Day 20

"Laserbeak, stop picking at my neck cables! I'm painting and I need a steady hand here!" Skywarp yelled at the pet in 5:15 in the morning. Laserbeak decided to wake him up early today, so that he could finish up the Soundwave effigy on time before the whole festival begins. Laserbeak was the one commanding the creation of it, which Skywarp found odd. They were at one of the art room on the third floor. Skywarp was trying his hardest to accurately paint the figure of Soundwave, but Laserbeak wasn't helping by picking at his neck whenever he thought Skywarp was doing something wrong, which occurred with roughly every five paint strokes.

*Chirp*

"Aw, shut up. You're the one that's injured anyway. Just go rest a bit while I take care of this," Skywarp told him, indicating his injured wing. Laserbeak glared at him before giving an indignant chirp before nipping his neck again. "Gah!" the seeker yelled in pain. "Come on! You almost tore it yesterday attacking Blurr. You need to relax, dammit!"

"What the hell's going on here?" he heard a voice asked and turned to see Beachcomber, looking haggard.

"What the frag are you doing up?" Skywarp asked.

"Slept a bit. Didn't sleep very well. Had a few unfortunate images going through my head. Decided to head to one of the other art rooms and finish up my effigies," Beachcomber said as he showed off the two effigies of Punch and Counterpunch. Punch was a light orange with blue and red for secondary colors and Counterpunch was dark blue with red and orange as secondary colors.

"Huh, not bad. His death was so screw up," Skywarp muttered.

"No kidding," the geologist muttered. "Can't believe Punch is dead."

"I can't believe Counterpunch was an artificial personality. Just some thing created by the Autobots to spy on us. Crafty slaggers, no offense," he told him.

"It's okay. They screw me out of a friend as well," Beachcomber agreed.

"Yeah, I guess so. And I guess Counterpunch was real enough. Had to be to roll with the Decepticons all these years," the prankster said.

"Well, he was apparently so loyal that he became the new dominant personality. You can take comfort with that, I guess," he consoled him.

"That's true," Skywarp nodded, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "What about you? Punch keeping you up?"

"Yes, although it isn't exactly the main thing. I wasn't seeing a psychiatrist for that, you know," Beachcomber told him.

"Yeah… why were you seeing a psychiatrist exactly?" the seeker asked, sounding actually interested.

"Well, I rather keep quiet about all the details and keep it between me and Rung. Let's just say that it involves Shockwave and that should be enough for you," Beachcomber told him.

"Shockwave? Frag, he must've done some sick experiments on you," Skywarp muttered. "How did you get captured?"

"That, oh, uh… I don't know," Beachcomber muttered, confused. "Memory is fragmented. Rung said that it's a result of the PTSD. It forces the memory deep down into the memory banks so that I don't remember."

"Huh, you really don't remember?" Skywarp questioned him as he started to pet Laserbeak.

"Well, I remember small pieces. Nothing really definitive. Rung recommended that I don't look for the answers and I just let it happen naturally," he responded, sounding unsure.

"Well, what do you remember?"

"Um, well, bit and pieces of what Shockwave did to me and… I remember someone else. This guy that went by Deadlock. Never met him after that," Beachcomber told him, sounding confused.

"Deadlock? You mean that lying, traitorous slagger?" Skywarp questioned as he slammed his fist against the table.

"What? Uh, yeah, that's what people said he was. Never knew what happened to him after the incident. Everyone says he's dead. If he was a traitor, then I assumed he was executed," Beachcomber told him.

"Wait, you really don't know what happened to him?" Skywarp asked in disbelief.

"Everyone tells me he's dead. That's all I know," he responded and at that Skywarp couldn't help but give a harsh laugh.

"Holy slag!" he yelled in between his laugh. "You really don't know? That's fragging hilarious."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Beachcomber asked, not too comfortable now.

"You idiot! Deadlock is- Ow!" he yelled as Laserbeak pecked him again on the neck again, only ever harder this time, drawing some energon. "What? If he doesn't know, he really should."

"What? 'Deadlock is' what?" Beachcomber asked, getting annoyed.

*Chirp*

"What the frag do you mean?" Skywarp questioned his pet only to receive more chirps from it. "Oh, I get it," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Oh, what is it now?" the geologist questioned them.

"Look, I'll get back to you on it. I need to talk to someone, preferably Jazz, about something," Skywarp told him.

"What the hell do you mean? And how the hell do you understand Laserbeak so well?" Beachcomber asked him.

"For the former, can't tell you. For the latter, owner-to-pet connector and translator," Skywarp told him, tapping Laserbeak's head. "Minicons like Laserbeak can form connections with their owners to be able to communicate with them properly. It isn't perfect, but it forms lines of communication. If you're paying attention, you can understand some of what he says, despite not being an owner."

"Huh, never knew that, but seriously, what are you keeping from me?" he asked, indignant.

"You might want to ask your fellow Autobots the same question," Skywarp told him before walking over to him and pushing him out. "Now scram. Get some recharge or something. I gotta finish this effigy of Soundwave for the festival tomorrow and Laserbeak is a fragging critic." Beachcomber tried to respond, but Skywarp forced him out and shut the door on him before he could do so. For good measure, he locked the door so that Beachcomber couldn't get back in. With the annoyance out of his way, he went back to work on the Soundwave effigy. "So, how do you think he'll react to Drift being Deadlock?"

*Chirp*

"Yeah, I bet. He'll be mad."

"Hmm, staying up this late is quite the challenge," Bludgeon murmured to Nautilator as he sat by his comatose friend. He had been sitting there all throughout the night, using energon and energy boosters to keep himself up. He wasn't one for pulling all-nighters, especially to simply keep up and talk to someone who wouldn't respond. The last time he did something like this was, well, the day that Jhiaxus died. "Let me tell you something, Nautilator."

Bludgeoned groaned as he woke up in an escaped pod bathe in a dark, red light. He felt a massive headache, feeling like there was a percussion players ensemble, playing a concert in his head. His limbs were aching and he could tell one of the struts were out of place, specifically the one in his upper left arm. This was probably because he wasn't properly strapped inside the escape pod and when it hit the ground, he was thrown against the wall of the escape pod, breaking his arm, as well as bashing his head against the wall too, knocking him out. He could tell it was a bad blow, because he felt energon trickling down his head. This was going to take a while to heal. To go along with that, there was a smell of a thruster fuel permeated the air, an indication that things were about to get a bit explosive

Of course, there was the question of why he was in this position. The blow to his head made his mind a bit scatterbrain, even though he knew he had to get out. 'Why am I like this?' Bludgeon muttered as he disengaged himself from the seat, making him fall to the ground with a short yelp. Apparently, he was upside down as well. He picked himself off the ground with a pained groan and made his way to one of the exits. He pulled the lever and the door automatically separated to darkness. He didn't hesitate to jump out and briefly rolled down a slight incline before stopping. It was a good thing, as the escape pod exploded, letting Bludgeon get licked by the flames, but not hit him.

With the immediate danger taken care of, Bludgeon finally took the time to think of what happened. He was in an escaped pod, which meant that he was probably escaping from a life or death situation. The question was what? He felt images enter his mind. Jhiaxus barking orders. Annihilation generator. Test subjects. Reactive armor. Explosions. Autobots attacking the station. Annihilation generator about to overload. Escape. Escape without-

"NO!" Bludgeon yelled as he picked himself up and looked around. The area was bathe an oppressive blackness, only lit up by the fires of the escape pod. From what he could tell, the place he crashed in was a valley with the ground rising and descending at many points. It was a dead zone. Cybertron has always been like this since the war basically reduced it to a dead world. Not much to live on. One look around could tell that there wasn't anything alive around the area. It was only him and no one else.

"Jhiaxus!" Bludgeon yelled into the night. There was only one escape pod. If he was in it, then Jhiaxus had to be in it as well. He just had to be. Because the worst-case scenario was unthinkable. That couldn't have happened. He yelled his master's name again as he started to search around for any trace of the scientist. Jhiaxus wasn't inside the escape pod. That meant he had to be around the area somewhere. He kept his effort up as he walked around the area, not daring to get too far away from the escape pod as he would be away from his only source of light. As he did so, more memories came to him. Explosions. Depressurization. Fighting Jazz. Getting separated from Jhiaxus.

Bludgeon collapsed to his knees as he realized what happened. An explosion caused debris to get in between him and Jhaxius just as they reached the escape pod. There was only one way in and that's it. Bludgeon was with the escape pods. Jhaxius was not. Bludgeon might've been able to break through the debris. He could've done something to save him as he was screaming at him. The place was going to explode. Bludgeon took the escape pod out alone, with no one with him. He didn't want to die like this.

"Jhiaxus, I'm sorry," Bludgeon apologized to the air. "I should've stay. We would've died together or I could've done something to save you. If you can hear this, I'm sorry I failed you. Please, forgive me. If you do, please give me a sign." As he knelt there, the flames died down, leaving him in the dark. Now, all he could hear was the sound of silence. "I understand. I don't deserve forgiveness."

"I still haven't received a sign. I understand. Jhiaxus could be unforgiving," Bludgeon told Nautilator, who didn't react at all to his story, as expected. "I still wonder why I left him behind instead of helping him. I didn't even attempt to save him. The ship exploded around ten minutes after the escape and it was a big one. Annihilation generators causes quite a spectacle. Either way, he's dead."

"Huh, what a coward you turned out to be." Bludgeon flicked his head over to see Hound looking up at him from his berth. "Leaving him to die while you got out squeaky clean. Some bodyguard you turned out to be."

"Hmph, guess so," Bludgeon muttered before turning back to Hound, earning a strange look from Hound.

"Hey, I just called you a coward and that's all you have to say?" he asked.

"Why argue against the truth?" Bludgeon questioned him. "I was afraid to die. Because of that, I left Jhiaxus to die." The two were quiet briefly before Hound spoke up again.

"Huh, at least you're honest about it, unlike Bumblebee," Hound muttered as he looked backed up the ceiling.

"The scout? What do you mean?"

"Can't speak about it. Optimus's order. Let's just say that it involves Devola," he said with disgust. "What a clusterfuck that mess was."

"What do you mean? What is Devola?" Bludgeoned questioned.

"A lie," Hound responded, confusing him. "We were given orders to report it as a resounding success, when it wasn't. That's all I can say."

"That's all you can say? Why?"

"Orders, of course, from the trifecta of Optimus, Jazz, and Prowl. I'm not risking pissing the three of them off," he explained to him and Bludgeon understood.

"The three heading the Autobots gave you the order. I think I understand now," Bludgeon nodded.

"Exactly. If all three of them are giving orders to not talk about it, then don't speak about it, especially since Prowl is in agreement with them," Hound muttered with disdain. "If all three can agree on something, than it's set in stone."

"So, you won't explain what happened with this Devola?" the metallikato asked, annoyed.

"Of course not. I'm not risking Jazz getting on my aft and I'm especially not risking Prowl knowing about me spilling the info. That guy does some shady shit," Hound told him. "Anyway, just forget about it. You're not getting information about it from me. If you want info about it, talk to Bumblebee or Drift, as they were both on the operation, but they both wanna forget about it. Jazz too, but he'll only talk about it if he has to, as we saw in the third trial. Guy is a secretive bastard."

"I'll keep that in mind," Bludgeon agreed as he turned back to Nautilator.

*Ding* *Dong*

"This is an announcement. It is now 7AM. Have a wonderful day."

"Hmm, almost time for the festival," Bludgeon muttered.

"Festival?" Hound asked.

"We'll be burning effigies today, in honor of our fallen comrades during our time in this nightmare. It's also when I'll burn an effigy of Jhiaxus," Bludgeon explained to him.

"What the hell are you doing that?" Hound asked.

"To inspire unity. We don't want any more causalities here," Bludgeon explained to him.

"Of course," he nodded. "However, I wouldn't mind getting rid of some of the more problematic individuals."

"Now is not the time. There's is still the danger of the mastermind. I rather take care of him before we do anything else and this is what we need to keep it," Bludgeon told him, turning around to face Hound. "Don't plan anything."

"Don't plan to. I couldn't hurt Rewind like that," the preservationist told him. "Just saying I wouldn't mind it."

"Hmph, that better be all it is," he warned. "The last thing we need is another murder."

"I promise. Besides, I'm still a wreck after the bomb," Hound told him.

"Indeed you are. You're not in the best of shape."

"Yeah. Speaking of, think you can get me some painkillers? Still in quite a bit of pain, you know," he questioned him and Bludgeon glared at him for that.

"If you want. I find it weak of you, but I understand that everyone can't accept the pain," Bludgeon said as he got up.

"Yeah, yeah, just quit being a stoic badass and get me my meds."