Claustrophobia.
Chapter One.
A/N: 1 joor about 6.5 hours, 1 orn about 13 days, 1 vorn 83 years. The effects of confinement on fliers was provided by KDZeal of the Nerdene Hyrde.
Several Weeks Later.
Ratchet looked up from the displays on Prime's desk computer to see the young scout Bumblebee come in. Optimus nodded to Ratchet, and sent a data pulse to the computer, which flickered and then blanked.
"Okay, Ratchet, I have relayed your request for certain necessary parts to Will, who will pass them on. He has the necessary access to our funds." He looked up to Bumblebee.
"You have returned from your mission, Bumblebee?" he asked. Bumblebee nodded, his blue optics glowing hotly.
Optimus could tell from the young scout's manner that he had data to report: the Decepticons had been acting very strange of late, more reckless than usual, and there seemed to be little or no co-ordination in their movements. To add to this, the two other Seekers, Thundercracker and Skywarp, had been seen overflying areas, seemingly not taking so much care to not be seen. Bumblebee had been despatched to investigate, to gather as much information as possible, over a week through observations and monitoring of Decepticon communications. Bumblebee had been trying to crack the latest Decepticon code when he went out, and Optimus had to wonder if the young scout had managed to crack it while he had been away.
"Ratchet, stay for this." Optimus instructed. "There may be information in Bumblebee's report you might need or wish to know. "Scout, report. Firstly, did you manage to work on cracking the code?"
"Yes, Prime." stated Bumblebee, standing to attention as he looked at Optimus. "The code was cracked two days into my mission. Do you wish me to give you the encryption keys?"
"Send them to Mirage; he will input them to the base computer." Optimus said. "What did you learn from your observations and monitoring of the base, Bumblebee?" he asked.
Bumblebee's optics dimmed as he prepared his report: then he looked up and they brightened again.
"It appears that the Decepticon activity is as uncoordinated as it seems: there seems to be no purpose to the Seeker's flights although they are flying search patterns. There have been a few more landings but the rest of the Decepticons seem to be staying in hiding except for a few random and apparently unconnected attacks. Upon cracking their code, I did discover one thing: Starscream appears to be missing."
Optimus nodded: Starscream had been notably absent from the skies in the last few weeks but they were not sure if that was because he was lying low, was missing, or was injured. Now they knew the answer.
"The other two Seekers appear to be managing to keep order between them, managing to keep questions of a leadership challenge to no more than questions, but the longer Starscream stays missing, the more often these questions are going to be raised." Bumblebee said worriedly.
Optimus shared Bumblebee's worry: the Seeker, for all his faults, had managed to keep the diverse core of his Decepticon forces cohesive, through a mixture of flattery and fear, and when needed, playing one off against the other in order to keep his grip on what he had coveted for so long: the Decepticon leadership. While Starscream was leader, he himself would keep the Decepticons from splintering into mini-factions and fighting amongst themselves, a scenario that would likely involve the loss of human life. Similarly, a leadership challenge could also result in carnage and bloodshed. As distasteful as a united Decepticon force behind Starscream was, it was the lesser of two evils as far as the native species was concerned, and at least with Starscream as leader, the Decepticon's plans were fairly predictable.
Optimus sighed through his vents as he contemplated his options.
"Tell all our forces that if they see any sign of what may have happened to Starscream or his whereabouts, to report directly to myself or Ratchet." Optimus said. "Ratchet, we may have to prepare to receive an injured flier: tell me anything extra that you might be likely to need and I'll contact the Army." Ratchet nodded, crossed the room and exited, and Optimus focused his attention back on Bumblebee.
"Starscream must be found, alive or dead, so we at least have an idea of what the future holds." Optimus hoped very much that Starscream was alive, but had to accept the possibility that the Seeker had somehow met his end. "I will contact the military to find out if there is a possibility that he has been shot down by them at some point." He shuttered his optics tiredly: this had already been such a long war, even by Cybertronian standards, and he dearly hoped he would live to see peace.
He was surprised to feel a pair of arms encircle his lower abdomen and a head come to rest on his chest. Raising his arms and unshuttering his optics again, Optimus returned Bumblebee's embrace, giving comfort as much as receiving it. Bumblebee had only been a sparkling when Optimus had found him alone and frightened in the jumbled bodies left behind after a battle, and Optimus was like a Creator to the young scout. Although Bumblebee was now full adult in both body and function, there still existed a deep bond of affection between the two.
After a short time, Optimus broke the embrace, his optics flickering a silent thanks to the young scout. He stepped back.
"Bumblebee, I need you to go out and search for any sign of where Starscream might be. Take a joor to recharge, then go out and search in a concentric search pattern. There may be signs that are visible from the ground but not from the air: as far as we know only Starscream's two trine-mates have been actively searching for him. I will also contact Skyblast and Air Raid: there is no harm in conducting our own aerial search." Optimus stated.
"Right away sir!" said Bumblebee, his optics flashing determinedly. As he turned to go, Optimus spoke.
"Bumblebee?"
The scout turned to see Optimus regarding him with stern optics but a small smile.
"The joor's recharge is part of the order."
"Yes Sir." Said Bumblebee, walking out of the door.
The recharge chambers were attached to the medbay, and Bumblebee found himself walking behind the two Twins, who were chuckling about some prank or other they had pulled on Prowl. As they walked in, Ratchet looked up sourly.
"What do you two glitches want now? If this is about your paintwork, Sunsteaker, I told you before: you mix the paint because you're the artist, and you know what shade of yellow you are!"
"Who, us?" Sideswipe asked in mock-innocence. "We're just here to recharge, look at us!" He swept his hand to indicate that both he and his twin were unblemished. "It's not as if we've been jet-judoing Starscream y'know, and the other two have been flying too high to get."
"Yes, okay, you know where the recharge chambers are, and that's a point, thanks for reminding me." Ratched said to them. "When you go out next, if you see so much as a wingtip of Starscream, or any signs of his presence – like a crash site – I need to know. That Seeker has been missing for weeks now and we're stymied as the where he could be. He's never been missing for this long without cause before and –" His voice suddenly turned sharp as he noticed Sideswipe look at his twin with a smile, and then look down and start drawing a circle with one foot on the ground. "Sideswipe!" he snapped, making the red mech look up with an innocent look on his face. "I know that look, you're hiding something!" he said.
Sideswipe looked about to protest his innocence but the intensity of Ratchet's cerulean glare made him think twice. He looked at his brother, and they obviously communicated something to each other through their twin-bond, for they both nodded at each other and then turned their heads forwards to look back at Ratchet.
"Well, do you remember us talkin' a few orns back about the little incident that happened with Bumblebee?" Sideswipe asked the medic.
"Yes." Ratchet said. He was already beginning to guess that the Twins had more than a little to do with Starscream's disappearance, and his Spark flickered as he suddenly began to wonder just what they had done to the Seeker. He was having serious regrets about having told them, wishing he'd taken time to calm down and think things through before telling them.
"Well, we decided it was time Starscream was taught a lesson, like not to mess with our friends." Sideswipe said, taking over the conversation from his brother seamlessly.
"So we lay in wait for him, did our usual jet-judo on him, and stunned him." Sideswipe said.
"Then we removed all his bombs, disabled his weapons, and shorted his communications equipment so he couldn't call on his berthmates or troops for help." Sunstreaker said, taking over again, and looking very pleased with himself. "So then we chucked him in a little cave we fond, stuffed the entrance with rocks, melted them into an immovable seal, and left him there to contemplate the consequences of his actions." the yellow mech finished, quite unaware of the fluctuations of Ratchet's Spark as the medic registered what they were saying.
"When did you do this?" Ratchet asked sharply. "Please tell me it wasn't the last time you came in needing repair from jet-judo?" His voice held a slight tremor, and the twins exchanged a look.
"Well, that would be-" Sideswipe began.
"-about four orns or so ago, so yes, it was." finished Sunstreaker.
"Where!" Ratchet snapped at them, optics blazing. The twins looked at each other, totally nonplussed at Ratchet's response, but as they turned to face him again it was clear that the medic was very agitated about something: two of his biggest wrenches connected with their heads with a terrible clatter.
"Where did you put him?" the medic all but shouted at them.
"Well, it was a cave about twenty minutes from here-" Sideswipe started but then Ratchet cut him off.
"Coordinates! Databurst them to me!"
The look on the medic's face was enough to make Sideswipe comply without question: Ratchet suddenly brushed both they and Bumblebee aside, setting off out of the med bay at the fastest pace he could muster. The twins stared as Bumblebee tore out of the medical bay yelling for Optimus. They shrugged and then set off after Bumblebee: perhaps that way they might get some answers.
As they got there, they heard Bumblebee finish reporting to Optimus just what he'd overheard. Optimus thanked Bumblebee and was turning to address the Twins when a communication came over the intercom from the gate.
"Cliffjumper here, sir, an emergency override code was transmitted to the gates by Ratchet, and Ratchet and Ironhide have just taken out of here like the Unmaker himself was on their tail! What is going on?"
"I am currently investigation the reason for their precipitous departure myself." Optimus said. "Stand by ready to let them back in, there is a strong probability that they will be bringing back a patient."
He turned to the Twins. "Perhaps you could explain to me what you have done to Starscream, and maybe we can all get an idea of why Ratchet has left with Ironhide in such a hurry."
Turning to face Optimus, the Twins began their explanation.
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"So what is it ya want me fer, Ratch?" Ironhide asked as he sped along immediately behind Ratchet, who had set his sirens blaring and his lights flashing to clear traffic on the road.
"I'll need you to blast a slagged piece of rock hard enough to get rid of it without damaging somebody who may be the other side of it." Ratchet said. "You're the weapons specialist, I figured you would be the most likely person to be able to do that." Ratchet explained.
"This somethin' to do wi' Starscream?" asked Ironhide. Ratchet knew that most of Ironhide's enemies and unfortunately some of his colleagues, often thought that just because Ironhide was big, he was small on processor power, but Ratchet knew that that rugged exterior hid a shrewd mind.
"Yes, it is." said Ratchet. "I'm just hoping we are not too late."
Ratchet lapsed into silence as he once again accessed the files he'd downloaded from the Cybertron Medical Academy so many vorns ago.
The files on fliers had been accessed recently by Ratchet after Skyblast and Air Raid had turned up, and Ratchet recalled one of the files had mentioned the effect of confinement on the flying types.
Almost all fliers, with few exceptions, loved to fly. A highly effective way to discipline an errant flier was to confine them to their quarters for a number of joors, up to a maximum of twenty, or roughly five and a half Earth days depending on the severity of their transgression. Some harsher taskmasters had made the confinement worse for the flier or fliers in question by placing them underground, separated from their beloved sky by several feet of stone or rock. Few who experienced that repeated that particular error again.
The reason for the limit of twenty joors was because after that time the flier ran the risk of mental instability: a flier kept too long from their natural element tended to go insane. The time taken for this to happen varied from flier to flier: some would start to go mad after half an orn, others took several orns to go mad, but if confined long enough, the flier would succumb.
The degree of madness too, varied: some would develop eccentricities, others would have mood swings and instability, still others would attack without warning, even in the air and even bondmates and wingmates. Some would grow to fear the air, never taking wing again, or, worse, refuse to come out of the cell they had been put in, living their lives indoors or underground, not comprehending that once there had been a world outside and an element outside that they had lived in. Still others chose to kill themselves, if the confinement lasted long enough.
If found and released quickly enough, the mental problems could be reversed, with a lot of care, but Seekers, being very highly strung, were more prone to experience problems of that nature than non-Seeker fliers, and Starscream had now been in confinement for close to four joors, and Ratchet was frightened of what he might find.
Leaving the road, Ratchet killed the lights and sirens as they were no longer needed and, followed by Ironhide, headed across country to the co-ordinates provided by the Twins.
When they got there, Ratchet transformed, databursting to Ironhide to do likewise, grateful that the area was relatively uninhabited, and motioned him over.
"Come on, I need to get in there!" Ratchet said, as Ironhide looked at the plug carefully.
"Yer want anyone on the other side ter get out in one piece, right?" Ironhide asked. "To work out how hard ter hit it for and fer how long to crack it rather than shatter it, I need ter know it's composition, thickness, and weak spots." Ironhide said as he scanned it.
"What about vaporising it?" asked Ratchet.
"Bad idea if the person the other side's leanin' against it." Ironhide pointed out. "Would get hurt at least, worse if it creates superheated gases."
With that, Ironhide stepped back, pulling Ratchet back with him
As he took aim with one of his arm cannons, there was a loud bang, a cloud of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, there were several large cracks in the rock plug. Ironhide advanced.
"And now, these are small enough fer us to pull away." Ironhide said, beginning to do just that. Ratchet joined him, and Ratchet advanced into the ominously silent cave the moment the opening was wide enough for him to wriggle in.
He put his lights on, pointing them to the floor, bright enough to see by but not so bright as to blind the cave's occupant. Carefully, he advanced, one slow step after another, advancing his lights along the floor inch by inch.
At the back of the cave, there was movement. Ratchet carefully advanced.
"Starscream?" he called. A whimper answered his call. Ratchet moved his lights, and then he could see the Seeker's feet, grimy and scuffed. He took inventory of the damage as he moved the light slowly up the body. Scrapes and bangs, plenty of dirt, scratches, but nothing that seemed too serious. As the light advanced, Ratchet noticed that the Seeker's delicate wings had not avoided damage. Crumpling and bent tips suggested that Starscream had panicked and run into the walls or tripped and fallen on the uneven floor more than once. The Seeker was clinging to the wall behind him, shaking, hunched over to avoid bashing his head on the low roof, Ratchet guessed, the cave was big enough for him to stand upright, but he only had a few feet head clearance.
As Ratchet moved the light up, Starscream gave another whimper, and turned his head to look in ratchet's direction.
Ratchet's Spark temperature felt as if it had dropped several degrees as he caught sight of the Seeker's face. Hs face was almost blank, without expression, except in the mouth which was very slightly open in a grimace that looked eerily like a twisted smile. Above the mouth, red optics glinted brightly…too brightly, and in them, Ratchet could see fear, confusion, and a hint of madness.
Ratchet could see that Starscream was teetering on the brink of insanity.