Chapter 10: Captured

Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead and Wheeljack had found the decepticons. Now that they were closing in on them and ready to attack, Optimus radioed in to Ratchet: "Ratchet, we are in position. Start your engines and roll out!"

Bulkhead and Wheeljack stopped, when they noticed something familiar about one of them. "Wait, Isn't that Dreadwing? Thought Megatron dealt with him?"

Bulkhead shrugged: "If there is one thing I have learned about decepticons, it is that they never stay dead".

Next to them Arcee had frozen. She looked terrified. "No!" It came out in a small whisper. "She couldn't possibly be here! She is in stasis back at base!"

Optimus scanned the decepticons and noticed that it was indeed Dreadwing and Airachnid. Bulkhead was right. The Decepticons just never stayed out of commission.

"We might be able to get some answers, if we manage to retain them, however Jacks safety and the others success at escaping is the top priority at the moment, do you understand?"

"Yes, but…"

"Then let us succeed quickly."

Optimus stood up from behind their hiding spot. "Airachnid, Dreadwing, you shall proceed no futher."

Dreadwing and Airachnid transformed to their attackmodes, weapons drawn and pointed at Optimus. "The boy will be ours. He will lead us to the Allspark!" Dreadwing shouted. Airachnid smiled and talked in her usual cheerful and sultry voice: "And maybe Megatron will let me keep him as pet or a playtoy. Afterall he is my Jack."

This made Arcee jump out from her hiding place and pointed her gun at Airachnid. "Keep your filthy servos away from my partner! How did you manage to escape from stasis without our notice, anyhow?"

"You would like to know that, wouldn't you? But I think I will keep that to myself for a while yet – perhaps only share it with my Jack"

"He is NOT your Jack!"

Dreadwing looked annoyed: "Enough of this, femmes. Just hand over the key and we'll be on our way."

Arcee almost made a growl: "As if I will let you take him!"

Optimus looked at them and thought it weird that they thought, they could stand up against them and win. They were 2 to 4. Optimus didn't think them as cons, who would underestimate them. He started to fear that it might be a diversion.

"Autobots, engage!"

Arcee went straight for Airachnid, with Optimus right behind her. The two wreckers went for Dreadwing.

"I don't know – how Megatron found – out about Jack, and I don't – care! You – stay away from –him!" Arcee almost growled out, while punching and kicking at Airachnid. She was then hit with Airachnid's web, sailed through the air and landed a few meters away. Optimus was about to attack her in Arcee's stead, when a lot of Vehicons – followed by Megatron himself. He smiled to Optimus, a cold and knowingly smile, then yelled to the Vehicons:

"Get the femme and deal with the rest of them!"

All the autobots eyes widened slightly at this new development. They had thought they would be after Jack, but now Arcee…

Optimus had to quickly block an attack from Megatron as he lurched forward with his sword over his head. He made it just in time, but was brought to one knee in the process. Swords still locked with each other, Optimus sought eyecontact with Megatron, in hope of understanding his game, his secrets. Again Megatron had that evil glint to his eyes.

"Did you really think I would just stupidly set after the boy and lose time and again? I have noticed how much he is like you, Orion… or Prime – in fact he is a bit of both your personalities. I figured, since he is so much like you, he would be willing to give himself up in exchange for his partner… Don't you think so too?"

Optimus eyes widened, and a bit of the fear he had tried to contain ever since this ordeal began, crept to the forefront of his mind. Megatron spotted this.

"Arh, what's this? I knew he was special to you and your fellow autobots, both as the key and as a friend, but this I did not expect. Ha, you truly have gone weak Optimus! You care for him, like a sire for a sparkling! Having the key in my grasp will be even more satisfying, since I now know just how much you will suffer in the meantime. You are a fool, Optimus! Always cared too much for the weak fleshlings, and now this! You could hardly steep any lower than this."

Out of the corner of his eye, Optimus spotted the other autobots pinned down, and the Vehicons, Dreadwing and Airachnid retreat with Arcee still caught in the web. Megatron punched him in the faceplate, and Optimus staggered back. When he gained his equilibrium Megatron and the rest were almost through a ground bridge of their own.

"Say hi to the key for me, Optimus!" Megatron made a mockwave. Airachnid stroked Arcee's cheek teasingly: "Well, your not my Jack, but entertainment wise you'll do. Perhaps I might even reveal how I am not in your base in stasis."

The ground bridge closed. Arcee was gone. And they had obtained little to no new information. Except that they intended to lure Jack in with Arcee. Bulkhead slammed his fist into the nearest rock. "Scrap!" Wheeljack shook his head in defeat: "Why does it seem like all we keep doing at the moment is losing?"

Optimus only stayed still for a moment longer, trying to process it all. Then he turned to his fellow autobots: "It may seem like that for the moment, but we will not give up on saving Arcee, stop them from getting Jack or figuring out this mystery. We will never give up. We will return to base and use the ground bridge to go to the Grand Canyon. There we will wait for the others to join us, while we try to come up with a plan to save Arcee."

"And stop Jack from giving himself up for her" mumbled Bulkhead. The other two looked at him. "What? Everytime we tell one of the humans to stay put, they never listens!"

Optimus did the human-thing with pressing the bridge of his nose, before a small sigh escaped un-Primel-like. Bulkhead couldn't help but think that maybe what Megatron said was real. Jack was really more special to Optimus than he would care to show or admit to.

"I fear you are correct Bulkhead. We must make sure, Jack – or the other humans for that matter – does not try to join us in our rescue attempt. Autobots, roll out!".

◊PRIME◊PRIME◊PRIME◊PRIME◊PRIME◊

Aboard the Nemesis-ship Megatron felt very optimistic about the plan and in quite a good mood – for him. He turned to Airachnid who couldn't keep her own gleeful smile of her face. She kept starring and draw taunting nails over Arcee's face, while cooing incoherent about all the things, she wanted to do with her Jack. Megatron would use her wickedness to his advantage, but he also knew he had to keep an eye on her, lest she overdid herself in her eagerness.

"Airachnid, why don't you make our new guest comfortable and presentable to a video for her friends in a few hours. I'm sure we all want her to look the best, do we not?"

Airachnid's face possibly lit up: "of course, Lord Megatron" She started to leave. "BUT – don't overdo it, Airachnid or else you will be getting the same make-over, do you understand?"

She hesitated only a fraction of a second: "Of course, Lord Megatron".

Megatron turned to Soundwave, after Airachnid had left the bridge. "Keep an eye on her".

Megatron went back to their monitors to look for the odd energon-signal that the key was giving of, every once in a while. He did not understand, why it would only be every now and then, and truthfully maybe it wasn't necessary to watch for it anymore, now that they had leverage against the fleshling, but perhaps if he was lucky, it could reveal one of the autobots bases.

He couldn't stop thinking about Optimus and the new discovery of just how important that stupid fleshling was to him. A sparkling! Optimus had never, when they had been friends in their younger days, expressed any desire to sire a sparkling. He had not even mentioned it, when he had been here aboard the Nemesis as Orion Pax. And now he thought he had found a substitute for a sparkling in this human. That was just insulting to their race, their entire species – to sink so deep!

But why was it this boy? Was that the same reason he had chosen the boy to carry Vector Sigma and to become the key. Although, from previous encounters it did not appear that Optimus had originally known the boy would be the key. He hadn't known either, until to coincidences brought it to his attention. The first one had been with one of his encounters with the autobots and humans together. In the heat of things he had only gotten a glimpse of the boys neck, and spotted the old cypertronian language. At the moment he hadn't thought more about it. He hadn't even read the symbol, just spotted it. At that point in time he had thought it was one of those ugly permanent paintings, humans apparently liked to don themselves with, as some sort of show of adoration for the stupid autobots.

But later that same week, they had come across an ancient file in the Iacon Database. It described how the Allspark was shipped away, and if or when lost, how the key would be able to find it. The key would be marked with the Symbol of the Allspark, and it would be a living key. Now that had sparked the memory of the boy's neck again in Megatron's memory bank, and he froze the picture of the neck, so he could study the symbol closer. Sure enough – it was the symbol of the Allspark. An insulting, weak fleshling was the key to salvation or damnation. After that the encrypted file had gotten more difficult to read or translate, and only fractions of it stood out. Something about the key showing the way as the message would become clear. Cryptic nonsense – but he was not willing to take that chance. After all the text had been right about the boy so far, so maybe this was true too. Something about a willing sacrifice to revive the Allspark, but the details about that, and everything else for that matter, was unclear. Megatron thought about the sacrifice. It would depend on what type of sacrifice that had to be made. He wasn't willing to give his own life for it. But until it came to that point, all he was interested in was getting the key, so he could get the message and eventually the Allspark and the rule of both Cypertron and Earth. He would be damned if Optimus got there first!

◊PRIME◊PRIME◊PRIME◊PRIME◊PRIME◊

Another place aboard the Nemesis Arcee hung strung up with that infernal web of Airachnid. Airachnid once again drove her nail down Arcee's face, but this time leaving a small poisonous trail down her cheek. Arcee groaned. But still looked defiantly up at the femme of her nightmares.

"You must admit, dear Arcee, that it was a nice surprise to find out, I was out and about… was it not?" She smirked wistfully at Arcee. "It was a nice, but complicated skill that I did'nt even know I could do, until I came to this planet and watched some of my fellow… look-a-like-creatures. Oh, and just wait until my dear Jack sees me! What a welcome, I'll be able to give him!"

Arcee fought against the bonds of web: "You stay away from him! And once again: He isn't your Jack".

Airachnid grabbed Arcee around her throat: "come now Arcee, you are not developing feelings for him, are you?" Arcee just stared on with more defiant looks. "Or are you just scared of losing another partner, I wonder? Well, either way Jack will be mine pretty soon, and there is nothing you can do about it!" Airachnid hissed, as she tore lines, cables and energon lines from Arcee's shoulder. Arcee screamed. Airachnid laughed and Soundwave went to report back to Megatron.