AN: Another extra-long chapter but after this it'll go back to two/three chapters per episode, I just felt like making these last two extra special. As usual a shout out to Dragonlver22 for helping me along and just being a great person. And remember, read and review because I want to know what you all think about my writing and we've officially reached 100k words :D
"Follow the light." Ratchet used a flashlight to test the Autobot leader's recovery speed, the last of many exams after the cure had been administered, and, with a smile, put away the instrument. "I wouldn't advise anything strenuous, Optimus, but it appears that your systems have fully recovered from the Cybonic Plague."
"Thanks to your medical expertise, old friend." Optimus thanked the medbot with a grateful smile. He wasn't one with the Allspark yet because of the dedicated team he and and gave thanks to it every time he came out of recharge.
"It was your scout who brave unknown territory to locate the cure." Gesturing to said mech, who would have blushed at such praise, Ratchet also made sure to get one more mention in there. "Solarflare here as well."
Said femme was reading a data pad with information regarding the evolution of Prime's vitals during the entirety of the time he'd been afflicted with Cybonic Plague and the aftermath of the cure. She still hadn't given up on her attempts to be in the 'backup team' along with Ratchet, even if her knowledge had to catch up to a lot she'd missed during the war and her little adventure had cemented her resolve to be confined to the base for most of the time. She was a seeker, it was in her nature to crave flight and freedom instead of enclosed spaces, but she'd long ago tamed that beast though pure resolve and focus on doing her job, whatever the job may have entailed at the time.
"Don't remind me. If I had to classify the experience between weird and terrifying I'd pick the 'never again' option." Solarflare longed to forget the visage of the Decepticon Lord and how he'd looked at her with actual affection. Not that she'd share that information with anyone else.
"Lucky for us Megatron was still alive." Arcee commented and got a surprised response from Bumblebee. "Yeah, I actually said that." What would she say next, 'thank you Starscream'?
"What matters is that you're on the mend, Optimus, while Megatron-"
Bumblebee interrupted Ratchet before he could finish his sentence. While it was true Arcee had shot one of the life-support cables keeping the Decepticon warlord alive they weren't sure of his fate.
"Bee's right. Did my best to finish Megatron's story, just couldn't stick around long enough to see how it ended." The two wheeler wished she had, terminating the life of the backbone of the Decepticons was a feat one could be proud of.
While Arcee talked to the others Bumblebee stiffened, feeling like his processor suddenly disconnected from the rest of his frame, and wandered off not-so-sure it was of his own volition. He wasn't well aware of his actions and entered a sort of incomplete stasis where is mind blacked out while his frame remained conscious by some sort of means.
Solarflare, who up until that point had been revising the data on the Cybonic Plague, noticed the scout take on a weird look on his optics, almost like they'd unfocused, and decided to put down the datapad and go after the yellow mech. While her knowledge of the medical branch could be little outdated in certain areas she could still spot when someone acted out of the ordinarily, usually due to an extreme event.
"Congratulations doctor, would you like to celebrate?" Airachnid, somehow having managed to sneak up on the conversation, came up from behind Ratchet and put her servos on his shoulders, felling the mech stiffen on contact.
The medbot almost jumped in surprise and stepped away from the spider femme so fast it was a surprise he didn't trip on his own pedes. "For your information there are still some tests I have to run."
The femme grinned, clearly enjoying teasing the older mech. "But I though your said his systems had completely recovered from the Cybonic Plague."
"Yes, well… calibrations, you see… and diagnostics are not definitive… preventions is the best at the moment… and…" Ratchet stumbled over his own words, making Arcee and Optimus want to laugh just a little at seeing their friend acting like a fish out of water.
Deciding to him out of his misery Airachnid chuckled and winked. "Don't worry, sweetspark. If you're shy I can be gentle." She then began walking away, sashaying her hips with her hands on them. "Be warned, Doomsday's messing with some C4 or whatever human explosives she's enamored with this time so do expect some noise and Radical's on you for today so do try to share the bridge this time."
"And where will you be during that time?"
"If you were with me you'd know but since you refused…" She shrugged. "Have fun, don't let him get into any vents."
"Vents?" Arcee looked quizzically at the retreating femme then at the two mechs but they knew just as much as her.
Bumblebee wandered through the halls of the Omega One base, although at that moment he wasn't aware of what he was doing. It hadn't dawned on him yet but he'd brought along someone else after the cortical psychic patch ordeal was over.
"It is a matter of time before Optimus discovers not everything is alright with you, scout. I must recover my body, which means taking complete and total control of yours."
"Bumblebee, are you alright?" Solarflare's voice broke the controlled Bumblebee's concentration and the scout turned around to face the femme. She was looking worried about what she could guess were aftershocks of being face-to-face with the leader of the Decepticons himself.
Reassuring her he was alright Bumblebee attempted to hide the fact he had no idea where he'd been heading in the first place. Between talking with the others and standing out in one of the hallways with no particular direction in mind everything was a blur but he didn't want to alarm the medbot, either of them.
"Are you sure? I mean, facing him is enough for a good scare, I know that. Looking back doing so on that demented version of Kaon with all that molten metal and seeing him destroy Optimus mustn't have been easy either."
Once more Bumblebee attempted to quell the femme's worries about his health. He'd figure out what was making him act weird on his own, no need to worry anyone else, Optimus' condition was already enough for the whole base.
"Alright, if you say so." Solarflare put a servo on Bumblebee's shoulder, wanting to give him some semblance of comfort. "If you start feeling not so well I'm always open for a talk. I understand there are some things, mistakes if you'd call them, that you want to leave buried but, trust me, they tend to crawl up and bring even more bad things along. It's never easy to admit you made a mistake but even more to not let the shame get the best of you."
After listening to her words and giving no warning the scout leaned in and hugged the femme, closing his arms around her torso and bringing her close to his frame, resting his chin on her shoulder, but minding his strength. He hadn't meant to do that, his optics widening when he realized what he was doing, but some part of him yearned for that comfort, for the affection he somehow craved all of the sudden.
"What I would not give to caress those wings of yours with my servos once more."
Mistaking the act for a search for a search for affection and as a form of thanking her Solarflare reciprocated the gesture, bringing her arms around Bumblebee's neck and giving him an unseen smile.
"I knew there was something in there waiting to come out." The femme said as they parted and her smile became nostalgic. "It must be because you and Silverbot are so close in age, but I can't help but to sometimes see you as one of my own. Like that third sparkling that balanced out the other two." She raised a servo to her faceplates and chuckled. "I can't even picture myself with a third, the current two are still giving me trouble to this day."
"Stand by my side and I shall give you everything your spark desires."
Bumblebee then beeped, encouraging her not to give up on any dream she might have, letting her know he believed she'd always be able to handle herself.
"Seriously? I may be a medic but patience always comes in limited amounts. You should've seen me back then, running between my family, my job and my friends like a mad femme." She turned around and began walking back to the main room, remembering her forgotten datapad before whispering one last though. "Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if Victory had survived."
A light pressure from behind startled Solarflare and she found herself being hugged once again by the scout who was being as gentle as possible and minding the wings sticking out of her back.
She smiled contently and sighed, another wave of nostalgia hitting her. "It's been a while since any of mine did that." It was hard not picturing the times back when her little sparklings were still actually little and clinging to her legs, looking up at the world in wonder. "Thank you, seems like I too needed some understanding." She eased herself away from Bumblebee's grip and continued on her path.
He longed to reach out and caress her faceplates, making her smile in the way she'd done so many times before she'd pushed him aside with no warning. Even if he was trapped in a foreign frame there was an upside to it, he could linger at her side without raising too many questions. "If I am to return to my body I must first restore its functionality. How did I escape annihilation?" He attempted to recall what he'd though to be his demise and saw Starscream ripping the shard from his sparkchamber, looking like the smug backstabbing, double-crossing vermin he was. Now he remembered. "Dark Energon… Starscream." He whispered in a menacing tone that promised a heavy dosage of payback.
Megatron's frame had not moved since being laid on the medical berth inside the Nemesis. All the Decepticons knew of this and waited impatiently for their leader to rise and command them once more, never mind the fact Starscream constantly demanded the use of the 'Lord' title and berated anyone for not recognizing him as the top mech in the pyramid of power.
It had been a little over a day since the two Autobots and the Make invaded the ship and used the cortical psychic patch (a matter kept under wraps from everyone) and attempted to terminate Megatron's spark. During that time the processor activity registered hadn't changed, remaining a flat line for all the time that had went by, even if his frame still functioned properly with the help of the life-support.
"Knock knock, is anyone in there?" The Decepticon Lord-in-charge tapped his knuckles on the much more intimidating mech's helm and smiled with glee at being confident there would be no response to his taunts. Stepping away from the medical berth Starscream continued his gloating. "No? Oh well, seems I possess the only thing that would allow you to rise of that slab and walk again… my dearest Megatron. The only scrap left on this planet, plucked from your very sparkchamber. But, it cannot restore your mind." He showed off the dark energon shard and twirled it in the air, a demented show of sorts to emphasize his say regarding the ex-Leader's consciousness. "The Decepticons need a leader, not a decorative centerpiece, and I will convince them that I am the true heir to your throne, with a plan so epic-"
"Not even the Mighty Megatron could've conceived it?"
Having been caught in his rant Starscream's ego quickly deflated and he fumbled with the dark energon before hiding it behind his back in order to face the medic that had caught him in the act of gloating to an empty vessel.
The Decepticon CMO had a smug air about him, loving the fact he had walked in on what he considered to be extremely amusing. The seeker had always had a flare for the theatrics, be it in the way he talked or the emphasizing with his frame's movements but this… it was as if one was watching a theater play and the main actor had been caught in his dialog and forgotten there was even an audience.
"Hehe, that was the idea, Knock Out." Starscream struggled to remain somewhat dignified before narrowing his optics in distrust. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough, and it's Commander Knock Out to you, once and future Lord Starscream." He mock-bowed and the seeker in front of him could only raise an optic ridge.
Two already wished for the long-awaited departure of the once glorious Megatron and only one remained to keep them in check…
Mayhem had always loved a lot of art forms. Drawing, sculpting, painting, even the occasional literary datapad, but music would always take the number one spot every time. When she'd first laid her optics on a human guitar it didn't take long for her to corner Doomsday and demand the Forger built her something like that, only cooler and more badass. That had been how she ended up with her favorite way to annoy anyone around her and express herself, rock 'n roll, punk, metal and everything else that sounded like how she felt every day, amazing and awesome.
"Basketball, by way of Cybertron. Let the games begin, I play the winner!" The heavy-duty seeker enthusiastically shouted and played a loud chord in her guitar. "Gentlebots, let's do this, yeah!"
It had been her idea, of course, to adapt the human game into their version. They had to celebrate the boss-bot being back and getting rid of the big M (again) and what better way than with a little bit of roughhousing? Ratchet had forbidden lobbing inside the base anywhere near the equipment but hadn't said anything about other games that involved throwing stuff, creating a loophole Mayhem had been more than eager to explore.
Bumblebee twirled the ball previously used for lobbing on his digit and jumped, throwing it in an arch at the hoop made from similarly repurposed metal parts. Unfortunately to the scout before his throw could score Bulked intercepted the ball, landing with a loud stop before throwing it over his shoulder and gaining the first point in the game.
"Yeah, go Bulk!" Mayhem cheered and played a drawn-out note in her instrument, letting the noise reverberate though the entire room.
The wrecker picked up the ball at his pedes and threw it back at Bumblebee. "Come on, best two out of three."
The yellow mech caught the ball and accepted the challenge with a confident nod. He broke into a run, making a feint pass in order to get past Bulkhead, and managed to get close enough to his target so he could score without a problem.
"Bee, you're in the clear!" Radical encouraged his friend while his spark bounced excitedly. "Dunk it, Bee!"
Bumblebee was in striking distance to score with an epic dunk but just as he was preparing to strike he stopped dead in his tracks and froze involuntarily, the sensation almost like he'd felt when talking to ratchet and Optimus. His frame would not respond but the weirdest were vague memories that he couldn't recall going through his processor.
Optimus getting struck down
The spacebridge
Hordes of Terrorcons
Blue flames enveloping him
So close to the goal
The explosion
"Bumblebee, quit hogging the ball." Bulkhead stared at his teammate's back, annoyed at having to stop playing just because Bumblebee wanted to show-off.
Bumblebee un-froze but no one had expected him to violently throw the ball at the wrecker. Bulkhead ducked just in time for the improvised ball to fly over his helm and make a dent on the wall behind him before the pile of scrap metal landed on the floor.
"Flagrant foul, young mech!" Mayhem frowned and pointed at the Autobot scout with her guitar, holding the instrument as if it were her hammer.
"Dodgeball by way of Cybertron." Silverbot noted from his point of view on the sidelines besides Radical. "Not gonna play that either."
Before the gamed had begun the triple-changer had to resist the immense pestering from his sister and hold his ground though restless begging for him to join the game. He'd denied all offers to join the roster mainly because of his strength that sometimes could go unchecked, mainly if he were to get too much into the game, and if he were to go against Mayhem she'd purposefully get him to give all he had, disregarding her safety for the opportunity to face a strong opponent.
"Bee, hoop's over there." Bulkhead pointed to the object in question, thinking about the incoming processor ached he'd have had the ball hit him.
The scout apologized about almost hurting him and stating that he didn't know what came over him to do such a random thing.
"Bee, you ok?" Radical asked his friend, worried about what could have him in doing such a strange thing. Bumblebee beeped once more, this time cheerfully and reassuringly, and showed three digits. "Yeah, three out of five." The sparkling agreed to let the subject go but deep down was worried, wondering if it could happen again.
Radical sighed once more after taking a look at the time and tossed the controller aside on his plush berth. He sunk into the softness of the mattress made specifically for him with Airachnid's threads and resisted the urge to claw at the sheet covering it made from the same material, knowing he wouldn't be getting a new one in a very long while. The spider femme enjoyed knitting, a hobby she'd picked up when making accessories for the workers back on Cybertron, but her mood had become too finicky when they'd moved into the Autobot base.
Suppressing another wave of disappointment the sparkling opted to open up his comm link frequency to someone who might be able to help him.
On the other end of the line Silverbot was doing a routine patrol with Arcee when the sudden call made him curious. "Rad, what's happened?" He asked, unsure on what had prompted his friend to call him.
"Is Bumblebee on patrol with you? He was supposed to come to my berthroom to play a few games but he never showed up. His comm link's off and I didn't want to go searching around the base for nothing."
"I'm on patrol, yes, but only with Arcee. Mayhem's with Bulk and don't remember Bee going with them. Either he went alone or, well, he forgot about your thing."
"No, Bee would never forget about it. I'll just go look for him, I guess. Thanks." Radical tried not to sound too sad but he knew it was unavoidable for Silverbot to have picked up on it and hung up before the triple-changer could say anything else.
Hopping off his berth Radical turned off the console and headed out to try and find his friend. He couldn't have forgotten, could he?
Out in the Nevada desert a jet and a motorcycle had been doing a routine patrol route when a call came in for the jet and he landed down after the other side hung up, transforming into a giant alien robot.
"Wait just a click." Silverbot stretched out his arms up into the air and attempted to relive his spinal strut off the pressure it had been under. "I needed to get some use out of my tracks but now I'm just feeling cramped."
Arcee, who'd been the ground scouter as usual, stopped just shy of the triple-changer's pedes and turned into her bipedal mode as well, wondering what had happened for the mech to suddenly decide to halt their path. She knew he'd gotten a call that had interrupted their usual patrol chat but didn't know from who or what it had been about and that made her nervous.
"Who was it?" She asked, attempting to remain casual about the ordeal.
Sitting down in the shadow against a towering rock wall the mech felt more comfortable. "Who was it what?"
"Just now, you were talking to someone."
"Oh, that. Rad commed me about Bumblebee not showing up to play videogames and wanted to know if he was out with us."
Knowing it hadn't been a certain femme that decided to contact the triple-changer to reveal a rather damning piece of information made Arcee feel more at ease. "That's it? No one else?"
"Nope. Why, should I expect another bot?" Silverbot wondered why Arcee seemed so curious until a though popped into his processor. "Please, if Mayhem did something don't cover up for her, it'll end up targeting you sooner or later. Just like the rubber duck incident." He muttered the last part to himself.
"Rubber duck incident?"
"Don't ask."
The two-wheeler sat down next to the triple-changer and decided to get some rest as well, the shade cast by the towering rock wall feeling too good on her metal frame. She'd almost panicked for a moment and if hadn't been for her Academy training she'd have been given away in an instant but her composure had held firm. At least Airachnid had kept her end of the deal, just as promised.
Bumblebee had been walking towards Radical's berthroom, eager to play a few racing games with his friend, when something took over him once more. He felt as if his mind wasn't there anymore, that it had been forcefully pushed away from his processor by an outside force. Instead of going to meet his friend he remained still, as if some sort of internal conflict were occurring, and went over to Ratchet's workbench and picked up a piece of equipment.
"Yes, go on scout, obey my will."
The yellow mech clenched his first and easily crushed the metal, gaining a semblance of satisfaction he didn't known he desired as the material gave in under his strength.
"Bumblebee, I needed that!" A familiar voice startled Bumblebee.
The scout's optics widened and he slowly turned around to see Ratchet staring at him rather angrily.
The medbot couldn't believe what he'd just seen but then took in the confused expression of the Autobots' youngest member. "What has gotten into you?"
Bumblebee couldn't explain why he'd just destroyed a piece of Ratchet's equipment and no matter how much he went through his processor for answers none could fit the requirements. All he could say was that he remembered seeing brief flashes of Megatron's image when these strange episodes began happening soon after he'd returned to the base along with the other two femmes.
"You're seeing Megatron's face?"
"Hey, Bee, there you are!" Radical suddenly came running from the hallway and stopped before the bot he'd been looking for and reached to take his servo. "Come on, let's go play some games."
"I'm afraid that is not possible at the moment." Ratchet informed the sparkling, preventing him from taking off with the yellow mech. "Solarflare, Optimus, I need you to come in here for a moment." He commed both faction leaders, needing Optimus to inform him about the abnormal symptom displayed by their teammate and Solarflare for medical backup on the matter, as well as discerning if she also was affected by anything of a similar nature. "Bumblebee, you need to step into the scanner and get some peaceful rest until I can figure out what's going on with you."
Obeying the medbot's orders Bumblebee took one last look at Radical, the poor sparkling completely in the dark about what he'd been going through, and walked over to the machine before stepping into it. Immediately after getting settled in he felt himself getting lighter as he lost consciousness, optics shutting down as the relief of recharge took over.
"Ratchet, you commed? What's going on?" Solarflare entered the room in time to see the scout descending to recharge. She saw Radical's confused expression and wondered even more what was happening because she had no clue to speak of.
"Is there something wrong with Bumblebee?" Optimus came in after the seeker and took in the image of his scout inside the machine that was usually only used when something had went wrong with the bot in it.
"Bumblebee's complaining of intermittent visions, waking nightmares if you will." Ratchet explained to the bots that had just arrived. He went over to the controls of the machine and began running a diagnostic on the scout but he doubted the problem would show up in a physical check-up, no, his processor seemed to be at the center of the issue at hand.
"But you said Bee was fine when you checked him over." Radical stared at his friend with worry, wondering how long he'd been struggling with the issue. With a dishearten sigh he realized why the yellow mech had seemed out of it not long ago. "He was acting a little odd when he was playing with Bulkhead and I asked if he was ok but he dismissed it… I should've said something."
"Physically he seems to be alright but the experience he endured seems to be having an effect on his psyche. This induced power-down should force Bumblebee's mind to rest and recover." The medbot explained to the distressed small mech and hoped his theory was correct because he only had experience with the more physical aspects of medicine, the psychological types had never been his forte.
"If he's suffering from the experience why am I not the same?" Solarflare stood beside Ratchet and examined the diagnosis scan along with processor activity registration. Everything seemed to be in order but she knew from experience not everything was what it seemed in the base result of an evaluation. "Could it be because it's maybe evoking some war experiences? Humans call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a lot of their soldiers suffer from it after returning from a conflict zone. We're machines but we're also sentient."
Before Ratchet could respond an alarm from the main console drew the small group's attention. Deciding it would do no harm to leave the yellow scout unchecked for a few moment the red and white mech went ahead with the rest of the bots and answered the call, hoping it would not be anything too serious. They already had one down on their side, no need to add more to the list.
As soon as the call was answered a familiar human's face greeted the Cybertronians. "Prime, you spot any Decepticons wearing any hula skirts lately?"
Ratchet and Solarflare looked at each other in a mix of confusion and disbelief and down at Radical who also shrugged and had the same expression as the two of them.
Optimus, having been taken aback for a moment, hesitated to respond for a brief second. "…No, Special Agent Fowler, why?"
"Because I was hoping you had a lead on the Cons that busted into the Kauai Naval Observatory. Place looked like it was hit by an army of wrecking balls."
When Fowler had been called due to a break-in on an observatory he hadn't though much of it, even though of telling whoever was calling him to go take a hike because that wasn't even close to his department, until he saw the resulting destruction. The door was still there, along with a giant-sized hole next to it, but the interior was a mess of broken metal, glass and jumbled cabling from various damaged pieces of equipment.
"I'll bite. What would Starscream want to do with an observatory? Unless he's trying to spot Cybertron because of some unknown reason but not even your most powerful telescopes could get a clear view of it." Solarflare was very much aware of how far they were from their home planet and of the many obstacles between the Earth and Cybertron. She had no idea if a lens was even necessary to construct another spacebridge.
"Does the Heuck Nigoghossian ring any bells?"
Radical suddenly climbed his way up Ratchet's back, startling the mech and almost getting himself planted aft on the ground. "The space telescope?"
"As of last night missing its primary lens." And some other pieces that had been torn off to give access to said lens.
"It's difficult to guess Starscream's intent without knowing where the lens has been taken." Optimus wished they still had the location of the ship from their last visit but since then whatever malfunction the vessel was experiencing had been fixed and, as a result, their location cloaked once more.
"Good thing the lens has a tracking device."
"Handy but also kind of weird." The sparkling nodded.
After everyone had been called back to base and Doomsday pried away from her precious explosives (and acidic substances that were best to stay away from) they gathered in front of the main console that displayed the location of the lens. There had been some questions regarding why Bumblebee was powered down but all questions were deflected by stating he merely needed some rest.
Upon pinpointing the lens on one of Earth's poles no one was excited at the prospect of nothing but snow and ice on all directions along with Decepticons just to sweeten the deal.
"The Arctic? Great, a good chance to freeze our sparkplugs off." Arcee crossed her arms, not liking where this mission would be taking them.
"Unless we huddle together for warmth." Airachnid took her chance to lean against Ratchet, smiling in a devious way while the mech did his best to avoid her gaze and appear unaffected by her actions.
Solarflare pushed the spider-femme away from the uncomfortable medbot and stepped in between the two, frowning at her friend who only shrugged not-so-innocently. The Maker leader had to find a way to keep those two apart that didn't involve physically tying up the femme, an option that had crossed her mind far too often.
Feeling more at ease Ratchet zoomed in on the location displayed on the screen and everyone was amazed at the size of the purple blob that appeared, indicating that underneath all that inhospitable environment laid a rich energon mine that stretched for miles.
Mayhem's optics widened and she was immediately taken back by what she was seeing. "Whoa, all that stuff buried under there is energon? That could last us for an eternity."
"That's an ND-7 class. Biggest un-mineable energon deposit there is." Said Bulkhead while nodding at the Autobot leader. He had been in construction and knew how to recognize a viable source of fuel but that thing had remained untouched from all sides due to the depth it was located at.
Optimus realized what the new Decepticon leader was up to with his latest theft from the humans. They would have to be quick and stop him before it was too late and the glacier was no more. "Un-mineable until Starscream melts his way down to it."
"With the help of the lens." Arcee finished the Prime's thoughts.
"No wonder Fowler was worried, melt a glacier that size and the humans can say goodbye to a lot of coastal cities." Silverbot could already imagine the destruction caused by all that extra water flowing into the ocean.
Deciding on the best course of action Optimus put a hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "Ratchet, you stay here along with Solarflare, Radical and Doomsday while we go to investigate what the Decepticons are up to." He then nodded to the portal as a sign for his medic to activate it.
"Why do I have to stay? I just made some brand new grenades that could make a dent in any Con." Doomsday complained.
It was true, the Forger had been hard at work improving her chemical formulas (with the occasional input from her son) and molding casings for what would become hand grenades. Her main passion was to create weapons, but mainly simpler ones like swords, and armor, yet without the proper alloys she'd gotten used to working with it wouldn't do her a lot of good to spend an awful amount of time creating something that would be unusable after a short timespan or require constant repairs. It was also more dangerous to create explosives, since she was prepared to handle higher temperatures but explosions still made quite a few dents, especially at close range.
"Unfortunately we are heading into a harsh environment and likely storming the Nemesis. You possess neither the capability of flight nor the speed to evade any airborne attacks or the eventual stumble that could send you crashing bellow the ice. It would be best you remained behind." The Autobot leader attempted to placate Doomsday. While it was true she hadn't been on any official missions with the rest of them it wasn't the best time to mark her first battle against the Decepticons.
"That's code for making sure docbot and Rad don't got at each other's neck cables like before, right?" The Forger gave a deadpan glare before holding up her servos and shaking her helm with a huff. "Whatever, go ahead, have fun without me." She then took out a grenade resembling a human one from her subspace and held it out for anyone to take it. "I'm gonna need someone to test this for me, since I won't be going. I can't remember if I made it close or long range so make sure you're at a safe-ish distance. Just pull the pin and throw immediately."
Mayhem moved to take the explosive before her servo was wacked away by Solarflare's. After that no one else stepped forward, not willing to take the risk of a homemade grenade blowing them up instead of the enemy.
"Seriously?" Doomsday made a sour face but opted to put away her creation, knowing no one else would be that curious to see what kind of damage they could cause. "I give you free weapons and no one wants them, go figure."
Upon arriving to the white landscape that stretched as far as the optic could see no one felt excited about the mission. They'd landed between two icy peaks upon stepping out of the groundbridge, hopefully not far from where the Decepticons were keeping the lens, but the scenery appeared to be melting as a result of a heatwave that made itself feel quite well.
Airachnid was the one taking the change of temperature more harshly, likely due to her more animalistic side not being adapted to walk on snow. The air did feel a bit warm so, for her, it was a balancing aspect of her visit to the wintery land, but she still felt the need to hold her appendages close to her frame and cross her arms while pulling in her shoulders to retain the maximum amount of heat possible.
"I thought the Antarctic was supposed to be super cold but the air feels really warm. Not Doomsday's forge warm but, like, good for stretching your wings warm." Mayhem commented and nodded to the dripping icicles not far from the group.
"First, it's the Arctic, different poles Mayhem, second, if there's a giant lens being used to melt through the ice, if it wasn't hot then we should definitely be worried." Silverbot hoped they could stop Starscream before it was too late and the glacier would continue to melt on its own with the heat that was already in the air.
Optimus, who had been walking in front of the group, made a sign for them to stop and pointed to the edge of the ice wall. Carefully they peered from behind the white layer to see the Nemesis flying close to the ground while a heat ray shoot a bright orange beam from above that was melting though the several layers that isolated the energon deposit from the outside.
"Yeah, that's not good." Said Bulkhead upon seeing the scene and taking note on the amount of steam emanating from where the Decepticons were aiming their heat ray. He knew they didn't have much time before hitting pay dirt so it would be an all or nothing mission.
The Prime went back to being the all and the others did the same, awaiting instructions on how to handle the situation. Thinking for a brief moment he came across an idea that could work for their advantage. "Autobots, remember the end-run on Polyhex?"
"Yes." "Yes."
"No." "No." "No."
"So then I showed my cards and the other Makers around the table were really surprised when I took all their credits. Mom couldn't stop laughing at their horrified expressions when a sparkling beat them at Praxus Fold 'Em. The best pastimes were either drinking or gambling and most of the femmes were seasoned at both so I got myself a little corner on the gambling market when I got too old to play with the other sparklings… not that here were ever that many to begin with."
The small mech excitedly recounted stories from his past to the bot deep in recharge. He'd promised to explain some more of Maker culture to the scout but hadn't gotten the chance up to that point. Radical remained seated at Bumblebee's pedes and looked up into the gray optics, awaiting for the moment where they'd turn blue once more and the mech regained consciousness so they could trade tales from the mundane aspects of their lives, comparing how their lives had been so different and yet they both had ended up in the same place.
Approaching the sparkling Ratchet resisted the urge to kneel down and treat him bellow his intelligence level. "Radical, I'm afraid Bumblebee can't hear you in power-down mode. Why don't you get some rest as well?"
"Because I told Bee I'd stay. Also, mom isn't done with the whole explosives thing and I'm right next to her." Radical chuckled while Ratchet only made a disbelieving face. "Sometimes I feel like he's part of my family too, even after growing up with Silverbot and Mayhem having an actual older brother sounds kind of nice."
"Don't be ridiculous, you're not even the same alt-type." The medbot brushed aside the notion of familial bonds between the two distinct mechs.
From her position not far from them Solarflare could only shake her helm in disbelief. "Seriously, Ratchet, you've got the empathy of a toaster."
The Maker had been monitoring the scout's vitals but, since they showed no anomalies, she'd had settled for picking up her trusty datapad and had begun reading up on the intricacies of the processors neurological functions and their relations with the psyche of a Cybertronian. That part of a bot was the most sensitive, on par with the spark itself, and unfortunately the one she had the least comprehension about. Back in the district she'd dealt mainly with the physical aspect of treatments while Parallax View had been the go-to psychologist.
Unfazed by the medbot's words Radical smiled up at him. "That's being related, it's not the same thing. Back on Cybertron it used to be just me and my mom living together, even if sometimes she left me with a lot of her friends when she had to really get to work… or mix work with a fun time. She never hid the fact I'd probably never get to literally grow up so I had to settle for being that small presence in the room, the one you'd trip over if you weren't careful because you'd forgotten I was there to begin with."
Ratchet uninterestedly nodded and mumbled a few 'yes' throughout the explanation, wishing the small mech could get on to the point as fast as possible. He wasn't one for sentimental moments that involved remembering the past, mainly because the war occupied most of his own, but Radical knew he was getting through, even if just a little, so he continued on with his point.
"Everyone towered over me and it was always noisy in the district so I had to shout to even get heard when I went out. Besides my mom, Bumblebee is the one that always listens, even when I don't say anything he somehow knows."
With no warning Radical felt someone come behind him and hug him from behind, the perpetrator pressing her faceplates to his with a smile. "Your mom would love to hear this, you know?" Solarflare had to stop herself from cooing at the adorableness emanating from the sparkling.
Radical had always been a special case after gaining his spot at Doomsday's side. Since early his survival odds had been unknown, making it an emotional risk to create bonds with him but they'd given him a chance and he'd pulled through, although with a glaring disadvantage. His problem lied deep down within his CNA coding, something no one could change, and as a result would forever remain at his current stature, unknowing if he didn't age wouldn't join the Allspark at a natural lifespan or would proceed in a natural path. Doomsday had never made an effort to hide these facts from her son, thinking it would be best if he knew the truth from the start, and he'd adapted to his best capabilities, fully aware that he likely would never be able to do certain things only an adult Cybertronian could, like getting a Conjunx Endura or even have a 'normal' job.
"Well, as much as this seems to be a supposedly touching moment there's still work to be done. I'm going to the supply vault to see if I can get parts to repair this. You know what that means?" Ratchet still seemed to be much unaffected by the tale shared by the small mech as he showed off the piece of equipment Bumblebee had broken just before going into recharge. It wasn't as if he didn't know the value of emotional bonds, they just weren't his type.
"Don't touch anything." Radical smiled at the medbot and gave a mock salute.
"I'll help, not much I can do here besides stare at a monitor anyway." Solarflare rose up and decided to tag along, just in case Radical had some more private information he'd like to share with the resting scout alone.
"Just focus on finding those parts." Ratchet waved a servo uninterestedly and began walking away.
"Please, I'm not Airachnid. She's the one after your parts." The Maker chuckled and caught up with the mech as he left the room. Sometimes her old self came out to say hello for a few brief moments.
"Do not remind me of that, ever."
Radical watched the two medbots walking away and disappear into the hallways and wondered if that place could ever fell truly like home. He missed all the others, his hab-suite back on Cybertron, the Praxus Fold 'Em impromptu tournaments, all the ruckus on the off-days when everyone just lazed about, got drunk and sang off-key in front of all the Makers that filled up the seats usually occupied by patrons. Even if he would always be too young to drink it felt right to see everyone happy and milling about as if they were actually normal citizens, instead of the outcasts that had to grasp at straws just to maintain the basic needs of the district fulfilled, like healthcare and energon supplies stocked.
"Sometimes I wonder if Airachnid has some sort of bet with mom, you know?" The sparkling asked the unmoving form of the Autobot scout. "Yeah, I wouldn't say anything either, those two can get really competitive."
The small Cybertronian was ready to go start telling stories about all the crazy betting polls they'd have back home when Bumblebee suddenly stepped forward with no warning, his blue optics lit up but seeming rather unfocused. The mech went up to the groundbridge's console and began inputting coordinates before activating the green vortex and heading to whatever was on the other side.
"Bumblebee!" Radical, who'd been caught by surprise and had remained silent, regained his bearings after his friend was conscious once more and realized the severity of the situation. "Wait, where are you going?!" He ran up to the entrance of the portal but didn't dare go through it on his own, having to remain behind and watch as the scout kept going ahead uninterrupted. "Bee!" He screamed, but it didn't faze the mech in the slightest.
"What did you do?!" Ratchet ran up behind the sparkling but could also only watch as the previously unconscious mech stepped out of sight. "I knew someone was messing with the groundbridge!" Mayhem had liked to joke it was akin to a sixth sense but that time it came in useful.
"Nothing! Bumblebee just got up and-"
"He was in power-down! Where does he think he's off to?"
The army of fallen Terrorcons littered the barren rocky wasteland, the weather as dark and grim as the material that had impregnated the soil during the first time he'd been there. The weather was also rather grim, dark clouds blocking any rays of sunlight that might have brightened up the scenery with the mountainous peaks looking like as if they hungered to reach higher into the darkness that settled into the atmosphere.
He held up the shard of dark energon, proudly displaying it.
The power was intoxicating, even as he thrust it down below into the ground.
As the Earth shattered Unicron's blood seeped though and infected the numerous casualties of the war buried under the surface.
She'd looked lovely, even after all that time and as terrified as she'd been there was no one compared to her beauty.
The scout looked in all directions until a small indent in the ground caught his attention as it glowed with the same ominous and familiar light. He approached it and knelt down, his gaze locking onto the shard of dark energon that emanated the energy of Unicron himself and picked it up.
Now all that was needed was a suitable vessel.
Soon after Bumblebee had left Ratchet went to check where exactly their scout had bridged to and was so surprised had had to look at the numbers twice before issuing a verdict. The yellow mech shouldn't even be aware of those coordinates, so how had he managed to pinpoint them so accurately?
"These are the coordinates for the site of our previous battle with Megatron's undead." Ratchet stated grimly. There could only be one more bot outside of that base that knew them.
Radical, who had climbed up to the platform behind the groundbridge console to take a better look, felt a dreadful shiver go down his back. "Maybe we should call Optimus."
"Optimus is busy preventing a polar icecap from melting, we need to handle this on our own."
The medbot pulled lever to open their groundbridge once more to the site of the Terrorcon battle and readied to go through to the other side and face another battle, when the mech he'd prepared to go meet came back with an eerily calm air that didn't sit well with him.
"Bumblebee, what have you been doing?" Ratchet asked but go no answer. It was then that he saw what the scout was holding onto and grabbed his arm in an attempt to, sadly confirm his suspicions. "Dark energon. Why would-" The medbot couldn't finish his sentence before he received a rather nasty punch from Bumblebee with enough force to send him crashing into the platform Radical was perched upon.
"Bee, what are you doing?!" Radical felt tears welling up in his optics as the scout approached him. When Bumblebee grasped him by the back he struggled to get loose but there would be no way he could reach behind his own back to pry himself free from the hold. "You have to fight whatever's making you do this!" The sparkling begged but his pleas went unanswered and then he found himself being forcefully shoved atop of a ventilation panel, high enough so that if he were to jump down there would be some pain since his frame remained undeveloped, aside from the one he was currently feeling.
It was at that moment Doomsday arrived, having already used up all her supply of explosives and wanting to ask Ratchet if they had anything else she could use or mix up to restock until she could convince Fowler to supply her with more, but she hadn't expected the current scenario. As soon as she stepped into the main room she only saw Bumblebee run into a groundbridge and the green vortex closing right behind him, Ratchet attempting to pick himself off the floor and her son perched up high on a vent.
The medbot groaned in pain as he got up, using the bridge's controls as a support he managed to get back on his pedes and didn't even need to look to know Bumblebee was long gone. Their scout had been acting odd and he was to blame for not picking up on it sooner or having done anything that could have prevented him to get out of power-down mode and doing whatever it was he was up to.
"Ratchet, are you ok?" Radical saw the amount of pain the mech was likely under and grimaced at his own, having been shoved rather uncaringly against the vent in order to deter him from following his friend into the groundbridge.
"I'm fine. More importantly is Bumblebee." Ratchet pushed aside the concerns for his health.
"Ok… what did I miss?" The Forger didn't know what to say about what she'd just seen and could only go to pick up her son in her confused state when she noticed the obvious chipped paint. "What happened here, are you alright?" She asked with a great amount of concern for Radical's state.
"I fear the time spent in Megatron's mindscape is causing him to think like a Decepticon." Ratchet attempted to answer the femme's questions as he regained the ability to think straight. He'd have to determine where the yellow mech had went this time.
"Bee's not a Con!" Radical shouted, startling his Carrier who still would not give up her hold on him.
"I agree, but we need to find out exactly what Bumblebee intends to do with that shard. The only one who knew about it was Megatron…"
"Megatron is possessing Bumblebee?!" Radical dislodged himself from Doomsday's hold and ran up to ratchet, who was looking up the coordinates for Bumblebee's destination.
"Oh… Oh!" Suddenly it dawned upon the femme what must have happened and the amount of danger they were in. "Sainted Solus, what do we do?!"
"How could I have been such a fool? The cortical psychic patch acted as a two-way conduit, when Bumblebee returned to his own mind Megatron followed. And now Bumblebee, Megatron, has bridged to nearly the same coordinates Optimus used." Ratchet pulled lever to open another vortex and gestured for the Forger to follow him. "Doomsday, come with, Radical, stay here."
Doomsday nodded but Radical wasn't having any of it.
"No. Bumblebee needs me." He said with conviction.
"But-"
"Please, I know he does." The sparkling interrupted his Carrier's words.
It was already hard enough to accept his friend was possessed by their greatest enemy but to not have spoken up sooner about his changing personality had been the wrong thing to do. Radical wished most of all to help and undo the damage Megatron could be doing inside Bumblebee's psyche and would not be silenced or barred from bringing back his friend from the grip of the Decepticon Lord's hold.
The Forger sighed but knelt down anyway and pushed her 'dreads' aside, making a motion all too familiar with her helm. "Climb on."
The three bots hurried through the groundbridge, knowing their destination was likely the inside of the Nemesis, a place filled with Vehicons willing to shoot at anything that moved and any Autobot or Maker that dared to go in was a prime subject for moving target practice.
Not long after the Cybertronians departed another one came into view. Solarflare entered the now empty main room, in her servo a few pieces of metal that she'd been off to look for before Ratchet had left her alone, quoting some sort of veiled threat at the 'meddlesome sparkling who couldn't keep his servos to himself'.
"Hello? Ratchet, I found the parts." The seeker looked confused around the place but found herself realizing she'd been left alone. "Where did everyone go?"
Meanwhile, unaware of the trespassing bots inside the Nemesis, Starscream, accompanied by Knock Out, watched from atop of the vessel as the heat ray he'd built melted though the ice with ease, creating a pleasantly warm atmosphere. Finally, he'd proven to be more cunning than Megatron and when they got their servos on the energon reserves down below nothing would stand on their way and soon those pesky Autobots, along with the Makers, would crumble under his might.
"Yes! I love when a plan comes together." The seeker gloated mainly to himself. At that moment nothing could ruin his- were hat sounds of an engine he heard? Looking down at the glacier he saw the wrecker and the two-wheeler heading their way at high speed. "Autobots." He spat out, despise heavily coating his voice.
"Please, Lord Starscream, allow your Second in Command the honor." Knock Out took a mock bow then gestured to the heavy-duty mech behind him and pointed to the intruding Autobots. "Breakdown, total them!"
The assistant to the vain medbot did not even hesitate and broke into a run, jumping at the edge of the ship and laughing in anticipation for the fight. Breakdown neared the ground at a fast speed but before he could make the desired impact on the icy surface a jet crashed into him, deviating him off-course and sending him into an undignified roll across the snow.
Mayhem had braced herself for the impact but it still left a few dents when she made contact with the Decepticon. She slowed down and transformed to bipedal mode in the air while her enemy landed a good way ahead of her and with a much more painful landing. She was joined by Bulkhead and Arcee and, when their enemy finally regained his footing, he was faced with a three-on-one all-out brawl.
While their teammates distracted the Decepticons, hidden behind the tall mountain of ice Silverbot and Optimus prepared themselves to storm the topside of the Nemesis and take down the machine with the stolen telescope lens before it was too late.
"You know what to do, Silverbot." Optimus nodded to the triple-changer. It was going to be a ride of a lifetime.
"Just hang on tight and be ready for a lot of noise, I'm not exactly the silent type." Silverbot calmed his cooling fans and steadied his spark before assuming jet form.
The pair went unnoticed by the enemies flying up above them and with the element of surprise on their side they'd be able to catch them unawares and save humanity's coastal cities from annihilation.
When the three bots stepped outside the groundbridge they were greeted with the expected sight of the darkened hallways of the Nemesis but, fortunately, there were no Vehicons to sound the alarms and alert the higher ups about the invasion of their ship.
"The Decepticon warship." Ratchet whispered to the two Makers next to him.
Looking around to get the feel of her surroundings Doomsday grimaced at the drab color and harsh edges. "Yeah, this place screams 'obey me or else' loud and clear."
The medbot took off with no answer and the Forger had no choice but to follow him, minding the sparkling hanging onto her back. If they happened to be ambushed from behind Radical was at a disadvantage since he'd take the brunt of the shots that would likely be fired at them.
Just as they rounded the corner they came across Vehicon soldiers littering the floor, either passed out or offlined none of the three had any idea.
"Did Bumblebee do this?" Asked Radical.
"I fear Megatron's mind is dominant and clearly he came here for one purpose. To use the dark energon to resurrect himself." Ratchet did not like the idea in the slightest. The warlord was supposed to have perished in the spacebridge explosion and finally let the universe be at peace.
"No, Bumblebee won't let him! Like he didn't let Megatron hurt me back at the base."
"You know I like to encourage you but this seems like the job of a bot far too gone into the deep end." Doomsday wished as hard as she could she was wrong but, from the looks of it, getting Radical's hopes up could set him up for a sparkbreaking disappointment.
"That's what I'm afraid of." The sparkling held tighter to his Carrier in fear of what they could find.
They kept going forward quietly, taking care not to trip on any of the Vehicons, and peered through the open door. They saw Bumblebee plugging himself into an end of the cortical psychic patch while the other was already attached to Megatron's still operational frame, it seemed Arcee had not finished the job after all. It was time to act either now or risk the worst case scenario where Megatron did come back from the dead to torment them once more.
Ratchet ran up ahead to try and stop the 'resurrection' process before it was too late and Doomsday followed suit, gently shaking off the sparkling so he let go and she could fight unencumbered.
"Don't hurt Bumblebee!" Begged Radical as he was left behind while the adult Cybertronians attempted to disrupt the process.
The medbot attempted to take a swing at the scout but the possessed mech managed to dodge and punched him on his mid-section, sending Ratchet flying straight into the wall and temporarily taking him down. Bumblebee did not have time to recover from the surprise assault when one of his servos ended up trapped in a whip all of the sudden. He pulled but Doomsday held her ground by pulling back before letting her grip on the floor go and went along with the momentum of the pull, sliding right behind the mech and pulling on the handle of her weapon, making the puppeteered scout punch himself. Before the femme could cry in her small victory Bumblebee then grabbed onto the whip with both servos and pulled in an arch, causing the Forger to lift off the ground and painfully land on her back, unable to move though the momentary pain.
With both bots out of the picture for the time being the controlled mech pulled out the dark energon crystal and prepared to put it to use.
"Bumblebee, no!" Radical ran up to his friend who looked back at the small mech. "Remember who you are, remember me. I know you always listen to me no matter what!" He begged, attempting desperately to clasp at straws and bring back the original mind of the yellow mech.
Bumblebee's optics became more focused as he beeped in confusion at what he was doing before he felt himself almost drifting off again. It became a battle of wills there and then as both minds struggled to control the frame, with his optics dilating and contracting as his consciousness fought valiantly to regain charge.
"That's right Bee, it's me!" The sparkling was glad his friend wasn't lost inside his own processor anymore.
Then Bumblebee began to sway on his pedes and fell to his knees, still struggling to keep control over his own body. He calmed down and lifted his helm to look at Radical before extinguishing the sparkling's hopes and swatting him aside. He looked back to see Ratchet had managed to get back up and was attempting to meddle with the life-support equipment.
"Farewell, Megatron." Said the medbot as he disconnected the main cable, the one connected to the warmonger's spark.
In a rage the scout launched himself at Ratchet and in one swoop threw him over his shoulder and into Doomsday, who'd just started herself to get back up. The two bots groaned in pain at the impact but did not give up trying to get back up, even though they barely managed to hold themselves above the ground.
"Bumblebee!" Rad yelled in distress while he attempted to get back on his pedes as well. "As much as I want you to leave Bumblebee's body… I can't let you back on your own!" Gathering his strengths he ran up to try and get a hold of the cortical psychic patch but was grabbed mid-air, getting a good look at the empty icy blue optics, and thrown back at the two other bots.
"Bumblebee can't hear you anymore."
Bumblebee climbed up to be at level with the warlord's sparkchamber, lifted up the shard and, without hesitation, plunged it into the open sparkchamber, letting the lifeblood of Unicron run through the Decepticon's system.
Megatron lived once more.
He opened his (own) optics and rose from the medical slab, towering over the fearful bots before him, and stepped forward confidently.
Bumblebee and Ratchet took steps back in fear while Doomsday picked up Radical to perch him onto her back but could not go further due to the wall behind them. They were trapped between a wall and a possibly enraged Decepticon Lord.
A group of Vehicons came rushing to see what all the noise was about when they saw their leader back from the Allspark and cowered instantly. The warlord had beaten death itself and that feat alone made him seem more invincible than any other bot in existence.
"Decepticons, your rightful Lord and Master has returned!" Megatron looked at the fearful groups of bots, one under his command and the other... He began walking away, one goal alone on his mind. "Finish these Autobot pests and imprison the Makers, I have my own extermination to perform."
The wall of Vehicons parted to let their master through and immediately after began shooting at the enemies that had managed to get through the Nemesis' defenses. With Megatron heading the Decepticons once again everything would go back to the rigid structure of command and no one wished to anger the warlord any further.
Ratchet dove for cover in a familiar vent while Doomsday and Bumblebee covered for him, managing to take out a few of the Vehicons but soon more appeared to cover for the fallen ones. The two saw they wouldn't be able to hold out for long and followed the medbot in his retreat. They'd need to find a way out of that ship and fast before everyone and their Carrier was on the lookout for them.
While the group of bots stormed the ship up the air, down below in the frozen landscape two Autobots and two Makers held their ground against a Decepticon.
Arcee deployed her blades and ran up to her enemy, jumping high, making use of her lightweight frame, in hopes the descent would help in injuring the mech but was easily caught and thrown far to the side. She managed to regain her balance and land on her pedes, sliding over the snow until she came to a stop. They really would freeze their sparkplugs off by the end of it if they weren't careful.
Mayhem took advantage of the distraction provided by Arcee and took out her hammer, hoping to score a home-run with Breakdown's helm as she broke into a run at him. Unfortunately she suddenly felt light-headed, as if her processor was swimming in a deep pool, and faltered letting Breakdown catch onto her plan, by virtue of the extra second of delay, and duck, making her miss and keep her trajectory, giving him an opening to take out his own hammer and hit her in the back, causing her to fall down and roll away in the white snow.
Airachnid emerged from the ice bellow from her initial hiding spot and attempted to trap the Decepticon but her systems were suffering from the freezing temperatures and her movements were slowed down enough so the Decepticon could evade the spider-femme attempting to trap him and pick her up by her neck, throwing her away just like he'd done with Arcee.
Seeing himself free of distractions, Breakdown ran up to Bulkhead, who had his wrecking ball drawn and ready for action, and raised his hammer above his helm.
"I'm gonna put you on ice!" Yelled out the blue heavy-duty mech in glee.
As the two weapons clashed the force produced from that meeting was so intense that a crack appeared parallel to the impact, cutting through the frozen ground bellow them in an instant, but neither mech cared about the danger of it.
Up above on top of the Nemesis Starscream and Knock Out observed the battle from a safe distance, none of the two caring to intervene and put their chassis on the line. Whatever power they'd gained had rushed to their helms and they felt above such menial tasks as fighting their own battles, preferring to let others perform the task for them.
Something had been bothering the Decepticon medic for a while, but he hadn't been able to put his digit on it until it dawned on him. "Don't the Bots seem… understaffed?" He asked, not seeing the Prime or the remainder of the Makers.
Starscream was about to say something when they heard the loud rumble of a powerful jet engine. A Cybertronian more-than-heavy-duty engine.
Silverbot flew above the Decepticon ship with great speed, Optimus hanging onto his wings with remarkable strength, and, as soon as they were at a suitable height, he transformed back into his bipedal mode and they fell back down, landing on top of the Nemesis, breaking into a run to dismantle the weapon as fast as possible.
"What good is a Second in Command who fails to watch the rear?!" Starscream was both furious and in panic. He pushed Knock Out aside and jumped onto the controls of the weapon he'd created, kicking the Vehicon off the seat. Pressing a few buttons in a hurry he watched in satisfaction as the ray moved its position to focus on the intruders.
Silverbot ran up ahead and put himself between the heat ray and Optimus, bearing the brunt of the impact. "Go! Use me as a platform and jump!" Yelled the triple-changer.
The Autobot leader grabbed onto the triple-changer's shoulders and pulled himself up before positioning his pedes up on them as well and let out a war cry as he soared though the air, blade drawn and ready to strike.
"NO!" The self-appointed Decepticon leader knew it couldn't be happening, that his plan was supposed to have elevated him beyond Megatron's glory and not end in another failure.
There was an explosion after that, one that emitted a blinding light and blew away the bots standing bellow along with the two that attacked up above, they were swept away by the force of the explosion that may have lasted seconds but had quite the impact.
Silverbot had been the first to land on his back on the icy ground, dazed by both the impact and the violence of the explosion, and he'd been alright… until the Prime landed square on top of him soon after.
"Optimus!" Arcee attempted to reach for the beaten Autobot leader
"Don't worry, I think I broke his fall." Silverbot groaned weakly. His sister always did stupid things and she never ended up in a state near the one he was in.
"Silver, you alright?" Mayhem barely had a visual on her brother as she sat up, shaking some loose snow off her wings.
"… I guess."
Airachnid used the heavy-duty seeker as a support to help her get back on her pedes and saw the state the triple-changer was in. "Flare's gonna offline me for this."
Out of nowhere a jet was heard coming closer and, since the bot capable of flight were on the ground, it could only be a Decepticon. The Autobots and Makers looked up to see Starscream nosediving from between the clouds towards the Prime and readying to deploy one of his missiles.
"Megatron's greatest mistake was ever allowing you to live, Prime!" The seeker could not be more furious. His plan, his glorious and ingenious plan, thwarted by a ragtag team of Autobots and Makers was something he'd never forget and would make sure the target of his ire paid greatly for the blow dealt to his ego.
Just as the missile was about to be deployed by the Decepticon another jet, a heavier type model, crashed into him and brought him back up in towards the Nemesis, roughly shoving Starscream off-course with no care or fear of the consequences. He was the one Starscream should be worried about.
"Megatron." Optimus whispered ominously as the two seekers made a path to the vessel flying up above in the air.
Silverbot groaned in despair and felt his spark clench. "Solus damn his spark to the Pit."
"Another reason for Flare to offline us." Airachnid sighed and looked up at Mayhem only to notice the younger femme was looking rather woozy. "You alright? Didn't think seeing the big mech in person would make you that queasy, especially after the spacebridge incident."
The seeker rubbed a servo over her faceplates and steadied herself, feeling her vigor returning. "No… I just feel like something's not right." She attempted to brush off the concerns from the spider-femme.
Starscream landed on top of the Nemesis in his bipedal form, unsure of what had happened until the larger mech landed in front of him in his full fear-inducing glory. Deep red optics stared down at the cowering seeker with vengeance in mind, hungering for retribution for what he'd done in order to step up on the chain of command. If the mech hadn't outlived his usefulness the consequences would be rather fatal so only something brushing that end could be administered as punishment.
"Lord Megatron… You are… You're healed! Praise the Allspark, it is a miracle!" Starscream couldn't bring himself to stand up due to his quivering legs, only weakly attempt to push himself away from the smoldering angry gaze of his leader.
"Oh, it will be a miracle alight, Starscream… if you survive what I have planned for you!" Threatened the rightful Decepticon Lord.
Frightened, the double-crossing seeker transformed and attempted to flee, only for Megatron to grab him by the tail and toss him back against the metal of the ship. There would be no escape from the ire of Lord Megatron, ex-gladiator supreme of Kaon and Lord of the feared Decepticon army.
Once again Starscream found himself back on the ground begging for mercy that he was sure wouldn't come. "But the Autobots… Optimus… right there, waiting for you!" He attempted to distract the warlord with the promise of extinguishing his enemy's sparks but for that moment it wouldn't do him any favors to point that out with him being the one most hated at the moment.
"My greatest mistake? I've made a few. But there is one I do not intend to make again!" Megatron grabbed Starscream by the helm and began dragging him back into the Nemesis, dragging him through the metal floor with great satisfaction
"N-no! Master! NOOOOOO!"
Back on the ground the Autobots and Makers heard the distant pleas for mercy and watched as the Nemesis began to turn and fly away from the scene. It was hard to hear a voice that carried such pain but he'd caused them enough for them to be desensitized to a degree. They didn't know if the seeker would survive but there was nothing any of them could do at the moment to save him from the wrath of Megatron.
Optimus could only resign himself to leave Starscream's fate up to the universe and suppressed a sigh. Their greatest enemy that day had fallen far enough from his perch in a heap on the deepest pit. "Ratchet, we need a bridge." The Autobot leader commed the medbot. Only time would tell what would become of the backstabbing seeker.
"You are not the only ones." Ratchet's voice came from behind them.
Surprised, the whole team turned around to see the Autobot medic walking towards them along with Bumblebee, Doomsday and even Radical.
"Mayhem, I stormed the Nemesis too!" The sparkling smiled and waved at the others from his position perched on his the scout's shoulders.
"Yeah… Flare's gonna love this one…" The Forger sighed before opening a comm link channel and bracing herself for a long questioning session about her better judgement. "Heyyyy… could you, I don't know, maybe bridge the whole team back to base?"
"The most irresponsible thing I have ever seen from you! And that is saying a lot, considering you last experiment with acid and explosives!" Solarflare bellowed at the Forger who kept her helm down with a sheepish expression. "Sometimes I wonder what you were thinking when-"
"You realize that I don't… Yeah, you've used that one a few times on me already." The femme interrupted the Maker leader's rant and attempted to laugh it off. "It was a long shot but Radical's fine, we're all fine."
"Speak for yourself!" Silverbot shouted from his place on the medical berth.
Solarflare attempted to pick up where she'd left off but could say anything else, holding her words until she ended up huffing menacingly before throwing her arms up, servos making clawing motions, and turning around to check on her son who'd come back with a few dents from having Optimus land on top of him after landing harshly on the ground in the first place.
Doomsday let out a breath of relief before taking a look at her son that'd been waiting patiently for Bumblebee to be given the clear. When the scout had finally stepped of the machine Radical hadn't given him the chance to take three steps forwards before jumping up and giving the scout a hug. Everything seemed to be coming back to the usual norm, even it that included Megatron coming back and commanding the Decepticons once more, and, in a way, the Forger was glad they'd regained some sense of normalcy.
"Everything's back to normal. Well, normal for Bumblebee." Ratchet informed the rest of the group. There should be no residual evidence the warlord had even entered their scout's mind and puppeteered him in order to resurrect himself.
"Glad to know he's still able to kick some more Con tailpipe in the future." Mayhem smiled at the two embracing mechs, one small, one big, and both with an incredible friendship.
"Just, no more trips into anyone's mind, if you would all agree." Solarflare leaned against Silverbot who'd managed to get his Carrier to let him sit up on the medical berth. "And storming the Nemesis while we're at it too."
Bumblebee beeped and nodded in agreement and gave his best attempt of a smile at Radical before saying something else.
"You're welcome." The sparkling smiled back at the scout.
AN: Yay for me, 12.5k words!