Thirty-One

So, they had a plan.

To Hound it didn't seem like much of a plan, but there was a reason he wasn't in charge all the time. He'd opted instead to put a few hairbrained ideas together and hope they wouldn't explode—or, better yet, that Crosshairs wouldn't explode—when he'd posed the idea. Surprisingly, they had all found the idea to be somewhat doable, and had agreed to the plan.

That plan was, essentially, wing it.

Hound had posed the idea that he, Crosshairs, and Drift find some type of distraction to keep the matter drives from continuing to fill, forcing Lockdown to stay landed. They'd agreed to fire the secondary anchors would keep him busy enough, and not only that, would take twice as long to pull up to leave, if he'd get the idea within the next hour. The humans, along with Bumblebee, would see if they could find Mira and Optimus.

That plan had started to work, however, until they'd lost Merrick.

How they'd lost him, Hound wasn't entirely sure. How did one lose such a small thing? Well, that question really didn't hold much water for debate, because they had lost the boy, and Bryce and Drift were slightly losing it. Bryce had become a trembling body of rage and anxiety, and Drift had opted to just be silent in fury—something Hound did not see often from the peace-loving, melancholic bot.

"MERRICK!" Bryce suddenly screamed. Cade and Tessa rushed him, both of them clapping their hands over his mouth to quiet him. Instead, he thrashed and fought and pushed Tessa out of his way. Cade, however, was tougher, and finally managed to get the man from screaming. Hound was face-palming now, listening to the rattling of cages and grunts and screeches of characters now alive with alert and calling out warning. So now everyone knew where they were, and that they were here.

"So much of the element for surprise," Crosshairs sighed, angrily shooting a look at Bryce. "Why don't you go blow your head off?" Bumblebee slugged his arm roughly and took a

knee to Bryce, offering a fingertip for any type of comfort. Really, these relationships between humans and Autobots were ridiculously deep and touching all rolled into one. Hound despised these humans, but at the same time, Mira's group of loved ones and friends was quite entertaining and brave. He appreciated their efforts and compassion and willingness—if he had to appreciate three things about them, that was.

"Where'd he go?" Hound asked, gruffly, "He didn't just up and walk off—" He stopped short when Cade gave him a twisted look of 'did-you-really-just-say-that'?. Hound waved the idea off with a swift wave of his gun barrel, "Well, we gotta find the kid first before we find the Mom and the Prime," he growled, "Kids."

Cade looked to Tessa, and Bryce grabbed at his short-cropped hair, "Did you see him part off anywhere, Tess? He was right next to you a second ago!"

She shook her head, panic rising in her eyes, "No, no I didn't! He was just gone—after we passed the corridor with the cages!" He lunged for Cade and latched herself onto his arm, "Dad, we have to find him. He's…he's just a kid,"

Cade nodded and touched her cheek softly, "I know. We'll get him," looking back to Bryce, who was squatting in his place, fingers grabbing at his hair. Hound watched him as he walked over and put a rough hand on the man's shoulder. "Okay, well, new plan," he looked up to Hound, "Us three will go and retrace our steps and find Merrick. You guys go and get to Optimus, and Mira. We'll meet up—"

"—we'll meet up when we meet up," Hound interjected, "I like you're thinkin', Cade. Let's go, we don't got much time." He looked down the corridor where they'd just come, then to the rest of the way they had to go, "I'll bet that's the ships mainframe right there," he pointed a thick finger at a huge rectangular box, "at least it modeled the Ark way back when. You think there's anything in there to get the anchors down, Crosshairs?"

The mech looked surprised, "Well, don't look at me—"

"You're a fraggin' pilot, for Primus sake!" Hound stomped towards him, and shoved his gun under his chin, "You know a thing or two about freakin' space ships." Crosshairs rolled his optics and shoved the gun barrel away from his face and shrugged. Hound felt better when he started walking down the corridor.

"I mean, sure, it could be;" he said flippantly, "or it could be a thousand places. Usually it's in the Quailin," he pointed to the box, "Which is that. A ship this size though could have two or three."

"Well then we bank on this one," Cade pointed up at Hound, "You guys get movin', and comm us when you get to Prime and Mira." He grabbed Tessa's wrist and pulled her from where they'd come, "Let's go."

Hound saluted, "Yessir. Be alert and watch your backs."

Cade nodded, and the three humans took off, Bryce covering the rear. They disappeared around the corner, taking a left and leaving the four bots. Bumblebee quirked and buzzed and chippered, until Hound nodded and waved to where they'd gone. "Yeah, you go follow 'em, Bee. Make sure they're safe and everything."

Bumblebee nodded and followed, leaving the three of them alone. Drift was silent, staring ahead, his swords sheathed behind him. Hound clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder and gestured with his head to move on. "I'm going to kill Lockdown if anything happens to the boy aboard his ship. I will kill him in the most brutal way possible."

"Drift—"

"I'm serious, Hound." He shook off Hound's hand and passed Crosshairs. "I will kill him." Hound said nothing after that, noting the rage in the mech's optics. He saw a flash of compassion within him, and then a lightning quick peek at what he feared was a forming fondness. They didn't need yet another one of their soldiers guarding another human—Hound hoped to heaven that Drift wasn't getting too attached, however far fetched the idea seemed.

"They kid'll be fine," Crosshairs said haughtily, "I mean, he seems tough. He's Mira's kid, after all," they fell into single file, Hound leading, Drift in the middle. After passing the corridor, they froze when they saw guards patrolling what Crosshairs had deemed the Quailin. They each dived for cover, Hound the only one going right to slip behind a stack of some type of metallic boxes. Crosshairs and Drift shared a half wall, which served what purpose Hound had no idea.

Hound gave them the signal to move forward only when he was sure the guards had moved to the other end of the platform, patrolling the other side of the box. They did so, less than gracefully, until Crosshairs went around the corner. Hound and Drift provided him cover.

It wasn't essentially a box. It was two walls constructed a few feet from one another, a wide enough gap which Crosshairs could fit into, just barely. He saluted them, slipped between the two walls, and began his ascent. Hound and Drift were back to back now, watching the air in case it even hinted at movement. There was quiet, until a brutal scream erupted on the air, to the east of the ship. Hound and Drift both perked and turned to give one another a look.

"That doesn't sound good,"

Drift shook his head, "Not at all."

Merrick had realized too late that he'd taken a wrong turn.

Not just a wrong turn—but a turn that had gotten him lost.

And now, he was wandering in between two mechanical walls, with cords and pipes and sparks and workings he had no idea what were for. All Merrick knew was three things: 1) he was alone, 2) he needed to find Cade and Drift, and 3) he was terrified. His heart hammered in his chest hard like it was going to pop right out of his chest and beat on the floor in a cool, bloody mess.

Merrick wondered what a heart looked like.

But then, he heard squeals and snorts and groans and rattling. Those noises scared his heart into an even bigger pounding scatter, so much so that he stopped, and looked up, then around. He'd taken a wrong turn somewhere along here, and now he was in between two swinging cages that were huge. They wreaked like rotting flesh and vomit, and Merrick wrinkled up his nose.

The one was a green looking thing-like a huge, giant, shriveled up prune. Merrick couldn't tell if the thing was alive or not, but when it suddenly slid open its eyes-he could hear the squishes when they did-he knew it was. It shrieked at him, and Merrick jumped back, rattling the cage of the other being as he did. At once the other animal came to life and began bouncing and screaming and squishing. Slime was actually flying everywhere-and all over him! He quickly stepped away, eyes wide, as the beings stared at him as if he were their next meal.

Then, there was a loud boom that echoed overhead.

Multiple ones, from everywhere around the ship. The aliens kept screeching, and Merrick wanted to scream at them to shut up. He wanted to scream for his mom, for Uncle Bryce, for Drift. Then, an imagine flashed into his head, and made tears come to his eyes. His dad; the dad from Mom's picture, smiling at him. This made him angry, the beings still shrieking and swinging their cages now, and he got so angry that he spun around and screamed at them from the top of his lungs.

"SHUT UUUUUUUP!" He bellowed in his toughest voice. Instantly, their screeching stopped, and they swayed quietly in their prisons. Merrick, breathing heavily now, heard voices and footsteps and rapid running. He also heard those booms still going off, then a very loud and distant: "MERRICK!"

"Cade!" He bolted out of the sight of the animals and retraced his footsteps. Ahead, a bright light was screaming at him in the face, and Merrick raised a hand to block it out as he tried to step over the cords and wires and cables. The light began to bob and darken as three figures moved in front of it. Merrick stopped.

"Merrick," That was Uncle Bryce, but he wasn't met with his uncle first. The first person to intercept him was the inventor, Cade Yeager, and he looked petrified, furious, and relieved all at once. Instantly, the man knelt to receive the boy, and Merrick flung his arms around Cade's neck and squeezed him. Cade hugged him tightly and rocked back and forth with him a little. Tessa knelt behind her father and wrapped her arms around Cade's back, where her arms were able to hold Merrick too. Uncle Bryce stepped around them and came from behind, but didn't touch Merrick. Instead, he knelt and put his head in his hands and swayed back and forth for a minute. Merrick heard him praying to Jesus and thanking Him for bringing Merrick back.

"You gave us a scare, bud," Cade rubbed his back, whispering, "you gave me a scare."

Merrick pulled away, "You were scared?" He chuckled sarcastically and threw a thumb behind him, "you should've saw what was back there!" This threw the adults into a chuckling match, until Cade released him and Uncle Bryce practically whipped him around with a rough hand on his shoulder, only to slap his arms around Merrick and pull him into a giant hug. Merrick hugged him as big back, and then he stepped back.

"Where's the Autobots?" he asked, seriously. The booms resumed now, coming in sporadic bursts. "Do you guys know what that is?"

Cade nodded. "You wanted to know where the Autobots were, so now you know. That's the anchors." He grabbed Merrick's wrist and ushered them out from between the two walls, "Let's go. We gotta get your Mom and Prime and get the heck off this ship."

...

"Who fired the anchors!?"

Lockdown's voice boomed off the cockpit walls of the main ship's pilot seat. He'd left the Terminus, shouting orders to prepare deep matter drives for take-off. Everyone had steered clear of him, doing his bidding-even his minions, those hybrids he'd picked up somewhere on Aquatron, had known to leave him be.

The human femme had enfuriated him, but he'd gotten back at her in just the right way. Oh, how he loved to see that fear in her eyes...he liked fear, especially in the eyes of the beheld. Mira would be a hard task to accomplish-he'd have his hands full trying to break her into doing his will, but he was determined, and his determination was always rewarded somewhere down the line.

He was patient, too, and he'd be patient with her-to an extent. Prime would last six lifetimes longer than she could, so he didn't have to worry about losing him too soon. Just a verbal threat, maybe some physical prodding would throw her into obedience. And pain, too-much pain would be required for her, he knew that. She was thick-headed, and the thick-headed ones always took awhile.

But, as he'd stated, he was patient.

He had bigger worries than Mira now. There was someone on his ship, someone messing with pins and wires to fire his anchors and keep him here. Not at all pleased, he stood from his chair, whipped a pointed finger towards the entry, and announced in Cybertronian for his hybrids to find the loose end and cut it off.

He glowered at the city below, realizing his departure was yet to arrive. He had prisoners to deal with. Cocking the gun on his wrist, he stalked out of his chamber-his temple, really, and ordered the entire ship on lockdown; he'd find this lose end.

He'd find them-all of them-and kill them all.