Chapter Three – Decepticons Attack
One Morning…
Jaryn cradled Bumblebee in the crook of his arm, supporting him with his sturdy chest, letting the little bot lean back against him. He lifted a tiny cube of energon to the sparkling's mouth, tilting it back to gently pour out the liquid. Bumblebee gulped in down, smiling up at his father with a happy chirp. Jaryn nodded back, rubbing little circles into the bot's tummy.
"S'good, Bee?" he cooed, grinning.
Bumblebee whirred, continuing to gulp down the fluid into his tanks. Jaryn patted them.
"Good, bot."
"The attacks are definitely by Decepticon drones. But, we know not where they come from…"
Jaryn turned, looking to the holoscreen and his worried sparkmate, sitting before it, blue optics glued to the screen. Bumblebee gurgled, wriggling around to fix his baby blue optics on the screen. They widened, yellow antennae perking, taking in every word.
"As you can see, the attacks are moving southward, toward this community…"
Their community.
Bumblebee whirred as Jaryn lifted him higher in his arms, standing to his feet quickly. The mech moved toward the screen, optics widened, bright in concern.
"Wh-What…?" he whispered.
"We advise all in this area shown to be more than ready for anything. Keep your scanners on high alert."
The holoscreen switched off in an astrosecond. Lexine stood slowly, optics drooped, glazed over with pale blue tears of worry and fear. Jaryn stepped at her side, holding their baby mechling against his strong chestplate.
"Baby - "
"They'll attack our district, Jaryn," she cut him off, tears spilling onto pale cheekplates. "W-We can't stay here. N-Not with the drones coming our way."
Jaryn shook his head. "We'll be fine as long as we take heed of what they just reported," he corrected her, voice firm, yet remaining gentle at his disarrayed femme. He slid a reassuring arm around her middle, his droopy blue optics staring into her tear-glazed pair. He gave her a faint smile. "Honey, I promise. We will be safe."
"You heard what they just reported!"
Jaryn blinked. "Honey - "
She only looked away swiftly, listening to her baby mechling whirr. Lexine was only worried about her family. In the pit of her spark, she knew taking note of the news would do nothing. Reporters were Cybertronians too, robots, that weren't perfect and they sure as hell didn't know everything.
Lexine darted from the room, disappearing into the recharging quarters. Jaryn sighed, lifting the mechling to his shoulder, watching as Bumblebee turned his little head, wide baby blue optics staring to where his mother had disappeared. The mech shook his head, cradling the baby bot gently. He kissed his little receptor.
The mechling hummed, clicking as his little frame shivered. "Wh-What's wrong with Mommy, Dada?"
"Bumblebee, don't you worry about Mommy," he murmured. He lowered Bumblebee to the floor, patting the bot's head gently as he started moving toward the quarters.
The mechling whirred, lifting his little hands as he clicked. "Dada!"
Jaryn turned.
"Dada, are we gonna be okay?"
The mech sighed, stepping forward a few steps before he lifted a worried Bumblebee in his arms again. Bumblebee's tiny frame quaked, his wide blue optics alive in innocence, and something else that made Jaryn's own spark wrench, drop a little inside him.
He saw fear.
Jaryn laid Bumblebee against his shoulder, stroking circles into the yellow metal of his back. "Bumblebee," he cooed, sighing. "Everything will be okay, alright?" He kissed the bot's head. "Daddy and Mommy will be here for you."
Bumblebee closed his optics. Somehow, in the pit of his little spark, he doubted his own father's words, making his optic ducts well with tears. He didn't think everything would be okay, he didn't think Mommy and Daddy would make a wise choice regarding their protection…
He thought the Decepticons would come.
//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\
That Night in the Recharging Quarters…
The mechling cuddled his tiny frame between both of his parents, letting his mother slip an arm around his little body and draw him near her fair yellow breastplate, closer to her spark chamber. Bumblebee whirred, tiny hands gripping one of hers. Jaryn reached over subconsciously in his dreaming, stroking the youngling's body gently.
"Dada…" murmured Bumblebee, wriggling onto his back. Jaryn rubbed circles into the bot's stomach plating, making him giggle as his full tanks were stroked.
"M'here, Bee," came the groggy coo in reply. "Daddy's here."
[ Thud, thud, thud. Distant footsteps echoed in the distance, off from their unit…
Coming closer too quickly.
Lexine, her sensors on high alert, jolted awake, optics wide in fear and shock. Air intake vents worked quicker, her breaths harsh and fast as she reached over to shake Jaryn awake, the mech slowly lifting his optic lids. The mechling remained asleep on his back, his soft snores audible.
Lexine sat erect. "J-Jaryn," she whispered. "Don't you hear that?"
He shook his head, snapping into reality. "Hear what?" he yawned. "Honey, I think you're too paranoid. There's nothing - "
[ Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
Jaryn's optics widened. He stared at his femme.
"L-Lexine…"
"We've got to get out of here, Jaryn," she said, taking their mechling in her arms. "Bumblebee…We can't jeopardize his life."
[ Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
"Jaryn, what do we do?!"
Jaryn shifted off of the metal recharge berth, planting his feet on the ground. Shoulder cannons whirring from their concealed position behind plates of shoulder armor, and an arm cannon cocking unleashed, the mech pointed one hand to a corner of the room, gesturing for the femme and mechling to report there.
"Honey, stay hidden," he told her softly. "If they attack…I'll defend."
Lexine shook her head. "Baby, are you crazy?!" she whispered madly. "They could kill you like they've done to hundreds of Cybertronians already!"
"Trust me on this one," he murmured. "Please…"
Nothing more.
[ Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.
The footsteps weren't so distant any longer. They seemed like they were just outside their unit. Bumblebee snapped awake, his own baby blue optics wide as they stared up at his mother, his chin quivering. Questions begging to be answered darted throughout his little processor, overwhelming the bot. He whimpered and clung to his mother's breastplate, shutting his optics.
"M-Mommy!" he whined. "Mommy, what's going on?!"
"Shhh, shhh, Bumblebee," she coaxed, brushing pale fingers across his tiny frame. Lexine sat in the corner, hugging the mechling to her chestplate. "Stay quiet for Mommy."
Bumblebee whirred, watching his father, prepared for battle, ease toward the door of their quarters. The bot twittered lowly in his throat, returning wide baby blue optics to his mother's. "D-Daddy will be okay?"
Lexine nodded, smiling faintly. "Y-Yes, Daddy will - "
[ Boom A massive hole tore through one wall coupled by the angry roar of a Decepticon drone, its crimson hot optics flaring almost blindingly at the Cybertronians in the room. It bellowed and aimed cannons for them all, stepping in two massive, mighty steps forward. Lexine scrambled to her feet, desperately dashing around the recharge berth. Jaryn moved aside.
"Lexine, run!" he called after her as she disappeared from the room. "Go!"
The femme ran, through the rooms and halls that made up their unit. The mechling in her arms wailed, tears spilling onto his cheekplates. She shook her head as they stepped outside. She opened her mouth to entice the bot, but her optics fixed on what was officially the most horrific sight she'd ever seen in her lifetime, silencing her immediately.
Their entire district was in flames, massive drones parading through the land, firing at hopeless, innocent Cybertronian civilians and units. The screams and cries that entered the air were horrendous, making her own frame quake in fear. Bumblebee screamed in terror, clawing at his mother's breastplate.
"M-Mommy!" he cried as if she weren't there. He buried his head into her chestplate, forcing his little receptors to pick up the sounds of her thrumming spark, trying to block out the sounds of gunfire, pain, terror…
Hell.
Lexine dashed, hugging Bumblebee tighter. She hid in a rock cave, pressing a crying mechling against her chestplate. Bumblebee shivered, whimpering, shaking uncontrollably. He looked up at his mother with tear filled optics, then turned to look behind them.
"Dada!" he called into the warfare, rewarded with plasma fire. "Dadaa!"
Screams, gunfire, roars…
No Dada.
Lexine turned the bot's head away. He buried it back into her chestplate, shivering.
"Dadaaaa…"
Lexine shut her optics, her own tears beginning to spill. She shook her head, trying to delete every thought that told her Jaryn wasn't okay, that he wasn't there, that he was hurt. Jaryn was okay, she told herself. This battle would be over in a matter of breems.
They would be okay.
She shook her head again. "Bumblebee, Daddy'll be okay…" she sighed. "He'll be okay." Her optics flew open when she heard the mechling scream, heard him wail, forcing his tiny frame deeper against her breastplate. Her optics widened when they fastened upon a mighty form before them, its entire body fitted in steel colored armor, optics as red as the fire itself. Cannons were fixed on its shoulders, a mace made up one of its arms, every weapon aimed for them.
It snarled angrily from the depths of its throat.
Lexine didn't know what to do. Running, it would only get her. Hopeless, she hugged the mechling against her breastplate, turning him away, making his shrill cries strike the war-filled air. The Decepticon stepped forward and she held the bot even more secure.
If anyone was going to get hurt, it'd be her. Bumblebee was precious, innocent, a baby bot. He didn't deserve any pain or suffering.
The drone roared. "Step out of the cave, Autobot," it growled, cannons pulsing. "Or prepare to be obliterated."
The femme shook her head, blue optics flaring. "You're not hurting my mechling," she snapped back confidently. "Leave him alone."
Bumblebee shook.
"The mechling," the drone laughed. The cannon warmed, whirred to life as the Decepticon took one massive step forward, aiming the cannon low for both of them. "…Such an easy target."
