Author's note: I know, it's been forever since I updated! Feel free to berate me for this fact. I've also given Shockwave his more traditional logical personality, compared to his 'Driller-bot is thirsty' movie persona. Does anyone even know what that means? I sure don't…
And yes, Halloween and AMC's three days and nights of Stephen King have caught up with me. You can see mild ghostly references to The Shining. Whoopee. Read on dear readers, if you haven't lost interest in this story!
"There are others, you know." Barricade said.
"What?"Bumblebee had been trying to clean out one of his cannons, but turned to regard the Interceptor with interest. "Others like you?"
Bumblebee was speaking in Cybertronian, trying to prevent any relapses in their mind control. He wasn't sure how long they could stay in hiding. The space they were in was getting crowded in the small storage room, and it had been barely a stellar cycle since they had arrived. His injuries had just barely sealed up, and should hold as long as he didn't move around.
They were so cold. Their species usually didn't differentiate cold from hot except in extreme situations (such as approaching a sun) but Bumblebee could feel the difference simply because Soundwave sat next to him, and compared to Barricade, he radiated warmth.
"Yeah. They're usually wandering around the ship." Barricade stared out the viewport. "Can't walk for ten cycles before running into one."
Unconsciously, Bumblebee looked at Soundwave, who didn't appear to be paying any attention to the conversation. His optics were closed.
"I don't think we should risk it." He said finally.
"Because they're not Autobots." Shockwave said from his post at the entrance to the storage room.
"What?" Wheeljack was looking at Shockwave as well.
"It is logical. Though we may be in a truce currently, the chance that our leaders will be able to negotiate successfully is less than twenty percent."
"What are you saying, Shockwave?" Wheeljack asked.
"Preventing the servitude of more Decepticons will render the Decepticon army a clear disadvantage when war breaks out again."
Bumblebee shifted uncomfortably, grinding some of his shoulder plating against Soundwave and Barricade. "I meant, we need somewhere bigger. And Soundwave can't control more of you easily – right?" he addressed the Decepticon to his right.
"Affirmative."
"So we're just supposed to wait here until Unicron reaches Cybertron?" Barricade asked.
Bumblebee was beginning to hate being in command. But, as the Autobot's third in command, he technically shared the same rank as Soundwave, who showed no interest in taking command.
"How long are your modifications to Unicron going to last?" Bumblebee asked Soundwave.
"Until Unicron consumes Saturn fully."
"Can't we get a message out to Megatron?" Barricade asked.
"Unlikely." Soundwave shifted, rubbing against Bumblebee.
"Bumblebee."
The Scout turned to face the other Autobot, clutching one hand to his side. The movement had nearly torn the wound open again.
"You need repairs."
"Just need recharge." No matter what they had gone through together, Bumblebee was not about to let himself be repaired while vulnerable to the Decepticons. "I'll be fine."
He missed Sam. He would know what to do.
Wheeljack knelt beside him.
"If you don't, I can predict you will go into stasis lock, then offline in less than six stellar cycles."
"Five point eight." Shockwave said from the door.
"I can recall the correct repairs and execute them." Wheeljack said calmly, ignoring Shockwave. "'Bee, you've been impaled, shot, tortured. You need this."
"Listen to him." Soundwave said, possibly as a way to get them to shut up.
Bumblebee glared at Soundwave, who stared back, nonplussed.
"Fine."
"Hold him down." Wheeljack addressed someone. Bumblebee wasn't sure who, and the Decepticons exchanged awkward glances, also unsure of whom the Autobot had been talking to.
Finally Barricade grabbed Bumblebee's shoulders, holding him down on the ground. Experimentally, Wheeljack poked the wound. Bumblebee jerked away from the painful contact out of Barricade's grip.
"Hold him!"
Barricade cursed and wrestled his rival down, ending up nearly sitting on top of him. Hastily, Wheeljack began digging out fried circuitry and depositing it on the floor.
Bumblebee tried to stay still as Wheeljack kept working. He tried to block out the pain, wonder how Sam was doing, if he had gotten a new job yet….
"Done. It won't hold forever, but it's the best I can do for now. Let him up." Wheeljack stood up and moved away to the other end of the room as Barricade let go of Bumblebee.
"Thanks." Unsure if Wheeljack could even really understand it, Bumblebee sat down again. His side still ached enough to bother him, but some kind of recharge should fix that.
A piercing scream jerked him online. Bumblebee hadn't even been aware he had been in recharge, but as he looked around, the rest of the group was also awake, priming weapons and firing up battle computers.
"What was that?"
"We're not sure," Wheeljack said. "But I think it came from the lower levels."
"Are we going to find out who it was?" Barricade was shifting nervously, cradling his weapon like an infant.
Soundwave and Bumblebee shared a glance.
"No." they said in unison.
Shockwave growled with approval. It bothered Bumblebee that he and the Decepticons were starting to think alike.
"I have to go."
Bumblebee turned to the speaker, who just a Nanoklik ago had been agreeing with him.
"But you just said-"
The Autobot twitched, receiving a partial image of someone who couldn't possibly be onboard because he had died and certainly wasn't able to be revived simply because this person wasn't a Cybertronian.
"No wait, that's not-"
Soundwave beat him to the door and looked back at the very confused Autobot for a split second before slamming it shut behind him.
Optimus was listening.
The Matrix had come back to life abruptly, whispering reassurances into his tired processor.
He sat, holding Starscream up in an awkward sitting position. Rumble and Frenzy had taken over piloting the ship for now, leaving Optimus to deal with the Seeker.
Starscream had been delirious for the past ten solar cycles, muttering profanities and various threats Megatron had given him. His spark was slowly but surely fading and Optimus likened this fact to his dying hope of a permanent ceasefire.
Megatron would kill him if Starscream died en route. At this point, Optimus wasn't even sure how Megatron would react to the loss of his third-in-command.
Lately, it seemed as if he had done nothing but lose soldiers, allies and friends.
Laserbeak growled, perhaps sensing Optimus's dire thoughts or the Matrix's platitudes.
Optimus didn't want sympathy. He wanted a plan. Some of his troops operated on the belief that he spouted the Matrix's words and guidance constantly, and acted accordingly. Thankfully, Optimus had never been forced to accept one of these beings into his high command. The deceased Ironhide, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Sideswipe all understood that the majority of the time, Optimus was, to use the Earthen expression, all too human.
Our darkest hour.
The thought came abruptly to Optimus's mind, triggering a multitude of cross-references and searches to find out where he had heard/seen/thought that phrase before.
The answer came.
The Cybertronian tomb of the Primes. Unlike the tomb on Earth, this burial ground had been created for one purpose: to preserve the body of Zeta Prime. Coincidentally, (or maybe not) this was the Prime who had defeated Unicron billions of years ago.
"Zeta." Optimus breathed, making Starscream twitch as he slipped further from existence.
Ending notes: At this point, I'm not sure what Starscream's fate will be, although he will be very important in the upcoming chapters. Any ideas?
Again, my deepest apologies for making you wait so long!