Chapter four: The calm has ended
Within orns, Cybertron was in chaos. Bombs were being dropped on major cities, all public places such as amusement parks and gardens were closed and shut down.
The Council, or really what was left of it, declared that all able bodied Cybertronians, not 'corrupted' by the Decepticons propaganda where to enlist into a force declared the 'Autobots'.
To Luna, the dread building in her with every new piece of news, just seemed to grow. "It's getting out of servo." She mumbled, slumped over on the edge of her berth, data pad lying at her side still showing the latest updates, and none were anything close to positive.
Thankfully, the Hall had remained relatively unscathed during the chaos. Iacon was a well guarded, well fortified city, and the Decepticons were no where near ready to battle the Autobot's on their home turf. The rebellion had remained near the outskirts of the city, the lonely Autobot outposts had been destroyed multiple times, and other cities, such as Kaon and Tarn had already been overtaken by the Decepticons completely.
The leading Autobots had been fretting over the city of Vos recently, their current Wing Lord, Starscream, was well known for his distaste of Iacon and its leaders. The Autobots knew that if he joined the Decepticons, the rest of his city would follow, giving the Decepticons a deadly aerial advantage. This had been a constant helm ache for the residents of the Hall, since Optimus frequently stopped by to ask his former mentor for advice.
"Gah, it's all going to Pits!" Luna exclaimed, throwing herself back onto the berth.
Alpha Trion hadn't even needed to tell her she wasn't to fight, she'd long since given up any hopes of helping with this cause.
Her only major task with helping the war effort, was collecting any and all reports, filing, documenting, and then sending them off to the Council and Optimus, sometimes Prowl, seeing as the mech had been made SIC of the Autobots.
Her audio twitched, causing the blue cuff which hung off it to bounce as she giggled.
There was one positive, Prowls sneak peek at how she dealt with bots had left the poor mech terrified of her.
Honestly, she doubted it was warranted, she had a harsh kick, everything else about her put her at an extreme disadvantage.
But, like all gossip, it had somehow become a rumour through the Autobot ranks, that she was some sort of highly trained one shot killer they were holding back due to 'unstable tendencies to lash out'.
The news that Prowl had witnessed her kick Orion, now Optimus, in the faceplates, sending the poor mech flying no less, probably added to that.
It was a fun little tit bit she'd gotten a few jours prior.
She didn't feel like shattering conceptions just yet, wanting to tell Hymnal first during their next arranged call.
The Temple had gotten a lot busier with Mechs, Fems and Younglings alike going there to pray for the safety of their friends and loved ones.
That thought sobered the hybrid fem, reminding her of the true nature of this war.
It was bad, the intensity was unlike anything in the records.
And all of her calculations had been less than promising. Such a major divide in their race had been ripped apart, and it threatened to just continue to grow until nothing was left.
Then again, this was mostly because she'd done nothing but calculate worst case scenarios so far.
Everything from the moon's being experimental weapons and crashing into the planet, causing a global catastrophe, to the unsettling possibilities that data pad contained.
It had been in the servos of Megatron.
And under even closer scrutiny of the data, she'd found that fragments, albeit small, had been copied, and all of them were from one specific chapter.
Plagues.
It seemed that the further she looked into any part of this mess, the more and more she felt like they'd all end up offline eventually.
One of the training dummies she used had already been reduced to a pile of metal brackets and tin wire stuffing.
That only helped so much with her stress levels.
By some miracle, her internal panic seemed to of eaten up more time than expected, as a ping from her desk alerted her to an incoming call.
She very nearly crashed onto her desk she moved so fast to answer, even Prowl would be a welcome distraction, despite his weary nature around her, now that the shock had worn off.
Thankfully, Primus decided to smile on her and she was greeted with the view of her best friend. "Hymnal! Primus I'm so glad to see you! I'm halfway to a panic attack and nothing's happened in three cycles! I didn't even know I could get paranoia this bad!" As if on cue she glanced to the side and caught something in her peripheral, jolting her helm round she realised it was only one of her organic plants rustling in the breeze of the open glass balcony doors on the other side of her multipurpose room. "Primus this in getting ridiculous." Her helm connected with her desk a moment later. "Ugh… I'm too fragging tense for this slag."
"The war is getting bad, Luna. I suggest you move to the inner Temple soon. I have no doubt that Megatron and his Decepticons have their optics on Iacon and the Hall." they said worriedly, their wings shifting in the background.
"I fully hear you there Hymnal, I've already discussed it with Alpha, he feels better with me staying here, with the Halls defenses and all, but, he understands my reasoning, despite it taking four joors to get all my points across, it was an interesting meeting, so I've already began packing… I just… this is the only home I've ever known… and I'm scared." She admitted, covering her helm with her servos as her audios drooped down. "Every scenario I've run, ends in us all ending up offline on the ground with our world plunged into darkness, I've done the math and none of it is good."
"We must have faith, if not in Primus then in each other. We will protect each other," Hymnal said softly.
Luna lifted her helm back up and sighed. "I know, I know, but it's hard for me… facts is all I've know, and I know these ones aren't…. I just heard something…" Her audios had swiveled round, the 'clink' of metal on metal, and it had come from the corridor, after that no sound, but Luna was in no way fooled, quickly loading up the security camera's vid-feed and loading it onto her visor.
What the cameras revealed, caused the previous pool of dread to become more like the sea of rust itself.
The hunters.
"Hymnal… I think I'm about to die..." How had they made it all the way to her floor without being detected?!
"What?!" Hymnal asked in surprise and fear.
"They're here… the hunters… and they're toting a certain purple logo…" She looked over to the open doors of the balcony, it was her only chance, but the distance between her current position put her at risk. "Ok, make that nineteen percent chance of survival, the rest…. Made into a rug." She didn't even cut the call, she could hear them getting close, and so, she threw herself over the back of her chair, and bolted.
A shout came from the doorway, and a moment later, everything went to Pits, one managing to make its mark on her upper arm, cutting through the exposed protoform there.
She barely had time to let out a pained grunt before she made it to the balcony, immediately turning off her pain receptors to try and focus, the gunfire causing the glass around her to shatter as she scrambled over the ledge, not even acknowledging the massive drop to the street level far below until she forced herself to twist and relax, her hooves making impact first and causing the metal beneath her to crack, all whilst a hail of shots rained down towards her, causing panic to quickly erupt and over take the packed street.
Not waiting to give herself time to recover, Luna bolted, clutching her throbbing arm as she ducked into an alley, for once wholly grateful of her small stature.
Her spark was racing, crackling and thrashing in her spark chamber at a dangerous rate.
She gave herself a few moments to try and calm down, any more exertion and she'd collapse, and she knew all too well what that could potentially lead to.
Spark moderately in check, she bolted down the alley way, ducking past two mechs who shouted after her.
Hopefully the hunters would be caught, before they could catch her.
All the while, Hymnal was in an angry panic.
Not that they could show that around the other priests.
Hymnal moved quickly to reach the temple entrance after Luna disappeared from the camera view and shots were heard. They cut off the connection to the video before moving to the lift and, instead of taking it up, flew right up the shaft. The magnets in their frame held them in the air as they pushed themselves up the lift shaft as fast as possible, their spark fluttering in panic.
They didn't want to consider the prospect that Luna could already be dead, refusing to think about it, not ready to consider it. The thought filled them with a burning feeling right in the core of their being and made their tanks roll. Hymnal shook their helm, schooling their worried expression into a stern look.
They reached the top and flew into the main temple, waving some of the few guards the temple had left over as they landed.
"Yes, Head Priest Hymnal?" one asked, causing Hymnal to focus on them.
"There is a femme in trouble who has been granted protection from Primus," they informed, "she is currently in danger and needs assistance." the guards looked worriedly between themselves at the thought of a fight, causing Hymnal to frown in disapproval.
"Um, Head Priest? Is she being pursued by Decepticons? If so, I doubt there's anything but a bullet ridden frame left." one of the younger guards pipped in, shifting where he stood. Hymnal glared and the guards looked nervous, their peds seeming to plant themselves in the floor.
Hymnal repressed a scoff, angry at the mechs cowardness. They leaned forward and grabbed one of the swords from one of the shifty mechs, giving them all an accusing look before stalking out of the Temple. Hymnal would go with or without them.
As soon as they got out the door they took off running in the direction of the Hall. The roads were clear, since most of the Iacon population moved to the other side of the city where the walls around them were thicker. This had left half of Iacon vacant and easy to access by the Decepticons. They turned their audio receptors up to the max, intensely listening for anything to hint at Luna's whereabouts, or of the Decepticons they'd slice to pieces if they found out she was dead.
There was a faint sound of blaster fire coming from just west of the Hall (the Temple was to the North), and Hymnal moved as fast as they could to the sound, jumping over abandoned stalls and smaller vehicles used for ground transport.
The sounds were getting louder and Hymnal turned their audios back to normal when they saw the lights of the blaster rounds in the distance. With a pull of the magnets within their frame, they pulled themselves to the roof of a small building for a better vantage point.
They caught a glance of movement, then a small frame bolting away from a group of large mechs. Hymnal's wings flared when they noticed it was Luna. This was just before she ducked and crammed herself between two buildings, her thin frame for once being her saving grace as she held stock still as the large weapon toting mechs rushed right past, having missed her quick slip out of sight.
Hymnal breathed a sigh of relief, moving quietly over to the roof of one of the buildings Luna was hiding between. Hymnal tapped on the side of the building to get Luna's attention.
The terrified fems reaction was a startled squeak and pressing herself even further into the gap, causing a scraping sound of metal on metal.
"Shhh Luna!" Hymnal whispered from above.
A cluster of panicked warbles and chirps were her only response other than the rattling of her plates, green optics wide and gripped by panic.
"Here, grab ahold" they whispered, moving down one of their wing pillars.
Green optics latched onto the familiar appendage, in the cramped space only her right arm could grab hold, the three digits wrapping tight around in a vice like grip. Hymnal slowly pulled the wing pillar up, their servos grabbing ahold of Luna's servos when she was within reach.
Once Luna had stumbled up onto the roof, their frame collapsed against theirs, the noises made still unintelligible as she clutched on for dear life, frame shaking and a multitude of places, mostly on her back, where trickling energon from bullet wounds, some even in the seams of her legs, causing them to be at the point of near collapse.
"I… I don't…. Wanna offline…" She got out, before losing all strength and slumping against them.
"You won't, Luna. I won't let you." Hymnal swore, pulling her into their arms and standing up before taking off towards the Temple. They moved as quickly as they could, pushing themselves to the limit with their frame and magnets to get over roofs and over intersections without being spotted. It was a breem before they reached the Temple, dashing inside and calling for a medic to be hailed.
It took a breem or two at most before the medic arrived, but froze at the sight of the patient. "What is she?!" The mech exclaimed, kneeling to examine the soft nano fibres which covered her protoform.
Hymnal almost hissed. "Cybertronian, now get to work." they snapped at the medic.
"No, this is the fem that's part Ion deer? Correct? If she is, I can't operate until she's conscious, if I did anything now she could go into a spark relapse and extinguish herself." He snapped back.
"You can at least plug up the holes before she bleeds to death." Hymnal said.
"That I can do." He acknowledged albeit a bit snappish. With that he drew a moderate pile of mesh bandages from his subspace, quickly wrapping the injuries on her upper half, when reached for the damaged joints of her pedes however, he only just managed to keep his helm when her hoof lashed out and a startled screech left the now very awake hybrid fem.
"Luna! It is ok, you are safe," Hymnal said to the distressed femme, cradling her in their lap, petting the hiked up audios in hopes of quelling their friends terror.
It took a few breems of insistent warbling chirps and a few more lash outs from her damaged pedes before she stilled, optics wide and darting in every which direction, from behind her cracked visor, which had made contact with a mechs arm when she was fleeing at high speed. Hymnal continued to pet her until long after they stopped lashing out and as the medic began to fix her up. Containing the odd wince, Luna's claws gripped that bit tighter when another bullet was carefully removed, her pain receptors were down, but she could still make out every movement within her as the medic worked to pry the pieces from her protoform.
That was when a commotion came from outside, shouts and heavy pede steps coming towards them.
Luna was thrashing to right herself not an astrosecond later. A panicked cry leaving her as she scrambled against Hymnal's quick hold, trying to keep her from making her wounds worse than they already were.
Hymnal was forced to pin Luna to their chassis to keep them from harming themselves further, their arms tightly around her arms, pinning them to her torso. They moved quickly, hiding Luna behind a wall in a hidden compartment in a backroom. They whispered for Luna to keep quiet and that they would take care of things, giving Luna only enough time to give them a scared trembling nod. Hymnal turned and left the backroom, returning to the front where the commotion was still happening.
It was four of the hunters, including the femme who had first singled Luna out, and now had her rifle pointed directly at Hymnal. "Where's the freak. Tell us now, and we'll only take those pretty wings of yours." She snarled, raising the scope to her murderous purple optic.
Hymnal had schooled their face into a look of cool indifference.
"This is the house of Primus, take your ill-will elsewhere," they said cooly. The magnets in their frame pulsed, letting Hymnal feel the metal in the walls. They'd be unhappy to damage the walls of the Temple, but better that than let these hunters take Luna for a rug, they thought to themselves.
"Not until we get the Ion deer, a beast like that'll fetch a high price, pet or pelt." One of the mechs responded, priming his own weapon.
This made Hymnal angry, their wings twitching as they leveled a glare at the hunters.
"The one you seek is no longer here, she ran when she heard you approaching," they lied, "now leave."
"Heh, scanners say otherwise, the energon traces only come in, and that pool in the middle suggests she's not moving on her own now the shocks kicked in, I should know, I got the most shots on her. "Another larger mech practically purred, puffing up his armour whilst patting the chain gun at his side. "Everybot and their carrier knows that once an Ion deer goes into shock, they lose all ability to stand, let alone flee from us~ Now stand down, we wouldn't want a pretty face like yours damaged, doll~"
A brief flash of disgust was shown on Hymnal's face before leaving. Their stance widened into a defensive one, their wings flaring out to their full length, almost brushing the pillars that held the Temple ceilings up.
"You will be leaving," they said sternly, "There will be no war in the Temple of Primus, not while I still function. You will leave now, empty servoed."
The femme snarled. "Not without the Ion deer, that pelt alone would set us for our life cycles, stop being so selfish and hand the beast over! Before I put a round between your optics." She warned, loading a round and lining her sight with the aforementioned spot. "The Ion deer, now, if you will."
"Selfish?" Hymnal almost yells, "You are attempting to kill a living, breathing, SENTIENT being for credits! That is the epitome of selfishness, you hollow sparked creation-of-a-" a servo on Hymnal's arm kept them from continuing with their very un-Priestly words. A three digit servo.
Luna was barely holding herself up as she glared at them. "Leave them alone, if you're so willing in this, then try and shoot me!" She shouted, clutching the gem attached to her neck, a Red flash streaking across both green optics for a brief moment.
Hymnal took ahold of Luna's arm and gently pushed her behind them.
"Please stay there, Luna." they pleadingly whispered over their private comm. "I'm going to barricade the doors, but we need a way to push them out."
Luna smirked. "I have just the solution." They responded, before with a sudden cry out, a thick mass of crackling red energy exploded outwards between them and the hunters, the force slamming the four back. "Now!" She shouted, grunting as the four began firing off at the wall of red energy which had rocketed out of the gem mere moments before.
Hymnal threw out their arms, activating every magnet in their frame to hold them down and pull the thick metal sheets from the walls and slam them down in front of the doors of the Temple. They added layers and layers of walling to the doors, creating a thick barricade between the Temple and the outside world.
Luna let off an exhausted sigh. "That'll only keep them out so long, alert the Enfor...cers..." She got out, before her frame keeled over and crashed to the ground in stasis.
Hymnal let out a tired sigh, sitting on the ground next to Luna and pulling her helm into their lap.
"If only I could"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
It had been vorns. Vorns that they had been based in the Temple. They lived off of the energon that Hymnal was able to retrieve from the inner Temple, but they rationed strictly.
They were all able to leave when they wanted through a hidden backdoor that could be accessed through a backroom. They only left when they needed to; they left for updates on the worsening war, news from Alpha Trion, and for any resources they didn't have themselves. They still had a medic, five guards, ten priests, and Hymnal and Luna, making 18 in all.
It hadn't been easy, but they managed, the lowest levels becoming Luna's home since her move in, and her recovery from the multitude of bullet wounds. Luna rarely spent a moment still, constantly moving and tinkering, updating the ancient systems which filled the temple and drove her balmy with their slowness.
Hymnal attempted to make the Temple as comfortable as possible, pulling the metal walls in unused rooms to make furniture like berths, even though it made them feel bad for destroying the Temple. Though, Hymnal was sure Primus would forgive them for doing what was necessary for their long stay, and the broken screens from the odd time one had fritzed out and Luna had ended up smashing them, fist or hoof, but the later often left a crater to boot.
Currently, Hymnal was in the deepest parts of the Temple, the Well where Primus's spark was located. They stared sadly at the core of Cybertron, which was dim and sickly colored. The drain of Cybertron's resources while the war went on sickened the planet, and Primus's spark was slowly dying. This brought a turmoil to Hymnal, who couldn't bare to see the spark of the god they worshiped slowly diminishing. Their core programing was on the fritz, but they contained it to the best of their abilities.
The familiar clacking of hoved pedes alerted them to Luna's approach. "We have to get the word out about this, we can't just sit by and watch this happen Hymnal, if we lose Primus, we lose Cybertron." Luna stated, standing in the doorway, not daring to cross the threshold, it was one of the few places she never stepped, out of respect for their creator. "The same can be said for you, you need to have something in your tanks and I know you haven't been taking any of your rations, Temba won't shut up about it, and you know how he gets, please at least do it so the guards don't end up trying to kill him again!" Luna added, sounding quite desperate by the end as she gestured with both servos down the corridor which lead up to the main area those trapped within the temple resided, they weren't trapped, but they preferred to stay out of the war, and unfortunately, they were caught in the middle in their little sanctuary.
"I am aware of the severeness of this situation, Luna; however, I doubt anyone on the surface with halt their fighting, whether or not they know." Hymnal said quietly, not turning from their spot looking at Primus's spark.
Luna sighed. "Hymnal, I understand where you're coming from, he's the creator… bots should care more, but, I meant get word out, as in, try and give at least some of the less loyal bots to abandon planet? Weaken the impact to Primus? I… don't know anymore… every test, every theory I've run, and none of them are coming up with anything remotely helpful… we've past the point of no-return…" She admitted, turning her gaze away and to the wall at her side, digits clenching at her hips. "Even with everything I know… I can do nothing to help… I'm sorry… but please, don't let your own survival become in jeopardy by refusing to fuel yourself!"
Hymnal was quiet for a few moments, "I wish to be alone, please." they said softly, but then turned their helm a bit to look at Luna, "but I will be sure to refuel once I have collected my thoughts."
Luna just gave a nod before turning and making her way back down the corridor, knowing all too well there was no point trying to argue with them.
It took only a few breems to find herself back up in the make-shift rec-room. "How's Hymnal?" Temba asked, the dark red and soft yellow armoured mech asked, looking up from his paint chipped servo, where his scanner pinged every so often, trained down towards the Well.
Luna shook her helm. "Still distraught, they said they'll refuel but we all know the chance over all of that happening being lower than thirty percent.
One of the guards, Copperlock, patted the free spot on the bench he was perched on, the senior of the guards. "C'mon kid, yah shaking." The gruff mech declared.
Luna nodded and sat where he had gestured, used to how he dwarfed her. "I'm just… I guess I finally realised how useless I am… all the knowledge of the Hall, and I can't do scrap! I feel like I'm either making some fatal error, or losing my processor and so skipping vital details!" She exclaimed, reaching up with a servo and clasping at the blue cable around her neck and tugging, it had become something of a calming mechanism, reminding her that she still had a helm attached to her neck.
Temba frowned and nodded to the others, they were all feeling the effects of being in the same place for so long, with only ever bad news reaching them, then there was the fact it was becoming too dangerous for them to leave, at least for long, two of the priests had already been offed by Decepticon Assassins when they had left a few orns prior and gotten distracted by something. Ever since the second Priest was killed, their frame dropped on their doorstep, no one had left the Temple in fear of the assassins lurking outside.
One of the remaining priests, Evelia, rose and moved to sit opposite Copperlock. "Luna, do not dismay, eventually we will all make it through this troubling time, and in the process, become even greater than we were before."
Luna just snorted and rose to pace around the small circle the benches made. "For you, yes, me? First twitch I make, and they'll be shipping me off to any still standing asylum claiming I've gone mad! They were always out to make my life a fragging pit!" She practically roared at the end, kicking one of the empty cubes which lay in between two of the benches, sending it flying and shattering against the adjacent wall. "See! I'm volatile! They'll have me in stasis cuffs before I can even leave this damn temple!"
"Well, be thankful that all the prisons and asylums were destroyed by the Cons," one of the rougher guards grunted.
"Despite that, they'll build one just for me, made of shock absorbers so I can't kick my way out! … Sorry, I'm just… tense... " She mumbled the last part, moving to just sit on the ground and stare up at the intricate ceiling.
"Im sure the war-goers have bigger turbo-fish to fry than one femme with strong legs," the same guard said, taking a gulp of his ration.
"Ugh tell that to the council… how many of those fraggers are even still online?" Luna enquired.
"From the last update, Kerimax just got offed, so, that puts the total at… none."
"FRAG YEAH! Eat yah sparks out glitches!" Luna cheered, throwing herself back into a laying position. "Wait, that just fragging shows it! How could I have missed that in the update from Alpha? One answer, loosing my processor!" She laughed.
"Should be expecting a news update any cycle now from either the Autobots or Alpha Trion." Copperlock said. "And hopefully some metal shavings, I've been craving some titanium for orns now."
Temba huffed. "Don't count on it, haven't you noticed? They're sending us less and less each time… soon enough they won't be sending us anything." He growled, clenching his fist on the bench so hard it began groaning.
"The war is gettin' worse" the rougher guard, whose name was ShiftStick, grumbled. ShiftStick was the oldest mech within the Temple, par from Primus himself, but hadn't been working as a guard as long as Copperlock had. "Soon there won't be anywhere their foul stench hasn't permeated."
Evelia nodded. "The wars toxins have already polluted our creator, there is no place left it hasn't reached. Sooner or later… I understand I speak blasphemy when I say this, but we will have to leave the temple, potentially split up, and try and find a place to reside beyond Cybertron… Our home is dead… there is nothing left yet they still fight…"
"They'll burn up the place before they'll admit defeat," Copperlock said.
Luna hummed and went to respond, when a sound caught her audios."Hey Hymnal… feeling ok?"
"Wrong bot," another priest, Bluebird said, walking out of the passage. "But I walked past Hymnal in the hall, it seemed like they were heading towards their rooms."
Luna groaned and pushed herself upright. "Alright, looks like I'm gonna have to drag their sorry aft out here, don't follow you lot, it's better to have one casualty for Temba to yank at than all of us." She declared when they went to follow her, turning she strode towards the part of the temple which had become all of their quarters, soon enough coming to a stop outside of Hymnal's. "Hymnal? Bluebird said you were coming this way, what happened to refueling? C'mon, don't shut yourself away like this, you need to keep your strength up." She called, knowing the doors were about as soundproof as a datapad, they could thank Ironclad and his mate, another guard, Xeneria for that knowledge.
The door opened up, revealing Hymnal's quarters. Luna stepped through the threshold, looking around at the room that Hymnal never let anyone enter. Shelves lined the walls, all full to capacity with datapads and trinkets of all sorts. The room was dimly lit, most of the luminescence coming from several trinkets made from glowing energon crystals. The room was long and narrow, almost looking like a cut off hallway. At the far end of the room was a large berth big enough for Hymnal to sleep on with their wings. That was where Hymnal sat, their legs crossed and their servos in their lap as they looked at their digits like they were the most interesting things in the universe.
Luna stepped towards them, before going into a kneeling position her legs would allow, placing a servo on their shoulderplate. "Hymnal, you all right?" What was even the point of that question when it was obvious they weren't?
"No, but I will be," they said, looking up at Luna.
Luna stared at them from behind her visor before shaking her helm, reaching into their subspace they drew a half filled energon cube. "Here, I wasn't hungry anyway." It wasn't an out-right lie, her appetite had plummeted through the floor the last few vorns, something clearly shown and something Temba always got twitchy about. "Have this, then try and get some recharge ok? And don't worry, I'll… I'll keep watch of Primus for you whilst you recharge, from the door of course. Nothing will happen to him in the time it takes you to get some much needed rest." She declared, pushing the half drank cube into their servo. "Please, it's bad enough that we're having to decrease our rations as is, we have to make sure we don't waste or put off a drop, otherwise Temba will have all of our afts."
Hymnal was still for a moment before reaching over and gently taking the cube from Luna.
"Thank you." they said, holding the cube. Hymnal did not feel good, every part of them was screaming something was wrong as their base programing continued to glitch. Hymnal was made to serve Primus, that was why they were brought into being. Seeing him in this state and unable to do anything to help made every program within them glitch simultaneously.
Luna apparently picked up on their distress, moving to sit beside them, and after a bit of hesitation, reached out and pulled them into a hug. "We'll get through this… all of us, even the big guy himself, c'mon, he's made of some seriously tough stuff." Even as she said it, she felt her voice crack, hope for a good outcome was quickly slipping away.
Hymnal leaned into her, their optics closing as they curled up next to her.
Luna, out of an odd impulse she cursed her wilder side for, started this odd gurgling purr, leaning her helm down to nuzzle the side of their helm. "We'll get through this… even if I have to use my gem… we'll get through this…" The gem was a bit of a controversial subject, every time she used it, the moment the task set was done, she'd been knocked out cold from a sudden drop in energy levels. It was a two way system, the gem gave her its energy to control, for her own in return. Temba had, on multiple occastions, made it very clear that sudden, repeated drops in energy level could be detrimental to her health, but, at this point, what wasn't? So, she trained anyway, trying to build up stamina so that she could use the energy for longer, it was a long, arduous task, but, progress had been made, moderately.
Hymnal let out a soft sigh, relaxing into Luna's side and slipping into recharge.
Going to move, Luna realised that action wasn't going to be possible for a while, Hymnal's arms were wrapped tight around her middle, and their mass was quickly resulting in her weaker frame being pushed over onto the berth, now that said mass was no longer trying to hold themselves up.
And, just as her helm met the berth, putting her at quite the interesting, and mildly uncomfortable angle, her com-link pinged, that only possible due to the receiver dish installed on the side of the temple and cable chained down to the lower temple levels.
"Luna? It's Alpha Trion, I'm sending an escort to take you, Hymnal, and those others within the temple to the Hall, they'll be waiting for you early next cycle." Before she could respond the call ended, leaving her to lay there, partially trapped under her best friend, on their berth, with her tanks choosing that moment to kick her lack of appetite out for a bit.
"Fraggit… the Universe just hates me…"