Ch. 5
He had less than six hours before MECH set up the trap that would ultimately catch Bulkhead and Breakdown, but leave only one scarred for the rest of his function. He more or less knew where they were going to take Knockout's companion, but if things could change on a dime then he had to be sure.
Starscream had been flying around the area for some time, an energy scrambling node firmly planted inside him to avoid anymore surprises, "This should be easy enough," he surmised, doubling back again, "The coordinates are correct, the timing is perfect, the drive should take them almost twenty minutes..."
And then he saw it. A line of darkly colored vehicles emerging from an abandoned train tunnel. They exuded the feel of MECH.
"And there they are, leaving to set up," the jet banked to the side and landed, transforming, "I have to get this right, or Breakdown could lose more than just an optic..."
Starscream rushed quietly to the tunnel and climbed up, walking along the top of the structure silently. He was looking for a line of wires, which he quickly began to follow until he came to a junction box. And from where it was stationed he saw it was just above MECH's adorable little laboratory. Really, it amused Starscream that these humans were attempting Cybertronian science. It could almost be defined as cute if they weren't so dangerous.
Here was where the seeker paused and removed something he had clamped onto his side, a device he had quickly put together a few hours prior, "This should do the job nicely," he purred, kneeling to open the little junction box and attach his device to the wires inside.
Starscream looked back to where the entrance of the tunnel lied and smirked, "They bring Breakdown in, they drive him into the lab to set him all up, his energy signature activates the device, their systems go down after five minutes and that should give that lumbering oaf Bulkhead plenty of time to rescue him. They shouldn't need me after that! ...
"Hmmm..." the seeker stood, tapping his chin, "I am supposed to show up later... but what if something happens before that later comes? I should be here to help... and what's a few minutes sooner if I'm on course anyway? Right? ..." he finally nodded, "Yes! Good, good plan, I like this! ... It has to work..."
Starscream jumped and transformed, flying as fast as he could. He had to find the right vantage point and be ready for anything that could happen. Good or bad.
It was about time. He was ready. Starscream twitched his wings up high and winced when he felt the clang of metal on metal some distance away. Breakdown and Bulkhead were fighting. It wouldn't be long now.
The vibration in the air kept going, hard and fast, and then one hard punch. That was that. Breakdown was the victor, but a few seconds later he too had collapsed. Starscream could feel it on the wind.
It was nearly time.
The seeker put himself into action. Unfortunately he needed to speed things along. And he already had a plan in motion.
He activated his COMM unit and spoke clearly but with a tone of alert to it, "Lord Megatron, Breakdown isn't answering his COMM. He was supposed to report in with me on his scouting progress and has failed to do so. A scan of the general area gives indication that the human group MECH may be behind his disappearance. I recommend leading a team in to rescue him."
Starscream already knew what the response would be, but he was still stunned to hear it for a second time, "Leave him! If he was weak enough to allow the humans to capture him, then he deserves whatever comes to him."
Well, he did his bit. He knew Megatron would deny Breakdown's rescue a second time, but now came the tricky part. He had to get the Autobots in on this sooner rather than later. And no time better than before anything happened.
With a couple of deep intakes and a smudge of dust on his faceplates he opened a visual link and set the coding for Autobot frequencies only. He was careful though; he let the feed read as an open link on all channels.
"This is Starscream, second in Command to the Decepticons! MECH has kidnapped Breakdown and is holding him hostage at the coordinates posted in this feed! I need backup!"
He cut the feed as quickly as he could to dramatize the situation a bit. He had to make sure Bulkhead, or any of the Autobots really, came to actually save Breakdown. The seeker was going to be his last resort.
Starscream sat on a small hill surrounded by junk and debris, his own little vantage point, and watched the front of the tunnel MECH was currently calling 'home'. Lights in the distance caught his attention and he sighed when he saw Breakdown's chassis being hauled in. It would take a couple minutes for them to get the blue mech into the lab and the device he had constructed would only go off a short time after that. He smirked. After the lights went out in their little base, they would be in for a surprise almost thirty minutes later.
Starscream couldn't wait for that. He considered sticking around, watching the fires burn, but he would have more pressing issues to tend to after Breakdown was free.
A small beep came from the device atop the tunnel on a high frequency. The seeker's audials picked it up and he sighed again. Now he had to wait.
Starscream picked quietly at his arm to flick dirt away and readjusted himself into a better sitting position as the minutes ticked away. He grew increasingly nervous as his internal clock told him the lights went out in the tunnel. The second count down was going on now. Thirty minutes.
The seeker picked himself up and tapped nervously on a crumbling concrete piece. Thirty was slowly turning into twenty-six. Starscream scowled. He had given the Autobots plenty of time. Frag it, now he was beyond nervous.
Starscream jumped over the piles of debris he was using as cover and rushed to the tunnel, looking the front door over, "I could just blow the door and-" he paused and took a step back, "No, no, I'm rushing, just give it..." he checked his internal clock and winced, "No, NO! Only nineteen minutes?! Where the frag does time go on this planet?!"
The seeker snarled and didn't hesitate, firing both missiles into the door. The door caved in at the blast, buckling in a wave of smoke and hot metal. Now Starscream could simply tip it over... but he might as well make a terrifying entrance.
Starscream kicked the last bit of the door in, his servos transforming into blasters as off-guard MECH troops stumbled to get their weapons on him.
"Too late for that!" the seeker snarled in the dark of the tunnel, firing laser shots at any small movement he could register.
The silver mech grabbed up a piece of the door and used it to swat away any MECH soldiers that had gotten too close. Menacing. That was what Starscream was going for. A great, immovable and terrifying alien creature, Pit bent on crushing and eradicating the lot of them. And it helped that they hadn't studied Breakdown enough to know where Cybertronian 'soft spots' were.
In the darkness of the tunnel, the seeker saw the MECH soldiers retreating. They were probably given the order over their adorable, dangerous little walkie-talkies, but that didn't make Starscream pause in his assault. It fueled him to drive harder, firing at the soldiers as they scuttled into the walls to escape.
"Vermin!" he scowled, rushing down the tunnel.
At the end of it, he could see two, thank Primus, TWO yellow optics staring at him from a prone angle, "Scream?" he heard, "How in the Pit did you find me? What's going on here?"
"No time," Starscream said forcefully, trying to keep a relieved sigh from escaping his mouth, "Let's just get you out of here and I'll explain later."
The seeker tugged hard in the dark at the bindings keeping Breakdown secured. MECH seemed to have managed that much before the lights went out. The larger mech struggled with him when they both heard a noise further down the tunnel, back from where Starscream had come.
Starscream's optics widened and he whispered on a strangled intake, "By Primus... they actually came..."
Breakdown frowned in the dark, growling, "Who? Who came? Who's here?"
A flurry of pedfalls, both heavy and light, echoed as they drew closer. Four pairs of bright blue optics illuminated the abandoned train tunnel just enough for facial recognition. And then headlights came on from brightly colored chassis', confirming the arrival of Team Prime.
Starscream's wings drooped, "Scrap."