Spring break means more writing! I'm back at it hopefully with more frequent updates.
Megatron was too late in reaching out. Starscream immediately leaped off the platform, his engines shrieking as he transformed and blasted off towards the burning cityscape. Skywards Tower gave another concerning tremor. The warlord cursed and followed, his targeting computer scanning for attackers as fast as he could.
Don't get ahead of yourself, Starscream! We haven't identified who's conducting the attack.
The Seeker didn't reply, but his speed increased by another notch. Megatron was beginning to have trouble keeping up. The airspace around them was filling up with panicked fliers careening without direction as twisted metal groaned and the fires climbed higher.
Where are you heading? There might be an ambush. I'm going to contact Strika to see if we need to call in an airstrike—
Do what you want. I need to find Thundercracker and Skywarp.
Slow down! You are in a battlefield now and we are outnumbered. I'm not letting you fly straight into—
Megatron almost collided into a large shuttle. The warlord had to swerve aside. When he had collected his wits, Starscream was nowhere in sight.
He swore again, and redoubled his efforts in trying to locate the attackers. Strangely enough, he was still unable to do so. Even when he was back at the platform, he had detected nothing. Vos had suddenly gone up in flames with no sign of any strike force or Omega Sentinel in the area.
Was it the Autobots? There was too little information to tell. One of the towers collapsed with a resounding crash and kicked up a large cloud of debris. Cries of terror and dismay were echoed among those who were caught in the wreck.
Where was Vos' aerial forces? Why weren't they rallying to sweep the sky of enemies and rescue anyone who's trapped? Instead Megatron saw disordered fliers everywhere he looked. Starscream was long gone, and he doubted he could be of much help in his search for his trinemates. First, he had to confirm that they wasn't going to a second wave of bombings.
Megatron headed towards a yellow and orange mech who was shouting at a group of three other fliers. He transformed and landed among them.
"Do any of you have a hotline to Air Command?"
"W-Who are you?!" The mech pointed a blaster at the warlord.
"Vos is burning and there isn't an aerial defense response to be had! Who is commanding the Seeker forces?"
"W-We don't know!," Another one of the mechs, a white and red flier, stammered, "We are Seekers, but there haven't been any orders. The commander hasn't responded to any comms!"
"Do any of you know where the commander is?"
No one did. And from the looks of it, no one knew what to do about it either. Megatron bit back a frustrated snarl and turned back to the four.
"Then gather all Seekers you can get in contact with. Split them into squadrons to sweep the city for any hostiles. Once you've confirmed that there aren't any attackers within a hundred mechanometers, head back to Skywards Tower and make sure your Sovereign is safe. Here's my comm frequency. Report on your progress and standby for further orders."
"You're not a Seeker! You have no right to order us!" The dark red and black Seeker flung back at the warlord.
"Then pray tell, whose orders do you intend to follow, or will you sit here and do nothing as your city is bombed to pieces?"
The mech looked like he wanted to argue back, but the yellow one shook his helm and stepped forwards.
"Sunstorm reporting," He said, "I'll take Ramjet and Thrust and search for hostiles. We'll try to contact as many fliers of Air Command as we could."
"You're listening to this outsider?! What—"
"You got a better idea, Thrust? If not, let's go!"
The three took off towards the city borders. Megatron had no idea if this would do enough to even begin to address what had just happened. There must be many others who are trapped in collapsed structures and those who had been offlined from the explosions. The negotiations with the Sovereign and the council members were unlikely to go further, if they were still functioning at all.
Slag it all! Megatron transformed and headed where he last saw Starscream. His second-in-command's safety was likely the only concern he could do something about.
Thundercracker! Skywarp! Ping me your coordinates right now!
The message, like the last twenty or so he sent, went unanswered. Starscream wanted to tear through his empty communications feed, reach through and instantly arrive at wherever his trinemates were at. It's possible that the network had been crippled by the explosions, but it didn't stop him from trying again, and again, and then again.
There was only silence.
Starscream threw himself against the chaos of fleeing Vosians around him. The heat from the fires caused the landscape to shimmer. A large looming shadow that swept across the area revealed another building sheering sideways. Hundreds of fliers dashed out of the way as it fell.
Why, why was this happening?! Who had done this? In response to what? Was it because he and Megatron had been recognized? How? Were they betrayed?
Would this disaster have been avoided if he never agreed to come to Vos?
His systems sent him warnings on overstressing his engines. Starscream dismissed them and pushed himself to fly faster. He couldn't go there yet. First he had to find Thundercracker and Skywarp, make sure they were safe, and then get them out of here. The war wasn't supposed to come here. Vos was one of the last peaceful city-states on Cybertron. His trinemates were supposed to stay here until the end of it.
Where were they? Where?! Skywarp had dragged Thundercracker along with him with a poorly disguised excuse of heading back to Air Command. Starscream changed course, hoping that for once that purple idiot meant what he said. If not, they could be anywhere in Vos. He couldn't begin to think what it'll be like trying to locate them in mayhem of the entire city.
—scream. At—collapsed—help nee— The fragmented words flashed weakly in his vision. A distress message from Thundercracker. Starscream immediately locked on to the signal and traced it back to Cybertronian Air Command headquarters. The building had been almost completely leveled. Only a couple of large support beams and pieces of the roof remained.
He landed, transformed and dove into the wreckage. Thundercracker's signal grew stronger the deeper he descended. Starscream had to climb through collapsed corridors and avoid hanging wires still sparking with power. When confronted with a broken piece of metal that blocked his way, he fired at it with his null rays until it buckled. Then he was ducking into what remained of a command center, where cracked screens still flickered and alarms blared.
Thundercracker was crouched at the other end, pulling at something. Starscream immediately hurried towards the blue Seeker, his voice cracking as he shouted.
"Thundercracker! What're you doing?!"
"Help me pull this away!" Thundercracker cried out. One of his wings was bent, and he bled energon freely from his side.
"You need medical attention! Let me take you out of here. Where's Skywarp? We need to—"
The other began to shake, "S-Skywarp… he's t-trapped. Please, Starscream! Help me get him out of here!"
His spark sank in him as he joined Thundercracker and saw what was going on. Skywarp lay beneath a thick slab of metal; it had completely pinned him waist down, leaving no room for him to pull free.
"H-Hey, you received our distress call," Skywarp smiled weakly, "TC's totally besides himself. Go knock some sense into him, Screamer."
"Shut up! How'd you get yourself crushed in the first place?!" Starscream shot back as he joined Thundercracker in trying to shift the slab up.
"It came out of nowhere. The explosions took out most of the mechs in this area. I-I was a nanoklik too slow as well."
"He pushed me out of the way, this idiot! You didn't need to do that! It's not budging! Why can't we move this?!" Thundercracker's intakes hitched.
Starscream had to lay a servo on the blue Seeker's to calm him. He'd never seen Thundercracker so panicked before. He was barely keeping his own alarm at bay.
"C'mon, we can do this. Put your hold here, and we'll lift together. See if Skywarp can help too with his arms."
The slab groaned and creaked, but otherwise did not shift.
"S-Screamer, is this what it's like t-to be caught in a war?" Skywarp's voice was trembling, "I-I didn't know… I said I wanted to s-shoot some Autobots… But I didn't know t-that I could be hurt like this. I d-didn't even see the enemy, or fight some mechs."
"Don't be an idiot. You're not going to offline!" Starscream grunted with the exertion of struggling with the slab.
"Yes, you're going to be fine," Thundercracker promised, but his servos were shaking too as he rested it against Skywarp's faceplates, "I'm sure other mechs will come and help as well once they receive our distress signal. Just hang in there."
Starscream renewed his efforts in lifting and pulled until his frame sent him structural strain warnings. He didn't care. He would give both servos if it meant that these two lovestruck dolts could survive this. He will make sure they both got out of the city and found shelter with the Decepticons.
Thundercracker was beginning to hyperventilate again. His intakes were ragged and uneven as he scrabbled at the metal slab, "Move! Move already, slagging piece of junk!"
"I-I'm scared." Skywarp whispered.
"Shut up and put your backstruts into it!" Starscream snarled.
The slab was beginning to slide off to one side. Starscream braced himself against the obstacle and pushed with all his might. One of the lights in the command center went out with a pop, which darkened the room quite a bit. It was when he saw a bright flash at a broken pipe that was still stained pink with energon, as well as a fast moving shadow that bolted towards him.
Someone caught Starscream's servo in a crushing grip and tore him away from his trinemates. Starscream gave a cry of alarm, too startled to react and fight back. Thrusters fired up, and he was tugged out of the command center at whiplash speed. He collided with protruding pieces of wreckage painfully before the servo heaved and tossed him back out outside.
Starscream caught himself midair, weapons systems snapping online. He sped back to the wreckage again, only to watch as it erupted in an explosion that sent him flying and blew shrapnel high into the sky.
He crashed into the ground. His audio receptors were ringing. Starscream was faintly aware that the ground was shaking beneath him. His optics were having trouble focusing, but he could see that several more explosions tore through Vos.
No… no… he had to get back up. Thundercracker… and Skywarp…
Starscream staggered to his pedes. He began to drag himself back to the Air Command headquarters, ignoring the fire that was threatening to consume the whole area. Where was the building? It… should be… around here...
The remains of the headquarters were completely gone, buried beneath a mound of burning debris.
"No!" He heard himself croak, "No… this can't be…"
He reached the debris pile, dug his claws into the nearest piece of metal and heaved. But there was only more twisted metal to be found beneath.
"No…!" His voice rose to a broken howl of agony, "No… No… No!"
Starscream tore into the debris with increasing frenzy, firing his null rays at whatever he couldn't move and flinging everything else into the air. His trinemates were still in there! He had to get through! They were fine! He just had to get to them—!
"Stop right now." Someone grasped his shoulder plating hard as a voice commanded coldly.
"Get the frag away!" Starscream swiped behind him, fully intending to rip mech's spark out.
But the mech dodged with astonishing speed. Then in a blur, he drew back and delivered a vicious blow to Starscream's faceplates. The Seeker was sent flying again for the second time that solar cycle. He sprang back up with a yell and prepared to do battle with his mysterious assailant.
He froze. A slender flier in black and blue armor plating stood before him, unarmed apart from his servos sharpened into curved claws. His yellow optics, set in perpetually scowling faceplates, stared down at him with undisguised displeasure.
"Still too slow, Starscream, and still too impulsive. Pull yourself together. Go find your companion and leave the city immediately."
Nightstrike was exactly as Starscream remembered on the solar cycle he was exiled, where he had told the Seeker to get out despite his pleas. His entire career and future ruined in Vos because this mech couldn't accept he had trained a scientist instead of a warrior. And now, as if he hadn't done enough, he stood between Starscream and his trapped trinemates.
He felt a scream growing within him as he struggled to dismiss damage reports. As soon as he regained his senses, Starscream kicked off and hurtled towards Nightstrike, null rays blasting away. If the other continued to stand in his way, he will gladly tear him apart.
"Don't be a fool!" Nightstrike spat as he darted sideways, "I pulled you outta there barely in time!"
"Get out of my way! I never asked for you to intervene. If you had to, why rescue the failure?!"
Starscream managed to drive Nightstrike away from the debris. He immediately went back to digging into the wreck. But his former mentor caught his wrists and twisted. The two of them grappled amidst the rising fires and groaning metal.
"Let go!" Starscream shrieked, "If you had to save someone, you should've gone for Thundercracker! Or Skywarp! You should've just left me in there. It won't be the first time you abandoned me!"
"Get your processor out of your aft, Starscream. You need to leave, now!"
"Telling me to get out again, aren't you? I'm just so repulsive in your sight no matter what I do. I'm second-in-command of the Decepticons, but I bet that doesn't mean anything to you. I'm still exiled. Vos is burning. My trinemates are probably offline. And you still despise me!"
Something flashed in Nightstrike's optics. He grimaced and tried to pin Starscream's servos down, but the Seeker flipped around, thrusters firing up, and launched a swift kick that knocked Nightstrike off balance. Then he was on the older flier, claws poised to cut and rip into protoform. He gauged deep gashes into armor plating, wanting to see energon flow, wanting to tear into the other's spark, and to see it extinguish before his optics.
Starscream heard a choked guttural sound that grated his audio receptors harshly. He struck Nightstrike at the helm to silence him, only to realize it was broken deranged laughter that came from his own vocalizer.
As soon as Megatron saw his second-in-command engaged in battle with another mech, he transformed and dove out of the sky. He landed between them with a crash that blasted ash and small metal bits everywhere.
The warlord moved to put Starscream behind him as he drew his swords. But Starscream rushed out regardless, null rays whining online for another blast.
"Hold it. I'm not here to fight." The other flier said wearily. He was limping and bleeding from several wounds.
Starscream didn't seem to hear as he fired a storm at the flier. Realizing that there was something wrong with the Seeker's uncharacteristic wildness, Megatron held him back just as he tried to rush forwards. Starscream snarled and kicked with genuine intent. It took all of the warlord's strength to keep his grip.
"You have exactly three nanklicks to explain yourself." Megatron directed at the other flier as he brandished a sword.
"You need to take Starscream and leave Vos right now. They're looking for you two."
"What are you talking about? Who's 'they'? What's your relationship with my second—?"
Before Megatron could demand a proper answer, the roar of multiple jet engines surrounded them. About fifteen fliers transformed, each pointing a weapon at him and Starscream. The warlord gritted his dentas as his fusion cannon powered online. Starscream had stopped struggling. He moved to stand back to back with Megatron and pointed his null rays at their new opponents. His second's armor plating felt too hot against his. His intakes were ragged and uneven.
"Disarm yourselves and put your weapons down," One of the jets stepped forward, "We're taking you into custody. Any wrong move, and we'll blast you two."
"What's the meaning of this? Is Vos rounding up all outsiders now?" Megatron growled.
"You are under suspicion for the attack on Vos. You are to surrender yourselves for questioning."
"You can't be serious," Megatron shook his helm and glared, "Who sent you? We just arrived this solar cycle and met nonstop with the Sovereign and the rest of the city council. Instead of expending all those Seekers to take us into custody, shouldn't you be rescuing as many as you can? That second wave of explosions trapped many who were doing rescue operations."
"Silence! Put down your weapons now." The Seekers began to close in.
This was bad. While Megatron was still searching for Starscream, Sunstorm had actually reported back his findings. They were unable to spot any enemy, either aerial or ground-based. They even did some preliminary investigations into some renegade factions in the city, but none of them had the motivation to destroy Vos entirely. If these mechs thought him and Starscream were responsible…
Megatron readied his battle stance. They had to prevent the city from detaining them at any cost, or else they might never leave at all.
There was another tremor in the ground. The top half of Skywards Tower, formerly the highest building in Vos, careened to one side and toppled over with a resounding boom. The impact sent a massive explosion of smoke, dust and metal pieces flying everywhere. The Seekers cried out in alarm as they scattered to avoid the deadly deluge. Megatron managed to haul Starscream away as well as ash obscured the whole area. When the shower of debris slowed, Starscream suddenly detached from his side, and went off into another direction. Megatron followed with his sensors on high alert.
"... on the Sovereign. Go! I'll take care of these two!"
"Right away, Commander Nightstrike!"
Megatron grimaced and kept one blade at the ready to meet any flier foolish enough to follow them. But it was the black and purple flier Starscream had been fighting who emerged from the haze.
"They're gone," He said, "I won't repeat myself again. You two have to leave Vos immediately. The longer you stay, the more danger you'll be in."
"Who are you? Why should we trust you and take you at your word?"
The mech sighed and lowered his optics. An expression of profound weariness weighed on his faceplates, "I'm just an acquaintance of Starscream's, an old model who always had trouble accepting breaks from tradition. He might not have met you otherwise, Megatron."
The warlord did a double take, "Wait, you know who I—"
"Been watching you two since you arrived, so I know you're not responsible," The other mech said dryly, "I told myself I wouldn't make contact. But I suppose that matters little now."
The sound of metal clanging and scraping together issued close by. The haze cleared just enough for Megatron to see that Starscream had knelt among the twisted wreckage to dig at the debris. His movements were listless and jerky.
"You need to get Starscream out, even if he resists you." The flier looked away.
"If you harmed him in any way, I will scatter your parts—"
"You're thousands of stellar cycles too late. Now go! You won't get another opportunity again."
Megatron could detect more energy signatures in the sky drawing close to their location. The other mech was right. He hated to admit it, but this mission to negotiate an alliance with Vos was a complete failure, especially now that they were being pursued. Starscream's behavior was also concerning him by the cycle. They should first leave the area, come up with a change of plans and see what happened from there.
"You have my thanks for your intervention." Megatron said.
"Don't thank me yet. Hurry and be on your way…"
The flier suddenly paused, clenched his servo and fixed the warlord with an unwavering look, "Perhaps I should thank you for watching over Starscream in my stead. I must ask you to continue, until the solar cycle splendor is restored to Vos."
Then he was gone, taking off into the burning landscape.
Megatron had no time to wonder who that flier was and ponder over his loaded words. He made his way to Starscream and pulled at his shoulder gently. But the Seeker didn't seem to register the touch as he continued to dig.
"Starscream, we have to retreat."
"No… not now… They're still in there! I have to get to—"
The raw desperation in Starscream's voice cut straight to his spark, "We'll come back as soon as we could. Right now we—"
Starscream shoved the warlord's servo away and turned back to the debris. The energy signatures were drawing closer, and they were both out in the open. Another ten nanklicks before they were spotted. They had to move, now. Megatron grabbed hold of his second, ignoring the protesting howl Starscream gave, and activated his thrusters. They hurtled into the sky and towards the city boundaries.
"Let me go! Let me go! I can't leave them!" Starscream clawed at him, thrashing wildly, "Please! Thundercracker… and Skywarp…!"
"We'll go back for them. Calm yourself! You know how to respond to a city-state attack. First we need to get out of here!"
Starscream continued to struggle against him. Megatron had to divert all attention to maintaining maximum output of his speed and weaving in between burning structures that frequently sent showers of debris falling around. Then they were out of Vos and flying over the Vaulted Canyons. All was silent around them apart from the thrumming of flight systems.
Starscream went still in his grasp. Once he had determined that they were at a safe distance from the city, Megatron landed behind a series of hills and released the Seeker. Starscream immediately collapsed on his knees, servos digging into the ground with vehement force. His gaze was purposefully turned away from the view of Vos wreathed in flames and smoke.
Megatron knelt next to him, "If you try to fly back, I will stop you."
"... You don't need to," Starscream's voice was almost too steady, "I know that we couldn't stay for another cycle. The attack came out of nowhere. Of course we would be suspected as outsiders. Vos always thought that all threats came from outside. It's idiotic. They thought they would be safe if they stayed out of the war. I thought they would be safe if I… I…"
His frame began to shake uncontrollably. Megatron reached for him again, but Starscream slammed his fists down and released an agonized cry. Then he was up in a nanoklik, optics blazing, null rays humming at the ready and servos lashing out.
"Where are the Autobots? I'll rip them to pieces! That much I can do without returning to Vos. Don't hold me back! I'll make them all pay for what they did. I'll tear out ten sparks for every Vosian they offlined! They—My trinemates… they didn't ask for this…"
Megatron should be planning countermeasures by now, thinking of ways to salvage what he could of the situation. If he called in Decepticon reinforcements, perhaps he could work out an alliance nevertheless—but that would divert resources they may not have. Maybe ensure that the Sovereign is still functioning before all else… then how long should they wait before Vos determined they weren't the culprits?
His processes refused to assemble into something coherent, not when Starscream had been reduced to this state.
Megatron caught one of Starscream's servos mid-swing. He pulled the Seeker close, his arms wrapped tight around his slight frame. Starscream's EM field, fraught with extreme anguish, crackled against his discordantly, but the smaller mech uncurled his digits to rest against the warlord's chestplates.
This was the first cycle since the attack on Vos that either of them had time to process what had happened. Megatron suddenly felt weary beyond imagination. They sank to the ground together, but he didn't release his hold. Starscream was no longer in his battle frenzy, and was now trembling and producing small choked sounds that he tried to muffle with one servo. When Megatron looked down to see what was wrong, the Seeker turned his faceplates away.
"You shouldn't hide your grief, Starscream."
"I-I'm not. Don't b-be an aft. There's still much to be done—"
"The planning can wait. Your current state cannot."
"I d-don't know if— I-I have to check…"
"That mech you were fighting knows they're trapped. It's likely he'll get help."
"Nightstrike? That old rustbucket… why did he pull me out…? I was always his greatest disappointment. How did he know I was there at all? He couldn't have—unless he'd been following me for the entire time… He's probably the one who was watching us after we left Skywards Tower..."
The black and blue plated flier had admitted as much. Megatron thought back to his parting words thanking him for watching over Starscream in his stead, and the regret in his topics when he hinted at his past relationship with the Seeker. It was a strange choice of words not usually aimed at complete strangers. Nightstrike had been observing them, and somehow came to the conclusion that the warlord had been attending to Starscream as someone close to him.
Was that impression they gave off? The warlord sighed and held Starscream close, stroking his back gently as the Seeker began to shake again. He felt foolish for spending so much time fretting over the boundaries between him and his second-in-command. Whatever Megatron ended admitting what was developing between them, he would look after Starscream, that much was definite.
"My trinesmates… I never told them that I missed them… all those stellar cycles. They were going to bond! I was going to tell them that… they were fools if they thought their relationship could last. But I was prepared to give my blessing… I was glad t-that they could move on without me…"
"You don't know if they're offline. We'll go back as soon as we can." Megatron murmured.
Starscream's voice hitched, "I was almost caught in the second wave. It's… very unlikely that they s-survived. I—"
The anguish in his words wrenched at Megatron's spark. His systems stuttered in distress, not over the loss of a potentially valuable alliance that could've turned the war around, but for what Starscream had lost. To finally return home to familiar sights, reunite with his sundered trinemates, see the Sovereign offer to revoke his exile, make plans to attend Thundercracker and Skywarp's bonding next orbital cycle, only to see it all reduced to a sea of flame. Starscream was sobbing freely now in his arms. Megatron leaned his helm against the other's, wanting to say anything that would assure his second that not all was lost. But the warlord wasn't sure if he could keep his voice steady if he did.
He shuttered his optics, swallowed what remained of his composure and held Starscream for as long as he needed.
The fires in Vos were dying down. The city was no longer bathed in orange, but smoke and ash still choked the sky as far as the optic could see. About two-thirds of the once majestic towers that populated Vos were now blackened twisted piles of metal and glass.
Nightstrike examined the view from his perch on a slanted supporting beam. Snatches of conversations and shouted orders issued from below him, where a group of five fliers worked to clear the debris from the wreckage of the Air Command headquarters.
The roar of engines above broke him from his reverie. Four jets transformed to reveal Sunstorm, Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet, who landed before him in a row.
"What're you doing here?" Nightstrike asked curtly.
"We heard you were around this area," Sunstorm lowered his optics, "Has Thundercracker and Skywarp…"
"I'm supervising the recovery. You four should have better things to do than to ask idle questions."
Ramjet's faceplates scrunched, "Will it kill you to stop disparaging us for one nanoklik? We just got back from surveying the entire city at top speed."
"Who gave that order?"
Sunstorm shifted the rifle in his grip, "Some gray and dark red flier. Big, not Vosian, remarkably calm despite the chaos. I'm almost disappointed to see him go. We'll head back to rescuing survivors now, sir—"
"Did he now?" Nightstrike leapt down from his perch, "Come with me. I require your escort."
The five of them moved through several teams of mechs pulling away at piles of debris. Nightstrike stopped a few times to exchange words with them, but continued to proceed in a set direction. Ramjet shifted restlessly, no doubt about to raise another disgruntled question. Dirge elbowed the red and black jet and shook his helm.
"Sunstorm, report your survey." Nightstrike said.
"We flew three rounds through Vos scanning for the attackers. It's true that there were none around or in the city. We also examined the damage from above. There are no clear targets. The destruction is widespread."
"What about the pattern of the destruction?"
"What about it?" Thrust queried.
"Leave the thinking to someone who actually has half a processor." Nightstrike narrowed his optics.
"He doesn't mean to!" Sunstorm cut in, waving his servos frantically, "I can answer that. The explosions were almost too organized for a bombing raid. It's quite uncanny. Look at this."
He projected a holo-map from one servo and pointed at a couple of areas that had been marked in red. Sure enough, the damage formed the general shape of a uniform line. In some places they even intersected to form a well-defined grid.
Nightstrike's scowl grew deeper, "... I see. Let's confirm the theory, shall we?"
They passed into a doorway set in the remains of a nondescript wall and headed deeper inside. The ground began to slope downwards. Soon they had to pause frequently to move debris out of the way in order to move forwards. Eventually they found their way blocked entirely by dense-packed chunks of metal. Even a couple of blasts from their weapons did little to clear the obstruction.
"That's enough." Nightstrike said.
They were in an underground tunnel that was barely high enough for them to stand without crouching. Nightstrike began to examine the debris around them, most of which were pieces of piping. He ordered the others to search for anything of interest.
"But what are we searching for exactly?" Dirge protested, "There's just more junk everywhere I see. Can we leave now? I hate being underground—"
He began to inch towards where they came from, but his pede collided into something sprawled at the side of the tunnel. Dirge cursed, and promptly released an undignified yelp as soon as he realized what it was.
The charred half-crushed frame of a mech, a grounder frame type, was almost indistinguishable from the debris. Nightstrike immediately went over and knelt next to it, his scanners sweeping over the remains.
"Why's there a grounder here?" He asked.
"I think the city infrastructure team brings them in for maintenance," Ramjet frowned, "No sane Vosian wants to work the energon pipes."
Sunstorm joined Nightstrike and after some sifting around, removed the remains of an electrical device.
"This was an explosive charge." He said.
"You've gotta be kidding," Thrust took a step back, his optics widening, "The entire energon network… how? It's thousands of mechenometers of piping! There's no way—You'd have to sneak who knows how many explosives past boundary control."
"It's those incompetent guards again. They were told to check everything." Ramjet spat.
Nightstrike stood again, his voice steady but strained, "We were complacent, Ramjet. Perhaps a worse condition to be caught in than incompetence. We were all expecting an all-out assault on Vos. But now… we will be paying for our pride for the next millions of stellar cycles it takes to recover."
The statement chilled the atmosphere in the group, as if they were now just processing the fact that their home had been destroyed in a single unseen attack, that it had come unprovoked, that they still didn't know how many mechs had been offlined. Ramjet and Thrust lowered their helms, while Sunstorm crushed the device in one servo and began to pace.
"What are we waiting for?! We need to find out if there's more of these slagging terrorists!" Dirge flung out.
"Do we know who sent them? Perhaps we can access visit records—"
"We gotta report our findings too. Is there anyone—"
"What about the Sovereign? Is he—"
"He's gone," Nightstrike sighed, "The first wave collapsed the audience chamber. They managed to dig his frame out along with three other council members."
Thrust's voice shook as he spoke, "... What happens now? Do we—Are the Autobots behind this?"
The grounder had no visible faction symbols. It was possible to investigate nevertheless, to dig up records of entry and track down who sent them to Vos. Perhaps it would lead back to a definite culprit behind the attack, and to begin planning some form of retribution.
But what next indeed? Nightstrike felt his spark sink as he considered what they had been caught between.
"What would we do with that knowledge?" He asked, "Will you lead an attack on those responsible and invite further destruction? Do you have the resources and the wisdom to make sure the rest of us survive?"
Thrust made to argue back, but couldn't find any words to voice. Even Ramjet was silent.
"... so, what's next for us?" Sunstorm asked quietly.
Nightstrike shuttered his optics, "Don't you all know the answer already?"
"You're not usually this cryptic," Thrust said, "Where's your comment about my intelligence, huh? Why aren't you tearing us a new one for not preventing this attack?"
Sunstorm frowned in disapproval, "Don't be like that, Thrust. You're not—But you're not wrong." He turned to Nightstrike with a quizzical look, "Sir?"
The other Seekers huddled close with anxiousness in their optics. Nightstrike briefly wondered if no small amount of it could be owed to the countless megacycles they spent under his tutelage. Sunstorm, Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust, along with Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Starscream, all part of the flight group Nightstrike was assigned to train right after their forging. Thundercracker and Sunstorm comforting Skywarp after a harsh scolding over his maneuvers. Ramjet and Thrust crashing into the Fountain of Abundance during a contest of durability and him punishing the two with menial labor for orbital cycles. Starscream gloating over Dirge after a speed test, his optics glinting with smugness. Starscream bristling and defiant after he had grounded the entire group after an ill-planned excursion to Tarn. Starscream gradually spending more and more time with Thundercracker and Skywarp, until it became natural to see the three of them streaking through Vos' towers, faster than any other flier, more dazzling than any constellation.
Nightstrike did not reply as he led the way back out of the tunnel and back into the burning cityscape.