Chapter Twenty Five: Consequence
He knew when he saw the billowing flames reaching for the sky that it was Sideswipe's building.
He didn't need to be told, or even see the building clearly. The flames were a tiny bright speck in the distance that quickly grew larger and died into black smoke that melded into the dark night sky.
The Decepticons were retaliating.
"Star…Starscream…" Skyfire hissed.
"Go to the building and see if they're alive," Starscream ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion save anger. If I let him sit and mull on it he won't do a thing. Sometimes I wonder how he became a military jet. He had his chance to turn away and yet… "I will find who did this."
Skyfire said nothing and did as he was told, pulling forward and circling the burning building below him. It was severed near in half, its reflective surfaces divided by a fiery belt at its midsection. A jet passed under him.
"Thundercracker!"
"They were still inside! Is…is Starscream here?"
His query was rewarded by Starscream flying by, tipping his wings, asking for Thundercracker to join him. Without a word the blue jet changed course and followed the red, leaving Skyfire to himself.
The large white jet circled the building, then dropped and transformed, bringing himself level with the 31st floor. Parts of the interior were still very much on fire, and his optics instantly calculated the structural damage.
Whatever had hit it had managed to not just take out the entire 31st floor, but many of the floors above and below it, and very little remained of the individual stories to make them discernable.
He dove inside.
……..
"Sideswipe?"
A groan.
"Sideswipe!"
A stumble, and the sound of falling debris skittering against the fire scorched elevator shaft to the ground far below.
The tall red mech's optics came online, giving him a broken and staticy view of the dark metal chasm below, lightened only by burning debris at the bottom, and fire licking out the opening for the 31st floor.
He realized that he had a rather unobstructed view, and looked up to see his right arm crushed between the wreck of the floor of the elevator lift, and the broken walls of the elevator shaft. It had broken up and away from the explosion, burying itself into the elevator shaft, although most of its weight still remained precariously balanced across the shaft itself.
The rest of Sideswipe's chassis hung rather freely under it all.
"Slag."
"Sideswipe!" The word echoed down the elevator shaft. Sideswipe looked up past the wrecked car to see Skywarp peering down, his optics barely visible in the darkness. The whole shambled mess creaked when the seeker moved.
"Damn it, Skywarp, get off of it, or else it's going to come down and take me with it!" He scowled and tried to move his captured hand. It was completely immobile, and he could neither make his arm work nor feel it. The machinery was dead, but he was still connected by his framework, with most of the other systems about it severed, including the fuel line, which was luckily pinched shut from the clamp the wreckage had on him. "Either this is really lucky, or really bad."
"Can you try to swing yourself up or something?"
"No, I'm stuck." Sideswipe yanked on his arm, but it didn't budge. A few wires sparked in protest. "I need to cut off my arm."
"What?!"
"I gotta cut off my arm! It's stuck, and besides, it's dead anyway."
Skywarp sat back, a disgusted grimace on his faceplates. The wreckage moaned and dropped a few inches.
"Slaggit, Skywarp, I told you to get off it!"
"We're both up here," Swindle suddenly piped.
"Remind me to beat the slag out of both of you later," Sideswipe scowled and produced the rifle he had had earlier, and aimed it at his elbow, below where his hand was caught.
"Don't do that! You'll fall!"
"You'll both fall if I don't. Besides…I'm tough…maybe I can handle it."
"Thirty stories?!"
Sideswipe contemplated this and scowled. "We shoulda stole a jet pack." He aimed the rifle again and fired. His elbow joint disintegrated from the shot, and he dangled for a minute from a very intact and suddenly awake sensor wire before it snapped.
He fell with a yell, more from the sudden pain than anything, only to find himself grabbed by a large white hand digging into his shoulder plating and curling under the sensor wires underneath. He yelled again as warnings flashed in his vision as his left side threatened to go offline, and was pulled through the fiery exit of the 31st floor.
"What the…Skyfire?" Sideswipe looked up at the jet as he favored his shoulder.
"Where are the others?" Skyfire poked his head back through the elevator and looked up. "Skywarp? Swindle?"
His only reward was the sound of thrusters firing and the groan of the elevator cart. He pulled back in as the smoldering wreck went rushing by to crash far below. A cloud of smoke and dust billowed in, stoking the flames about them. "Let's get out of here," he transformed and allowed Sideswipe in, then hurried out of the demolished windows.
……..
Starscream flitted over the dark rooftops, growling as the day began to show itself on the horizon. Thundercracker flew in position at his right, his formation tight, as if they had been flying together for ages.But then again, it really has been forever, well, for me.
"What did you see, Thundercracker?"
"A missile launcher, over there," Thundercracker sent him the coordinates. They turned and flew over the building to find the empty and abandoned missile launcher. "I would have missed them if they hadn't made noise."
"Hmph!" Starscream combed the area with his sensors, looking for the telltale Decepticon signature he had known from his early days with the Decepticons. They changed it routinely, for the element of surprise, but it was never that different, just a few lines off…
"There!" Starscream let fire a missile. It keened around a few buildings and then slammed into one. They heard shouts and dove into the alleyway, quickly transforming and landing atop a pile of rubble.
Before them waited two very armored wheeled vehicles. One was black. One was white.
"Autobots?" Starscream muttered. He frowned at the purple insignias on their hoods, and opened his mouth to shout a warning but…
The vehicles revved and careened at them, the white vehicle slamming into Starscream. He had no time to see what came of the black vehicle and Thundercracker, as he was tumbling down the rubble, warnings flashing about a possible energon leak, and the mech's fists attempting to crash into any part of his chassis that they could have any luck in meeting. They tumbled to the ground and Starscream ignited his thrusters, gaining some distance and getting the mech to let go of him.
The mech was on his feet, laughing, and running at him again.
Annoyed, Starscream fired the null ray.
The mech fell forward, paralyzed, and by the time his systems were able to function again, Starscream had kicked away any of his weapons and had a blaster aimed to his visor. "Runamuck?"
"Don't talk to him, Runamuck!" the other mech shouted. Starscream pinned the white mech down with a thruster and looked up to see the black mech at the top of the rubble pile, aiming a weapon down on Starscream.
Starscream scowled and began to ease up on the white mech. "Damn it, Thundercracker…"
The black mech was suddenly sent flying by a tackle from the bluw and white jet; he was dropped unceremoniously on the ground before Starscream and then pinned into the metal ground as Thundercracker landed atop him. Thundercracker slammed his fist into the mech's helm, silencing his cries.
Starscream smirked and reaffirmed his draw on the white mech. "What do you see, Thundercracker?"
"Purple insignias."
"Decepticons!" Starscream reached back his hand and thrust it into the mech's chest. The mech screamed out under his hands and tried to push him off, but Starscream held fast, hitting the mech in places that he knew would weaken him. With a devilish smirk he dug his fingers under the armored plating and ripped the chest armor – and some wires underneath – clean from the chassis. The mech struggled weakly, his strength draining with the mech fluid that began trickling to the metal ground under them.
"What is Megatron planning now?" Starscream screeched. "Maybe if you tell me, I won't let you deactivate!"
The mech gave a mechanical gurgle and shook his head, his hands still trying to pry Starscream off him, but to no avail.
Starscream grinned and aimed his blaster at the mech, then fired. The mech's shouts died in one last scream, and then all was silent.
The mech's partner, who had been watching with astonishment, began his struggles anew. Thundercracker growled and held fast. "Sir?"
Starscream went over to the struggling mech and peered down at him with a smug haughtiness. "Now, Runabout, you saw what I just did to your brother…I'll do it to you, if you don't tell me what Megatron is planning."
The mech struggled. "I'm not tellin' you a thing!"
Starscream looked up to see the blue jet watching him. "Destroy him."
The blue jet didn't hesitate, and began his own dismantling of the mech under him.
"No! Wait!" The mech tried unsuccessfully to kick Thundercracker off him, and soon found himself being torn apart by both mechs. "Please! He's…he's gonna reprogram Kaon! For the love of Primus don't kill me!"
Starscream paused, a handful of wires ready to be ripped free from the mech's chassis in his fist. He hated such bloodthirsty tactics, preferring to silence a mech with the much more dignified blaster shot, but he was angry, and wanted to teach Megatron a lesson. "Oh…really?"
Thundercracker slowed his assault, but didn't stop. The mech was now without much defense, with fluid flowing freely from broken lines and various places on his chassis sparking wildly.
"Yeah! I promise! He's gotta meeting in two orns! I swear! Please…let me go!"
Starscream smirked and straightened. "Runabout, you stupid mech! Did you really think that I would let you function after you assaulted my friends?"
Runabout's optics flashed.
Starscream scowled as the mech realized his fate and attempted to struggle with renewed vigor. "Thundercracker?"
Thundercracker fired his blasters into his captive's laser core, silencing it. The core sputtered in smoke and sparks, and he could see the blue light of the mech's spark fade. He dropped the chassis as it began to turn gray. Starscream kicked away the Decepticon he had deactivated, and turned to Thundercracker, who waited patiently. "You didn't hesitate under my orders."
"No, sir." Thundercracker frowned at the mech fluid on his hands and arms, then returned his optics to Starscream's.
Starscream smirked, leaning down to rip the metal marked by the Decepticon insignias from both of the now deactivated mechs. "Your loyalty is…much appreciated." He motioned to the wrecked chassis below them and pocketed the insignias. "Runabout and Runamuck. Megatron's brute, stupid force, when you need someone willing to kill and make a mess while doing it, and possibly die in the process." He turned to Thundercracker, not admitting that he had not recognized the two in their Cybertronian modes. "Let's go find the others."
Thundercracker nodded and transformed, taking off after his commander. The two found themselves joined by Skyfire, who reported that he carried the three injured mechs. The two jets flanked him in escort as they left the scene.
Now what do we do, sir?
Thundercracker.
We go to Wheeljack's and repair ourselves. I have a few programs I need to write for Swindle and Sideswipe, and then…
We go to Kaon.
…………
Prowl looked down at the glass and steel rubble under his feet, then turned his optics to survey the damage. One building destroyed, the others about it severely damaged from its fall and the debris. Another building damaged from a missile. Two deactivated and dismantled in an alleyway.
Possibly others in the wreckage.
He knelt as he saw something in the rubble, and began tossing away debris.
"What is it, Prowl?"
Prowl picked up the object and stood, showing his find to his friend, Ironhide. Red insignias, freshly applied, gleamed on their chassis.
"Oh, slag," Ironhide viewed the object. "Ya know who it is?"
"One of the perpetrators believed to have been involved in the weapons smuggling at the dock. Sideswipe, I believed his name was," Prowl examined the object. A hand, and forearm, heavily damaged. "It matches his paint scheme, and when we investigated his home last night, his brother informed us he hadn't seen him in a few orns. We were going to confront him here…but it seems as if someone beat us to it."
"Them mechs in the alleyway are of Kaon origin, just like ya said," Ironhide said. "Maybe these guys are bein' targeted by the Decepticons too."
Prowl gave a nod and looked past the wreckage. A sizeable crowd had formed, although no one was brave enough to step past the line of police mechs…save for one mech, who was allowed through. "Here," he handed the arm to Ironhide. "Call your medic friend. Have the Constructicons begin moving rubble, but be careful. There may still be people inside."
"Gotcha."
Prowl made his way out of the destruction to the mech who stood waiting for him beyond. "How did you know I was here?"
"Seems to be your callin' card these days," the mech said, his visor flashing in dry humor. "Somethin' blows up; you're there the next day."
"I don't enjoy this, if that's what you're implying, Jazz."
"'m not implyin' nothin'," the mech motioned to Prowl's insignia with his chin. "What's the tattoo for?"
"I'll tell you later. You have optics on the back of your head, it seems. If there was a time for you to let me know about something, now's the time."
"I haven't heard or seen nothin'. Whoever's doin' this, they aren't from 'round here, an' they don't travel through my circles. People are scared, Prowl. No one's been comin' to the club, it's nearly dead. High grade's stopped comin'. Even your old friends aren't up to their usual. Everyone's too scared t' move."
"It's terrorism," Prowl said flatly, once again turning his optics to the destruction. "Meant to control people through fear, to make them do what the aggressor wants. We've tightened security, but they find more targets to hit. This time, it was only two mechs and a missile launcher."
The visored mech's face was without a smile. "Whatever it is you're doin', Prowl, if you need help, you know I'm here."
"Thanks, I appreciate it…"
"Hey! You can't go there!"
The two turned to the crowd as one of the other black and whites under Prowl's command tried to hold back a tall yellow and black mech. The black and white found himself more than easily tossed aside. Both Prowl and Jazz hurried to meet the mech and found themselves struggling against someone much stronger than themselves.
"Sunstreaker!" Prowl tried to shove the mech back. The yellow mech eyed him and pushed them both aside and began scrambling across the wreckage. "Sunstreaker! Don't…!"
It was too late. Sunstreaker stopped short as he saw the older red mech begin aligning body parts atop the rubble. He immediately recognized the charred arm amongst the other remains, some of which he recognized from other tenants in the building who often worked late or during the night shift.
He froze. Ironhide looked up, then gave Prowl and Jazz a questioning look as they ran up. "Who the slag is this?"
"Sunstreaker," Prowl tried to put his hand on the yellow mech's shoulder, but found himself shoved away again. "If he's here, we'll find him."
The yellow mech ignored him and gingerly picked up the damaged arm. He saw that it was devoid of mech fluid, and that it and most of its internals were rather charred. He scowled and turned to the two, who took a step back despite themselves. "What. The Pit. Happened?!"
"There was an attack," Prowl said calmly. "It's highly probable that whoever Sideswipe was involved with garnered the attention of the Decepticons." He stepped forward. "Sunstreaker, you're a spark twin. Isn't there some sort of bond where you can detect Sideswipe if…he's here?"
Sunstreaker glared at him. "What kind of idiocy is that?"
"Whoa, Sunstreaker, we're just tryin' ta help!" Jazz said softly. "Is there anything you can tell us 'bout who Sideswipe was workin' for?"
"I told Officer Smarts here everything yesterday night," Sunstreaker turned his optics to Prowl and took a step forward. "Maybe if you had done your job the way you were supposed to, this would have never happened!"
Prowl was taken aback, but hid it well. "Sunstreaker, these types of attacks are happening throughout Iacon and the neighboring states, we're doing the best…"
"Shut it," Sunstreaker turned to Jazz. "He was working for some idle-processored mech named Starscream, some sort of military jet." He gave the two one last glare as six green and purple mechs rolled up and began sifting debris. "You better pray to Primus that Sideswipe is still functioning."
He turned and began walking away before Prowl grabbed him again. He whirled around ready to hit the officer, but Prowl had anticipated the move and had ducked out of the way. "What?!"
"Please, let us keep that. We can probably determine if Sideswipe is still alive by examining the injuries."
Sunstreaker considered this, looking down at the severed arm. After a few moments, his scowling face flinched slightly. "Fine," he held the arm away when Prowl held out his hand for it. "But I'm going with it."
Prowl glanced at Jazz, who only answered with a shrug and a helpless smirk.