Based on the events in 'Sick Mind' (s1e13).
"Optimus, you're not going to believe this."
Liliy looked as curious as everyone else at what Ratchet found.
"I just pinpointed the location of the Decepticon warship."
Glancing at the monitors, Liliy grabbed her phone to confirm the coordinates with her base.
"How did you penetrate their cloaking technology?" asked Optimus.
"I didn't. I was experimenting with variable frequency wavelengths when I stumbled upon it. Even still, their ship must be experiencing some kind of electromagnetic breach."
"With Megatron deceased and the element of surprise-" started Arcee, smashed her fist into her other palm.
Liliy paused in the middle of typing a message on her phone. For a moment she forgot that the Autobots did not have the same advanced Cybertronian tech that the CRC did that allowed them to track every spark on and around the planet. She knew that Megatron was, in fact, alive, albeit barely, and she almost corrected Arcee. But then she remembered that she had a cover to keep and she went back to typing.
"-We could cause some serious damage," finished Bulkhead.
The computer beeped and another signal indicator showed up.
"Also on the same frequency," Ratchet informed them, "an Autobot emergency beacon."
Liliy frowned as she looked up at the monitor. She found it odd that this was the first she heard of the Autobot ship. But if Echo had not located it before, there was either no one on broad or they were all dead. Noting the location coordinates, she knew that the ship was in a desert where the sand dunes were often shifting. The ship was probably resurfacing after being buried for who knows how long.
"The Decepticons can wait," said Optimus, making a decision. "There may be Autobots in distress. Ratchet, bring your medical kit."
Doubting they would find anyone, Liliy watched Prime and Ratchet bridge off to the Autobot crash site while she waited for a reply from her base. A few minutes later her phone pinged. Echo confirmed that the Cons' warship location was correct and that they were indeed experiencing a leak according to a report from Ucon.
{We need a ground bridge. Now!} Ratchet's urgent voice suddenly sounded through the comms.
Arcee all but slammed the lever down in her haste to reopen the ground bridge. The portal whirled to life and Optimus appeared with Ratchet helping him along.
"Ratchet, what happened?"
"Quickly. Help me get him to a med berth."
Bulkhead grabbed Optimus' other arm as the larger bot stumbled and almost took Ratchet down with him. They helped him to a med berth and carefully laid him down. Bulkhead stepped back to let Ratchet work as the medic pulled out a scanner.
Liliy hurried up to the catwalk over the medbay with the children to get a better view while the other Bots hung back a respectful distance. From the catwalk, Liliy could see that Optimus' right optic flickered and the faceplates around it were turning black and brown with rust.
"Cybonic plague," Ratchet confirmed, finishing up his scans. The Bots looked at each other in dismay. "It's only contagious if contact is made with the infected energon."
"What was a plague doing in an Autobot spaceship?" Miko asked, concerned.
"It's passengers were infected," answered Arcee. "The virus wiped millions on Cybertron during the great war."
Having left Cybertron near the beginning of the war, Liliy didn't know much about the Cybonic plague except for what she read in the archives she got from downed ships in the past. This was the first time she had encountered it in real life.
"Cybonic Plague was engineered in the Decepticons' biological warfare program," explained Ratchet, "by Megatron himself."
"You… have a cure, don't you?" asked Raf.
It was Optimus who answered.
"No cure," he said weakly.
Ratchet turned to him. "Optimus, please. Save your strength."
"Would Megatron create a disease without having a cure? I mean what if he caught it by accident?"
Liliy smiled inwardly at Jack's question. Humans never ceased to amaze her.
"It's not like we can ask Megatron, Jack. He's pushing up lugnuts."
Liliy rolled her eyes. The Bots were in for a big surprise.
"But," said Ratchet, "we might be able to access the Decepticon database. For the moment, we still have a fix on their warship's location."
"Bumblebee, come with," Arcee commanded as she moved toward the ground bridge.
"Acree, quickly," Ratchet urged.
After the pair left, Liliy pulled out her phone and searched through her own base's files for a possible clue. She was starting to get a little anxious, knowing she had medical knowledge but there was nothing she could do to help. On the warship, Acree wasn't having much more luck than Liliy. She and Ratchet were arguing over the comm about how to search the database. Then Bumblebee got Arcee's attention.
"What is it? What's going on?" Ratchet asked after there was nearly a full minute of silence.
{It's… Megatron… He's alive…}
There was a collective gasp from Bulkhead and the children. Liliy just smirked in an 'i told you so' way.
"What?!" Jack gasped louder than the others.
"T-that's not possible!" insisted Ratchet.
{Well, I'm staring right at him. Good news is, Megatron isn't exactly staring back.}
"Megatron?" asked Optimus, his voice weaker than before.
{He's critical. Hooked up to life support. Time to finish this once and for all.}
"Wait!" Ratchet exclaimed, startling everyone. "Don't!"
{One good reason. Fast.}
"Megatron may be Optimus' only hope for survival."
{What are you talking about?}
"Does he display brainwave activity?"
Liliy was starting to see where the medic was going with his inquiry.
{Spiking hard. His sick mind still at work.}
"Perfect! If a cure exists, Megatron may be the only one who knows it. You must enter his brain. And find it."
{Enter Megatron's brain? Ratchet, are you out of your fragging mind?}
"The Decepticon laboratory should contain all the equipment you need for a cortical psychic patch."
{No way! Have you ever even performed the procedure?}
"No," Ratchet replied honestly. "But I have thoroughly studied the theoretical literature. Invented by Decepticons. Outlawed by Autobots."
{Whoa! Can't we just haul Megatron through the ground bridge? Buy us some time to figure this out?}
"Time is one thing that Optimus does not have! One of you must try this! I will not allow Optimus to pass knowing that Megatron will outlive him!"
{Ratchet, I would lay down my life for Optimus! Anytime! Anywhere! But a mind body split-}
{I will do it.} Bee interrupted.
{You will?}
"Are you sure, Bumblebee?" asked Raf.
"Bee's the best scout there is," Bulk reassured him.
Ratchet walked Arcee through what equipment she would need and how to attach it between the two mechs.
{Ratchet, we're ready.}
"Initiate cortical psychic patch." Ratchet brought up a video feed on the monitor. "Communications downlink activated. This will allow us to see and hear everything Bumblebee does while within Megatron's subconscious mind."
"Whoa. Where's that?" asked Jack, leaning a little over the rail to get a better look.
"Bee says it looks like Kaon," Raf translated the scout's beeps for the older boy. "The Decepticon capital back on Cybertron."
Bulkhead checked on Optimus while Ratchet monitored Bee progress.
"Ratch, Optimus' vitals."
"I know," the medic replied quietly. He opened a comm to Bee. "Quickly Bumblebee. I know you're unknown territory but you must figure out where information might be filed in Megatron's mind."
The first person Bee came across was Optimus. He ran up to him.
"Bumblebee, that is not Optimus," Ratchet informed the scout, "but a figment of Megatron's mind. It cannot see or hear you."
A sinister laugh filtered through Bee's comm. Liliy heard a faint crack and flinched. She looked down at the phone in her hand. Cracks radiated out from where her thumb smashed the screen. Megatron's voice continued to come through the comm link but Liliy could not make out what he was saying. Instead she was haunted by long suppressed memories. She shook her head to try and get rid of them as she stepped away from the children. They didn't seem to notice her movements. They were too involved with what was going on below them. Liliy focused on the monitor in front of Ratchet. Megatron attacked the Optimus look-a-like and it vanished into dust.
"That never happened," commented Bulkhead.
"It's not a memory," Ratchet explained. "We're seeing Kaon as Megatron has recreated it, in his darkest dreams."
Liliy was at the bottom of the catwalk's ladder before Ratchet finished speaking. She was definitely worried about Optimus' condition but she didn't want to see or hear the Decepticon warlord anymore so she disappeared down the hallway next to the medbay.
As Liliy ventured farther down the hallway, her vision darkened and then she saw a very different hallway. One on a planet hundreds of lightyears away. Figures appeared in front of her, behind her, beside her. They were her friends, her comrades, and her clansmen. They were the ones she would have called family if she had known the term back then. Megatron appeared beyond them, tall and menacing. He raised his arm, his blaster charging. Liliy ran forward through her clansmen to try and stop him.
"No!" The word was barely out of her vocalizer when he fired. Liliy stopped short and turned. Her clansmen all lay dead on the floor. Megatron smirked as one of the half burnt corpses twitched and slowly began to rise. More followed until they were all on their peds again. Liliy took a step back as all their lifeless optics turned to her.
"Why?" one asked suddenly.
"What?" she hesitated.
"Why you?"
"Why us?"
They started to crowd toward her, demanding answers.
"How could you fail us?"
"How could you?"
She moved away.
"I didn't… It wasn't my fault..."
Liliy spun around and ran. The corpses followed after her, still demanding to know why she failed; why they had to pay for her failure. She could hear Megatron laughing in the background. Turning a corner, she found herself at a dead end. A blackened servo caught her shoulder. On instinct, the panels on her forearm opened and a thing like a rod about the length of her hand came out and found its way to her palm. As her fingers curled around it, it transformed out to a staff about seven feet in length. A faint hum filled the air as the red blade activated. It was a shaped laser, large and curved to represent her namesake: the Scythe.
"Enough!" Liliy cried, violently twisting around and slashing at the corpses. "Get away from me!"
The corpses screamed and dissolved into dust. And so did the dark hallway. Venting heavily, Liliy found herself in one of the small offices in the back of the base. A black slash mark burned into the wall and an empty bookcase in front of her. There was a slight creak and the top of the bookcase slid off and crashed to the floor at her feet. Liliy looked down at her hand, completely unsettled. She deactivated the laser blade and transformed the staff back into her forearm. She backed up until she bumped into the wall behind her and then slid down into sitting position, still staring blankly at the ruined wall.
It had been a very long time since she had an episode like that. Dark visions like that had plagued her often after she was forced to flee Cybertron. They became less frequent after she came to Earth and started the CRC. And then one day, they just stopped.
Seeing and hearing Megatron again was obviously the trigger for this one. If the visions were going to start again, Liliy would have to leave the Autobots. She did not want to put the children in danger. They were more vulnerable than the Bots but that didn't mean she couldn't hurt the Bots too. She was still so scared that she almost reactivated her blade when her phone started ringing.
"Leech…" she whispered after she managed to pull the phone out and answer the call.
{Liliy! What happened? What's wrong?} They sounded worried. They probably sensed that something was off with her. They usually did.
"I just… just had a-" Her vocalizer hitched. She reset it. "Leech… I'm scared."
{...You had vision again, didn't you?} They easily guessed what she was trying to tell them. They were the one who always helped her deal with them in the past. {What triggered it? Do you know?}
"Megatron…" Her voice was so quiet, she wondered if they heard it.
{I see…} Apparently they had. {So the Bots know he's alive then?}
"Yes."
{If he survives, it could be dangerous for you to stay there. Especially if you start having visions again.}
"I know…"
{Do you want to come home now?}
"No… They'll worry about me if I suddenly disappear. I will stay for a little while longer to see how things turn out."
{Very well. But if you have another vision, you're coming home right away. Understood?}
"Yes."
{Is there anything else you want to talk about?}
Before Liliy could answer, her sensors picked up the ground bridge activating.
"No. I think the Bots are back. I want to check on OP."
{What's wrong with him?}
"He was infected with Cybonic plague when they went to check out that Autobot shipwreck. Apparently, all the passengers died of it so I suggest that wreckage be destroyed. From the air, if possible. I don't want any of the boys going near it. I'll send you the coordinates."
{I'll see that it is done.}
"Hopefully the Bots were able to get the cure off the Nemesis. I will definitely get a copy for us if they did."
{Alright. Liliy, take care of yourself. Call if you need anything.}
"You know I try, Leech. You do the same."
Liliy ended the call and bowed her head. She was still shaken from the vision but she felt a little better after talking to Leecher. After a moment she tried to stand up but her legs didn't want to hold her up and she collapsed back against the wall. Sighing, she looked up at the ceiling and tried to think of nothing. Five minutes later, her eyelids closed and her head rolled to the side and then she suddenly jerked upright.
"Now's not the time to be falling asleep," she chided herself quietly.
Liliy tried to stand up again and she made it to her feet but she had to keep her hand on the wall to keep from teetering. She left the room and made her way slowly back to the command center. She heard human footsteps ahead of her, around the corner and getting closer, so she leaned her back against the wall and tried to act casual. Miko came running around the corner and spotted her.
"Liliy! There you are!" she called.
"Miko. What happened? Are Arcee and Bumblebee back?"
"Yes. Bee was able to get the cure. Ratchet is working on it right now."
"That's good to hear."
"Are you ok, Liliy? You left in kind of a rush after Megatron showed up."
Liliy stared at the girl in surprise. She didn't think that anyone had seen her leave. She looked down at her feet.
"His voice reminded me of some bad memories that I would rather forever forget."
Liliy unconsciously covered her left shoulder with her right hand. Miko noticed the action and knew better than to ask about it.
"Oh," she said instead. "Well, uh, Ratchet says Optimus is going to be okay. He just needs to rest after he gets the cure. Do you want to go see him?"
"I will in a little while. Thank you for telling me, Miko."
"No problem." The girl turned and ran off, back the way she came. Liliy slid to the floor, feeling as if some weight had been lifted off her. Optimus was going to be okay.
To be continued...