Disclaimer: *Ahem* Komanah24 does not own Transformers, but one can wish.
Okie dokie, we've got chapter twenty-one here in the black and white. I will keep this author's note sweet and short because I feel rather grumpy. (I had to go back to the dentist again... [stupid cavities] and my mouth is sore.)
I realize I left you all hanging last time, so here... lets recap from a different point of view shall we?
Chapter Twenty-one
She can feel it in her gears that he is different, but hopes vainly that the change in her friend isn't too great that he won't see that what he is doing is wrong. She searches his lost expression and wishes she could say something... anything, to help him find his way back to the right path.
The confusion on Nighthawk's faceplates turn into irritation and Elita realizes instantly what he has decided. Her spark sinks and aches with new betrayal as the black mech that was once her friend shifts into a battle ready position with Hot Rod held even tighter against his chest plates. His words tear at her spark.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Autobot."
With his choice made, going against everything in her frame screaming for her not to, Elita strikes! Her blaster is tucked back into subspace and she ejects a gleaming sword in its place, the transaction barely taking half of an astro-second (1/2 an earth second).
Nighthawk jerks backward to avoid her first blow, towing the mechling along with him! Sonic-blaster attacks him from the right and the Decepticon deflects a hit from the Autobot S.I.C.'s sword. The other two Autobots soldiers come at him and as he shifts to counter them Elita takes his distraction as an opportunity to take a swing at him. Her small servo fists and catches the black mech on the jaw hinge!
Nighthawk staggers back and catches himself with his free servo to the ground. His denta bares in a snarl as glowing energon trickles thickly from his lip plates.
Elita calmly speaks through the comm as she stares hard into the growing malevolence in her former friend's optics, : Sonic-blaster, at the first chance get the youngling and get him out of here. :
Sonic-blaster's helm tips curtly as Nighthawk launches forward, using his flight boosters and takes down the red and white Autobot warrior that was accompanying them. There is a cry of agony from the red and white warrior as both mechs crash to the ground! Elita subspaces her blaster again and peppers the aerial Decepticon with blasts that scorch into his armor. Wires sizzle as the shots make contact and Nighthawk turns with a roar! He lunges at her, Hot Rod still in tow and bouncing beside him like a piece of scrap metal. She shoots again and the plasma sprays Nighthawk's chest armor with a crackle.
Nighthawk jerks back with a hiss and swipes at her with his free open servo that is coated with the energon of the red and white Autobot. She blocks the strike with a grunt as his enormous strength almost overpowers her! The sticky life fluids on his finger digits splatter heatedly onto her faceplates. Nighthawk uses his helm to strike her and send her flying rearward onto her back struts. Her processor feels fuzzy as she rises slowly and sees Sonic-blaster subspace his grappler and fire the hook toward the Decepticon that is looming over her. The grappler's hook snags Hot Rod and rips him roughly from Nighthawk's servos.
Sonic-blaster jerks the youngling toward him and runs down the hall! The other remaining Autobot warrior dashes after him, covering his back in case Nighthawk tries to shoot at his retreating leader.
A curse comes from Nighthawk and the black Decepticon propels himself after the fleeing Autobot S.I.C. and the tri-colored mechling. Elita lunges to her pedes and tackles Nighthawk's back as he runs by in pursuit of Sonic-blaster and Hot Rod! A snarl of pain comes from Nighthawk as Elita collides with his wings and drags him down to the ground heavily. He throws a blind jab at the femme on top of him with his elbow hinge and it catches her harshly on the faceplates. Elita grunts angrily as it makes contact and leaves a dent. The force of the blow knocks her off of his wings and he turns with a growl, his sword is subspaced and he stabs her brutally through the shoulder, eliciting a cry of agony from Elita!
Nighthawk traps her with his other servo and sneers at her pain filled expression, "Stay down, Ariel. If you know what's good for you." He jerks his blade out of her frame, causing it to make a metallic screech against her broken armor, and rises to take after Sonic-blaster, who is pinging Elita nonstop through the open comm line asking if she is okay. Apparently she screamed rather loudly. Elita sends an affirmative that she is fine as she struggles to her pedes with a growl on her lip components.
"Like pit," Elita snarls in answer to Nighthawk's threat as she charges after him. The Primes gave her a mission: find the youngling and get him out of the city. She will be thrown into a smelting pit while she is still online before she allows anyone to stop her from completing that mission. She will fight to her last vent leaves her frame and her spark turns into a cold husk, even if the one she must fight is her friend.
Sentinel's sword flashes wildly in the rising sunlight as he battles against his eldest creation. One of the blades cut deftly into Megatron's wrist armor causing a shower of blue liquid to rain onto the ground at the dueling mechs' pedes.
Megatron snarls and swipes at Sentinel's helm with his claws curved wickedly! The Prime barely has time to sidestep before the talons rake the air where he once had been. Sentinel takes the opportunity to catch Megatron's arm and shove him backwards! His creation stumbles back and Sentinel takes the brief break in their scuffle to check on Ultra Magnus and Optimus. Both are warring next to him and keeping the main swarm of Galvatron's present mechs from reaching him and Megatron.
Sentinel allows himself to feel a swell of pride in the two mechs before turning his gaze back to his corrupted creation who has regained his pedes and is standing with his servos clenched angrily by his sides. Sentinel twirls his double blade sword nimbly and directs one of the points toward Megatron in a defensive stance.
"Megatronus, we do not have to do this," he calls, hoping that maybe, no matter how slim the chance is, that his son might come to his senses.
Megatron lets out a gravelly bark of laughter that sends a chill through Sentinel's systems, "Yes we do, Sentinel." He charges again with his own subspaced sword raised and an unmaking bellow on his lip plates! Sentinel blocks his first blow and counterattacks him, not going for a deactivating strike but merely aiming to drive his creation back. Megatron refuses to give any ground though, and attacks the Prime with even more vigor than before!
Parrying his creation's strike, Sentinel growls, internally wondering if the femme Commander and Sonic-blaster were able to find Hot Rod. They only have less than two kliks (1 klik= 1.2 earth min.) left before the danger of Soundwave hacking their frequency is commenced and less than three before he must sound the official retreat. They can stay no longer than that. No matter how much he wants to he cannot endanger the rest of his troops for one mechling, even if that mechling is his son.
: 'Big Red'! : Sonic-blaster hails through the open line, : We've got him! We're going out the back and will be at the western gate within four kliks (1 klik= 1.2 earth min.)! :
A feeling of victory zaps through Sentinel, : All units fall back! We've got what we came for! :
Instantly the Autobots give ground in a tactical retreat with Prowl still barking advice from the rooftops. The Decepticons crowd forward in pursuit of their foes as the blue-sighted bots makes their slow way back to the north gate.
Sentinel shoves Megatron off of him and to the ground before following his troops in fighting their way out of the city. This mission went far better than he had hoped it could have ever went. From the corner of his optic he sees Megatron surge back to his pedes with a loud roar. It is obvious that his creation has put two and two together, and now realizes that they have what they wanted... and he doesn't.
The large, grey mech thunders forward with a malicious shout, "Sentinel!"
Sentinel whirls and braces himself in the split nano-klik (second) it takes Megatron to launch himself with his flight boosters and come crashing down on top of the Prime! The two potentates hit the ground rolling, metal crashing against metal with the sound of a mighty report, Sentinel's double blade sword is lost in the titans' monumental and bodily meeting!
Sentinel can hear Prowl bellow through the comm lines, : Backup needed! 'Big Red' needs assistance! Closest possible bot— : Sentinel tones the Praxian out as Megatron pins him to the ground with a malevolent jeer on his mouthplates.
"You've got something that I want… Creator," Megatron snarls as he grips Sentinel's armor and tears away the protective metal covering the Prime's arm subspace! Sentinel manages to suppress the cry of agony to a mere grunt as energon begins to flow from his torn plating. Prowl's orders keep getting more and more frequent as he tries to direct an otherwise unengaged bot to help the Prime. Sentinel ignores the tactician's shouting as Megatron reaches into his subspace and pulls out the Spark Extractor replica.
That is what he is after?! Sentinel almost laughs at the duplicate and the comedy of the fact that Megatron thinks he would be as stupid as to truly bring the actual relic, but instead opts for slamming his fisted servo into Megatron's faceplates.
The Decepticon staggers back with a curse and subspaces his sword with an angered snarl emitted from his vocalizer. Megatron swings wildly with his blade at Sentinel as the great leader rises from the ground and stabs his weapon deep into the Prime's chassis! The metal shrieks as the weapon buries into the red armor of Sentinel Prime!
Sentinel's world seems to halt as his spark falters. His blue optics stare at where the metal is entering his chest plates and travel slowly to the holder of the sword. He can vaguely hear Prowl shouting through the open comm link and can feel the sudden terror from Optimus and Ultra Magnus as he stumbles backwards with a ragged gasp leaving his vocal processor.
Megatron's own garnet colored optics are wide in disbelief as he gapes at where his sword has pierced into his father's frame. Their optics meet and for a split nano-klik (second) Sentinel can see something that he never though he would ever see in his eldest creation. Fear clouds those expressive crimson optics, and regret blooms from their depths for a frozen moment that seems to drag on forever. Sentinel can almost feel the horror radiating off of his son and wonders if perhaps he was wrong about Megatronus… Perhaps there is still a chance that he will repent of his misdeeds.
That small ray of hope is squandered as a sudden sneer flashes across the warlord's features. A malicious grin creases his faceplates, those same faceplates that Sentinel would caress so long ago when his son couldn't fall into recharge. The wicked smile is accented by an otherworldly hiss and the deep rumble of his creation's vocals as he whispers evilly in his wounded creator's audio, "I've won."
The sword is jerked out of Sentinel's chassis painfully and he feels himself falling. He can feel when he slams into the ground and can see Optimus and Ultra Magnus rushing to help him. He tries to tell them to turn back and keep going… to save themselves, but his comm lines are filled with static. His spark sinks as he realizes that the disrupted communication lines means that Soundwave has succeeded in hacking their communication wave length. Sentinel, even in his terrible state, feels a strange remorse. They are all going to offline. And it will be entirely his fault...
Optimus and Ultra Magnus reach him at the same time. Neither of them even pauses to look at their father, instead they slam into Megatron as one, great roars exploding from their vocals! Sentinel can feel someone at his side and looks up blearily to see Ratchet working feverishly over him, shouting at him that he'd better not offline. The medic yells at Hound to stand guard while he works and curses under his vents as he bends over Sentinel's battered frame. Dear old Ratchet, Sentinel smiles at him weakly and peers up at where Ironhide is holding the Decepticons off to his right then promptly falls into stasis from his severe energon loss.
Ironhide hears Ratchet curse wildly from behind him as he helps Hound hold a swarm of Cons back from reaching the medic and the downed Prime. Anger flares wildly through the weapons specialist as he hacks into a dark blue Decepticon and throws him with a snarl! Two more of the fraggers take his place. Ironhide blows them to Unicron's Pit, energon splatters his cannons thickly from the close proximity of his foes. Four more appear and Ironhide cuts into two, he curses as the other two leap onto his back! His whole frame tips with the weight and he can feel himself being drug down by the pit-spawns!
Something screeches wildly behind him and the grounders fall from his back struts with gashes cut all the way down to their sparks. Ironhide catches himself from falling all the way to the ground with one servo and peers up to see Chromia hacking into the Cons next to him, giving him time to get back to his pedes. He doesn't waste time in marveling at her ferocity and leaps up to help her. Chromia's sword glitters with blue as she finishes off the nearest of the Cons then turns to Ironhide, standing almost against his chest plates, "You alright, mech?!"
Ironhide grunts and shoots over her shoulder to slag a Decepticon that decided the blue fembot was a good target. Chromia takes that as a 'yes' and turns to the ensuing battle once more. Ironhide takes a moment to watch her fight and decides as she covers him so that he can take down a particularly big Decepticon that they work well together.
His contemplation is cut short as Ratchet yells from behind them in anger. Ironhide whirls to see the medic fending off two more Cons that managed to slide by Hound from reaching Sentinel. The weapons specialist charges to the C.M.O.'s aid and decks the first Decepticon he can reach hard enough to send the mech soaring rearwards and into the chaos of battle! From his peripheral vision, Ironhide can see Wheeljack de-helm the soaring Con before he can even reach the ground! The Wrecker's grin gleams as wickedly as his swords as he takes a nano-klik (second) to admire his work before he whirls to help Ratchet also.
Ironhide and the tri-colored Wrecker reach the medic at the same time, both separating Cons along the way. Upon their arrival Ratchet yells to them, "We need to get him out of here! Now!"
Ironhide scowls and peppers a few Decepticons with cannon fire before replying, "Yeah? Well, there isn't going to be any of us making it out if something big doesn't go our way soon!"
"I've got something!" Wheeljack shouts above the noise of skirmish. Ironhide pivots to forbid the Wrecker from doing whatever he is thinking of, but the mech is already screeching through the pandemonium of the battlefield, "Wreckers! We need the big guy!"
Instantly some of the rogue team breaks away from the conflict, chased all the while by their former Decepticon brawl buddy. Ironhide counts the Wreckers up to a total of five and as their designation come to his processor he realizes what Wheeljack is planning. A grin touches the weapons specialist's lip plates, well thought of, Wheeljack!
Impactor, the leader of the wild task force, heads the small group as they rush forward, sided by Whirl, Roadbuster, Topspin, and Twintwist. Whirl and Topspin shoot forward in a sudden burst of speed to leave the other three behind. Only trailing by nano-kliks (1 nano-klik= 1 earth sec.), Impactor extends both arms outward toward Roadbuster and Twintwist; both Wreckers recognize the unspoken command and latch onto Impactor's arm struts with their frames twisting recklessly in transformation, becoming two giant, weapon laden limbs. Impactor slams his new appendages onto the ground, creating a shockwave and propels himself into the air!
Decepticons and Autobots alike stagger from the sudden quake that Impactor's fist smash onto the ground produced and gap in awe as the Wrecker Commander lands harshly on top of Whirl and Topspin. Many bots tumble onto their faceplates as the massive fists crash onto the ground again to keep Impactor from doing a helm dive onto Cybertron's surface. Metal turns violently from both Whirl and Topspin's frames, fusing their bodies into huge pede and leg-shaped attachments.
Impactor's own helm shifts, pushing up twin aerials over his audios. His optics dim slightly as the different personalities and skills of the five warriors are combined in the frame of the huge gestalt. The whir of the enlarged combiner's pistons sound unnaturally loud as the vent catches in everyone's throat pipes. Its optics flash white and Ironhide wonders as it pushes itself into a standing position just how tied down this new cannon of theirs is. The battlefield goes eerily quiet as the colossal combiner straightens completely, towering over even Optimus, Ultra Magnus, and Megatron by a good fifteen feet.
There is a fright-filled moment where no one moves...
The gestalt known as the Ruination snarls and the Decepticons open fire! The Ruination lets out a deafening roar and moves to stand over Sentinel Prime, its huge green arm merely pawing the annoying sprinkles of plasma away. It nimbly picks up both the unconscious Prime and the squalling medic then proceeds to walk out of the city, kicking down buildings and pulverizing the unfortunate Decepticons that got in its way.
Ironhide smirks at the sight with relief that Sentinel was in good servos flooding into his wires. He never got tired of seeing the transformation when it worked in the Autobots' favor. The black weapons specialist turns swiftly to help Chromia deal with a fierce Decepticon fighter that is overpowering her before he notices Wheeljack standing in the middle of combat without his sabers in his servos. What the slag is that inventor thinking?! Ironhide is about to rush to save his sorry after plating from becoming sliced metal when he sees a tiny contraption in the tri-colored mech's servos.
Upon closer scrutiny, Ironhide discovers there is a pixilated smirk plastered on the Wrecker's faceplates as he holds out the small device. Wheeljack's thumb digit presses a small button and Ironhide can hear him mockingly say 'boom' before he turns and runs like the blitz down the street toward the northern gate of Metropolis.
It dawns on Ironhide what the mech's actions must mean and he curses intensely. Trust Wheeljack to give them no warning! Ironhide zips after Wheeljack, taking time to rip Chromia away from where she is trying to take down two Decepticons at a time.
Chromia curses as Ironhide tows her along by the servo, "Frag it all, mech! I had 'em! What the pit do you think you're doing?!"
"Wheeljack's running!" Ironhide hollers back to her and finds it momentarily funny that all the other Autobots got the same idea he did at the same time and are all fleeing like the claws of Unicron are behind them.
Chromia doesn't seem to get it yet and yells up to him, "So?!"
"If the bomb specialist runs, you run too!"
"Scrap!" Chromia shouts as the realization hits her. She jerks her servo from Ironhide's grip and transforms into a petit Cybertronian speedster, then tears ahead. Ironhide transforms and follows closely behind her as they race after Wheeljack's retreating back struts!
Ironhide expands his energy readers and finds Optimus and Ultra Magnus only slightly behind him. The weapons specialist slows his pace and lets them pass him so that he can be sure that they make it out, he wouldn't have another of the Primes getting injured when he could protect him.
Many of the Decepticons take in after them in their retreat and try to pick them off while they are running. Ironhide spots the small saboteur and Prowl running on the rooftops, covering the two leaders from above. Smart move, Ironhide admits with a grudging admiration toward the young tactician. Ironhide glance to his right and can see through the alley openings where the remaining Wreckers, Underhand, Hound and a huge horde of Cons are rushing down the street next to the one he, Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Chromia and Wheeljack are retreating on.
Ironhide sees Wheeljack ahead picking up speed in an almost desperate manner. Frag that mech! He is going to get them all slagged! Ironhide accelerates and tailgates the Autobot leaders forcing them to go faster.
Wheeljack, upon reaching the north gate, screeches to a halt, transforms and blasts a small projectile at the barricade. The whole gate blossoms with flames, metal chunks are blown from it as the bomb detonates and sends Wheeljack flying backwards!
"Keep going!" Ironhide yells to Optimus and Ultra Magnus as he stops next to Wheeljack and transforms. The weapons specialist grabs the tri-colored Wrecker by the shoulder armor and jerks him upward, "You alright, you little fragger?"
Wheeljack shakes his helm to clear his processor and mumbles blearily, "A little too much… I think…"
Taking that as 'no', Ironhide slings the dazed mech over his shoulder and hightails it toward the smoking, blasted gate. The other Wreckers, Underhand, Hound, Jazz, and Prowl are already there and go charging through the screen of debris. Ultra Magnus, Optimus and Chromia are already on the other side apparently.
"Hide…." Wheeljack moans from his sack position over the weapons specialist's shoulder, "Hide, faster!"
Ironhide snarls in irritation, "If you hadn't blown the slagging gate to un-seeable specks, you scrap-for-processor mech, we wouldn't be in this situation! I'm going as fragging fast as I fragging can!"
"Ironhide!" Wheeljack blathers with more urgency, "Faster!"
"Shut your energon hole!"
"Ten nano-kliks (seconds), mech!"
And the weapon specialist finds another whole gear.
Megatron stares in fury as the Ruination picks up Sentinel Prime and the C.M.O. like they are nothing and carries them away. Anger sears into him.
Well, if he cannot watch Sentinel's spark fade then Optimus' will do!
The warlord charges at his younger brother and subspaces his sword. The sword that is already stained into a ghastly blue by the energon of his father. An odd feeling pulls at Megatron's spark as the blue glistens sharply in the sunlight, but the Decepticon shoves it aside with viciousness! He will offline two Primes this cycle (day)!
Suddenly Optimus swivels on his pede heel and charges in the opposite direction. What?! Megatron growls in confusion as he notices that the Autobots are all withdrawing from the fight. Of course! They probably have Hot Rod by now!
Megatron hisses in frustration and considers chasing after Optimus, but then stops himself.
Why should he waste his energy pursuing Optimus when he has the means to offline him and many others at the same time? A smile carves into Megatron's faceplates as he turns and walks back through the sea of offlined frames and wounded warriors. In their hasty retreat the Autobots have left their deactivated behind, and something else far more valuable.
The warlord's elation rises as he spots the metallic object lying among the offlined. With reverent servos, he lifts it to his faceplates and rubs his claws over it gleefully. The Spark Extractor…. with it, there is no stopping him! He has the means to merely fly over Iacon and dismantle everything in it by merely dropping this little present off, nice and primed, ready to blow.
Of course he will need Shockwave to tinker with it a bit so that his own spark won't be sucked into the relic when he activates it. Perhaps put it on a delay? Megatron smiles, yes that would be—
-Beep-
The Decepticon's smile is gone in an astro-second (1/2 an earth second).
-Beep-…..-Beep-
Megatron turns the Extractor over in his servos to find the source of the noise and becomes increasingly irritated when he cannot locate it.
"Soundwave!" Megatron snarls angrily and the C.O. calmly appears by his side. "What is that infernal noise?!"
Soundwave takes the Spark Extractor and holds it for a moment…
-Beep-
His slender finger digits dig into the sides of the relic and he breaks it open much to Megatron's dismay. The warlord almost boxes the Communications Officer in the faceplates but stops when he sees the mess of wires and inter-workings of the relic... What?! A relic shouldn't look like that should it?! It should be much more ancient and holy, not so... so... so made.
-Beep-…..-Beep-…..-Beep-
Using the garbled speech of recordings as per usual for his aloud speaking, Soundwave blares, "Not what you think!/ It's a…/ Bomb!"
Megatron jerks back as if stung and the beeping grows in intensity, Megatron roars through the comm lines, : All units! Evacuate the city immediately! The Autobots have brought a weapon of potentially incalculable damage! I repeat! Evacuate immediately! :
He is already lifting into the air and transforming into his Cybertronian jet mode as his last words enter the link. Megatron can sense Soundwave, Galvatron and Starscream right behind him as he blasts the air with his propellers and jets out of the city's airway with a curse for all Autobots in existence alight on his lip components.
Megatron doesn't take notice when Starscream banks away and heads toward the western gate.
Nighthawk sprints after the black and green shape of the Autobot S.I.C. He is painfully aware that Ariel didn't listen to him and is charging up his tailpipe with her blasters ready to cut into his frame. The aerial mech shakes the thought out of his processor as he reaches the exit of the base and propels himself forward with his boosters to overtake the Autobot that stole Hot Rod from his grip. He closes in on his quarry and subspaces a small blade to finish the mech off before he even know he was caught, and then something pops up right in front of him! Nighthawk snarls as he is rolled onto the ground by a nimble hip check, courtesy of the mech that had been behind Sonic-blaster. He had forgotten about that Autobot!
The black Decepticon rises swiftly and twirls the small blade in his servo. With a confident leer he attacks the small bump obstructing his way! The Autobot dodges and counterattacks with only the use of claws, the metal digits rake across Nighthawk's faceplates leaving a deep groove! Nighthawk jerks back and touches his finger digits to the small wound. They come away a bright blue.
A deep growl rumbles from low in Nighthawk's chassis and he strikes again with agitation for this delay. He knocks aside the Autobot's block and drives his small blade into the mech's neck cables! Throwing the gagging mech to the ground, Nighthawk charges after Sonic-blaster once more!
He hears Ariel coming from inside the base and sneers, as an Autobot, the mech he just downed should stop her. She will try to help him, even though he is a lost cause. Nighthawk knows where he cut the mech, he won't last another two kliks (1 klik= 1.2 earth min.) at the rate he is losing energon from his wound.
Nighthawk sprints a few steps then uses his flight boosters to shoot forward at an astonishing speed! He overtakes Sonic-blaster and slams into him! The Autobot S.I.C. grunts at the impact and rolls with the tackle. He manages to hang onto the youngling as he skids to a stop a short distance away on his servos and knee plates.
Then, much to Nighthawk's surprise, the Autobot Second turns the little mechlet loose and commands him firmly, "Go, keep running until you get to the gate and don't stop."
Nighthawk smirks as Hot Rod runs down the street without so much as a backward glance. This should be easy now... Slag Sonic-blaster, catch the youngling on the way to the gate, and then slag him too.
Nighthawk strikes!
Since Sonic-blaster is taller than the aerial mech he is also fractionally bulkier and slower. He sidesteps with some difficulty and doesn't attempt to land a blow of his own. Nighthawk smiles in a quiet confidence as he realizes that not only is he quicker than the Autobot, but he is also more agile. He will finish this skirmish quickly. Nighthawk clenches his blade tighter and attacks! His optics widen considerably when Sonic-blaster dodges his hit and slaps him harshly in the back of the helm, driving him against one of the buildings lining the street! He crashes through the wall of the house and comes staggering back out like an overcharged dolt. Sonic-blaster is waiting on him with that accursed grappler in his servos.
The grappler hook is projected! Its claws reach and snag Nighthawk by the arm and Sonic-blaster flings him heavily into the building on the other side of the street! He smashes cleanly through that one as well thanks to his impressive size and weight, and successfully blurs his sight for a moment.
Nighthawk crawls out of the demolished building on all fours and looks around wildly for Sonic-blaster. The Autobot is nowhere to be seen. Nighthawk rises to his pedes with a curse and stumbles. He crashes helm-long back to the ground and groans as a throbbing helm ache sets in without mercy. Something touches his side and he jerks away from it with a hiss.
It is Ariel.
She frowns at him with hard optics, "Are you alright?"
Nighthawk growls and forces himself shakily to his pedes. He wobbles in unbalance and she reaches her small servo out to steady him. Nighthawk swats at her helping servo and misses it entirely, a snarl comes from his vocalizer as he realizes his depth perceivers must be damaged.
As if timed perfectly by Unicron himself to inflict the worst possible helm ache on a single online mech, Megatron shouts through the comm lines, : All units! Evacuate the city immediately! The Autobots have brought a weapon of potentially incalculable damage! I repeat! Evacuate immediately! :
A bomb. That's the only thing it could be. Nighthawk turns and is about to jump into the air to fly to safety when he remembers… Ariel. He whirls to face her, "Ariel! We have to leave now!"
"What? Why?!" She evades his grip easily and step back with mistrust on her faceplates.
"There's a bomb, it's going to go off at any nano-klik (second)! You have to trust me!"
Ariel shakes her helm with her optics becoming defiant, "No. You go. You wouldn't want to be seen helping an Autobot would you?"
Nighthawk stares at her feeling slightly desperate to get out of the city, "You could come with me, Ariel!"
"I'll come with you when Unicon's Pit freezes over," Ariel says venomously. He draws back in shock so she adds in a softer tone, "You're a Decepticon, Nighthawk. And I'm an Autobot… It's time we go our separate ways... for good."
The black mech's optic ridge furrows in confusion, "So we're enemies now?" His vocals are suddenly soft and he hates it. There is almost a tremor in them as the final words leave his vocalizer and his core temperature heats.
Ariel's optics are pain filled as she replies, "Yes, I guess we are."
It is like a spike through the black mech's spark but he nods curtly without allowing his hurt to show any more than he already has, "Goodbye, Elita1." As he transforms a pit forms in his gears, as he flies away a fear settles in his processor, and as he approaches the edge of the city he feels like a coward. He is a coward for leaving her behind! He should have picked her up and forcibly carried her to the gate!
He still can. He can make her let him help her.
With resolve in his frame and a mission in his processor he pulls a U turn in the air and thrusts his alt mode back to where he'd left her. He will knock her unconscious if he has to, but he will get her out of the city. She saved him once, he will repay her and that will be the end of it.
His private comm lines ping and he notices it is from Starscream. What does that little slagger want at a time like this, : What?! : Nighthawk growls at the seeker.
: I cannot help but notice, Commander, that you are going the wrong way for an evacuation… : the meaning sinks into Nighthawk's processor and he instantly expands his energy readers. The moment that the readers magnify the shining blip of the conniving seeker's signal pops up right next to him! Starscream drop-dives from above the Decepticon S.I.C., neatly clipping his left wing as he passes by!
This intentional hit sends Nighthawk into a tailspin! His world tips crazily as his whole frame corkscrews wildly. A cackle sounds from Starscream, but Nighthawk can't place whether it is up or down. The black mech somersaults in dizzying spirals until his tanks churn and then he hits the ground! It is with enough force to fracture his armor in several places; all air leaves his vents and his systems flicker on the brink of stasis.
Frag… that little… pit… spawn. Nighthawk shifts and the small movement send a figurative fire over his whole frame. Instantly he checks his comm lines. They are all out of whack and buzzing with static, as to be expected. He must move himself because he is going to get no help. Ari—Elita1 would be out of the gate by now. The bomb will be detonating. He will be offlined. Starscream will be Second in Command once more.
That thought dives him to push himself to his pedes. The pain from before is only a byte-fly compared to the massive stab of agony that stings his sensors like a million little scraplets feeding on him. Nighthawk mutes his vocalizer and presses on quickly with sparks flying from him with every step. Smoke is pouring from his engine and his optics shift hazily.
He almost laughs aloud when he spots the gate. Take that Starscream! It's going to be harder than that to terminate Nighthawk! As he staggers toward the gate he can see Elita1 running across the Cybertronian flat where a large blue and red mech and several others are already next to a glowing ground bridge. She will make it. Relief floods Nighthawk's frame.
He will make it too.
Nighthawk staggers forward and almost trips over something. It is a frame, he realizes as he stumbles and falls halfway on it to steady himself. A stabbing pain crowds his sensors and he falls heavily to his knee plates, his vision blurring the white and yellow frame before him.
Deadlock?!
"Hey, mech," the white Decepticon rasps up to him raggedly, his vocals almost buzzing out with static, "You look pretty peaked yourself, but if there's any way, do you think you could carry another bot out of here?"
Nighthawk glances at the gate. It is his chance to live to another cycle (day), laugh at Starscream's failed attempt to offline him. Why shouldn't he take it? The black mech could think of no reason at all. But instead of toddling on to his freedom, Nighthawk picks up the officer.
I hope that this has been an enjoyable chapter for all readers, and I hope that I didn't skip around too much.
Let me know what you all think. :)
Until next Monday!