"Everybody's trying to break your spirit, keeping you down. Seems like it's been forever, but there's another voice if you'll just hear it saying it's the last round. Looks like it's now or never. Out of the darkness you stumble into the light fighting for the things you know are right."
Stan Bush
"You talk a good one but you don't want it. Sometimes I wonder do I deserve to live or am I going to burn in hell for all the things I did. No time to dwell on that 'cause my brain reacts. Front if you want kid, lay on your back. I don't fake jacks kid, you know I bring it to you live. Stay in a child's place, kid you out o' line criminal minds thirsty for recognition...there ain't no such things as halfway crooks scared to death, scared to look they shook, there ain't no such things as halfway crooks...he ain't a crook son he just a shook one."
Mobb Deep
"Moonracer, if you can hear me, I'm on my way. It's not that far from where I am." It's not that far. It's not that far. She maintained this repetition as she flew, cloaked. The desert ended with the mountain range, followed by farmland, city, and endless blue. It's not that far. By some strange piece of luck, Buzzsaw was returning from spying at the same time. He raced down the dark halls without processing potential dangers, leaving her to look around the dark gray ship privately. She floated down the dark halls, searching for the detention center. Unhappy retrospection mixed with wry nostalgia in this base. There was the place Starscream confronted her about the way she dealt with Megatron. The hallway to his lab was over there, so the detention center must be farther away. Noise from Megatron's main throne room distracted her.
She peeked in to see a large crowd of Decepticons cheering. Megatron waved them to die down. "The time of Autobot destruction is upon us!"
"Yeah!" they hollered.
"Victory is in our grasp!"
More cheers.
"Megatron! When do we get to the entertainment?" Frenzy's whiny voice cut through the bellowing.
"I was getting to that!" Megatron looked up to the computer screen showing a large picture. A sleeping giant, its black hulk barely gleaming in the dull Cybertron light, took Lyra aback. "Autobot interference notwithstanding, the Constructicons project an early conclusion. We will be able to attack in a few days. Until then, we have some time to kill." There was something vile about the way he said that. The malicious gleam in his optic was frightening. "Go get her."
Lyra barely had time to move away from the stampeding hoard. They rushed past her like a rockslide. Inside the throne room was their leader, with Soundwave.
"You do not speak, my friend, but I know your thoughts. You do not approve of our new recruit."
"Autobot infiltrator: poor prospect." Lyra crept along the wall, sneaking to the computer. She needed them to be distracted, and doubted the meager altercation before her would suffice.
"On the contrary, it is the beginning of the end for that rebel scum. You heard Starscream's report. Dissention in the ranks is the heat that melts the strongest compound; however, I do believe your concern is valid, which is why I have assigned her to the Stunticons. They are away from the base enough to test her loyalty."
The large tape player knew better than to sustain a disagreement. This was why he was favored over Starscream. "Concerns mollified." Soundwave's blank face turned to the door as a horrible noise encroached. It hearkened the days of Cybertron gladiators. When the favored fighter entered the ring, those who saw him first cheered, starting a growing wave of raillery. When the sound finally reached Oasis' creator's box, it was a wall of resonance that chilled her. It had haunted her nightmares until more horrifying sights eclipsed those memories.
A wave of dark Decepticons with glowing red optics carried in a terrified Moonracer. They snarled like a pack of wolves until Megatron held his arms up for silence.
"What should we do with her?" he growled. The suggestions flew fast.
"Electric shock!"
"Peel her plating off!"
"Beat her to a pulp!"
"Firing squad!"
"Melt her down!"
"Gang bang!" That emitted laughs.
"All of these are excellent. There is another option. We have our newly repaired mind probe to test..." The response was overwhelmingly positive. "Hook her up!"
With a demonstration of teamwork and cooperation they didn't exhibit on the battlefield the Decepticons hooked Moonracer to a nasty-looking chair and attached the electrodes anywhere they thought would produce pain. In the midst of the activity, Starscream suddenly lifted his head. His optics would have met Lyra's if she were visible. She felt herself shudder. Megatron jerked his head in her direction, too, cueing Lyra to move quickly to another place. He sensed something. "Starscream, go outside and check the vicinity for any Autobots." As he complied, Megatron nodded over to his navy blue assistant. Soundwave walked to the chair's controls. The rest of the Decepticons wiggled like over-excited puppies in anticipation of their treat. "Throw the switch!"
Nothing happened.
"It's unplugged!" Frenzy called as he shoved the prongs into the outlet. Again, no response.
"Possible cause: undetected damage. Fall from floating air-base culprit." Soundwave inspected the back of the chair. Anxious, Decepticons yelled ideas to rectify the problem. Megatron muted them again by approaching the prisoner and placing the barrel of his cannon to blast her face in. Her fetters had been, although untouched by any hands, dislodged while he stared her down. She didn't move. Moonracer could taste the quiet tension.
"Show yourself, treacherous incompetent FOOL," was his only utterance.
"Put the cannon down," someone replied in an equally forceful voice.
Moonracer's mouth dropped open to see a steadfast blaster to Megatron's head. The rest of Lyra appeared out of nowhere. Their enemies started toward her until the gunner herself called them off.
"So you concocted the antidote," Megatron surmised. Lyra ignored him.
"Give her thirty earth minutes to get out of here, and I'll surrender," she demanded, disregarding Moonracer's objections.
"Why should I do that?" Megatron countered.
"Because I'm the one you want."
"No." He began to laugh contemptuously. He roared. The others followed suit. "NO! We were only torturing her for fun. You thought-" He laughed harder. "I would have killed ANY Autobot at that battle!" Lyra's expression remained unchanged. "Very humorous. For that, she has ten earth minutes."
"Twenty."
"Deal." He continued to chuckle.
"Moonracer, go left to the end of the hallway, turn right, press the elevator button and swim out. Seaspray's been notified; he'll pick you up." Her face and voice had not changed. "The blue jet next to us has a gun, so watch him."
Moonracer struggled off of the chair, terrified. Lyra would be crucified by these monsters. "I-"
"GO!" she screamed, losing whatever control she had.
"Yes, go!" sneered Megatron, still unfazed by the now-stricken femme and the shaking blaster in his face. "You have nineteen minutes!"
"I'll get help!" Moonracer yelled as she unwillingly sprinted out, transforming to gain more time. She thought she heard Lyra's body fall but it was hard to discern over the sound of her own motor.
Moonracer jumped into the rough waves of the ocean. Eagerly glancing around for Seaspray, scanners going as far as they could, she missed the turbulent ocean wave sent to engulf her. She spat out the salty water as something grabbed her ankle and dragged her under. Moonracer looked around for an earth creature and saw Nova tugging on her leg. Moonracer successfully kicked her off and emerged, spitting again. A perusal of the water after another wave reveled nothing.
"Why have you forsaken me?" she demanded the air. Starscream answered that with a shot from his null ray that missed both her and her approaching rescuer. Seaspray reared up before either could try another attack.
"Are you OK?" Seaspray asked. He noticed she was alone. Moonracer pulled her gun out of subspace and began firing at whatever came after them.
"No." She grabbed his side as he took off. "No."