Char set out the next morning just as the sky was beginning to change. Once she reached the coordinates, she sent a comm and Scythe teleported to her.
"Whoa! It is really dense down there," Leech said as they leaned over the edge of Char's flight frame and looked at the huge forest below.
"I'll jump down from here," Scythe said to Char. "You wanna try to find somewhere to land and come back and meet us on the ground?"
"Yeah, I can do that, but it might take a while."
"That's fine. If there's space, we might call Bolthex over."
"Roger that." Char lowered her altitude so that Scythe did not have as far to fall.
"Well, we're off." Scythe stood up and leapt off Char's back into the green foliage below. The leaves gave way underneath them. And so did a lot of the smaller branches too. They finally managed to catch a branch that did not snap under their weight and succeeded in slowing down enough to twist their body around and land on one of the larger branches with ease. Then they slipped from branch to branch until they could see the forest floor below.
Hmm? Didn't Delta say that they covered the entrance? Leech asked.
Yes, he did. Scythe sent back. The vine and mud-covered metal panel had been shoved aside to reveal a hole big enough for someone even Bolthex's size.
Scythe ran down the tree trunk and up to the side of the hole. Stopping there, she was close enough now to sense if there was another Cybertronian inside. And there was. But there was something odd about their signal.
"Hey, Char," Scythe spoke quietly into her comm. "You didn't have any other shipmates, did you?"
{No.} Char replied after a moment. {Why?}
"Cause there is someone else down here."
{Hoo? Well, guess what I just found? A ship. It looks like the landing was a little rough, but the hull seems to be intact. I'm going to land and check it out.}
"You might call for backup while you're at it. I could use someone bigger." And transmitted her ground coordinates.
{Got it.}
Scythe stepped into the ship. It was cavernous in comparison to her size. Light streamed in here and there where rust and the roots of trees had forced their way through the outer hull. Scythe and Leech adjusted their optics to accommodate the lower light levels and looked around. Storage compartments and containers were pried open and overturned. Parts, supplies and other things were strewn across the floor. The mysterious visitor appeared to be searching for something and judging by the sounds coming from deeper within, they were still looking.
Scythe took advantage of her small frame and hyper speed to climb up and hide in a good vantage point without being noticed. The intruder was a mech from the looks of it. He had his back to her, sorting through a container of small components and muttering to himself. Most likely a flyer, he appeared to be shorter than Megatron, and thinner. His armor was black with flecks of pale gold. He seemed like the type that would blend in very well with the night sky. But what surprised Scythe was when he turned and she caught a glimpse of his blue optics and the Autobot insignia on his chestplates.
Outside the wreckage, two new spark signals appeared. Scythe recognized them as Bolthex and Delta. The Autobot seemed to notice them too since he paused and turned his helm toward the opening. Luckily, there was not a direct line of sight so he could not see them yet.
"Hey, what the frag?" Delta said as he stepped inside and saw the mess.
Holding his position, the Autobot brought out a blaster and got ready to fire. Which he did as soon as Delta's helm came into view.
Delta's 'Oh, scrap!' turned into a confused shriek as he suddenly fell sideways, the plasma bolt searing past his audial. While Delta crashed to the floor, Bolthex used his teleportation ability and knowledge of the ship's layout to close the gap and slam his fist into the startled Autobot's face. He then grabbed the reeling Autobot by the arm and pulled him in close so he could get a better grip on him and slam him to the floor. Using his knee and the weight of his larger frame to pin the Autobot down, Bolthex brought out his own weapon and shoved it against the smaller bot's helm.
"One wrong move and you'll be meeting the Makers," Bolthex growled.
The Autobot immediately put away his blaster and opened his servos to show that he surrendered. Bolthex looked up at Delta who was staring at him, thoroughly impressed, as he pushed himself up off the floor.
"Thank you for saving that dolt, Scythe," Bolthex said, earning a confused look from Delta.
"No problem," Scythe replied from down near Delta's peds. "He is rather easy to topple."
"That he is," he replied with an amused grunt.
"Not funny," Delta grumbled. "But thanks, for saving me, I guess."
Scythe chuckled. "You're welcome." She moved so she could see the Autobot's face. "So… what do we have here?"
The fear that rolled off of him when those blue optics locked on her was almost tangible.
"Oh," Leech suddenly spoke up, tails reaching toward the Autobot and tasting the air. "He smells nice."
"That's not creepy at all," Delta whispered behind them with a shiver.
Scythe put her servo on Leech's 'helm', the bulk that was attached to her shoulder, and gave it a pat. "Not yet, Leech. We need to know why he's here first." She deliberately made a show of bringing out her staff and leaning on it. "Are you going to answer, or shall I start cutting?" she asked, activating her blade to punctuate her threat.
The fear was mixed with misery and despair, and then finally, defeat. His gaze fell to the floor.
"Please," he begged with an electronic whine. "I'm just trying to save my partner. I came here looking for parts…"
"Your partner? Are they on your ship?"
"Yes."
Scythe accessed her comm. "Char, what did you find on that other ship?"
{Just an injured mech in stasis. Fritz is having a look at him but doesn't think he's gonna make it.}
"Maybe we should just kill them both," suggested Delta since Char replied over the shared commlink. "That will be two less Autobots we'll have to deal with later."
{Autobots?} Char asked in confusion. {This guy is a Decepticon.}
"What?!" Delta and Bolthex both demanded.
{What's wrong?} asked Char.
"We have an Autobot over here," Scythe answered.
{That means one of them is a traitor.}
"Or both of them."
{What do you mean, Scythe? Do you know something?}
Scythe locked gazes with the Autobot again. "That Con, he's your Conjurx Endura, isn't he?"
"Sparkmates?" Bolthex snarled with disgust. "With an Autobot?"
"H-how did you know?" the Autobot asked.
Scythe crouched. "One of the things that made me such a great assassin is my ability to sense sparks, within a certain radius, regardless of shielding or cloaking. And when I sensed yours, it was like there were two- no, more like, one and a half sparks sharing the same space. It has been so long since I have seen a bonded spark, I had nearly forgotten until you said 'partner'."
He cycled his optics once, weighing his options. "P-please," he begged again, realizing he had nothing left, "I'll do anything. Just save him."
"Didn't you hear?" Delta said. "Our medic says he doesn't have a chance."
What about the AllSpark? Leech sent to Scythe. Do you think it could…?
That's an idea… "Say, Bolthex…" Scythe started aloud, still pondering. His attention shifted to her as she straightened. She looked up at him. "Do you think we could use That?" And tilted her helm in the general direction of North.
"By 'that', you mean… That?" And jerked his helm in the same direction.
"Yeah. Do you think it would work?"
"What are you guys talking about?" Delta asked, confused.
"It could… theoretically," Bolthex replied to Scythe.
"Then, let's give it a shot. If it fails, that Con will die, and you can kill this guy." She gestured to the Autobot. "But if it works and he lives," she made sure she had the prone mech's undivided attention, "you belong to me, got it?"
"Y-yes," the Autobot stuttered slightly. "I promise."
Like a switch being flipped, Scythe went from serious to cheery. "Great! Then let's get going! Bolthex."
With a snarl, Bolthex got off the other mech and pulled him to his peds by his back kibble. If that hurt the Autobot, he was doing his best not to show it. He kept his servos up and open where Bolthex could see them while the bigger mech shoved him toward the opening. Scythe appeared on his shoulder as he moved.
"By the way, what's your designation?" she asked.
"It's Echo," he replied, wondering belatedly, what kind of psycho he promised to follow.
"Nice to meet you, Echo."
"Guess this means I don't get to eat him?" Leech asked, tails skimming over a gap in Echo's armor.
"Leech, stop it," Scythe said. And added via thought, You can feed when we reach the AllSpark.
Fine, Fine. I was joking anyway.