Chapter Seven
Soundwave had her effectively pinned, Rae had to admit. There really was nothing she could do at the moment. Soundwave had gone to great lengths to make sure she couldn't move – the metal straps holding her arms and legs in place against the equally metal slab was telling of his determination. It scared her more than anything she had ever come across during her time with the Decepticons. She knew exactly what he wanted to do, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. Harbinger wasn't there to protect her. There was no one.
Her eyes locked on to Soundwave's optics, silently pleading with him to spare her. Soundwave simply shook his head. "I can't, little human, even if I wanted to." he said. "Megatron ordered me to find out all I could about your family, and quite frankly, I'm looking forward to seeing how well your frail human body holds up to my probing powers." He placed a hand on her head. "Now, don't fight me. It will hurt worse if you do."
A sudden lancing pain shot through her skull, and Rae screamed aloud. It was as if fire was being poured into her mind, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The pressure was building, and all she could do was scream and let the pain wash over her. She didn't even know if Soundwave was getting the information he wanted, and quite frankly, she didn't care. Even if he did learn something, there wasn't a pit-spawned thing Rae could do about it, and the others would understand that. She hoped they would, anyway.
Soundwave watched as the human strained against the restraints, her screams getting fainter and fainter as her body shut down in self-defense. It was taking a while, longer than he would have thought, considering the fragile nature of the organics. He wasn't even truly trying to find anything. Megatron could go to pit, as far as Soundwave was concerned. It had been a long time since the mech had gotten the chance to torture anything.
It was right as Rae passed out that all hell broke loose.
/---/
The Autobots had found strategic locations all around the base to attack from. Only Prime would go through the front door, so to speak. The others would attack from all the corners, including entrances and exits. There weren't too many, only three ways out of the massive building. Jazz, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe covered one exit; Ironhide, Prowl, and Ratchet took the other. Optimus got the front entrance all to himself. No one really thought he'd be in any danger.
Megatron was the one to meet him at the front door. The two brothers wasted no time with pleasantries. The attack was immediate, taking the two outside of the base. None of the Decepticons tried to help their leader. Megatron would have killed them if they did. He was determined – Optimus would be his and his alone to kill.
/---/
Starscream and Barricade found Rae easily enough – unfortunately she wasn't in the best of positions for rescue. They arrived in time to see her body go limp and her mind shut down against Soundwave's probe. Barricade instantly went to the girl, attempting to override the computer program that held the clamps over the girl's body. Starscream didn't waste any time – he went straight to Soundwave and charged the mech, knocking him to the ground and therefore away from Rae, breaking his concentration. The mental probe deactivated as soon as Soundwave was forced to focus on the fight.
With a hiss, the clamps came free. Barricade gathered the small girl into his arms, thinking just how much like a youngling she was. Even unconscious she had automatically snuggled up closer to Barricade's chest plates, seeking the warmth of his spark.
"Starscream!" he shouted. "We need to get out of here. The Autobots are attacking!"
"Great." the Seeker grunted. "Just what we need. An invasion as well as a betrayal." With that, he drove his fist through Soundwave's chest, shattering his spark chamber. "I wanna watch the medic try and fix that." He turned to Barricade. "Give Rae to me. No one needs to know you were involved. I'll see if I can get out past the Autobot scum. The Neutrals will want their youngling back."
Barricade nodded and reluctantly handed over the girl. "Take good care of her, Starscream." he said. "I've gotten rather fond of that one." Starscream laughed and ran from the room and down the hall, towards the faintest sounds of fighting. Hopefully that's where the fewest Autobots would be.
He hoped, anyways.
/---/
Ironhide and Jazz wound up fighting side-by-side, trying to fend off Thundercracker and Skywarp. The Seekers had a slight advantage over them, being able to fly and hide in the high ceilings. Jazz also had quite a range on his cannon, and Ironhide was just plain fragged off. Not a good combination, to be sure.
Jazz contacted Ironhide over the comm. link. "Starscream is coming our way."
"Slag it. You think he's trying to help the other Seekers?"
" . . . No. He's coming too fast. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trying to make a break for it."
Ironhide blinked in confusion. "Well, that's just plain odd." The conversation was cut short by a few missiles fired from Thundercracker. The two Autobots had to jump to either side of the hallway to avoid the blasts.
Starscream chose that moment to come barreling through.
/---/
Sunstreaker and Sideswipe barged into the relatively small room, followed closely by Prowl and Ratchet. Guns were drawn, ready for a fight. Sunstreaker's aim went immediately for the more dangerous of the two, and he stopped cold. Everyone stared in shock.
Soundwave was lying on the ground, clearly dead. There was a gaping hole in his chest along with the shattered remains of his spark casing. There was simply no way any mech could have survived that.
Sitting near the body was Barricade, calmly staring at the Autobots as if he knew exactly what they were there for. The Decepticon police cruiser sighed and stood up to his full height, making the others instinctively back away. "Please. I really don't want to fight right now." the Decepticon sighed again. "No doubt you already know what we're after. If you're quick, you might get the one person who can control it."
The twins exchanged suspicious looks. Why would a Decepticon be telling them this, betraying his own people? It just didn't make any sense! Barricade laughed at the looks of confusion and doubt on the Autobots' faces. "Look, I don't expect you to believe me. But I do expect you to follow what I say for now.
"When you find Starscream, you can't kill him. She'll never trust you if you do."
There was a dead silence in the room. Prowl was the one to break it.
"What the pit are you talking about?!"
