Another chapter :)
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Chapter Six
"Ah need ya ta keep an eye on someone."
Goldbug had almost jumped when the bodyguard had suddenly appeared out of the shadows beside him.
"Who?" he asked in a hiss.
It was best not to question why Jazz was telling him what to do. Either he would tell you unprompted, or he wouldn't.
Plus, even though he wasn't a commanding officer, he held quite a bit of rank with his position.
That included it seemed, personal messenger of their leader sometimes.
Jazz grinned as if internally laughing at some joke.
"Prime wants ya ta keep an eye on ol' Smokey for a while," he whispered.
Goldbug furrowed his optics ridges. "Why? He's head seeker."
"He's a sneaky head seeker," the bodyguard replied. "Optimus is suspicious. Ah figured ya might want the job."
The short mech shrugged, dropping his grin. "If not, Ah'm sure someone else 'd like the extra favour with the big boss. After all, Ah hear he's still lookin' fo' a third seeker. Ya know, wit' Sideswipe bein' gone."
Nodding his helm quickly, Goldbug replied. "I'll do it. Should I report to you or to Optimus Prime directly? And how long?"
"Better report ta me an' Ah'll pass it along," drawled Jazz, already walking away. "An' Ah'll tell ya when he wants ya ta quit."
"Yes, sir. I'll get started right away."
The scout hurried off, heading to where he figured Smokescreen might be.
Jazz meanwhile sauntered back to the throne room. This would be interesting.
But hey, how else was he supposed to be kept entertained? Ricochet only provided so much entertainment and you couldn't constantly entertain yourself.
As he walked down a certain hall, he suddenly felt like he was being watched.
Not that it bothered him. So he didn't bother glancing up into the nearby vent grate he knew was there.
And so, he didn't notice the two pairs of red optics watching him.
Or when one pair moved, shortly by the second pair, which lingered until the bodyguard was out of sight.
"So, let me get this straight, Captain Ironshadow," the Decepticon leader said, a confused expression on his faceplate.
"You not only allowed an intruding Autobot to go free after being captured, but allowed her to later have free range of the ship, sending a command to all troops to stand down and refrain from apprehending her?"
Ironshadow stood in front of Megatron on the command bridge, servos crossed behind his back, regal as any Vosian could look. Calmly, he nodded once before replying.
"Sir, I only took such actions as they were best."
Megatron rose an optic ridge. "I fail to see how letting a highly skilled Autobot assassin have the run of our ship, our home, was the best course of action, Ironshadow."
Well aware of the audios of several nosy troopers listening in on their conversation, the Vosian captain continued regardless.
After all, it was their right to know just as much as Megatron's.
"I would not have done what I did if I thought I had any better options, Sir."
Starscream, who had been standing off to the side, along with Soundwave, spoke up then.
"Ironshadow, you say Iron Blade had Skyshadow captured. Why not simply take her to the brig immediately?"
"She probably has loads of info on the Autobots, dude," added Soundwave exuberantly.
"Soundwave is correct. We could have interrogated her."
Ironshadow shook his helm, a grave expression on his faceplate as he turned his gaze to the two mechs.
"My friends, while I agree that Skyshadow has a wealth of useful information about her faction, I had no other choice. She was only here for knowledge of her missing comrade's well-being.
"And how long do you think we'd be able to keep her imprisoned?"
All mechs were silent for several kliks.
Skyshadow had a reputation of being a very skilled escape artist.
"You may be correct, Ironshadow," Megatron said, a hint of disapproval in his tone. "However, that does not explain or justify your choices this day."
"Megatron," Ironshadow said, his formerly calm voice revealing a slight hint of irritation. "You know what the alternative would have been.
"My daughter as you know is a very capable fighter."
Starscream rose an optic ridge, crossing his servos. "And so is your oldest son. Who had her captured."
"While that is true, dear friend," replied the older Vosian. "I do not know that they are as evenly matched as they once were. And while Iron Blade may possibly be the more skilled at combat- "
The Armada captain shook his helm once more, looking out at the sky through the giant window at the end of the bridge.
"I fear that my wayward daughter is too unpredictable to trust not to take drastic measures to escape her brother. And while he knows that, he would not be prepared to take similar action."
"So Skyshadow fights dirty sometimes," Soundwave said with a shrug. "She's a wild card, yeah. But we could still take her."
"And risk the troops?"
Megatron interjected. "You believe that if Skyshadow was not permitted to see the Autobot Sideswipe, she would have taken- More drastic measures to find him anyways?"
"That is what I fear," Ironshadow replied soberly. He turned his helm back to look at the Decepticon leader.
"Though Iron Blade and I still share a bond with Skyshadow, neither of us have been able to predict her or tell what her motives are for many vorns. If pushed, she will not show restraint."
"I understand," Megatron said, tone mirroring his captain's. "I apologize for doubting you, Ironshadow."
"No reason to apologize, Megatron. Your concerns were well founded."
"What do you suggest we do then, Father?"
All four mechs involved in the conversation, along with the eavesdropping troopers, turned at the new voice.
Iron Blade leaned against the door frame, scowling.
His gaze was directed at Ironshadow alone as he spoke again.
"What do we do when my sister returns for her friend?"
Megatron and Starscream exchanged a look before turning back to the Vosian captain.
The mech had turned fully towards the window, gazing out into the cloud filled sky.
"We will be ready," he said quietly. "And hopefully, Sideswipe will have recovered enough to return to the Autobots with her."
Skyshadow sent Sunstreaker an internal comm the moment she reached the base.
"I'm back. If you have a few minutes, I need to talk to you."
Relieved that she'd made it back, seemingly, and hopefully safe, Sunstreaker replied instantly.
"How's 'Sides? Are you okay? I have to go on patrol in a few kliks, you can come with me."
"He's as well as can be expected. I'm fine. I'll meet you by the exit."
Sunstreaker was about to close the comm, but he sent one more message first.
"I'm glad you got back safe."
Steeldust, having noticed that Sunstreaker was talking over an internal comm when his optics dimmed slightly, was waiting silently for him to finish.
The frontliner glanced down at him, then spoke.
"I have to go."
With a quick nod, Steeldust asked, "She's back?"
"Yes. And I have to go on patrol anyways."
Putting his audio to the wall, the ops listened for a few kliks. Then, he straightened again.
"There's no one out there. You should be good to get out of the passageways here."
Sunstreaker nodded. "Thank you for you help. I'll be in touch later. We'll see what Skyshadow says about Sideswipe and go from there."
"Sounds good. See ya, mech," Steeldust replied, pressing a hand onto a section of the wall. The section opened and was swiftly pushed aside to make an opening big enough for Sunstreaker to squeeze out.
"I'm gonna do some snooping around myself," the speedster continued, gesturing for Sunstreaker to leave first.
"Okay."
Sunstreaker poked his helm out into the hallway, and seeing that Steeldust had been correct that no one was there, exited the hidden passage quickly. The red and black coloured speedster followed, reaching to tap what the frontliner assumed was a hidden panel in the wall, closing the opening.
How the ops 'bot just knew exactly where all the hidden panels for the passageways where, Sunstreaker had no idea. They were very well hidden.
He figured it must just come with his job.
Or his snooping around.
With one more nod of appreciation, Sunstreaker walked off, heading towards the communications room of the base.
Steeldust raised a hand in a wave, then settled against the wall near where they'd just emerged from.
As he watched the frontliner, his optics narrowed into almost slits. Crossing his servos, he frowned.
Then, after Sunstreaker had disappeared around a corner, he moved into the center of the hallway.
With a running start, Steeldust directed himself towards the wall not far down the corridor. Speeding up as he reached it, the young mech simply changed direction and ran up the side of the wall. Once he was high enough, he pushed off with both pedes, reaching out with his servos and grabbing the beam above.
Swinging himself upwards, he landed atop the beam with a smirk.
After crouching there for several astrokliks, considering, he moved again. Leaping silently from beam to beam, Steeldust made his way down the hallway, everyone below oblivious to his passing journey above their helms.
It was a very effective way of moving unseen throughout the base. All security cameras were placed below the beams and missed catching Steeldust completely if he ran up the wall in one of their blind spots.
Which any special operative knew the locations of such blind spots. There was one in every spot a hidden passage entrance and exit was.
That knowledge was very useful for when you wished to sneak around without the knowledge of anyone else.
Iron Blade sat in the lab, twirling the dagger his sister had dropped.
"What did she mean about Carrier?"
The young mech barely glanced up when someone walked in.
"Your sister's?" Ironshadow inquired quietly as he approached.
"Yes."
The Armada Captain picked up one of the other chairs and set it nearby. Taking a seat, he leaned forward, resting his elbow joints on his knees.
"I know you are upset with me, Iron Blade," he began lowly. "And I understand why.
"I too, wish to see you carrier again, but I can assure you, Skyshadow will not tell us her whereabouts. However, we must be comforted in the fact that she is alive and well."
"Why won't she tell us, Dad?" Iron Blade asked angrily, setting the knife down on the workbench with a loud clatter. "I know she knows. But I can't figure out why she won't tell me."
Ironshadow was silent for several kliks.
"Tell me, Iron Blade, would you trust your siblings to do you no harm?"
"Bumblebee? No way," scoffed Iron Blade, crossing his servos. "He's long gone, Dad."
Ironshadow hummed in agreement, faceplate sad. "He fell very quickly, didn't he?"
Nodding, Iron Blade glanced away. "As soon as he joined the Autobots, I knew I couldn't trust him not to try and kill us."
"I knew it too, though it hurts to say it. What he is now is not the son I once knew."
"A pity," agreed the younger mech. "He used to be so full of life and brought a smile to everyone's faceplate. Now, he's one of the false prime's favourites for his wickedness."
"And what about your sister?"
Iron Blade shook his helm. "I used to think she still wouldn't hurt me. Not badly anyways."
"But now?" Ironshadow prompted.
"I don't know," said Iron Blade quietly. "She's gotten worse. I can't confidently say she wouldn't kill me anymore."
"But you aren't sure if she's turned dark enough to kill you," supplied the older mech.
"Yeah."
Ironshadow stood, moving to place a hand on his eldest child's shoulder. Iron Blade looked up to meet his gaze.
"Though I hope I am wrong, Iron Blade, I fear she may have," Ironshadow spoke gravely. "Or is very close to. Desperation drives mecha to do things you and they themselves would never imagine they'd do.
"But if I am correct in thinking, Skyshadow is being driven by desperation. And she has been from the beginning of the war. Your sister, I must remind you, didn't join the Autobots until after we joined the Decepticons. And after Bumblebee joined the Autobots."
"You still think she joined the Autobots because of him," Iron Blade said, agreeing with the statement.
Ironshadow shrugged, flicking a wingtip. "I believe that was part of it."
Iron Blade narrowed his optics. "But there's something more to it, isn't there?"
"That may be why she's fallen so far, Iron Blade. I hate to tell you this, but you must be prepared to take more drastic measures with Skyshadow."
Iron Blade watched his sire, noting that as he spoke, his sorrowful expression made him look older than he was.
He was reminded of how much his sire had gone through. How much he had lost.
"I hoped this day would never come, Iron Blade, but the war and choices that cannot be undone have made it so," continued Ironshadow soberly. "When families are divided between factions, to this point, we also must choose.
"I know that your code of honour dictates otherwise, but I ask you to sincerely think about this."
Iron Blade closes his optics and turned his helm away. "I know what you are about to tell me, Father. I agree to think about it."
Ironshadow grimaced, placing a hand on Iron Blade's shoulder again.
"I have already lost one son, and have almost completely lost my daughter. I cannot bear to lose another child to this war that has taken the other two."
"And a sparkmate," added Iron Blade quietly. He opened his optics, but kept his helm turned away. "I will try and do as you ask."
Ironshadow nodded, stepping away and turning to leave. "Forgive me, Iron Blade. I do not want to see any of you three die, but you are the only one I truly have left."
"I do, Dad. And I understand," Iron Blade replied, watching his sire leave.
After he'd gone, the warrior scientist glanced back at the knife on his workbench.
He knew his sire was right.
If it came to it, he might have to injure, or even kill his sister. If only to prevent her from doing the same to him.
War was a horrid thing. Turning mecha against mecha, splitting families either by death or faction, destroying whole planets.
Iron Blade banged a fist on the workbench's surface and let out a low growl.
He couldn't let anyone else fall prey to the false prime's greed and evil.
But he didn't know if he could stop it.
Sunstreaker stepped into the communications room, nodding shortly to the mech on monitor duty.
Blades, a hulking forty-foot-tall mech who transformed into a giant transport plane, nodded back.
The frontliner kept on optic on the Wrecker even as he scanned the room.
"She's probably waiting to try and sneak out when Blades isn't looking," he thought.
"I need a bridge," Sunstreaker said shortly, walking towards the groundbridge tunnel.
Checking the schedule quickly, Blades quirked an optic ridge. "Patrol by yourself today?"
"No, I'm accompanying," replied a feminine voice.
Sunstreaker smirked as a familiar lithe figure stepped out of the shadowy corner behind Blades.
Who had jumped in surprise.
Recovering quickly, Blades grimaced. "Turning a patrol into a date, are we?"
Skyshadow shrugged lightly. "I suppose."
Neither brought up the fact that it was common for Prowl to schedule 'bots on patrol by themself.
Sunstreaker crossed his servos. "Can we go now?"
"Of course," Skyshadow said, sending him a smile. She turned to Blades.
"Would you be a dear and set the bridge's coordinates to wherever Sunstreaker is supposed to be patrolling?"
The giant Wrecker nodded and after carefully typing in the coordinates listed on the schedule, pulled the lever down for the bridge to activate.
As the familiar swirling colours came to life, Skyshadow walked over to Sunstreaker. Looking up at him she slipped her hand into his.
"Ready?"
The frontliner nodded with a small smile and they walked through, hand in hand.
After they were gone, Blades shut off the groundbridge.
"Yuck. Love," he grunted, turning his attention back to the monitors.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the groundbridge, Sunstreaker and Skyshadow began their patrol.
Luckily for them, Sunstreaker had gotten a shift located in an unpopulated area of the northern United States. As such, the weather was neither cold or hot and a nice breeze flowed through the forest.
The sun was setting, casting long shadows where it could reach through the thick foliage.
"Are you alright?" Sunstreaker asked, looking his love over again. "Did they catch you?"
Skyshadow couldn't help but give him a light smirk. "You really are a big softie sometimes, you know that? I'm fine, Sunny."
Sunstreaker frowned slightly at the nickname, but didn't say anything about it.
"And Sideswipe?" he asked hesitantly.
Skyshadow stopped, turning to face him, Sunstreaker copying her.
"As you know, he's pretty badly injured," she began quietly. "But he's obviously alive, and like you said, in stasis. He should make a full recovery."
Although he felt relief, Sunstreaker was still uneasy. "But how are we going to get him off the Decepticons' ship? I can't fly up there like you can. You'd have to bridge me from their command bridge."
He watched as the black and purple femme glanced away, as if studying something he could not see.
"Sky?"
"I don't know if that's the best plan, Sunstreaker," she replied, biting her lower lip. "Sideswipe shouldn't be moved right now."
"But we can't leave him with the 'Cons," protested Sunstreaker, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "We have to bring him home."
"We will," Sky assured, turning back to him and placing a hand on his arm. "But Sunny, Sideswipe is safe there. They're taking care of him."
Sunstreaker stared down at her, frowning deeply. "Like Ratchet?"
"No, like a real medic." Skyshadow shook her helm. "Not like Ratchet."
"You're lying," hissed Sunstreaker, crossing his servos. "They wouldn't do that. They wouldn't take care of an Autobot, especially a seeker."
Skyshadow's expression changed to one of hurt, but she lifted her chin. "I'm not lying. Their medic is taking good care of him. And he promised he would continue to do so."
"Heh. You lie to everyone don't you."
"Not to you. Never to you," Skyshadow whispered, looking away.
Sunstreaker's expression softened and he moved forward. Wrapping his arms around Skyshadow, he rested his helm on hers.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I shouldn't have said that. I do believe you."
Skyshadow returned the embrace. "It's okay. I know you're scared for Sideswipe."
She drew back then, looking up to meet his optics. "There's something you should know. A few things actually."
Sunstreaker took her hands in his and waited.
"I don't know if it was a Decepticon that took Sideswipe out," Skyshadow said in a whisper.
"We already suspected that," he whispered back.
"I know. But with what injuries Sides' has, it makes me think we are right in our suspicions. Plus, I went to where it happened."
"So did I," Sunstreaker said, reminding her of what he'd told her before. "There were three sets of pede prints, one scuffed beyond recognition, and one Sideswipe's."
"Yes. But the other clear set belongs to my brother."
Sunstreaker frowned. "Your brother? Iron Blade? What was he doing there?"
"Before you jump to conclusions, he told me he was the one who'd found Sideswipe and brought him back to their ship," Skyshadow shook her helm. "He has no reason to lie about that. And it makes our suspicion of an Autobot attacking Sideswipe make even more sense."
"No Decepticon would attack and almost kill an Autobot just to rescue him," concluded Sunstreaker, his frown growing deeper.
"Also, Iron Blade told me he had scanned the area with his fancy scanner and picked up no one. With how injured and close to death Sideswipe was, that means either our mecha was shielded or fast enough to get out of range," continued Skyshadow.
"What was the weapon that caused the injuries?"
"Definitely a blade for most of them. Looks like whoever did it kicked him around a bit too."
"That's what the prints looked like where it happened," growled Sunstreaker. "Cloaking device would mean Cliffjumper or Mirage."
"And fast enough to get out of Iron Blade's scanner's range would be Drag Strip, Blurr, or Steeldust."
Sunstreaker frowned at certain mecha's inclusion on the list. "My number one suspect there is Cliffjumper. He's the only one on that list that hates Sideswipe. For some reason. The rest aren't good suspects for motive.
"Except maybe Drag Strip. But it doesn't make sense that Iron Blade would rescue him then."
Skyshadow replied, "I agree with you, but I don't think we can cancel the other three Autobots out just yet, as much as I hate to think it was anyone of them. It makes things messy and I don't know what to do with Sideswipe if it was an Autobot."
"Do we have any evidence that says otherwise?" Sunstreaker asked, remembering what Steeldust had said he'd overheard that potentially pointed to an order from command.
Then, he thought of something that made his energon run cold. His optics widened.
Skyshadow didn't notice as she was looking away. "I'm not certain. But I have an idea of how to narrow down our suspects without resorting to interrogation.
"Did you see the spilled energon? I don't think one patch was Sideswipe's. He must have heard or felt someone before he got knocked out. We might be able to access medbay records to see if any of our mecha were there that day. Or figure out where they'd be injured and test our theory by sparring with them."
Glancing up at Sunstreaker, Skyshadow noticed his expression.
A bad feeling settled in her tank. She frowned, hesitantly asking, "Sunny, what is it?"
Slowly, Sunstreaker met her concerned gaze.
"Is it Sideswipe?" Skyshadow asked, reaching up to place a hand on his face.
"No," Sunstreaker said, voice hoarse. "What did you just say? About the mecha responsible being injured?"
Skyshadow shrugged, more concerned about her beloved than the culprit at the moment. "I said Sideswipe might have got a hit in before going down. Why?"
Sunstreaker blanched, then turned away, covering his faceplate with a hand.
"Sunstreaker! What's wrong?" Skyshadow said, moving in front of him again. She reached up and pulled his hand away. Her optics searched his faceplate desperately.
Grabbing Skyshadow's hands with the one she was holding, Sunstreaker turned his attention back to her.
"I noticed Steeldust was injured when I was sent to let him out of the brig, but I didn't ask. And he didn't say what had happened when Blurr asked him later," Sunstreaker said in a near whisper, optics wide. "He was limping."
Skyshadow's optics narrowed in consideration, but opened wide as Sunstreaker continued.
"I asked him for his help," Sunstreaker said hoarsely. "And he's on the suspect list."
