1
I apologize for the atrocity that was the previous chapter. I wrote it late at night... REALLY late at night...my mind wasn't quite functioning properly...it still isn't...
(Kidding! Geez, you people take everything too seriously!)
Thanks to KrystalShaga for correcting me about the color of Cyclonous' hand. I slip up at times as I haven't ever really seen the show. Most of what I know I glean from other fanfics.
Please review!
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNn
Starscream's Log
Stardate: 16-43-21-09
Subject: Addendum to combiner research
Scans of human subject (2) show 93 probability of a binary link. As of yet, subject (2) is unresponsive to questioning.
Scans of minicon subject (1) have confirmed above probability. Subject (1) refuses to coorperate with questioning and denies the binary link between Subjects (1) and (2).
Based on the completeness of the binary link between the subjects, it is possible to hypothesize that binary bonding can occur in previously undocumented ways, namely between an organic and a minicon. Further testing is needed to form a conjecture about the rationality of multiple bondings such as in a combiner group.
Starscream paused thoughtfully in his report, glancing over at the prone human form on the large steel table surrounded by machinery. His mouth settled into a frown, his tree-trunk fingers hovering over the keys. So small. So helpless. So fragile.
He felt no sympathy for the female. Yet he had before, and it unnerved him. Why had he felt an unfamiliar pang of guilt in his spark when she flinched away from him, when her small voice rasped out in fear?
Starscream shook his head, turning back around to his computer screen, trying to concentrate on his work. Megatron wanted him to use the human female to devise a way to have multiple transformers linked with each other, though he didn't know how he was supposed to do that. As far as Starscream knew (which was a considerable amount) a transformer or minicon could only link, permanently, with one other person. But Megatron, being a strategist rather than a scientist, could only lean harder on him to get him to build a combiner, which at the moment didn't seem possible.
Admittedly, the link existing within the human's mind opened up untold areas for speculation on just what binary bonding WAS. But as far as providing him with the mystical key that would allow one transformer to be linked with more than one other, the human was useless.
Unable to write more, Starscream shut down his computer and sat before its darkened screen for a long while, thinking. In its glassy, mirror like surface he could see the dark reflection of the small human curled into a ball on the table, its chest rising and falling softly with each breath. Her short hair splayed out behind her, trailing like silk over her bare, mud-streaked back.
Such a complex creature, that human. A lump of living cells that functioned together to form a single- intelligent- identity that was at the same time so vulnerable. Starscream snorted. What a waist, to be trapped in a design that was so inefficient. He was intensely glad to be what he was: strong, fast, hardy, and nearly immortal by human standards.
Still though, his mind was drawn in wonder to her, and he found himself rising without violation from his chair and stepping over to her, staring down at her prone form.
Suddenly catching himself, he snorted, knowing that staring at her like he was could imply perverted thoughts within his CPU. How illogical! He was a robot, and therefore he felt no sexual lust or desire after the female, though he knew that by human standards she was amazingly beautiful. There was something about the graceful curve of her back and the way her arms covered her knees that reminded him of the striking architecture on Cybertron before the Great War destroyed it all.
She shifted and groaned, and Starscream felt himself unwillingly being moved by how helpless she was. He reached out and let his fingers rest lightly against her back, suddenly able to feel each beat of her tiny heart. Slowly, softly, he stroked her spine with the finger in a rhythmic way, unknowingly opening up a place in his long dead heart for the little human.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Axel's POV:
I sat on the cold floor with my back against the rusted wall, listening for any little sound. The darkness was unending and unperturbed, so I had long ago shut off my useless optics in favor of directing that power to my audio sensors, waiting in the perpetual black sea of night.
My spark core was clenched with fear, and I was unable to tear my mind away from Neera. Alone as I was I had no way of knowing what Hook might be doing to her.
Alone.
That feeling had taken on a new meaning to me. It had been less than 24 hours yet I felt like I had been with Neera ever since I was first aware of myself. I had grown used to the warmth of her mind, her gentleness, and it had suddenly been torn away from me. I knew she was alive, but beyond that, I was clueless, and it terrified me. I imagined hundreds of terrible things that could be happening to her, and every time I had the irrepressible urge to jump up and blow the door down to get to her.
Is this what binary bonding is all about? I wondered. The constant fear that something had happened to your partner?
Though my internal chronometer told me otherwise, it felt like it had been five years since I had last seen her alive, the loneliness was that intense. I told myself over and over again that if we ever got out of here alive, I would strap her on to my alternate form and never let her off.
My mind went full circle again and came back to the original conundrum of; What did they want with us? Either they were just letting me sweat it out until I told them something- which was unlikely as I had nothing to tell- or they were doing something to Neera instead. My instincts told me that they were suppressing our link somehow, probably with drugs, because they considered us a danger to them. Why? What was so special about our bond that would make them that afraid of us?
I put my head into my hand, remembering the constant pain Neera had been in since the time we bonded. That made no sense either. The headache should have subsided soon after the bonding process was complete, but something prolonged it. It was either a nasty side affect, or changes were still going on within her mind and body.
Neera...
My thoughts spiraled around again, leaving me in the dark both inside and without.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
"Sir, are you sure that this is a good idea? It could be a Decepticon trap to lure us to Earth."
Red Alert protested, only to be straight armed in the face by Ironhide as he tried once again to run right up to Prime.
"Then why would they send it to where no one would ever see it? If I hadn't happened to be looking for a part in that storage room, not one of us would ever have picked it up, which leads me to conclude that whoever it was is indeed a prisoner of war who didn't know where to send the homing beacon." Wheeljack butt in. Prime nodded his head thoughtfully.
"My line of reasoning exactly, which is why I will be taking a small team to earth to investigate."
"But SIR-" Red Alert tried again, only to be snatched back gruffly by Ironhide once more.
"I thought I told you to shove off!" He growled.
"- And why you'll be coming as well, Red Alert."
It was hard to tell who was more horrified; Ironhide or Red Alert.
"But sir!"
"But Optimus!" They shouted simultaneously.
"No protests. You are BOTH going. I need the talents that each of you has to offer." They looked at each other with blatant disdain, not really sure whether to be pleased at the compliment from the Autobot leader or not.
"Who else is going with you?" Wheeljack asked intelligently.
"Rachet, you, Ironhide, Red Alert, Hound, Jazz and Bumblebee. Hopefully we will be back again before anyone misses us."
Prime moved to the console, his large blue hands tapping in the coordinates for the warp gate to Earth. Switching on his comm-link, he radioed the others and told them of the situation with the instructions to meet him in the warp room. They each radioed back in the affirmative, telling him that they were on their way.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
I floated through darkness and pain, only vaguely aware of having sunk to the console in complete and utter exhaustion some time ago. My mind was a whirlwind of half remembered imagines and thoughts, though none of them stirred any emotion within me.
All I knew was pain. Utter agony ripped through me, and I felt as if a million wounds were being opened and re opened over my entire body. The pain pulsed through my veins with every pounding heart beat, inflaming my terrified mind like a vial disease, pillaging my soul.
Through the haze of things not quite remembered or totally forgotten, a white hot fire fueled me. It burned with a kind of single-minded passion that I never would have thought that I had.
Revenge.
Revenge for what the bastard did to me.
My ragged soul longed to cross over that cool river into the gentle morning mists of the next life that rose before my as I lay dying, but the fire in my heart drove me to live. I MUST live. I had to live and cut down the monster that had doomed me to a slow and painful death.
So, I got up.
And I somehow got down from that console.
And I started walking.
An eye for and eye. No longer revenge, but justice. Not to reek my own vengeance, but to save another life from my fate at his hands.
Limping like a lame dog I made my way back to the hell hole I had escaped from, and somehow I knew that God was watching over my shoulder. Not yet, He told me, you have one last thing you need to do.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Lost in the enigma of his own thoughts, Hook slowly ambled down the poorly lit corridor to his laboratory, separate from Starscream's. He wanted to check on his current experiment, as he probably needed to give it another dose of anti-rejection drugs.
The well-oiled door (unusual to find on that rust-bucket of a base) slid easily into the wall, letting the cool, green tinted light from within spill into the corridor. Hook smiled to himself. This was HIS place of work, where Megatron for the most part let him have free rein. Unlike Starscream, he was an experimenter, not a researcher.
Mostly unoccupied cages lined one wall, save for a black panther in the far corner which snarled at him as he entered, barring it's fangs and clawing through the cage bars at him. Hook smiled to himself, pleased that the specimen was hardy and aggressive. He wanted exactly those sort of genes to introduce into his main experiment.
Farther back in the inner most sanctum of his lab was a large steel slab set between an array of computers. Like a small operating theater, it had tools and diagnostics equipment all around it, the sharp cutting and prying instruments hanging like spiders over the small slab.
It was just the way he had left it, except that his subject was gone.
Broken wires and tubes dribbling blue fluid were strewn over its sides, ripped violently away from his subject's body.
Hook gasped. "What? NO!"
He lunged forward towards the slab, the alarms on the monitoring equipment warbling in his audios.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
It was almost time.
I stood concealed in the shadows, leaning heavily on the console beside me that was obviously built for Hook's minicon assistants.
My breathing came in measured, ragged gasps, a gurgling sound welling up inside my chest.
It was almost time.
I prayed like I had never prayed before that the monster would only take another step and lean, if only for an instant, over the slab. My hand rested on a dial on the control panel which I had seen him use before to create an impenetrable force-field around the slab that didn't let anything in- or out.
A force-field that was only an atom thick.
Like an infinitely sharp knife.
If only he would lean over into the range of the force-field, it would slice cleanly through his body before he even knew what was happening.
Like the wrath of God.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
"NO! Ugh!" Hook cried again in dismayed rage. "Starscream had something to do with this; I KNOW HE DID!"
In anger he struck out at the nearest monitor, smashing his fist through it in a shower of sparks. The alarm faded and died.
"Him AND that PATHETIC human female sabotaged MY experiment! UGH!" He stomped out of the room, the doors hissing shut behind him, intent of extracting his vengeance by ridding himself of the scientist who had for so long been a thorn in his side.
Killing the human female was a perk too.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
"Autobots; Transform!" Prime called out. His robotic form contorted and twisted in on itself, different parts sliding around and locking into place, forming a futuristic looking truck. The others present followed suit, their bodies shifting and rearranging themselves into different shapes as well. The enormous steel room where previously eight towering robots had stood now contained an ambulance, two sports cars, a jeep, a VW bug, a truck, an SUV, and a futuristic hovercraft.
"Engage Warp Drive!" Prime called out again from his alt. Mode.
Suddenly a shivering wall of purple energy appeared in front of them, unfolding itself from an infinatly small point until it resembled a giant holo-screen.
"Alright men. We're going to warp into the Decepticon's temporary base on Earth. It won't be easy, but we have the element of surprise on our side. This is a rescue mission, so as soon as we have liberated the prisoners, we pull out!"
"Yes Sir!" Came the enthusiastic answering chorus, save for Red Alert, who muttered something suspiciously like 'Oh, goodie...'
"LAUNCH!" The warp gate shivered with the command and blossomed out towards them like an expanding balloon. At the same time, the waiting vehicles were stretched beyond there physical forms, being pulled away into another place. For an instant, they were stretched so far as to look like thin ribbons of color, and then they vanished all-together, winking out of that existence and into another against all laws of physics.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Unbidden, images and memories flashed through my mind, making me gasp painfully in recognition.
I had to get to Starscream's lab.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Hook stormed down the long corridor, fuming, pulling his blaster from subspace as he went, intending to blow the 'Screamer's head off on sight.
He didn't quite make it through the door when a whooshing sound filled the hallway, followed by a wall of purple light appearing from no where in front of him.
"What the...?" He gasped, rasing his blaster as eight shadowy forms appeared in the cramped hallway. As they quickly solidified, Hook saw that they bore the hated red insignia of the Autobots.
Starscream must have heard the warp gate activating or else somehow known what was going on because at that moment he came skidding out of his lab, nearly bowling into Hook. Drawing his Vibro Sword from subspace, Starscream defiantly stared down the eight Autobots as they transformed back into robot mode.
For a split second, silent recognition passed between the two groups before a feral cry was let loose, and they went to war.
"Starscream will have to wait until I finish these invaders off..."
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Dimly Neera was aware of from noise outside, and her eyes fluttered open as the air from Starscream rushing hurriedly past buffeted her soundly. Though she desperately wanted to see what was going on to make such a racket, her body refused to yield to her orders, and was content to simply lie there, mentally fatigued. She longed to fall back into the blissful arms of sleep, but curiosity prevented her.
After a while the noise grew farther away, and Neera suspected that whatever was taking place had moved away from her.
Then suddenly, to her great surprise, the gargantuan doors slid apart, disgorging a small figure into the laboratory.
And what she saw made her want to gag.
Every inch of the figures body was either covered in dry, cracking blood or crude metal plates. Half of its head had been replaced by some sort of steel mask, metal wires extending from it under the blistered skin. One eye was no longer an eye at all, but a glowing blue socket.
Wires trailed from its back, head and chest, dragging along the floor. And slowly, like water dripping from a steadily emptying cup, small drops of blood fell to the floor.
Its chest heaved in an unnatural, abbreviated way as it breathed accompanied, by a sickening gurgling sound.
"Neera..." It whispered quietly, its voice rough and raw. And suddenly, she recognized the untouched half of the face, the pleading, desperate look in its remaining eye, the soft voice.
"Jonas!"
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This will be it for ya'll for a few days until I get back from vacation.
Hasta Luego!
P.S : Sry, I don't know what Ironhide transforms into, so I made him a hover-craft.