"Why am I not surprised that it is Sentinel behind this whole mess?" Megatron grumbled.
Optimus Prime raised an optic ridge, yet he said nothing. But his mate seemed to have no problem voicing her opinion. "Because you have a good instinct, yet like an idiot, you have no problem ignoring it."
Megatron growled before pressing his finger to the comm link. "You didn't seem to have a problem trusting him for over ten thousand years with your Autobot information during the war," he snapped.
"Yet you were foolish enough to trust a willing traitor," Elita-One replied simply.
"You and Soundwave are supposed to be monitoring our coordinates," Optimus reminded them, bringing an end to the argument. "I am surprised that you have yet to find anything of use."
"Prowl's team reported nothing of interest," Elita replied. "Yet Soundwave is able to detect no more than seven life signatures that are not from our teams."
Megatron frowned. "That's it? They do not have soldiers stationed anywhere?"
"If the entire base if filled with predacons, then there is no need to have such a large guard," Elita answered. She paused, and Optimus's feeling of discomfort increased. "Though he has been able to detect multiple energy signatures residing below the mountain. Possibly an army."
"How many?" Megatron demanded.
"Many," came her response. "Yet the large life signatures of the predacons started to mesh together after that roar."
"It was a signal," Optimus said grimly. "A signal for what, we do not know." He felt Elita's worry, her thoughts straying to Bumblebee. Her thoughts and worries matched his own, and he desperately wanted to burst out into the open and demand were Bumblebee was. Yet years of combat training and experience forced him to remain still and follow the plan.
"Why don't we find out?" Megatron asked. His optics narrowed as he glanced out of the small opening that led to the large cavern. As soon as he did, a trio of predacons descended downward, and bot Megatron and Optimus stiffened up. Yet the predacons seemed oblivious to their presence and instead started shrieking their unholy roars. Fire spewed from their mouths as they destroyed the many security feeds and anything in their way.
"A rebellion?" Optimus asked, glancing at Megatron.
The Decepticon leader met his gaze. "We shall find out soon enough. I grow tired of this waiting."
"Do not make any rash decisions," Optimus warned, despite the fact that it was exactly what he wanted to do. The ground shook as a predacon slammed against the metal doors not too far away from their hiding place. "Wait for backup. Prowl and the others are on their way."
"As is Barricade," Megatron said. "But something tells me that if we do not act now, we will miss this opportunity."
No sooner had the words left his mouth then did several figures burst through a passage. Both Optimus and Megatron leveled their blasters at the new arrivals.
"Hey, hey!" Frenzy shrieked, throwing his servos up for protection. "We're friendlies!"
A roar pierced through the air once more as the predacons seemed to come to a halt suddenly. This time, their roars were turned into screams as they fell from the sky. Their helms banged up against the sharp rock, as if to rid themselves of the pain inside their helms.
A large, red predacon fell in front of their small hiding place. Its armor shifted and formed, as if uncertain what shape to take as it screamed.
"Not friendly!" Frenzy declared as the predacon's sharp, blue optics focused on them.
Arcee stared in frozen horror as the predacon stared at them, its gaze focused on the center of the group, regardless of the many weapons pointed at it. The armor shifted once more to the form of a Cybertronian, yet the cries of pain did not stop. Electric waves seemed to spring from the poor creature's throat, yet she dropped to her knees before them in submission.
"My Prime," she choked out before collapsing, her servos gripping at the lose rock as another spasm of pain wracked through her.
Recognition flooded through Arcee, an act that was shared by two only Autobots. Without a word and ignoring the obvious threat, Optimus Prime lunged forward, gathering the whimpering femme in his arms. Beside Arcee, Moonracer stood, frozen.
"Is-is that...Firestar?" she asked, her voice choking up. Arcee could only nod mutely.
Firestar clung to Optimus as another cry tore through her throat, the electric torture covering her entire helm. Optimus's blue optics narrowed, and he turned Firestar over on her back. He placed his servo firmly on her throat before snatching at the black device that was so tightly lodged there.
Energon spilled out of the new wound he was creating, and Firestar's screams intensified. Yet Optimus did not stop as he dug at the device before pulling his servos back. Firestar's screams faded to relieved gasps, her body suddenly going limp.
Optimus's expression was unreadable, yet his optics were fierce with rage as he gazed at the device in his energon soaked servos. He held it out for Megatron to see as the Decepticon leader strode forward. Megatron's red optics narrowed as he snatched the device away. "A slave chip!" he spat.
"You are free from it now," Optimus said as he helped Firestar to her pedes. "Rest now."
"No," Firestar rasped, a servo over her bleeding throat. Her voice shook, and Arcee just now realized how deep Optimus had to go to get it off of her.
"We...we need to help...Bumblebee," she gasped. Even now, she was struggling to speak. "Electric...power core. Destroy it."
Moonracer gasped while Arcee rushed forward. "Bumblebee! Where is he?"
Firestar winced as she turned, her optics focused down the cavern. She simply pointed, and Arcee's spark was filled with dread as she took in the shattered glass. Already, she could make out the form of a struggling predacon, its screams easy to make out.
"Oh Primus," she muttered, her steps carrying her forward as she broke out into a run.
"Decepticons!" she heard Megatron bellow. "Disable the power core! Bring this Pit down on these traitors!"
"Autobots! Rally with the Decepticons!" Optimus Prime ordered.
Arcee was already running, transforming as she did so, her wheels carrying her faster then her legs ever could. She heard the sounds of a predacons roar, and the many rocks tumbling from the ceiling forced her to transform back just in time to see a white predacon crash to the ground, a small being cradled in its wings.
She was running, regardless of the danger she might be putting herself in. The mech that the white predacon had tried to protect stood up, straight and tall. Though his armor was changed, she would still recognize him anywhere.
"Bumblebee!" she screamed.
His blue optics locked on hers, a mixture of shock and joy.
"Arcee!" he shouted.
She never reached him as the ground beneath them began to shake, and the very foundation was destroyed as it opened up. The white mech with Bumblebee weakley transformed, yet a boulder crashed into its wings, pinning it to the ground as it screamed in pain.
Bumblebee's knees buckled beneath him as he lost his footing, the ground opening beneath him. He was torn away from Arcee as he fell through the gaping hole. In that exact moment, the lights that surrounded the caves plunged into darkness.
Ark leaped backward just as a blaster bolt from Dirge grazed her pedes. She lashed out with her wrist blades, clawing at Antagony. The witch let out a shriek as the blades hit their marks, yet she was stronger then Ark and flipped the smaller femme over.
Ark hissed in pain as she got too close to the heat, her metal armor reacting to the close proximity of the lava. She quickly scrambled up before seeking cover.
She was outnumbered and outgunned. Yet, as her optics flickered over to the bombs, she realized that she could still perform her mission. And possibly take a few traitors with her.
"I like you. You are a strong one," Antagony purred from the darkness. Ark crouched down, using the rock as a protection, her back pressed up against it. She winced as as her damaged servo throbbed with pain from where Antagony had shot her, yet she focused on the sounds around her. She could hear Dirge's cautious pede steps, and how he powered up his blaster. No doubt his optics were flickering around in search of her as he unknowingly approached her hiding spot.
Yet for all that she was hearing and seeing, she could not detect the witch, her true threat. Her spark clenched, not in fear, but in anticipation of what was to come.
"As an agent of Unicron," the witch continued, and Ark could have sworn that the witch was standing right behind her. She shook the thought away. It was a trick, she reminded herself. She had seen this type of trick before used on helpless Cybertronians to drive them mad with fear and expose themselves rashely to their enemies where the witches would finish them off.
"I get to use all the fun tools that come along with the job," the witch finished, her voice dropping to a snarl. "And I will use them on you! I will make you a new creation. My own personal art!"
Ark's optics snapped open as she detected the negative energy that now filled the room. She leaped away from her hiding spot just as Dark Energon pierced through the ground she had previously stood on. Rolling to a stop, she sprung upwards just in time to block Dirge's blaster bolts with her swords.
Like a caged animal who was corned, Ark fought ferociously. She refused to die in vain. If she was going to die, then this entire mountain would fall from her acts.
Yet apparently, someone else had ideas.
Large claws scraped against the entrance of the passageway, clearing a path for the large beast who emerged from the cavern. His golden optics narrowed as the beast let out a shriek. Both Ark and Dirge paused in their attacks, optics wide. In that moment, they both scrambled back as predacon fire filled the room from the enraged beast.
"Antagony!" Ark heard Dirge shout as he cowered behind a boulder. "Control your beast!"
Ark pushed herself up, relying on her senses instead of her sight as the cavern was filled with dirt and smoke. Yet even her hearing betrayed her.
A flash of purple caught her attention, and Ark barely had time to react before Antagony appeared before her, a shard of glowing, dark energon in her servos. Her features were twisted in an unholy sneer as the dark power of the Chaos Bringer filled her.
"See what I mean by 'fun tools'?" she snarled, her optics glowing.
Ark's optics narrowed as she pressed herself into the shadows. She used the dark and chaos to her advantage as a way to escape and form a better plan. Her optics flickered toward the bombs, and she dashed towards them, only for another wave of fire to block her way.
"Antagony!" Dirge continued yelling. The predacon continued its wild rampage, this time focusing on the witch. Dirge took advantage of the beast's distraction, taking aim with his blaster.
Ark did not know where the predacon stood, but she did know where Dirge stood, and it was not on her side.
With a flick of her wrist, a dagger was in her servos. With quick, practiced ease, she launched the dagger at Dirge. The weapon flew straight and true as the mech never saw the dagger coming until it was lodged deeply into his shoulders. With a cry of pain, he crumbled to the floor. "Antagony!" he screamed.
Antagony just cackled, unfazed by her companions distress or of the predacon that was charging toward her. The Dark Energon seemed to hum in her servos as she raised it, ready to wield its power against the predacon.
Ark reacted, taking advantage of the witch's unprotected back. She lashed out, wrist blades vanishing and transforming into swords. She stabbed her weapons into the witch's shoulders, wincing as contaminated energon burned through her armor. Antagony let out a shriek, jerking back and away from the weapons. Dirge's enraged yell caught Ark's attention, and she looked up just in time to see him rush away from the edge of the lava flow and toward her, his optics alight with rage.
Yet the predacon reacted quickly. Turning swiftly, his spiked, long tail lashed out and slammed into Dirge's body. With a choke, Dirge was flung backward. His optics widened as he fell, his descent picking up speed as he tumbled downward and into the steaming lava.
Screaming, Dirge scrambled at the edge of the ground, trying to escape the unforgiving, ravaging lava. His screams increased, only to be choked off as the predacon's fire held him back.
Ark looked away from the horrifying sight, yet she could not do anything to ward off the dying screams as Dirge was consumed by the lava.
Yet her momentary distraction left her open for an attack, a fact she quickly realized as she saw the Dark Energon in Antagony's servo descend down toward her. Ark was not fast enough to move as she brought her sword up to block the dagger. Her wounded servo creaked with protest as it transformed into a weakened sword, and the dark Energon shattered against it.
A choked, horrified gasp escaped from Ark's mouth as she felt the power of the Chaos Bringer probe at her wound. She wrenched away as the witch's grin of triumph widened.
A roar filled Ark's audio receptors, and a looming shadow was cast over her. The witch's grin of triumph was replaced by a grimace of pain. She gasped, choking as both she and Ark focused their gazes on the tip of the sword poking through her chassis.
As if shocked, Antagony let out a choked laugh as she stared as the weapon that had skewered her spark. Glancing once more at Ark, her purple optics dimmed as she fell back, the dark Energon slipping from her lifeless servos.
Ark blinked and scooted back from the dead body. The looming shadow that had towered over the witch was in fact a tall, armored mech, his bright gold optics alight with hatred as he stared at Antagony. Yet there was no time for Ark to wonder if he was a threat to her as she felt the Dark Energon wound travel up her arm. With a gasp of pain, she transformed her sword into her servo once more, but it did nothing to stop the flow.
"Help me," she gasped desperately, staring up at the golden mech who towered over her. "Please, get rid of it!"
The mech knelt down next to her, golden optics narrowed. "What must I do?" he asked.
She gritted her denta as she felt the Dark Energon reach her shoulder. "Cut it off, now." The mech blinked, the first emotion of surprise on his face. "Cut it off now!" she screamed desperately as hysterics took over her. She could not be corrupted by the Dark Energon, she could not. She had a duty to fulfill to her Heir and to Megatron. That was more important to her then her arm.
She felt the mech grab her roughly by the shoulders before shoving her into the ground. She gasped as she felt the sharp, cold metal of a sword pierce through her armor. She tried to hold in her screams as pain exploded through her, yet she failed at that. Darkness consumed her as the pain became too much for her to withstand.
Predaking towered over the small, unconscious dark femme, blue energon pooling out of her wound. Having blacked out when he was sawing off her arm, he was able to study her without her screams filling the empty cave. Descareded far away from her was the arm he had quickly chopped off, the purple lifeblood of Unicron dripping out of it.
He looked back at the body of the witch who had caused him so much pain from the start. Her dark, dead optics stared back up at him, a mixture of surprise and pain frozen on her face. Yet on her face, still, was that maddening smirk.
He felt a twinge of disappointment. He had hoped that she would have seen his face, to know who had delivered the killing blow. Yet she had died too quickly. But he had reacted rashly with no thought in mind. He saw a threat, and he took care of it.
With a scowl and a swift kick, he shoved her body into the lava. Fire erupted as her dead body melted and sunk into the fire, never to rise again.
His optics flickered over to the bombs he had seen the femme trying to get to. When he had followed her after catching the dark blur that he identified as her armor, he had not known what he would find. But he was glad he had followed.
With a frown, he observed the bombs before looking back at the structures that were holding the foundation of the mountains.
He smirked as he realized what the femme had intended to do, and he could already tell he liked her already.
Moonracer did not know what had possessed her to join Firestar in storming the cliffside where the electric grid was. But she knew she had to do something. Yet flying in the claws of a predacon once more was not exactly pleasant, given her previous flights. Yet from such a height, she had caught a blur of yellow armor. Without even having a clear view, she knew that it was Bumblebee, that he was down there safely. His name had escaped her lips, whether she screamed or whispered it, she did not know or care.
She eagerly landed on the floor, glass and debris crunching beneath her pedes. Her optics were drawn to the lone Cybertronian in the room, and a stab of betrayal ran through her. Despite knowing about his intentions, the reality of Sentinel's treachery came back to her in full force.
Sentinel's optics narrowed, and his blaster was raised. Moonracer was shoved out of the way by Firestar, the predacon's hard armor taking the brunt of the blasts. Moonracer's optics focused on the electric grid, and the sounds of the predacons screams outside urging her on.
Yet as she scrambled to her pedes, Sentinel stood in her way.
"You will not succeed," he growled, advancing toward her.
With a mighty predacon at her back, and the fact that Bumblebee was alive filled her with strength. Yet rage consumed her as she regarded this mech who had dared to harm the mech she considered a brother.
This filth of a traitor dared to keep her from him!
"By the will of Primus," she declared, pulling out the fake Key boldly. "You will fall."
Sentinel's optics widened as he took in the Key to Vector Sigma. Taking advantage of his shock, Moonracer flung the Key out through the open. She did not know what Arcee had intended to use the Key for, but she was determined to use it.
"No!" Sentinel screamed, scrambling for it.
The sound of someone transforming caught Moonracer's attention, and she turned to see Firestar lunge forward, clawed servos out. With a scream, she shoved her sharp servos into Sentinel's midsection. The mech choked, scrambling back, only for his pedes to meet thin air. With wide optics, he plunged out the window.
Firestar did not look away for a moment. Her optics trained on Moonracer, narrowed and fierce; beastlike. "Destroy the grid!"
That was all the encouraging Moonracer needed. Despite the sudden eruption from the ground and the destroyed foundation, Moonracer's sharpshooter abilities took over as her blaster bolt flew straight into the heart of the electric grid, plunging everything into darkness.
Her senses disoriented, Moonracer let out a scream as she felt the claws of a predacon wrap around her. She was pulled away and out the window. The flight became a fall as Firestar plunged downward. It took Moonracer a moment realize that the screams she was hearing were not her own, but someone else's. She could make out the faint outline of a white predacon struggling beneath a pile of rubble, his screams of pain easy to identify.
She was dumped to the shaking ground, and she barely got her pedes beneath her. Someone else gripped her waist, supporting her up, and she could faintly see the outline of Frenzy thanks to the ground bridge provided for them as an escape.
"I got you mean greenie," Frenzy said as he dragged her toward the ground bridge.
"Wait! Firestar!" Moonracer screamed as she watched the red predacon push aside the boulders, uncovering the white predacon. With a roar, she picked him up and dragged him toward the ground bridge.
"Stop!" Moonracer screamed as she felt someone else pick her up and charge toward the ground bridge. "Where's Bumblebee! Please! We can't leave him!"
In his large servos, Predaking still held the unconscious femme. Atop a cliff, he observed the mountain with a frown. Why was the foundation still standing? Darksteel and Skylynx had escaped, and he had activated the bombs, so why was nothing happening?
The femme in his arms stirred and she quickly placed her pedes down on the ground. With a frown, she regarded the device in his servos before snatching it away from him. "It's this button," she said simply, pressing it.
With that action, Predaking witnessed with a smile how the mountain began to cave from the bombs she had activated.
Arcee leaped forward and into the small hole that Bumblebee fell through. She grabbed at his servos, yet she slipped and was dragged in with him as well. The ground shifted and groaned beneath them, yet she continued to hold on as they met the rough ground of the rocky mountain.
"Hold on," she grunted, the ground beneath her pedes unstable. "I've got you." Desperation clawed at her spark. She refused to let him go. If he was going to fall, she would fall with him. Even as she felt the cliff crumble beneath her, she would not let him go.
But that still meant she wanted them both out of here alive.
Warm servos wrapped around her waist, and she looked up into his blue optics that were dim with pain, yet seemed to brighten up when he looked at her. She noticed none of his wounds, none of the chaos around her. All she saw was the proof before her that he was alive and with her.
"I've...got you," he said, his voice hoarse.
Arcee's optics narrowed in determination, and she clung to him even tighter as another shockwave ran through the system of the caves. This time, it was louder than ever, and the ceiling within them began to collapse. She could faintly hear Optimus's orders to fall back.
But she knew they would not be able to, already the cliff they were on was crumbling. She and Bumblebee would fall to their deaths, and be buried alive beneath the mountain.
She gripped Bumblebee's damaged armor, a reassurance that he was still there. With one servo, she reached for her comm link in a last attempt at escape. "Soundwave, I need a bridge!"
The mountain seemed to roar much like the predacons it held prisoner before the walls and ceiling fell within themselves. Bumblebee's hold on her tightened as they fell, and she could hear his sharp intake of breath and the fear radiating from him, a fear she shared.
"Soundwave, now!" she screamed, squeezing her optics shut as she held onto Bumblebee.
A flash of green caused her to open her optics just as the hard, metal ground of the Decepticon headquarters met both her and Bumblebee. Arcee gasped in shock, and she felt Bumblebee's servos shake as he held her, relief crashing through his systems. Her optics flickered around her to confirm that yes, they were indeed, safe at last.
She looked back at Bumblebee, their matched expressions of relief identical. She reached out hesitantly to touch his face, feeling him without a sense of worry and panic. He stared up at her, as if not daring to believe that she was with him.
"Forgive me," she said, her voice soft. "For leaving you there. For not coming sooner."
He just pulled her close, and she could feel the warmth of his spark connect with her own. She felt him kiss her helm, and she relaxed in his embrace.
"I love you," he said softly, and Arcee's world was made right again.
Author's Note: If you all are nice, I might give you all two chapters tomorrow ;)