More sadness and feels abundant.
((((NOTICE: This is the second to last chapter for In A Rising Darkness.))))
Enjoy.
Chapter Twenty
Ultra Magnus' optics follow the silted outline of Flat-line, one of the medic twins, hastily wheels another sparkling through the open ground bridge to Iacon's medical bay. It's only the fifth that they have found even remotely intact. Ultra Magnus finds himself uttering a prayer to Primus for the wounded sparkling.
No sooner has it left his lips does he hear the drone of a spark monitor as the spark beat fades from the mechlet's frame. He hears Flat-line yelling for a spark-stabilizer and a shot of nitrous oxide as he disappears with the sparkling… It's probably futile, Ultra Magnus himself had placed the sparkling on the gurney and had seen the wounds with his own optics, had seen Flat-line's look of despair upon seeing the mechlet.
Only the fifth, of which only two survived.
The commander can barely keep his own spark from despairing at the thought. He forces it from his processor and focuses back to the task at hand, finding the vault which the aerial femme had spoken of. So far she hadn't led them astray, for the intel she gave of the possible survivors on the east side of the youth sector had proven good. The morale boost of finding so many alive in one place had been necessary for the rescuers.
Even now, as his optics search endlessly of the mountains of debris with frames strewn across their far reaching range, he holds onto it. If so many survived on the east side then there could be more.
He scans for any anomalies in the rubble that would indicate a vault of some sort and comes up empty again. Then his optics halt. There in the fires of the demolished building is a yellow spot… His spark stutters with fear and he finds himself praying for the second time as he approaches what is clearly a sparkling's battered frame, please, Primus, don't let it be him.
His gears tense as he gently moves the sparkling to its back and he has to bite back the instinct to purge his tanks at its half skeletal remains. It isn't Bumblebee… but one of them will be. Ultra Magnus stands quickly and moves away from the offlined sparkling and further into the destroyed sector, running another scan as he does.
This time it renders a reading on his scan of a security panel in the floor a few steps to the right. It could be the one the femme spoke of.
Ultra Magnus works his way to it and carefully begins shifting the wreckage away from the entrance so as not to disturb the highly unstable parts of the youth sector still standing. It takes almost a breem of diligent working until he has the long vault uncovered. It is a weapon safe, the commander realizes as he moves the last bit of debris. It must have been where she got hold of the sniper rifle she had been lugging around when he found her, Ultra Magnus allows himself to wonder minutely what need a caregiver would have for a military grade sniper rifle before he sets back to his task.
The femme was clever to hide the sparkling here, as not many would think to check inside a weapon safe. The only way a sparkling inside could be detected would be through a scan.
Ultra Magnus quickly runs one to check the heath of the sparkling that was said to be inside and the reading gives him pause. It shows only energon in the safe… His spark tightens and he scans again. Nothing.
Scrap! He access the control panel and stares at the numbers on the screen, his worried processor taking time to realize that it required a password that he did not have. Frag it.
Surely there is someone helping with the rescue efforts that could assist him, a quick search on his energy readers shows a mech a short distance away who isn't moving. A step around some rubble hindering his view reveals Prowl perched on a mound of wreckage…
Ultra Magnus frowns, Prowl had just been to the medical for severed limbs, had he not? Why would Ratchet have cleared him for duty so soon? The other rescuers hadn't even made it this far into the sector yet, Ultra Magnus being the exception as he was searching to the sparking that was said to be waiting in a safe, why would Prowl be all the way out here? The commander approaches the mech and hails him to warn of his presence and Prowl appears startled when he finally notices him. A worry begins as Ultra Magnus nears that Prowl might be injured.
"Prowl," Ultra Magnus greets as he reaches the sitting mech, his optics trail down to the doorwinger's new pedes that he received courtesy of Ratchet. They have received damage very recently.
"Sir," the Praxian responds mildly, his gaze wonders and he begins scanning the ruins around them for anything online. No, Utra Magnus corrects himself as he takes in the mech's abandoned expression, for Bumblebee.
"There's a vault that may have a sparkling inside," Ultra Magnus says, "Are you able to hack it?"
Prowl turns his haunting gaze back to the debris for a few nano-kliks before he nods his helm in consent, "Yes, it should not be overly difficult." He rises shakily and frowns down at his damaged appendages, "I will need some assistance," the mech says with a little difficulty.
Ultra Magnus wraps an arm around his midriff and they walk toward the vault, Prowl ceaselessly scanning for a body that will doubtlessly be found…
"I wasn't aware you were assigned to my rescue unit," Ultra Magnus says as they reach the vault. Prowl frowns subtly and indicates for the commander to release him so he can check the vault. He scans it first and his frown deepens.
"I volunteered," he says and then adds, "There's no spark signature."
"A caretaker claimed she put a sparkling in her vault," Ultra Magnus replies, "She neglected to give her passcode, and I neglected to ask."
"My scans show nothing," Prowl says, his tone slightly disheartened, "did it offline?"
"When the femme told me of the sparkling she didn't sound like there was any cause for worry," Ultra Magnus mutters and rubs a weary servo over his faceplates. The hopelessness threatens to eek back into his thought process and he tries to banish it with no avail. It's already offline, you're too late. Again.
"Bumblebee."
"What?" Ultra Magnus asks, rather illiterately.
"I taught Bumblebee how to activate his energy dampener," Prowl states as he begins working effectively. He scans for worn places on the numbers and quickly begins running a tactical algorithm to figure to most likely number combination.
Optimism rises in Ultra Magnus' core like an ugly virus that needs to be ejected. There is no way the sparking would have remembered how to do something so complex as hiding his energy output, especially under duress, he voices this fact bluntly to Prowl.
"A sparkling with normal mental functions would not have, but after factoring in Bumblebee's uniquely high mental capabilities…" Prowl stops midsentence and enters a six digit combination. A sharp intake comes from the doorwinger as the safe clicks and bounces open slightly. They both stare that the cracked door in an apprehensive calm, neither daring to look for a moment. Finally Prowl reaches for the vault door, moving as if it is full of scraplets, and pulls it open.
Ultra Magnus isn't sure what he is expecting. Possibly another offlined frame, but what he sees…
"P'ow?"
The mechlet cries out softly upon seeing the tactician. The pure relief that crosses Bumblebee's features is almost too much to take for the blue commander; it's a stale reminder that if it hadn't been for him Bumblebee would have never been here when the attacks happened... The sparkling surprises both mechs by giggling suddenly and finally laughing out loud as Prowl gathers him out of his safe haven. Bumblebee's small servos latch tightly onto his guardian's chest armor, his hysterical laughter transforming into sobs of relief.
"Bee was so scared, P'ow!"
Ultra Magnus turns from them to give Prowl a chance to calm the mechlet and hails a medic to their location. The beautiful blue of a ground bridge appears before them and the silhouette of Code Blue, the other half of the medic twins, comes through, his faceplates drained. By his expression he fully expects to see another lost cause.
The medic freezes at the sight of Bumblebee in Prowl's arm and a broad smile takes over his haggard appearance, "Bee!"
Bumblebee's cries have been reduced to sniffs at Prowl's interference and the mechlet looks hesitantly at the medic, who approaches the pair cautiously.
"Hi," the mechlet whispers softly.
"Hey buddy," Code Blue returns his greeting, "You want to come back to med with me? Ratch is really worried about you."
Bumblebee looks at Prowl, who nods, "You should go with him, Bee."
The sparkling reluctantly switches arms and nestles into Code Blue's arms, optics on Prowl. Code Blue follows the mechlets gaze then glances down at the tactician's injured pedes. A frown crosses the medic's faceplate, "Perhaps you should come as well, sir."
Prowl shakes his helm, "My pain is minimal. I will stay."
Code Blue looks ready to argue with his superior, but holds his tongue. He nods at the mech then turns to the ground bridge. Bumblebee's helm pops over the medic's shoulder to watch Prowl and Ultra Magnus as he fades into the blue-green portal and, as he disappears, for once, real and welcomed hope sprouts in both their sparks.
Megatron growls as he lands heavily in the midst of the destroyed youth sector beside his Second in Command's mutilated frame. His crimson optics run over the mech. Energon leaks out in rivers, wires spark in the liquid and jagged metal screeches with every shallow vent. With the injuries he sustained he should be offlined… The mech isn't even coherent enough to shut down his pain relays properly to give himself relief.
Megatron frowns, the pain could be the only thing keeping Nighthawk alive. Pain makes Nighthawk stronger, this is something Megatron realized about his Second a long time ago. It's a commendable quality that he has come to admire, albeit very grudgingly.
"Scraps then?" Thundercracker asks with a grimace upon seeing the mech's wounds.
"If even," Skywarp says grimly.
"No," Megatron's vocals are menacing enough that both seekers and the rest of the cons accompanying the warlord take an involuntary step back, least they fall victim to his famous temper. "Take him to Knockout. Tell him that it's not hard to find a replacement medic, should my Second offline while in his med bay."
Soundwave opens a bridge.
Megatron motions for them to take the nearly deactivated mech from his sight, and three soldiers immediately step forward and lift Nighthawk's hulking frame through a ground bridge, leaving a large trail of energon behind them. Soundwave allows the portal to collapse after a few nano-kliks and all is quiet again.
The warlord moves his optics several meters to his left to the sight of the offlined femme he had ordered Starscream and his trine to take care of. Surprisingly, the mech has succeeded. If it weren't for the injuries Megatron now sees on the mech's trine brothers he might've gone as far to assume it was a job well done. Trust those bumbling idiots to be wounded in such a simple task.
The curious thing is what Nighthawk was doing here… he wasn't meant to be anywhere near this location, the youth sector attack he headed was kilometers away. It crosses Megatron's processor that Starscream may have had something to do with Nighthawk's current condition, and the more he thinks about it the more likely it seems. Irritation crosses the warlord's visage, Starscream is becoming more trouble than he's worth.
The sound of a swiftly approaching vehicle cuts through the stillness causing the remaining Decepticons to draw their weapons. Megatron waves them off as he recognizes the signature as Galvatron's femme creation, Blitzer.
As the femme nears she transforms wildly, nearly falling in the process, her optics searching. Her haunted gaze finds Megatron and she starts for him, the evidence of her severed bond clearly engraved on her face.
"Where are they?" she asks with a barely concealed grimace.
Megatron can only assume she is asking about her charge so he points to the frame several meters from their position. She passes him without a second glance and his processor kicks into overdrive. They, who else could she be speaking of?…surely not Nighthawk? She shouldn't have known that he had been wounded yet, that knowledge had been kept between he, Soundwave, and the few mechs he had brought with him. To know that he was injured would mean either Nighthawk commed her, or… they are bonded in some form.
His irritation builds. Nighthawk forming bonds? With Blitzer, Galvatron's creation? What else has the mech been keeping from him? But surely Soundwave would have noticed if his Second in Command was forming bonds.
Turning, he watches Blitzer kneel beside her charge. The tall femme's entire frame is quivering from grief and Megatron nearly snorts in contempt at the obvious display. Pathetic. However, she is valuable to him, and far too skilled of an officer for him to lose to something a obtuse as a broken bond so he approaches her and frowns, "Remove yourself femme," as an afterthought he adds, "Go seek medical attention."
She turns her striking faceplates toward the large mech beside her and he is somewhat surprised to see no tears running down her cheeks. There isn't even moisture in her optics. Her red gaze is blank and her face is void. The only clue coming from her that she is feeling anything in this moment is her shivering frame.
"Who did this?"
Her tone is chilling and a short delight runs through Megatron's wires. He could give Starscream's designation and be rid of another problem… no, with Nighthawk's possible deactivation he will need the mech to step back into the Second in Command position. Grand.
"Hot Rod was seen in the area," is all Megatron says and the femme's optics blaze brightly in a lust for revenge. Primus help Starscream if she ever finds out what he and his trine had done.
Blitzer turns back to Tempestfire and carefully lays a servo on the femme's helm. Her lips move in whispers too soft for the warlord to hear. Then she stands.
"Where is Commander Nighthawk, sir?" she asks Megatron.
Megatron bites back a scowl at her inquiry but answers her question regardless, "My medics are tending to him as we speak."
"Permission to return to Kaon, Lord Megatron?"
His optics narrow severely, but he nods his consent and gestures to Soundwave to open a bridge to Kaon's med bay. Blitzer leaves without another glance back.
That solidifies his suspicions; Nighthawk does indeed have ties to Blitzer. As much as the notion bothers him, Megatron decides not to pursue it, besides, if the mech offlines there will be no need to look further into the matter.
Which brings him back in a full circle to his current problem; Starscream. The mech is the only other bot currently not placed in a rank of importance that has the thought processing to make a good Second, as much as Megatron hates to admit. Wonderful.
With a final glance over the piles of rubble of Tender Loving Care, Megatron turns to Soundwave, "Inform Starscream that he is moved to the rank of Second in Command in light of Nighthawk's most likely demise. Have him gather what ground troops remain to Kaon and count our losses." Another sore subject… that blasted tactician that decided to take a sparkling on a sightseeing tour of Kaon. It is a bit insulting, really, how the Autobot managed to unravel his plans so quickly. Then Soundwave miscalculated the length of time that it would take for that tactician to discover what he had stolen…
"Have him do the same with the aerial force and report back to me the numbers," Megatron says to Soundwave.
It would have been a devastating blow to the Autobots had it succeeded, and in a way it did; it has forced all neutrals to side. There will no longer be grey lines between the black and white, but, "The losses we have taken is far too great for this to have any sort of victory for our cause, Soundwave. They will only repopulate," Megatron spits the last word distainfully, "the remaining sparklings will be protected in underground hangers at an Autobot base or somewhere equally as inaccessible." No matter, he will kill of the next Autobot generation slowly but surely, "Put out a kill order upon all none-red sighted bots, younglings and under… they'll be exterminated eventually."
The biggest loss in both ground and aerial troops were at New Life, but casualties were being reported nearly three kliks before the Autobots showed up, "Soundwave, give me a report of the New Life Youth Sector attack," he says as he gestures for the mech to take them back to Kaon. The ground bridge springs up immediately and so does a file report. Megatron accesses it as he moves through the portal and into his throne room. A look into the video files of the attack shows him the issue.
"Who is that femme?"
"Femme… Decepticon, designation- Marauder."
Megatron whirls, "Decepticon?"
"Deserter—" Starscream's screechy tone sounds from Soundwave's speakers.
Ah yes. How could he forget that affront? Marauder had been the best sniper in the Decepticon ranks before she disappeared a few vorns ago on an important mission. It had been suspected that she was offlined in the line of duty until she had been sighted in Tygre Pax and then later in Keet. Megatron's red gaze narrows at the picture beside the Deception deserter known as Marauder. It is a blue opticked caretaker, designated Aviator. The changed optics throw him a bit, but it is doubtlessly the same fembot.
"So that's where you've run off to," Megatron nearly laughs at the sheer amount of potential punishments blossoming in his processor for her. If there is one thing he hates more than the Autobots its one that has seen and agreed with the Decepticon cause, only to lose sight of it. He doesn't want to offline her, her skills are unparalleled, but if she has gone Autobot she's given him no choice.
Slightly perturbed at how wrong the cycle has gone in so many ways, Megatron turns to his Communications Officer, "Soundwave," he says thoughtfully, "were you aware that the former Commander Nighthawk had bonds?"
The faceless mech merely shakes his helm and Megatron scowls. So not only has Nighthawk been able to slip this fact past him, but he also fooled Soundwave. He has clearly underestimated his former Second in Command. It will not happen again.
The warlord's thoughts are interrupted by a ping from Knockout and the mech takes the transmission from the medic.
::My lord, Megatron:: Knockout's vocals are extremely annoyed, ::surely you don't expect me to actually save this scrap pile laying in front of me.::
::I trust that you understand what will happen to you if you don't,:: Megatron growls.
::Yes, my lord, I will see that it is done!::
Yes, he'd better. Megatron is annoyed at his former Second, yes, but like Blitzer and Marauder, the mech has qualities that are hard to come by. And really, Megatron would rather not have to deal with the insufferable Starscream for the duration of the war.
Blitzer walks into the chaotic med bay. Injured mechs and femmes sit on berths waiting to be repaired and fights are breaking out between some of the less damaged bots. She forces her way through their midst, shooting glares and choice words at them. By the time she reaches Knockout she has quelled much of the strife in the medical bay.
"Thank you for that," Knockout mutters distractedly from where he is elbow deep into Nighthawk's frame, "While you're here, hand me that wrench will you?"
Blitzer does as he asks and stands back numbly. She can feel the Commander's stuttering life force from their weakening friendship bond and a panic takes root in her spark. She can't lose him too.
"You! You!" She barks at two medics that are tending to other critically wounded bots, "Get your afts over here, your Commander is your priority!"
Not wanting to risk her ire, the two mechs hastily do as she bids and surround Knockout who looks grateful for the help. She backs of then to a corner of the med bay where she can watch in silence. Her entire frame turns to numbness from the effects of the broken guardian bond she shared with Tempsetfire... The pain has long gone and is replaced by a deep pit of despair that threatens to swallow her.
She feels Nighthawk clutching at their bond feebly as he senses her distress even in his nearly offlined state, and she tries to reassure him. She can't fall into that chasm, Nighthawk needs her. With that thought, Blitzer curls up in the dark corner of the med bay and she latches onto the friendship bond between her and the Commander with a startling desperation.
"Stay with me, Nighthawk," she whispers brokenly, "I can't lose you too."
Blitzer tries to keep the images of her surrogate daughter's disfigured frame out of her processor. The horrors Tempestfire must have endured in her final moments of life torture the femme endlessly, threatening to break her already shattered spark into irreparable pieces. The grief threatens to consume her whole…
Blitzer lays her helm onto her knees and wraps her arms around her legs to hide her face plates from anyone looking in her direction. Here she finally allows herself to cry silently over her loss and worry for her friend on the brink of deactivation. She doesn't remember falling into recharge. She comes out of recharge at something prodding harshly at her helm and she looks up at the culprit blankly.
Knockout is standing over her trying to look annoyed and failing. If she didn't know any better she would say a shred of sympathy is trying to come to his faceplates. Primus, she must look pitiful.
"Do you need medical attention?" he asks, red gaze running critically over her frame. She nods mutely as she stands and casts a look of dread toward where Nighthawk is laying completely still, surrounded by pumps and tubes keeping him online. The red medic notices the direction of her gaze, "He should live," Knockout supplies the answer to her silent question, "I doubt he will ever fly again."
Blitzer's shoulders slump in loss and tears threaten to spill down her face but she manages to abate them, "His wings?"
"They were mostly intact, I reconnected the wiring, replaced some destroyed sensors, and welded them back on, but…" he shrugs tiredly, "Wings and sparks are something that we still don't quite understand. Really, it's all up to him."
Here comes the overwhelming pit again. Her chin tries to quiver and she bites at her lip to stop it.
Rage. Rage will give you more power than grief ever will.
Her father had told her that when she was but a sparkling and her carrier had passed on to the Well. Back then she though it sounded like stupid advice, she had cried about her carrier and then had moved on, but this… Anger is what she needs to get past this, to make this injustice right. So she seizes her rage and lets it flood her like a drug shot into her main energon line.
He was there. He did this to Nighthawk.
The femme sits stiffly next to Nighthawk's berth, watching each slight vent and focusing on each spark pulse on the monitor at his side and her anger builds with each mechanical beep.
Knockout moves beside her and gives her a questioning gaze as to what she needs him to do. The femme opens her chest plating exposing her spark to the medic.
"Seal the broken bond," she orders.
The medic gives her a long calculated stare. He looks like he may argue, but sets to do as she requests.
Blitzer leans forward and ever so carefully grips onto Nighthawk's servo and at the same time grips onto the last two bonds she has left. Nighthawk, suspended on the jagged edge of offlining, and Deadlock, forever trapped in the gladiatorial pits, doomed to fight until his luck runs out. With all the strength left in her tortured spark she holds onto them. The despair that falls over her is nearly unbearable when the bond is sealed. She almost doesn't feel Knockout tap a clawed digit on her chassis to indicate the deed is done and she can cover herself.
The femme's chest plating snaps shut as she grips even more urgently onto the bond and servo connected to her friend. She draws on her anger to quell the grief and with the anger comes thoughts unbidden.
He was there. He almost offlined her friend. And as for Tempestfire… Blistering rage runs rampant through her and she can barely see through the dizzying wave clouding her processor.
"I will find the mech that did this," she promises Nighthawk, her vocal cold and shaking with fury, "I will offline Hot Rod."