A/N: I think this story will be wrapping up soon. I don't see myself getting beyond 25 chapters total. Hopefully, it's been an enjoyable ride for ya'll. After this, it's on to Crosswinds!
Chapter 18: Rally Point
Maria awoke in darkness. At first she feared the worst and could have sworn she was dead; however, she never recalled anyone telling her that severe migraines accompanied death. The pounding throb in her skull seemed a vivid indication that she was still miraculously alive. With a barely suppressed groan, she pushed herself into a sitting position and tenderly touched her head.
Her fingers came away sticky with blood. She felt three separate lumps around her skull, each one surrounded by a sticky ring of blood. She suddenly recalled being held by that visored blue robot, seeing the writhing, black coils erupting from his fingers and attacking her, then the searing, white blinding pain. She repressed a shudder. She hoped she never had to deal with that again.
Speaking of which, why was she even alive anyway? That giant silver Decepticon seemed to make it explicitly clear she wasn't to leave the Nemesis still breathing.
Strange things indeed.
The migraine was slowly beginning to subside. Her sight was also becoming accustomed to the dimness. She glanced around and saw a huge, dark mound to her left. Cautiously, she crawled towards it. The power bars on the prison cell flickered with cool blue intensity. Their scintillating light reflected in a gold-colored canopy. Once she got closer, she could discern the telltale purple and white pinstripes on the wings as well as purple-colored thrusters.
Skywarp! He was alive!
She stumbled to her feet and awkwardly approached the prone body. He was lying on his dorsal side, wings flush to the floor. Not entirely sure what to do, she quickly climbed up the jet's abdominal wall. Once on top of him, Maria made her way up to the canopy and towards his face.
When people are unconscious in movies, folks always check for a heartbeat or breathing. So...how the fuck do I do that on an alien robot!?
His optics were still and dull, his face slack and unmoving. For a brief moment, she feared that she was wrong and he was in fact dead; however, the warmth seeping through her worn Chuck Taylors argued otherwise.
Curious, she dropped to all fours and placed her palms against the sleek, black armor. It was warm to the touch. She could also feel a dull vibration across the metal. Lowering an ear much like one would do to hear for a heartbeat, she listened intently through the metal.
Did alien robots even have heartbeats? She caught herself thinking.
But sure enough once her ear was against the warm metal the vibration she had felt could be heard as a steady thrum. Something was going on down there. It was as good an answer as she was going to get that her friend was still alive-unconscious, but certainly alive.
She slid down his chest towards his face and landed on the floor just next to his chin. His head had rolled to the side giving her a good view of his darkened optics.
Now what?
Tentatively she tapped his chin. "Skywarp?" she asked quietly.
Nothing.
She tapped harder, this time rapping her knuckles on the hard metal. "Hey! Knock! Knock! Anyone home?" she sing-songed.
Still no response.
She took her palm and slapped the metal, the hard surface sending an unpleasant stinging sensation through her hand.
She shook it off irritably and growled in mounting frustration. "Seriously!?" she said while throwing her hands up in defeat. "This can't be happening!" she whirled and landed a solid kick on the side of his face.
"Owe!" she yowled in pain, hopping up and down on one leg from the ill-thought action.
Suddenly, she was illuminated in a fiery red light as Skywarp's optics blazed with life. He sat up with a quickness, the light from his optics casting around the small area of the containment cell.
"Wha' the slag happen'd?" he slurred, the question directed to no one in particular. He shook his head from side to side, trying to clear his processor.
"Uh...yeah. I was going to ask you the same question, bolt-breath!" An angry female voice called from below.
"Oh frag, fleshie! You're alive! How the-Hey! You fragging hit me in the face you little punk!" Sudden clarity filling his optics with an irritated glow. If his hands weren't bound behind his back he would have given a serious thought to throttling her.
"Yeah I did. Ok? Squash me later! Frankly I don't care at the moment. That was then. This is now. And now I'd like to know how the fuck we're gonna get outta here!"
She spread her arms wide to emphasize her point.
Still irritable from receiving a hit to the face regardless of its intensity, and by a human no less, Skywarp relented with a scowl and took stock of the situation. Payback would have to go on the back burner. His optics prowled the cell taking in the power bars and things beyond. Across from their prison, he distinguished two other large dark masses, each in a separate cell. Dialing in his focus, he realized it was Screamer and TC. Thank Primus. They're here! And OK-ish. Now to get these fraggin' cuffs off!
He chuffed in annoyance, squirming in place in a vain attempt to get the inhibitor cuffs off. Had they been placed in the front, he would have had them deactivated in two clicks, but behind the back? He had still been perfecting that technique. Probably why they cuffed him in such a position to begin with, dirty slaggers.
He growled loudly, anger mounting at being in this predicament in the first place.
"Can I do anything?" a tiny voice piped up from his right hip side. Skywarp paused, somewhat abashed that he had forgotten Maria so quickly. His processor began to quickly run through possibilities and known schematics on inhibitor cuffs.
"Actually, yeah. You can. How good are you with schematics?"
"Like blueprints, right? I guess ok. Carly and I reviewed a few when I was with the Autobots." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Good enough. I'll walk you through it. You're gonna deactivate these inhibitor cuffs. I can't do slag until they're off."
She warily eyed the glowing blue energy strands wrapped around his wrists. "Touching that thing won't kill me or zap me like a bug lantern will it?"
"I dunno. Never had to use a human to remove inhibitor cuffs before," he answered nonchalantly.
Maria's look of astonishment quickly turned to a growl of frustration when she realized he was being serious. "Argh! Well, I've skipped dying twice before already. Third time's the charm, right?" the teen muttered while making her way behind the black Seeker. "Ok. Now what?"
It took them a good cycle, but Skywarp had finally managed to walk her through the steps in the schematics to deactivate the cuffs. It wasn't easy, relaying what he was seeing and reading in his processor to the human that stood behind him and she in turn had to describe what she was seeing and doing to get concurrence, but together they cursed, they complained, and they persevered.
Finally, a soft click echoed in the cell block followed by the clatter of the inhibitor cuffs. Maria leaped out of the way as Skywarp launched to his thrusters, relief and eagerness filling his frame.
It had been a close call. He thought for certain that Megatron and Soundwave would have eliminated him after discovering just how deep he was in with the humans, but a strange twist of fate had spared his spark yet again and he wasn't going to do a double-take about it. That wasn't his style, to question, to wonder.
No, he needed to act and quickly. There was no telling how much time they had. He needed to get Maria and his trinemates to safety. The time to contemplate Megatron's judgement was neither here nor now. Although his processor roiled at all that had occurred and his spark felt bitter and inflamed from having been so easily cast aside, he shoved all those emotions and half-thoughts into a neat compartmentalized box and tossed the key. Ruminating on emotions was TC's thing. Figuring out motives was Screamer's. His job was to just live in the moment and currently, if any of them wanted to keep living in the moment, he knew they had to get out of these cells and away from the Nemesis.
He reached down and offered a purple palm to his fleshy accomplice, eyeing the energy grid speculatively. "All right, I'm gonna warp us outta here and then we can deactivate Screamer's and TC's cells." He glanced down at the tiny teen in his hand, a smirk tugging at his lips again. "Things may get a little disorienting. Try not to lose your stomach contents on my paint."
She gave a small nod of acknowledgement. For her benefit, he gave her a countdown.
"All right. Here we go in 3...2…1…" The air compressed around them as time and space flexed, rippled and then tore to allow him passage. With a subdued pop they appeared on the opposite side of the bars, the entire exchange taking less than a nanosecond. Maria wobbled a bit, but overall, she didn't feel queasy. Perhaps teleportation was like reading in a car-it just took some getting used to.
"That wasn't too bad!" she said while glancing up at him. "I think I may be getting used to your disappearing act."
Skywarp looked down and returned her grin. Suddenly, the power bars in all the cells began to flicker and fade, whiplets of energy snapped and pulsed as the power source was cut off abruptly leaving nothing but the dimly-lit energy conduits that the bars had rested upon. The Seeker gawked, utterly perplexed and absolutely mystified at the baffling occurrence.
"Seriously!?" he exclaimed, unknowingly parroting Maria's speech from earlier.
Maria crumpled into his palm, completely overcome by a hysterical fit of giggling that left her in tears. Perhaps it was the stress, the nonstop, nerve-wracking adrenaline infusion she'd been on since her run-in with Octane. Or maybe it was the look of utter confusion and incredulous shock that painted Skywarp's faceplates. Most likely, it was a combination of all the above that finally sent the human into an uncontrollable, laughing fit.
The jet scowled angrily at the teenager still snickering in his palm. He never appreciated being laughed at; he would much rather prefer to be the one doing the laughing. Besides, it wasn't that funny. When she finally managed to meet his disapproving optics, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and gave him a mock look of surprise.
"What?" she asked with faux innocence. A wicked grin split her lips as she added, "You have to admit the timing was epic!"
Maria was still giggling intermittently when Skywarp heard footsteps coming from the end of the brig. He cupped her to his cockpit, the laser cannon on his right arm humming to life. His optics became laser-focused, waiting to see who or what was shuffling their way.
The female abruptly stopped her laughing, the sudden movement of his hand catching her off guard. She felt Warp's frame go rigid and taught, a clear indication that trouble was afoot and they were far from safe. The hum from his cannon filled her ears. Instinctively, she huddled against the frame of his cockpit, her grey eyes wide and wary. She could feel the heat permeating through his armor plating, building slowly as his weapons systems calibrated and powered up to maximum efficiency. Strangely, she didn't feel as afraid as she thought she should. Who knew what was coming towards them? But as she waited on bated breath, her hands pressed against Skywarp's warm metal, she felt an inexplicable calmness settle across her nerves. Life-threatening scenarios were becoming much too normalized these days.
Two dark figures appeared at the end of the brig's corridors and paused, their bright red visors regarding Skywarp and his defensive posture. She felt the Seeker relax marginally, although the cannon didn't waiver.
"Repair drones," he muttered, optics flicking down to meet her questioning eyes.
"Is that a good thing?" she asked, eyes flicking to the two stationary drones.
"Dunno, We're about to find out," he replied before raising his voice and addressing the interlopers. "State your business, drones!"
The two drones exchanged a glance before one replied. "Unit MD459 and unit MD240 reporting, Lieutenant Skywarp. Repair directives initiated."
"By who?" the purple Seeker growled, optics narrowing in distrust. After all that had occurred he wouldn't be surprised if this was some sort of trap. An elaborate ploy to further humiliate himself and his trinemates.
"Authorized approval: Communications Officer, Soundwave. Directive Priority: Critical," unit MD459 intoned.
Skywarp mulled this new information over. Drones had pre-programmed functions. They could not be modified due to the simplistic operating hardware on their processors. Such interferences would simply crash their processors, so if the drones were here to repair, that was their task at hand. But why would Soundwave authorize such an event? Well, no point in questioning further. His wingmates were in a world of hurt. He could feel the echoes of their injuries begin to seep into their link. They were slowly coming back online and their escape would be much more expedient if they were both autonomous. The degree of their injuries were well beyond his skill set in field repairs, again highlighting the bizarre fact that he, Starscream, Thundercracker and even Maria were still alive and now with a means of repair.
Still deeply suspicious, Skywarp permitted the drones to approach. He nodded his head curtly and kept his cannon trained on them while they drug his injured wingmates through the hall and back up to the main level repair bay. While they walked, maintenance drones followed behind and erased all evidence of their passing from the energon and fluids still weeping from several wounds in Starscream and Thundercracker's chassises. Such was the evidence of a momentous fight, one Skywarp actually regretted missing.
The repair drones placed each damaged Seeker on a medical birth and each one began the tedious task of repair. Skywarp set Maria down on a tool cart that had been placed between the two berths. She hadn't uttered a word since seeing the two badly damaged Decepticons.
He hovered between the berths and periodically checking the med bay entrance. Warp felt torn between ensuring the repairs were actually being conducted (it still felt like a mean-spirited trick) and watching for the return of Megatron. The Nemesis was empty save for themselves, the medical drones, and janitorial drones that maintained the ship's essential functions and kept all base tasks in fine working order. The atmosphere felt strained, empty, and claustrophobic. Warp wanted to leave immediately, but he knew he couldn't until Screamer and TC were at least flight-capable. Permitting the drones to complete their task outweighed his desire to vacate the ship. If his Trinemates were repaired, they stood a significantly better chance at escape and evasion than if it were just him tending to their injuries.
Finally, Maria spoke. Her words slow, deliberate and solemn. Her voice sounded loud despite the volume being soft. "What happened to them, Warp?"
He walked back over to the berths, and stood over her, his optics a mixture of pain, regret, and bitterness. He didn't know exact details, but then again he didn't need to in order to recognize the handy work of his leader. For the first time since returning to the Nemesis the gravity of their situation laid heavily upon his wings.
"They fought Megatron for me...and lost," he said bitterly. Maria regarded the prone forms of his wingmates, a disquieting look settling on her features, a look that made her appear much older than her age.
"Jesus," He heard her curse softly.
A flood of conflicting emotions raged through his processor. Megatron's words of disappointment echoed in him like a ghost. He felt so angry. Angry at Megatron for doing this to his trine. Angry at Starscream for not just telling Megatron what he wanted to know, when he wanted to know it. He was angry at the Autobots for having been deceived so easily and he was even angry at Maria for allowing herself to fall into such a position of vulnerability. But above all he was angry with himself for dragging his wingmates into this mess. If only he'd not left himself so vulnerable to enemy fire all stellar cycles ago. If only he'd never met Stinger…
The bluntness of that thought shocked his system. Did he honestly think that? Did he regret his friendship with that human pilot? That irritating, irksome, Pit-spawned, glitch-headed son of a Quintesson. One of the most loyal friends he'd had that wasn't bound by a trinebond, nor coerced for some better gain. A human of all things, delicate, easily damaged and even easier to kill. A species so weak they needed the assistance of the Autobots to even maintain their footing against the might of the Decepticon Army. But it had been a human that had elected to stay with him when he was downed in Latveria. Even his own trine had allowed him to stew in his own troubles for several solar cycles before even thinking of coming for him. It had been a human that repaired him, stayed with him, and led his wingmates to Doom's castle. At the point of his capture, that pilot could have turned tail and ran; he had been free to do so, but Starscream had said he had stayed, fought the Doombots single-handedly, and had even badgered the Air Commander into letting him assist. What kind of creature did that? They had been sworn enemies. And yet, that singular human had shown him a purity of loyalty and dedication he had only ever received from TC and Starscream. Not even Megatron, after eons of service, had recognized the loyalty that Skywarp had shown him without fail. He shuttered his optics in bitterness. Would he shun the same dedication that had been given to him as he had given Megatron?
A clatter shattered his thoughts and whipped his mind back to the present. He glanced down expecting to see Maria on the tool cart, but instead he saw nothing but the tools. He glanced over and saw she had leaped from the cart to TC's berth and was avidly assisting the drone with repairs.
Skywarp stood shocked. Why was she even helping? Did she even know how to help?
"What are you doing, fleshie?"
"I'm helping," she said matter-of-factly. "Your friends are in this mess partly because of me and I want to do something." She looked up from her handiwork, a line patch she had tied off to keep it from seeping until the drone could work his way there. TC's fluids coated her arms and had spattered her face, but she was nonplussed. "Carly taught me some basic mechanic skills and I even snuck into the medical ward to watch Ratchet a time or two." She paused and with a look that reminded him deeply of her creator, she took a breath and stared into his optics.
"I feel responsible for what happened, Skywarp. If Starscream hadn't sent you away to find me, you may have been here when these guys got fucked. Maybe your presence would have made a difference, maybe not. Maybe all three of you would have died fighting that leader of yours and I'd either be stuck with that demented tanker truck or half-way across the country locked in a prison cell with my father. But the fact is, none of those things matter because they didn't happen. Nothing changes how things happened. But I do know things happen for a reason. We do what we can with what we have," she paused then added, "And I'm learning, very fucking quickly, that I can't change the past, but I can influence the future. This is what I have and this is what little change I can offer."
She looked over TC's marred, burned, and shredded chassis. "It may not be much, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing," she murmured. "Especially after everything you've done for me. Done for my father."
In that moment Skywarp saw Stinger just as plain as day in his offspring. He was vividly reminded of his friend's fierce loyalty, despite the ever increasing odds of survival against him. He saw Stinger fixing his old wounds, welding the lacerations in his armor, tying off broken circulatory lines, frag, even repairing his wingtip that had been sheared off during his crash. And here before his optics, was his daughter showing that same level of fierce commitment her father had shown all those years ago and this despite not even having been raised by him.
All the doubts, all the anger at her and at Stinger evaporated. Faith, loyalty, friendship like this...Skywarp knew it couldn't be bought, or bartered, or coerced. It could only be given. And he would damn himself to the smelting pools before he did to Stinger and Maria, what Megatron had done to him. He wouldn't cast that aside. Not now. For outside Screamer and TC, these two were the only friends he had left on this wretched planet and with Doom back? No one was safe with that psycho still around.
Slowly, he nodded his helm. "Kid, your father would be proud of you."
She stared for just a moment, a shine of longing and hope in those grey eyes. "You really think so?"
"Beyond all doubt," he replied immediately.
She grinned then, a large, unhindered smile that spoke values. She turned back to her work, quickly and methodically capping the sparking wires and reconnecting the ones the drone told her to.
"This would go a lot quicker if you helped too, ya know?" she quipped. "And, uh, I'm willing to help and all, but I'm pretty sure he'd still shoot me in the face while asleep if I tried to help him," she nodded in Screamer's direction.
Warp laughed at that, knowing as absurd as it sounded, it probably held a grain of truth. Screamer probably would launch out of forced stasis if he sensed a fleshling working on him.
"You know, you're not wrong," he replied, tousling her hair with his finger as he walked past. Together, he and Maria, along with the medical drones, worked diligently to repair and restore his wingmates as quickly as they could. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could leave.
It had taken several cycles, with each passing one straining and tormenting Skywarp's already-frayed patience. Every cycle passed meant one closer to Megatron returning; every cycle passed was one closer to having his trinemates fully-functional once more.
But finally things were complete. The repairs finished. The waiting and the torment over. Still no return of the Decepticon leader. Starscream onlined first, clutching his helm and growling almost immediately. He slowly took in his whereabouts before settling his glower on Skywarp, Maria with him and perched just to the inside of his right-hand shoulder intake.
"You two," he growled. "Good to see you're both in working order," he snapped, sarcasm thick on each word.
"Well, hello to you too, sunshine," Maria snapped with an identical and equal amount of acerbity, her audacity at speaking to Starscream so directly rendering Warp speechless.
Starscream's scowl darkened as he regarded the tiny human. He stood to his pedes, shakily at first, but his pure determination and overwhelming hatred for the current circumstances forced an override of his calibration protocols. He would adjust manually, painfully if necessary.
"I see that you have developed your father's brazen attitude since our last meeting. Be mindful that it was I who told Skywarp where you were and as a result, our current state of affairs could very well be laid on your shoulders, foul human."
That brought her to heel. Starscream smirked as her features fell, hurt and sorrow creasing her young face.
"A little harsh, don't you think?" Thundercracker grumbled, as he sat up on his berth. He rubbed the back of his helm with a black hand and leveled an indiscernible look at his Commander.
"After what these humans have put me through? Hardly," Starscream huffed as he walked with jilted steps towards the large communications console within the med bay.
Thundercracker continued to rub his helm as his body re-calibrated and integrated the repairs. He remained seated and leveled his stare at Skywarp, crimson optics resting on Maria.
"It's good to have you back with us, human, even if the circumstances that resulted in such an outcome were...less than favorable." Thundercracker's optics darted to his wing leader, whose back was to them and whose attention was fully riveted on the console's screens.
Maria gave the blue Seeker a small smile. "I'll admit. My stay with the Autobots was informative, but it also distinctly lacked the...spontaneity...that seems to follow you guys around," she replied with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"That's what happens when you wind up with 'Warp," the blue Eagle said, cuffing his wingmate gently on the opposite shoulder as he stood up. "We've never had a dull moment, that's for sure."
The floor trembled even as Maria could hear the very distinctive thwock as his thrusters connected with the floor. Skywarp smirked and shrugged before joining Starscream and TC at the console.
They watched as the Air Commander sifted through file after file, data flashing before Maria's eyes faster than she could read. Skywarp appeared to not be faring any better. Thundercracker studied the material intently, but whether or not he was keeping pace remained to be seen. They waited in silence for Starscream to finish his tasks, an assignment that only he was privy to.
After several agonizing minutes, the red Seeker eyed his wingmates over his intakes and turned around slowly. His optics were narrowed, but they no longer held the hostile air that they first possessed when he woke.
He cleared his vocal processor before addressing them. "It seems we have Soundwave to thank for our current well-being," he began grudgingly.
"Soundwave?" Skywarp spat angrily, "He's the reason we're in this mess to begin with! Him and that robo-turkey, Laserbeak!" The teleport angrily punched a fist into his opposite palm, as if doing so would somehow transcend time and space for the appropriate action to meet the highly sought-after outcome.
"Yes, well, all that aside he's also the one that ensured the preservation of our sparks and saw to our repairs," Starscream added, cocking an optic ridge at the irony.
Thundercracker's optics narrowed in suspicion. "But why?"
"Why indeed," the Air Commander parroted. "Why that oversized satellite dish does anything is a mystery to Primus himself, but I think our old friend Doom played quite the influential part in swaying our dear Soundwave's motives."
"How do you mean?" Thundercracker asked. Just like TC. He always wanted to get to the heart of the matter.
"Soundwave accessed my private server. This what you see behind me. My encryption protocols were quadruple-layered and redundant, yet he by-passed all of my security with...some difficulty," Starscream smirked, but continued, "However, he added data. Mountains of data that I had not been able to access myself. All of it on Victor Von Doom. And he left it here, on my server. He wanted me to find it. Wanted me to know he had accessed it. Soundwave would not have known about all of this had he not invaded my processor."
"I don't follow," Warp said, optic ridge furrowed in confusion.
Starscream ignored him and directed his stare to Thundercracker. The blue Seeker's optics lit with understanding. "He wouldn't have known about Doom had he not accessed our processors, which wouldn't have happened had Megatron terminated us like he wanted to begin with."
"You're getting it," Starscream grinned wickedly. He turned back around to the console. "Soundwave must have convinced Megatron to spare us so he could conduct his own investigation. The results you see here." He stretched a hand to the screen.
Thundercracker scanned the data quickly, his optics moving fervidly across the screen. When he was finished, he looked back at Starscream. "So you were right. Doom does have the Allspark."
Starscream nodded in assent.
"And Megatron has taken the Army to confront him, as well as dealing with the US government," the blue Seeker finished.
"Precisely, except I don't think he'll even make it that far," the Commander said ominously.
"What do you mean?" Maria asked softly. She had been quietly listening to the conversation from her safe perch on Skywarp's shoulder, but the building feeling of dread had her speaking before thinking.
Starscream's optics landed on her with deep intensity, the coal-fire depths dispassionate and unreadable. She fidgeted under his scrutiny.
"Megatron won't defeat Doom, because Doom will never allow him to confront him in battle," the red Seeker explained. "This Dr. Doom is a strategist of...unique intellect. He will never commit to anything less than absolute surety of success. He reviews every possible outcome, pursues every explanation. He won't meet Megatron in battle because by the time Megatron realizes that Doom is there, the human will have killed him using the power of the Allspark."
Thundercracker, Skywarp and even Maria gaped at this new revelation.
"How can you be so certain?" Skywarp asked hesitantly, doubt lacing his vocals.
Starscream smiled grimly. "Because it is the exact same thing I would do, if I were to wield a piece of such exquisite power. Not only does Doom have the ability to wield it and weaponize it, he could take control of the Decepticon Army with it. The Allspark manipulates energy. It creates it and it destroys it. Soundwave's added research reveals that not only does Doom possess our relic, he can control it as easily as a Prime. He won't wait for Megatron to come to him. Doom will be waiting for Megatron and that, I fear, will be the beginning of the end for life on this planet as we know it, perhaps even both of our species."
"So why not kill the whole Decepticon Army then?" Skywarp queried, opening his palms in a questioning manner.
This time it was TC who answered, having already thought about the same question and deciding to voice his rationale. "Why waste a perfectly good Army if you are capable of controlling it?" the blue Seeker asked rhetorically.
"That doesn't explain killing Megatron," Warp countered.
"It does if Doom makes a spectacle out of it. Think about it, Warp. If this human terminates Megatron, the most powerful Decepticon among us, what do you think that will do to the morale of the rest of the Army?" TC pointed out.
A heavy silence befell them all as each and every one of them digested what Thundercracker had said. The next voice to speak was Maria, her voice quiet and cautious.
"So, what about my...father?"
Once again Starscream's optics bore into her, but this time she didn't flinch. Starscream regarded her a moment longer before he turned away and spoke once more. "I had plans for your father," he admitted quietly.
She felt Skywarp jerk at this revelation. It was obviously something the Air Commander had not shared before.
"I had allowed Skywarp to continue relations with your father for two reasons: First, it would keep his incessant nagging about it to a minimum and second, your father was our link, if you will, to be able to open negotiations with the Autobots and the humans, should Doom have ever decided to resurface."
"Whoa. Screamer...did you just say that you found a human...useful?" Skywarp asked with mock incredulity.
"Advantageous," the red Seeker corrected. He raised his chin into the air haughtily.
"But I needed for Doom to reveal himself, to show that he was still alive. To have approached Megatron beforehand, would have revealed our indiscretions and fouled his judgement about such an alliance. It seems that outcome has happened anyway," he added, sounding almost sorrowful.
"But we might still salvage this disaster." The red Seeker's gaze returned to Maria. "Soundwave located your father. As well as all the records to indict your treacherous head of Defense. That worm has been privy to Doom's machinations for some time. Prior to our first Latverian incident. It's why he targeted your father and basically removed him from existence, in a manner of speaking. Doom saw your father as a possible threat, so he had his own allies remove him, but we'll fix that situation quickly." The way Starscream said that last sentence, sent shivers down her spine. Maria didn't want to know what Starscream's solution may entail. Some questions were best left unanswered.
"So why didn't he take us out?" Skywarp asked curiously. "I mean, between the three of us, four counting Stinger, we fragged his plans up pretty good the first time."
"I'm not sure,"Starscream admitted, "but either he counted on the fact Megatron would kill us for knowingly working with humans...unlikely...or he's made the assumption we would follow Megatron into battle, especially since prior to these unfortunate events, we were Megatron's Elite."
He looked over his wingmates. "But since we are here, Doom won't know that we aren't with the main body until it's too late. Which is precisely why Soundwave had us repaired. We are now the Decepticon Army's fail safe. So we must act quickly!"
Starscream's fingers flew over the keys as he typed in a command function. "First, we will need to retrieve Stinger from his prison. Here." A map populated on the screen, the island's shape immediately familiar to the human.
"That's Cuba! But why-"
"Guantanamo Bay to be precise. And an excellent location to hold a US citizen hostage in his own country without too many people asking too many questions," Starscream interjected by way of explanation.
His optics fell on Skywarp. "You are the only one capable of expediently getting there and getting back. Retrieve him. Just don't get side-tracked," the Commander smirked knowingly. Skywarp reached up and wrapped his fingers around Maria. He gently deposited her into TC's waiting hand.
"No worries, Screamer. I won't make a mess of things...too badly, " he replied, a wicked glint entering his optics. He looked over at Maria, the grin broadening.
"When you have the human secured, meet us at these coordinates," Starscream added, "And don't do anything so stupid, that we have to derail everything else to save you sorry aft."
"No worries, Screamer. I've been waiting a long time for this!" Skywarp flashed a grin and then disappeared from sight, purple, residual energy snapping in the space he just vacated.
"Now as for us," Starscream looked down at the human. She began to tremble under the blunt force of his stare, not entirely sure she was going to like what he had to say. Subconsciously, she began to back away, only to bump into Thundercracker's large chest.
"You, tiny human, will initiate a parley with your Autobot friends in order to grant me clearance to speak with Optimus Prime."
"Me?" She squeaked, clearly surprised.
"Yes, you." He poked her definitively in the chest causing her to stumble.
"But why me?"
"You are leverage. If the Autobots refuse, I may be forced to do something inconvenient to you." That wicked smile returned and it chilled her blood. She honestly didn't know who was more terrifying-Megatron and that cannon of his or Starscream and his conniving grin.
"Oh, Primus, don't look so aghast, Maria! I would not truly hurt you." Oh, but it was so satisfying watching her pale and tremble with fear before him, even if she had their protection. Nothing said he still had to be nice about it. He gave the human a reassuring smirk, "That would be counterproductive at this point, but I do need you to open negotiations with the Autobots." The smirk fell away and was replaced with a frown. "With your father still technically indisposed, I need you to convince the Autobots of the truth of my intentions. I am loathe to admit it, but without their help we will assuredly fail and it will only be a matter of time before Doom pulls them under his thrall as well."
Maria swallowed nervously. "Yeah...sure...ummm no pressure, right?"
Starscream's smirk returned.
She released a sigh at that point. "Ok, Screechy what do you need me to do?"
Starscream's smirk fell immediately and his countenance darkened. He loomed over her position in Thundercracker's hand, bringing his face inches from her own.
"Don't. Call. Me. That."
"Yes, sir!" the girl squeaked, trying her best to distance herself from that terrifying scowl. She felt TC begin to shake and crouched down even more, trying not to lose her balance.
Thundercracker rumbled from barely contained laughter. It was not lost on either Seeker, that the female had addressed the Air Commander exactly as her father had, seven years previous. It brought to mind an idiom Thundercracker had heard but had not truly understood until now: It seemed the apple truly didn't fall far from the tree.