For The Race-Prime Protector.
Chapter Five.
Decepticon Base, 25 days after Sam's change.
"How humiliating!" hissed Starscream, recalling the trouncing he and his Decepticons had received at the hands of the Autobots just over three weeks previously. He balled his hands into spiky fists, some of the joints still a little stiff after having to be pulled and welded back into place after the savage beating he had received from Optimus. "Unfortunately, it looks like invading in force won't work, and now they know we know, they'll be on their guard." He hissed with frustration. "If only we could get the femme, we could pay back for all the humiliation we've received and finally gain the means to destroy the Autobots and their fleshy allies!"
"Don't worry, Lord Starscream, there is one thing they cannot guard against effectively, and we can take advantage of that." Skywarp said.
"What's that, Skywarp? I'm interested, tell me more!" Starscream said.
"Me," Skywarp said, and then he disappeared with a pop of displaced air.
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Sam was still feeling somewhat annoyed at Optimus, for the Prime had, when asked by Sam if he could reverse the Prime's Owned claim, answered in the affirmative, but then explained why doing so would be a very bad idea.
"Release of a femme from being Prime's Owned is only done for one of three reasons," Optimus explained. "The first is if she chooses a bonded. The second is if she chooses to go with another Leader. The third is if she doesn't want to be under Leader's protection. You are not bonded, there is no other Leader for you to go to - unless you want to offer yourself to Starscream- and to release you under the third reason would mean every other mech on the base is permitted to try to court you or otherwise pursue you romantically if they so wish. If you wish, I will release you, but considering how long my mechs have been in space travelling here, and how long it is since most of them –with the exception of Ironhide – have even seen a femme, let alone courted one, I do not think you would find the resulting situation comfortable."
Sam got a sudden mental image of a big queue of mechs outside her room, of being mobbed by them every time she left, and shook her head quickly.
"Offer myself to Starscream?" she asked. "Ugh, what a horrible thought, that is so not going to happen! So it's either that or get followed around the Base by the rest of the Autobot mechs? Well, I can't say I like it, but you make a nasty kind of sense. Okay, I'll stay as Prime's Owned, but only because it's the best of a bunch of bad options," she said. Optimus shook his head sorrowfully. He wished this situation could have originated in a different way, with Sam being willing to be in this position.
Sam had retreated to her room and was now resting on her berth. She figured her room was a little bare, and wondered if her parents would send some of her posters from her room at home, which she would no longer comfortably fit into. They had been informed about her situation, and their reaction, -disbelief, followed by denial, then tears, then a gradual acceptance- had been predictable. They were still having issues dealing with it, but at least they now accepted her as being their Sam, albeit much changed. "Well, I guess I always wanted a daughter, but this wasn't quite how I saw myself getting one," Ron had said, and Sam figured that if he could joke about it, he was beginning to accept the idea.
An odd popping noise outside in the corridor drew her attention, and she wondered what it was. Her curiosity got the better of her and she got up and peeped outside.
His back was to her, but Sam recognised the dark Seeker who had been hovering just outside the Base when Starscream had tried to kidnap her. He was standing in the corridor not ten feet from her door. Her Spark flickered. What was he doing here? She backed off, letting the door close and commed Optimus.
'Optimus, one of those Seekers is here in the corridor outside my room!' she commed. At that moment she heard the popping sound again, louder, then again, louder still as the black and purple Seeker was suddenly in her room. 'Correction, he's now in my room, help!' she sent frantically.
"Aha! I thought I heard a door close!" the black Seeker said, and reached for her. Sam shrank back.
'Which one is it? What colour?' Optimus commed back. 'I'm on my way.'
'Black,a bit of purple, he just appeared in my room,' Sam said as she recalled she was now armed. She began charging her knuckle spikes and deployed her wrist blades and held them up in front of her as she backed off.
"Still as feisty as Starscream described, I see," he said as he took a half-hearted, lazy swipe at her. He was playing with her, not concerned at all, and that terrified her.
'Sam, that's Skywarp! Don't let him get hold of you! Keep out of his reach!' Optimus replied, his tone urgent. Sam twisted as Skywarp made another lunge for her, and surprised the Seeker by slashing at him with her wrist blade. The black Seeker cried out in surprise as a line of pink welled up along his arm, and then Sam was twisting and dodging, driven by the urgency in Optimus' voice and the fact that Skywarp was trying to grab her.
Her flight was abruptly brought to an end as her back thudded against a wall, and she saw another wall to her side. She tried to dodge to the other side but the Seeker was expecting just this move, he had manoeuvred her into this position for that reason. She felt him seize her wrist, and commed to Optimus 'He's grabbed me!', As the Seeker pulled her closer, chuckling as he moved to loop his other arm over her shoulder and grab her to his chest, she recalled her electric knuckle spikes and punched blindly with her free hand at the chest in front of her.
The spikes struck the glass canopy of the Seeker's cockpit, hard, and discharged their electricity as they scratched across the surface, leaving four scratches on the glass. The effect on Skywarp was dramatic. Blue lightning danced across the glass as the Seeker let out an agonised screech. His grip on her arm loosened, but then tightened again.
'Sam, use your EMP device! Don't let him warp you away!' Optimus commed, a desperate note in his voice. Sam had been instructed in the use of this, but this would be the first time she'd be trying it out. Shuttering her optics, she discharged the device while struggling to free her arm from the Seeker's grip.
This time, when Skywarp's grip loosened, it slipped off Sam's arm entirely, for with a groan composed part of pain and part of frustration, the big Seeker crumpled almost in slow-motion, slipping to the floor. Sam could hear the Seeker's systems slowing, and saw his optics dim as the shutters slid closed over them. Sam didn't waste any time staring: leaping over the prone flier, she shot out of the door at full speed, without looking where she was going.
She almost panicked as she ran straight into the person outside her door and felt the hands grab her, but as her optics focused she recognised Optimus. Without a word he set Sam aside, behind him, then advanced into the room as he extended his sword blades.
Sam almost ran after Optimus: she didn't want Optimus killing anyone on her account, but before she could react three things happened. Ironhide stepped up beside her, resting one surprisingly delicate hand on her arm. "Don't go in, Skywarp might still be able to grab you and warp off," he said. Then a popping sound was heard, and then that was followed by a frustrated growl from Optimus. There was a pause before the heavy footsteps of Optimus approached and then the Autobot Leader stepped out, looking supremely annoyed, with both sword blades still fully extended. Startled and still a little nervous, Sam raised her arms slightly and took a step back.
"He warped away before I could deal with him," he said, then noticed Sam's slightly defensive stance. He glanced down, as if looking at his aggressive posture and exposed blades, then drew one leg in closer to the other and relaxed his back before pulling both blades back inside his armour and taking a step towards Sam. He crouched before Sam could step back, gazing at her before saying "Sam, are you hurt? Did he harm you?"
Sam found herself captivated by the brilliant blue optics in front of her. Their glow was not too harsh, nor were the optics semi-shuttered. They were wide and honest, filled with concern for his charge, and the hands that gently settled on her shoulders were not at all possessive, but paternal. As she gazed into them, she saw more detail, saw the irises within expand and contract as Optimus looked up from her to Ironhide and then back at her. Optimus' gaze held her, she was mesmerised by the way that the more she looked, the more she saw. In the centre of the iris was a bright point of gentle blue light. Sam had never been this close to the Autobot leader for this long before, had not noticed how beautiful his optics were.
She was startled out of her trance as her body, robotic as it was, reacted in a very human manner to the shock she had received. Her joints seemed unable to hold her, and Optimus had to catch her as she fell to the ground in an uncontrolled collapse. As her optics blacked out, she thought she heard Ratchet's voice, and then she knew no more.
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"Ratchet! Is she hurt?" Optimus cried in alarm as he cradled the femme's limp body in his arms.
"No, the EMP device is energy-hungry and has used up all she had available," Ratchet explained. "This is why the EMP device is for emergencies only and not as a main weapon in battle, the energy cost of using it is high. Thankfully, our bodies have a small power reserve which is for emergency use only, and were she still in danger she would still be able to run and hide due to emergency programming in her processors. However, as her processors have ascertained she is safe, the programming has disengaged, causing her to shut down in order to recharge her main power cells. She just needs to rest."
"Then I shall take her to my room, she can rest in my berth. This is the second attempt the Decepticons have made to take her, and we cannot guard against Skywarp's ability. Thus somebody must be with her even when she sleeps, that person will be me." He looked at Ironhide. "Can you work on a warp-detection device, or even better, a warp-proof field generator?"
"I can try, Sir," Ironhide said. Optimus nodded.
"Please do so as soon as you are able. I will take Sam for a rest. When she awakes, I shall tell her the arrangements," he said.
He headed towards his room with Sam's limp form carefully cradled in his arms.