Disclaimer: Not mine!
A/N: *cough* Right, um...don't ask where this chapter has been. Because it totally hasn't just been sitting on my harddrive gathering dust. Nope. Er...please review anyways?
- Chapter 11 -
Fracture wasn't kidding about Vector's time bridge being an easy fix - within the day, it was done. Vector, of course, immediately tried to jump again, and promptly knocked himself out. When he came to, Fracture whacked him and reminded him that the timestream was still damaged - he couldn't go anywhere until it cleared up. And Fracture had no idea how long that would be, so Vector just had to wait.
Then Fracture's attention turned to me, and I was quite joyful as I realized I could essentially use him as a user manual for my new body. He knew pretty much anything I needed to know, and was happy to supply the answers, saying that understanding how the body worked would allow me to feel comfortable enough to defeat the Fallen and break the cycle. I still wasn't sure how that was going to work, but Fracture seemed certain enough of my success.
Of course, while I was happily playing 2000 questions with Fracture, the other Autobots were having to deal with the aftermath of the Fallen's attack, and Fracture's sudden appearance. Magnus explained some of what was going on to me, and actually had a still shot of Lennox's face when they informed him another Prime had just appeared out of nowhere - because, of course, technically all of the first thirteen were Primes. Only the Herald had had the Matrix of Leadership, but it all came back to that being-a-Prime-without-a-matrix thing that was apparently based more on the physical than anything else. Which, when I stopped and thought about it, probably made me a Prime, and I did not want to think about that, so I just ignored it and didn't ask anyone to confirm or deny that supposition. I had enough on my plate.
The aftermath from Antananarivo was, unfortunately, not quite so entertaining. The Autobots had passed off the Fallen's attack as some sort of experimental Decepticon super weapon, which had the human governments running a bit scared, despite all assurances that it was being dealt with. Adding to that was the fact that the governments were having more and more trouble explaining away Cybertronian-related incidents, and it almost looked as if this incident would be the proverbial straw, collapsing their fine web of lies. The public at large certainly wasn't inclined to just sit back and take whatever they were told like usual. It wasn't helped by the fact that Megatron seemed to be getting curious about what the hell was going on, and had started nosing around Madagascar. Fortunately, he was still blocked from bridging onto the moon, but he was making a right nuisance of himself on Earth, and around Jupiter. Most of Soundwave's symbiotes had been found and ejected more than twice in the course of two weeks, and Soundwave himself, with a bodyguard of seeker jets, had to be chased off from near Ganymede, presumably trying to grab someone to interrogate.
In the midst of this controlled chaos, we had the unexpected, but welcome, return of Elita. I'd wondered where she was occasionally, but nobody seemed overly concerned by her absence, so I figured she was off on a mission somewhere. It appeared I was right, as she arrived in a ship with a new group of Autobots. I wasn't there for the official greeting, but I was in The Lounge when the majority of them came in with energon (the dispenser was still not working - I was about ready to give up and replace it with a jukebox). One Chromia was apparently missing, having not been seen since she tackled Ironhide on the tarmac, and the subsequent wrestling match had rolled the two of them out of sight.
Of course, that was when everyone realized no one had had the opportunity to explain about me to Elita, and there was a strange tableau as Magnus, playing tour guide, introduced me.
"Weren't you...human the last time I saw you?" Elita asked, looking confused.
"Right, I forgot you left before that," Magnus said apologetically.
"Long story short, blame the First Thirteen," I supplied.
"The First Thirteen?" Elita looked even more confused.
"Er, why don't you sit down, and we can explain. It's a bit of a long story," Magnus said, motioning to a table, and Elita gladly joined us at it, listening intently as Magnus and I - ok, mostly Magnus, with me heckling - explained about what she'd missed in regards to me, including the fact that there were now two of the First Thirteen (technically three if you counted my body) on Ganymede. When he finished, Elita just shook her head.
"Well, you've had an interesting few months while I've been gone," she said.
"From what I've heard so far, yours have been interesting as well. I thought I heard Streak mention that she was sworn to silence on pain of dismemberment over something?" Magnus asked curiously, and Elita laughed.
"Yes, well, let's just say there's a reason Chromia sent that distress call to me, and expressly requested that I come alone," she said. "They weren't in trouble so much as they were in a rather embarrassing situation, with Chromia at the spark of it, as usual. She's sworn us all to silence."
"And since when has that ever stopped you?" Magnus asked with amusement.
"Perhaps later, when she's around to overhear and react," Elita said, optics twinkling with mischief, then turned and started asking me about Earth, and my experiences with, and as, a Cybertronian so far. We talked for a couple hours, until Optimus showed up, apparently having bridged in from Earth as soon as possible, and then he and Elita disappeared. Magnus, unfortunately, had duties he needed to get back to at that point, and regretfully said goodbye, leaving me in The Lounge by myself. I took the opportunity to mingle, chat with the new arrivals, to whom I was just another femme they didn't know. A few of the new mechs, I was amused to note, tried to flirt, and I did my best to dissuade them. They'd find out soon enough that they had no chance. The new group were a livelier bunch that most of the mechs on Ganymede, though, clearly relieved at the end of their long journey. Their party eventually left The Lounge, heading to private quarters or the official Recreation Room, which had a couple holographic screens and a working energon dispenser.
Elita left with Optimus the next day, but Chromia wasn't cleared for going to Earth yet, so Ironhide stuck around. He was part of the reason that Magnus was fairly sure that despite the humans growing wariness over gun-happy Autobots, they'd let Chromia down to Earth. The humans generally liked Ironhide, and he'd cheerfully stated that he was staying on the same planetoid as his mate for the next century, and Primus help anyone who tried to make him do any different. It spoke volumes that Optimus had just accepted that at face value and assigned another Autobot to temporarily replace Ironhide until it was decided if Chromia could go to Earth.
It turned out to be a good thing they stayed, though, as four days later, Megatron apparently decided he'd had enough of snooping around the Autobot and NEST bases, trying to figure out what we were up to, and just showed up at the Ganymede base himself, with support staff. Vector, Fracture, and I were ordered to remain hidden as the Autobots went out to meet them, so we watched from the command center. The combat was swift and brutal, and seemed mostly an exploratory mission, testing defenses. I didn't even realize Soundwave was with them until I felt the tickle at my mind. It was like when the Fallen and the Herald had spoken in my mind, but much weaker, much softer.
"Do you guys feel that?" I straightened in my chair in surprise, and Vector and Fracture looked at me.
"Do we feel what?" Vector asked curiously. They obviously weren't getting the same sensation, or they would know what I meant. I debated for a moment whether or not to let that seeking probe in. I knew I could block it out, but at the same time, I had to wonder - we were dealing with some pretty big things here, and maybe all the Cybertronians should be in on it.
I let Soundwave in. It was entirely different from the Fallen and the Herald, as Soundwave was actually looking for information, and didn't want to talk. A role reversal - I wanted to talk, and didn't want to just give away information willy-nilly. I think I startled Soundwave when I spoke to him.
Hello there, is there something I could help you with? I asked politely.
Query: identity. Soundwave asked.
I have about six different names at this point, but you can call me Terry, if you like.
Terry: human in origin. Fact: humans do not have telepaths. Query: how are you speaking with me? Soundwave seemed puzzled, even through his monotone.
Oh, I'm Cybertronian. Or, at least, my body is. Tell me, does Megatron do anything silly like worship Unicron? I asked casually. The immediate negative, so fast it could only have been an instinctive reaction, answered that question.
Statement: I will not answer any further questions. Fact: you will answer my questions. Soundwave said firmly.
Oh no, I don't think so. I replied politely, then shoved Soundwave out on his aft. He tried probing again, but this time I let him hit a mental brick wall. He eventually gave up.
"Having fun playing with Soundwave?" Fracture seemed to know exactly what I was doing, startling me away from putting mental 'graffiti' on my wall, mostly involving mighty ducks. Not that Soundwave would appreciate it, but hey. The more detailed a mental wall I could imagine, the stronger it was, I figured.
"Nah, he's kinda boring." I said with a shrug. "All work and no play makes Soundwave a dull boy." Fracture and Vector exchanged confused glances, clearly not getting the reference. "So, why did I pick up his mental probe and not you two?"
"Probably because you're telepathic now," Fracture said off-handedly, and I spluttered.
"I'm what?" I demanded when I'd recovered.
"Cybertronian telepathy is partially based on the abilities of the spark, but also on upgrades. A telepathic spark will be telepathic no matter what, for example, while a non-telepathic spark given a body with telepathic upgrades has a one in one hundred chance of being telepathic until or if they lose those upgrades. Considering the strength of the Herald's natural telepathy, and by extension, her telepathic upgrades, and taking into account what you're meant to do, I had expected you to manifest telepathically at some point," Fracture explained.
"And you didn't think to, I dunno, warn me?" I asked incredulously.
"Why make you worry over something that hadn't happened yet?" Fracture said with a shrug. "You've got enough to worry about as it is, and in reality, telepathy doesn't manifest the way your human media has suppositioned. It happens slowly, with plenty of warning, so that those who are watching for the signs can identify it. I knew I'd notice when you started showing signs. Though, I must admit, I hadn't expected you to manifest by carrying on a conversation with Soundwave."
"I didn't," I told him incredulously. "I manifested when the Fallen and the Herald started tromping through my head in Antananarivo." Fracture frowned.
"Oh. Well, regardless, now that you're aware of it, I can start training you in how to use it!" he said, far too cheerfully. I found myself listening in shock as Fracture just up and started rambling about telepaths, completely ignoring the battle still going on outside. I listened for a little while as he went on about how Cybertronian telepaths were more sensitive to each other than to non-telepathic mechs, making it really good that they were so rare, because otherwise they could have developed a hive-mind and that could've gone badly for those not telepathic. The battle was distracting, though, and eventually I just started tuning him out. He, apparently, didn't notice, and when the battle ended not long after, Vector had to tell him to shut the frag up as the three of us went to help.
Having not seen the aftermath of a battle before, it was a somewhat shocking experience for me - mostly because I wasn't nearly as horrified as I thought I should have been. Mechs were injured, one had been killed, yes, and the base was damaged in some areas, but I didn't find myself horrified by any of it. Instead, I just got to work, helping where I could, doing whatever the medics asked. Part of it might have been that those I knew well that had been in the battle - Ironhide and Magnus - were fine, and the only injured Autobots I saw were those that I didn't know all that well. Magnus was also quick to reassure me that it had been a minor battle, and that except for the one dead Autobots, everyone would recover and be in full fighting form with a few days. Besides, there were two dead Decepticons on the field, too.
I didn't tell Magnus about my little conversation with Soundwave - I was still a little freaked out about the whole telepathy thing, and Fracture wasn't helping. Besides that, I didn't think Magnus would react well, as he had been part of the meeting where the Autobots had decided not to tell Megatron about the Fallen being in the area. Thinking on it afterwards, I also realized just how ballsy I was being, going against the advice of all the officers, whether or not they knew it. For a few days, I was praying that Soundwave would just forget the whole thing. Then I remembered the look on his face when his officers advised against telling Megatron, and I knew that while they might not want it, Optimus did.
At any rate, the decision of whether or not the Decepticons would take the breadcrumb I'd laid down for them was out of my hands, and I tried not to obsess over it too much - especially since Chromia apparently decided that me not knowing how to fight was an offence against her personal beliefs, and had set out to personally train me. And training with Chromia requires ones full attention, at all times - that is, if you call 'training' running from rock to rock, dodging Chromia's cannon and occasionally trying to shoot back only to fall on your aft and get laughed at because you're not used to the recoil from your own cannon.
When I finally escaped from Chromia in the evening - I never thought I would be so glad to see Ironhide looking lecherous - I immediately hid in Magnus's and my quarters, quietly reading The Odyssey on a datapad until Magnus got back.
"How di-"
"Don't. Ask," I growled - he'd been there when Chromia had hauled me off. "Just clear her for Earth. Now." Magnus chuckled.
"I'll do my best, but in the meantime, you could use the training," he said, trying to be soothing. I glared at him. "Er - why don't I go get us some energon?" He fled, and when he came back with energon, he also had, either by design or by coincidence, Vector with him. Vector, who had been left struggling with the uncooperative energon dispenser in The Lounge while I'd been 'training', and looked about as pissed as me.
"I have a better idea. We're not replacing it with a jukebox, we're turning it into a jukebox," he growled in greeting, the start of a rant that lasted for my entire cube of energon about the stupidity of the dispenser and the many miserable, grisly deaths he wanted to subject it to. When Vector's rant finished, he and I started plotting what to actually do about the dispenser, and making plans to start working on it the next day - starting as early as possible, so that I could be Very Busy by the time Chromia came looking for me again.
Magnus, meanwhile, retreated with his cube to the berth, acquiring a datapad - my copy of The Odyssey, I think - and paying rapt attention to it. When Vector finally left, and I went to join Magnus on the berth, I discovered he'd actually fallen into recharge while pretending to read the datapad. Amused, I put the datapad away and joined him.
Vector and I managed to successfully appear Very Busy tearing out the energon dispenser by the time Chromia came looking for me the next day, and I went about the job much more gleefully by the time she left. Of course, then Fracture showed up to tell me how I should really take the training while it was being offered, especially considering the source.
"I'll willfully take combat training from Chromia when you do, Fracture," I told him pleasantly. Fracture had mentioned, more than once, that he was a pacifist.
"I don't have an upcoming battle with the Fallen," Fracture replied disapprovingly.
"Yeah, and a little birdie told me that battle wouldn't exactly depend on physical prowess," I said as I ripped some of the last remains of the energon dispenser out of the wall.
"It still wouldn't hurt to learn," Fracture said.
"Tell you what - once Chromia is off Ganymede, I will find someone who is on Ganymede to teach me how to fight. The implication being, of course, that I will learn how to fight from anyone but Chromia. Understood?" I asked, frowning as I turned to Fracture.
"Very well," he said with a sigh. "Then how about your mental training?"
"Not today! Today is the Execution of the Energon Dispenser!" I said, doing one last check over the hole in the wall where the energon dispenser had once sat for any last components.
"The well deserved and totally justified, not to mention bound to be extremely satisfying, execution," Vector elaborated from off to the side, where he was crating up all the various parts.
"Also, target practice!" I said cheerfully, grinning at Fracture. He sighed.
"Very well, perhaps tomorrow, if you insist on fleeing Chromia again," he said.
"Tomorrow it is," I told him, and he left Vector and I to finish cleaning up. Once everything was in the appropriate boxes, we took the ones with salvageable parts to storage, labeled 'Wheeljack's Stuff' (it was, amusingly, the general term for all odds and ends around Autobot bases - Magnus had explained that it had started as a joke, then took off as a readily identifiable category of materials). The actual energon dispenser mechanism, however, we took outside, where we set it down on the edge of the base and cheerfully began blasting at it.
"Terry, what are you and Vector doing?" Magnus's puzzled comm interrupted us a few moments after we began.
"Blowing the crap out of the remains of the energon dispenser!" I told him cheerfully.
"Ah." He wisely didn't try to suggest that we should salvage it, and left us to it.
Which was, as it turned out, the last thing he should have done. Vector and I, in order to limit the risk of shrapnel or a stray shot damaging anything on the base, had gone out to the edges of the defenses - and it was apparently just the opportunity Megatron had been looking for.
The Decepticons tripped seven kinds of alarms the moment they stepped inside the base sensor net, but it didn't matter. Soundwave was with them, directing the kidnapping and jamming our transmissions from the moment they moved, and as big as they were, they quickly overwhelmed us. They'd dragged us outside the bridge jamming field before the Autobots even got outside the base, and we were gone moments later.
As soon as we appeared on the Decepticon base, we were put in stasis cuffs, and shoved onto our knees in front of none other than Megatron. His smile as he looked down at us was insufferably smug, and I wanted to wipe it off with my cannon, even if I ended up on my backside from the recoil.
"I see you were successful, Soundwave," he said, his gaze sliding from me to Vector and back again. "I believe it's time you and I had a talk. Or rather, I believe it's time you talked...about everything you know." Soundwave stepped over at that, and I felt a tickle at my mind. It was stronger than when I'd spoken with Soundwave before, and I knew he was putting his full strength behind it now. Thanks to the hardware in the Herald's body, though, he was still no match for me - especially since I was pissed as hell, and wanted to let him know it. I lashed out at the telepath like Fracture had been teaching me to do against the Fallen - though, considering how much weaker Soundwave's mental defenses were, I may have used a bit too much power. Soundwave didn't even make a noise, just going down like a puppet with its strings cut, his optics dark. He wasn't dead, but boy was his processor gonna ache when he woke up. Megatron was, naturally, not pleased.
"Very well, if you are going to be difficult, I'll use other methods -" he motioned to a mech in the background.
"How about you just ask your questions, huh?" I asked sarcastically. "Maybe if you ask nicely enough, I might even tell you what you want to know, willingly." My reply was a fist across the face.
"Or I could let Astrotrain have his fun, and get my answers," Megatron said from the other side of the large grinning mech now blocking my field of vision.
"Oh great," I muttered as Astrotrain's fist smashed into my shoulder, bending the armor - my frame was not meant for heavy combat. Which meant this was probably going to get messy, and fast. I took comfort in the fact that Astrotrain just seemed to be enjoying having someone to punch, and not focusing on pain, though - his hits hurt, but they were bearable. Not that I didn't end up calling Astrotrain, and every other Decepticon, every obscenity I could think of - especially once I caught a glimpse of Vector, being held back by one of the other Decepticons. The young Prime looked shell-shocked, and I realized that this was the first violence of this kind that he'd seen. So I cursed them extra, just for that, as Astrotrain continued to have his 'fun'.
Megatron, the slagger, didn't even ask any questions until Astrotrain finally stopped. And then, the questions he asked were not the ones I'd been expecting - I'd been thinking that he was finally following up on the breadcrumb I'd dropped, but no, it appeared that he was just looking for access codes, comm frequencies, and other such strategically important things that I knew nothing about. What little I caught of his dire threats and rants while Astrotrain pummeled me made me realize that Soundwave probably hadn't even shared his encounter with me, and Megatron had given up on finding out what happened in Madagascar, and was now just seeking a way to get back at the Autobots after his defeat the other day. I decided that I was glad that Soundwave hadn't shared - Megatron could get swallowed whole by Unicron, for all I cared.
Finally, as my system warnings were starting to get serious, Megatron decided we were done for the day, and he and Astrotrain left. Vector and I were then dragged down to the brig, where we were unceremoniously tossed in. Vector recovered easily, but for me, it almost looked like that toss into the brig would be the part that sent me into stasis. I managed to hold off, though, as Vector hurried over. Looking at the anguish on his face, I felt sorry for the young Prime, and as my self-repair systems got to work, I summoned a weak smile for him.
"I guess we know what was wrong with the energon dispenser - it was a Decepticon in disguise," I said. Vector didn't even manage a small smile, watching me with the most miserable expression on his face that I'd ever seen.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"This isn't your fault," I told him. "It's nobody but ol' bucket-head's."
"But I should have -" Vector's exclamation cut off suddenly as he glanced around the cell warily. I sat up a little straighter.
"Don't tell me you can..." I trailed off meaningfully, and he nodded miserably. Apparently the timeline had finally cleared enough for him to time bridge - and he'd already proven that his time bridge could go through regular bridge jamming fields.
"I found out yesterday. I wanted to get the dispenser fixed or replaced before I told anyone and...went," he said. "I guess I should've just gone."
"No, because then you wouldn't be able to go get help," I told him, my mood brightening. "The Autobots know who has us, but not where. I'm betting you, being you, can give them that."
"I'm not leaving you here alone!" Vector protested.
"No? And what do you think Megatron will do when he realizes who you are? So far he hasn't clued in, but he will sooner or later, especially once Soundwave recovers," I countered. "No, you need to scram, and fast."
"You're not going to be much better off if he finds out about you - he doesn't exactly like...your kind." Vector censored himself as he glared at me.
"You'll just have to make sure you rescue me before he finds out," I replied. "Go." Vector looked ready to protest more, but I gave him a sharp look, and with an almost resentful 'goodbye', he disappeared. It was less than a minute later when some Decepticons, clearly watching the cameras, stormed into the brig, demanding to know where Vector had gone. I told them I didn't know, that he'd just said he'd had a way out, and then he was gone.
"Liar! We heard you talking, you knew exactly where he was going!" one of them sneered.
"And if you heard that, then you heard us talking about escaping and did nothing. Boy, I bet Megatron will love that," I said sweetly. That fist to my face was what finally made my systems give up and send me into stasis lock.
When they had finally repaired enough damage for me to function on a conscious level, I woke to find myself thrown over someone's shoulder. Said someone was running, and as I watched a wall cave in behind me, I realized they were running for good reason. That didn't stop it from hurting like slag, however, and I whimpered, asking to be let down before I realized there was no atmosphere for my carrier to hear me. I opened up my comms to ask instead, and -
Feel you hear you where are you looking for you want to destroy burn crush you protections gone tired tired no more waiting end this one way end it now kill you destroy rip you apart not the time doesn't matter end it end it now -
It continued babbling in my head, and I started to struggle against whoever was carrying me.
"Let me down!" I demanded over comms, and amazing, it worked. Movement stopped, and I was dumped on the ground. I gasped, pain flaring up, and found myself facing a furious Megatron once again, several very grouchy looking Decepticons, one of which had just been carrying me, standing around behind him, weapons drawn and watching the corridor on either side of them warily.
"How did you bring the Fallen here?" Megatron demanded.
"I didn't!" I protested.
"You expect me to believe that it's coincidence that he shows up less than a joor after your friend disappears, when my guards caught you two discussing him going to get help?" Megatron snarled. "I knew Prime was desperate when he formed an alliance with organics, but to ally himself with Unicronians as well is farther than I'd ever thought he'd go."
"He's not - the Fallen isn't here to rescue me, he's trying to fragging kill me!" I replied incredulously.
"What interest could he possibly have in you?" Megatron sneered.
"What interest do you have in me?" I asked.
"You're leverage, nothing more." Megatron replied disdainfully.
"Yeah, well, he thinks I can free him from his eternity of serving Unicron!" I shot back. "Leverage, of a different sort!" Megatron frowned, my response making him pause for once.
"How could you free him from serving Unicron?" the Decepticon leader asked, and though there was a hint of disdain in his voice, it wasn't as bad as before.
"It's a very long story, but -" I was interrupted as Megatron cut the connection, his head snapping to the side. The wall he was looking towards promptly exploded inwards, showering the Decepticons and me in debris. Their weapons came around, but they faltered at what was on the other side. It wasn't the Fallen - it was much, much worse. The older, bigger, and more armored Vector looked peeved enough, but ahead of him, Magnus was positively livid, and before the Decepticons could even think about surrendering, he'd taken half of them out. Megatron saw his troops falling and didn't even hesitate before transforming, knocking over his few remaining soldiers as he shot off down the corridor, blasting through the wall at the end and keeping on going. He obviously didn't fancy his chances much. Meanwhile, I looked over at Vector with a grin.
"Toldja," I informed him over comms, and he shook his head as Magnus stepped over and blocked my view, concern on his face. I switched my connection to Magnus and let my grin slip into a smile. "Hey. I hear you brought the Fallen as backup?" Magnus chuckled.
"More like Vector and I decided to take advantage of the distraction he was creating. Can you walk?" Magnus asked.
"No, I don't think so," I replied, shaking my head. Considering I couldn't even feel my right leg, I didn't want to chance it.
"I'll have to carry you, then. The Decepticon bridge jammer is still in place, so we'll have to walk a ways to get off this rock," Magnus said.
"And the Fallen will be looking for us as we go," I told him cheerfully, and Magnus frowned. "Don't ask me why or how, but he's here looking for me."
"Very well, we'll just have to be careful, then," Magnus said, lifting me up. He motioned for Vector to go ahead, and the other mech left through the hole they'd made in the wall, Magnus just behind him. They moved quickly through the Decepticon, sometimes crossing open Martian ground - it only took one good look at the landscape for me to realize we were on Mars - but it was clear to tell the Fallen was following us, and getting steadily closer.
"This is going to do wonders for Megatron thinking we're working together," I grumbled. To someone who didn't know all the facts, I'm sure it looked like the Fallen was covering our escape.
"What?" Magnus asked distractedly.
"Nothing, I -" the Fallen's voice, which I'd relegated to a background hum, suddenly got louder, overpowering everything else.
See you see you there you are here I am finish it destroy crush burn he's here to he will die and you will suffer and then die -
He seemed to be getting more coherent, and I wasn't sure that was a good thing. Looking back over Magnus's shoulder, I expected to meet the Fallen's burning optics, but frowned when I didn't. I could see his hulking form moving in our direction, but the smoke was so thick that I couldn't see anything through it - there was no way he should have been able to see us.
Magnus suddenly stopped short, and I looked ahead again, finding Vector facing off against three of Soundwave's symbiotes. The Fallen's mutterings grew louder in my mind, and I realized what was happening. Fracture had said Cybertronian telepaths were sensitive to each other - and just as I could keep Soundwave out if I wanted to, there was no way he could keep the Fallen out, keep him from taking over and controlling him. I frowned, looking at the symbiotes, but knew that they weren't who I needed to go after. I cast about, looking for their possessed master, looking for Soundwave. I found him, hidden amidst smoke, and summoned my strength to lash out at him.
I hit a wall, but it shook when I hit, and in my own mind, the Fallen's muttering abruptly stopped. I lashed out again against the walls around Soundwave's mind, and this time they broke. I knew I didn't have much time before the Fallen gathered his strength and pushed me out, so I did the only thing I could think of - I reached out and grabbed Soundwave, holding on as tightly as possible. He seemed to get the idea, and grabbed back. Alone and on level footing, the Fallen and I were equally matched. Weakened as I was, he could beat me - but with Soundwave's help, I could overpower him. The telepath didn't want to be dominated anymore than anyone else would, especially by the Fallen. We tossed the fragger out on his aft, and he howled in rage in my mind, starting to head personally in our direction. He continued to batter against Soundwave's and my combined defenses, but we weren't letting him in.
Then Soundwave's control faltered slightly, and while I managed to make up for the lack, when he came back, it was to an image of the outside world, and I risked putting all the control in his hands, letting him use my strength to keep the Fallen away as I dealt with the image he'd shown me.
"Don't! He's coming with us!" I called to Vector over the comm lines, and he looked back at me from where he had his rifle pointed at Soundwave's head.
"He's what?" Magnus asked incredulously.
"No time to explain, we have to get away, and we can't leave Soundwave or his symbiotes here!" I said urgently. I knew that they would become pawns of the Fallen, and Unicron, if we left them here.
"Terry -" Magnus tried to protest one last time.
"He's coming, or by god, I'm staying," I snarled, and Magnus got the hint. When I saw Vector grudgingly sling the telepath over his shoulder, I submerged myself back in the mental battlefield, where the Fallen was still battering away at our combined defenses. Soundwave was still holding him off, but he didn't seem to know quite what to do with all my power at his disposal, as well, and I quickly took back the reins. Together, we kept out the Fallen until we felt a space bridge, and we were suddenly too far away for him to reach. I broke the connection with a shudder, Soundwave pushing me away as quickly as I did him, neither of us wanting to be linked together outside of that emergency.
I returned to the Ganymede base bridging room, where Soundwave and his symbiotes were being held at gunpoint by some very angry looking Autobots. Not all the glares were directed at Soundwave, either, and I recalled what Magnus has said - Vector and he had decided to take advantage of the Fallen's distraction. Just the two of them, no mention of Prowl or Optimus.
"What the frag is going on?" Hearing Prowl curse was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but as he stepped forward, his own weapon drawn and pointed in Soundwave's direction, I knew I didn't have time to enjoy it.
"The Fallen showed up looking for me, I don't know why, and he used Soundwave's telepathy to possess and try to take him over. I couldn't just leave him to be taken over, so I told Magnus and Vector to bring him with us," I said in a rush.
"What?" Prowl asked, startled out of his anger to stare at me.
"I'll second that," Magnus commented with a frown. "What?"
"Vector was there when Fracture explained it - Cybertronian telepaths are susceptible to each other. We're actually more susceptible to each other's powers than non-telepathic Cybertronians. Which makes it dangerous when you have telepaths of different strengths, because the stronger ones can take over the weaker ones, totally dominating their mind. The Fallen was doing that to Soundwave," I explained with a nod in the Decepticon's direction.
"Her statement is correct," Soundwave confirmed in his monotone - not that his support helped much.
"'We'?" Magnus asked me incredulously.
"Yeah, didn't I tell you that came as part and parcel of inheriting the Herald's body?" I replied, realizing now, of course, that I hadn't. I had implied it, but I hadn't outright stated 'oh yeah, I'm telepathic now.' Then I realized who I'd just said what in front of, and I turned to frown at Soundwave.
"Fact: statement confirms earlier supposition," the telepath commented, probably picking up on my surface thoughts - I could detect a bit of his, if I tried.
"And what do you intend to do about it?" I asked.
"Fact: the Fallen and Unicron are no friends of the Decepticons. Personal intentions regarding recently acquired information: inform Megatron. Probable result: temporary cease-fire to deal with the Fallen," Soundwave replied, then paused before adding. "Qualifier: my freedom."
"Do you have a safe spot off Mars you can bridge to?" I asked him.
"You expect us to just let him go?" Magnus demanded with a growl.
"Yes," I said, looking up at him. "He needs to go."
"Why? We've been trying to take Soundwave down since the start of the war. He's tortured and killed thousands of Autobots, destroyed the minds of prisoners so that even if we could rescue them, there was nothing left of the friends we once knew. And now we have him here, in our hands." Magnus's grip on me tightened as he glared at Soundwave.
"And if you don't let him go, then Megatron is going to assume that the Autobots are working with the Fallen and Unicron, and there will be no more mercy. There will be no more torture, no more prisoners - only death. The war that Fracture spoke of will have started," I said calmly. I could see it all very clearly in my mind - as petty as Megatron was now, I'd seen his face before Vector and Magnus had shown up. He wouldn't let a single Autobot live if he thought they'd allied with the Fallen and Unicron. "The Fallen's attack may have been a perfect distraction, but unfortunately, you showing up to rescue me at that time sent entirely the wrong message."
"So you're saying it's my fault that we have to let Soundwave go." Magnus glared down at me.
"In a way, yes," I said, mentally grimacing. "You chose to come save me, and now you must let him go, or risk a war that will destroy the galaxy."
"Very well," Magnus ground out, looking extremely unhappy about it.
"No! No fragging way, we can't just let him go!" one of the other Autobots in the room objected, and others quickly spoke up, objecting as well.
"QUIET!" Prowl's bellow drowned them all out, and he glared around the assembled Autobots. "Terry is right. Soundwave must return to the Decepticons." He turned his gaze to the telepath, glaring intensely. "We will have our justice on him someday, but it will not be today." Soundwave inclined his head slightly, and slowly, a space cleared around him. He gave the co-ordinates for his bridge destination, and Prowl personally input them, probably rightfully doubting any other Autobot's ability to resist the temptation of inputting incorrect co-ordinates. Then, with a small flash, Soundwave and his symbiotes were gone.
"Now that that's done, someone please get Ratchet." I rested my head against Magnus's shoulder, letting exhaustion swept over me. Between my injuries at the hands of the Decepticons, and my actions that day, I was running on empty, and I hurt on top of it. Without something to focus on, I fell into a haze of pain and system warnings. I was vaguely aware of movement around me, of the ugly green of Ratchet's paint job amoung all the others, and I had the vaguely lucid thought that he'd picked the distinctive colour on purpose so that injured mechs would know instantly that it was him. I resolved to ask him later, and had forgotten by the time stasis finally claimed me.