Sonica soars among the giant planets; moving without sound, without weight. Mindless, but purposefully, following the pull of their orbit. They move into a straight line and something shoves her backwards, towards earth.
Violet eyes flash, and a volcano erupts.
"Stay off the planet!" Doradus roars from the space behind her, as Sonica hangs over the earth. She, being almost as large as it's sky, hovers over the globe with her arms pulled back, watching the ground rotate, crack, and shifts.
"Stay off the planet or we will end!"
"Alright, alright, just let me go!"
Earth explodes and she feels the impact; slamming her, crushing her, and her lights go out- but she wakes again on her recharge table.
"I'm really beginning to hate dreams."
The speaker comes on again, making her flinch.
"Sonica," Starscream's voice growls, "Report to the flight deck."
"Alright,"
It clicks off.
"Chug some liquid nitrogen, Spy Eye Keen. Seriously, stop watching me."

Starscream stands next to Knockout. Breakdown blends into the background that is just before the doors to the flight deck. The center of attention is the...thing...Knockout holds in place with a hand.
She's speechless. What the actual slag...?
"Is there a problem?"
"Yes." But she doesn't have the reasons straight, "All of it." That sort of made sense.
They're coming up on the arctic, that's the main reason for this. Starscream got Knockout to assemble materials typically used to insulate active chemicals in space, into a huge bubble, with a thick ring of windows. Their smart-less idea is to put her in there like a small rodent.
"Shall we upgrade your body?" Starscream rudely suggests.
"You know why I don't,"
"Then deal with it."
"Chicago did a number on me. I don't want to do it all again."
"You don't have a choice. I've made every preparation to make you comfortable while you work. I won't allow those efforts to go to waste."
She raises a brow over her cringed expression.
"It'll be warmer out, for one. You might not need this, but I figured it would be efficient to have, just in case. For two, we'll be doing some of the mining."
Sonica has nothing to say to that.
"A 'thank you' would be appropriate." He crosses his arms.
She let's her uncertainty show; Starscream is not settle with how he manipulates others. "Thank you."
"Not that kind of thank you," his optics linger on hers an extra nanoklik before he turns and waves for the large doors to open. Then he orders for the giant laser thing he had made, to be activated.
Knockout pushes a button and a small door peels away, "Mm?" He gestures into it, "I did work pretty hard on it."
Her courtesy smile smears and looks more like a frown, "I want to see if I can withstand the temperature out there first."
He shrugs and opens the doors. Breakdown follows him out. After they step into the blast of wet freeze, the door shuts and Sonica fights a shudder. If what Starscream said about making it comfortable outside is true, the temperature isn't there yet.
In fact, she needs to make sure the Autobots know about this.
She walks to the medical center, still grumbling about the rodent orb and seriously considering toughing it out. But she's not sure how to do that. She can fake a lot of things, but no professional has mastered covering up system failure.
Entering the medical center, she looks up at Megatron and shakes her head. Why keep him hooked up if he's basically offline?
Whatever. She's here for the communicator.
Soundwave is, no-doubt, watching Starscream, the terrible actor. From this last event, she's pretty sure his suspicions of her have greatly lessened. At least, for a while, it looked like she was trying to save Megatron's life. Hopefully, her acting about discovering the psychic-cordial patch balanced it out. He may be convinced that her space-cadet behavior is genuine.
She gets low and moves sideways into the tunnel without scrapping or sliding. Arcee really chucked the thing down there. Though she can't see it, she can see the silver energon as a glittery speck with her special vision.
After she's checked its functions and concludes it's undamaged, she checks her messages and learns Optimus is alright. He left a video message thanking her, with one of his good smiles.
She watches it twice then gets ready to crawl out of the tunnel when a ground bridge splits the air. Her spark nearly leaps out of her protoform.
Bumblebee walks in and, for a split nanoklik, she's excited but the moment she sees the dark energon in his hand, she tenses. She know exactly what happened. She's an idiot for not thinking of that earlier.
What does she do? If she tries to stop him and fails, her cover is blown. But if she does nothing, she must deal with Megatron again.
She could use the energon in Bee's body and halt his movements. It'll hurt him but he may forgive her in this instance.
Sonica lifts her hands and flexes her fingers. Bumblebee's body halt mid-stride. He can't fall. He's held in place; like inscriptions hovering in a computer screen. Bumblebee's eyes shift around quickly. Whatever he can move, he tries to thrust forward. Megatron's frustrations build and Sonica can hear his growls. The energon in Bee's body is caught between forces and some slight internal bleeding starts.
She didn't think this through; now she must go out there and blow her cover. Worse, she doesn't know how to get Megatron out of Bumblebee. She should've let him return to his body THEN dispose him from her spot here. Somehow...with dark energon is his veins... Primus, she's screwed!
Megatron roars, making more systems bend unnaturally around her grip on Bee's blood. His hand flicks and flexes. She realizes then: that's the hand that had the dark energon...
It clinks right in front of her; a reach away.
Despite the desperate reeling and the great tension over control of her mind, she finds a piece of mind to stay quiet. Don't make a sound...no matter how bad.
She arches backwards and her arms jerk back in small measurements. A hint of her conscience forcing her to be silent; don't fall in here or they'll know.
Her hands bend and gently slide along the curve of the tunnel's side. Her body slowly, gradually, and silently lowers to the floor.
All the while, the dark energon's aura scrapes the inside of her head and ties knots in her neuro-net. It pulls all the strings, but the puppet refuses. This antagonizes the dark aura and it induces pain like a fatal drug. It demands subjection. It will have its way...because it loves her powers. She is a weapon it desires, almost as much as it desires chaos.
A small click of its crystal makeup, and the attack leaps off her. Her body relaxes but fear lifts her head. Is someone looking?
There aren't any eyes in her unfocused view. A headache rings her metal frame, like a hammer hitting a hallow pole. She can't move.
Another sound, like a ground bridge, came just before Ratchet's voice...then Rafael?
An echoing wave of dark matter rolls through the floor, walls, and her body. It presses on her. When it passes, it seems to laugh as it lets go.
What happened?
She flexes her fingers now...and can tilt her feet. That's it?
Megatron's footsteps are felt through the floor and they echo down the tunnel.
Sonica manages to slightly lift her shoulders from the floor. Hope spurs her body for more. By default, she considers the tunnel, to move to another room, to keep her cover. But she remembers she has the communicator. She can get bridged out of here.
Gunfire erupts and the blaster fire seems to wobble the whole ship...or is the ship hit? The scrimmage moves away, and she can bend her legs up. Her arms move now too.
There are more footsteps and Sonica has no time; somehow, she knows they are coming for her.
With great effort, she rolls to her side and lies parallel with the swoop of the tunnel. That's all she can do. Why? She can't get out of here.
Her cover is next important. She needs a fast plan. Will most of the truth work here? Can she afford them knowing that dark energon did this?
The footsteps stop and the tentacles slither down. One circles her hips, the other across her chest, and she slides up and out.
As tired as she feels, she shows, but adds her consistent card: a smirk and a pick-up line. "Hey, thanks for the tow. Can I pay you back?"
A rumbling from Soundwave commands an explanation.
"Someone ground bridged in here while I was reading the machines for Knockout, and nearly scared the slag out of me. I hid, as told, but someone came in here with dark energon and it got me by surprise. I was almost terminated. I'm still struggling to move."
Soundwave stoops, lifts her off the ground, untangles her and sets her on the table Megatron was just lying on.
It physically repulses her and she doesn't know how well she hid that.
Once she's settled, he adjusts her arms and feet before flipping a switch that locks her onto the table.
"I can barely move, Soundwave, is this really necessary?"
He plays back a recording of Starscream, "We'll get the diagnoses and then discuss the next course of action."
It's the same tone and beat as the phrase she heard in the hallway while guarding the Autobots.
Soundwave leaves, and she lets her head fall back on the table. She prays she made the right decision...and that they won't use it against her.

Knockout is looking her over like she's a puzzle. He can't figure anything wrong but she behaves like she's sick. Her eyes are slow to follow the light and her reflexes are barely working. He's removed the locking cuffs so she can continue to test her movements, towards which, she's loosing patience.
Then Starscream's begging tears down the hallways. Breakdown tries to talk over it; for her sake.
"What's going on?"
Knockout doesn't answer and she hears the familiar slam of Cybertronian alloy against a wall.
"Is Starscream...?"
"Keep your head down and worry about yourself, Sonica." Knockout already has a hand on her shoulder. "That's how things are here- unless you don't care to stay online."
She gently takes his hand off, staring him seriously in the eyes, "I care that all stay online."
His surprise wears off and he mirrors her, "Even traitors?"
"We've got to start valuing life somewhere. Look at where we are now."
Knockout looks her over, "You can't walk anyway, and even if you could, you can't go near Megatron."
"No, HE can't come near ME." Sonica leans forwards with effort and steps off. Breakdown catches her and lets her steady herself with his supportive arm. She staggers a little but gets needed momentum once she begins walking. She strides out the door and into the hallway, following the sounds.
"I'm sorry, Master! I won't do it again!" His cries are garbled by the energon he coughs up.
She can sense it as though it pools in her hands. Closing the distance, her brisk walk changes to a run. She stumbles once but her racing spark picks up her feet.
"Of course you won't," Megatron growls and she's close enough to clearly hear his words, "You won't be getting another chance."
"Megatron!"
The whole room turns: the surrounding troupes, Soundwave, and Megatron. Starscream, however, is barely conscious on the floor.
Those standing, shuffle or freeze in place. Many exchange glances and mutter to one another. Others cower and fear for her. How dare she interrupt one of Megatron's executions!
The warlord glares at her, "Do you have a problem with justice, Sonica?"
"I have a problem with the lessening of our kindred during a war that killed our planet. Every drop counts."
"Then take it from him. Take all of it."
Sonica walks tall towards Starscream, keeping her optics on Megatron. Her spark pounds and gives her the boost to ignore all her aches and lingering dizziness. In a cycle, she feels none of it as she stands by Starscream and gracefully lowers beside him.
The audience stirs again and watches intently.
Megatron shakes some of the blood off his hand as he stares down his towering height at them.
She sets a hand on Starscream's upper back as his wings hang down by his arms. He hides his face with what small movements he can manage.
"Your ultimate goal, Megatron, what is it?"
He raises a disapproving brow instead of answering her question.
"It's to conquer, isn't it?"
He sets his hands on his hips, "Don't lecture me, femme. Get to your point."
"It's a question: why punish those who mimic your motives? You lead with wrath, threaten with malice, and when another demonstrates these same attributes, they're beaten and killed- does that make sense to you or do I, as reincarnated Doradus, just not understand how the universe works?"
"The latter, obviously. My warriors and commanders can be as fierce, but they cannot turn it against me."
"But you can turn it against them?"
"That's how the universe works," he almost grins, "I don't have time to explain the rest to you."
"You really believe you can avoid what comes around, can't you? I don't see how I'm the fool." Sonica ignores the stirrings of the crowd as she acknowledges them all. "As Doradus, I deem Starscream worth saving and keeping."
He laughs, "Alright then," he bows mockingly, "Doradus can keep him. Oh, and, by your understanding, if you dodge what comes around, that makes you a fool like me."
Some chuckling bounces through the crowd.
Sonica has been laughed at before and it stings every time. The only trick that seems to counter it, is to pretend it doesn't bother you.
For consistency, she smiles and curtsies from her kneeling position, and lowers her lips to Starscream's audio receptors, "Do you wish to live?"
He grimaces, with internal pain this time, and with much effort, he answers, "Yes."
From her hand on his back, she protrudes the needle from her wrist, and shoves it quickly into his back. He winces and starts to try and swat her away, but an injury prevents him, spilling more of his blood.
Just as quickly as she sticks him, she injects a couple drops of white energon and withdraws. It works within a cycle; just long enough for her to lift the blood off the ground and return it to him.
His fingers curl and scrape the floor, some sparks skitter as he tenses, and his back arches as he curls inwards.
Megatron's smile is gone and he analyzes him.
Sonica keeps her hand on his back and feels the building scream gather in his chest before it erupts. His body quivers and it shows most through his wings. His knees move in under him; tightly bending him over his lap. His manual air pumps quicken and try to restore rhythm to his main systems, which strain to compete with the agony racing through his nervous system. More screams tear from him and they release the sharpness of the white energon's powers before it finally starts to ebb.
Only when his breaths return to a consistent pattern, do the crowd's eyes finally see it. His wounds are mostly closed, and he no longer bleeds. Some scars and scrapes remain but his movements are a little smoother and stronger.
Sonica gives Starscream a kind smile that he doesn't see and rubs his back a little, sending a hint of static that he probably didn't feel.
Lifting her head, she finds Knockout in the sea of stunned faces and nods to him to come get him.
Hesitantly, he moves to do so, constantly checking Megatron's reaction- of which, he doesn't get a clear message.
The dark warlord's red optics are wide and focused on her, "What did you do?"
She ignores him to reassure Knockout to take him. Breakdown cautiously follows.
The silence drags heavily as Knockout and Breakdown move carefully to Starscream, gingerly lift him, and carry him away.
The troupes, Soundwave, plus their wrathful leader, watch the traitor being rushed to medical care.
Sonica begins to go with them.
"Stop right there, Sonica. You have not explained what you've done."
Her sparkbeat thuds in her head where she struggles to leash her revenge, "I don't have the time to explain that to you."
The entire room balks.
Megatron takes a dominant step towards her, "I command you answer me."
She walks backwards and shrugs, "You have yet to do something that will bring it back around. Take your own medicine, like you take the luck you've earned, Megatron. Do I understand that better than you do?"
"Do you understand that you are not my equal?"
"I understand that I am a guest here. I follow your rules out of my currently dwindling respect."
His optics widen and he stiffens like a predator about to pounce. He doesn't move. Sonica disappears into the halls without incident.
That might have been the stupidest thing she's done yet. But it doesn't change how triumphant she feels.

The moment Starscream is set on the table, Knockout whirls around as she comes up behind him, "No offense, Sonica, but you're kind of an idiot."
She spits, waves her hands, and shifts onto one leg, "Doc Knock, I don't need you to tell me that..." A stiff smile slaps on her face, "I already know."

Breakdown smothers a laugh as he hooks Starscream up.
Knockout sighs and rolls his optics, "Then why...?"
She giggles and sets a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, hey, thank you for worrying about me. I really appreciate it. I also know how to pick my fights. I'll be fine."
He slumps, glancing at the floor as she withdraws her hand.
"Besides," She tries not to laugh before the punchline, "Isn't 'patching up idiots' part of your job description?"
Breakdown throws his head back and Knockout's immediate intent to correct him is thwarted. A smile curls the corners of this mouth in spite of himself.
"Primus," He shakes his head before he waves a pointer finger at her, "But do us a favor and don't join the idiots."
"I will certainly try, Doc Knock. But the tardiness in which I make this promise gives no guarantees."
They chuckle as he goes to the computers and puts Starscream in a light stasis to make him power down.
Breakdown gives her a big smile across the way, "I think that was brave of you."
"Aw, thanks beaker-breaker."
Knockout stops his typing and stares at him.
"Scrap, Sonica," Breakdown shrugs with only his forearms, "Why would you do that?"
"Do what?" She genuinely asks until the surge of energy from earlier lets go of her neuro-net, "Oh. Oops. Sorry, I thought you told him."
Knockout sighs, "That explains why I'm short of a beaker. Thank you, Breakdown."
"Sorry," He pouts.
The doctor turns to Sonica, "When did you start the nicknames?"
"When I learned how much the pair of you like puns."
They exchange glances.
"Oh Primus," Breakdown blinks a couple times, "I see it now."
Knockout gives him a look, "You mean you aren't doing it on purpose?"
"But you were?"
"Because I thought you liked them."
Sonica puts her hands up, "I really need to stop stumbling into your guys' business. I swear I'm not digging dirt. It's a curse."
"So are puns, apparently." Knockout goes back to typing.
Breakdown chuckles, "But they're so funny."
Sonica laughs from the depths of her protoform. And it feels good. It's been a while.