Author's Note:
Sunny: could you like…hurry this up please? It's seriously anticlimactic being frozen like this while Star-freak is trying to kill us… *whimper*
Starscream: *smirks evilly* where is the fun in that youngling? I rather enjoy this predicament you are in right now…
Sides: HEY! Don't forget about ME! I'm like half dead over here!! *grumbles*
Whitedino: *nervous laugh* Right…so I've started my job and it's been stressful and tiresome…I am once again in the position to beg for your mercy...err...I mean ask for forgiveness for being so late in updating!
Chapter 8
The Autobot battleship opened fire upon the Nemesis with powerful bursts of plasma powered energy weapons.
"Launch torpedos, keep firing…if you can break through their shields, report back to me immediately."
The Autobots wasted no time following their leader's orders and continued their barrage against the equally deadly battleship head on. Artemis I was rocked by explosions near the port side, a few of the Decepticons hitting their ship with deadly accuracy.
"Sir, shields are down to 70%."
Ultra Magnus frowned from where he stood on the bridge, viewing the raging battle from the viewport.
"Keep me updated. We just need to buy Optimus and his crew more time…"
The Autobot commander forced his optics away from the battle to look out of the starboard portal. The relatively abandoned youth sector was dark and lifeless.
Please hurry Optimus.
He shifted his optics away and returned his full attention to the space battle, barking out orders, taking charge once again.
TFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF
"DON'T HURT HIM!!"
Sunny screamed and begged while the two decepticons picked his brother up and brought his near lifeless frame before their leader.
"Starscream, the Nemesis has arrived. What are your orders?"
"Go scout out the rest of the base and destroy any survivors you may find."
The two turned to leave but Starscream stopped them with his cold words.
"…Skywarp, Thundercracker…I expect you to do so without mercy."
His two lackeys got themselves in a lot of trouble the last time they decimated a Youth Sector. They terminated the younglings as ordered but they did so in a highly merciful fashion. Instead of torturing them first, they had shot them cleanly through the processor, forcing them into stasis lock, so that they were unable to feel their horrendous demise as they extinguished their sparks.
They nodded their heads once and wordlessly lumbered off into the shadows, leaving Starscream alone with the two pathetic younglings. He leered down at the whimpering Sunny who was still curled in on himself as he was dangled in the air by his scruff bar.
"Any last words you would like to say to your dear brother before I extinguish his miserable little spark?"
He twittered angrily and took a swing at his face with tiny little fists, speaking in the sparkling language too emotional to use big-bot speech.
Starscream chuckled in dark amusement and lifted the prone form of the little red youngling who was still off-line.
"My, my…do we have an attitude!"
Sunny lunged for him again but wasn't able to get very far since Starscream still held him out of his reach.
"You know…I was supposed to destroy you little one…but you might make a good slave. Or better yet, a really good pet."
Sunny's purple tinted optics shifted completely over to red now and he howled and hissed, no longer himself as the Con's words hit him with cruel force.
A bright green laser blast struck starscream from behind, sending him screeching to his knees.
Another laser shot him directly in the shoulder, his hidden opponents not yet revealing themselves.
"WHO DARES SHOOT ME?!!"
Sunny was no longer lost in a blood thirsty frenzy although his optics still glowed a brilliant purple. He perked up the nanosecond he heard the calming, most familiar baritone voice boom from somewhere down the hallway.
"Put the youngling down, Starscream!"
Starscream smirked wickedly and brought his gun up against the side of Sunny's head.
"Come out and show yourselves or you can say good riddance to the little fragger!"
From the shadows emerged Optimus Prime, Prowl, Jazz, and Ironhide. They surrounded him from every side with weapons trained on the Seeker.
Optimus locked optics on first the battered frame of the red youngling which then came to rest on Sunny's own violet ones.
"Optimus, help me!!"
Starscream cackled maniacally at the youngling's frightened words, his ruby red optic gleaming maliciously in the dim light of the Youth Sector.
"Take one step closer and I WILL blow the little pit spawn's head off!!"
Optimus growled ferally and narrowed bright blue optics at the fiend.
Bright, hot energon tears flowed freely down the youngling's face as he shivered uncontrollably in the ruthless clutches of his captor. Sunny never took his optics off of Optimus who was looking angrier by the minute.
"Release the youngling or we WILL open fire! You are outnumbered."
"I'll NEVER surrender to the likes of YOU!"
Optimus shook his head almost sadly.
"You have left us no other choice then."
Starscream then did something that none of them expected. He actually threw the red youngling at them before firing erratically while screeching for backup. Not even Prowl saw that one coming… the seeker was INSANE.
Jazz dove to catch the youngling as Starscream turned his pistol on the saboteur with mad delight as he aimed it directly at the Autobot's spark chamber.
Before the Decepticon could pull the trigger, the tactician threw a razor sharp disc, similar to a ninja star with deadly accuracy. It sliced clean through the hand that was about to fire upon his comrade.
Starscream howled in pain and screeched in fury when he lost the bright yellow youngling a nanosecond later.
Mirage appeared right next to the wounded Decepticon long enough to snatch the yellow youngling away from Starscream and then ghosted them both out of sight, most likely to take Sunny away from the battle.
Once the two younglings were far from Starscream, the Autobots exploded into action. Ironhide tackled Starscream with a furious roar, punching the Decepticon repeatedly in his already damaged face.
"THIS IS FOR THE YOUNGLINGS, YOU PIT FORSAKEN FRAGGER!!"
Starscream was no match against the titanic, black armored weapons specialist's righteous fury.
Optimus opened up a communications channel with Ratchet who was still aboard their ship.
::Ratchet, we have retrieved both younglings, one of them is in critical condition. Mirage is on his way with them now, we will join you momentarily::
::Wheeljack and I are standing by::
Blaster fire lit up the dark corridor with brilliant beams of red light as Thundercracker made his presence known.
"ALL HAIL MEGATRON!"
Jazz combat rolled out of the line of fire and covered Prowl with his energy shield while the Tactician exchanged shots with the new D-con.
Ironhide was currently beating the slag out of Starscream in a furious rage. From the looks of things…his weapons specialist didn't need any help. Although to be truthful…Optimus wanted a piece of Starscream himself after what he did to his younglings.
Wait, did he just refer to Sunny and Sides as his?
Optimus growled when a laser blast struck him from behind, he whirled around to face the new threat, his battle mask sliding neatly into place as a sword slid deftly from his right hand. He turned to face his enemy only to feel something knock him down from behind. He rolled back up and turned in the new direction prepared to defend him-self only to meet empty air.
That's when it all clicked within his processor.
Optimus dodged to the left as something fast barreled into the spot he had been in moments before.
This Decepticon was too slagging predictable. Thanks to experience, he had come to learn that this bot had a pattern.
The Autobot leader counted down mentally in his head before striking out with his sword. A faint image flickered almost as if it was still moving but couldn't now that it was firmly impaled on the end of his weapon. Skywarp groaned now completely de-cloaked and looked down to see that Optimus's sword had gone through his left shoulder. The Autobot Captain narrowed his optics at the squirming Decepticon and extracted his sword before punching Skywarp in the face, sending the seeker careening into a nearby wall head first. He slid down to the floor in a crumpled daze.
Optimus had a feeling they had wasted enough time here.
"AUTOBOTS, FALL BACK!"
Jazz and Prowl injured Thundercracker into a disgraceful retreat. They had to physically drag Ironhide off of an already off-lined Starscream who was almost unrecognizable after the beating the weapons specialist gave him.
They left the injured Decepticons and hurried back through the maze of corridors they had come through in order to get back to their docked ship.
Something shook the Youth Sector, nearly knocking the Autobots off of their feet.
"Slag…another meteor shower?"
Optimus glanced out of a nearby viewport as they ran past and grimly focused on the escape exit directly ahead of them.
"Not a meteor shower…"
"What then?"
No response.
Jazz was seriously getting freaked out now.
"PRIME?!"
"Just get to the exit…NOW!"
An explosion shattered the glass observation wing, sending a shower of transparent fragments over the fleeing Autobots.
"MOVE IT!"
Prowl and Jazz got through the exit first, followed by Ironhide as Optimus brought up the rear. The Autobot leader got through the door and turned to face the corridor they had just vacated only to see a huge explosion of fire rip through the side of the building, sending roiling orange flames right for them. He slammed and locked the exit door to seal most of the explosion off and ran up the docking ramp. The minute he was on board the ship he was already shouting for them to take off.
Optimus ran to the bridge and took his seat in the command chair as Prowl and Jazz both navigated and piloted the ship away from the destruction of the Alpha Sigma Youth Sector. The viewport gave all of them a spectacular view of the Nemesis firing a deadly maelstrom of green energy lasers, raining destruction down upon the abandoned facility.
He briefly wondered if Starscream and his minions managed to get away.
A pang of regret and sorrow washed over the Autobot Captain as he viewed the destruction as the former Youth Sector was left in charred ruins beyond repair. It was a home to a few hundred innocent lives and it had been cruelly ripped away from all of them. Where would they go now?
As if in answer to his silent ponderings, an image of Ultra Magnus appeared on-screen.
"Optimus, we have sustained damage and can no longer hold the Decepticons off."
"We have accomplished our mission. The younglings are safe in our care."
"Good, because we are unable to make a passenger transfer at this time, they are in your charge until further notice. They have knocked down our main communications array, so this frequency is not secure. Although I can't tell you where we will go, I can say that I know you will continue to fight the good fight. Our only hope is that one day we will meet again. Once we have re-established communications, we will contact you with further instructions. Until then, farewell"
"Farewell, Ultra Magnus," Optimus bowed his head respectfully as the communication link was terminated.
He watched from the viewport as Artemis I veered away from the steadily approaching Decepticon flagship before blasting away into hyperspace.
"Prowl, get us out of here…I don't care where we go."
"Yes, sir"
Within seconds, they too were blasting off into hyperspace, leaving behind the Decepticons and the destruction that they reaped.
At least they didn't get any of the younglings.
As far as he knew, there were only one or two Youth Sectors left and it would only be a matter of time before the Decepticons found them as well. They were running out of places to hide the civilians. Perhaps exploration was in order…
"Do you have any idea where we are going Prowl?"
"I have laid in a course for the Theta Quadrant in the outer rim."
He nodded his head once to affirm this choice before walking off of the bridge.
It was time to check on the little ones. He hoped to Primus that Sides was alright. Then again, why should he worry? The youngling was in the best of hands now. Ratchet was one of the best medics this side of the galaxy. Optimus knew that if anyone could save the youngling's life, it was him.
Optimus checked in with the rest of his crew before proceeding down into the med-bay. Wheeljack was constructing something or another down in his new lab. Ironhide was busy shooting the pit out of training drones in the shooting range, still in a rage after their encounter with Starscream. Mirage was inspecting equipment and taking stock of inventory for the long voyage ahead of them. Jazz and Prowl of course, were still on the bridge keeping tabs on everything. Ratchet was somewhere right behind the double doors Optimus now stood in front of.
Unlike the Autobot Battleship Artemis I, this med-bay did not have an observation deck. If he wanted to see what was happening in there, he was just going to have to go right in.
After the doors closed behind him, he stood silently observing the medic working frantically to repair the damaged youngling. He was looking better already. From the looks of things, Ratchet had already managed to repair the worst of it.
"How is he?"
Ratchet responded without looking up, a slight growl in his voice that clearly revealed his irritation at having been interrupted in his work.
"Recovering…"
He didn't offer to elaborate further.
Optimus took the silent hint and remained quiet.
Sunny was recharging on another table next to his brother. His energy levels had gotten so low that he had involuntarily shut down.
Ratchet grabbed a small clamp and stopped one of the energon lines from leaking in the youngling's leg and then proceeded to solder it closed.
For the next three hours, Optimus remained in the room silently watching over the twins while Ratchet cleaned up and put his tools away.
The medic had of course seen to little Sunny's arm which had been damaged. His still highly malleable youngling armor had practically crumpled in, pinching together pain receptors and severing a few minor energon lines. Ratchet had the little one repaired in no time.
"There, they are all finished. I expect the two of them to rest for the next couple of joors. And that means no interruptions or excitement…" Ratchet growled while looking pointedly at Optimus.
"You have my word."
"If anything…and I mean anything should change in their condition, let me know."
"Of course"
Ratchet's stern face softened as he looked down at the two slumbering younglings.
"Even though I've disconnected their pain receptors, they could still feel pain upon awakening…especially the red one."
Optimus rested a hand on the medics shoulder.
"I will call you immediately when they do."
The CMO grunted in response and then left the med bay for some much needed recharge.
Even though Ratchet seemed like such a gruff mech, he had one of the softest sparks of the group. It was apparent in the way he acted around the two younglings. From what Optimus could gather, it had been centuries since he last interacted with ones so small.
He wondered how the rest of the crew would act around them, once the twins were up and running again. If anyone concerned him the most in regards to their safety…it had to be Ironhide. His weapons specialist was one of his best soldiers on the battlefield, no doubts about that.
He was going to have to talk with him about keeping all of his cannons and other weapons locked up where the younglings couldn't reach them. That in itself, might be challenging. Ironhide could be tougher than Ratchet at times.
It was quite comical to see both of the elder bots bickering, waging a battle of stubborn wit.
Flashback
"HOLD STILL you incompetent glitch!"
"LET GO OF ME!!"
"Not until I've repaired this damage first!"
"What damage Hatchet?! IT'S JUST A SCRATCH!!"
"You call a nearly severed arm a scratch?! And I suppose a real injury is what…DEATH?!"
"For the last time, I'm FINE!!"
"No…you are far from fine, you slagging piece of scrap! FOR THE LAST TIME, HOLD STILL OR I WILL WELD YOUR AFT TO THIS TABLE!!"
"I'd LOVE to see you try!!"
The weapons specialist bellowed when Ratchet wacked him hard in the cranial unit with his ever beloved wrench.
Ironhide growled ferociously and powered up the cannon that was fully functional on his undamaged arm. Ratchet snarled and with one swift, nearly imperceptible movement the CMO disabled his weapons systems.
"Don't tempt me."
Ironhide glared daggers of death at the medic but Ratchet was completely unfazed and continued working, occasionally hitting Ironhide's thickly armored head with his wrench when called for.
End Flashback
Optimus smiled at the memory and took a seat in between the two younglings, so that if either of them awakened, he would be right there next to them.
About two breems went by without a peep from either of them. The Autobot leader tried not to worry but the longer they remained frozen in their off-lined conditions like that, it gnawed away at his spark. At long last, one of the twins stirred, opening bright baby blue optics. His little head turned, most likely surveying his new surroundings before coming to rest on Optimus.
"You gave us all, quite a scare little one."
"Optimus? W-where are we?"
It had become a norm for either twin to refer to each other oftentimes using 'we' instead of a singular 'I'.
The nanosecond the youngling spotted his brother lying still on the berth beside him he sat up and scrambled to get down.
"SIDES!"
"Slow down, little one…your brother is recharging."
Sunny looked slightly mistrustful but decided to listen to Optimus this time around.
"Okay"
He looked down and fiddled with his hands with the lack of anything better to do and winced when a throbbing almost white hot pain made itself known in his hurt arm. He stilled immediately, a whimper escaping his vocal capacitor. Optimus immediately opened up a com-line with Ratchet and called him down to the med-bay.
Sunny looked up at his rescuer and chirruped with pain filled optics. He clicked in contentment when Optimus finally picked him up and held him close. The little yellow youngling found himself drifting back into recharge as the steady thrum of the Autobot's spark lulled him to sleep.
His peace was ruined when a new voice that sounded unfamiliar brought him back to wakefulness. He buzzed indignantly when his optics focused on the hovering face of the medic just above him.
"Your designation is Sunny, correct?"
He nodded his head slowly too tired to keep up his stubbornness for very long.
"My name is Ratchet. Tell me if this causes you any pain or discomfort."
Sunny let loose a string of buzzes, clicks, and chirrups when the CMO started to poke and prod his hurting arm. He wiggled away from the medics grasp and tried to crawl away, despite the pain it caused him.
He didn't expect the medic to be so rough the next second. Sunny had nearly escaped but screamed shrilly when he felt a large hand wrap around his leg, pulling him back.
It was kind of scary how Ratchet went from being gentle and caring to stern and harsh in less than a minute. Sunny no longer cared about the pain once the medic captured him.
"Hold STILL, youngling!"
Before he knew what he was doing, Sunny released audio shattering shrieks and cries, screaming for help as he was taken back to his traumatizing time with the Decepticon known as Starscream.
"NO! LET ME GO! PLEASE HELP ME!! OPTIMUS!"
Optimus was startled by the youngling's outburst. It nearly broke his spark, the way he was screaming for him. That was when he understood what it was that the youngling was going through.
Ratchet seemed to understand too for he immediately lost his normally gruff exterior and internally swore at himself for being so inconsiderate of the little one. He wasn't dealing with an Autobot soldier here…younglings were far different and much more sensitive.
The CMO surprised even himself when he held the youngling as if Sunny were his own, whispering soothing words and apologies for the way he acted.
"There, there now…you are safe, youngling. I would never hurt you. I want to help you get better but I need you to cooperate. Please forgive me for my harsh nature?"
Sunny peeked out from where he was nestled against the CMO's chest plating and chirruped in the affirmative before burrowing his head back into the safety of his elder's chassis. He felt safe now that he knew for certain that Ratchet wasn't going to hurt him like Starscream had.
Ratchet continued to softly pat the youngling's back plating in a soothing manner before he finally sat him back down on the table.
"This might hurt just a little but it will make the pain go away…okay?"
Sunny sniffled and turned tear filled eyes on the CMO.
Ratchet nearly lost his nerve as he gazed down at such an innocent little face and actually hesitated for the first time in three thousand years.
That was why it was so handy to have his medical programming kick in at that moment or he might not have done it.
The youngling's optics widened the nanosecond his processor registered the needle in Ratchet's hand but before he could utter a sound of protest, it was all over.
That was funny…he didn't feel a thing.
He fidgeted and tensed waiting for some sort of delayed pain reaction but still…nothing happened.
"See, that wasn't so bad now, was it?"
Sunny flexed his hand and experimentally shifted his arm around and when he realized he was all better, looked up at Ratchet with adoration. He surprised the CMO when he used his youngling speed to jump up and latch on to him in a hug.
Optimus watched with great amusement as Ratchet struggled to pry the youngling off of him but failed miserably as Sunny merely latched on even tighter.
"Thank you for fixing me…and my brother."
It wasn't the words of gratitude that completely froze the medic on the spot but rather, how those words were said. The way Sunny had just thanked him was true spark filled gratitude. And that was gratitude that Ratchet hadn't received, let alone heard in millennia.
He melted on the spot and hugged the youngling back.
With a rare smile that few ever had the privilege to actually witness, Ratchet softly replied.
"You…are so very welcome."
TO BE CONTINUED!!
A/N: 4 days until Revenge of the Fallen!! YAY! :D
Oh, I can picture this Prowl as the animated but almost everyone else as the 2007 movie.
And I think writing the twins as innocent little younglings is quite fun although it won't last for long, I assure you lol. Especially when some of their more easily influenced elders *coughOptimuscough* lets them get away with things…
PLEASE REVIEW!