For The Race – Prime Protector.
Chapter Nineteen.
A/N: Apologies for the late update: about a week ago my main computer upped and died on me, it is in for repair meaning that I am restricted to cybercafe and an only-just-capable-of-connecting notebook. So if my updates are slow, forgive me, it's not my fault!
Two months later.
Starscream didn't know why he continued to monitor the Banes fleshling's cell phone, as he had received very little information of interest while listening in. He also was not certain why the Autobots had not adapted it to scramble any calls she made between any of them and her. He supposed that he kept listening because they were still trying to crack the Autobot's latest code, and until they did, it was the only possible source of information, although little of tactical value had been gained so far.
He was very glad that he had when the Banes femme made a call to Ironhide to find out how the anti-warp field overhaul was going, and his audios pricked up.
"It's going fine, Mikaela, I think I'll have the field back up within an hour," the weapons specialist replied.
"I might drop in later, if that's okay, will Sam be able to see me, or is she spending time with Optimus?" said Mikaela.
"Oh no, Optimus is going to be dealing with human generals all day," Ironhide replied. "Sam's just finished weapons practice, she went to her room, said she needed a rest. She'll probably still be in her room when you come in. After all, she can't be in there while Optimus is briefing the generals. I'll let her know you're coming over."
"Thanks, Ironhide, I'll see you then. Bye!" Mikaela signed off with a click.
'Skywarp! Get over here now!' Starscream commed his dark wing brother. With a pop of displaced air Skywarp, who had been out flying patrol, appeared beside the Decepticon Leader.
"You called?" he asked.
"The anti-warp field is down for overhaul at the Autobot Base and the femme is unguarded while Prime deals with the human military. If we both go, we can both make sure she is subdued swiftly, and make off with her before the Autobots even know we are there!"
Skywarp smiled darkly, and his hand rose to touch his cockpit where the scratches from Sam's knuckle spikes were still visible, faint but there. "Indeed. She and I have some unfinished business. No, I won't harm her, but I will want time to go with her. I think she owes me."
"Well, let's go, the field is down for a limited time, and they are unaware that we know that. If we can make it quick, we may have several hours before they realise she is gone." Starscream said.
"I still have her room co-ordinates on file, I'll warp into her room. Set your blasters to stun, with luck you can hit her before she can raise the alarm."
Starscream set his arm blasters to the required frequency, then wrapped his arms around Skywarp, who took flight, and then, with a muted pop, vanished.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
Ironhide was sat at the tactical station, watching the readings intently. As a certain energy spike was registered by the Base's sensor network, he leaned forward and flipped a switch.
He gave Mikaela, who was now sat next to him, a straight-mouthed grin. "As you humans might say, 'the game is on,'" he said.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
The two Seekers appeared in the room, and in the dim light could see Sam's slender form lying on her berth, a light cover drawn over her as far as her shoulders. She didn't stir. "What luck!" Starscream thought, "she must be asleep!" He did not hesitate and raising his arm, he stunned her. The two moved over to the berth and Starscream grabbed the femme, wrapping her limp form within the blanket. Funny, she was lighter than he remembered, but he wasn't about to query it, it was time to get out of here!
Skywarp crooned happily as he took a secure grip on Starscream and his precious bundle, but his smug look turned abruptly to panic.
"Starscream, I can't get out! They must have raised the warp field again!"
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
"Okay, they're trapped and they know it, Elita said to the six femmes with her in the room next door. "Keep weapons on one of them at all time, I suggest that Chromia, Firestar and Arcee train weapons on Skywarp, the rest of us target Starscream. Stun only, we don't want to kill them, not this time. Now, let's get in there and start things happening."
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
"Okay, let's try and get out on the ground, perhaps we can use this one as a hostage," Starscream said. "They won't want to risk us killing their only femme, we'll lose our advantage of surprise but still have the upper hand. What is it the humans say? 'Possession is nine-tenths of the law?' They won't risk her, they're too fond of her."
As they moved towards the door it opened, and to the shock of the two Seekers, a group of femmes trooped in. All were pretty, a sight for starved optics, all had a little smile on their faces, all were armed, and all had weapons pointed at either Starscream or Skywarp.
"Get back!" screeched Starscream "or we'll kill Sam!"
"She's not their only femme, I don't think that will work," Skywarp said.
"They still care about her!" snarled Starscream. He turned back to the femmes. "I mean it, back off and let us leave unmolested or we'll kill her!"
"I don't think so, somehow, as she's with us," Elita said, standing aside from the door to allow Sam to enter, her shoulder canons activated, a new shiny Autobot symbol on the right upper part of her chest.
"But-then-who is this?" Starscream asked, his confusion evident. He scanned the form he held as Sam answered.
"That's Samantha, she's my body-double, no spark or processors I'm afraid, but otherwise she's not a bad copy. Ratchet took casts and made her, Sunstreaker did the paintwork. She's lifelike, isn't she?"
Starscream's scans confirmed what Sam had told him: the femme he held had enough parts to make her look realistic, but there wasn't even any complicated electronics or spark chamber let alone a spark, and not even the vaguest semblance of a port. No wonder she had seemed light! Starscream threw the fake femme down in disgust and crossed his wrists at neck level in the Cybertronian sign of surrender.
"Well, if you stand down your weapons and come with us, we'll take you to Optimus' office for energon and a talk." Elita said.
"Yes, follow us, to Optimus' office." said the green femme who had her blaster pointed at him. She lowered it and said "We'd really prefer to see you as honoured guests rather than prisoners. Optimus has an offer he'd like to make that might benefit us all. He, and we, have a – proposition – to offer you." As she turned to walk out of the door, Starscream stared as she paused in the doorway and threw a 'come-hither' look over her shoulder. Was she really wiggling her aft at him suggestively?
Both he and Skywarp decided to comply. It might be interesting to find out what Optimus was suggesting, and it beat being thrown in a cell. Once Elita's scans confirmed that the two Seekers were standing down their weapons, she nodded to the rest of the femmes and put her own blaster away as the others did likewise with their own armaments.
They all filed out, three femmes taking the lead and four, Sam amongst them, trailing. Starscream couldn't take his optics off the green femme who was one of the leading three, - or off one particular part of her anatomy - because if she wasn't deliberately moving it, her walk gave her aft a permanent sexy wiggle.
oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo
When it was full of one Prime, two Seekers, seven femmes, one weapons specialist, one medic and one human femme, Optimus' office was rather crowded, but there was just enough room for them all, particularly when three of the Cybertronian femmes followed the human femme's example and perched themselves on Optimus' desk.
Optimus drew energon for all the Cybertronians present, and Mikaela had a can of cola. The Prime eyed the array in the room and drank from his own cube. The femmes and Ratchet followed suit, Ironhide following a moment later, albeit reluctantly, after receiving hard looks from Ratchet, Optimus, and the blue femme known as Chromia.
Knowing that drinking together was a binding custom of truce on Cybertron, Starscream looked at Skywarp, shrugged, and chugged back half of his cube. It didn't put him in either a better or a worse situation then they were already in, and there was no sense in refusing good energon, for whatever reason it was given. As Skywarp and Mikaela drank from their own containers, some of the tension seemed to drain out of the room now that weapons on both sides were unlikely to be powered back up.
"Now that we are at ceasefire, may I ask why we've been brought here, and when all these turned up?" Starscream asked, indicating the femmes, at least two of whom winked saucily as he ran an appreciative optic over their beautiful faces, slender torsos, and shapely limbs.
"We chose to land somewhat further out than was usual, and keep radio silence at all times to avoid any Decepticons in the area becoming aware of our arrival,'" Elita explained. "We even took our own mechs by surprise." As she and Chromia shared a sly look, Starscream let out a dirty laugh as he imagined just how the attached femmes had likely 'surprised' their mechs.
"Are you aware of the status of "Prime's Owned", and the restrictions that can be placed on those who wish to associate with the individuals in question?" Optimus asked.
"If you mean, do I know that if you choose you can be a greedy slagger and keep all the femmes for yourself, then yes, I do." Starscream replied. Mikaela and even Ironhide joined Optimus and Elita in failing to hide the smiles that Starscream's remark brought to their faces.
"Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it," Optimus said once everybody had straight faceplates again. "This custom evolved on Cybertron when conflict began to break out between different groups, and when some religious views began to see femmes in a negative light. Due to the loss of the AllSpark, such a petty view is now moot, but I feel that the custom is still a valid one, albeit for different reasons."
"Why do you think the Decepticons formed and got involved?" Starscream said in frustration. "The Autobots, particularly the elite, and those in power, refused to share, and this is just another custom that restricts what we can and cannot do! Do you hope to stop us breeding, get rid of us that way? Is that it?"
"Not at all, but even you have to accept that the femmes need to be protected against mechs who do not have their best interests at heart," Optimus said. "I believe this is the third time you have entered our Base with the intent of spiriting Sam away against her wishes?"
"If this meeting is just for you to reiterate your right to keep them all for you and those you favour, and to condemn moves I made out of desperation, then I see no reason to stay here," Starscream said, putting down his container of energon. "Come on, Skywarp, we'll have to find another way."
Before they could move, Optimus spoke up.
"I brought you here because I realise that custom must change to adapt to changed circumstances. This is one of those times, and I have some suggestions to put to you."
Starscream and Skywarp both looked back at Optimus.
"Will you help us to make the custom fair to all while still giving the femmes the protection they need, or will you leave everything up to us?"
Starscream sat back down, Skywarp following suit, and picked up his cube.
"I will hear your suggestions, but be warned, I will speak bluntly and with honesty about what I think of them," he warned.
Optimus gave a grave nod as he looked Starscream directly in the optics.
"Of course. Of you, and of anybody else here, I would expect no less," he said.