. They stumbled toward the exit, the hallways conspicuously empty, until they saw a sleek, dark presence- Ravage. Ravage sniffed at them and came at a run, stopping in from of Sideswipe with a curious gleam in her optics. The other cassettes weren't far behind, and the twins stared.
"Soundwave did it, didn't he." Rumble said.
"Had to have, otherwise we wouldn't be runnin'." Frenzy said. "Was only a matter of time and... Please tell me they didn't already initiate the splitting!" The cassette sounded slightly panicked as he watched the frontliner sag in pain, clutching at his lover as he tried to support him. Soundwave had looked like that when he'd split with Ratbat.
Sunstreaker seized Skywarp's hand, trying to stand, his legs wobbly. "C-can't... Something's wrong with him!"
His voice was edging into hysterical. "Something's wrong with him, Warp!"
"Initiated the- what are you talking about? And what are we waiting for?" Starscream demanded, a bit of that old Air Commander tone in his voice.
"Splittin'." Frenzy repeated. "Y'know, having the sparkling. I saw Soundwave do it with Ratbat...looks like it hurts like slag, I'm not doin' it."
"You only 'face with me so you /can't/-" Rumble retorted.
"QUIET." Thundercracker shouted. His nerves were shot, his hands shaking from stress. "What are we waiting for?" he asked more sedately.
"Laserbeak's code." Rumble offered. "'Less you want me to write one. Dunno where she is, and I /can/...just takes about half a breem."
"Start it." Starscream croaked out, stroking Sideswipe's helm. "Hold on, love, they can't come yet. Have to wait, wait until we're home again...please, Sides, try and hold on, I'm here, Sky's waiting for you, he needs to be there too, you know he does..." Starscream's voice broke.
The tower raised, and they looked up expectantly. What they saw, though...
"Sunny? SUNNY. Calm down. Sunstreaker. Listen. Um, uh, slaggit...Sunny, let's talk about Cloudchaser. He's gonna be so beautiful, and even has little stubby car-wings, so he'll look right next to his cousins. Yeah. And you can teach Neb and Stormy to fight like you do, cause Seekers suck slag at that...Sunny, stay with me, please!" Skywarp threw caution to the wind, and took Sunstreaker's hands into his own.
"I'm here for you. Really. Okay? TC's coming home. He's coming home with your brother right now, I just know it. Hold on, Sunny..."
First Aid muttered, "He's not going into separation but...he is? This makes no sense!" Ratchet slid by to glance at the readings and cursed aloud.
"Twins, Aid. It's not Sunstreaker." he said grimly. "It's Sideswipe."
Sunstreaker grunted as he made it to the berth with the help given him. "Hurts." He grumbled.
Shockwave's golden optic flashed as he saw the Seekers and cassettes making off with his quarry. "Halt! You will go no further!"
Thundercracker had officially had enough. He took aim with Starscream's null rays and fired twin blasts, striking the mad scientist in the chest dead on...which did absolutely nothing. He stared at Shockwave, a sinking feeling in his tanks.
"You did well to overpower Lord Megatron, but even now Soundwave is...suffering in medbay. Would you like to hear his screams?" he said pleasantly, as if discussing the weather.
"Fraggin' liar!" Frenzy shrieked. "I'd know, he's on his way right now-"
"And that is why I do this." Shockwave removed a metallic gunlike object from subspace and shot directly toward Starscream and Sideswipe with it. Starscream saw him draw the weapon and twisted his body, putting himself in front of Sideswipe as best he could. The blast struck him right in the back, sending the Seeker's systems into stasis lock.
Thundercracker growled and rushed Shockwave, fully intending to dismantle him piece by piece. "You. Will. Not. Touch. The brother of my mate, you fragging glitched up relic. You will NOT." He almost flew, his thrusters aiding him, and he actually knocked the heavier and sturdier mech down, punching him steadily in that hexagonal faceplate with every word he spoke. "You are not fit to live. You would harm /sparklings/!"
"Shockwave: unfit to live." Soundwave agreed, finally arriving on the scene. "Thundercracker: desist. Sideswipe's separation imminent; twins are coming. Soon. Quantum bond between Sunstreaker and Sideswipe strained. Must /go/; Sunstreaker requires Thundercracker's presence."
And that was the only thing that would stop TC from finishing the mech off right there in the tower control.
"Got it, boss!" The bay began to open.
"Hurts, I'm sorry, Sunny. They're coming. It'll be fine. Listen to my voice, ok?" Skywarp tried to encourage.
First Aid reported, "Spark readings are off the scale, Ratchet? I have no experience with a carrier. Is he about to have this sparkling?"
"He's close." Ratchet cursed. "First Aid, get Air Raid stabilized! If this sparkling is about to come, I need to monitor it! Wheeljack, Hoist! Help Aid!"
The medbay burst back into action as Ratchet wheeled the berth with Sunstreaker on it into an emergency room. If Sunstreaker was about to separate, he wasn't going to do it in the main room where so many things could go wrong in an environment like that.
Sideswipe clung to his lover, trying to get Starscream to respond to him even as the pain was becoming slowly hard to think around. He was trying to hold on, he was, but the pain was insistent, the two newsparks racing around his spark and feeling as if they were pulling on it at the same time. It was excruciating.
First Aid nodded firmly, rushing off to stabilize the other gestalt member with only a single glance toward Sunny and Skywarp. Ratchet kept a scanner on Sunstreaker, cursing loudly when he saw the readings. "I need the groundling protoform in here, just in case!" he cried, and Fireflight, uninjured but waiting for word on Air Raid, rushed to retrieve the tiny form. It looked...gray and pitiful, without a bit of life to it, and Ratchet nodded at Flight to set it down nearby.
Skywarp looked terrified but also a little knowledgeable. "Sunny, listen. Sunny, it don't hurt for long, then it's over and you-" His breath caught. The only one he'd managed to carry hadn't lived the cycle. But he'd been here. "It'll be over and you'll be holding him. I know TC's not here and that's hard...but I'll help you , if you let me." He held out his hand, a tiny smile on his face.
Starscream did not respond in the least, His systems were down, though he was still alive- just in deep stasis, his spark cycling very slowly. Whatever Shockwave had hit them with, he'd managed to twist and take the worst of it himself.
Thundercracker felt himself sway. "We...we have to go. Sideswipe. I must carry you. You need to get back...more quickly. I...think...I can fly you home." He didn't say a word about Starscream. The cassettes, for their part, looked up at Soundwave and he opened his docking port, the five quickly transforming and settling within.
"Starscream: functional. Will arrive with me." Soundwave said slowly.
It was a fight to get Sideswipe to release Starscream's hand but it was managed and all he could really do was curl with each new flare of pain in Thundercracker's arms as they left the tower.
Sunstreaker grasped the offered, hand, optics shuttered tightly. Frag it, screw his pride. He did NOT want to do this alone. He stifled a cry of pain, squeezing tightly on Skywarp's hand as his chestplates forced themselves open just a bit and Ratchet really did curse.
"Scrap! He's coming faster than I thought, where's - Flight, yes, thank you, here." Fireflight had rushed in, carrying the little protoform and set it down where Ratchet instructed.
Thundercracker could feel parts of his sensory network beginning to gray out- he was low on power, but Sides needed to get home.
He began to use the overrides on his systems, cutting everything that was not essential to safe flight in root mode. His processor felt as though he'd lodged it into a pool of thick mud; his sensors were damped (except proximity), and his external sensory net was dulled to the point of literally feeling nothing more than pressure, but he was flying, he was flying fast, and there was the Ark below him before he knew it. His comm...he sent an emergency comm on the channel Ratchet had given all of them, and landed near the entrance. As soon as Sideswipe was safely on the ground, Thundercracker's vision grayed out and he fell to the ground at Sideswipe's feet, utterly drained. There was a small smile on his lips, though- he'd succeeded.
He had brought Sideswipe home to Sunstreaker.
Skywarp grinned, taking Sunny's hand. "It's fine, but you gotta take in some air, y'know? And don't fight your chest opening- it's supposed to, and 'Chaser's protoform is right over there. He's gonna need a good paint job, Sunny, and you're just the mech for it." Skywarp fought hard to keep the smile on his face.
Ratchet continued to work, getting several tools whose usage was not readily apparent when his head flew up, optics blazing.
"I need four available mechs to get to the main entrance of the Ark /RIGHT FRAGGING NOW/. It's Thundercracker and Sideswipe!"