CHAPTER 24
"Ah, a successful mission," Knock Out said as he returned to the Nemesis, having secured the Predacon bone from the museum. "Good thing His Lordship was pleased with that talon, though he didn't seem to care as much for the hostages I brought home…"
He opened the door to his medical lab. "Hey, Screamer, are you still sleepi—"
He silenced as he found the lab empty; the cables were just dangling from the ceiling without anyone connected to them. He hadn't exactly expected the Seeker to be back on his legs this soon after being checked in, but there didn't seem to be any spilled energon anywhere, indicating he had more or less fully recovered.
The doctor shrugged while putting the cables away. "That lunatic really gets on my nerves sometimes," he sighed. "Goes off on his own without even waiting for my approval. Though…did he perhaps go off to find those sparklings of his…?"
"I wonder what's taking them so long," Jack said concerned while sitting in the couch.
"Wheeljack and Arcee?" Raf asked.
"My mom and Agent Fowler."
"Maybe they went out for dinner after getting the bone," Miko suggested teasingly.
"Isn't that what grown-ups do when they're dating?" Raf asked.
"It's what grown-ups do when they're hungry," Jack corrected irritated.
Before they could continue their discussion, the GroundBridge opened, and in stepped Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Smokescreen, having returned from their mission in Texas. The kids walked up to welcome them back.
"Good to see you, Bee," Raf said to the black scout.
"Good to see you too, Raf," Bumblebee replied.
"So how did it go?" Miko asked eagerly. "Did you get the bone? Did you kick Decepticon tailpipe?"
Optimus handed over the Predacon bones to Ratchet. They were two halves of a jaw, one of them missing a fang.
"They managed to acquire a sample," Optimus said gloomily. "Though at least we secured the rest of the fossil…"
His gaze went over Ratchet's shoulder and he noticed the sparklings on his work table. The Autobot leader raised an eyebrow. Ratchet followed his gaze and understood.
"I can explain this, Optimus," the doctor said. "Bulkhead, you start."
And so Bulkhead and Ratchet began explaining to Prime and the youngsters what happened in Scotland, some details added in by Miko. Starscream's birthing of the sparklings, Miko retrieving the Apex Armor, and finally retrieving the leftover energon into a cube, feeding it to the sparklings.
"…and then Wheeljack and Arcee went off to retrieve another bone in New Mexico, while Agent Fowler and Nurse Darby went to get one in a museum. We just explained things about the sparklings to the children when you showed up."
Optimus was silent while listening to Ratchet and Bulkhead's explanation, only asking a question now and then, all while keeping his gaze on the now sleeping sparklings. As the doctor finished, he looked from him to the sparklings with an unreadable expression. The kids were wondering what thoughts went through the mighty mech right now.
An entire cycle passed in silence before Optimus said: "I am uncertain how wise it was to bring the sparklings here, Ratchet."
Everyone looked at the Prime in surprise. This was certainly not the reply they had expected from him.
"Optimus, what are you—" Ratchet began, but was interrupted by him.
"While most of the information in the Hall of Records is about the Relics, the Thirteen and energon, I did once come across an interesting passage regarding sparklings. The passage read as following:
"After birth, an iron bond is crafted between sparkling and parent. Even if separated across two different galaxies, the parent will always find his or her offspring, driven by an unimaginable force to protect them."
That is what the passage said."
The others stared on in fascination. "So what you're saying is…" Smokescreen began.
"…if these sparklings remain here," Ratchet continued, "Starscream will track them down and…"
"…he will find our secret base," Optimus ended. "And the humans."
"We'd have nowhere else to go," Bulkhead said gloomily. "Every other place on Earth is either Decepticon territory or too populated by humans. If they find this place, we're as good as gone."
They went silent for a while, thoughtful about what to do. Miko went downstairs, heading over to Bulkhead.
"Come on, you can't give up that easily," Miko scolded at the Wrecker and kicked his leg. "Even if he finds us, it's still just Starscream! You guys can easily take him out!"
"I'm not sure about that," Raf said skeptically. "Animal parents are usually ready to risk their lives to protect their young. Starscream might do the same."
"Besides, we need him alive, remember?" Ratchet said. "Without him these sparklings will starve."
"Perhaps we could try capturing him and drain him of his energon?" Smokescreen suggested.
Optimus thought about it for a while. "In that case we would need to find a neutral place to set a trap, a place where he is at a disadvantage. And for that we would need bait to lure him." He took a look at the sparklings, sleeping peacefully. They had finished the cube, which was completely empty, despite it being about ten times their own size. Apparently they needed a lot of energon, and Starscream was the only one who could provide them with it. If they were to capture him, they needed the sparklings' help to do so.
"I have a plan," Optimus announced.
Whenever Starscream was out flying, it was usually gracefully and relaxing, at least when he wasn't shooting down Autobots. This time, however, he had no time to sightsee or feel the freedom of being in the air. An unspeakable force was driving him forward, with a voice inside his head saying I must find my sparklings, I need to keep them safe.
Perhaps it was a sort of instinct-thing for Transformer parents, at least with carriers; he doubted parents with hatchlings would have the same kind of controlling force that made him indifferent about anything but his sparklings' safety, including his own. It didn't really bother him at the moment though; what really bugged him was that the radar seemed to be malfunctioning – at least, it couldn't pick up his sparklings' energy signals, but it couldn't normally do that with Autobots either, and the sparklings weren't Decepticons…yet, at least.
"Grrr, you stupid piece of useless junk!" he hissed at his radar and turned it off. He arrived in a canyon and transformed on a cliff to rest for a moment and to rethink his situation.
What was he aiming for here? He had just spent five months of carrying these six little protoforms, constantly being drained of energon, constant cramping pains in his chest, having to conceal it from the rest of the Decepticons except for Knock Out, and finally the birthing process caused him so much pain and damage that he had been close to dying. So why would he suddenly care about those little pests that brought him nothing but pain?
"Because if I lose those brats, then all that pain would have been for nothing," he concluded irritated. "Curse this biological instinct! If only there was a way for me to find them…where are you…?"
Suddenly, without knowing why, the answer came to him as if it was obvious. He felt something, not touching his armor, but something that touched his very spark. Six little voices, he heard inside his head, not with his audio receptors, but with his mind.
Carrier…
I'm scared…
Where are you…?
Help us…
Find us…
Save us…
He closed his optics, took a deep breath and concentrated. He let go of all surrounding sounds, ignored any distractions around him, and instead focused on the darkness, specifically the little light he sensed with his spark. The light was rainbow-colored, and it was nearby, somewhere in this canyon. He was about to open his optics again when suddenly, the light split up to four, appearing in a completely different location. This time he sensed a blue and a pink light, along with two duo-colored lights, one red and green, the other purple and yellow. This time, they were located in a place far from this canyon.
"Something's not right here…" he said as he opened his optics again. "But whatever it is, it must be where my sparklings are. I must go there, for their sake."
And so, he transformed back to jet mode and flew towards the assumed location of his sparklings.
The Autobots had arrived in a forest with the GroundBridge, positioning themselves according to plan. The plan was for them to take the sparklings in different locations of the forest, in an attempt to cause confusion for the Seeker, so he wouldn't know where to go. Bumblebee had taken the northern part of the forest, keeping the blue sparkling with him; Smokescreen had positioned himself in the southern part, watching over the pink sparkling; Bulkhead, with his enormous green body, had been given the responsibility of taking the red and green sparklings, as he would be better camouflaged among the trees and more sturdy in case of attack, hiding in the eastern section of the forest; Optimus had chosen to also guard two sparklings, the purple and the yellow sparklings, as Starscream was easily intimidated by him and therefore would not likely try to attack him, and patrolled the western part of the forest. Finally, Ultra Magnus had hidden himself somewhere in the center of the forest, standing by as back-up. Ratchet had stayed back at base in case of emergencies, and to look after the humans.
"Now, remember," Optimus informed over the comm. link, "if any of you spot Starscream, report immediately and the rest of us will come to your position. We will try to herd him into the middle where Ultra Magnus is stationed, and once he is cornered, Magnus will jump out and put stasis cuffs on him."
"We should also do regular status reports, in case any of us get attacked and are unable to answer," Ultra Magnus suggested.
"Good idea, Magnus. We will report every ten cycles of our status. Remember, once inside the forest, Starscream will not be able to fly or maneuver well among the trees. Chasing him down should be easy. Is everyone aware of their role?"
"Yessir!" they all said in choir over the comm.
"Good luck, everyone," Optimus said and positioned himself, keeping the sleeping sparklings close to him, "and keep your optic sensors open and audio receptors sharp."
After several cycles of following the colorful trail of the sparklings, Starscream finally arrived at his destination – a large forest. He descended to the ground and initiated bot mode, looking around with focused optics and sharpened audio receptors.
I don't like this, he thought anxiously, something's not right here…
He began walking among the trees and scouted for anything that could look like a sparkling. What did they look like, again? He did not remember much from the birthing process other than the pain, and what little he could remember having seen of the sparklings was either covered in energon or completely blurry because of his weakened state. How did he even know what to look for?
The sparks, he thought in realization. I can track them by their sparks.
He closed his optics and concentrated on the spark signatures. The closest one to him was the pink light, a little to the right of him. He opened his optics and looked to the right, beginning to move in that direction.
It didn't take more than three cycles before he discovered that he indeed wasn't alone out here. He ducked as he spotted the Autobot recruit named Smokescreen; the once white youngster had changed his paintjob to blue, but he easily recognized the face of the one who once stole his precious Apex Armor from him. He dared to peek above the bushes he was hiding in. The Autobot had not seen him, lucky enough. He closed his optics and focused again – the pink light was coming from him, no doubt about it. Which meant the Autobot had one of his sparklings…
A despicable idea crossed the Seeker's mind, causing him to snicker quietly. You'll regret having taken my sparkling, Autobrat…
Smokescreen kept a close optic focused on the road in front of him. Soon, ten cycles had passed, and he heard Optimus' voice through the comm. link.
"Status report, everyone, over."
"All clear, over," Bulkhead informed.
"Nothing here, over," Bumblebee bleeped.
"Still waiting, over," Ultra Magnus reported.
"Haven't seen anything either, over," Smokescreen said.
"Me neither," Prime admitted. "Check back in ten cycles. Over and out."
Without warning, the sleeping sparkling he held suddenly let out a loud wailing, much different than when they had been hungry. It seemed scared somehow.
"Hey, hey, what's the matter little guy?" he whispered and rocked it, trying to calm it down. "It's okay, there's nothing to be worried abo—"
A stinging pain cut into his back, cutting off his words. He groaned and turned his head to see what had happened and felt his spark skip a beat as he stared right into Starscream's face.
"Hello, Smokescreen," the Seeker hissed and pulled his claws out of the Autobot's back.
Smokescreen fell to his knees, dropping the sparkling on the ground and felt his face hit against the tree in front of him, then proceeding to slide down to the grass. He tried to open a comm. link, tried to just scream, but all his senses disappeared before he could do anything.
Starscream laughed maliciously over the lifeless body of Smokescreen whilst looking at his blue-stained servo. "Oh, it has been too long," he snickered. "I almost forgot how fun it is to punch a hole in small Autobots."
His gaze fell on the sparkling lying on the grass beside Smokescreen, crying and crouched. Suddenly all maliciousness disappeared and was replaced with a peculiar warm feeling in his spark chamber. He observed the sparkling's small body, the twinkling little pink spark in the middle of its chest, the thin, fragile yet perfectly formed limbs, the large head with huge closed optics, and the tiny mouth that screamed for comfort. This was a tiny living Transformer protoform, a sparkling. His sparkling. It was hard to believe, but he still felt this inexplicable need to pick it up, comfort it, protect him…
Him. It was a boy. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew it. This sparkling thought of himself as a male. So be it, he thought. You're a boy.
He bended over and grabbed hold of the sparkling with one servo. The sparkling immediately stopped crying. He examined him for a moment. He was just as big as one of those human children, maybe even smaller. He was just big enough to fit in the Seeker's palm. To think that such a tiny being could cause so much pain…
"Don't worry, little one," he whispered, holding it close to his chest for a hug. "I'll keep you safe."
Ten cycles passed without any changes. Optimus Prime held gently but firmly on his sparklings, which were still sleeping. He opened the comm. link.
"Status report, over," he said.
"Still nothing, over," Bumblebee bleeped.
"Same here, over," Bulkhead replied.
"The only thing I've seen so far is a bird, over," Ultra Magnus informed.
"Smokescreen, your status?" Optimus asked.
Silence.
"Smokescreen, report! Are you there?"
Still no answer. Prime felt a tinge of anxiety in his chest area, but kept his head cool. "Ultra Magnus, convert to Smokescreen's position and report on his status."
"I'm on it, Prime," Magnus replied.
Magnus moved from the center of his post and headed towards Smokescreen's post in the south. He was some dozen meters from his signal when he felt a strange change of atmosphere in this section. No birdsong, no breeze, no rustling leaves. It felt very ominous, and he immediately knew something was wrong.
"Smokescreen," Ultra Magnus called quietly. "Report!"
He arrived at the signal but could not see Smokescreen anywhere. What he did see, however, was a strange blue glow in the grass. He walked up to it and realized it was energon. It was not just a puddle, however, it was arranged in Cybertronian letters, specifically in Decepticon Regular:
NICE TRY.
Before he could assess the situation, a drop fell from above him and landed in the dot at the end of the message. He looked up and saw to his horror Smokescreen dangling from a thick branch, unconscious and leaking.
"Ultra Magnus, do you have an update on Smokescreen's status?" Optimus asked over the comm.
"A-affirmative, sir," Ultra Magnus replied, snapping out of his paralysis. "I need a GroundBridge back to base immediately! Smokescreen is wounded!"
"What?" Ratchet replied in disbelief.
"I repeat, Smokescreen is wounded and his sparkling is missing! I need a GroundBridge back to base immediately!" Magnus repeated over the comm.
Ratchet shook his head and opened the GroundBridge, fixed on Ultra Magnus' location. The commander returned immediately with Smokescreen in his arms. The youngster was leaking badly from a deep wound in his back, but at least it confirmed he was still alive.
"Get him in the med bay, immediately!" Ratchet ordered. "Return to the others, I'll handle the rest from here!"
"Everyone, confirm your statuses," Optimus said again, as soon as Ultra Magnus reported his return.
"I'm still here, no sign of Screamer," Bulkhead said. No one else answered.
"Bumblebee, are you there? Answer me!"
"Sorry, Bumblebee can't talk right now," Starscream snickered through Bumblebee's comm. link. "He's a little occupied right now."
"Starscream! What did you do to Bumblebee?"
"Let me put it this way: Smokescreen got a mere superficial scratch compared to what your scout looks like right now. Don't try to keep the sparklings away from me. I will find them, and I'll scrap anyone who gets in my way! I won't hold back next time we battle. You have been warned…"
"Starscream, don't you dare—" Bulkhead began, but Starscream turned off the comm. without hearing the end of it.
"Come here, darling," he said softly and picked up the blue sparkling, who also stopped crying as soon as it was picked up. This one was a boy too. "I'm afraid if I am to get your siblings back as well, I'll need to find someplace to keep you two…"
He walked off in a fast pace, well-knowing the Autobots were aware of his presence here and that he was near Bumblebee's location. He had figured out they were trying to set up a trap for him, but the hunters had just become prey. If they thought they could taunt him with a game of hide and seek with his sparklings and himself as prizes, they were in for a plot twist. Starscream was done playing the weak Decepticon. He was going to show up the Autobots, because his sparklings depended on it.
He found a burrow near a bunch of trees and placed the sparklings into it. Afterwards he ripped a bush out of the ground and sealed the hole with it. The sparklings were whimpering weakly, reminding him surprisingly a lot of those bear cubs he had encountered so many months ago.
"Don't worry, my precious little things," he hushed at them. "I will return to you soon enough. Be patient."
The sparklings seemed to have heard him, because they settled down and kept quiet shortly after. Feeling a bit uneasy about leaving them there, the Seeker went off to one of the stronger signals, the one with the red and green lights. If the rest of the guardians were as easy to take down as the youngsters, then he would have reclaimed the rest of his sparklings within mere cycles.
"Bumblebee's down too," Ultra Magnus informed over the comm. "I'm taking him back to the base as well."
"Affirmative," Optimus replied. "Bulkhead, are you still with us?"
"Yes, sir," Bulkhead replied quietly. "Screamer may have taken down Smoke and Bee, but he won't take me down so eas—"
He silenced. Right in front of him, merely ten meters away, stood Starscream, unbeknownst to the Wrecker's presence. It seemed his green armor did provide enough camouflage for him among the trees after all…
"Bulkhead, what's wrong?" Optimus asked through the comm. The Wrecker had forgotten it was still on. He was about to answer, but suddenly one of the sparklings let out a squeal. He quickly covered its mouth, but it was too late; Starscream looked in his direction, his red optics focusing hard to distinguish the trees from whatever had made the sound. Bulkhead stood completely still, knowing he had been spotted.
"Convert to my position," he whispered through the comm. as Starscream began running towards the trees. "I'm engaging him in battle!"
"Bulkhead—" The Wrecker turned the comm. off without hearing the rest of Optimus' words. He dropped the sparklings by the tree roots and jumped out from his hiding place. Starscream stopped in his tracks and glared at the Wrecker with nothing but anger.
"Where are they?" the Seeker demanded. "Where are my sparklings?"
"Safe from you, that's where," Bulkhead replied with sass. "Now we don't have to fight, Scream. Just surrender and—"
Starscream responded by swiping his claws across Bulkhead's chest. It left four deep, but not leaking, wounds in the armor. "Surrender? Why should I surrender? You heard what I did to your little buddies, didn't you? I'm going to scrap all of you, just like I scrapped your puny scout, worthless recruit, and especially that little red bug Cliffjumper."
The mention of his deceased comrade drove Bulkhead into a blind rage, and the Wrecker turned his servo into a wrecking ball. Starscream realized too late the mistake he had made, and Bulkhead swung his wrecking ball hard at him, flinging him against a nearby tree. Before the Seeker could recover, Bulkhead repeatedly punched him until loud crunching noises were heard from beneath the huge wrecking ball. Realizing what he was doing, Bulkhead quickly removed the ball, but it was too late; the Seeker had been completely crushed, energon splattered all over his cracked body.
Bulkhead's servo returned to normal state, and he looked horrid at what he had done. "No…not this again…"
Optimus showed up less than a cycle later with Ultra Magnus right behind him.
"Soldier – what have you done?!" Ultra Magnus exclaimed as they saw the crushed and lifeless Starscream at the tree.
"I…I…" Bulkhead looked at his stained servos with huge optics, not knowing what to say. "I didn't mean to…I was just…"
He picked up the Seeker's lifeless husk by the left arm; it was barely attached to the rest of the body. The body and limbs just dangled in the air, the head facing downwards, optics wide open and blacked out. No energon was leaking from the wounds, only the blue stains from the beatings remained on the armor.
"Scream, wake up," Bulkhead tried, poking the shattered chestplate. "Please don't be dead…" The Seeker gave no reaction.
"Bulkhead," Optimus said with a deep, unusually ominous voice. Bulkhead looked at him with fright. "What you did was a terrible mistake. I never thought you would go that far, when we were all clear on this plan. Why did you do it?"
"I…I don't know, sir," Bulkhead said devastated. "I just…lost my head…"
Optimus looked from the lifeless Starscream to the sparklings in his own servos. They had begun crying again, almost as if they knew their parent was dead.