Chapter 27
"It's there, we just have to keep looking," I confidently stated. "With Shockwave, everything has a reason."
Alarms began to blare loudly, indicating a Decepticon attack. Grumbling to myself, I followed Prowl and Jazz out of the conference room as they left, quickly making their way to the ground bridge room. I couldn't hear their conversations, and I wasn't about to try and hack their comms, so I turned back to Shockwave. There had to be a reason why his choices of bases on Cybertron were like how they were. I mean, I don't see him throwing all the bases into a jar or something and randomly drawing a name.
I observed Prowl and Jazz exchange a look, but since I could only see part of their faceplates, I didn't have any idea as to what it meant. However, something told me that this wasn't going to be anything good.
Most of the mechs aboard the Ark were already in the room, as well as many of the humans. It had to be something big if the squishies were here. Red Alert, the paranoid Senior Security Officer gave us the quick rundown of what was going on, and then Prowl gave everyone instructions, ordering those who were staying here to report to their posts. Jazz stood beside me, radiating…something, but I just couldn't put my talon on it. His faceplate was as blank as Prowl's was most of the time, no emotion written on him. Not something you'd expect from a jovial, social able, emotional mech like him.
:: Pardus? :: Jazz pinged me, and I accepted his request of comm conversation.
:: Yeah? ::
:: Shockwave's there. Ya sure ya wanna go? :: I had the feeling I should be happy that someone was looking after my skidplate, but all I felt was irritation. I'm more than perfectly capable of handling myself in a fight, even with the one-optic freak.
:: Yes, I'm sure. :: I answered more politely than I felt. However, I couldn't ignore that notion that something horrible was going to happen, and I needed tell someone I…trusted. Wow, revelation right there. I trusted Jazz. Maybe not with all of myself, but at least some of me. :: Listen, I know that it probably won't happen, but I need to tell you something. If anything happens to me, if I get shot near dead and am surrounded by the enemy, leave me. No, don't interrupt. And if I turn against you mechs…you have to shoot me. ::
::Wha'?! No, no way am Ah shootin' ya! :: he exclaimed, but his outward expression didn't change. The mechs going began to move forward as the ground bridge swirled to life.
:: Promise me that you'll stop me, Jazz. Please. :: I nearly begged, and he turned his silver helm to me slightly. For once, I let my optics do the talking. Normally, I was very closed off, never letting anyone in, but over the past months, I've been noticing things. I'd smile a little more, chuckle a bit, play games, and not think everyone was out to get me. Needless to say, I had even warmed up to the humans a bit.
:: Fine. :: the TIC grumbled, obviously not happy about the promise and the circumstances leading up to it. Some tension that I didn't even know I had bled out of my frame, leaving me feel a little less weighed down.
We ran out from the ground bridge, only to be met with the familiar sounds of a battlefield. Seekers screamed over-helm, particularly Starscream, gunfire, and explosions filled the air. Any pockets of silence were swallowed up by whoops and hollers, battle cries and yelps of pain. The humans had already gotten to a safe distance, and now began to slowly take down their own targets. Jazz nimbly made his way into the fray, stabbing Decepticons and smoothly dodging opponents' swings and shots.
I, too, jumped in, pulling my servos in and replacing them with my long, thin swords. Because I had sharpened them to a fine point, they took no time at all to sink into a shoulder and sever it, leaving it to be kicked around by numerous pedes and shot to smithereens.
Only a few minutes passed until I caught sight of my arch nemesis: Shockwave. He stood off to the side of the battle, directing it by the looks of it, surrounded by many of his processor-less drones. Cold fury flew through my energon, an internal chill setting in for just a moment or two. The feeling of dread was even stronger now than ever, but I wasn't about to give into flights of fancy.
When I began to approach the scientist, his drones came up to intercept me, but I just shot them and batted them away. My wings were flared in ferocity, making me seem bigger than I actually was. He watched me stalk up to him impassively, not even a wince or grimace as a deactivated drone was thrown at his pedes.
"Shockwave," I growled, tension running high in my frame. "Time to go home to Unicron." I made the first move, whipping a plasma bullet at him, only for the larger bot to bend out of its way. I kept shooting in rapid succession, occasionally hitting him. When I was close enough, I began to swing my swords at him, using every move I knew.
"WOMD-1: Action: Unreasonable. Outcome: Deactivation of experiment," he droned, and the sound of his emotionless, toneless voice making me even more angry, if it were possible. Shockwave parried my attacks with ease, and on a certain scale, it was kind of frightening, not that I'd ever admit it.
I felt the tide of the fight shift more than actually notice it. I just knew it happened. No longer did I make the attacks, but I was blocking. My defense was slowly weakening under the force and pressure of Shockwave's hits, kicks, and shots. Bright energon leaked from various wounds, dripping down my frame in small rivers, staining my paintjob. How did he beat me so quickly?
"WOMD: Order: Attack Autobots." What? No! No, no, no, no, no! Something was activated in my processor, causing me to fall from my precarious balance on my knees to the ground. There was no easing into the pain. It flooded all my sensors, originating in my processor, where it felt like it was going to explode. Against my own command, my frame began to move. It stood strong, but I felt like my legs would give out at any moment, despite the sure and steady strides I was taking.
I didn't give the command to lift my arm. I didn't change it from its sword to my blaster. I didn't warm it up, sighting in on Sideswipe. I didn't shoot the plasma, sending it screaming right past his red helm, unintentionally providing the perfect dodge he needed to get away from Thundercracker's digging claws.
"Pardus!" I turned towards the sound of my designation, only to find Jazz staring at me. I was sure his optics were wide underneath his visor, and I could tell his jaw had dropped a little. It was then I realized I had absolutely no control over my frame, and that included my expressions. I could feel my lip plates curl into a maniacal grin, sharp denta bared, and my arm was rising. Right. To. His. Spark. I couldn't speak; I couldn't warn him that it wasn't me!
Without warning, I felt a searing hole burning in my right wing, and I chanced a look over my shoulder at it. A clean hole had been punched right through it, and when I looked back to Jazz, I saw him with a hard expression and his arm raised. Energon raced down from the hole, pumping out with each beat of my spark. Whatever was controlling my frame was strong. I began to run towards the saboteur, that horrible grin planted firmly on my faceplates, and laugh escaped me that sent shivers down my back struts.
My frame began servo-to-servo fighting with the mech, but both of us were pretty equally matched. However, he had more mass and experience than I, and he played dirty. I was stuck with the rules of the game, while Jazz abandoned and did whatever he had to do to take me down. A stray shot from one of the Seekers hit me in the lower back, knocking me to the ground.
"Ah'm sorry, Pardus," Jazz spoke as the world swirled between light and dark. Something collided with my helm, and I was quickly informed I was going into emergency stasis as I blacked out.
… … …
Ugh. I ached all over, pain running freely through my frame. I tried to online my optics, but I couldn't get the command up. Last thing I remembered was Jazz hitting my helm. Ow, my helm hurts…
… … …
Hello? Ouch…anyone there? Oh, hey, there's a black mass…
… … …
Don't touch there! That hurts. What did you say? I didn't catch that…
… … …
Voices. All around. I couldn't make them out. I onlined my optics a little, but my right one had fritzed out again.
Am I dying?
… … …
Did we win the battle? Did someone kill Shockwave? What made me go crazy like that? I had all these questions and more as onlined my optic, because I had a notice saying that my right optic had been removed. Something was impeding my usual quick boot up, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what.
Muffled voices could be heard then, when I focused in on my surroundings. I was on my front, wings sticking up into the air and immobilized. My frame hurt something fierce, but I was in condition to make any movements or sounds.
Something, no someone, came to stand by me, followed by three more. Something was pinched on my neck and slowly the black void consumed me.
… … …
"Hello? Anybody out there?" I called into the darkness, looking all around.
"Yes, child, I am here," a smooth, cultured feminine voice sounded, and I whipped around quickly. A tall, regal looking femme stood before me, and although she was shrouded in darkness, I could tell she had a black and silver paintjob.
"Who are you?" I asked, stunned by the magnificent creature before me. Just her appearance had me unconsciously dipping my wings slightly in respect. Her lip plates curled into a small, humored grin as she looked me over.
"I have gone by designations, young one, but you may call me Solus Prime."
"You're a Prime?" I asked, not budging as she walked up to me, her pedes silent as they hit…well, nothing. Shouldn't I be falling, then?
"I am one of the Original Thirteen. And from us Thirteen, many more Primes have risen and fallen. You, you may not be a Prime, but you are someone special." I glared harshly at the enormous femme.
"With all due respect, everyone is special in their own ways, Solus Prime," I snapped. How dare she say that not everyone is special! However, she chuckled in a light fashion, stopping a couple strides from me.
"Now, dear one, I did not say that everyone was not special. I was merely saying that you have a destiny that must be fulfilled. Primus does not bring his children back to the Well of AllSparks too early. They all go home when he calls them back."
"So you're saying that this war was just a means to call of them home for dinner?!" I growled, my expression twisting into one of disgust and anger.
"No, but you must understand, Unicron was the one who wrapped around Megatronous's spark and turned him against his brothers. The Fallen then sunk into the spark of a younger Megatronous, who shortened his designation to Megatron. Surely you know him."
"Yeah, seen him on the battlefield and in his ship before. Haven't fought him, though." The femme nodded, but it was more of a nod that conveyed that she heard me instead of one that indicated she was learning something new.
"And you do not need to. Your quarrel is with Shockwave, is it not?" I nodded my helm, averting my gaze before returning it to focusing on her optics. What was she getting at? "Young one, you have been through much in your two lives, and I have watched over you in both, ensuring you had both the strength and courage to become your own being."
"Wait, I've had two lives?"
"Unless you wish to count your amnesiac state after Shockwave experimented on you again, then you could say you have had three lives. You were once known as Maia, a loving daughter and sister to your younger brothers. You were the oldest of you four, and even though you did not know the two youngest all that well, you still protected them and loved them with your entire spark.
"However, you were captured on a mission, one where you were first introduced to Shockwave. He was known as Cyclone back then, and he needed a test subject, which you became. Your spark left your frame behind, but refused to enter the Well. Primus did not argue, even when us Thirteen wondered and asked you why. He sent you to watch over your brothers then, until you had to be reborn.
"This time, however, you were on a whole new planet, one called Earth. Here you grew up fast, but with loving parents. You watched as they both died in front of your eyes, and once you had gotten your revenge, you set off to find your place in the world. You had a brother, though, and he was what kept you sane, until you found out you had lost him. He was Missing in Action, but you knew that region he was flying in was dangerous and littered with the enemy. Either he became a Prisoner of War or was Killed in Action.
"This was when you were captured, and you were so sure that someone had tipped them off of your arrival. However, you didn't have any proof. For years, you stood strong in that cell, never giving in an inch. But you wondered why you were not killed. That is when you escaped and were rescued, leading up to your eventual meeting of the Autobots.
"Young one, you have made yourself a fixture in the lives of all the Autobots, but mostly in the sparks of four mechs. You stole their sparks, and did not even know it. They watch over you now, praying to Primus that you will not be taken away from them. They had already lost Thana. And they had lost Maia. Now, they may loose Pardus.
"It is now your choice. Follow me into the Well of AllSparks and become one with Primus, or go back to Earth with a designation you want. Two of your three lives must pass on, but you will be able to continue to one of your choosing. What is your choice?"
I stood there, frozen to my spot. I looked down at my servos, only to find that I could see human hands under the armor, as if it were translucent. That is when I made up my mind. I looked up to the beautiful Prime that stood before me, and looked her straight in her glowing silver optics that were tinted with pink. I made up my mind and grinned, and nothing was going to change it. If I had to take it all the way to Primus, than so be it.
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Well, there you have it. I do not believe I will post anything up top before the chapter anymore, unless needed. I do hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, though. Please leave your comments, reviews, and such in the section below. Believe it or not, but I do get very excited when people post. I would love it if you all would try and guess who she's going to come back as.
And I am very sorry, but I can't remember your name, but thank you to whoever pointed out that some of my grammar was off and such in the last chapter. I appreciate it, really. It's good to have that stuff pointed out in a kind fashion. Anyways, I will try to get a new chapter up, but I do not know when that will happen. Life gave me a small break, but it's coming back. But seriously, I'm spoiling you guys. :) Have an amazing day, everyone!
PS - I don't own anything but my OC.
