Ch. 209

"Sir-"

"Shockwave, I see her," Megatron sneered, watching the blue femme duck into the Harbinger, "It looks as though she has returned to the rest of her comrades. Little does she know that we have spotted her first," he pulled himself from their cover to start marching towards the base.

Shockwave followed closely, "We have still not received word from the drones," he assessed, "and it is unlikely that the Autobot would be on her own; where is her partner?"

Megatron didn't bother to reach back to silence the purple mech himself. He simply ignored him. This was the Autobot base; the proof had been in the femme's arrival. First Ratchet, then the mention of Optimus, now this Bot, Arcee... it was too good to pass up.

"The time to strike is now," the warlord hissed, his red optics peering into the darkness of the Harbinger, "I don't think wasting anymore time is necessary, do you Shockwave?"

The purple mech flickered his optic before answering, logic telling him to stay close to his master but to tell him just what he wanted to hear, "No, my liege. The time to strike is now."

Arcee had positioned herself not too far from the entrance she had come through. Her plan had successfully lured Megatron and Shockwave closer to the downed ship, but now she was in a precarious spot herself. And it wasn't like she could detonate the bombs in the walls of the makeshift base now that she was inside it. Now Optimus's concerns were starting to hold a little more water...

"Well, not much I can do about it," she murmured, scuttling close to the dark walls around her as she moved through the ship.

She still had to stick with her plan. The drones had certainly been in here long enough to have passed the first intersection; she could make her left and escape as she had planned to. She could see signs the Vehicons had moved through her present location earlier. Their ped marks were in the small layer of sand and dust that blanketed the floors. They had gone passed the intersection, that much was clear... and then it appeared they had doubled back.

Arcee frowned and transformed out her blaster cautiously, "Scrap... what were you three doing?"

Her optics stayed narrow and alert as she stayed low. Their ped marks were everywhere now. She had only been inside for a couple moments at best; there was no way Megatron had COMMed them to scatter that quickly. Had they not been careful enough clearing out what they needed to? Or was the place just deserted enough to warrant more concern for the Decepticons? This wasn't looking good.

Instead of dwelling, the femme pressed on, moving slowly to the left down the hallway. She heard a distinct yet soft 'thud' from the front of the ship, most likely Shockwave or Megatron, or both, finally making their way inside. The noise distracted her for only a second and only just enough for her to miss a set of claws that narrowly grabbed at her in the dark.

Arcee snarled in surprise as she ducked and weaved, firing her blaster into the chestplate of the drone. Another one appeared from out of the dark and scraped his claws against her back in a missed attempt to snatch her up from the floor. The femme switched from blaster to wrist blades, slicing the Vehicon back as she kicked the first one away and began to run. That was only two. Where was the third?

Her internalized question was answered when something slammed into her roughly from just off to the side and pinned her to the floor. Arcee felt her intake stolen from her as she heaved in pain. She heard the drone get up and say something to one of the other Vehicons, but a ringing in the femme's audials kept her from identifying exactly what. All she knew was that from her position she could see one of them wasn't getting up.

"Our lord is at the front of the ship," one spoke more clearly, "Let us take this one and regroup. The rest seem to be holed away at the back."

The Decepticons were going to leave. Arcee growled to herself and struggled to stand before she was snatched up roughly by the one who had tackled her. His arms ensnared around her and crushed her tightly to prevent her from wiggling away but she still fought, trying to kick or free an arm so she could escape. Her plan was no longer in play.

The drones had been careful about handling Arcee as they crawled out of the ship and out into the open. They tossed her before their master and Megatron sneered as he stood over her.

"Foolish..." he hissed before addressing his troops, "Report."

"Sir," R-761 spoke up, "the Autobots appear to have sealed themselves in a far room on the south side. Voices and movement could quickly be detected. W-445 has been terminated," his red visor bored into the femme's chassis, "but her capture was swift, my liege."

Arcee glared and could barely choke out when Megatron was suddenly upon her, his servo grabbing her up and beginning to crush her, "You feeble, little pest," he sneered, "Did you really think we wouldn't find you?"

The femme coughed in pain and hissed through her dentals, "You... don't stand a... chance... Optimus will-"

"Optimus will do nothing!" Megatron laughed, increasing his grip, "He and his troops have fled and have boxed themselves in. I would do you the courtesy of dying with them but given how much of a bother all of you have been to me..." above them came a deep humming noise then the shadow of the Nemesis slowly moving into position, "I am not one known for kindness..."

Arcee struggled harder. She couldn't reach the detonation device on her waist, she couldn't blow up the Harbinger. They weren't too far away, the blast would be enough to cause some damage, but her servos just couldn't reach down. Her left servo twisted in a desperate attempt to get to the device and bide more time, but she couldn't. The empty Harbinger would be destroyed on the warlord's terms, she would be killed and the Decepticons would escape again. The Nemesis was already settling into a position where it could safely strike on its own. So close, but so far away. Arcee clenched her right servo tightly as it pressed tighter against her helm... and she flexed quickly, activating the COMM at the side of her audial.

"I need a remote detonation, NOW!"

Megatron frowned and Shockwave charged forward to grab his leader, pulling him back. There was no hesitation, in the purple mech or in the command the femme had given. The Harbinger shook, cracks on the inside expelling light from within, before the ship violently exploded outwards and sent shrapnel flying in all directions. Megatron and Shockwave slammed painfully into the canyon walls, Arcee tumbling from the silver mech's grasp, as the drones were knocked down and exposed to melting temperatures. Megatron growled as he heard Arcee limp away and transform, driving away, but he gasped when his hazy gaze looked upwards and he saw where the damage had truly taken its toll. A large, smoldering hole had been blown into the side of the Decepticon's ship, smoke billowing out from fires that needed immediate attention. A slow and sad sounding groan emanated from the machine as it began to fly forward towards an open desert and lean to the side. The Nemesis was coming down.