Snow coughed and looked up at him.
"What?!" she choked.
Orcus looked at Snow and then let her go. "Sorry...about that..." He muttered, looking away. "But...I have some news conserning the others...like you."
"What?" Snow asked again, confused.
"One of the others escaped..." Orcus said, looking at Snow.
"She, uh...wants to meet you...her name's Terra...she managed to get away when we were escaping"
Snow blinked, her processor unable to take it in "What's wrong?" Orcus asked, looking at the femme.
"One of Forceblock's"
"Yes." Orcus nodded.
"But he told me he didn't know where they were. He said they'd either been... killed or..." Snow swallowed,
"Sold."
"Well, aparently this one wasn't." Orcus said calmly. "Or maybe she was...all she said was that she escaped when we did and that she was a subject like you."
Snow nodded. "Where is she?" she asked.
"This way." He motioned for her to follow him. Once they were in the mech's cave, a pair of calming red optics met theirs, but the mech/femme stayed in the darkness.
"Is this her?" The femme asked. Her voice as gentle and cautious.
Orcus nodded.
Snow tilted her head to one side, concentrating on the optics.
The ruffle of wings was heard. "Are you sure?"
"Yes I am." Orcus nodded. The optics passed over to Snow. "Are your wings real or made of metal?"
"Real," Snow answered. "Forceblock said it was a trademark."
"Same here." The optics nodded. The femme stepped out of the darkness revealing a black femme with piercing red optics. She had two large, purple bat wings sticking out of her back and what looked like bat ears on her head. She had golden talons for feet and silver claws.
"Name's Terrablast"
Snow smiled. "Snowfeather. Did he give you a transformation?"
Terra blinked. "I'm...not sure...perhaps, but he never told me how to transform..."
She said flying over to Snow. Her claws made a "click" sound against the stone floor as she landed.
"He never taught me how to fly. I had to... learn." Snow stretched her wings out.
"Of course, I can't now."
"Why not?" Terra blinked.
Orcus made a noise. "Ah yes about that...sorry...but according to Forceblock's reshearch, the feathers shall grow back..." He said looking at Snow.
Snow turned to Orcus.
"He pulled two of my flight feathers out."
Orcus shrugged. "They'll grow back."
Terra showed Snow one of her claws. "He pulled one of my claws out."
Snow glared at Orcus, her optics darkening violently.
"Did he ever teach you how to fight?" she asked Terra. "He used to put me up against Starscream or someone else and see how long I could last."
Orcus merely smirked. "Needed them. Terra did not seem to mind"
Terra ignored him. "Erm...he tought me how to fight a bit, but I was mostly used for scouting and repairs. Those were my functions."
Snow smiled faintly.
"You were luck then. He never let me out of the base. I was strictly an experiment."
She showed Terra the words 'Experiment 209' branded into her arm in Cybertronian symbols.
Terra smiled. "I barely got out. He let me out once or twice every two months, but no more than that." She showed the femme her brand which said 'Experiment 201'.
"Still luckier than me. I'd never even been out until I escaped"
Terra smiled. "Yes, but you escaped...lucky little thing..." She said, flexing her talons. The femme flapped her wings. "I, on the other hand, was led out, but just barely managed to escape..." She showed the two a laser hole in her wing.
Snow shook her head.
"Only because Forceblock broke one of my wings. It shorted out the progam in my processor and allowed me to get out."
Terra smiled. "Still...you got out..." She then frowned and folded her arms. "I'm glad we did...do you ever wonder what happened to the others, Snowfeather?"
Snow swallowed, then shrugged.
"He said they were either terminated or... sold"
Terra swallowed. "I...hope the little one didn't get terminated..." She muttered, thinking about the second experiment.
"Who?" Snowy asked, blinking. "It would depend if he- or she- wasn't fit to sell to one of the other Decepticons"
"The second experiment. I never learned his name. He was created as a sparkling." Terra said looking away.
"Oh." Snow's wings drooped. She knew she'd been created the way she was now. There was no period in her life that could be called a 'childhood'.
Terra sighed and then looked at the ground.
Glacing around, Snow swallowed again. She flicked her wings nervously and tried not to think about Kit.
Terra blinked. "What's wrong, Snowfeather?"
Snow looked up.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about a sparkling I met at the Autobot base."
"A sparkling?" Terra's optics lit up, but then dulled. "Why? What's wrong?"
"She was attacked by a mech..." Snow told her. "I left her with her mom."
"Poor thing..." Terra looked at the ground. She sighed.
Prime ran throught the thick doors that once sealed off the holding cell area from the rest of the Ark. The soldiers had brought out their weapons, and were aiming at the two.
"Hold your fire!" he ordered.
The copy dropped Klutch and growled. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO A SPARKLING?!?!"
Alpha looked at her daughter as the sparkling clutched her chest like a life line. The femme looked around the room and at everyone else. "How could anyone do this!!?"
Omega sighed.
Kit whimpered as she touched her cracked optic. Her throat was dented slightly.
"M-Mommy...it hurts!"
"It's okay, Kit...it's okay..." alpha swallowed. "It's all my fault..." She whimpered.
"Al?" Omega blinked.
"I shouldn't have brought her into this...she'd be okay if it wasn't for me..." Alpha said tears in her optics.
Kit looked up at Alpha. "M-Mommy I didn't say anything...I kept my mouth shut...did i do good"
Alpha sobbed, holding Kit close. "Yes...you did VERY good..."
"Alpha, stop now! you're only making things worse. Killing Klutch will not make your problems go away."
the Alpha copy growled and dropped the mech.
"BUT HE HURT MY SPARKLING!!"
"This will not solve anything, Alpha." Prime started. As though waiting for the chance, one of the soldiers fired at Alpha.
"No.." Prime gasped, knowing it would only make Alpha angrier. He didn't know she was only a copy...